Prompt # 267- Tithe - Borders 1.1- Tekia - original

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Title: Borders
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Tithe
Warnings:
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When her life is utterly changed, Jessie finds that she has to change as well. In a world where society has collapsed, Jessie will find her bit of home.
Jessie limped into the shelter. The glass door of the old mall was still standing and intact. She took a moment to admire the glass and the paint still clinging to the surface. There were bits of vivid red remaining, and lines that had cut the glass. She couldn’t read the long lost words, half the letters missing.
The main hall of the mall was dark and filled with people. Jessie sighed at the sight. Humans that gathered like the drudges of the earth always looked like homeless cats to her. Their clothes were always dirty and naught more than rags, and their bodies were thin and frail looking. It was probably why they gathered like this. They would never survive on their own out there.
She looked over the hall, then noticed someone directing people around corners and into long ago cleared out stores. She limped toward the woman and stood in line. The mall was filled with a low murmur of voices as people talked among themselves and she added that to list of reasons why they couldn’t survive on their own.
She finally reached the woman directing traffic. Without looking up at her, the woman asked, “Where are you going?”
Jessie dropped her bag on the broken linoleum floor near her feet and pulled her mask off her face. “I don’t care where I go, just so long as I have someone who can help me until I recover.” She leaned heavily on her good leg.
The woman finally looked up from her clipboard and eyed Jessie. Her eyes widened at all the blood staining her clothes and the tears that had been haphazardly patched. “What happened to you?”
Jessie grinned. “I fell down a ravine. Broke my leg.”
The woman looked her up and down once more before she went back to her clipboard. “I have a truck leaving the city that has room for three more. It’ll include hard work, but you’ll have a place to stay and people to help you until you recover.”
“What’s the work?”
“Farm work. You’ll be paid, so we’ll ask a toll from you before you leave.”
Jessie pulled her bag back to her and began digging in the deep pockets. “I don’t have much, what do you need?”
“We accept gold, food, clothing, and technology.”
Jessie’s hand curled around a package she had stuffed into her bag weeks ago and pulled it free. She held it out to the woman.
The woman folded the clipboard under her arm and unfolded the package. Inside, she found seeds. A smile bloomed on her lips and she quickly pocketed them. She pointed toward the back exit and, with a nod, Jessie began hobbling down the hall.
On the other side of the mall, the sun beat down on the pale pavement that made up the loading dock. Cracks had formed on the once solid parking lot and ramp, and now grass had begun to grow in them. The wind was coming from this direction, so it was much harsher here than it was on the other side of the building. It picked up Jessie’s scarf and the strands of her hair that had escaped. She narrowed her eyes against both it and the sun as she looked at the old beat up red truck that was parked against the sidewalk.
The thing seemed to be more rust than metal, but the engine was purring happily as it idled. There was a young woman sitting on the sidewalk beside the truck, a hand rolled cigarette in her mouth as she gazed out at the field past the street. Jessie followed her gaze and wondered what had been in that field before it was a field. There were the remains of streets and maybe a few houses hidden behind tall weeds and what looked to be wheat encroaching.
“Are you coming with us?”
Jessie slowly tore her eyes away from the sight and found that she had been joined by an older woman. She had wild blonde hair with bits of silver that curled everywhere with a blatant disregard for gravity. Her clothes were far more sturdy than what most people could do, giving Jessie the impression that the woman probably made them herself. She wore heavy boots and thick gloves and had only a bandana tied around her neck to protect her face.
“I am. I can’t do much, but I’ll heal and pay you back once I’ve gotten better.” The woman frowned at her, looking her up and down before narrowing her eyes on Jessie’s wrapped leg. “I’ll do what I can with this leg. You won’t regret taking me on. You won’t have to pay me, either. All I ask for is a place to sleep and protection from Out There.”
For a long moment, Jessie thought the woman was going to refuse to take her. She wished she had thought to pull up her scarf before coming out here so she could chew on her lip. She refused to show any weakness, though, so she just stared at the woman’s eyes, her face stoic.
Finally, the woman sighed and nodded. “You can cook?”
Jessie nodded. “My father taught me. It may not be fancy, but I can make good food.”
“Sew?” Jessie nodded. “Handle a gun?” Another nod. “Alright, we’ll take you on. We’ll give you room and board in return that you help around the farm. With that leg you won’t be worth much, but you can cook and clean. You can gather eggs and feed the pigs.”
She held out her hand and Jessie clasped her forearm. “Thank you, ma’am. I won’t make you regret it.”
The woman nodded then said, “We’re waiting for at least one more. Pack your bag in the truck, and I’ll tell you when we’re ready.” She walked away then, going toward the cab of the truck and leaning over the seat, out of sight.
Jessie turned back to the mall and stepped inside, out of the bright sun and into the somewhat cooler shade. She found a wall to put her back to and sank gratefully to the floor. Her leg was throbbing and blood had begun to seep through her bandage. She carefully kneaded the muscle of her thigh that was aching from the effort of holding her leg just right so as not to put too much pressure on it.
She laid her head back on the wall and gazed at the dingy and missing tiles of the drop ceiling. She hated being helpless, but that’s just what she was right now. She was used to being on her own, but she was going to have to learn to work with others, at least until her leg fully healed and she could move on.
Ever since she could remember, she had always been on the move. When she was young, her father had instilled in her the need to always be moving. Never staying in one place for long, and never trusting anybody. It was how they survived. It was how she survived.
The one time they had trusted someone, Jessie had lived to regret it. She closed her eyes and remembered that last day she had seen her father alive. Had it only been a week ago? It seemed like so much longer. A trio of men had had a run of bad luck and her father had offered to help them out for one night. They had an extra tent and it had been raining and the men looked harmless enough.
Jessie had felt uncomfortable with the men knowing where they slept, but her father had told her that one day she would be in need, and hopefully someone would help her, just as they were helping the men.
She had woken up that night to the sound of the fabric of the tent ripping. Then there had been screaming and shouting and the report of a gun. There had been running and crying and mud and blood.
She could still hear her father shouting for her to run, to leave him. And she could still hear the second report of the gun echoing through the night, muffled only by the rain.
One of the men had chased her, but it was dark and the rain covered her well enough to escape. It had also covered the ground from sight, and she had slipped in the mud and fallen down the ravine. She fell head over heels and felt her leg snap with a crunch she felt throughout her whole body.
She didn’t know for how long she lay in the rubble at the bottom of the ravine, dazed and overcome with pain. She remembered voices overhead, but they left her for dead, and it was the harsh glare of the sun that woke her.
Despite her pain, Jessie had to carry on. So she tied up her leg with her jacket and sticks, hobbled back to the camp, and nearly died a second time when she saw her father’s body.
They had left him where he had fallen, face down in the mud. She fell to the ground beside him and petted his hair, tears making trails down her soiled face. When the day began to wane, she struggled to her feet and gathered the things she could carry into one bag, and piled the rest around her father. She built up a pyre of their belongings and their lives. With an ache in her heart and pain in her body, she set it ablaze and watched her past burn away.
Someone dropped down beside her, and Jessie was abruptly pulled back into the present. She snapped open her eyes and stared at the girl beside her. She couldn’t have been much older than Jessie was, and had straight blond hair cut just above her ears. She had a button nose and big green eyes that she turned onto Jessie.
“Hi, I’m Maddie.”
Jessie nodded in return. Maddie smiled softy, as if afraid that Jessie was going to snap at her.
“Are you white?”
Jessie’s eyes narrowed and she lowered her chin, trying to hide her face behind the scarf she still hadn’t pulled. Maddie’s eyes went wide then.
“Sorry! I don’t – I mean, I didn’t mean anything bad about not being white. It’s just, you look white, but you don’t. You’re kinda dark. Like, from the sun.”
Tension made Jessie’s leg ache, but she had to be ready to move. Her hand itched for a knife, but the sign on the door had warned against weapons, and she really needed help.
The girl flushed red and she stumbled over her words. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry.” She looked away, her face a mask of misery. “I meant, you’re really tan. You’re not white, so what’s your ethnicity?”
The poor girl was stupid, Jessie thought. The tension flowed out of her shoulders and she leaned heavily against the wall. “Mexican. My father was Mexican.”
The girl’s eyes went wide and she attempted a smile. “I’ve never seen anybody not white before.”
Jessie rolled her eyes and shifted her leg. It was starting to throb and her head was having sympathy pain. She laid her head back on the wall and closed her eyes again.
Maddie shifted so her back was pressed to the wall. “I’ve never done anything,” she said, mournfully. “My ma and pa took care of me. I never had to do anything but be happy.”
Jessie opened one eye and watched as the girl picked at the fabric of her pants. There were tears in her eyes and her lower lip was jutted out as she lost herself in her thoughts.
She opened her other eye and murmured, “You lost them?”
Maddie nodded and sniffed back a sob. “They were killed by bandits. I only escaped because Pa had a shoved me in our fallout shelter and locked it. The bandits couldn’t get in.” Her chin was trembling with her tears. “Pa had prepared for this, so I knew what to do to get out and find my way here, but I don’t know what to do from here.” She turned her watery green eyes on Jessie once more and Jessie saw something familiar in them.
“My father was killed by bandits, too.”
Jessie watched in horror as Maddie swelled with emotions. She threw her arms around Jessie’s shoulders and sobbed into her chest. Jessie froze with horror. What was she supposed to do with this!?
She heard a chuckling and glanced up to find her new boss standing in the doorway. Once she saw Jessie glaring at her, she came forward.
“Maddie?”
Maddie pulled away and wiped at her eyes with the back of her sleeve. “Yes, ma’am?”
“I hear you know how to work a field.”
“Yes, ma’am. Lived on a farm my whole life.”
Suddenly, the woman’s face turned sad and caring. “You’re Mason’s daughter, aren’t you?” Jessie watched as the girl’s lip trembled a moment before they thinned and she fought back the pain of loss. “Yes, ma’am,” she said. “He’s – He’s gone.”
“I heard, dear,” she said. She seemed to realize that she wasn’t one for touching scenes and shrugged her shoulders as if shrugging off the odd sensation of caring. “You’re welcome to come with us, hun.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you!” She reached out and squeezed Jessie’s arm in her joy. She turned her bright smile on her. Then it dimmed. “Oh, does this mean we’re not going to see each other again?”
“Don’t worry, none, hon, she’s coming with us too.”
The news seemed to make her day, as Maddie threw herself into Jessie’s arms once again. Once again, Jessie was left awkwardly patting her back and trying to get free from her clutches. Their host merely laughed and Jessie shot her a glare.
Once the woman had left, Jessie forced the girl off her and back onto the wall. She flexed her arm and shoulder, irritated. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching people walk pass them and waiting for their ride to leave.
The woman came back finally as the sun was lowering on the other side of the mall, casting deep shadows in the building. She held open the door. “Maddie, help our injured companion out here and into the bed of the truck.”
Maddie jumped to her feet and pulled Jessie up. Jessie hissed at the pain at the sudden movement. “Leave me be,” she snarled through the pain, trying to jerk her arm free, but only succeeding in losing her balance and falling against Maddie.
Once she was steady on her feet, Maddie led her outside and to the side of the truck. Jessie wondered how she was supposed to get into the bed when Maddie stiffened beside her. Jessie shot her a look, only to find her staring back the way they had come, a soft, longing look in her eyes.
“Have you gone daft?”
“It’s a duster.”
“Duster?”
Maddie turned to look at her as if she were the daft one. “You don’t know what a duster is?” Jessie shook her head mutely. “They patrol the outskirts of towns, protecting us as much as they can from Out There. They are heroes.” Her voice had taken on an odd quality to it, and Jessie wished at the moment she understood people much better than she did. She didn’t understand what that tone of voice meant. Although, maybe she could have heard it in her father’s voice when he talked about her mother.
Jessie turned to look behind them and easily found the man Maddie was talking about. He was standing at the exit, looking slowly at the people walking to and fro. He wore a hat low over his eyes and a bandana over his nose and mouth. He was tall and broad of shoulder, and he wore a heavy trench coat that was well worn and dusty from the road. She couldn’t see his face under the hat, and when he turned his head toward them, she couldn’t tell who he was looking at.
Beside her, Maddie sighed happily. “Aren’t they just amazing?”
“They didn’t do a very good job protecting your family.”
Instantly, Jessie regretted her words. Maddie’s shoulders drooped and she lowered her eyes to the ground. Without a word, she turned about and moved to help Jessie into the truck bed.
After one glance at the height of the tailgate, Jessie shook her head. “This isn’t happening. You can’t lift me.”
“Let me help.”
Maddie gasped and spun about to face the duster as he stepped up behind them. Jessie tensed, ready to flee or fight, as she had been since the night her father died. Just the sound of a man’s voice made her more nervous than she had ever been before. Slowly, so as not to provoke him, Jessie turned to face him, too.
He was tall. Her nose only just came up to his collar bone and she had to tilt her head back to look at him. From this angle, she could see under his hat and see his bright blue eyes. He had crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes, just like her father had, from squinting in the sun, and she guessed his skin was also tanned. He tugged the bandana from his face to speak more clearly.
“I can lift you in.”
“Oh, please,” Maddie said for Jessie. “We’ll be very grateful.”
Before Jessie could say a word, he had stooped down and caught her under her knees. He lifted her up into the truck bed and released her. Jessie gasped against the pain in moving her leg. The man paused a moment to look at her leg, but didn’t touch her again. Then he seemed to realize that he was staring and he quickly stepped back.
He looked at Maddie and held out his hand to help her in as well.
“Thank you,” she said, blushing prettily. He touched a finger to the brim of his hat and patted the side of the truck before moving away.
Maddie sat beside Jessie, a loopy smile curving her lips. “Wasn’t he charming?” She leaned forward to see around Jessie, to catch one last glance of the man. Jessie watched her face. The girl’s skin was pale and flushed red from exposer to the sun and from her pleasure. Her eyes went wide as Jessie watched.
“He’s talking with the farmer!” She turned her excited eyes toward Jessie as Jessie turned to look where the two of them were standing. Why was he talking with the farmer? Her eyes narrowed as she thought that perhaps he was there after her.
Was he working with the bandits that had killed her father? Was he here to finish the job?
“Do you think he’s coming with us?”
Jessie watched as they spoke together, then the woman nodded and motioned to the truck. The duster turned toward them and walked back to the truck. He tilted his hat back and leaned against the side.
“My name is Osiris.”
“Are you coming with us?” Maddie asked eagerly.
“I am,” Osiris relied and lifted his bag into the bed. He let himself in and shuffled the stuff in the back around until he could stretch out his legs comfortably.
Once settled, he turned his eyes onto Jessie. They stared at each other in silence as the farmer finally returned. She leaned over the back and looked at the three.
“I expect hard work out of you. I’m gonna feed and house you for six months, and I had better get my money’s worth from you. I’m taking chances on the two of you,” she said, pointedly staring at the two women. “If you don’t work out, I’ll drive you back here personally.”
Jessie nodded and pulled her scarf up over her nose. The woman nodded return and pushed away from the truck. “My name is Sophia and you’ll meet my husband Jack when we get to the farm. We have a field of corn and one for potatoes. We have chickens, pigs, and a few sheep. If you can’t handle it, you had better get out now.”
Jessie felt Maddie shift beside her. She reached out and put her hand on the girl’s arm, keeping her sitting. Maddie leaned heavily against her, settling her head on her shoulder and Jessie let her. Sophia nodded.
“You never told me your name, drifter.”
Jessie tugged her scarf down to speak. “Jessie.”
Sophia pointed to the woman in the cab that Jessie had noticed smoking before. “That’s Miranda.” Sophia moved away toward the driver’s side of the truck and slammed the door after she got in. The engine revved a few times before it was shifted into gear and they were moving.
Jessie settled her head against the glass separating the cab from the bed and enjoyed the feel of the air against her exposed skin.
She had been in a car once before, when she was still very young. She could only remember the feel of the wind in her hair, and now she was experiencing it again. She wished her father was here to enjoy this with her.
The road was drifting past at an amazing speed and she wondered what it must have been like, before the world went to hell. The roads must have been full of cars and trucks, and other things on wheels. She sometimes wished that she had lived during that time, but there was so little knowledge about what was before. What had been that world been like?
Maddie’s head was still resting against her shoulder and it began to bob with the bumps in the road. Irritated, Jessie tried to shift her away from her, but only succeeded in making her lean more heavily against her.
Osiris crawled forward and helped her lay Maddie down. He adjusted the girl until she was laying on her side, curled away from Jessie. He settled in Maddie’s old spot.
At some point he had removed his hat and his short black hair was mussed by the wind. He stared at Jessie just about as intently as she was staring at him.
“Duster? Why are you called a duster?”
His lips slightly twitched. “It’s because of our coats. They’re called dusters.”
“It’s not because you’re covered in dust?”
He tilted his head toward her. “It could be because we’re covered in dust, but so are you.”
“I never heard of the dusters before today. What do you do? Who formed you? Do you get paid?”
“We formed in mutual agreement when our families kept getting attacked. My father and his four friends decided they would be the ones to bring order to the city. The first step was to let those Out There know that this city was protected.”
“Why are you leaving then?”
“We have to pay a tithe to Out There, for all the people that can not make it back to the city. It’s only right, isn’t it? We give so much to the city folk, we have to give something to the country folk.”
Jessie felt something twist in his stomach. Where were the dusters when the bandits attacked Maddie’s family? Her father? She turned away and tugged her scarf up over her nose.
Her leg was throbbing worse than it had been due to the jostling of the truck over the uneven road. It had started to bleed again and the bandage around her calf was turning brown with blood. Osiris must have noticed, because he leaned forward and stuffed their bags and a few threadbare blankets around her leg to pad it against the wheel and hard surface under them. His hand hesitated a moment over the bandage as he looked up at her.
He wanted to do something; she could see it in his eyes. He didn’t, in the end. She felt the clenching of her muscles relax as he reseated himself beside her.
“How’d you break it?”
“I fell,” she answered shortly.
“Not that long ago.”
“No.”
“Why did you come here?”
“I’m not stupid. I know I need help to heal from this.”
“You don’t trust people. Why’d you come here?”
Jessie paused, unsure what answer he wanted. She stared at him, watching his eyes watch her, his hair blow in the wind.
“I’m alone now.”
His eyes widened, but whether from her answering or from her answer, she couldn’t tell. She quickly looked away before he could see the flush creeping up her cheeks from under the scarf. She didn’t know why she told him that.
Only, his eyes, they were so familiar. He reminded her of her father’s eyes. The eyes she saw in the mirror. He too had been Out There and had survived, she thought. And, he was going back Out There with her. Her hands trembled as she realized that, by coming to the city, she had found her way back Out There.
She shivered and folded her arms over her chest and closed her eyes, her chin touching her chest.
Out There was where she belonged, after all.