“Thank you,” Nataliya replied simply as she gestured for the two guests to take a seat on one of three sofas in the large living room.
“How long have you been living here?”
“Nine years, since we moved from Moscow.”
“And it’s got air conditioning,” Andy commented with interest. “Does everyone in Aspen have electricity, or just certain homes?”
Nataliya interpreted Andy’s question as implying that she and her brother had special privileges others didn’t have. “All homes that are occupied have electricity. The solar power and hydroelectric plants that were built in Colorado just before the virus are still functioning and give us power, though I don’t pretend to understand anything about it,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “There are other people who handle that.”
Charlie, however, was interested, but Andy cut him off before he had a chance to open his mouth. “So, Nataliya,” she began, businesslike. “There are five of us here. The three others are Morgan, who is my age and Charlie’s older sister, and Jim and Ben, who are cousins and both about my age as well.”
“And you want to come live here in Aspen?”
“Maybe. We’d like to have a look around first, but the fact that you have electricity here is incredible.”
“Yes, it is very nice here,” she replied haughtily. “But not just anyone can live here, you know? There are rules.”
Charlie and Andy exchanged glances. “What rules?” asked Charlie.
“Well, I will explain,” Nataliya rose to her feet. She headed toward the kitchen and opened the large refrigerator. “Are you thirsty? Hungry? You both look like you could use some water and a good meal.”
“Um, water would be nice,” Charlie said, trying not to sound too eager.
“Andy?” Nataliya queried as she grabbed two glasses from one of the cabinet shelves.
“Sure, thank you.”
Nataliya poured filtered water into the glasses and returned to the living room. She placed them on two coasters on top of the Brazilian rosewood coffee table and sat back down. Andy and Charlie picked them up immediately, each finishing more than half the glass before stopping to take a breath. Nataliya looked on with amusement. “Maybe I should bring the pitcher over too?”
When neither Andy nor Charlie declined the offer, Nataliya returned to the refrigerator to retrieve the pitcher. “So, the rules,” she started. “There are a few, but basically, if you want to live in Aspen, you have to work. Some people take care of the power and water, others take care of the food, and some take care of security—as you can see—but everyone works and we all benefit from it. Money is worthless, so the only things of value are things we all need to live and survive.”
“What if you have special skills?” Charlie asked as he poured himself another glass of water.
Nataliya raised a well-groomed eyebrow. “Skills? Like what?”
“Well, Andy’s father was a doctor, and she’s been learning and practicing medicine for the past five years…”
Nataliya tried not to appear too impressed.
“…and I have an I.Q. of 188.”
“And what exactly does that mean?” she asked as though a high I.Q. was of little significance.
“It means that he’s smart enough to build a spaceship and send it to Mars if he wanted to,” Andy retorted defensively. “Charlie’s ridiculously intelligent.”
“Well, we do not need to send anything to Mars, but I guess I see your point,” Nataliya responded condescendingly, which annoyed Andy. “What about the other three…sorry, I have forgotten their names.”
“We haven’t known Ben and Jim long, but from what I can tell, they are very good with cars…fixing them, modifying them…that sort of thing,” Andy said.
“That could be very useful,” Nataliya conceded. “There are not enough mechanics here.”
“And Morgan, my sister, is very good with children,” Charlie added brightly. “She’s also a teacher. Reading, writing, math…”
Nataliya pursued her lips together in a disapproving manner. “We really do not need any more babysitters. We have plenty already.” Then, sensing Andy’s rising irritation as well as silently admitting that the skills the others had were indeed valuable, she quickly added, “But I suppose we cannot have a bunch of idiot children running around here that cannot read or write, no?”
Andy forced a smile. “So, are you the one who decides if we can live here?”
Nataliya slowly shook her head. “Not entirely. Aspen has a council. There are ten of us on the council and together we vote on who can become a resident. But because I am the leader of the council, I decide whether or not a potential new resident is offered a trial period of one month. After the month, the council votes to determine if they can stay or not.”
“So what’s your decision about us?” Andy asked directly.
“I’ll have to meet your friends first before I make a decision.”
“They won’t leave our weapons behind,” Charlie assured. “So unless you let them through with them, you won’t meet them.”
Andy reinforced Charlie’s words with a nod.
Nataliya thought about it for a quick minute and said, “I’ll tell the guards to let them through with their weapons.” She grabbed the radio from the kitchen, and after a few transmissions, she returned and sat back down in the living room.
“I’m surprised you’re not using mobile phones yet,” Charlie observed.
“Not yet, but we are working on it.”
“I’m sure Charlie could help with that,” Andy said as she cast him an encouraging smile.
Nataliya smiled thinly. “I’m sure.”
A few minutes of awkward silence passed while waiting for the others to arrive, during which Charlie asked a disinterested Nataliya about the solar power plant. Andy, however, ignored the conversation as her gaze shifted back and forth from Nataliya to the expansive room around her. She seemed to fit perfectly amidst such luxury. Impeccably clean, her long, golden brown hair had a shine to it that Andy’s used to have during the days of hot showers and shampoo. Her complexion was milky and flawless, not dirtied and reddened by the wind and sun like Andy’s. She was tall and slender, her build similar to Morgan’s, and her clothes were right out of a fashion magazine. Jewelry that appeared to contain fine gemstones dangled from her ears, neck, and wrists. Although Andy didn’t understand the need to dress beyond basic functionality, she admitted that Nataliya’s efforts toward her physical appearance, combined with her God-given beauty, had a very intimidating effect. Andy glanced down at her hands. They were dirty and callused from the years in Bermuda. Nataliya’s were lily-white and adorned with rings. As Andy began to surreptitiously clean the dirt from underneath her fingernails, the front door opened.
A guard entered the house first, followed by their friends. Thankful for the distraction from Charlie’s litany of boring questions, Nataliya bolted off the sofa and scurried to the grand foyer. Andy and Charlie followed but without the urgency of their host.
After waving the guard off and introducing herself to the three strangers, Nataliya gave Morgan the same judgmental inspection that she’d given Andy. Immediately disliking Morgan’s own beauty, she quickly moved her attention to Jim and Ben. Here, she perked up. “My goodness,” she began, placing her hand to her chest in an overly-dramatic fashion. “Andy did not mention that you two were so handsome.”
Andy rolled her eyes. “Andy didn’t think it was important,” she replied sharply in third person.
Nataliya ignored the remark and requested that they all return to the living room.
As everyone followed her, Ben pulled Andy aside. “Who the hell is this person? Where’s she from?”
“She’s from Russia,” Andy whispered. “Apparently, she’s the leader of some council that governs Aspen.”
He frowned. “So she’s like the chief in this town?”
“No clue. But be nice to her. She doesn’t like me already.”
Once everyone was seated in the living room, Nataliya repeated for the others the general rules of living in Aspen, her role on the council, and the month-long trial period. “There’s an empty house down the road from here,” she said while keeping her eyes on Ben. “You can all rest and take a shower and then stay the night after dinner here. It’s not quite as big as my home, but I think you will find it comfortable. I’ll ask the guards outside to take you there.”
Everyone seemed happy with this plan and agreed to return at seven o’clock for dinner. Anxious to leave the house and Nataliya’s presence, Andy exited the mansion first as Morgan hurried behind her.
“Is it just me,” Morgan began when they were out of earshot, “or is Nataliya sort of a bitch?”
Andy released a laugh. “Sort of? I love how she only wanted to talk to Ben and Jim. Especially Ben. She couldn’t pull her eyes off him.”
“I noticed that too. Let’s hope they saw through her act and weren’t hypnotized by her perfect hair and sexy accent.”
“Your accent is better.”
“Thanks,” replied Morgan, grateful for the compliment. “Still, she seems to have everyone wrapped around her finger. The guards do anything she asks.”
Charlie approached just then, his face clouded over. “I think I annoyed Nataliya. She kept ignoring my questions about the solar power plant.”
“I wouldn’t take it personally,” Morgan replied, giving her brother a sideways hug.
As Ben and Jim caught up to them, Ben drew up beside Andy, asking, “Do you ever wear perfume?”
“God, no. Why?”
“She reeked of it. She kept leaning toward me and I couldn’t breathe.”
Smiling, Andy looked down at her fingernails and no longer cared about the dirt beneath them.
Chapter IX
N
ataliya’s description of the home where Andy and her friends would be staying that evening had been modest. The house, which was just a few hundred yards from Nataliya’s, was quite impressive. Though indeed smaller, it was spacious with décor more rustic than Nataliya’s elegant yet pretentious style. Everyone had their own bedroom, and only Ben and Jim had to share a bathroom, all of which had running water. It was miraculous.
There was a sense among the group that they would be staying longer than one night. Though agitated by Nataliya’s attention to Ben, Andy knew it would likely result in an invitation to stay for at least a month. But when she stepped into the shower—her first in five years—she decided that she could put up with almost anything if she could experience this every day. As the large showerhead above her and jets positioned along the shower walls propelled warm water over her body, she felt as though a layer of something beyond dirt and sweat was sliding off her skin and disappearing down the drain.
As she toweled off, there was a knock at the door. Wrapping the towel around her, she opened the door to find Ben standing there. She instinctively pulled the towel tighter above her chest.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were in the shower.” The apology was flat, and Ben seemed to hardly register her lack of clothing.
“No problem. What’s up?”
“Jim and I are going to drive around for a bit. You know, check out the town. If you want to come, we’ll wait for you to get dressed.”
“Alright. What about Morgan and Charlie?”
“They’re both taking a nap.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Morgan looks exhausted today. Is she okay?”
“Yeah, I think so,” she said with a casual shrug in an effort to appear unconcerned. “I mean, I think we’re all tired, right?”
“True,” he answered slowly, brushing a hand through his hair. “We’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.”
“All right, just give me a few minutes.”
After getting dressed, she quietly poked her head into Morgan’s room. She was sound asleep, her soft breath in perfect sync with the rise and fall of her chest. She looked so fragile.
She closed the door and descended the stairs, her long, wet hair pulled back into a loose French braid. As she reached the bottom, her stomach growled loudly. She had grown accustomed to ignoring pangs of hunger out of necessity, but since returning to the continent, meals had become much more unpredictable, and her clothes were becoming loose. Though concerning, Andy worried more about Morgan. Her friend was becoming increasingly thin when her body needed to be strong and well-nourished.
“Okay, ready,” she announced, entering the room.
“Where did you put your weapons?” Jim asked her.
“In my room, under the bed.”
“When we get back, you should put them in my room,” Ben said. “I found a good hiding place in the back of the closet.”
“Okay.”
They set out and locked the front door behind them with the single set of keys they had been given. Ben volunteered to sit in the back of the truck while Jim drove.
“Maybe we can find another car soon,” Andy said hopefully while climbing into the passenger’s seat.
As they pulled out of the driveway, Jim turned to her and voiced the same concern about Morgan that Ben had earlier. “Is she okay? She looks ill.”
“She’s just really tired. So am I. We’re not used to this…all this moving around, I mean. We never needed to travel around that far in Bermuda. And in less than a month we’ve traveled thousands of miles. It’s been overwhelming.” Despite the recurring omission of several key components to the story, Andy voiced the honest truth. She
was
exhausted. Damn exhausted.