When I get out of my tent, the first thing I see is Liam doing push-ups. He usually doesn't count, because if he did, we all know he wouldn't get past twenty. Sometimes he also thinks he can trick us by starting to count from big numbers like 340.
When he sees me, he stops.
"You're early," he says.
I say it's not early.
"Going to Helix?" he asks.
I tell him that I went yesterday and that I won't go today. He nods and continues doing push-ups, counting from 472.
Jennifer is sitting near the sea on a red blanket. She is cutting something with a knife. When I get closer, I see that it's mango.
"Are you going to share?" I ask.
"No!" she says.
When I reach my hand out, she raises the knife.
"I'll cut your hand!"
I take it anyway.
"You're a thief," she says, laughing.
"If I hadn't taken it, you would run after me and try to feed me," I say, laughing.
"I wouldn't do that," she says.
"Come on Jen, we all know you can't stop yourself from mothering all of us," I say.
"Not true at all," she says and tries to make an angry face, but she can't manage it.
"See you later, mom," I say and keep walking.
When I look back, I see her flipping me off.
I go into the sea with Liam. He tells me that the autonomes killed three more people last night. I remind him that autonomes do not have their own decision mechanisms, that they automatically kill those who do not follow the rules, and that there will be no problem if people follow the rules.
I get out of the sea and dry myself. When I take a T-shirt from the tent, I notice that inside is very messy. I tell myself I'll clean it sometime and leave the tent.
While going to Jennifer, I run into Caleb.
He shakes the metal box in his hand.
"Where did you find this?" he asks.
I say that I found it near the old camp. He opens the lid and looks inside, then pours the rusty screws inside into his hand.
"What are you going to do with these?" he asks.
I say I don't know.
"Great plan," he says.
Jade comes out of her tent.
"Who's going to get coffee?" she asks.
When no one answers, she says, "I'm going."
Liam says, "I'll come too," and follows her. Riley immediately goes after them.
I turn to Jennifer.
"These two will start sleeping together soon," I say.
"They already started. Riley stayed in Liam's tent last night," she says and winks.
I laugh.
From a distance I look at Helix. I can't see the door, but the white, long walls are very clear. Sometimes I wonder what the people living inside do. But it doesn't last long.
I stand up and say I'm leaving.
Caleb asks where I'm going. I say I'm going to the bar.
Jennifer looks at her watch.
"It's still early."
"Even better," I say and start walking.
I have memorized the roads. I even recognize some stones on the road now.
An autonome passes in front of me. I don't even look. I don't like looking at them, but sometimes I feel that they look at me.
Then a sound comes.
"I…"
I look at the autonome and again:
"I…"
Then it stops where it is. The light in its eye goes out.
Five seconds later the light comes back and it starts walking again as if nothing happened.
That was new.
And just as strange.
I enter Last Call.
I look at Danny and say, "Beer."
He nods and fills a glass with beer. The first sip always feels very good.
I go toward the door side and sit in the corner.
Two men enter. I see them for the first time. It's obvious they are new.
They get beer and come to sit near me.
One of them says, "Is this seat taken?"
"You can sit," I say.
Both of them sit across from me, next to each other.
"How long have you been here?" one of them asks.
"About two years," I say.
His eyes widen.
"You waited that long?"
"Waiting isn't hard. I can do anything I want," I say.
"So what is it like inside?" he asks.
"I don't know," I say.
"Haven't you heard anything?" he asks.
"No one tells anything," I say.
"What's your number?" he asks.
"Yesterday it was 886," I say.
"Holy shit, that's close. When I arrived it was 22638, but now it's 5512," he says.
"It's like that at first, but then it slows down. I probably have about two months left," I say.
After a while they get up and leave.
I get my second beer and drink it, but I don't get a third one. I don't want it to be like yesterday.
I go outside and the sun is still up.
Actually I wasn't going to go, but suddenly I start walking toward Helix.
I see another man arguing with an autonome. This time he is not shouting and not hitting. He is just talking. The autonome does not answer. The man gets tired and then leaves.
I check my number.
What the fuck is going on?
My number has increased to 899.