As soon as it was open enough to allow all of our stuff to pass through, I threw out my arm and said, “Welcome to Happyville!”
Jamal frowned at me as he passed by. “Happyville?” He shook his head and kept on walking.
“What?” I said at his back.
Ronald was snickering as he walked by, and it only got worse when he looked at me.
“Do I have a booger on my face or something?” I said, wiping my nose nervously.
“Maybe they’re just amused by your complete lack of creativity when it comes to naming new towns,” said Peter as he pushed his bike through. “Or not. Maybe you have a booger.”
Gretchen came through supporting Bianca, patting me on the shoulder as she walked by. “We’ll work on it.”
My smiled fell, replaced by a scowl. “You guys are a bunch of downers, you know that?”
Bodo came in, pushing the bike with the trailer attached, Jenny still sleeping inside it. “I will vote for whatever name you pick,” he said, leaning over to kiss me on the mouth. “No matter how stupidt it is.”
I slapped him on the back as he moved by.
The last one through the opening was Buster. I crouched down next to him and tickled him under the chin and around his ears. “You like it, don’t you, Buster? Happyville! Welcome to Happyville!”
He barked and ran away from me, joining the others who’d gathered at the front door to the penitentiary.
Everyone laughed as I grumbled about being amidst traitors and rolled the gate closed, clicking the lock into place.
***
We set up camp just inside and a little to the left of the front doors. A group of high weeds and bushes shielded us from the view of anyone standing at the front gate. Once we’d unpacked enough stuff to be comfortable, all the girls gathered around Jenny. The guys went to work getting food together for us.
“What do you think the problem is?” I asked, looking at her shallow breathing.
Winky felt Jenny’s forehead. “She has a fever bud no swed. She’s dehydraded.”
“We couldn’t get her to eat anything for a couple days now. They didn’t feed us much, anyway, but she went with nothing for way too long,” said Bianca, stroking her friend’s hair. “I wish we could get her into a bath or a shower. I’m sure she’d feel better if she were cleaner.”
“We’ll get that set up as soon as possible. Maybe even tomorrow,” I said. “But we have to get some water in her first.” I turned towards the guys. “We need a water bottle over here.”
Jamal came over and handed one down to me. Gretchen and Bianca lifted Jenny up a little so we could tip a capful of water into her mouth.
“Come on, Jenny, babe. You’ve gotta get up and drink this,” said Gretchen.
Jenny moaned.
“Jenny! Get up!” said Bianca in a sharper voice.
“I’ve god somethig dad mighd wake her up,” said Winky.
“You gonna pinch her?” asked Jamal.
“No. Hold on a seg.” She went over to her backpack and came back with a small bottle. “Here, hab her sniff this. Put id under her dose.” She took the cap off and handed it to me.
I was about to take a whiff of it, before Winky yelled.
“Doe! Dod you, dubby! Her!”
“I know, geez. Bossy ever?” I leaned over towards the patient, sparing a second to scowl at Winky. I held the bottle under Jenny’s nose for a couple seconds before she started coughing and then choking, yelling weakly at the same time.
“Oh, no! What is …? Ow, that …! What’s going on?” she rasped out, reaching up a trembling hand to wipe under her nose.
“Holy crap, what was that?” asked Bianca, looking up at Winky.
“Abonia,” she said simply, taking it back from me. “Worgs lyg a jarm.” She smiled.
“Can’t you, like, kill brain cells with ammonia?” asked Gretchen. She looked like she was warring with herself, trying to decide whether to be grateful or pissed.
“Maybe a gupple. Bud she’s awage now. Give her sub wadder.”
I left the argument about methods alone and focused on getting Jenny to drink some water. She protested weakly, but was overruled by everyone around her. She drank a few sips before putting her hand on her stomach. “No more. I’m going to throw up.”
Gretchen put her finger in Jenny’s face. “Don’t you dare! You keep that down. No fair dying on us now. We’ve made it to Happyville.”
Jenny smiled thinly. “Happyville? Is that an actual place?” She looked around. “It looks like an office lobby.”
“It’s a prison, actually, and the name is temporary. But it’s a safe place and no one here is going to hurt you. So please, try to stay awake and eat something. Please?”
Bianca pushed her further into a sitting position. “Yeah, please? Come on, we miss you! Gretchen is so incredibly boring, I’m going crazy.”
“Yeah, and Bianca is as dull as dirt. We need you to liven the place up.” Gretchen was rubbing Jenny’s back in circles.
“I’ll try,” said Jenny. “But is there somewhere I can go to the bathroom, maybe?”
“Take her outside, in the bushes somewhere,” I said.
Peter ran into the nearby restroom and came out, grinning and holding out a handful of toilet paper. “Ta daaaaa!” he said, handing it to Jenny.
She took it and smiled. “Wow. It’s real. I haven’t seen anything but grass and leaves in …” She looked at Bianca. “How long has it been?”
“Too long,” said Bianca. “Come on, let’s go.” She and Gretchen lifted Jenny by the armpits and guided her out the door. She was walking, but barely.
After the door closed behind them, Winky asked. “Do you thig she’s gudda mayg it?”
“I don’t know. We don’t even know what’s wrong with her.” I decided then not to worry about things I couldn’t control. I had plenty of other concerns to keep myself worried and stressed about. I’d leave Gretchen and Bianca to worry about their friend, at least for now.
Winky and I helped the guys with dinner. We splurged and had some cans of beans, some dried meat, and some limp but still decent vegetables we’d taken from the swamp. Jenny was even able to eat some of it and keep it down. As she got more water in her, the heat on her forehead seemed to lessen and she became more animated.
Once dinner was done, we sat in a circle, ready to bed down for the night. None of us wanted any privacy, and kept our sleeping spots together.
“So what is our plan for tomorrow?” asked Peter. “And when are we going to start?”
“Step one has to be finding out where the dead bodies are,” I said, without hesitation.
Everyone but Winky and I groaned.
“What? Stop being babies. We need to find them and get rid of them. We can’t make a home here until that nasty business is taken care of. And we’re all going to help.”
“Except Jenny,” said Bianca.
“Yeah. Except Jenny,” I conceded. She was already asleep again, and I wasn’t convinced she was going to survive whatever was ailing her.
“What if there are, like, hundreds of corpses here?” asked Jamal. “I don’t mean to be morbid, but that’s just … I don’t know. Creepy. They’ll all be skeletons by now.”
“Thank you for introducing that image into my nightmares for tonight, Jamal,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Sorry. Just thought I’d point out the possibilities.”
Bodo was sitting next to me, holding my hand and stroking my fingers. It felt good to not only have him near but also sober, finally.
“I agree with Bryn. We findt da bodies, bury dem in da yard somewhere, clean da place down, and den start to make a home.”
“This place is huger than huge,” said Gretchen. “We could all fit in the smallest part of it.”
“We’ll only clean what we need to start,” said Peter. “But as our community grows, obviously we’ll have to spread out.”
“So you really want to build something out here, huh?” asked Bianca. “Like with strangers and stuff?”
I shrugged. “Why not? We’re all strangers, and we get along just fine.”
“Maybe we won’t once we live together,” said Gretchen. “Bianca snores, you know.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “Peter has gas. We’ll all just have to learn to accept each other and our issues.”
Peter sighed heavily. “We need a name for our town. Happyville is too … ugh. I can’t even think of a word.”
“Dorky?” suggested Winky.
“Goofy?” said Gretchen.
“Delusional?” added Ronald.
“Okay! I get it! It’s a stupid name! Geez, pick a new one, already.” I hid my smile behind my hand, pretending to pick my teeth.
“What happened to Apocalypsis?” asked Peter. “I liked that one.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe it’s too depressing, to be reminded of what got us here. I’d like something more hopeful-sounding. Something that stands for what we want this place to be, not what’s already happened to us.”
It went quiet as everyone tried to come up with a more suitable name.
“See? Not so easy, is it?”
“Eden,” said Jamal.
“Too religious. Plus that’s what the Amazon girls are calling their place, I think.”
“How about New New York,” said Bianca.
Ronald frowned at her.
“What?” she said, pouting. “I liked New York.”
“Buzz! Try again,” said Peter.
“Bryn, what’s your last name?” asked Ronald.
“Mathis. Why?”
“Well, lots of towns in the United States were named after someone, using their last names. Like Washington, for example.”
“Mathisville,” said Peter, thinking about it.
“Mathistown,” suggested Jamal.
“Mathis City,” said Winky.
Hearing my name over and over like that in this context made me think of my dad. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even be here.
“What about Derek Mathis City?” I said, not entirely convinced it was any good for a city name, but feeling like I wanted to pay homage to my father. “I know it’s stupid, but that was my dad’s name. And he was the most amazing person I ever knew.” I got choked up at the end of my sentence, unable to finish and tell them what an impact he’d had on my life.
Bodo squeezed my hand and reached over with the other to rub my arm.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” said Gretchen. “It’s not stupid, to try and remember the people we loved and who tried to take care of us.” She looked at the others.
“Bryn’s dad did a lot for her. For all of us, really,” said Peter. “Without the training he gave her, I’m pretty sure we’d all be dead right now. Every single one of us. It’s had a trickle-down effect, protecting each of us at one point or another.”
“Fine by me,” said Ronald. “Our daddy was a good guy too. Maybe we can name a part of this place after him.”
“What was his name?” I asked, wiping the tears from my cheeks.
“Gerald. Gerald Williams.”
“Good idea. This can be the Gerald Williams building,” I said.
Everyone nodded.
“I want to name da gardens after my mudder,” said Bodo. “Da Birgitta Ruster Gardens.”
“Lily should have something with her name on it,” said Peter softly.
“How about the hospital? I’m sure we’ll have one,” I suggested.