Bad News and New Ideas
Characters: Jeremy and Mazie Setting: Mazie's room, morning
There was something about this music. It hit her on every level, from when she was the happiest she’d ever felt to...well, right about now, when she was more confused than she’d been in a long time.
The song was sad; the twang of the sliding guitar, the pain in the vocals, the wail of the harmonica crushing in that little soft spot in her chest where every sad thought lived. The story was heartbreaking and although she wasn’t one to be able to personally identify with the poor life of a woman addicted to methamphetamine, it wasn’t like she was oblivious to the plight especially coming where she came from. Still, the song was sad no matter what and the hopeless nature of it connected with Mazie enough to have her playing it on repeat as she just stared at the computer’s screen in her dark room, blinds drawn shut.
She’d known all the words from before prison and it was kind of funny how she mouthed along with the lyrics as soon as the first bars of the song played out in her room. Every so often she’d click on her desktop, move around an icon here or there, but all in all she just stared at it, waiting for a knock at her door that was hopefully Autumn.
Jeremy had left Brady, who was busy getting involved, something he wouldn’t do, by taking down the nooses and made his way to Mazie. There was one stop first, to pick out and orange and an apple from the fruit in the kitchen, then he was outside her door. She needed to know about the display, so she could react, and then he could sway her reaction to the best direction.
Knocking on the door he adjusted the fedora, letting it sit back farther, waiting on her. The curious part was that she was with a girl. That didn’t bother him, but he wouldn’t have guessed that for her. Unlike Brady’s assumption, Jeremy didn’t think it had anything to do with religious beliefs or conservative values. It was meant to scare, to intimidate. The same way the words on his door were meant to. It didn’t explain anything, but it shed some light on the world.
The knock got her attention where so much else hadn’t and she jumped up, rushing to the door without turning off the wailing harmonica on her way there. She opened it and was pretty obviously surprised to see Jeremy there, bearing fruit. “Uhh...hey,” She said, trying to tell herself not to be upset that it was Jeremy and not Autumn. She liked Jeremy, but she hadn’t expected him right now. “Are you a...traveling breakfast distributor?” She asked, pointing at the fruit in his hands because it was the only way she could ask him what he was doing here without sounding like a bitch.
Jeremy just grinned, holding them out to her. “Your choice. I don’t think we should chat on an empty stomach.” He was never a fan of chatting on an empty stomach anyway. “I know I’m not what you expected, but we need to talk.” He could see that much on her face, and when he said it, he didn’t sound annoyed, or distressed.
Mazie didn’t like the way this was sounding. Frowning, she took the orange and started into her room again, heading over to the computer to pause the song. “Ok, so...what about?” She asked, sitting down at her computer and gesturing for him to sit on the bed if he wanted. It was pretty obvious she’d rather have someone sit on her bed rather than at her computer which, as she thought about it, made her wonder if most people would prefer it the other way around.
Jeremy took the seat across from her, nodding to the orange in her hand first, gesturing for her to eat. “Tell me about you and Autumn. I don’t need details, I just need to know what someone who’d been here longer than I have would know.” He took a bite of his apple, looking comfortable and unconcerned, just curious at the most.
Mazie was about to peel into her orange but his words stopped her and instead she just held onto it, looking back at him. What was he getting at, casually coming in here to ask her questions about her and Autumn when she’d only mentioned that she was a friend the first time they met. “Why?” She asked, immediately concerned, immediately defensive when she should have been. Jeremy didn’t seem like the type to poke and prod just for the hell of it. “Are you just curious or...what?”
Jeremy bit into his apple again, chewing slowly while he thought. “Woke up to a couple of interesting sights this morning. One, my door had been painted on, some ominous message about beasts and such, but the one you’ll find of interest was a pair of nooses hanging from the apple tree. And your name and Autumn’s name in a heart carved into the tree. So that’s why I ask.”
She did find his door of interest, right up until he mentioned nooses and her name with Autumns in a heart on the tree from which they were hanging. “What the fuck....” She sighed, eyes staring right at him. Nooses? In a tree with her name and Autumn’s name in a heart carved into it?! Was it a coincidence that it happened the day after her and Autumn had spent that time together? The paranoia was starting to set in again, starting to fuel a fire that had started at the very beginning of this venture with the administration and these fucked up games they were playing.
Taking a long, shaky breath, Mazie stood up, barely feeling her nails digging into the orange. “Show me where,” She said, her voice darker than before, but she was not about to let whoever the fuck was doing this get away with it. Just one more reason to get control of those damn cameras.
Jeremy saw her nails dig into the orange and he reached for it, not getting up when she did. “Not yet,” he said nodding for her to sit down. “There won’t be much for you to see when you get there anyway. When I left the soldier was taking things down. He was rather upset.” He waited for her to sit. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Narrowing her eyes, she felt the orange get removed from her hands and she kind of wished it was still there, a natural stress ball or something. Brady? “Why the fuck was Brady taking that down? I want to see it!” She said, starting towards the door again but knowing that she had no idea where it was and Jeremy was right, if she charged off without his help, she’d never find it. “What am I thinking? I’m thinking this is one sick, fucked up place and the people that run it are playing games with us! This is not the first time some shit’s gone down here. It’s definitely the worst, in my opinion, but not the first time and I’m sick of them trying to assimilate us into a community but then allowing shit like this to happen! I don’t...I don’t even know what this is supposed to mean! Is this a threat against Autumn and me? Because whoever did it is going to really regret that choice...”
Jeremy let her rant then got up, moving towards her and guiding her back to her chair to sit her down. “Take a deep breath, or more, take five deep breaths.” He sat back down across from her on the bed. “I imagined you did want to see it, but I think Brady has an idea of honor in his head. He must like one of you a lot. And he’s a soldier. That’s how he’d react.” He watched Mazie for a moment, going over what she thought. “What are you going to do exactly? Because you’re yelling, but I’m not sure where you’re going with it. It looks like that supplies were all here, which means it’s more likely someone in house did it, as for stopping them, the power went out remember?”
“Brady, like me? That’s a load of crap. He likes Autumn. Brady and I tolerate each other. I punched him before you got here,” Mazie explained, running a hand through her hair and realizing that she should probably wash it, that she should probably have actually taken a shower when she said she was earlier instead of just getting here and throwing herself a pity party. Annoyed that she’d allowed herself to do that, Mazie took another deep breath and sighed. “I’m not sure I know what I’m going to do about it, figure out who did I guess. No one’s gonna fess up about this, but if what I want to do works in the end, no one might have to. I might be able to find out on my own.”
Earlier today she’d been contemplating if this was a bad idea, the crying to get control of the cameras thing. Was it going to make her lose Autumn in the long run, and if so, was it worth it? She needed to see Autumn now, she needed to tell her and have both of them talk together about this, as frankly and honestly as they could without giving too much away.
“Well either way there was some sense of honor running through him that he had to take things down. I left him to it because I doubted he’d understand why I wasn’t going to do it myself.” Which was mostly because he wasn’t going to get involved, but here he was, getting involved. He watched her for a moment, knowing to not ask what it was she had in mind, but he did want her to succeed. If she could? He could. “Is what you want to do something you can do right now?” he asked.
“Possibly,” She said, looking back at him. “I need to talk to Autumn first. And then a couple other people, but I need to talk to them before I try for real.” She watched him for a moment, frowning a little. “You wanted to know about Autumn and me? I really like her, Jeremy. What do you need to know about us though?”
“I was curious if that was the case, if you two were an item,” Jeremy said with a nod. He waited a moment. “I’d like to be in on whatever it is you have planned. If you’re willing.” He smiled at her, trying to seem harmless, hoping she’d agree to it.
She watched him again for a moment then stood up and motioned for him to follow, taking a page out of Jae’s book. Leading him into the bathroom, she turned on the shower and the faucet, then sat down on the floor by the sink to sit down. Gathering her knees to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them. “I don’t know about labels, but I like her enough to be an item, I guess. I think I’m upsetting her though, with what I want to do. I can already read the private messages that people post here. I’ve also set up an anonymous journal, for lack of a better term, so that people can say what they really want to say without worrying about hurting someone’s feelings. But what I really want is control of the cameras.”
Jeremy was curious, the way she pulled him into the bathroom, but wound up sitting on the floor with her, half kneeling. What she said? That was excellent. He really did wish they’d been in the same generation and known each other. She would have been amazing on his side. “Control them how?”
“I need to work the details out. I’ve got people to talk to, I need to see Autumn...” She said again. She had to let her know about this, she had to talk to her seriously about the possibility that they could have a very real threat against them. Maybe that would be enough to help get Autumn on her side about messing with the Administration this way. “But ideally, I want to have control over them so I can see what they see. And, in a perfect world, reroute the cameras if need be.”
Oh she was perfect, so very perfect. Jeremy managed to keep the smile in check, to keep it where he wanted it to be. “An interesting task. Something useful indeed.” And the perfect route out. “If you can do that, I can help you with something else.”
Curious, Mazie eyed him. She wasn’t taking control of the cameras for him. She might not even be taking control of the cameras at all. She knew the Administration wasn’t unaware of her skills so the actual process of gaining access to the cameras was no doubt going to be painstaking work, but what would Jeremy want with the extra security more than anyone else? “And that is?”
He grinned a little, adjusting the fedora so it sat lower on his face. “A way out.”
That seemed unbelievable and the idea of a way out wasn’t something that Mazie had been ready to really accept yet. “You only just got here, how do you think you already know how to get out of here?”
“I don’t. But I will. Just between you and me.” Jeremy grinned, something with a new edge to it that he rarely used, but felt inside all the time. “Give me time. We’ll find a way out.” He got up and held out a hand for her. “Shower, then I’ll show you where the nooses were. You can figure out what to do from there.”
She didn’t know how she felt about it. Just between him and her? Under normal circumstances, she might have not thought twice about keeping the secret, but this was...just the most confusing day she’d had in a long time. “You do know that I’m not leaving here without certain people,” She said, looking back at him seriously. “And at some point I’m going to want to tell them about this, if this even becomes a viable option.” And there was just something nagging her, something that she realized after a moment was some sort of protective urge. Like she wouldn’t feel right just leaving everyone else to deal with the Administration on their own. Maybe the community vibe was starting, creation of a common enemy and all.
Looking back at him, she tilted her head. “I’m not going to shower,” She said. Now was not the time. Someone had fucking nooses of what would represent her and Autumn, a shower was a waste of time.
That was a problem, her attached to people like that. He wondered what that must be like. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we’ll both work on our little bits and pieces.” He watched her then shrugged. “Alright then don’t. I just thought you’d want a fresh start on a complicated day.”
“I’ll shower when people aren’t constructing obvious threats against Autumn and me,” Mazie said, shrugging a little. “Call me crazy, but I want some vengeance. Or at least to know who did this to us...which would lead to vengeance anyway, I think.” Watching him for a moment, she held her hand out after turning off the shower and faucet. “Can I have my orange back now?”
Jeremy set the orange back in her hand, watching her. “Careful with vengeance kiddo. It becomes your undoing rather than the target’s.” He knew a thing or two about that, having seen it and avoided it as much as he could.
“You sound a little like Obi-wan Kenobi,” She said, grinning at him for a moment. Careful with the vengeance. A lesson maybe better suited for another day when he hadn’t showed up on her doorstep with threats literally hanging in the air. “Hey, Jeremy?” She looked up from peeling her orange to catch his eye again. “Thanks for this. In case, you know, I get too pissed off later to tell you. Thanks for coming to find me and telling me this. And I am sorry about your door, I’ll help...paint it or whatever you need.”
That made Jeremy smile more, nodding a little. “Obi-wan Kenobi in a suit and fedora...I like it.” He touched her shoulder gently, a reassuring touch. “I know. I know how you feel. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I came directly to you.” He smiled a little more and shook his head. “I’m not worried about the door.”
She didn’t usually like being touched, but this was Jeremy and she had quickly put him in the list of people she cared about enough to let them get by with touching her like this. “Well, I appreciate it, really. And I mean it, I’ll help paint your door. Just don’t do it without me, ok?” Orange peeled and the inedible parts discarded in the trash, she nudged her head towards the door. “Let’s go find Autumn?”
“I will let you know. Promise,” he said shaking nodding before he let her lead the way, reclaiming his apple. “Yes let’s.”