“I didn’t say he was a zom, I said he was a half—”
Lilah pulled her knife and drove it into the tabletop in front of Morgie.
“Point taken,” said Morgie. He turned to Riot and offered her the plate of corn. She took an ear, hiding a smile.
Benny noted that Riot seemed to smile at everything Morgie said and did. And he seemed to find whatever she did endlessly fascinating. Benny smiled too as he spread butter on an ear of roasted corn.
“What are you smiling at?” asked Nix.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just smiling.”
Nix pushed her knee against his. But it was under the table, where nobody but Benny knew about it.
Benny took a bite of the corn and chewed as he thought about all that had happened. Next Tuesday would make one year since he’d agreed to apprentice with Tom. It seemed impossible that so little time had passed. A year.
He thought about the kid he’d been. The Benny of one year ago had been so mired in assumptions and inflexible opinions, few of which were valid. That Benny had hated Tom, and believed him to be a coward.
Tom. A coward.
Benny smiled and shook his head.
A year ago Nix’s mother had been alive. A year ago Benny, Chong, and Morgie idolized Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer. A year ago none of them had ever set foot outside the gates. A year ago zoms were the most frightening thing Benny could even imagine.
So much had happened since.
So much.
Pain and loss. Heartache and blood. Tears and death.
And so, so much had been gained.
More than Benny thought was possible.
The world was not at all what he’d thought it was. And he still didn’t know what else was out there. Europe, Asia, and so many other places were still unknowns, still silent and ominous places. There was a whole new world to explore. Benny wanted to explore it. Nix did too. They weren’t town kids anymore. They weren’t yet adults, either; Benny knew that and accepted it. That would come.
So what was he? Benny knew the answer to that question, and he knew that this answer would be a defining characteristic from now on and all through his life. For him, and for Nix, Lilah, Chong, Morgie, and Riot.
They were samurai.
And even now, as everyone celebrated peace, Benny could feel the pull of the road. He could hear the siren call of unknown places sing to him.
He turned and saw Nix staring at him the way she often did. The way she looked at him when she was tapping into his thoughts.
She smiled and nodded to him.
He nodded back. There was no need to say anything. They both understood on a level that Benny no longer tried to define.
He looked around at all the people he knew, and at all the strangers. There was so much laughter, so many smiles. He didn’t remember it ever being like this. He wished Tom were here to see it. To share it.
This was a better place. Not just this new town, but this new world. So much brighter and cleaner than the old world of rot and ruin, fire and ash.