“What about safety?”
“We can make it safe.” She got to her feet. “You’re worrying about sticking around. This garden alone could feed us all for a couple of weeks, at least, so long as we’re careful with rations and we eat every last scrap.” She took his hand within her own. “There are houses, and we can find something. Anything to keep this place safe. We’ve all got the skills.”
Clayton stared at her, cupping her face. “I need you to come with me.”
She frowned but followed.
“Gather everyone in front of this house,” Clayton said as they passed one of his men.
Over the past few weeks, she’d started to learn everyone’s name, but she was still in the process of remembering them.
They moved away from the house, going down the long street. She hadn’t noticed a sign, but there was a pharmacy symbol on the building he entered.
“Are you sick?” she asked, fear rushing through her entire body.
He didn’t say anything, going through the shelves until he came to a stop. He grabbed something, turned around, and handed it to her. “You need to take this.”
Looking down at the box, Maggie held it tightly.
A pregnancy test.
She’d been scared about what her lack of a cycle meant. She knew immediately it could only mean one thing.
Clayton hadn’t worn a condom, and it wasn’t like she was on the pill. They hadn’t been careful. Instead, she’d just hoped they wouldn’t get pregnant. Actually, that was a lie. Like most things in this world, she wanted to get pregnant but also knew the risks were higher now than ever before.
No doctors.
No hospitals.
No medicine.
It was back to the old ways.
She looked up to find Clayton frowning. Biting her lip, she glanced down at the test. “Do you love me?” she asked.
“This is serious. I need to know.”
Her heart broke a little more. He was more interested in finding out if she was pregnant than telling her how he felt.
“Right.” She brushed past him and went to the bathroom. Her hands shook as she pulled the sticks out of the box, opening them up. The words were all a blur.
Clayton entered the bathroom.
“Please leave.”
“Maggie?”
“No. I don’t want to talk to you. I’ll take this test, okay? And I’ll let you know the results.” She refused to look at him. If she did, she’d cry. He’d broken her heart and he didn’t even know it.
Seconds passed, then minutes, before he finally walked out. She breathed a little sigh of relief, but it didn’t make her feel better.
Swiping at her falling tears, she read through the instructions. She entered the stall, dropped her pants, and sat on the toilet. Her hands shook as she took the test.
This was pointless. She knew what was going to happen. She was pregnant.
After peeing on the stick, she placed it on top of the toilet roll holder before standing to pull up her pants.
Once done, she went to the sink and washed her hands as the stick let her know her fate.
It was rather anticlimactic. Pregnant. The results didn’t shock her.
Nodding her head, she took a deep breath and left the bathroom.
“I’m going to join the others.”
“Maggie, stop it.” Clayton grabbed her arms.
“Get your hands off me. You want the results, they’re in the bathroom.”
“Don’t do this.”
She continued to look at him, waiting for him to back down, which he did. He stepped back, and she moved forward, joining the rest of the crew.
“Are you okay?” Lee asked.
“Fine.”
“You look pale. Where’s Clayton?”
“He’ll be joining us soon.” Maggie stared straight ahead. When Clayton joined, she ignored his stare.
He let everyone know they were going to be settling in this quaint little town. She didn’t know the name of it. The signs had rubbed out long ago, not that it mattered anymore. Then he let the group know some very special news. He told them that she was pregnant and everyone turned toward her, congratulating her, but she hated it.
Rather than smile, she acknowledged the well wishes and didn’t speak.
Staring at the ground, she waited for everything to move on.
Clenching her hands into fists, she knew she could only rely on herself.
****
Clayton knew he’d fucked up.
“Do you love me?”
It was a simple question and yet, he hadn’t given her a simple answer. He’d ordered her to take the damn test. No wonder she was pissed at him, angry. He would be too. All day, she’d ignored him and even now, she hadn’t joined the rest of them outside where they’d set a fire and started to make plans.
Lee came out of the house where Maggie had discovered the vegetables.
“How is she?” he asked, getting to his feet.
“I don’t know. I think … she’s heartbroken.”
“What?”
“Yeah. She’s not smiling, nor is she happy. I think she’s really sad about being pregnant. It’s not good. Moms have to be happy.” Lee ran fingers through her hair. “At least this means she won’t give birth in the winter. We’re looking at a spring into summer baby.”