“Juan lives with us now,” he said out of the blue.
“Yes, I know. I heard,” Nerit answered. She spooned some oatmeal into her mouth.
Jason sighed a little more dramatically. “I don't understand why. ”
“Well, your Mother is doing what many people are doing right now, living her life in a kind of desperate rush. Death could come at any time. When you know that, you want to grab life and enjoy it before it ends,” Nerit explained. “I think you will be seeing many people doing just that. Especially now that we have what feels like a safe and comfortable home. ”
Jason frowned a bit as he chewed his cereal. “I guess. It just feels weird. They talk in Spanish to each other a lot and I feel left out. ”
“Ah,” Nerit said, understanding. “Well, why don't you ask them to teach you Spanish or at least translate so you don't feel left out?”
Jason shrugged again, then said, “It just feels so different now. I don't like how it keeps changing. ”
“Neither do I, but we have to do our best. ”
Jason hoisted his large backpack up onto the table. He pulled out a book and some notebooks. “Well, I've been working on weapons ideas to keep my mind off of…you know…stuff and to make myself useful. ”
“Really? Like what?”
Jason opened up a notebook to show her his notes and illustrations.
“We really can't use fire in the fort. It's way too dangerous. We could end up setting our own stuff on fire. Burning down the hotel would not be good. But outside the fort, we could make some sort of firetrap. I was looking into making concussion grenades to rip the zombies apart and maybe doing some stuff with shrapnel to rip up their bodies. I noticed the more fucked…um…messed up ones are slower. Easier to kill. ”
“Yes, yes, they are,” Nerit agreed.
“Shelley's little brother came up with a lawnmower-woodchippertype machine to chew them up. ” Jason showed Nerit the crayon illustration complete with zombies getting ripped apart by a large lawn mower. “It got me thinking. We could take apart some lawnmowers and use the engines and blades. Not sure how yet, but working on it. ”
Nerit looked over the drawings and the notes. “Very good ideas. ”
“Yeah, but not sure how to do some of it. ”
“Maybe Juan could help you, or Travis. ”
Jason peered at her from under his bangs. “I guess so. I just don't think they'll listen to me. ”
Nerit laughed a little. She had forgotten how absolutely moody teenage boys could be. “Oh, I think they will. We need all the clever ideas we can get to survive this. ”
“Maybe. I just think it’s cool that you know what you gotta do. I want to help, but I'm just a kid. I have ideas, but…”
“Jason, I really do think they will listen to you. You're a smart boy with clever ideas. That is better than an old woman who only knows how to shoot a gun. ”
“Maybe, but you can shoot the eyes out of a fly. I just come up with ideas and don’t know how to make them work right. ” Jason shoved his heavy bangs out of his face and frowned more.
“Well,” Nerit said slowly, “that is why you should talk to Juan and Travis. I think they will be able to help you figure it all out. ”
Jason fidgeted with his notes, then finally agreed. “Yeah, I guess.
I’m just used to older guys not listening to me. My Dad never gave a rat’s ass what I thought or said. ”
Nerit took a long sip of her orange juice, pondering her response.
“Well, Jason, I think you need to do what your mother is doing. Make this a new life. ”
Jason stared at her, then ducked his head down. “Yeah. I guess. ”
Shoveling more cereal into his mouth, he looked up at her through his bangs. She could tell he was considering her words.
Nerit stood up, stretching her still stiff body, and picked up her rifle.