Page 66 of Hero

Zed is smiling as he listens to Rina. His eyes are soft and groggy, and hers are filled to overflowing with earnest excitement.

I love them both so much I could swallow them whole.

When she finishes the details of the day, Rina asks, “Can we stay here forever, Daddy? You, me, Essie, and Buddy?”

Zed nods gravely. “Yes. If we like it, we can stay here forever.”

Rina squeals and scoots over so she can hug him. Then she hugs me and Buddy in turn. I hug her back, and Buddy accepts his with a long-suffering thump of his tail.

Then I say, “Okay. We need to let Daddy get some more rest. Do you want to come down and help me figure out what we can make for dinner with our rations?”

This appeals to Rina, so she scrambles off the bed and sprints back down the hall toward the kitchen.

Zed makes a gesture with his hand, beckoning me over. When I lean down, he murmurs, “Love you,” and gives me a brief kiss.

“I love you too.”

I’m smiling as I close the door with a quiet click.

EPILOGUE

Five months later,I’m finishing up a class I’m teaching on the solar system to fifteen students ranging in age from seven to twelve.

There aren’t enough kids in town yet to have distinct classes for each grade so we divide them into elementary, middle, and high classes and do our best. We teach subjects to classes as a whole and teach skills in a more individualized way.

It’s the best we can do given our current size and resources, and overall our kids learn as much as they’ll probably need for this new world. Some of the parents want a more purely practical curriculum, including even more of the basic life skills we currently cover. But the purpose of education has never been about simple survival. Kids should have the opportunity to think, to express themselves, to learn about the world they live in, to question, to wonder, to recognize beauty.

Maybe they won’t need to name and describe the other planets in our solar system to do the jobs they’re likely to do when they grow up, but they should get the chance to learn about them anyway.

I still only teach science three days a week. There are more babies born in town every month, however, and people from surrounding areas have started sending their children to school with us, since our school is the most established in the region. In a year or two, I’ll probably be able to teach full-time instead of splitting my work shifts between the school and the garden.

The kids ask a bunch of questions about the planets, and I answer them enthusiastically. Maybe I get too excited. Maybe I ramble on too much as so much of what I loved learning years ago comes flooding back.

But maybe being openly passionate about astronomy isn’t a bad thing. Even here. Even now.

Most of the kids are as into the lesson as I am, and the time passes quickly. As we’re finishing up, a quiet ten-year-old boy named Chuck raises his hand to ask, “How do we know all this stuff about Mars and Venus if no one has ever been there?”

“Because people studied the planets for years. They looked through super-powerful telescopes and sent probes into space to get measurements from all the planets they could. Before Impact, some people spent their whole lives working to find out as much information as possible about our planet and all the others. We don’t want to lose what they worked so hard to discover just because our lives are different now. We can still learn what they learned. We can let it make our minds bigger.”

Maybe it’s my tone, but this concluding statement visibly hits home with several of the kids. They nod soberly, eyes wide, and I’m unexpectedly touched.

Before I can follow up further, an old cow bell clangs from outside, signaling the end of the school day. A few of the kids linger to ask me more questions, so I’m later than usual walking back home.

People greet me as I go. Everyone in town knows us now. It’s strange that it’s happened so quickly.

Six months ago, the three of us were still living in our little cabin, completely alone in the world and barely holding onto the edge of survival. Then one chance meeting with four travelers changed everything.

It’s still hard to wrap my mind around our new reality. No longer waking up every morning wondering how we’ll make it through the day. Of course I still have plenty of worries. I’ve been a worrier all my life, and this world will always be more precarious than it used to be before Impact.

But there’s so much more to life now than making it through the day.

As I get closer to home, I hear Rina’s laughter and Buddy’s happy bark before I come into view of our little three-bedroom house.

The sound makes me smile, and I’m still smiling as I reach our front yard.

Zed is finishing up rebuilding the front porch while Rina and Buddy are playing fetch in the yard. Both of them run over to greet me, Rina launching herself into a hug and Buddy panting ecstatically as he waits for his ear scratches.

Rina has a shorter school day than the older kids, so Zed picks her up after his shift fishing at the river on the days I teach.

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