Winter World (The Long Winter #1)(66)

Lawrence Fowler comes by on the second day. I haven’t seen him since I launched to the ISS. I swear he’s aged twenty years since then. He smiles, and in that moment, I see the same kind man I used to know.

“It’s good to see you, Emma.”

“You too, Larry. What did I miss?”

He shrugs. “Nothing much. Some inclement weather.”

James smiles. I laugh and cough and when we fall silent, I ask the question I’ve wanted to ask since we first made contact with Earth: “My sister?”

“She’s okay. We got your message.”

“Where is she?”

Fowler glances to the door. “I’m not sure. Let me check on that.”

To my surprise, he slips out of the room.

A minute later he re-enters, and my heart bursts. Madison is behind him. Owen and Adeline are following close on her heels, with David bringing up the rear.

Madison hugs me gently as if I’m a china doll she’s afraid to break. The kids do the same, and David nods at me without a word. He hasn’t changed much.

“What’s with the super-hesitant hug? It’s not like I have the plague.”

Madison smiles sympathetically. “The doctor says you’re still weak from all your time in space. That your bones need time to heal and that you could fracture easily.”

Owen and Adeline look concerned. I think it scares them seeing me here in the hospital like this, wounded and fragile. I’ve always been the super-aunt to them. It turns out a lack of gravity is my kryptonite.

I’m not sure how to respond to Madison. I’m thankful when James speaks. “She’ll be out of here in no time. Just routine physical therapy and rehab after time in space.”

He makes for the door, and Fowler follows him. “We’ll give you all a little time together.”

Madison begins peppering me with questions about what happened, where I went, and what I saw. Through the window that looks out into the hall, I see James and Fowler talking excitedly. Is James planning his next step? I know I need to rest and to heal, but I desperately want to be out there with them.

“Did you hear me?” Madison asks.

“Of course,” I lie.

“So?”

“So what?”

“So are you two together?”

I chew my lip. “Who do you mean?” I know exactly who she means. I feel like a seventh grader right now.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe that guy who won’t leave your bedside, who they say is the sole reason you got home.”

“It’s complicated.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that it’s sort of hard to date in space. Can we change the subject?”

Madison crosses her arms. Translation: No, I don’t want to change the subject. But I will. Because you’re in the hospital. And you’re my older sister.

“Actually, let’s stay on that subject. Do you know who he is?”

Madison seems confused. “Who? James?”

“Yes. He’s a roboticist. Dr. James Sinclair. He was in the news several years ago… he went to prison—”

“Wait, he was in prison!? For what?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you.”

“You don’t know? He didn’t tell you?”

“No, he didn’t tell me. So, you don’t recognize his name?”

Madison shrugs. “It sounds vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t tell you anything about him. Before the evacuations, I was doing well to keep up with what the kids were doing after school every day. Some scientist going to jail? It’s not really the type of thing I would have committed to memory.”

“Okay. Fine. You said there were evacuations. What happened? Where are we? Where do you all live?”

Madison glances at David, who holds out an arm, corrals the kids, and leaves the room.

“Things happened so quickly, Em. The whole world went crazy. At first, the US created a few settlement camps. One in Death Valley. Another in Arizona. They were just taking people from Alaska and Michigan, then Maine and Minnesota, and then the camps were overrun by people flocking there. There was the sense that if you didn’t get a place, you would be buried by the snow. Things got worse when China and Japan announced an alliance.”

“The Pac Alliance?”

“Yeah. They sent what they called a trade envoy to Australia. In reality it was composed of the largest naval fleet ever assembled. They blockaded the island and began resettling their people there. Australia joined the alliance, but they had little choice. I’m sure they reached out to the US and Europe, but we had problems of our own.

“The Europeans moved south across the Mediterranean. The war here in North Africa began on a Monday and was over by Thursday. America and Canada joined the European allies.”

“The Atlantic Union?”

“Correct.”

“Are those the only two powers left in the world?”

“No. The Russians and Indians joined forces and moved their people into Iran. They call the alliance the Caspian Treaty. It’s been hard to get information—when the satellites went down, the internet went down—but they say the fighting in the Middle East was intense.”

“How many Americans survived?”