Free Web NovelChapter 170: Chapter 170 - Hydetown
The cell door opened with a heavy metal scrape.
Iyisha lifted her head slowly.
A man stood outside the bars with a ring of keys hanging from his belt. Sunlight spilled through the doorway behind him, bright enough that it made her squint.
"Quarantine done," he said in accented English. "You two can walk."
Malcolm was already standing.
He didn’t look at the guard. His eyes were on Iyisha.
She pushed herself upright carefully. Her legs still felt hollow, like the bones inside them had been replaced with something weak and unreliable.
Malcolm stepped closer automatically.
For a moment she thought he would help her stand.
But he stopped himself.
His hand hovered briefly in the air before falling back to his side.
Iyisha noticed.
She stood on her own.
The guard unlocked the cell and stepped back.
"Follow me," he said. "Marybeth has gotten out earlier than you."
They followed him down a narrow hallway that smelled faintly of disinfectant and old concrete. Iyisha’s footsteps echoed strangely in the quiet building.
When the door at the end opened, sunlight flooded the corridor.
Iyisha stepped outside.
And stopped.
Hydetown spread out before her.
It was alive.
The street in front of them buzzed with activity. People moved everywhere, carrying tools, pushing carts, arguing loudly in Spanish. A truck engine roared somewhere down the road.
To the left, two men crouched beside an engine block laid out on the pavement, arguing over a wrench while oil stained their hands black. Sparks burst in bright flashes farther down the street where someone was welding steel plates onto a section of fence.
The sharp smell of hot metal drifted through the air.
Across the road a group of women stood around a long table, rolling dough and talking rapidly while a large pot boiled over a fire nearby.
Children ran past them chasing a scuffed soccer ball, their laughter echoing off the buildings.
Music floated faintly from somewhere deeper in the town.
A guitar.
Iyisha hadn’t heard music in months.
She stood there quietly, taking it in.
The guard kept walking.
Malcolm followed.
Iyisha hurried after them, forcing her stiff legs to keep up. The weakness was still there, a faint tremble running through her muscles, but they held.
Malcolm walked half a step ahead of her.
Close enough that she could reach him if she wanted.
But he didn’t look back.
Iyisha noticed that too.
A man carrying a crate of metal pipes nodded to the guard as they passed.
"¡Hola, veci!"
The guard lifted his chin in greeting.
"Están con Marybeth," the man said, glancing curiously at Iyisha and Malcolm.
The man looked them over briefly before offering a friendly smile.
"Hola. Welcome to Hydetown."
Iyisha blinked in mild surprise.
Her Spanish lessons in high school had been years ago, but she still understood enough.
"Hola... gracias," she answered a little awkwardly.
The guard glanced back at them.
"We’re having a celebration tonight," he said. "Marybeth coming home."
Iyisha nodded slowly.
So that was it.
Marybeth hadn’t just been traveling with them.
She had been coming home.
The thought stirred something small and sad inside her chest.
They continued down the street.
People watched them as they passed.
Not hostile.
Curious.
Some whispered quietly to each other. Others simply stared.
A group of children openly pointed at them until an older woman smacked one of the boys lightly on the head and shooed them away.
Iyisha felt their eyes following her.
She couldn’t blame them.
They were strangers in the middle of someone else’s home.
She leaned closer to Malcolm.
"Do they know what happened to me?" she whispered.
Malcolm shook his head.
"No."
Iyisha exhaled quietly.
Relieved.
"Marybeth!" the guard shouted.
Iyisha looked up.
Marybeth was standing on the balcony of a small house, leaning against the railing while talking to someone inside.
She turned at the sound of her name.
The moment she saw them, her face broke into a wide smile.
She stood up immediately and hurried down the stairs.
The guard gave a short nod and turned away, his job finished.
Marybeth walked straight to them.
Her eyes landed on Iyisha.
"You human?" she asked, amusement dancing across her face.
Iyisha blinked in surprise and quickly glanced around to see if anyone had heard.
No one was paying attention.
Marybeth laughed.
"That was terrifying, to tell the truth," she said.
Iyisha nodded slowly.
"Nothing more terrifying than being the one experiencing it," she replied quietly.
Malcolm cut in before the conversation could go further.
"Let’s not talk about that here."
Marybeth shrugged lightly.
"Sure."
She gestured toward the house behind her.
"Come on. You can stay with Abuela for now."
Iyisha looked up at the balcony again.
An old woman with white hair stood there, watching them calmly.
Her back was slightly bent, but her eyes were sharp.
Iyisha leaned a little closer to Marybeth.
"How old is she?" she whispered.
"Eighty-four," Marybeth whispered back.
Iyisha blinked.
She stared at the woman again.
That had to be the oldest person she had seen since the apocalypse began.
Marybeth grinned.
"Don’t let her appearance fool you."
They walked toward the house.
When they reached the steps, the old woman came down to meet them.
She greeted Marybeth first, pulling her into a warm embrace before turning to Iyisha and Malcolm with a gentle smile.
"Bienvenidos," she said.
Welcome.
She spoke with Marybeth rapidly in Spanish for a moment before switching to English.
"You stay here," she said kindly.
Marybeth nodded.
"I’ll show them around town later."
The old woman stepped aside to let them enter.
Iyisha followed Marybeth inside and immediately noticed the warmth of the house. Quilts were draped over the backs of the chairs and a woven rug covered most of the wooden floor. The air smelled faintly of herbs and something sweet cooking in the kitchen.
It felt... homey.
A kind of comfort Iyisha hadn’t stepped into in a very long time.
Marybeth led them through the small living room toward a hallway at the back of the house.
"You two can stay here," she said, pushing open a door.
The room was simple but clean. A small bed sat against the wall beside a wooden dresser. A folded quilt rested neatly at the foot of the mattress and a small window looked out toward the street.
Iyisha stepped inside slowly.
The mattress looked softer than anything she had slept on in months.
"This is on the first floor," Marybeth said. "Abuela and I sleep upstairs."
Iyisha nodded.
She ran her fingers lightly across the quilt. It was handmade, the stitching careful and worn with age.
They settled down for a bit with their bags inside already.
Marybeth knocked on the door after a few minutes. "Wanna go out and check the town?" She asked.
Iyisha, folding her clothes, looked at Marybeth and then at Malcolm. "Sure." She answered.
Marybeth turned toward the staircase and raised her voice.
"¡Abuela! Vamos a salir un rato!"
A reply came quickly from upstairs, a stream of Spanish Iyisha couldn’t quite catch.
Marybeth grinned and turned back toward them.
"She says don’t get into trouble."
Iyisha smiled faintly.
"Come on," Marybeth said. "I’ll show you the town."
They stepped back outside into the noise and sunlight of Hydetown.
Marybeth continued beside them, pointing occasionally as they moved through the streets.
"That’s the machine yard," she said, nodding toward a wide open lot filled with half-disassembled vehicles. "Most of the town works there."
Iyisha followed her gaze.
Men and women crawled over the skeleton of a pickup truck while another group worked beneath the raised frame of a bus. The entire place smelled like oil, grease, and hot metal.
Someone laughed loudly.
A woman slid out from under a truck chassis, wiping grease from her hands with a rag.
She was tall, with dark hair tied back in a loose knot and streaks of engine oil across her forearms. Her movements were confident, effortless. Even Iyisha, as a woman, couldn’t help noticing how striking she was.
Lucía’s eyes landed on Malcolm immediately.
She paused.
Then she straightened slowly.
"Well damn," she said.
Marybeth groaned quietly.
"Here we go."
The woman tossed the rag over her shoulder and walked toward them with easy confidence.
"Marybeth," she said.
Marybeth lifted a hand.
"Lucía."
Lucía’s gaze moved straight to Malcolm.
She looked him up and down once.
"Marybeth didn’t mention she brought a giant with her."
Malcolm blinked once.
Lucía’s eyes flicked briefly toward Iyisha before returning to him. When Iyisha didn’t react, Lucía narrowed her eyes slightly, as if amused by the deliberate indifference.
She crossed her arms and tilted her head at Malcolm.
"What’s your name, papi?"
Malcolm shrugged slightly, his eyes flicking to her for only a moment.
Lucía laughed.
"I like him. Hot, tall, and mysterious."
Marybeth rolled her eyes.
Iyisha stood a little behind them.
Watching.
Lucía leaned against the hood of the truck she had been working on and gestured toward the open engine.
"Come here," she said to Malcolm. "Look at this."
Malcolm stepped closer.
Iyisha felt something tighten quietly in her chest.
Lucía pointed at a section of the engine block.
"See this? We pulled this beauty out of a construction loader. Thing still runs like a monster."
Malcolm leaned slightly over the hood to look.
Lucía moved closer beside him, their shoulders nearly touching as she pointed deeper into the engine.
Iyisha bit her lip.
Then she turned toward Marybeth.
"Who is that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Lucía," Marybeth said simply. "Don’t worry about her. She flirts with everyone."
Iyisha clicked her tongue softly.
"Well... it’s not like he’s my boyfriend."
The words slipped out before Iyisha could stop them.
Then she froze.
Reya.
The memory hit her a second later.
Iyisha’s expression softened immediately.
She cleared her throat and looked back at Marybeth.
"Are you... okay?" she asked quietly.
Marybeth shrugged.
"I don’t know," she said after a moment. "I just feel numb."
Iyisha reached up and rested her hand gently on her shoulder.
"You’re doing well."
Marybeth gave a small smile.
Across the yard Lucía laughed again.
Iyisha tried very hard not to look.
