An old table sat in the middle of the large room. A deck of cards sat on it along with an empty glass. Two old brown sofas were pushed against the walls. Judging by the design and material their best days had been in the seventies, but their cushions and backing were still intact. In between the table and chair was a metal wood-burning stove that still had a pile of wood sitting beside it. A layer of dust covered everything within the room but it appeared relatively clean otherwise.
Carl moved to the left and the others followed behind him. He stepped into a kitchen with a small green fridge, a white two-burner stove, and a steel basin sink. There were four cabinets on the wall but only two on the ground, one on either side of the sink.
Carl opened and closed all of the upper cabinets but they were bare and nothing lurked within them. The left bottom cabinet had a trashcan and the right a handful of cleaning supplies, including bleach. She despised the smell of bleach but judging by the smell of this place they were going to need it.
Stepping back, she flicked on her flashlight and pulled out her gun as she shone it into the room just to the right of the kitchen. Two sets of bunk beds were within; she knelt down before she entered the room and shone the light around the small space beneath the beds. Holding her breath, she half expected to see eyes reflecting back at her but dust bunnies were the only things beneath the bed.
"Clear?" Carl inquired.
"Yes," she told him and rose up.
Carl stepped past her and into the narrow room. He stood on his tiptoes to peer into the shadows above the beds. Nodding, he dropped back down and walked to the end of the room. Mary Ellen followed behind and opened up the drawers on the dresser to the right while Carl went through the left one.
"They should be empty," Al said from the doorway.
Mary Ellen closed the last drawer and nodded. "They are."
She left the room and they all moved toward the last two remaining rooms on the other side of the cabin. Riley already stood in the doorway of a tiny bathroom. Mary Ellen spotted the stand-in shower in the corner with a toilet beside it. She frowned as she stared at the toilet paper holder; it took her a minute to realize that it was a deer antler. Shaking her head, she couldn't figure out if she was amused or repulsed by it.
Turning away, she looked into the other bedroom that Xander and John were already searching. Just like the other one, it had two sets of bunk beds and two dressers in it. The mattress on the bottom bunk to her right had been torn apart, springs and cushion were piled up around the hole. It must have been the raccoon's nest, she realized.
She turned her attention back to Xander and John as Xander toed open the closet at the end of the beds to her left. Xander pointed the gun and flashlight into the closet. The light reflected off the back wall of the empty closet but some of the insulation from the ceiling had fallen down. "Is there an attic?" Xander inquired.
"Just a crawl space," Al answered.
"This is where the raccoon got in."
"We'll have to find the hole and patch it," Carl said and left the room.
Mary Ellen turned back to the large main room and stood there staring at it. She didn't know what to say or do. She didn't know what was expected of her anymore.
"Now what?" Riley inquired.
It was a relief to know she wasn't the only one who had no idea what to do now. They'd been running for weeks now, with this one goal in mind. Now they had attained their goal and she felt they should still be running, that moving was safer, but it wasn't. It couldn't be. They'd lost people while on the move, there were constant dangers lurking out there, constant obstacles they had to overcome. Here they would be able to hunt; they would be able to scour the area in search of food and gas. They may even be able to start a garden next year if the weather and sky continued to make their steady return back toward normal.
She felt helpless now. Even more lost than when all of this had started and she'd had no idea what was going on, where to go, or how to escape. At least she had been moving then. When she'd been moving, she hadn't had time to think. There was too much time now and thinking was something she would prefer not to do.
"Now we make it a home," Al said. "We take the boards down, we clean, we search the area; we set traps for animals and for possible enemies. We see if we can make a stand here, make a life."
It all sounded so good but she remained standing with the others, her shoulders pressed against Riley's and Carl's. Outside of the open doorway she could see Nancy, Donald, Claire, Josh, Freddie, and Rochelle gathered on the porch and at the bottom of the stairs. Rochelle held Spooky in her arms as she stared at the lake. Mary Ellen couldn't bring herself to move toward them and let them know it was safe to come inside.
"There is still plenty to do," Al said. "We're not safe here, not yet."
"Should we go back and lock the gate?" John asked.
"That's the only road in or out; barricading it probably isn't the best idea. We can work on cutting another road out over time. There's a shed in the woods with an ax in there and I'm sure we'll find some more axes and chainsaws on the other properties in the area," Al told them.
"Let's hope for the chainsaws," John said.
"Where do we start first?" Mary Ellen asked.
"We'll split the tasks. For now we should start on making this place ready for us to stay in. We should set up a security system around the perimeter so we can know if someone is coming. Are there any hunting stands near this cabin?" Carl inquired. "They might be useful as lookout points."
"There are," Al answered. "I'll show them to you."
"Are you coming with us, John?"
"Yeah."
"I'd like to go," Mary Ellen inserted. She'd assumed cleaning this place would be the thing she'd want to dive into, but a walk through the woods, movement, seemed like a much better option right now.
Carl nodded his agreement. "That's fine. We should go now. Night will be here soon."
"I'm going to give Victor another dose," Riley said. "And bring him inside."
"How many doses have you given him?" Carl asked.
"This will be number four."
"How many do you plan to give him?" John asked.
"Until the bottle runs out. The medicine does nothing for us and it doesn't seem to be harming him. I don't see any reason to stop."
"Neither do I," Carl agreed. "Come on, let's go."
Walking out to the porch gave Mary Ellen a purpose again. The others turned toward them as they descended the steps of the porch. "It's safe to go in," Carl informed them. "We'll get these boards off the windows, the cabin cleaned up, and the supplies inside before the sun sets. We're going to check some things out but we'll be back soon."
"Got it," Donald said and hurried into the cabin.
"Be safe," Rochelle said to her.
"I will," she promised and kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Stay close to the others."
Rochelle nodded and hurried over to join Riley by the car. "Winter up here can be brutal," Al informed them as they moved further into the woods. Mary Ellen searched the large pines and oaks surrounding them as the fading light of the setting sun filtered through the heavy cover over her head. "If we're able to stay here that long we're going to have to figure out a way to stay heated and cook without producing much smoke."
"That shouldn't be too difficult," John muttered.
"The sick people are still human, if winter is bad there's a good chance they won't survive it," Carl said.
"Well at least we won't be alone then," John said. "Those things are too damn smart to freeze to death, they'll go south or they'll burn something. Hopefully it's not our frozen bodies they decide to use for fuel."
Carl scowled at him. "Frozen bodies probably wouldn't burn well and I think they prefer to use us for food."
"That's looking on the bright side."
If John hadn't always been a sarcastic SOB Mary Ellen might have actually been concerned about him after the events of last night. However, she knew this w
as just the way he normally handled things. Carl didn't seem at all worried about him as he told John to go screw himself in not so nice of words.
"We don't even know if we'll have a winter with this crazy weather and events we've had lately." Al stopped beneath a large maple and pointed up. "Here's one."
Mary Ellen eyed the wooden boards nailed into the tree about a foot apart until they reached a square wooden platform about thirty feet up. Her stomach dropped as she eyed the cracks in most of the boards used as a ladder and a broken board in the base of the stand. She'd prefer to take the polar plunge naked then climb up there.
Carl lit a cigarette before he grabbed hold of the bottom board and tested his weight on it. He cautiously climbed up the steps, pulling on each board a little before putting his weight on it. Mary Ellen held her breath as he made it to the square hole in the bottom of the stand. Placing his hands on each side of the stand, he tested the security of it before gingerly pulling himself onto it.
Her breath exploded from her as he rose to his full height close to the trunk of the tree. "What do you see?" John called quietly up to him.
"Trees," Carl answered. "Lots of them."
"Maybe if you move closer to the edge," John suggested.
"You come up here and get closer to the edge," Carl retorted.
"Can you see the cabin or anything around us?" Al asked.
Carl shook his head, stomped on his cigarette, and climbed back down the tree. "This one won't be of any help to us," he told them when he stepped onto the ground. "Maybe in the fall, when the leaves drop we'll be able to see better, but not now. Where's the next one?"
"This way," Al said and led them through the woods on a perpendicular angle to the cabin. "This one was my friend's stand. I never used it but it might have a better view of the cabin and surrounding area."
The twigs and leaves crunched beneath their feet as they continued through the woods. The scent of rotten leaves and pine needles assailed her, bringing forth memories of fall and Halloweens spent trick-or-treating with Rochelle through the neighborhood. She'd always loved the smell of fall, the leaves as they changed color, the pumpkin themed everything that popped up everywhere, and warm apple cider. What she wouldn't give for some warm apple cider right now, but that wasn't going to happen today. Maybe they'd be able to find an apple tree and make some cider of their own in the future.
Al stopped beneath a large oak and nodded toward the metal ladder that had been nailed to the tree. It didn't look any more stable than the wooden boards on the other tree, but the stand above appeared to be fully intact. John seized hold of Carl's arm when he went to grab the ladder.
"I'll go this time," John offered.
Carl nodded and stepped aside. John grabbed a rung and began to carefully climb up the rickety ladder. Mary Ellen hissed out a breath as the metal bowed and creaked beneath his weight but held firm. John pulled himself onto the stand and like Carl stayed close to trunk of the tree. He shaded his eyes as he searched the forest.
He gave a brief nod before climbing down the ladder again. He'd almost reached the bottom when one of the rungs beneath his feet gave way. Mary Ellen gasped loudly, Al and Carl lurched forward as John's feet fell out from underneath him. John's chin bouncing off of one of the rungs caused her to wince, but he kept his hold on the ladder and eventually got his feet onto another step.
"You ok?" Mary Ellen asked when John jumped off and landed on the ground nearby.
He rubbed his reddened chin as he nodded. "Yeah."
"Will it be useful?" Carl asked.
"I could see the cabin from up there and part of the road."
"Good, are there anymore stands Al?"
"There's one more that could be of help," Al answered. "The others are further into the woods."
They fell into step behind Al as he walked at an angle that took them further away from the cabin, but brought them closer to the lake. The sun had almost completely set by the time they arrived at the final stand and Carl climbed into the tree above. Mary Ellen glanced nervously around the woods as silence descended with the twilight.
She'd been so eager to escape the cabin, now all she wanted was to get back to the shelter. She pulled her flashlight out and held it before her. Carl climbed back down the ladder and landed almost silently on the ground beside her. He grabbed hold of her hand before she could turn on the light and shook his head. "Not unless it becomes necessary."
"Did you see something up there?" she asked nervously.
"No, but that doesn't mean we're alone. This stand will be helpful too."
In the distance the forlorn hoot of an owl drifted through the trees. Even if he hadn't seen anything while he was up there, the hair on Mary Ellen's neck stood on end. The woods took on an ominous aura that made it feel as if they had come alive.
"Let's get back," Carl said.
Mary Ellen tried to be as noiseless as possible while they headed back toward the cabin but every step seemed to echo loudly through the trees. She knew it was only her imagination but she felt like Big Foot stomping through the woods in search of food.
Relief filled her when the cabin finally came into view again. The boards had been taken down from the windows; the dim beam of a flashlight could be seen through the glass. The welcoming glow of the light drew her hurriedly onward. As she approached the right side of the cabin, she could hear the murmur of voices drifting out and for the first time she got the real sense of a home.
"Did you find anything of use?" Mary Ellen almost screamed out loud at the voice that came from the left of her. She jumped and spun as Xander emerged from the boulders by the lake. "Didn't meant to startle you," he apologized. "I was just keeping watch."
"There are a couple of stands that we can use to watch from. They have to be fixed up a little but they'll come in handy," Carl answered.
"Good," Xander said as he fell into step with them.
Mary Ellen climbed the steps to the porch and entered the cabin. The others looked half-asleep as they sat in the chairs around the table and on the couch. Beneath the scent of lemon polish and bleach, she could still detect the faint aroma of musk and urine. The layer of dust had been removed from the furniture. A slight breeze drifted through the open windows, bringing with it the fresh mountain air. There was still more work to be done inside, but it already looked better than when she'd left.
"Dinner?" Riley asked and held up a bag of chips. "I never thought I'd say this but I would give anything for a veggie right now, even if it was cauliflower."
"I still can't say that," John said as he took the bag of chips from her.
Mary Ellen glanced down at Victor, sitting in a small chair in the corner with his head bowed. Halfway through turning away from him, she almost tripped and fell over her feet when he lifted his head. She managed to stop herself from falling, but not her mouth from dropping when his eyes latched onto hers and a single tear slid down his cheek.
CHAPTER 15
Riley,
"Riley." Focused on trying to find something at least somewhat nutritious to put in her stomach, Riley didn't hear Mary Ellen say her name at first. "Riley."
Grabbing a can of beans, she decided she was going to have to make do with them as she sat back from the pile of food sitting on the table. Xander grabbed hold of her arm, drawing her attention to him. When she looked at him, he nodded toward the other side of the room. She held the beans in her hand as she turned toward where Mary Ellen was staring at Victor. Tears streaked down the boy's cheeks as he surveyed the room in wide-eyed terror.
Riley's hand fell limply to her side; she almost dropped the can as joy and disbelief crashed through her. Her legs shook as she took an unsteady step toward the child. This was everything she'd been hoping for, everything she'd been fighting for since she'd read those library books, and yet it felt too good to be true. It took everything she had not to lunge at the child and grab hold of him in order to make sure that he was real. The look in his eyes tore at her heart and hel
d her back from frightening him more by grabbing him.
"Do you know where you are?" Mary Ellen asked in a gentle tone of voice.
The boy shook his head as his watery eyes went back to Mary Ellen. Riley didn't know what to make of all this. She'd believed saving Victor would somehow make everything better, that it would somehow put the world to right again. Though she didn't feel disappointed she realized the heavens weren't going to part, the angels hadn't started to sing, and there wasn't a tidal wave of answers pouring forth. Carol, Lee, and Bobby were still dead, her family was gone, millions if not billions of people and animals no longer lived.
The boy's blue eyes landed upon her, his blond eyebrows furrowed over his nose as he stared at her. He was so young and they had saved him. There may be no angels singing down the answers from heaven but they had the gift of this boy.
"There was a reason," John whispered.
Riley glanced at him and was startled to see the tears that had filled his eyes. She hastily looked away; she knew he wouldn't appreciate her feeling bad for him. She didn't have to ask John what he'd meant by that. Other than trying to save all of them, John finally had another reason why he'd pulled the trigger. The fact that this boy was now staring back at them was well worth having incurred Peter's wrath.
Victor had to be worth it, but she realized that was too much pressure to put on a boy who was staring at a roomful of strangers. He probably had no idea what had happened to lead him to this room in the first place, or why they were all looking at him like he was a savior. Something they were going to have to stop doing if he was going to have any chance of a somewhat normal life from here on out.
Carl rested his hand briefly on John's arm before glancing at Riley. John was right; there was a reason. For the first time the guilt that had been eating at her since Jim and Peter had been killed, began to ease a little. She didn't think the events of last night were something she would ever get over, but she truly believed they'd done the right thing with Victor. They'd saved a boy's life. Unfortunately, they'd lost Jim in the process but she believed Al had been right and Peter had been plotting against them. Peter would have eventually tried to kill most, if not all, of them.