Belle interrupted Lance with a frown of confusion.
“Wait, grow lights? Does that mean the electricity will be coming back on soon?”
Lance shook his head sadly.
“Sorry but I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon, like years. BUT, we can make some of our own. It wouldn’t be enough to run an entire house full of electronics but it would be enough to power up some grow lights for a few hours each day. We can set up a line of small windmills that run to a bank of batteries but that’s a project to think about down the road. We’ll have a lot of scavenging to do after we get this place set up and secured.
Ideally, we want to stay off the radar for as long as possible. People will be more desperate and dangerous during the next few months. After that, the only ones left will be groups that have set up sustainable shelters. Then we will make contact with a few, if they’re friendly, and talk about possibly trading.”
Lance took a good long look at all of us. It was a lot to take in but I was feeling pretty relieved that we had hooked up with him and his family. He seemed to know what to do and the plans for the future were comforting. I looked over at Matty who was decimating a piece of bread and breathed a sigh of relief. The kid had a way better chance of making it now. I turned back to Lance when he started talking again.
“Take a good look around at the people here. This is now your family. We will be sad, mad, frustrated and irritate the hell out of each other but none of that will matter in the end. All that will matter is WE ARE A FAMILY and we will stick together, have each other’s backs always, and most importantly, SURVIVE, for as long as it takes.”
Snow & Ash
Book One - Endless Winter
Part Two
Chapter Fifteen … Skylar
“Skyyyyyy-larrrrrr!”
I grit my teeth and hit the punching bag harder, hoping the next words won’t follow but knowing they will and sure enough…
“I’m bored!”
There they are. Rather than take my frustration out on my seven-year-old brother, I execute a powerful roundhouse kick high up on the bag to finish off my session in the gym. I walk around the gym in laps until my heart slows down from the workout and mentally count to one hundred. I only manage to get to seventy-four before it comes again. This time with slightly more whine to it.
“Skyyyyyyy-larrrrrr!”
I take a gulp from my water bottle and snag a towel to wipe my face, stalling for a few more minutes of not being Ben’s mom slash big sister. The boy amazes me every day. Most days I love him so much it hurts and I am just so proud of the incredible little person he’s grown into. Other times, I want to throttle him into silence. I get now why Dad went outside those first few years and always came back happier and more peaceful. I started making my own short trips out when Ben turned five. AIRIA turned out to be a pretty good babysitter and bribery goes a long way in getting a five-year-old to do as you say. We made a deal that he would sit on the couch for an entire Disney movie while I went out and in return, he gets half a bar of a rapidly dwindling supply of chocolate bars. AIRIA monitors his every move and if he gets up for any reason she reports it to me through my communicator. If it’s for any reason other than a bathroom break, she patches me through to her speakers so I can talk to him. There’s never been a problem because Ben’s a really good kid and he’s desperate for chocolate.
I never go very far. The second time I went out I found a hunting stand up in a huge tree that I assume Dad built. It’s only a few hundred feet from the main entrance door but it might as well be miles away. I swear sitting up in that tree every other month for roughly ninety minutes at a time is the only reason I haven’t gone completely fracking insane. I’m always armed with one of Dad’s favorite rifles but I never shoot it, even when the few animals left alive wander under me. I carry it to protect myself from a different sort of animal but thankfully, I’ve never seen one of those. As an added safety precaution, AIRIA now monitors the surrounding area for movement of anything with a heat source that weighs more than a hundred pounds and walks on two legs. So far she hasn’t detected anyone anywhere near our doors.
Just being out under the sky with no noise but the wind in the dead forest helps me find a little bit of peace so I can go on being all that Ben needs me to be. The only other time I feel anything close to that peace is when I run or practice kickboxing. I don’t have role models or parents or anyone to help me deal with all that’s happened or all the ways I’m changing as I grow but I did find some help in a weird way.
After Dad died, it was really hard for me to deal with a two and a half-year-old on my own. He needed so much time from me for everything, including entertainment that I was losing it bit by bit. One day I got impatient and told him to go watch TV. At the poor kid’s confused look I realised that he had never watched a TV show before. He was always asleep when Dad and I would watch a show at night. I asked AIRIA if we had any kid’s shows and hello big eared mouse and his pals! I had never seen Benny sit still for so long before, he was totally enraptured. Two hours of Benny in a TV coma a day made a huge difference in my patience levels. I could actually get my chores and a few other things done.
The thing about TV is it can be totally addictive. With Dad not around to pick out what we watched I was free to choose my own shows. I don’t even know why Dad bought DVDs because AIRIA has like every season of every show in her data banks. It’s like Netflix on steroids. I started out watching all the Family channel shows I used to watch but they just seemed so young and silly to me that I wasn’t even laughing at any of the jokes or pranks. So I moved on to teen dramas. I learned what fashionable clothes I should wear if I lived in Manhattan and how to stab my BFFs in the back at every turn. Two brothers taught me how to kill every supernatural creature ever thought of and how to end many, many, many apocalypses that could happen. I learned what the earth will look like after a nuclear war if I live to be a hundred and that there would be a war between survivors on the ground and kids from space. Ironically, I don’t know who will win because you know, nuclear war killed that show.
Watching all those people do their thing both filled a void and made it bigger. I’m never going to wear a prom dress or break up and makeup with a best friend or a boy for that matter, so I lived through those characters and it hurt a lot. The show that had the most effect on me was about a group of people who were forced to live in space ships after robots that looked like people, destroyed all their planets. BEST SHOW EVER! This girl is so sad and so fierce all at the same time while mourning all that she’s lost and searching for a home to have a future on. I related to her so much and wanted to be strong like her. If Ben hadn’t been here with me, I probably would have opened the alcohol stores and drowned my pain away like she does. That character pushes through her pain and she uses exercise to help do it. So I try and be strong like her even though I don’t have a really cool call sign.
I finally went back into the studio that Dad had set up for me and put it to good use. I watched videos that taught me how to fight. Kickboxing was my favorite and then I started running on the treadmill which was just about the most boring thing in the world. My growing body ached to move, to run but not on a machine that went nowhere. I needed space to run but doing laps around the cow pen was out and then I remembered.
After Dad died, AIRIA had changed my access level to green. It took a few weeks after I found his body for me to remember that. I was stumbling around in a grief-filled fog when I walked passed a door that I had never been able to open because of my access level. I’m not sure why I had even tried the door again after all that time but it slid open when I palmed the plate. I stood on the threshold and tried to see in but it was pitch black.
“AIRIA, why did this door open?
“Skylar Ross, access level green.”
The thought of all the doors that wouldn’t open for me before being opened made me pause. How much more was there to this place?”
“AIRIA, are t
here lights in this room?”
“Skylar Ross, lights are motion activated. Please proceed for illumination.”
I took a nervous step into the darkness and blinked hard when fluorescent lights lit up on the ceiling. My mouth dropped open in astonishment when lights kept coming on down a very long concrete corridor. From where I was standing I couldn’t see any doors or breaks in the walls that ended in the distance at a set of double doors. My feet moved hesitantly down the corridor toward the far doors. I was sort of scared but a flicker of excitement was growing inside of me, temporarily pushing aside my grief.
Standing in front of those double metal doors, I wondered if what I was about to find would change everything for me.
They slid open just as easily as the first door and my movement through them brought more lights. Slightly disappointed but still curious, I poked my head into plain offices with boring desks and computers as I made my way along the next hallway. Another set of double doors barred my way but this time I didn’t hesitate to palm them open.
It felt like it took forever for the lights to stop coming on this time as bank after bank lit up. I just stood there shaking my head. It was another cavern. Only this one was almost as long as a football field. Row after row of double-decker bunks filled the huge floor. Each one had a rolled up mattress and clear plastic bag with bedding on it. I walked the perimeter of the cavern wide-eyed. This place made my little living area feel like a tiny box.
The first door off of the cavern I came to had a sign marked storage and supply. I palmed it open and only took a few steps in to activate the light. Tall and empty shelves sat in rows but further back I could see metal transport containers. I didn’t bother to check how many or how far back they went. Anger was starting to simmer in my belly as I moved on. The next area had metal railings set up like the ones in an amusement park for people to stand in lines for rides. Built into the cavern wall were metal roll down windows and counters. I counted five before I found an access door marked kitchen. Again, a quick look showed me a huge food preparation area with gleaming stainless steel surfaces everywhere.
By the time I had inspected ten washrooms and shower rooms, a massive grow area and a medical clinic with an attached lab I was furious. My Dad must have known this was here. I had begged him to help all those people and he claimed we couldn’t. He was a liar and a coward! Those boys we had passed on the highway, all those people hurt or stranded on the highway and in the town could have been safe here and he had done nothing, claimed we couldn’t do anything!
I had walked the entire perimeter of the cavern and ended back where I started. Looking out at all the wasted space and opportunity, fresh tears ran down my face.
“AIRIA, what is this place?”
“Skylar Ross, current location is deemed military barracks.”
“AIRIA, how many people can live here?”
“Skylar Ross, maximum capacity is one thousand five hundred people.”
Fury and frustration had me clenching my fists but then one image of a bullet hole in Dad’s back swept it all aside. I turned away and walked back to my home. Turns out, I didn’t find anything that would change things for me after all.
So years later I remembered the mega cavern and it became Ben’s and my back yard. I used it to run laps and play hide and seek with Ben. We filled that empty lifeless place with as much fun and laughter as I could give him.
“Skyyyyyy-larrrrrr!”
I throw the damp towel in a basket and head out, my brain scrambling to find something to entertain Ben. He has the same schedule that Dad had made for me with school work and chores but he’s still only seven years old and he needs more fun things to do than I can think up.
“AIRIA, what did seven-year-old boys do for fun back before the bombs dropped?”
“Skylar, seven-year-old boys got into mischief! Then they played video games.”
I rolled my eyes at the ceiling. Four years alone with AIRIA had given me plenty of time to work with her “personality”. She’s not quite a full A.I. because she doesn’t have emotions but she can learn. It took a while and lots of reminding but eventually she stopped being so literal in every sense. She also stopped using my full name every time she spoke to me. The truth is, I needed a friend and all I had was a computer voice and a toddler so I made it work. The humour she’s learned to inject into some of her answers makes her both a lot less annoying and sometimes even more annoying.
“Ha ha AIRIA, do we even have any video games in here?”
“Why yes, we do! All models of pre-bombing video gaming consoles can be found in storage container C-12.”
“Thanks, AIRIA.
Bennnnn-yyyyyyyy!
GAME ON!”
Chapter Sixteen … Rex
“Well, that’s it, we had a good run. Almost seven years but there’s no denying it now. The well is dry.” Lance scrubbed at his face with his hands before turning to face all of us. “Honestly, that’s three years longer than I thought it would last.”
We all stand around the kitchen staring at the sink like it’ll magically start filling up with water despite Lance’s words until Ethan clears his throat.
“Alright, we knew this was going to happen and we’ve talked about it. We have two weeks of stored water in the barrels to take us through the transition to the hotel. We’ll be fine.”
Marsh grumbles in annoyance and I shake my head. “I can’t believe we have to move to the hotel. Ted and his men are such asshats!”
“Language!” Belle snaps but she also nods in agreement.
Lance holds up his hand to stop the flood of complaints that are about to pour out.
“Yes, they’re jerks but it’s not like we’ll be going in begging for scraps. We negotiated this move a while back. We have things and skills he wants for his group so we won’t exactly be under his thumb the way the others at the hotel are. We’ll be sharing their space and water but he won’t be ruling us like the others. We need to make this work. We need access to that water.”
I glance over at Sasha and frown. She’s gone even paler than normal. None of us have what you would call a tan with the sun barely showing through the dead sky since the bombs dropped but with her red hair, she’s the palest of us all. I grit my teeth in frustration at the idea of putting her anywhere near Ted and his men. Every time we’ve met up with them to trade they leer at her and make nasty suggestive comments. She’s only just turned fifteen and she shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of BS. I turn back to Lance with a hard face and tone.
“I don’t like the creepy way they look at Belle and Sasha. We need to make it clear to them that they keep their hands to themselves and watch how they speak to them!”
Sasha’s face flames up into a red blush and Belle pulls her closer with a frown. I have to look away at the adoring look Sasha sends my way. She started looking at me differently about a year ago and it’s uncomfortable. She’s my little sister and she always will be so I wish she’d knock it off. Marsh’s muffled snort draws my attention and he bats his eyes at me like a lovesick fool which earns him a solid arm punch.
Lance shoots Marsh a “that’s enough look” before turning to the girls.
“You two have nothing to worry about. I’ve already discussed that with Ted. I’ve made it clear that they’re to keep their distance from the both of you and that the first man to harass you in any way will get an arrow through the throat. He’s assured me he’ll keep his men under control.”
Belle nods in relief but I don’t buy it. Ted and his men have ruled over the survivors at the hotel for too many years. They treat those people like slaves and they’re used to getting what they want. Marsh and I will have to stay close to the girls to make sure they’re safe.
“Will there be other kids for me to play with?”
Matty’s bouncing on his feet in hopeful excitement making my heart tug for him. Poor kid might have been safe and fed all these years but he’s lonely for other children to play with. We all
take turns playing with him and Belle and Ethan teach him school work but he needs to run and yell and play with kids his own age. I put him in a headlock and give him a head rub causing him to belt out a laugh.
“We’ll see squirt. There should be a few kids over there but you still need to stay tight with us for safety.”
He wiggles out of my grasp with a hoot of triumph and bounces over to a box in a corner that’s overflowing with toys. A wave of love fills me. I’m so grateful I have Matty. Belle, Sasha, Lance, Ethan and Marsh are my family but Matty’s my blood. He’s a reminder every day of Mom.
“Alright, everyone, we need to start packing. This move will take a lot longer than when we came here from the store. The hotel is a lot further away but at least this time we can do it during the day. We’re stripping this place bare but we’re leaving the cached supplies in the hiding places. We don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. All the plants need to go though so we need to start transferring all the box gardens into containers. We’ve scavenged plenty of them so we should be able to transfer everything.
Even with the large wagon we built a few years ago it’s going to take many trips. We need to do this ourselves. We don’t want Ted’s people to know everything we have so we cover as much as we can with tarps. They’ll know we have a lot but they won’t know exactly what we have. I’m going to head over there in a bit to let him know we’re ready to move and take a good look at the rooms they’re giving us. Once we move the first load over, someone will need to stay over there and keep guard. We might have to live with them but we will NEVER trust them.”
Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 11
