His eyes narrow at my tone and then glance around the room, taking in all the comforts we’ve had since the bombs dropped before coming back to me.
“Yes, this was your home but I think it’s important for you to get the right mindset right off the bat. This place was on loan to your father. He was a caretaker, nothing more. You’ve grown accustomed to being in charge here and that will be hard to give up. I think it’s best if you and your brother join the rest of the people outside in the tents to better come to terms with your new place in the world.”
Cold, hard hate for this man fills every bit of my being. First, he takes AIRIA from us and now he’s taking our home too. If I had a weapon on me I wouldn’t hesitate to end this man’s existence. He’s no family of mine and I doubt he was ever a true friend to my father. I’ve lost everything so I no longer have to be reasonable and I let my real feelings show with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
“Well, thank goodness that of all the people to survive the bombs, it was my godfather! Can you imagine how awful it would have been if it was an enemy who showed up and took everything from me?”
His eyes are cold and his chuckle lacks any actual humor when he shakes his head at me.
“Oh Skylar, I’m not your enemy and you haven’t lost everything…yet. There is so much more you could lose if you cross me.”
I suck in a breath of shock. There’s only one thing I have left to lose and he’s waiting for me outside. I don’t know why I’m surprised that this man would threaten the life of a child but it makes it very clear that he is my enemy and that means…war.
I hear the door slide open behind me and turn away from him to see his son and the girl I had ridden here with come in. Jackson is looking uncertainly between his father and me but the girl looks around my home with something like recognition on her face. Like she’s just come home after being away for a long time. It creeps me out so I turn back to the man who once upon a time was my uncle but now is just the General.
“Am I allowed to take a few belongings from here for Ben and me? I’m sure you wouldn’t want to have to look at the faces of your dear friends, my parents, in all these pictures. That would be…awkward, wouldn’t it?”
He smirks at me and waves his half-eaten sandwich towards the bedrooms.
“One bag for each of you is fine.” He turns to his son. “Jackson, go with her. Make sure she doesn’t pack any weapons.”
I turn from him in disgust and see the disbelief on his son’s face as I walk past him to a closet to grab two of the bug out bags that have been packed for years.
“Dad, you can’t be serious! You can’t just kick them out of here. It’s their home!” I hear Jackson say in an outraged voice. I don’t hear whatever his dad says in response as I go into Ben’s room to grab a few changes of clothes and some of his small treasures. I catch sight of the girl standing in the doorway from the corner of my eye but ignore her as I fill the pack until it bulges.
“I’m Joslin.” She says in a low voice.
I don’t care who she is or what her name is so I don’t respond. I hear her sigh as I struggle to close the clasp on the overfilled pack and catch the motion of her walking into the room. Once the clasp closes, I heft the bag on to my shoulder and turn to leave for my room but she’s blocking my way and in her hands is a very special toy. She holds it out to me.
“He’d want this, don’t you think?”
My blood goes cold as I stare hard at her. Who the frack is this girl and how does she know anything about me or Ben and that Quackers the duck is his version of a security blanket? I snatch it out of her hands.
Who are you?”
She glances over her shoulder into the main room before looking back at me with pleading eyes.
“A friend. One you can trust. I…you need to trust me. I will fix this!” She says in a whisper.
Trust? I can count the people I trust on one hand and whoever this girl is, she’s not one of them. I give her a small shake of my head and brush past her, dumping the pack on the floor beside the couch and grabbing the next one for my stuff. I mindlessly pull clothes out of drawers and pictures from frames until this pack is bulging too. I’d love to take more but I can’t sacrifice the survival gear for mementos of a former life.
I leave my room without a second glance for fear of my emotions getting the best of me and add the second bag to the other one on the floor before looking around our main living space. My mother’s art on the walls, the wooden carvings my father had made to fill the space would all be left here. I have to be practical with the things I take from here…for now. This will not be the last time I’m in my home. I don’t know how but I’ll find a way to get back all that these people are taking from me! I take a quick look over to the General and his son who are both watching me. Jackson just looks sad and embarrassed but the General mocks me by raising a glass of milk to me before taking a big gulp. I want to smash that glass into his face and the urge makes me reckless so I march over to the closet and grab another bag, this one empty, before slipping into the bathroom and cleaning the counters of all our bathroom gear. I stuff it with all the extra toothbrushes and paste plus soap, deodorant, and shampoo that I had stored under the counter before marching back out and into the kitchen where I glare defiantly at the General.
“This might be your bunker but I grew that food and milked that cow and I’m taking some of it out there with me!” I wait for a negative reaction from him but instead his expression turns to amusement.
“Be my guest but I’m not sure how much space you have left in your TWO bags.”
I bark right back at him, “I’m taking THREE!”
His eyebrows shoot up in mocking surprise before lowering into a scowl but Jackson interrupts before he can deny me.
“Dad! Come on!” He pleads on my behalf.
The General doesn’t acknowledge his son’s words but his scowl lessens as he takes another gulp of milk before answering.
“You know what? That meal was so satisfying that I’m feeling generous. You go ahead and take that third bag, honey. Consider it payment for taking care of my property all these years.”
His words are so thick with condescension that they practically drip with it. I want nothing more than to lunge over to the knife on the counter he had used to cut the tomato and plunge it into his stomach but I just turn away instead and go to work gathering as much food from the fridge and pantry that I can fit in the bag. Once it’s full, I ignore everyone in the room and throw it on my back before gathering the other two bags and stomp to the airlock door. I open my mouth to ask AIRIA to open it when it hits me again that she won’t respond to anything I have to say so I just stand there, too proud to ask him to open the door for me.
I hear him chuckle behind me and feel a wash of defeat flow through me. All the anger, rage, and vengeance I felt is slowly draining away and being replaced by sheer exhaustion from the long day and all-nighter I’d had trying to rescue Rex and Sasha, plus the events of today. I just want out of here. I want to be with my family and my friends. I’m almost grateful when the girl, Joslin, addresses AIRIA and the door slides open in front of me. As I walk out, I know at some point in the future I will be back but for now, I’ve lost the battle.
Chapter Three … Rex
Matty throws himself against me in relief as I watch Skylar disappear into the airlock. Things played out so fast down at the hotel that I didn’t even get to speak to her before we were separated and shoved into the troop transporter. I hold Matty tight against me and look around at my small group within the larger group that’s lined up out here. Belle is sobbing softly into Sasha’s hair in relief to have her back while keeping a firm grip on Ben whose eyes stay locked on the airlock door that his sister just disappeared through. Ethan is gently probing at the gash on Marsh’s face and Lance is standing stock still with just his eyes scanning the soldiers that surround us. Matty’s rambling on and on against my stomach so that I only catch every few words but the gist of it
is about them being rounded up inside and forced outside. I give him a squeeze to let him know he’s safe and turn away from the door to look at all the soldiers that are guarding us. They seem to be slightly more relaxed after the incident with the soldier shooting at Skylar. Maybe now that the guy in charge is here they’ll dial it back a bit. At least none of them have said or done anything about us getting up off of our knees and talking to one another. Or maybe Skylar screaming at them, that they’re monsters, reminded them that we’re just people trying to survive too.
I look past them as even more soldiers work to unroll chain link fencing and others work at erecting huge canvas tents. I don’t really know what’s going on here but I can guess that we won’t be enjoying the comforts of the bunker any longer. I move Matty and me closer to Lance under the harsh gaze of the guards.
“What do you think is happening, Lance?” I ask quietly.
He looks briefly down at Matty and gives a small shake of his head so I ruffle Matty’s hair before steering him towards Ben, Belle, and Sasha so we can talk without him hearing.
“Hey, buddy? Can you go hang out with Ben, please? He’s having a hard time being outside for the first time in his life. He could really use his friend until Sky comes back for him.”
Matty gives me a small nod but not before looking at the closest soldiers in uncertainty. I grind my teeth in frustration that these guys have been so heavy handed with him that he’s afraid to even move a few feet away from me. As soon as he’s joined the others and distracted, I raise my eyebrows at Lance in question. His expression is grim when he answers my question.
“I would say that Skylar’s godfather has come to take back what he built. Based on what I’ve seen since we got here, it doesn’t look like he plans on sharing it with us.”
I take another look over at the airlock and see the two teens that had been in Skylar’s Hummer go in but there’s no sign of Skylar coming out. She’s been through so much since I met her and Ben and even worse before that. She’s finally opened herself to sharing her world and home with other people but now it’s all shifted on her again. I wince when I remember the anguish in her voice back at the hotel when AIRIA wouldn’t respond to her and the look of complete loss on her face when the man had told her that AIRIA was no longer hers. I don’t know how she’s going to deal with that.
I blow out a breath of concern for her and ask Lance, “What about Sky? This guy was her family, right? He’ll take care of her and Ben, won’t he?”
Lance lifts one shoulder in a shrug but his eyes never stop moving over the soldiers when he answers.
“Not by blood. This Bill guy was just a family friend. She said he and her Dad served together. I’m not sure how much weight that will carry after all this time. Especially as the world sits right now.” He glances over at Ethan, Marsh and the others before continuing. “For now, we wait and see what their plans are but we might have to get out of here fast, depending on what they have planned for us, so be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
I nod in understanding before moving over to join the others and settle down beside Marsh on the dead grass. He’s holding what looks like a ripped portion of a shirt against the gash on his head. We lost our packs when the soldiers took us into custody so Ethan doesn’t have any medical supplies to properly bandage the wound Marsh got at the hotel. It’s held together with a few butterfly bandages but blood is still weeping from it. I bump shoulders with him and shoot him a grin.
“Hey man, I never got the chance to thank you for coming to the rescue. Those psychos were going to have us for their main dinner course!”
Marsh screws up his face in disgust and then winces as the movement pulls at his wound.
“Dude! Do you think they’d have put you in the soup or Hannibal Lecter’d you with fava beans?”
A cold shiver runs down my spine even as I laugh at his words. I’m glad Sasha and I made it out of that horror show.
I shake the feeling away and ask, “How’s the head?”
He smirks. “Just a scratch, man. Just a scratch.” He waves a hand at the men guarding us. “Any idea what’s up with the G.I. Joes? You think they’re here to save the day or be our overlords?”
I shake my head and shrug. I know as much as he does. All we can do is wait for someone to tell us what comes next. Ben and Matty get tired of standing and come sit with us. They’re both way quieter than normal as they lean against Marsh and me for comfort. We all sit and wait while we watch the huge tents going up and fences being erected around the clearing but my eyes keep going back to the airlock. I think back to the last time I really talked to Sky. We were getting ready for the Thanksgiving party and she had a sparkle in her eye. We were laughing about having our first party with music and how neither of us even knew how to dance. The last time I saw her before the brief moment at the hotel was when she went with the girls over to her quarters to get ready for the party. She was so excited and happy. It makes me so sad to realize that it was the first time I had ever really seen her happy. It feels like so long ago, but it was less than twenty-four hours ago and now everything’s changed again.
The airlock door slides to the side and I jolt to my feet when I see Skylar stumble out under the weight of three backpacks. Her expression is the complete opposite of the one she wore when she stomped furiously in there. Her shoulders are slumped from more than the weight of the bags. She looks completely defeated and without hope. I want to rush over to her and help her with the bags but there’s a line of soldiers between us and even if they have relaxed a little, I think they’d see me rushing at them as a threat so I’m forced to just wait.
When she reaches the line of men, she barely looks up from the ground and her voice is low when she says, “Move”. The two men closest to her look over their shoulders at her and then slide apart until she passes them. Once she’s on my side of the line, I move towards her and relieve her of two of the bags. Her lips barely move in the briefest of smiles but her eyes stay down.
“Sky!” Ben calls to her and pushes to his feet. She angles in his direction and drops the last bag from her back between them before following it down. She pulls her little brother into her lap and rests her head on his with her eyes closed. Everything about Sky screams of exhaustion. I look at the others and see that they are just as concerned about her state as I am before lowering myself down beside her and placing a hand gently on her back.
Sky? What happened inside? Are you ok?” I ask.
Her head lifts from Ben’s and she turns broken eyes my way.
“He’s taking over everything. He’s going to start rebuilding and we will be the slaves that do it for him.”
I lean back in surprise at her words and shoot a quick look at the others before asking her, “You mean, we’re his prisoners?”
She nods her head but the broken expression slowly clears from her eyes, replaced by something else, something strong and she says, “Frack that!”
Chapter Four … Skylar
I sit with Ben and Rex as the others ask question after question that I can’t answer. I don’t have a plan and I don’t know what we’re going to do…yet. The only thing I know is I won’t be a slave and I sure as hell won’t allow Benny to be one. It’s too soon for me to know how I’m going to do it. I need more information so I can see all of the angles before I can come up with a plan. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long before the General comes out and tells us what he has planned for us. He strides through the ranks of his men and stops at the line. All the while looking us over like we are animals in a zoo before addressing us.
“Attention! My name is General William Mallor and I’m the highest-ranking member of the military to survive the bombings of seven years ago. The bunker you have been trespassing in belongs to me. I had it commissioned, built and stocked many years ago for an event just like the one that befell our country.” He starts walking up and down the line of soldiers while addressing us. “The time has come for my men and me to take possess
ion of the bunker and all it holds for the purpose of rebuilding. The skies have cleared and each and every one of us has a duty to commence rebuilding what we have all lost. We will begin by locating suitable farmland that we will clear of the radiated topsoil so that we may plant crops. We have already begun this clearing of the land on the journey here by doing controlled burns. We have also gathered other survivors on the way that you will join to provide the much-needed manpower to achieve all that needs to be done.”
He finally stops his pacing and faces us. “We will provide you all with food, shelter, and security in exchange for your labor. As you can see, there are large troop tents going up that you will be housed in.”
When he pauses for breath, a voice behind me rings out that I recognize as Lance’s.
“What if we don’t wish to stay here?”
A cold hard expression covers the General’s face. “I’m afraid I must insist that you all remain here. It’s incredibly dangerous and lawless out there and we must preserve every life that we can to help rebuild not only the infrastructure we need to thrive but also the decimated population.”
I stiffened at that last part. He could only mean one thing by rebuilding the population and that means babies…lots of babies. I glance over at Belle and see she’s come to the same conclusion as I have because her face is deathly pale and she clutches Sasha tight against her. I swing my eyes back to the General and see the girl, Joslin standing behind the line of soldiers. Her gaze is on the General and I’ve never seen such hatred directed at anyone before. She must sense me looking at her because she glances my way and the hatred in her eyes clears and is replaced by determination. Her slow nod my way just confuses me but I’m starting to think this girl might not be my enemy after all. I tuck it away for later and look back to the General who has started to speak again.
Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 39
