Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4

by Theresa Shaver

  Chapter Six … Skylar

  I can hear people moving around and the low murmur of conversation near where I lay but the warm, heavy, weight of Ben pressed up against me is so comforting that I just don’t want to open my eyes to join them. Instead, I think back over the ups and downs of the last few days. I’m upset by everything that’s happened but I don’t feel the same blind panic that I did back when Rex and Matty first entered our lives. I guess that means I’m healing, growing up or just too tired to care. I mean, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that someday things would change. Ben and I weren’t going to be all alone in the bunker for the rest of our lives, I just thought when we left it would be on our own terms. Being forced out like this after the hope I was starting to feel from the plans we had made to get started rebuilding and the party we had planned just makes me mad, furious even. Not to mention the nasty cannibals that almost took out Rex and Sasha. All I want right now is to get back into my home and chill with Ben and our old routine. Knowing that will probably never happen just makes me fracking pissed. With a deep sigh, I open my eyes.

  The first thing I see is Rex staring back at me from a cot about two feet away. Like me, he has his little brother snuggled up against him on the small bed. He gives me a soft smile and says the most unexpected thing.

  “I think your hair looks very pretty like that.”

  I reach a hand up and touch my hair in confusion and feel the satin slipperiness of the yellow ribbons that Belle had added to the waves she had created in my hair for the party. I can’t believe it was only…a day or two days ago? It feels like a lifetime has passed since we were getting ready for the party.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you in your dress. I would have liked to have a dance with you.” Rex says.

  I return his smile with a sad one of my own.

  “Yeah, that would have been nice. I don’t think there will be any dancing in our future now.”

  His lips tug upwards in a half smile. “You never know. Things seem to change on a dime these days.”

  I shake my head and say one word.

  “Drones.”

  His expression goes grim and he lifts his head to scan around our area of the tent to make sure no one is listening to us before he answers.

  “We need allies, on the inside. That guy Jackson? He seems to feel bad about how this went down. We need to use that any way we can. He was in here an hour ago with the girl with the black curls but they left when they saw most of us were still sleeping. Those two might be our way in.”

  “Joslin. Her name is Joslin and she has a real hate on for Jackson’s dad. We definitely need to feel those two out. See where they stand on the set up here.”

  I shift Ben off of my arm that has gone to sleep with his weight on it and sit up to look around. All the cots surrounding us are filled with our people but I still keep my voice down.

  “Have any of the soldiers come in with instructions? What are we supposed to do now and do you have any idea what time it is?”

  Before Rex has a chance to answer, light floods into the tent when the flaps on the front are dragged open. I can now see that one of the tables that had been outside to check us in has been placed at the front of the tent and soldiers are carrying in boxes filled with what looks like MRE’s and cases of bottled water. The guy in charge of this delivery stands between us and the table with a clipboard. These guys LOVE their clipboards! He scans the people laying or sitting on cots before clearing his throat.

  “ATTENTION! These are your dinner rations. One per person! If you have to use the latrines, form up in two lines by gender and you will be escorted two at a time. Otherwise, everyone must remain in the tent barracks until otherwise told. Work duties will be assigned in the morning. Lights out in two hours. That is all!”

  He turns on his heel and exits the tent without another word so I slide off the cot, reposition Benny then move quickly to the front to try and get a glimpse of what’s going on outside. When I reach the table, the last soldier comes through the flap with a box of MRE’s. When he makes eye contact with me, I recognize him as the guy who tried to get my information earlier. When he looks away quickly, I decide to poke him a bit.

  In the sweetest tone I can muster I say, “And how was YOUR dinner tonight, soldier?”

  I see the red flush race up his neck into his cheeks but I’m surprised when his eyes meet mine almost defiantly.

  “Actually, it was the best damn food I’ve eaten in the past seven years.”

  I glance down into the box of what I’m sure will be cardboard tasting food and then back up to his eyes with a slow nod.

  “Glad you liked it. You’re welcome.” My voice is flat, without sarcasm. I don’t know what he’s gone through in the last seven years and antagonizing him won’t make our situation any better but it doesn’t hurt to remind him that he’s eating my food. I grab two of the meals and two bottles of water and turn to go back to our cot but not before I hear him say under his breath, “Thank you.” He doesn’t see the tiny smile on my face. It’s a start.

  Dinner is a quick affair and a trip to the latrines doesn’t give me any information that I can use except wondering where there were porta-potties stored in the bunker. I had never seen them in all my exploring but I also had no idea that AIRIA had drones either. The worst part of living with an AI is that you have to ask the right question to get the answers to a question you didn’t know you needed to ask!

  Lights-out comes way too early for us after spending the day sleeping and there’s a lot of quiet conversation going on in the tent that night. There’s no point talking about any plan right now with no new information so we all just keep quiet and try to doze off. I’m surprised that the two little boys go back to sleep so easily but I guess with all the trauma and upheaval they had been through over the last few days, they were just mentally done in. I’m just glad Benny went to sleep so quickly. I don’t have any answers to his many questions and the scared look in his eyes just shreds my heart.

  Sleep must have found me because the next thing I know, some soldier is bellowing at us to wake up. I feel groggy and gross and I’d kill for a long hot shower followed by a steaming cup of coffee with a fresh dose of cream from Nods. As I clear the sleep from my eyes, I doubt very much that’s ever going to happen. I turn my head to the front of the tent and see a replay of last night. Same boxes and bottles carried in, same clipboard guy.

  “ATTENTION! These are your morning rations. One per person! Form two lines by gender to be escorted to the latrines. You have one hour to prepare before you will be assigned your work duties for the day.” He gives everyone in the tent a hard look. “There will be NO disobedience or disputing of the assignments. Work duties have been assigned based on the answers to the questions of skills you gave us yesterday. Everyone will comply! After a few days, there may be a reassignment request filed but it will be decided based on need, not want. Anyone not complying with their assignments will be punished with reduced rations to start. Continuing noncompliance will result in harsher punishment.” He gives us one more hard glare before barking, “As you were!”

  As soon as the guy leaves the tent Lance waves all of us towards him.

  “I think we need to just go with the flow for the first few days to see what they have planned for us and how their security is going to manage all these people. I’d say there’s around fifty people in this tent and I saw three other tents set up out there so call it two hundred people they have to manage. That’s a lot of possible pissed off people if they took some of them by force along the journey to get here. We need to try and get some of the soldiers talking. Find out how many they have and get a feel for their mood. See if they’re all onboard with the General’s plans. Once we have a better feel for things, we can start trying to come up with an exit plan.” He zeroes in on Rex and Marsh. “Boys, that means you need to take whatever they dish out. No matter how much it pisses you off. Our group needs to stay off of their radar until we�
�re ready to make our move. Understand?”

  Rex and Marsh clearly aren’t happy about it but they both nod in agreement. We all get up and move to either the restroom lines or to grab food and water. I stare down at the nasty MRE’s in my hands for Ben and me and think longingly of the fresh eggs and toast I would normally make for us for breakfast. The anger and frustration I feel knowing that Bill and his soldiers will be eating my food instead makes me hope they’ll choke on it! When I get back to our cot and see Benny still curled up, I sigh. I’m really worried about him and how he’s processing all these awful changes that have been thrown at him so fast.

  “Hey, Benny? You can pick which one of these you get for breakfast. Your choices are spaghetti Bolognese or chicken teriyaki with rice.” I try and make my tone upbeat but he just gives me a small shrug and rolls over to face the other way. I sit on the side of the cot and place my hand on his back. “Come on, buddy, you have to eat something. It could be worse, the ones with eggs have a green tint to them!” When I still get no response from him, I set the meals and bottles on the floor and stretch out beside him, pulling him close to me. I breathe in the smell of little boy and kiss the back of his head.

  “Benny, I need you to help me out here. I know things aren’t great right now but I’m begging you to trust me. Me and the others are working on a plan to set things right but we need time to make it happen. I’m not going to be very helpful to them if I’m too busy worrying about you. I really need you to help with this. I promise it’ll just be for a few days.”

  His small shoulders stiffen. “And then we can go back inside? To our home?” He asks in a hopeful tone.

  I bite my lip to keep from sighing again. “Benny, you know the plan was always going to be us leaving the bunker to start rebuilding. It’s just come faster than I thought it would. Rex and Matty and all the others are going with us to build a new home. Won’t it be great to see the sky and the sun every day? And the stars, Benny, we get to look at the stars every night!”

  He tries to bury deeper into the cot so his voice is muffled when he speaks. “I don’t care about that. I just want to go back inside. I want AIRIA back!”

  I give him another kiss on his soft hair and sit up. “I’m sorry but that’s not going to happen. I’m sad too but I have to do what’s right for us and you need to help me. You aren’t the only one who lost their home, you know. How do you think Matty feels? Have you checked if your friend is all right? He could probably use his buddy right now too.”

  I sit and wait to see if my words have any effect on him and hold in a smile of relief when he sits up and turns my way. He looks past me and sees Matty sitting on his cot with a grossed out look on his face as he peers down into his MRE pouch. Ben looks at the pouch I hold out to him and gives a fake shudder so I use the universal bribe for all children.

  “Eat and I’ll give you the dessert from mine.”

  His face changes to cunning. “And the peanut butter and crackers?”

  I shake my head at him but my lips tug up into a satisfied smile. “FINE! You con artist!”

  His giggle lifts about twenty pounds off my shoulders and settles the knot in my stomach enough to let me eat my own bland meal.

  Chapter Seven … Rex

  No one is surprised by our work assignments. Ethan is tapped to work in the med clinic, Belle is on childcare which includes Matty and Ben, while the rest of us are on labor. I had seen the large farm equipment being trucked out when I visited the restrooms this morning so I guess they have an area they are going to clear. Our jobs for the day are basically heave, carry, and lift smaller farm tools and boxes and bags of seeds into the back of transport trucks. They have way more trucks than I realized and the sheer amount of supplies amazes even Skylar. She says she should have spent more time going through the lower levels when she had the chance. The work is hard, sweaty and monotonous. No one talks to each other and after a few hours, the people doing the task start to resemble zombies. The only good thing I can say about the day of lifting is that the soldiers mainly ignore us except to give basic directions. They seem almost as bored as us. No one’s getting harassed but no one’s getting any information either.

  We finish the day achy, sweaty and hungry for a meal as we weren’t given any lunch rations. As I head back to the tent I’m slowed by the sound of saws and hammers. There are a group of people working on building two long structures. I take a closer look at the materials stacked to the side and see a stack of pipes and boxes with the word faucets stamped on the side and assume that the buildings will be some type of washing rooms. I turn away from the builders hoping they will hurry. I went years without having a daily shower, just sponge baths and the rare full bath heated by pots over the fire but living in the bunker for the last while has spoiled me to the luxury of being fully clean every day.

  The evening rations are already set up on the table and after a quick look down the tent to see Matty isn’t eating yet, I grab two and our water bottles before joining him and the others. No one talks as we dive into the meals and chug down our water. Today wasn’t that physically demanding but if we are assigned anything harder, we will need more water and food to keep up. I think it’s funny that I went years with very little food and managed just fine but after eating so much in the bunker my body is feeling starved after only two meals a day.

  Ethan joins us just as we are finishing up our meals and sets his own ration aside. I guess working inside gives him the perks of having lunch. After a brief private conversation with Lance, the two motion us in. We all hand over the small packs of candies that come in the MRE’s to Ben and Matty to distract them before Lance starts off with a question.

  “Anyone have a chance to chat up any of our guards today?”

  Belle and Ethan are the only ones to nod their heads so he motions Belle to go first.

  “They left two female soldiers in here to monitor us. I’m not sure why though. It’s not like we were going to rise up and riot with a bunch of little kids! Anyways, I got one of the women talking but she didn’t go into a lot of detail. Just that they were happy to have arrived and have so much space and better food. I got the impression that the bunker they came from in the east was damaged in some way causing them to be stuck in a small area together. When I asked about the whole rebuilding the population thing, she clammed up and kept her distance but not before I saw an eye roll so who knows what that means. The other woman never spoke to us and looked annoyed to be in here the whole time. The only positive thing was that the nice one went and got us a few pitchers of juice and bread with peanut butter for the kids at lunch but that could have been just to keep them quiet for a little while. I did suggest they bring out some learning materials or games at least to keep the kids occupied.”

  Ethan nods his head. “Yes, the only doctor they have, Dr. Craven, was a fountain of information. It was like he was starved for company. He told me that their bunker was damaged on the very first day when the bombs dropped forcing them all into the lower levels. A lot of their supplies were contaminated and they weren’t able to grow as much fresh food as they needed. He said they lost over forty percent of their personnel to suicide and internal violence before they could leave to head this way. I’m guessing that’s why the General is keeping us around for labor.

  He also told me that he hopes the General holds off on his plans for forced breeding because the female soldiers have already been forced to accommodate many of the male soldiers sexually and often without consent. The doctor feels that the morale of many of the soldiers is already too low and forcing that on them will cause desertion or worse, civil war.” He looks to each of us with a grim expression. “We do not want to be anywhere near these guys if they decide to go to war with each other. With no weapons or allies, we would be cannon fodder. The good news is that none of that will happen until after the farming gets started up. They sent equipment out today to clear the land they plan to use and tomorrow you guys will be sent out to start hand planting th
e vegetable crops. They have some ambitious plans for wheat, corn and soy crops that the machines will handle but all the vegetable crops will be done by hand. Once everything is in the ground, the doctor expects the General to turn his sights to the population program.”

  No one looks happy to hear this news but we have no choice but to go along for now. Lance gives a sharp nod. “Alright, can you prod the doctor to make sure they’re giving us more than two meals and two bottles of water a day? It’s not exactly hot out here but we will need more water for sure if we are out working the fields.” At Ethan’s nod of agreement, he continues. “The rest of us need to keep our eyes open and watch everything. How the guards are deployed, how many, possible weaknesses we can use and anything else that might help us. Also, keep trying to get them talking. If they’ve been stuck together in a tight space for the last seven years, someone is going to want to chat with someone new. Girls, talk to as many of the other female soldiers as you can. There’s cracks out there we can use, we just have to find them.”

  There’s not much to say after that so we finish our meals and carry our garbage to the bin at the front of the tent. I’m tired and I just want to rack out and go to sleep but after spending the whole day away from Matty I feel like I should spend some time with him. Skylar must be feeling the same way about Ben so we grab the two monkeys and play a couple of rousing games of I Spy until there’s absolutely nothing else we could possibly pick in the limited décor of the tent. Lights-out comes quickly after that and as I close my eyes, I wonder if tomorrow will be the day that gives us the information we need to make a break from this place.