by Dawn, M. K.
“We held them off long enough that you were able to collect snow so we could eat and have water.” Archer shrugged. “Doesn’t that count for something?”
The eternal optimist. “It means we got lucky.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in luck?”
Shots rang out outside, and Sloan straightened. “Did you hear that?”
“Yep.” Archer moved toward the door and peeked outside. “Holy shit.”
“What is it?”
Archer shot her a smile. “Looks like our guardian angels sent some help.”
“Help?” Sloan found another crack in the window, and, in the dark, she managed to spot a couple of dozen armed people slaughtering the infested that had held them hostage for the past several days.
“What do you say to that?” Archer asked. “We asked for help and looked at what showed up.”
Sloan’s stomach sank. These were armed men and women who eliminated the hoard of infested as if they were nothing more than a flock of birds. “Do you think we can trust them?”
“Do we have a choice?”
None that she could think of. “What do we do now?”
“Wake the others.” Archer pulled his pistol from his belt and checked the bullets. “Have them grab their weapons and keep them close by. We don’t want to appear hostile but also don’t want to be caught off guard. These people could be our salvation.”
Or their damnation. But Sloan kept that to herself.
***
Thirty minutes passed before one of the outsiders knocked on the door. “Hello? Anyone in there?”
“She sounds friendly enough,” Maria said in a hushed voice. “Are we going to open it?”
Sloan bit back the pessimistic thoughts rolling around her head. Trust of strangers had gotten them in trouble before, and she didn’t want them to take any chances.
“We can’t just ignore them.” Archer crossed the small room to the door. “Hello, yes we're in here. Give me a second to unbarricade the door.”
“10-4,” the woman said.
Archer removed the boards but didn’t open the door right away. Not before checking with the rest of the group to ensure they all agreed this was the best move. If anyone held Sloan’s uncertainty, they said nothing.
“All right.” Archer opened the door and greeted the woman at the door. “Hi. Come on in.”
The woman hesitated before stepping inside. Dressed in hunting camo, an assortment of weapons lined her belt. She studied the small group a moment before speaking. “Mine name is Kat Jones. How long you folks been stuck in this cabin?”
Archer stuck out his hand. “Lee Archer. Nice to meet you, Kat. And thank you for taking care of the infested.”
“The savages? Not a problem.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets. “You just been sitting here trying to wait them out?”
Axel moved from Britney’s side. “We tried to fight them off yesterday but there were too many.”
Kat’s eyes sweep over Axel. “And you are?”
“Axel.” He shook her hand. “This is my wife Britney.”
“Nice to meet ya. And I see you got yourselves some kiddos. Tough world for the youngin’s.”
Britney’s arms tightened around the children. “Yes, it is.”
Sloan moved forward in front of her sister, who seemed just as on edge as she was. “And I’m Sloan. We appreciate your assistance with the infested. We wouldn’t want to keep you any longer than we already have.”
Archer raised an eyebrow at Sloan, but she only smiled.
“You ain’t keep up, darlin’.” Kat smoothed back her black tomboy hair. “Why don’t your group come back with us? We can set you up with some beds until you get back on your feet.”
“Beds?” Maria perked up. “Like, enough for all of us?”
Kat smiled. “We got plenty of beds to go around.”
“Where exactly is it that you live?” Axel asked.
“Not too far from here.” Kat hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “At the prison.”
Archer nodded his head a couple of times. “Prison, huh? How’d you manage that?”
“Well, they got those high fences and such. My partner and I, along with a few people we collected on the way, stumbled across it, must have been near a year ago.” She tapped her finger to her chin. “Isabell, my partner, she was skeptical at first. Thought it had a ick factor. Her word, not mine. We only meant to stay there a short while, but turns out, it kept the savages out quite nice so we made it our home. Got around fifty people there now. Nice little community. Grow our own crops, dry meat. Y’all should come. At least, for a few days while so you can rest before you hit the road again.”
Britney narrowed her eyes. “How do you know we’re traveling?”
Kat glanced around the cabin. “I just assumed. We make the rounds pretty often and stop by this place and others like it nearly once a week checking for stragglers in need. Y’all weren’t here, what was it, five days ago was when we last dropped in.”
Axel crossed his arms over his chest. “Five days ago? Why did you come back so soon?”
“Heard some gun fire yesterday, thought we’d check it out.”
Archer and Axel glanced at each other, not bothering to hide their skepticism.
Kat held up her hands. “Hey, if y’all don’t want our help, that’s understandable. This world ain’t exactly full of trustworthy people. We’ve stumbled across a few of those varmints ourselves.”
“As have we.” Angie cleared her throat. “Not too long ago, in fact. They killed our friends and stole our farm. We’ve been on the road ever since.”
Sloan turned to look at Angie, shocked she’d disclosed such private information to a stranger.
Angie ignored her glare. “I’m not gonna speak for the group, here, but I’d be happy to take you up on your offer.”
Axel clearly had something to say on the matter. “Kat, would you mind excusing us for a few minutes so we can talk?”
“Not at all.” Kat moved for the door, checking the watch on her wrist. “We move out in thirty minutes with or without ya, just so you know. We got people who are expecting us back and don’t much like it when we’re late.”
“We’ll make it quick.” Axel waited until Kat put enough distance between them before speaking again. “Angie, what the hell?”
Angie and Axel, along with several others, had been on a cross-country motorcycle ride when the world fell. As the only two left of that group, they had developed a very close, platonic bond.
“Don’t go giving me shit for this, Axel.” She placed a hand on her jutted hip. “The people saved our lives.”
Sloan thought differently on the matter. “Technically, they saved their own. They had no other choice but to fight the infested when encountering them.”
Angie glared. “Well, they didn’t have to stick around. And she didn’t have to come in here and tell us where they’re holed up, either. I think we should go.”
“So do I,” Sam agreed.
“Me, too,” Maria mumbled. “I’m tired of being on the road. And you heard her, they have beds and food and people.”
Axel shook his head. “People we know nothing about.”
“Maybe they’re right.” Archer released a heavy sigh. “At this point, what choice do we have? Our vehicles are shot, and we’re low on supplies. Maybe they can help us?”
“Or maybe,” Britney said through clenched teeth, “they won’t. Maybe they’ll—”
“Brit,” Axel cut her off. “Kids.”
She rolled her eyes with a huff. “Whatever. I don’t like it. After what happened at the farm, we swore we wouldn’t trust anyone again.”
Once again, Sloan opted to keep her mouth shut. Britney had demanded they not trust anyone again, but none of them had actually agreed to it. “Seems we’re at a crossroads. And as Kat mentioned, they are not going to wait much longer for our answer. I suggest we put it up for a vote. All in favor of going off on our own?”
Only Britney raised her hand. Even though Sloan felt leery over the situation, she didn’t think they had much choice in the matter. “All in favor of going with Kat and her people to the prison?”
The remainder of the group raised their hands.
Archer nodded. “Majority wins. I’ll go let Kat know we’ve made our decision while the rest of you gather our things.”
Britney pulled Sloan aside. “You really think this is a good idea? That we can trust these people?”
“I don’t know, but they did come to our rescue and offered us shelter. We’d be foolish to turn them down.”
Britney’s nostrils flared. “You wanna know what’s foolish? Goin’ off into the woods with a group of armed strangers.”
“Mommy?” Molly tugged on her shirt. “Are those bad people?”
Sloan spoke before Britney had a chance to make the situation worse. “We don’t think they’re bad people or we wouldn’t be going with them. But, as always with strangers, we must proceed with caution until we know for sure. Now, go make sure you have everything so we can go.”
“Okay, Auntie Sloan.” Molly skipped off to the corner of the room where she and the other kids had been playing.
Britney tapped her foot. “You shouldn’t lie to her like that.”
“I’m not.” Sloan grabbed what little rice and beans they had left. “And you shouldn’t scare her. Not everyone we encounter is our enemy.”
“They’re not our friends, either. No one is going to take us in without wanting something in return.” Britney stormed off toward her children.
Sloan hated her sister’s new-found cynicism.
Archer returned and addressed the room. “Everyone ready?” He had a way of making it appear they had a choice in the matter. “We’re heading out.”
For a moment, Sloan held back while everyone else exited the cabin. She needed a second to herself, silence to gather her thoughts.
“Slash?” Archer waited at the door. “Everything okay?”
She sucked in a deep breath of smoky air and tossed the remainder of the cooking water on the fire. “Yes.”
“We’re doing the right thing,” Archer reassured her.
Her eyes met his. “I hope you’re right.”
Chapter seven
Axel
The trek from the cabin to the prison was a strenuous one. Snowy conditions, combined with the dense forest, made it difficult for all of them to keep up with Kat’s group of ten. More than once, they had to stop, which earned them some nasty looks. On more than one occasion, Axel wondered if they had made the right choice.
“Are we almost there?” Molly whined about thirty minutes in.
“Hush,” a man snapped in a low voice. “Do you want the savages to hear you and attack?”
Britney glared and took a terrified Molly’s hand but said nothing.
Axel came over, swept the petite girl in his arms, and whispered in her ear. “It’s okay. Shouldn’t be much longer now.”
Or so he hoped. If they had heard their gunfire, as Kat said they did, then the prison couldn’t have been too far.
They continued in silence until they reached the prison an hour later.
The high fence that surrounded the stone buildings appeared strong, a welcome relief for sure. He half expected them to find the place in disarray.
Two guards greeted them at the gate with a nod and unlocked the doors. The other two stood perched in the towers above, guns in each of their hands.
Axel had no experience with prison except for what he’d seen on TV, which this kinda reminded him of.
No words were spoken between Kat, her people, or the guards. If they were curious or had concerns about the newcomers, they didn’t voice it.
Once inside the grounds, the group broke apart. Kat’s people took off toward the left while Kat gestured for them to follow her.
She led them into building number three and pulled a set of keys from her pocket, unlocking doors as they made their way deeper inside.
“Here we are.” Kat unlocked and held open a door that led to a set of open cells. “The guest quarters.”
“You want us to go in there?” Britney moved in front of her children. “And what? Let you lock the doors?”
Kat planted her hands on her hips. “That’s exactly what I’m asking of ya. You got a problem with that?”
“The hell we do!” Britney’s fingers slid to the butt of her gun.
Archer stepped in. “Britney, calm down. Kat, want to explain to us what’s going here?”
“Sure thing.” Her eyes swept over the group. “You people are strangers. And I’m not saying we don’t trust ya, but we also don’t know you, don’t know whatcha been through or anything like that. We’ve come across some real a-holes in the past few months and can’t be too careful. I’m sure you can appreciate that?”
“We’ve been through a lot of shit ourselves,” Archer said. “What sort of reassurance do we have that you aren’t just going to lock the doors and leave us here to rot?”
Kat pressed her lips together. “Good questions. Guess letting you keep your weapons don’t count?”
That had come as a surprise to Axel. “It helps, but weapons aren’t going to get us out of here if you decided never to come back.”
“You got a point there.” Kat’s eyes fell on Maria. “What about the little mousy one? Why don’t she come with us as your reassurance, so to speak?”
Maria sucked in a sharp breath. “Um…”
Axel didn’t like the idea. “No, we stay together. It’s not like we trust you a hundred percent ourselves.”
“Fair point. Seems like we’re at a crossroads here. I’m sorry, folks. Can’t just let you wander around on your own. Not yet. We got rules, procedures that we got to follow. Our number one priority is to protect our people. You understand.”
“We do.” Archer stared at Kat for a second. “I have your word you won’t leave us in this cell forever.”
Axel knew where this was heading. Not that they had much of a choice. The cell or back out into the world. With how hard the snow was coming down now, they’d die from the elements in no time.
She held up three fingers. “On my honor as a former Girl Scout. It’s near lunchtime. Noon, we sit down and eat together. Food will be brought to you then. In the meantime, there are beds, bathrooms, showers—no hot water, though— but soaps and shampoos and clean towels. All you’re welcome to it. Choice is yours, but make it quick. I gotta head back and check in.”
Archer didn’t hesitate. “We’ll stay.”
“All righty.” Kat opened her arm and gestured them inside before locking the door behind them. “Now don’t you worry. Noon someone will be by with lunch. Get some rest ‘til then.”
As soon as Kat was out of sight, Britney laid into Axel. “Are you fucking crazy! You just let her lock us in here like...well...prisoners!”
“Brit,” Axel reached out for her but she moved. “We didn’t have much of a choice.”
“Um…leave!” She threw her hands in the air. “Son of a bitch. We’re all going to die in here!”
“Mom!” Blake shouted. “Don’t say that! You’re scaring Molly.”
Even though they were the same age, Blake had really taken over the big brother role since Carson’s death.
“Well, she should be scared. We all should be.”
“Come on.” Sloan took Britney’s arm. “Let's take a walk and find the bathrooms. Give you time to calm down.”
“I want to come!” Molly screeched.
Axel knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. “Stay with me, kiddo. Mommy needs some space.”
Molly’s big eyes looked at him. “Dad, are we going to die here?”
“No, of course not. These are good people who are just trying to protect themselves.”
“But,” Molly sniffled. “We’re the good guys. Right, Dad?”
Archer patted Molly on the head. “Damn straight, kid. And they’ll figure
that out soon enough. But for now, we’re their guests and have to follow their rules. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m kind of excited to take a shower and maybe a little nap on an actual bed that I have all to myself. And without worrying about an infested attack. It’s almost like we’re on vacation or something.”
“Vacation?” Molly perked up. “But...there’s nothing to do here.”
Angie, who along with Sam and Maria, had taken off exploring the place, called out. “There’s some books in here. That’s something.”
“Kid books?” Molly hurried off, followed closely by Blake and Tyler.
“That should keep them busy for a least a couple of minutes.” Archer peeked his head into a couple of rooms. “Do you think we did the right thing? Bringing everyone here? Letting them lock us up?”
“Having second thoughts?” Axel asked. “Because it’s a little too late now.”
Archer tapped a bar. “I don’t know, but beside the whole being locked in here, this place ain’t half bad. We’ve been in worse.”
“Guess it’s better than being locked inside the cabin surrounded by infested.” Axel wasn’t much on pointing out the good in situations; he usually left that to Archer. “Guess only time will tell.”
“True.” He tossed his bag on the bed in the second cell to the left. “I’m calling this one.”
Axel snorted. “It’s not like there aren’t twenty more exactly alike to choose from.”
“You think Britney will calm down?” Archer rarely brought her up when talking with Axel. The past week had been the most they’ve ever talked about her.
No use lying. “Hell if I know. Maybe if we get to the point they trust us enough to not keep us under lock and key, then maybe. But it’s going to be hard to convince Kat we’re trustworthy if Brit keeps popping off. I’ll talk to her. Not that it has done much good recently, but I’ll try.”
Archer clapped Axel on the shoulder. “It’ll get better. Hell, maybe we can scrap Hollywood and make a home here?”
