Shawn nodded and let out a loud sigh before gesturing toward the stairs. My stomach rumbled, but I turned to climb back up to the first floor. I looked back over my shoulder as if I was afraid the food was going to vanish into thin air.
Once we were back in the kitchen, Shawn closed the door and pushed the table back into place. He studied the ground where the table had been moved. There were fresh marks in the dirt.
“Wonder if there is a broom somewhere,” Shawn said.
“One minute you seem anxious to leave and the next you want to tidy the place up?”
Shawn chuckled. “Well if we’re going to stay for a few days, might as well keep myself busy.” He scratched the side of his head and let out a breath. “There’s so much dirt no one could have been inside this house in years. Maybe this place isn’t so bad after all.”
“You’re worse than I am.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shawn said smiling as he scrunched up his nose.
“Indecisive.”
Shawn chuckled and nodded. “Indeed, but maybe that’s why we make such a great pair.”
I dragged my finger through the thick dust that had accumulated on the countertop. If only there would have been some kind of sign to alert me when we found the place we were meant to stay. What if the large farm was it?
I had imagined something closer to a lake like my parents had found. Something that partially surrounded by water to help minimize the directions people could approach from. But what if another place like that didn’t exist?
I was tired of traveling, and I knew that the others were too. If there was a sign, I didn’t see it. Hopefully, I hadn’t missed it.
I looked down at my feet and then out of the back window. There wasn’t anything out there but the fence that surrounded the property, and emptiness for as far as I could see.
After I took another step toward the window, the room started to spin. I placed my hand down on the dusty table, and it felt as though I was weaving back and forth.
“Emery?” Shawn asked looking at me with concern filling his eyes.
“Yeah,” I said, as my ears started to ring. My vision started to get fuzzy. “I need to sit down.”
I reached out for the chair to pull it back, but I misjudged where I was. Shawn caught me before I fell to the floor.
He lifted me off of my feet and carried me into the living room. Once I was on the sofa, the pieces of the world became clear once again.
“I guess, I’m tired,” I said forcing a weak smile.
“Tired, hungry, thirsty,” Shawn said flicking up his fingers as he listed the possibilities. “I’d like to get you some water, but I hate to leave you in here alone.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said patting my hip.
Shawn looked around as though he was afraid someone would come walking down the stairs or out of the hall. “Are you sure?”
If he was trying to hide that he was worried about me, he wasn’t succeeding. In fact, I was starting to worry. The longer I laid there, the weaker I felt.
“I’m sure.” My mouth curled into a smile. “Some water would be really great.”
“OK,” Shawn said, taking slow steps toward the kitchen. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”
“Where would I go?”
Shawn disappeared into the kitchen, and in seconds he was walking toward the front door carrying one of the pots he had found earlier. He gave me a quick glance before looking out of the front window and leaving the house.
I could tell by the creaking of the porch and stairs that he was walking quickly. Shawn wouldn’t be gone long.
I placed my hand on my forehead ignoring how hot I felt. It was the room. It was the weather. Everything had been so much hotter and today was the worst of them all. It was a drastic change from the long, cold winter I had endured even before leaving my home.
It wasn’t long before the front door opened. My body tensed, relaxing slightly when Shawn entered. He barely glanced in my direction as he walked toward the kitchen carefully carrying the pot of water.
I was about to ask why he’d left the door open, when Ryder stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He walked over to me and tucked his hands into his pockets as he looked down at me.
“Shawn says you’re not feeling so hot,” Ryder said.
“He has that wrong. I’m feeling very hot,” I said forcing a smile that Ryder didn’t return. “Really, I’m fine. I just got a little lightheaded in the kitchen. Now that I’m on the sofa I feel much better.”
Ryder nodded, before taking his hand out of his pocket to scratch the back of his head. “Shawn also told me you guys found some food.”
I tried to swallow, but my mouth had gone dry. “Yeah, we found some stuff down in the basement, but I’m not sure how much of it we can actually use.”
“He said there’s rice.”
“Bags of it.”
Shawn came into the room and poked around at some old logs in the fireplace. He flicked a match and tossed it into the fireplace. It took a few tries, but soon a flame started to grow.
“I’m already so hot,” I whined.
“I need to boil the water. Can I carry you into the bedroom?” Shawn asked.
“You might need to,” I said biting my dry lip.
Ryder gestured toward the kitchen. “I’ll get to work on preparing some of that rice.”
Shawn’s eyebrows looked heavy as he bent down to pick me up. I held up my palm and shook my head.
“It’s fine,” I said pushing myself up. “I’ll walk.”
“You sure?” Shawn asked holding my arm.
My head bobbed up and down slowly. I placed my feet on the floor and looked around the room expecting it to start swirling. When everything stayed in place, I stood up.
“I’m already feeling better,” I said holding my hands out slightly. The room was still far too hot, and even though my world wasn’t spinning my body still wanted more rest.
Shawn held my arm as we walked down the hall toward the master bedroom. He let go of me and watched me for a second before moving over to the bed and carefully folding the top blanket into a rectangle.
“Too dusty,” he said gently setting it down on the floor.
I slowly walked over to the window and stared at the yard. Everything outside the window was peaceful. It was hard to believe that there was a war going on between those who’d survived. All of the people who should be working together to rebuild and create a new world were fighting with one another instead.
“Why do The Evolved want to keep fighting?” I asked softly.
Shawn stepped up next to me and looked out the window. “They’re power hungry. They want it all.”
“If only they could all get along.”
“It won’t happen. They’re too far gone.” Shawn crossed his arms. “They’ll keep fighting until they control everything, or they’ll die trying.”
A crow cawed as it lowered itself down on a metal post a few feet away from the window. Its little black beady eyes seemed to be looking at me.
At first, I wasn’t sure if it was one of those large black birds we’d seen nosedive to their deaths or if it was just a regular crow. When it flapped its wings to reposition itself, I was certain based on its size that it was just a regular crow.
“It would probably be better if the renegades managed to take them out,” Shawn said stepping away from the window. He sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.
“Do you think that’s a possibility?” I asked, worried that I already knew the answer.
“No.” Shawn sighed. “I think the natives might have a shot, but it wouldn’t be any better having them in charge.”
I leaned my head against the window frame as the world outside darkened. A gray cloud moved over the sun blocking out the light.
“Either way we’re screwed. Maybe we should just give up.” I sniffed. “The last thing I want is to get stuck with
either The Evolved or the natives.”
Shawn came to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “We can’t give up. We’ll find somewhere safe. The Evolved are taking out the renegades, and next they’ll work on the natives. All we have to do is avoid them all.”
“You make it sound so easy.” I jerked back when a raindrop smacked into the window right in front of me.
“I hope it will be,” Shawn said, but when he looked away from me, I knew he didn’t think it would be.
The rain started to fall faster. It wasn’t long before I spotted Logan, Charlie, and Abby running toward the house. My eyes stopped on the rundown brick building Logan had found the fishing poles inside.
Logan dashed inside and dropped off the fishing poles. He quickly caught back up with Charlie and Abby who were almost to the house. Lightning zapped down to the ground in the distance, and both girls screamed as they picked up their pace.
Thunder rumbled so loudly it felt as though the earth was shaking. Shawn turned me away from the window and toward the bed.
“At least we don’t have to worry as much when it rains,” I said lowering myself down on the musty scented bed.
“I worry even when it rains.” Shawn patted the back of my hand. “But you should rest. Let me do all the worrying while you rebuild your strength.”
My eyelids suddenly felt heavy. Shawn glanced out the window before slowly making his way to the door. My eyes closed more and more with each step he took away from me, and before I knew it, I was sleeping.
Chapter 4
It was still storming when Ryder came into the room with a cleaned bowl. Beads of water dripped down to the floor from his soaking wet hair. He must have gone outside to the lake to clean out the dishes.
“I brought you some rice,” he said looking into the bowl. “Unfortunately, they didn’t catch any fish.”
“Thank you,” I said sitting up and taking the bowl from him. I put the first spoonful in my mouth slowly as if I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d had rice before, my mom had made it often, but it had been quite some time. “It’s good.”
And it was, but then again, anything probably would have tasted good to someone has hungry as I was. The edible weeds I’d had earlier had been good too, but they hadn’t been filling. Hopefully, the rice would be.
“Here,” he said handing me a cup of water.
I gulped down the liquid which was still warm from having been boiled. Ryder waited as I finished the rice.
“Want more?” he said taking the bowl from me. “There’s more. I think I made too much.”
“Not right now.” I laid back down still not feeling quite like myself.
Ryder paused in the doorway and looked down the hall. He shifted his gaze down to his feet turning his head slightly in my direction.
“I kind of wanted to talk to you about something,” Ryder said keeping his voice low.
“Oh?”
“Yeah… um. You know,” he said taking a deep breath, “I’m not stupid.”
“I never thought you were,” I said, pushing myself up slightly. It took a second, but when he caught my eyes, I instantly realized what this conversation was about. He was talking about Shawn. He’d already figured it out. “I’m not mad. I don’t blame you. After all, I’m the one that fucked up.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. My skin felt as though it was suddenly one size too small. My exhaustion was making me react in a way I hadn’t expected.
“Ryder,” I said my voice small. I didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. I’m the one that’s sorry.”
“Please, don’t leave.” My voice scratched my throat.
“Leave? I’m not leaving.” His eyes finally met mine. “We’ve got too much to do. And you were right from the beginning.”
“Right about what?”
Ryder raised his eyebrow. “About not getting involved in the war.”
“I’m not sure how we can avoid it.” I sighed as I lowered my head back down to the pillow.
“We just need to stay away from everyone. Let them take each other out one by one.”
Ryder tilted his head to the side. He didn’t say it, but I could tell he was thinking about the renegades, and how they were losing. For all we knew, they’d already lost.
“Get some rest,” Ryder said flashing me a smile before he left the room.
A tear leaked out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t sure if I was upset about the war, or if it was because of how hurt Ryder had seemed about Shawn and me. It was probably both. Maybe it was just everything.
It was hard to continue going on when each day was a struggle. I was exhausted, and I’m sure the others were too. How much longer could we all keep running? But it wasn’t like we could stop and fight. We didn’t have a choice. Our lives depended on moving.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think about any of it. All we could do was take it one day at a time. Maybe we’d never find our safe place. Maybe it just didn’t exist.
When I opened my eyes again, it was early morning. A pale light poked through the window and the only thing I could hear was an occasional crackle from the fire. I’d been so tired I’d slept right through the night.
I sat up on the bed and hugged myself. The house was so quiet I could hear every little creak and squeak. A strong feeling of aloneness overwhelmed me.
The memories of being alone in my house after my parents had died assaulted me. I pressed my palms against my eyes, but the memories only became stronger.
I quickly got out of the bed and walked over to the window. The weather had calmed significantly, but a light rain was still tapping at the window.
The world outside was still a light shade of gray. If the sun had made it over the horizon, the clouds blocked out much of its light.
There were deep puddles covering much of the yard. I watched the raindrops sprinkle into a nearby puddle when a shadow caught my eye.
Moving across the yard toward the brick storage building was a hefty man. He weaved side to side. The man brought what looked like a bottle up to his lips before slowly turning toward the house.
I stepped out of view, praying he hadn’t seen me. My heart pounded so hard I felt lightheaded all over again.
Why was he going to that building? I carefully peeked out and watched as he stepped inside the brick building and closed the door behind him.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked around the room. There was a part of me that hoped I was still sleeping in the bed and what I was seeing was a horrible dream. But I wasn’t in the bed, and I definitely wasn’t sleeping.
I walked quickly across the floor and into the living room. Abby and Charlie were laying on the sofa, each resting a head on the opposite armrest. Ryder was asleep in the chair, and Logan and Shawn were missing.
I heard water pouring and stepped around the corner. Shawn was standing at the counter pouring himself a cup of water.
“Shawn,” I whispered and gestured aggressively. I wasn’t sure if I needed to wake the others. It had just been the one man.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” Shawn said soundlessly setting the cup down.
I shook my head. My feet slowly started making their way back to the bedroom as I waved for him to follow.
“What is it?” he said narrowing his eyes.
“Come on!”
I turned around and went back into the bedroom. My back was already against the wall by the window when he stepped into the room.
“What’s going on, Emery? Is everything OK?” he looked at me with concern soaking his eyes.
“I’m fine, but there’s a guy out there.” My voice was quiet but raspy.
Shawn stepped up next to me and carefully looked out of the window. After a second his shoulders sank down, and he shook his head. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because he’s in that storage building.”
“What? Why would he be in there?”
My
eyes were wide. “I have no idea. I think he was drunk.”
“Drunk?”
“He was weaving around, drinking from a bottle, then he walked into the building and closed the door.”
Shawn gazed at me for a few moments as if he was trying to decide if what I’d seen had been real or part of a crazy dream.
“Native?”
“I couldn’t tell. It’s too dark,” I said, working to control my breathing.
“You’re sure?”
My eyebrows squeezed together. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Was there anyone with him?” Shawn narrowed his eyes as he peered out into the gray morning light.
“He was alone.” I swallowed hard and peeked out the window toward the building. “What are we going to do?”
Shawn rubbed his thumb back and forth across his chin. I turned toward the window when the pit-pat of rain increased and thunder rumbled in the distance. Another storm was rolling in.
“Maybe he’s just hiding out from the rain,” Shawn said.
“Maybe.” I grabbed my elbow and started pacing away from the window. “Or maybe he’s going to bring back his friends and ransack the place.”
Shawn shook his head. “Could be, but if that’s his plan, why is he waiting in there? Why would he go into that building instead of the house?”
I scratched my head and looked out the window. He was right, it didn’t make sense. For all we knew, he was just some drunk guy wandering around who just happened to pass out in the storage building.
“What’s in the building anyway?” I asked.
“Logan said it’s just some gardening tools, ropes, and other random junk. He said most of it is rusted and unusable.”
I tapped my gun. “We could go confront him.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Shawn said running his hand through his hair. “He might just leave. I say we wait it out.”
“Should we wake the others?”
Shawn shook his head. “Not yet. Unless you think we should?”
“No,” I said chewing on my lip. He stared at me, and I was pretty sure he could sense my uncertainty. “But maybe we should see if there is a bag in the closet. Pack up some things in case we need to make a run for it.”
Ravaged Land: Divided Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Books 1-3 Page 30
