“I didn’t leave a fire burning,” she argued shrilly. “I always put out my fires. I’m not new here,” she snapped.
“You may not have meant to, but it was still smoldering. The wind could have easily stirred up the embers and landed on something dry, and set this whole place on fire,” Regan lectured.
“I didn’t have a fire,” she insisted, her voice going higher. “I slept in here last night, remember?” she asked pointedly.
“If you didn’t leave it going, who did?” Regan asked.
Fred stood up. “Remember, Wolf has asked her not to camp out anymore. She slept in here. She’s been in the house most of the day. I asked her to help me organize the storeroom shelves a little better.”
Regan didn’t even want to imagine what Fred had Lily doing in there. He was constantly changing things around, with explanations that each new shift made it easier to find what one was looking for when like items were stored together. Still, he had a point. But, in that case, where had the fire come from?
The five of them stood there looking at each other, none of them having any idea about who might have started the fire or where the missing items had gone off to. Slowly, the annoyance drifting between them turned into looks of concern, and then outright worry.
“Could there be someone else here?” Regan whispered.
“No way!” Geno said, though he didn’t sound convinced. “We would have seen them. This place isn’t that big.”
“There are a lot of trees they could hide in, or they could come and go as they pleased,” Fred reasoned, nodding his head as he spoke. “It would explain the missing items. Maybe they used the boat that was stolen?”
“See!” Lily snapped. “I told you I didn’t leave a fire burning. You always want to blame me for everything.”
Regan rolled her eyes. That was the pot calling the kettle black. Lily had been blaming Regan for every little thing that had gone wrong over the past couple of weeks and the girl knew it.
“That’s the second fire I’ve found in the past few days,” Regan announced. “What about the fire near the beach where you were fishing?”
“I’ve never left a fire unattended!” Lily said, her voice rising again. “I know better than that!”
“Is it possible someone is hiding out?” Tabitha asked, instinctively stepping closer to Geno.
Fred had moved to the window, and stood staring out at the trees. “It is possible. How could it not be? Does anyone know about this place, Lily? That you’re aware of?”
Lily shrugged, but she seemed more inclined to take Fred’s concerns seriously. “I’m sure a lot of the people who live in town do. My dad didn’t tell anybody exactly what all we have out here, but people knew we lived out here. There are a lot of islands, and people have vacation homes on them.”
“So, someone could be here, hiding out, pilfering supplies?” Regan had said it as a question, but already it had become a statement in her mind. Things were starting to make sense. She had thought she’d been acting paranoid, but someone else being around the island made a lot of sense—too much to ignore the possibility, definitely.
“Yes! We need to check our emergency supplies. If someone is taking stuff, they’ll want all our gear,” Lily said, heading toward the storeroom.
“I’ve checked that place every day, and nothing is missing,” Fred said, following her down the hallway. “I’ve kept an inventory,” he added, as if the idea that something would be missing was a personal affront to him.
Tabitha looked at Regan. “What do you think?”
Regan simply gestured after Fred and joined in the procession down the hall, Geno and Tabitha behind her.
“What’s going on?” Wolf asked, coming into the house and noticing the parade moving down the hall.
“We think someone is on the island taking stuff,” Geno said simply.
“What? No way! That’s not possible. I would know if someone was here. There’s no way,” he said, his voice trailing off.
RC was behind Wolf. “Isn’t it?”
They all convened in the storeroom, where Lily was pulling bug-out bags out of the closet and tossing them at Fred and Geno. “Check inside—see if anything is missing.”
“I’ll grab my inventory sheet,” Fred said, moving to a clipboard that was hanging from one of the wire shelving units in the storeroom.
“How will I know if something is missing?” Geno asked.
Lily growled. “Dad, you better check. You know what was in the bags.”
“Lily, you’re jumping to conclusions. There’s no one on the island,” Wolf said, taking the bag from Geno. “You’re being paranoid.”
“Am I? Did you take my hair dye? Do you plan on going blonde?” she sniped at her father.
Regan’s eyes widened at the way Lily had spoken to him. She even saw a flash of anger in Wolf’s eyes before he smiled at the joke. “I don’t think blond is my color,” he retorted.
Regan bit back a laugh. Even RC snickered, much to Lily’s irritation.
“We’re missing a bag, dad,” Lily announced.
“What? That isn’t possible.”
“There’s only three, and we had four, remember? You packed an extra one in case we needed it.”
Wolf looked at the bags that were now lying on the floor. “You’re right. I added my pack, as well, the one I carried back from the swamp. It was in the corner of the closet. Are you sure it isn’t in there behind those five-gallon buckets of beans?”
Lily moved the buckets to the side. “It isn’t here, Dad.”
“Someone’s been in the house?” Tabitha breathed out. “Not just in the trees, but in here?”
“I don’t know,” he muttered. “This can’t be right,” he added as his hand pushed his hair back from his face and he stared down at the backpacks.
Fred had begun nodding his head, however. “She’s right. I know there were four bags, too. I have it right here on my inventory sheet,” he said, tapping his pencil against the clipboard. “I better check the gun inventory,” he mumbled.
Everyone stopped moving and looked at one another. It was hard to imagine any of them stealing from themselves, but the other option was far more frightening. That in mind, Regan forced herself to consider it, for at least a moment. But where would one of them hide something? They were all everywhere. No one, besides Wolf and RC, had any real personal space. Tabitha and Geno’s room had been used for extra storage, as well. Fred would have noticed something in the wrong place.
Regan got that familiar feeling of distrust and took a step away from the group. Accusations were going to be flying at any second, and history told her she would be the one they would be pointing their fingers at. They would assume she’d taken a bag and stashed it somewhere to make a get-away. The thought had momentarily crossed her mind more than once, it was true, but she’d never actually done it.
“Look, it’s not something we can figure out now,” Wolf said finally, cutting through the tension. “All we can do is keep a better eye out from here on out, knowing someone must have come through here. They didn’t take much, so we have to assume they were passing through. We’ve got plenty of supplies. The weather is turning bad out there already, so we may as well make our time indoors productive. We’ll re-pack more bags, distributing supplies from the stockpile. Everyone, grab the backpacks they came here with,” Wolf ordered. “We should have done this before. Each of us needs a bug-out bag anyway.”
RC walked out of the storage room, watching as everyone dispersed, and Wolf followed him out. Regan heard him talking in a low voice with Wolf at the end of the hallway and wondered what they were talking about, but could only guess that it was something about surveillance. Just then, the storage room suddenly grew dark as the sun was blotted out by dark clouds.
“What’s that?” Tabitha asked as they headed toward the bedrooms to get their discarded bags.
“I guess we’re about to get a storm. It rolled in fast,” Regan said, walking into Lily’s bedroom, where her m
eager belongings were stored.
She looked out the window and saw angry black clouds overhead. Large raindrops were splatting against the ground already, and the wind had picked up. Trees had begun swaying back and forth against the dark skyline.
“That looks intense,” Tabitha said, coming to stand beside her. “I hope this isn’t going to turn into a big storm. I don’t think we’re ready for a hurricane.”
“Me, either. I thought we’d at least have a few more weeks of simple rainstorms to get ready.”
Regan grabbed her pack and headed back to the storage room while Tabitha went into her and Geno’s bedroom. She paused in the living room, though, staring out the window and watching the trees bend and sway as the winds picked up even more. It was mesmerizing to see Mother Nature in all her glory. She considered going to the screened-in patio to get a nice protected view of the storm, but thought better of it. They needed the bug-out bags in case a hurricane really did strike and they had to evacuate the island. The last thing she wanted was to be caught off-guard.
With that in mind, and a serious storm beginning to make itself heard, they spent the next hour packing bug-out bags, loading magazines and distributing hand guns as they lined them up on the floor next to the shelving for easy access. It gave Regan some peace of mind, at least, knowing they were ready to move in a moment’s notice if something should go awry.
18
Lily
Dear Diary,
Once again, I’m stuck sleeping in the house—because of Dad and the weather. There’s another storm raging outside, and it looks like I’m going to be stuck in here every night for the rest of the storm season. Maybe forever if I can’t convince Dad that a bear isn’t going to eat me. That’s right—he’s worried a bear will eat me. Yep! A bear! I can’t believe there was a bear here, and worse, I never saw it. That would have been awesome, at least! It wouldn’t have attacked me, even Dad admitted that when I pushed, but he still wanted me to come home for the night. In fact, he says every night. I almost had him persuaded to let me camp close to the house…and then the storm happened. Again.
Now I’m lying on my bed, using a candle to see with. I remember I used to love the candlelight we would use just for fun. Those were the good old days. I like when I get to camp out and pretend it’s back the way it was. I told Dad I would be okay out there, but he said no way. I think, just for tonight, I’m kind of glad he did. It sounds pretty nasty out there.
This is the first time I’ve had a chance to write lately. So much has happened over the past few days and, you guessed it, most of it is Regan’s fault. I tried to be nice to her. I really did. And sometimes I think she’s okay, and then two seconds later she does something that makes me mad.
She keeps trying to be my friend, but I don’t trust her. I know she stole my hair dye. I mean, who else would want to dye their hair? It’s so stupid. The second she shows up with blonde hair, I’ll know I was right. Then, maybe, just maybe, my dad will see what she’s been doing all this time. I think she’s the one who has been stealing the tools and stuff, too, no matter what anyone says. She’s probably getting ready to take off. Good. I’ll be glad when she’s gone.
It seems like, every time she is around, something goes wrong. And the fishing net! Oh my gosh. If she hadn’t had me flustered, I would have used the right one. And then she accused me of not putting out my fires! Uh, hello! I’ve been doing this a lot longer than her. I know how to not start a wildfire. So irritating! I think she thinks she’s going to be my new mommy and will get to boss me around. No way—seriously. I don’t care if she and my dad do get married or whatever people do in this world. She will never be my mom. I know Tabitha and her are talking about having babies, too. I will be so mad if my dad decides he wants to have a baby with her. We have enough problems. A baby will only make things worse. And then, he’ll really never have time for me. The new baby will be his favorite. And if Tabitha has a baby, too? I will lose my mind!
Fred is the only one who understands me. I’m so glad he’s here. He said he feels like an outsider a lot because he’s different than everyone else. I totally get what he means. Fred is kind of a dork—in a good way. At first, he annoyed me, but now I understand it’s just him. He isn’t being mean when he corrects people. He’s the kind of guy who likes facts. I can respect that.
I told him I liked it better when I was alone because then I didn’t actually feel alone. When I’m in the house with everyone and they’re all talking about stuff, I feel left out. I don’t have anyone that understands me or what it’s like to be twelve. Fred said, when he was my age, he felt really awkward. He’s always been super-smart, he says (and I believe him), so the other kids didn’t really like him. Adults thought he was just a kid and didn’t want to spend time with him, either. That’s pretty much what I feel like. He was a loner and found comfort in books. I find comfort in nature—or at least that’s what he says about me. I think he’s right.
We talked about the stuff we missed most before this all happened. I don’t even really miss my friends and school all that much. I miss going somewhere and getting to talk to people my own age, or going to watch a movie. I really miss McDonald’s cheeseburgers. Fred misses his computer and TV shows. I guess he’s a real Jeopardy nerd. He told me the thing he often misses most is never getting to finish the series he was watching on Netflix. LOL! As if that’s important. To him, he says it is. He hates not knowing how something ends or not understanding something in general. Like I said, he is kind of a dork.
Anyway, it’s nice to have at least one person who gets me. He says I have to remember everyone is going through what he calls growing pains. We’re all learning to adapt. We’re all missing things and people from our lives. He says I should consider myself lucky to still have my family. I am lucky, but that doesn’t mean I like everything that’s happening.
I asked him about the five-year-plan he was making. It makes my head hurt thinking about all the math he used. He really is crazy-smart, but I think it’s better to wing it. Plus, I don’t want to imagine the next five years like this. I know it’s a possibility, but I want to pretend it isn’t.
Tomorrow, he wants me to show him how to make one of those grass mats. Is it weird that I’m kind of excited about it? It’ll be like having a real friend, where we can go off by ourselves and do something a little fun. It will be our thing. I know Tabitha and Regan don’t know how to do it and Geno doesn’t care. My dad and grandpa know how, but that doesn’t count. This is me and Fred’s thing.
Hopefully, Dad will let me go visit Travis again soon. I can’t wait to tell him about everything that’s happened. He can fill me in on what’s been happening over there, too. I wonder if he gets to hang out with anyone from school? He told me his mom is pretty strict and isn’t letting him go too far, but that’s still better than being completely isolated.
Bye, for now!
19
Regan woke with her back stiff from sleeping on the couch. Lily had been forced to stay in the house and Regan had wanted to give her some space, so she’d decided to forego sharing her room—at least for one night. The way her back felt, that arrangement might not last. To make things worse, the storm hadn’t let up and only gotten worse throughout the night, keeping her up for a good portion of it. She’d kept expecting a tree to crash through the house or for some other major catastrophe to unfold.
Now, she wasn’t sure what had woken her, but there was light bleeding in through the window blinds and she didn’t hear any signs of a storm raging on outside. The worst had to be over.
She rose from the couch, stretching silently as she did. It didn’t sound as if anyone else was up. Regan padded on bare feet to the kitchen and filled a glass with water before opening the back door to surveil the damage.
“Wow,” she whispered, looking at the debris scattered about.
There were palm fronds everywhere. Various leaves and branches lay all over the place, with fallen coconuts mingled throughout the mess.
Trees leaned against one another, revealing the strength of the wind that had blown through last night. Seeing the damage, Regan had to guess that Wolf had been right to guess that it was more than a tropical storm, and more like a weak hurricane of Category One or Two strength.
She stared out at the few trees that had fallen, in total disbelief that any others were still standing. Wolf had told her that palm trees were made for the strong winds, but after what she’d heard overnight and with what she was seeing now, it seemed like everything should have been destroyed. Maybe they did have to be of some grand design, as RC said. The oak and cypress trees were deeply rooted and were pretty solid, as well, and although she saw some downed branches, the trees were still standing. Suddenly, she remembered a storm she had endured while camping in the Colorado mountains. The pine trees had snapped in two. There’d been trees down all over the roads. Pine trees were not meant for the wind, not like the trees on this island.
“Looks like it was a wild one,” Wolf said, coming to stand behind her.
His face was grim as he looked at a tree that had fallen to the ground. The top of the palm tree had brushed the house, but there didn’t appear to be any damage.
“We need to get everyone up. I don’t think we’re ready to go through a serious hurricane. We need to get more water stored inside and I want to make sure there’s no damage to the house from this last storm. Any weakness is going to be a danger point if and when a major hurricane comes in.”
Regan nodded her head. “Okay. I’ll start waking everyone up.”
She went back inside and quickly dressed in the bathroom before knocking on Lily’s door.
“Hey,” she said, opening the door and walking into the dark room. “Lily, your dad wants everyone up to start clean-up and doing more prep work before another storm comes in.”
Lily rolled over and sat up in bed. “Why? I thought we already did all that.”
Surviving the Refuge (Survivalist Reality Show Book 2) Page 19
