Snow & Ash: Endless Winter

by Theresa Shaver

  The boys were exactly where we had left them, playing video games on the couch and Sasha was nowhere to be found.

  Chapter Thirty-Rex

  “She left.” Matty replied when I ask him if he’s seen Sasha, never taking his eyes from the screen. I walk over and hit the power button on the TV to get his full attention.

  “Matty, where is Sasha?”

  He looks sideways at Ben before shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know. She came back not long after you left and said she was going to get Ethan and Belle. She said you guys were going to meet her there.” He looks past me at Skylar. “That was really nice to give Sasha all those eggs for the people at the hotel. You’re really nice Skylar.” The kid blushes bright red and looks down at his feet.

  I spin around and see Sky’s face has gone chalk white and her eyes are cold with fury.

  “Sky, what is it?” I know Sasha’s desperate to get her Mom back but I don’t know why Sky’s so mad about her leaving.

  “SHE TOOK THE EGGS.” Each word of that sentence could cut glass they’re so sharp. Now I’m even more confused. Sky’s mad over a few eggs? She’s been so generous to us that I don’t see her being this mad about a few eggs. When she sees my confusion she explains.

  “Your “like a sister” is going to sell me out! She’s going to go and bargain with that Ted guy for her Mom. The eggs are the proof! She’ll tell him what we have and where we are in exchange for her MOM!”

  My mouth falls open in disbelief. I know Sky has trust issues but there’s no way Sasha would do something like that. She might try and barter with those eggs for Belle’s freedom but she wouldn’t sell Sky and her brother out. Marsh is just standing and shaking his head. So I try and reassure Sky but before I can say a word she’s already talking.

  “AIRIA, when did Sasha leave? How far has she gotten and why the HELL did you let her OUT?” She’s furious and not looking at me at all as she starts pulling outer wear from a closet. When she pulls her rifle from the closet my mind goes blank.

  “Skylar Ross, Sasha Bennett left by living quarter’s exterior door thirty four minutes ago. She crossed southern perimeter sensor boundary eighteen minutes ago. Access level red restricts interior movement and entrance but does not restrict exiting with the exemption on Benjamin Ross as specified by you.”

  Skylar groaned in frustration but went back to loading her rifle. I don’t know what to do. Sasha wouldn’t do what Sky claims but I don’t know how to make her believe that and what the hell does she plan on doing with that rifle?

  “Sky, Skylar! What’re you doing?”

  The look she gives me is cold and it’s like she’s looking at a stranger.

  “I’m going to stop her.”

  Marsh jumps between us with his hands up.

  “Whoa, whoa, everybody take a chill pill! I’ll go and get her. She’s got less than an hour’s head start so if I motor I can reach her before she hits town. Rex, Skylar, get ready. Get that knee wrapped up and any weapons you’re willing to lend us so as soon as I get her back we can go. Skylar, I promise you I’ll stop her even if it means tying her to a chair here while the three of us goes and gets the rest of our people. But, I honestly don’t think that’s what she’s going to do. I think she’s just crazy with worry for her Mom.”

  Skylar just stares at him for a moment and I think she’s going to push past him before she finally nods and goes to hand the rifle to Marsh but he backs away shaking his head.

  “Uh, thanks but I’ll need more than a quick lesson before I use one of those. Besides, I’m just bringing her back not shooting her.”

  I see Skylar roll her eyes as if she wants Marsh to shoot Sasha. Have I been wrong about this girl? Are her trust issues too big for us to overcome? The fact that she immediately thought the worst of Sasha even after I vouched for her says maybe they are.

  It takes Marsh minutes to gear up and head out. I stand in the middle of the living room facing Skylar in the silence. I don’t know what to say and she’s not talking. Based on her cold expression there might not be anything left to say.

  Interlude

  Ted

  “Jones is dead boss.”

  Ted Redford grunts in annoyance as he stuffs more supplies into a back pack.

  “Good, that loser and Bo couldn’t even do the simplest task. Any luck finding the girl or that other punk?”

  Mickey’s face is hard when he shakes his head.

  “No, the men searched the whole hotel but came up empty. Those kids must’ve ducked out right away.”

  Ted tosses the bulging bag at Mickey.

  “Well, doesn’t matter now, although it would have been nice to have a second woman with us at the lodge. Let’s get a move on. I want to be clear of town before either the generator dies for good or anyone who survived the scout run makes it back here. Either one of those things can happen at any minute and I don’t plan on getting caught here with these losers.

  It’s a good thing it was you that found that hunting lodge and not any of the men or we’d have to take them with us and dispose of them along the way.” He looks around the stripped down office and shakes his head. “I’m sick of sharing and carrying the dead weight around here. Grab the woman and I’ll meet you out back by the trailer.”

  Mickey grunts again and shoulders the pack Ted had thrown at him before leaving to collect Belle.

  Ted takes one more look around and smirks before leaving. It was a good gig while it lasted but he wasn’t going to go down with a sinking ship. All the gas from every vehicle and every tank had been drained of its last drop. When the generator failed there would be no way to pump the water that kept them going here for so long. Add to that the very good chance that those savages would be headed here to attack and he was cutting his losses. Now that he had that pansy soldier-boy’s supplies and woman as well as a new secure, hidden base, he was laughing.

  Sasha

  Sasha stumbled on the uneven frozen ground in her haste and cried out when one of the eggs tumbled out of the basket and smashed open in front of her. She pushed to her feet and dashed a coat sleeve across her wet eyes. She was furious, frustrated and heartbroken all at once. She couldn’t believe Rex and Marsh. After all these years they were more interested in a stupid girl with her stupid bunker than saving her mom. Didn’t they care that Ted could be hurting her right now? She would show them. She would take the eggs and the location of Skylar’s cave of wonders and use them to bargain for her mom’s freedom. Once Ted knew what that girl had hidden away he’d let her mom go and he could move everyone up there. He and his men would be so busy moving everyone up the mountain that he wouldn’t give them a second thought. Rex, Matty and Marsh would be on the way down to look for Lance so they wouldn’t be in Ted’s sights when he got up to the girl’s door.

  If Skylar wanted to share everything she had with everyone and be the big hero she could start by dealing with Ted and his men.

  Sasha finally caught a glimpse of pavement and breathed a sigh of relief as she passed the last of the dead trees and stepped down onto the road. She finally knew where she was. She turned towards town and took two steps before stopping short. Just ahead of her and coming in her direction was Ted. He was pulling her mom along by a rope tied around her bound wrists. Just behind them was that big lug Mickey and he was pulling a small trailer that was heaped with goods covered by a tarp. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and started walking towards them. She didn’t know why they were out here but it would save her a long walk back to town.

  Marsh

  His heart bashed against his ribs and his breathing was a ragged rasp. He’d been throwing himself full tilt down the mountain to catch up with Sasha. He’d like to believe that she wouldn’t do what Skylar accused her of, but he’d seen the ugly jealous look in her eyes every time she looked at Skylar.

  Sasha was only eight when the bombs dropped and she’d grown up listening to Dads and Pops constant reminders to not trust anyone else and always put
their group first. It wasn’t impossible that one jealous fifteen year old would do exactly what Skylar had said.

  The road was just ahead, he could see it through the trees. Once he hit pavement he’d make even better time and should spot Sasha up ahead. He reached out and grabbed the last tree before the pavement started and used it to pivot towards town but the glimpse he saw of the road had him swinging all the way around and back in the direction he had just come before diving down behind some dead bushes.

  He lays there and tries to catch his breath and figure out what to do. He just barely caught a look at the people in the road but Belle and Sasha were easily recognised by their red hair. So was Mickey from his size and sheer ugliness. Marsh could only assume the other man was Ted. That was confirmed a few minutes later when he heard Ted bark at Sasha to move faster as they passed close by to his hiding place on the way back up the mountain.

  What should he do? He could follow Sasha and Ted back up to Skylar’s and try to beat them there or he can try and free Belle from Mickey. He really wished he had taken that rifle from Skylar now. The only other thing he could think to do was get back to town and try and get help from his Dads and Pops if he’d made it back.

  Marsh peeps around the bushes and sees Mickey sitting on the trailer with Belle at his feet on the pavement. Ok, they’re not going anywhere until Ted gets back which will take at least an hour and a half. That is if Skylar doesn’t shoot him as soon as the door opens so town it is. He needs help and he needs to let his Dads know what’s happening.

  Marsh carefully moves deeper into the dead forest until he’s far enough in not to be seen from the road before paralleling it to get around Mickey and Belle. As soon as he’s far enough along he leaves the forest for the road and then runs as fast as he can back to town.

  Lance

  “We have to move faster!” Lance yells at the ragged group of refugees that he had convinced to flee the hotel.

  As soon as the temperature had started to rise this morning he had left the ski chair operator outpost building that had saved his life. The scouting trip had gone wrong after the second day when one of Ted’s men had tried to put a knife in his back. That guy had ended up with an arrow jammed through his own neck for his effort. Lance had already seen enough of the group of savages that were living in the resort to know they were a solid threat. The screams of their victims echoed across the empty ski runs as they were cooked over huge bonfires and then consumed. Lance had to get his family away from the tempting target the hotel was to this group.

  He should have been back three days ago but he was forced to take cover when the temperature started to drop so quickly. He knew exactly what it meant from previous years when a radiation cloud had passed through. It was sheer luck that he learned of an even worse fate. He had to pass fairly close to the resort to make it back to town and saw the group of savages massing for an attack. He got all the information he needed on their target when he came across one of the animals alone in the trees relieving himself. After getting what he needed from him he broke his neck and left him to the animals before sprinting for home.

  What he found at the hotel was chaos. The generators were dead, Ted and Mickey were gone and his husband was chained by the ankle to a wall. No one had seen any of the kids for days and Lance didn’t know where to begin to look for them. He had to push the devastation he felt to one side and deal with what he could control. He came very close to just taking Ethan and running, leaving everyone in the hotel to their fate but his husband convinced him that there were still good people here, not to mention children.

  He yelled and screamed and bullied them to get them all moving and out of the hotel and town. They headed north just because it was away from where the savages were coming from. Lance and Ethan figured they would get everyone far enough away and then regroup and try and find some kind of shelter that would temporarily hold everyone.

  Lance had to look down at his feet in order to not yell at them to move faster again. He was starting to think that he and Ethan would have to leave the group behind for their own safety when a murmur flowed through the crowd. His bow was off his shoulder with an arrow notched in an instant as he scanned in all directions for the threat he knew was coming. What he saw instead was his son sprinting towards him.

  …end interlude

  Chapter Thirty One-Skylar

  Marsh had been gone for over an hour and I hadn’t spoken to Rex once. Realistically, I knew Sasha’s possible betrayal wasn’t his fault but I had finally let myself trust someone and it was hard to swallow. Besides, he seemed to be just as mad at me from the way he reacted. As if I wasn’t supposed to worry about my home and brother falling to men who had no problem leaving children to die in the woods.

  There was no way I could just sit and wait to see if Marsh would bring her back so I kept busy cleaning up breakfast dishes, giving the boys quick showers and milking Nods. I swear I must have wiped the same area of counter in the kitchen ten times before AIRIA finally announced two people, male and female had entered the perimeter.

  Rex jumped to his feet and pumped a fist in the air.

  “I told you he’d bring her back! Now you’ll see she wasn’t going to do what you said.”

  I just shook my head at him. “AIRIA open the airlock and let them in. There’s no need to decontaminate.”

  I was in too much of a hurry to hear Sasha’s explanation to worry about such a small amount of exposure. They’d only been out there for less than two hours and the cloud was gone.

  Rex and I watched the red light above the door in silence. The boys had a movie playing at a low volume but their eyes were on us as we waited. Finally, the light turned green and the door slid to the side. Sasha came flying through like she had been pushed from behind and I jumped back so she wouldn’t crash into me. My eyes shot back to the door to see why Marsh had been so rough with her and instead found a gun pointed at my face and Marsh wasn’t holding it.

  Rex yelled out and backed away when he saw who was standing in the door. I didn’t even need him to tell me that this was Ted. Rex looked from him to Sasha who was getting to her feet with total confusion on his face.

  “Sasha, what did you do?” He asked chokingly.

  Sasha got to her feet and sent Rex a look filled with apology.

  “I did what I had to, to save my mom. She’s all I have.” She turned to Ted and stood up taller. “There, I kept my end up, now can I have my mom back? You promised!”

  Ted let out one of the ugliest laughs I’ve ever heard. There was no surprise at all in me at what he told her.

  “Now why would I do that? I now have the keys to the kingdom and some pretty little princesses to keep me company. No, I think I’ll just let Mickey keep your Mom as a consolation prize for me dumping him.” He laughed again as Sasha dropped to her knees and started to weep, then turned to me. “You must be Skylar, just so you know; Sasha doesn’t like you very much. Nice digs you got here. Greedy little girl to have kept all this to yourself but Sasha tells me you decided to share after all. That won’t be happening, at least not with anyone but ME!”

  I’m numb, I feel nothing. This is exactly what Dad had said would happen if we tried to help others. My voice is flat when I speak.

  “AIRIA, voiceprint Ted. He is an intruder and threat to our safety. Lock down.”

  Ted’s looking at me with contempt but starts swiveling his head around as thunking noises come from every door in the living quarters. There is now no way he can enter the cavern or exit to the outside without my permission.

  “What just happened? What did you do?” he yells at me.

  I give him a level look, free of fear.

  “Did you really think you could just walk into my home with your little gun and take over? Did you really think it would be that easy? This is a military grade bunker, run and maintained by an artificial intelligence system. Do you think you can negotiate with a computer? We are now on lock down with all doors locked and sealed. You w
ill have no access to any of the supplies or technology in this bunker.” I half turn away from him and address the ceiling. “AIRIA, monitor vital signs, any harm to myself or Ben…” I catch Rex’s agonized look but look away. “Or Matty and you are instructed to flood this room with a lethal amount of gas to terminate the threat.”

  I turn back to Ted who’s not looking so cocky anymore but still points his gun at me.

  “We go, you go.”

  He and the others have no way of knowing that I’m bluffing, at least I think I am. As far as I know AIRIA doesn’t have that capability, but I’m not a hundred percent certain. The fact that she didn’t acknowledge my command makes me think I’m right.

  Ted waves his gun around at the others before grinning.

  “Well, it looks like we’re in a stalemate then. I can’t hurt you and the kids without dying but I’m not leaving with nothing, so let’s just get down to negotiations then. What’s stopping me from shooting your friends here to get you to co-operate? You didn’t mention them to your fancy computer.”

  I look down at Sasha with disgust and pull her to her feet.

  “Go for it. Do what you want with this one. She had no problem putting two children in danger to get what she wanted. As for Rex, well, I’ll feel really bad about it but he brought this viper into my home so his fate is not my problem.”

  I don’t let myself look in his direction when I say such hateful words. I can only hope he knows I’m bluffing and trying to stall for time. I just need for Ted to relax and let his guard down. If I can get to my rifle or get the boys out of this room I might be able to do this monster some damage.

  “You know, I think I believe you. You’re pretty cold, I like that in a woman. So, where do we go from here?” He asks before giving Sasha a shove towards the back of the room and out of his way.