by Cal, Sarah
“Don’t sweat it so much, Emma,” Carol said, her voice sounding tired. “They’re gone and there’s nothing we can do about it. We should be grateful they left your sister alive, you know? They were all armed.”
Emma felt the blood drain from her face. She’d forgotten that. “How many guns do we still have?”
“I checked, and they didn’t take any of our guns, at least. We have more than enough to protect us, but now... with no tire, we’re stuck here. That’s my biggest problem.”
Yeah. Emma guessed it was a problem for a lot of them. She could hear the murmurs starting up in groups.
“Maybe... if we stick around and keep trying with the towns people, we can still get that spare tire. The car still has some gas.”
“Not enough to get us too far,” Carol said.
Emma shrugged. “Any distance would be good. We just need to find something better to settle. For now... we don’t have much of a choice, so we need to stick around here.”
The only big immediate problem was how everyone else was going to reach to being left behind and stabbed in the back. There wasn’t much she could do if some of the other guys decided they were better off leaving the group, too. There wasn’t anywhere they would go, but if they asked for a part of the supplies, or just tried to take them, a fight might actually brake out.
Emma didn’t feel too confident about breaking up a fight at that moment. The most she could hope for was that people would behave.
“We need to decide what we’re going to do,” Carol told her, voice quiet. She turned to look at her, and noticed she wasn’t really doing anything besides just sitting there.
“How’s Merry first?” Emma asked.
“She’s fine,” Carol said measuredly, only to ruin it by adding, “I think. It’s hard to tell right now, but we need to wait for her to wake up. Sleep is the best thing for her right now, and it will heal her body a bit. I do have some drugs I carried with me, and maybe they didn’t know, but either way I’m just glad they left my stuff alone.”
Emma sighed, relieved. Having some medicine would be helpful, for Merry, at least.
“Now, about the other problem,” Carol probed.
Emma glanced around at everybody else. They were all siting far on the side walk where there was a bit of grass, but it was still hard ground. Carol was kneeling on the sidewalk, and Emma was crouched with her back to the car, until she realized her thighs ached, and she sat down, holding her knees to her chest.
She didn’t miss that Carol’s voice had gone quiet again, like she wanted to leave it as a private conversation.
“There isn’t really much we can do,” she muttered. “What decisions? There aren’t even that many options. If the people of this town don’t give us a free tire, we’re stuck here. And even if they have food, I somehow doubt they’d be willing to share that. They’d probably run us out of town if we even tried.”
“I don’t think still looking for a tire is a good idea, either,” Carol added. At Emma’s frown, she continued. “We don’t need them finding out we’re stranded here and the perfect targets, Emma. Maybe if we leave them alone, they’ll assume we all left, and they’ll leave us alone. We have some guns, but our numbers went down.”
“Not by a lot, though,” Emma muttered. “We’re going to have to think of something to do with the food shortage. We can't stand to have any more internal arguments, or it’s going to get dangerous.”
Things turning violent was what she was worried about. None of them were in a state to fight. Physically, they weren’t so far off, they still had some food. But when people got desperate, they did stupid things, and Emma could picture a lot of people getting hurt in this.
“Someone will have to stay up nights,” Emma said finally. “Someone we trust, just to be sure.”
“You mean all your friends, right?”
Emma nodded. “Yeah. Merry obviously can't do it, but Chase is definitely trustworthy.” He’d be more likely to carry Emma and Merry off than outright betray anybody, anyway. “I will do my part, too, of course.”
Carol nodded. “My sister will volunteer. She feels really bad about what happened. She’s probably blaming herself for all of this.”
Emma shook her head. “Talk to her, tell her not to worry. Those guys were selfish, and they might have done it impulsively because the opportunity was there, but then it just means they would have screwed us over sometime later.”
She couldn’t say she was glad they were gone, but that was less of a threat they had to look out for. And Carol was right, Merry was alive, and they’d lost some few supplies, but they could still find a way out of the newest problem they’d fallen into. No matter what it took, Emma wasn’t going to give up.
“I’ll start for tonight,” she said decisively. “I want to wait up for my sister, see if she’ll wake up.”
But Carol was frowning at her. “You can't, Emma.”
“Of course I can.”
Carol shook her head. “I know you want to, but Emma, you’re stressed.”
“Because of that, I don’t think I can sleep.”
“But it would be better if you tried. I’m fairly sure Merry won’t be up until sometime Tomorrow. You may not see it that way, but a lot of the people here are actually following you, your directives. We need to have you awake with the rest of them as much as possible. Hopefully, you’ll have an effect.”
Emma frowned. That was the last thing she wanted to hear. If these people thought she was responsible for them, then they might start to blame her. If she was attacked herself, she wasn’t sure how much she could do with Merry this vulnerable. She needed to focus on her sister, there wouldn’t be much of her attention left to devote to her own safety.
Carol probably noticed.
“Emma, I know you really want to help. That’s fine, but trust me on this. You can go to sleep, and I promise I’ll keep your sister safe. And when I can't, I’m sure your friend Chase wouldn’t mind helping.”
Emma sighed. They would both volunteer to do it, she knew, and it would have to be enough for now. It did make her feel a little better that Merry had more people to look after than just her. Because the truth was, Emma was exhausted, though it was more emotionally than anything. Along with everything else, getting the flat, going through the town when it ended up being pointless, then getting betrayed and her sister getting hurt... it was all bound to get to her.
“Fine,” Emma muttered, conceding. “But if anything happens with Merry, please wake me up?”
Carol nodded and gave her a light nudge. “I promise.”
And the thing was, Emma trusted her. Carol had been there, helping Emma out of tough situations, vouching for her when she didn’t have a lot of people on her side. Even though their first meeting hadn't been that great, Emma had come to consider the other woman a close friend. She did as Carol said and went to get some sleep.
No one was happy, but that could be dealt with later, hopefully.
Only, the longer time passed, the less hope Emma had of things being resolved quickly or easily. It was a stupid hope to begin with.
When will I ever learn?
A few days later, hunger had set in. the guys that had left had taken most of what little they’d managed to fit in their car, so the food ran out a lot faster. By the disgruntled look on Carol’s face, that she’d worn pretty much since that day, Emma could imagine she regretted bringing any of them along and diving their stuff the way they did.
Emma couldn’t even blame her. She was mad herself, that she could show people kindness and they wouldn’t think twice about screwing them over. It was naïve to think that it would never happen, but that didn’t make her feel any better.
Carol and Emma were out searching for food in a nearby wooded area. They couldn’t exactly ask the towns people, when they were the intruders and food was currently more valuable than gold. They didn’t even find a wheel for the car, and they hadn’t stopped looking, so they couldn’t go any further.
“
It’s useless,” Carol finally said. “We searched yesterday already and found nothing but trash. Why are we still out here?”
Emma sighed. She could relate, she didn’t want to do this either. She was a mass of mixed emotions, and really, she’d rather be back looking after her sister. Merry had regained consciousness at some point, though not for long, and it had sent her into more panic before Carol told her there was nothing to worry about. She knew people could fall asleep while concussed and never wake up again, but according to Carol, that wasn’t something she had to worry about with Merry. She’d even given some medical explanation that Emma only half understood, but she trusted the other woman and left it at that.
But they had to do this. So she turned to Carol with eyebrows raised.
“Do you have any better ideas?” she asked. “Because if you do, I’m all ears.”
Carol gave her an unimpressed look then scoffed. And grumbled to herself, claiming, “I’m just about ready to shoot some people for a good meal.”
Emma sighed and moved on, hearing the other woman follow without hesitation. “Don’t be so dark,” she said, a note of lightness she didn’t feel in her voice, though she knew Carol was only joking—or she hoped.
Honestly, she wasn’t sure anymore. Part of her wanted to seriously agree with the sentiment, but then wouldn’t that make her as bad as the people that had killed her grandmother? Killing other people because they had something and you wanted it, without any regards given to them or their situation.
“If we could just get a little something to tide us over a bit longer...” she muttered.
Carol had moved close enough to hear her. “A little wouldn’t do us much goo. Everyone is hanging on their last threads, Emma. If there’s a time to be cautious, it’s around now, when everyone’s hungry and there’s no longer food to be had.”
“So there really is nothing we can do,” she said quietly.
“But there is,” Carol said, immediately catching her interest. “We need to move.”
Emma frowned. “But we can't take the car...”
“No,” Carol agreed. “It will have to be on foot, and it will be harder, but it has to be a lot better than staying here and hoping for a miracle. One might not come before the shit hits the fan, and it will be too late by then.”
“Would the others even go along with this?” she mused.
Carol just shrugged. “If they want to survive, they’ll realize we don’t have a choice.” She paused, then added, “If they’re smart.”
Emma huffed. She didn’t have a good feeling about this, but Carol was right, she realized. They were quickly running out of options, which was kinda funny, because they didn’t really have any to begin with, they’d just invented some on their own. But they really would have to leave the area soon. Emma didn’t leave home jut to end up dead on the side of the road, and she didn’t think any of the rest of them would disagree with her. But people weren’t always rational at the most crucial of times.
They went a little further than the previous day, taking care to go in a somewhat straight line and not lose sight of each other, so they didn’t get lost. Even though they made the effort, it wasn’t worth much, and eventually, Emma had to concede.
Emma and Carol return from their trip empty handed. Chase was busy handing round supplies, and Merry was laid on the now empty back-seat of the car, her head wound still healing. Emma shot a worried look her way, wanting to go and be with her sister, but she was probably still asleep. She was sleeping a little too much, and Emma didn’t know whether or not to be grateful she was sleeping at all.
Carol noticed her shift in attention, and gave her a pat on the shoulder.
“I’ll give Merry some more pain killers, and we can discuss with the group what to do next. We’ve stuck around here long enough as it is.”
Emma agreed, but she didn’t see anything else they could do. They were parked a little out of the town, which was probably the only reason they hadn’t been attacked or run out yet. It would only be a matter of time, though, before someone got curious and decided to explore.
A while later, they were all seated on the ground to the side of the car away from the road, with Merry the only one sitting in the car seat but with the door open so she could be part of the conversation. Emma was just glad to see her eyes open for a change.
“After discussing with Carol,” she said, after the other woman explained their situation—as if they didn’t all know it well. “I’ve decided that we can’t stay where we are any longer. It’s just my opinion, but I really don’t think we have much time at this point. The people around us are inhospitable and we need to get moving elsewhere while we still have the strength to.”
It was better than waiting around to get either attacked or starved. It was so close to the situation they’d faced before—well, save for Emma and her family—that she wanted to cry. They might have escaped death, but their situation was even bleaker than ever.
“We’ll go with you,” Brian said almost immediately, Kellen nodding her head firmly at his side as they cuddled their two little girls between them.
“I agree we don’t have much of a choice,” Kellen put in. “There isn’t any food to find, and no one is going to take pity on us because to them we’re outsider. More than anything right now, we need food.”
Emma looked at Kellen, again surprised that she could be this strong and mature. She hadn’t seen that many great qualities in her before, much like her husband, but Emma kept getting surprised a lot by the both of them these days.
But there were others that protested. A lot fewer than she had thought had actually been in the plot to leave them, which left way too many people for them to look after, and for a moment, Emma felt so guilty.
If not for her, they probably wouldn’t find themselves where they did. It was her decision to leave home and seek revenge, only to come back and find themselves under attack. Then all they could do was run, and they clearly picked the wrong people on the way, considering they left them stranded with so little supplies. She wanted to curse them, and did, even though she felt a little guilt for it. She would be happy if something bad befell them, and really, it was more of a given that something would. They had less people to deal with and more food, but the situation couldn’t stay that way for the long term, not when every single one of them was so damn selfish.
The sound of protesting was getting a little too loud, and she raised a hand, shushing them and hoping they didn’t alert anyone. The last thing they needed was to announce to the locals that they were still around.
She glared around at them, wondering what the hell they wanted. She wasn’t hearing any opinions coming from them, just complaints, and it wasn’t her job to deal with them, so why did they think she would? She was looking out for her family, her friends, while most of them were in it for themselves.
Besides, it would only be better for them if they could move with people they trusted. Her relationship with Kellen might still be rocky, but Emma trusted her and her husband, and Carol and Barbara. And of course her sister and her best friend. They could worry less about another betrayal if there were less of them, not to mention it would be so much easier to find a solution to their problem.
If they wanted to stick around they could. Emma just had no intention of doing so, and fully let them know.
“Look, you guys, it’s up to you. If you want to stay here, then that’s fine. But the rest of us that wasn’t to go are leaving within the hour after we’ve packed up.”
Chapter Six:
Again, not everyone was happy, but Emma didn’t care anymore. She didn’t want to leave anyone behind, but if they were so willing to be stupid, Emma wasn’t going to stick around and be stupid with them.
She looked around at the group, and she could already tell the people that would be staying behind and the ones that would go. She was just glad that everyone she considered friend would be coming along.
There was no guarantee that goin
g away would get them any better luck, but it was a lot better than staying in one spot when the situation was already so terrible.
“Maybe this isn’t the best idea,” she whispered to Chase, feeling unsure of herself.
They were standing apart, like an ‘us’ verses ‘them’ standoff, and it was the last thing Emma had intended.
“I don’t like it either,” Chase told her. “But you’re right, as usual. And if they’re being this difficult, I honestly don’t care if we leave them behind.”
Emma glanced around, glad that there wasn’t anyone around them, and no one had heard.
“Chase, you can't say things like that,” she whispered to him.
He frowned down at her. “Tell me you think differently, Emma. If they’re like this now, imagine what would happen if we tried to force them to follow us.”
Emma sighed. She didn’t need him to tell her, she could guess. It would be disastrous if they suddenly decided they wanted to come along, because nothing good would come of it. And she couldn’t refuse him, either. She felt relieved that they were staying behind. It meant their group was smaller, and easier to manage. Not to mention safer when it was left to all the people she held at least some trust in.
“Either way,” Chase finally said, “It’s true that we can't stay here anymore, so stop worrying yourself over your choices. They either like them, or they don’t, but what they do is their own choice. You’re not responsible for everyone, Emma. Please don’t try to be.”
It was hard not to when they were her opinions and decisions people were paying so much attention to, but she didn’t tell him that. No need to make him worry more.
Emma and her friends prepared to leave, including Karen and her family, Kellen, Brian and their kids, and Carol and Barb.
She wasn’t sure if everyone else would change their minds to come with them last minute, but they couldn’t wait them out. They’d made their decision, so they could stick by the car. No words were spoken as the ones that would be staying watched the get ready to start their journey.
