by Cal, Sarah
They were on a farm in the middle of seemingly nowhere, with food growing all over. Like it attracted them, it would attract others, possibly dangerous people. During the day, they went out patrolling in pairs for every field, but this time she was going out on her own, and it was dark. She didn’t tell him she usually patrolled alone even during the day. She just figured she worked better alone, so she did.
“Chase, please just stay here.”
“But you can't go out on your own—” he argued.
She cut him off. “I’m perfectly capable of going out on my own, Chase, I promise to be careful. I’m more worried about the guys I’ll be leaving here than myself.”
“What happens if you get into trouble? The others will be too far away if you need them.”
Emma could have told him she didn’t need them, but that would sound conceited, wouldn’t it? But the truth was, if they were too many in the fields and they all started shooting, the chances of injury by friendly fire were pretty high.
It wasn’t like she was doing this because she just wanted time to herself. And Chase was someone she would trust at her back, but she just didn’t want him out there if there was trouble.
“I promise I’ll be careful,” she said instead, pulling away from his hold. “I’m not so stupid I’ll jump into something I don’t think I can handle on my own. If anything happens, I’ll shoot a bullet in the air so you guys know there’s something wrong, and I will come back. If I had someone else go out there, it’s exactly what I would tell them to do.”
But he didn’t look appeased. “If something happens and you do that, we won’t be the only one to hear it, you know.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Would you relax? If there’s someone out there stealing the crops, with how little they’re taking, they probably won’t be much of a threat.”
“But what if they are,” he countered.
She shrugged. “I don’t intend to find any problem tonight, but if they are, then I will deal with them. Don’t you trust me?” she said when he went to argue some more. His mouth snapped closed, his jaw clenched. “Time’s wasting away, I need to go now. Get inside the house, and let the other guys that will be patrolling outside the house to keep their ear open for any sound from me. I will be back.”
He still didn’t look happy, but Emma went on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his cheek. He stiffened, before relaxing with a sigh. He wrapped her in his arms for a quick, fierce hug, then let her go.
She waved back at him as she walked out into the corn field. There was a little light out from the moon, though it was useless when she disappeared into the field. She moved her feet carefully, pushing corn stalks out of the way as she moved.
It was harder moving through them at night when she couldn’t see.
For a while, there was no other sound besides the ones she made. It was a large field, and going through it all alone was a bit of a tall order, but there was some advantage to doing this at night. The culprit would be covered by darkness, but so would she. Going alone was actually helpful this way; she could focus completely, and she would know, if she heard anything, that it was a foe. Well, unless someone—Chase, for one—disregarded her order and followed her into the cornfield.
They all trusted her, though, and she was hoping to use that to get them to behave.
Though, that still surprised her, that they all trusted her without question. When she made the decision to do the night patrol, and set up a few guys around the house, the only ones to speak up were Chase and Harry. Some of her friends spoke up, but it was more to mention their worries, but that they were sure everything would be fine, because it was Emma. She thought back to the surprise they’d made up for her, and she found herself grinning.
Emma had never had anything like that before. Her own students didn’t look up to her, she barely had any friends from the time she was fifteen. She’d had few before that, but after her parents died, she didn’t make room for even those few, and eventually, they stopped talking to her. her life had been close to pathetic before the EMP attack, and though it was more dangerous now, she realized there were still good things to be had in life.
While it was too soon to include as family, something she considered sacred, she thought that she would in the near future seeing as they were going to be living together on the farm for a while. If she had her way, it would be their home from now on. And... if ever things changed, and the lights came back on... or even when she thought it wasn’t as dangerous, she, Chase and Merry could go and visit their old town, and her grandmother’s grave.
She went through the field and made it to the other side. From there she could see the trees, and remembered passing through them not all that long ago. Had it really been less than a week?
We were lucky, she thought to herself.
It had been a total coincidence that Harry just happened to be there when they arrived, though a wonderful one. If they had just taken some food and moved on somewhere else, they might still be living out in the elements. Fed, but with no way to protect themselves. If Harry had come across them stealing, he might not have thought twice before taking shots at them. So many things could have gone wrong...
But they didn’t. We got lucky, and for as long as I can help it, we won’t be going hungry again.
She firmed her lips as she made the resolve. Because Emma had realized, even after the crash, she and her family had been living in some form of luxury. The gas lines cut off so cooking meals got harder, fearing the water getting cut off, they filled up every container that could hold it in. washing clothes and bathing was something they did less off.
But they had something that other people struggled to find. They had food, and a lot of it, and they took it for granted. While wandering around with even those little luxuries removed, she had known what it felt to be at the end of her rope. If it weren’t for the people she was looking after, she might have sat down and given up herself only, she wasn’t fighting only for herself, so that wasn’t an option for her.
But now... now she could say they had true luxuries, and she wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake.
She glanced around the open space between the edge of the corn field and the edge of the forest. Someone out there was stealing food from the field, from the reports she’d gotten before. She moved along the edge of the field and she could see where some of the cornstalks had been broken down. She retreated a little for some cover, and faced the forest, widening her senses to the disturbances around her. A breeze passed, rustling the corn stalks, but then everything was quiet again. If someone came, she was sure she would hear them.
She made some room to sit down, to wait.
After some hours had passed, something finally happened.
She was moving slowly, carefully, hiding her movements as much as she could and hoping the darkness could cover for the rest of it. She must have been better than she thought, because she heard a rustling in the trees and saw a figure lurking in the trees. They must not have noticed her if they were being so careless.
She pointed her gun at them, holding her finger over the trigger, and ordered, “Show yourself!”
Her voice carried, and the noise instantly stilled. For what felt like a long while, there was no movement. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, though her arms were steady, her eyes staring intently forward, waiting for an enemy to show up.
“I know you’re out there!” she shouted again. It couldn’t have been just the wind, and she already knew no animals lived in there, not even small ones. They hadn't found any, and she and Carol had gone through those woods at least three times before the whole group passed through it. “Come out and show yourself!”
There was a length of silence, and she thought she might have to lose her cover and pursue them, when there was movement. She was cautious, and thought she was ready for everything, but what happened next caught her off guard.
A small child comes out of the clearing, alone and crying.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked, crouching down so she wouldn’t seem so big, even though the boy was being cautious and not getting too close.
She didn’t put the gun away, either, just made sure the kid couldn’t see it clearly, just in case there were people out there other than the boy.
He sniffled, keeping his silence for a few seconds, before saying, “My parents are dead.”
It was expected, but Emma still felt her heart clench in her chest in sympathy. His parents must have been killed by raiders, and she wondered how he was alive, and how he’d been living since.
This was a kid that hadn't gotten lucky, and Emma was suddenly so glad she had been the one to come out here. She wouldn’t have trusted just anybody to not shoot first the second they heard the disturbance in the woods, if they were careful enough to avoid detection in the first place. Had she been careless, she was pretty sure the kid wouldn’t have shown himself.
Now that she had, she knew she had to help him somehow. There was no way she would leave a kid living out here. He didn’t have more than a pair of pants and a T-shirt on, he was probably cold, too. He stood trembling in front of her, but that could have just been because he was frightened, and she suddenly felt ashamed. She’d pointed a gun at the poor kid! Granted, before she knew it was a child, but still.
“Calm down,” she murmured. He hiccupped and wiped at his face, curling one hand into a fist and rubbing his eye as he sniffled and hiccupped some more, and it just broke her heart more. “No one is going to hurt you, all right? I promise.”
It didn’t seem to help, though. If anything, his crying got worse, his body shaking harder with very sob. Emma grimaced, the urge to go to him and scoop him up building in her again, only she knew better, so she kept her place. But it was heartbreaking just staying there and watching him as he cried himself out.
Where could he have come from? When was the last time he even saw another human being?
It could have been some time. He reminded her of Harry that way. Though he wouldn’t have been along for quite that long, she knew for kids, especially one as scared as this one was, days could seem like ages.
She set the rifle down because she had a feeling there wouldn’t be anyone behind the boy. He wouldn’t be in the state he was in if he had someone with him, she didn’t think. She held a hand out to him, freezing when he stumbled back a step, then moving on with slowly, exaggerated motions.
“Come here, kid,” she urged in the most soothing voice she could muster. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. Just come here...”
She crooned quiet words to him, and with some hesitation, he got closer. She smiled, wanting to reach for his hand. Or better yet, drag him into her arms and carry him back to the house. But he was obviously still skittish and that move would likely have him running away.
“Are you hungry?” she asked instead.
When he nodded, she scurried back, moving slowly so she wouldn’t spook him, then got up and picked a cob of corn form one of the stalks. She went back to him, keeping her shoulders hunched and trying to make herself look small, then crouched a foot away from him and held the corn out to him. He reached for it, slowly, before snatching it and backing off a step. But he didn’t run, and she let herself hope a little.
She was thinking of ways to get him to go back with her. Just out right saying it might only scare him further. She needed to calm him down completely and talk him down, and she had to be careful or he would just take off.
She couldn’t let that happen. It was bad enough that he’d been alone out there for however long. She couldn’t see that well with just the light from the moon, but she knew if she saw him in the sunlight, he would be a sorry sight.
He nibbles on the corn, but when he heard someone tramping through the corn, he ran away before Emma could stop him. She looked in the direction the noise was coming from, reaching for her gun, but then she relaxed when she saw Harry approaching.
“Who was in the shadows?” he asked, his eyes following the way the boy had gone.
Emma was impressed with how strong his sight seemed to be, though she was a little disappointed. If it had been someone else, she could have given them an earful about listening to her orders, but Harry owned this field, and technically, the kid had been stealing.
She still wanted to go off and look for the boy, but they’d probably just spook him and he could run further away. At the moment, he might come back, because this farm was the closest source for meals she’d seen around. He was hungry and on his own, so he probably wouldn’t stray too far.
“There was a little boy,” Emma said, answering Harry’s question as she got up. “He was alone, but he ran off. I want to go after him, but...”
She let her voice trail off, but he seemed to get it.
“If he’s alone out there, someone goes after him especially in the dark? He’s not going to stay put and wait for you. He’ll make a run for it.”
Emma sighed. She already knew, but hearing it still had her down. “I feel sorry for him,” she admitted. “He says his parents are dead. I lost my parents when I wasn’t fifteen, but the world was somewhat sane and I wasn’t by myself. I can’t imagine what he must be feeling...”
“You’ll just have to wait. If he returns, you can welcome him into my home.”
Emma smiled. “You’re very kind,” she told him honestly.
“I enjoy the company of children in my home again, since I miss my kids. I wouldn’t mind having one more. Though, I’m sorry o got in the way. The boy was talking to you before I came here.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I’m sure he’ll come back.” She shot him a curious look as they headed back. He’d talked about his children often, but there hadn’t been anything specific. “Have you heard from them, your kids?”
“My daughter... hasn’t spoken to me in years, since she married a boy I disapproved of. I don’t even know where she went, she just got on the road one day... and there hasn’t been news of her since. Always wished I could meet her and apologize,” he said, his voice wistful, then he sighed. “But there probably isn’t much chance of that, now.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
But Harry shrugged it off. “It can’t be helped.”
Chapter Fourteen:
“He was so small, Chase,” Emma murmured. “I couldn’t see all that well in the dark, but I know he’s way too young to be out there on his own. And he probably saw his parents when they got killed...”
It would explain why he was so afraid to be around people.
Emma was telling Chase about the boy in the field.
She just couldn’t stop thinking about the boy, and had had to force herself to fall asleep last night so she could be up early. Would he come back if she went there that night to look for him? She didn’t know, but she did hope so.
But then she sighed. He probably won’t... he was so scared.
It was unfortunate that Harry had arrived at the time he did. She thought, if she’d had more time, she could have at least talked the kid into standing closer to her. Then, maybe, convince him to come back with her to the farm. He hadn't said anything after she gave him food, but he must have been thankful for it. It would be low of it, but she could have used that... though the image of luring a little boy over to the farm with food didn’t sit well with her.
Emma wanted him to go because he wanted to, not because he didn’t have much of a choice—which, really, he didn’t. But maybe, if he wanted to be there when they brought him, she refused to think if, there would be less chance of him running away after he got fed for a few days. Even if he could get his hands on food, a little boy living out there on his own just felt so wrong to her.
After he’d run off, she had even stayed around a little longer, hoping he would ret
urn that night and holding back the urge to just follow after him, because she believed what Harry had told her was true. If they pursued him after that scare, he might have gone further. And while she was sure she could outrun him of she needed to, the trees would be in the way, and the boy could possibly hurt himself while they ran.
She had nearly gone after him anyway.
Emma didn’t know why, but something about the boy got to her. And it wasn’t just the sympathy she felt for him, because he’d lost his parents and he was alone. She could relate to the first, but not the latter. She hadn't even seen his face clearly, and his voice had been wobbling through his tears as he talked. Emma had a soft spot for children, but her focus on this kid was nearly excessive. She almost didn’t go back to the house at all, worrying for him. Only knowing that it would be better to be there for the next time he showed up made her move.
She didn’t need to define it, anyway, as long as whatever it was led her to finding him and taking him in.
Because she’d been out so late, she’d been allowed to wake up later than everybody else. Chase had just been coming in from working in the field since early morning, and they were in the kitchen having a meal.
Only, Emma didn’t feel like she could eat, so she kept moving food around on her plate. Chase, good friend that he was, had asked what was wrong, and she’d spilled.
“Do you really think he’s alone? He could have been lying.”
She pursed her lips, wanting to deny it immediately, though it wasn’t like it was impossible. He could have been doing it to gain sympathy, maybe a way into their house, and bring other people with him. Children were innocent, but Emma knew that wasn’t always the case. The kid could have been crying for a different reason, someone could have told him to say the things he did, and they would have sympathy for him because he was small and helpless and alone.
But she didn’t think it was a trap. She had no proof besides her intuition, but her instincts hadn’t lied to her before, she just didn’t always listen to them, or react in the right way.
