She couldn’t look him in the eyes after the emotion she’d seen in his face, but she nodded. “I know it.”
“Those people, they were dangerous. They aren’t going to be the only group like them. I have a feeling they are the new world order. Being out there alone makes you vulnerable.”
She sighed and nodded her head. “I know. I thought…” she stopped, rubbing a hand through her hair. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I need to know you are serious about staying with us, Regan. I can’t worry about you out there. You’re either in or out,” he said, his voice harsh with emotion.
Tabitha stepped toward Regan. “She put her life on the line to save me. She could have easily escaped and never looked back. She didn’t. I think that proves her loyalty, Wolf.”
“Does it?” he shot back.
“I think so,” Fred defended her.
Regan stared at Wolf, trying to figure out what he was thinking. “Look, I already told you I want to go with you. I’m sorry I walked away. You guys didn’t exactly ask me to stay,” she said, looking directly at Wolf.
“I’m not going to force anyone to stay,” he said in a low growl.
“I know. I get it,” she said, throwing up her hands. “I’m sorry. I truly am. I have a lot of baggage. That baggage makes me do some crazy things. Being in a group and having to depend on others and having people depend on me messes me up.”
“How could that be a bad thing?” Fred asked.
“Because I don’t want to let you down!” Regan hissed, barely holding back the emotion she felt rising in her chest. She wouldn’t break down again, not in front of them—she refused to. “And to be perfectly honest, I felt like I could do better on my own. The five of us aren’t exactly nondescript. When we’re moving down the road, people are going to notice us. If it’s only me, no one is going to pay attention. When I find food, I don’t have to worry if it’s enough to feed five people,” she said, her hands gesturing wildly as she fought to communicate how she felt. They either understood her or they didn’t, it seemed, but she hated feeling like this, like there was a giant rift in understanding between them.
“I understand,” Tabitha said softly. “You haven’t had an easy life, Regan. I know you haven’t told us much about yourself, but that’s obvious. No one wants to make you feel unwanted. We want you with us.”
“Thank you,” Regan murmured.
Wolf nodded his head. “I know what you said. But it’s hard to see you hurt like this, and I worry you’ll leave again. That’s all,” he finished quietly. After another moment, he looked around at the group, and then his eyes came back to Regan’s. “You’re in?”
She nodded, tears clogging her throat. “I’m in,” she managed to choke out.
Fred clapped his hands together, as if to wrap the emotion running in the hot air in his hands. “Maybe we should have a group hug and put all this behind us.”
Regan wrinkled her nose with a tiny smile. “I’m good.”
Tabitha laughed. “Let’s not push her too far. She’s one of us. That’s all that matters.”
Wolf grinned. “Good, so let’s get out of here. I want to see my little girl,” Wolf said, leading the way toward the trees and the beach beyond them.
“What about the van?” Geno asked.
Everyone stopped and looked at the large vehicle as if they’d totally forgotten it was there.
“Oh,” Wolf muttered, eyeing it. “I guess I got a little caught up in the excitement of getting home. We should hide it; in case we need it later.”
“Why would we need it?” Regan asked.
Wolf shrugged. “Always better to have something and not need it, than need it and not have it.”
“Wise words,” Fred commented.
“Fine, but how do you propose we hide a van?” Regan asked, a hand on her hip.
They looked around the area. The trees were sparse, but there was a small stand of thick shrubs and a few trees that would work, not far down the road from where they’d stopped and across the street.
“There,” Wolf pointed. “Geno, you drive it over there and we’ll cover it with some branches. This isn’t exactly a well-known spot. There’s nothing out here,” Wolf said.
Following his suggestion, Tabitha took a reclined seat against a tree and the rest of them quickly hid the van as best they could, leaving the keys inside the tailpipe.
“Now, we get to the boat,” Wolf ordered them, wiping his hands on his pants and leading them back across the dead-end road.
“Are you sure the boat is going to be here?” Fred asked.
“Not one-hundred percent sure, but I’m confident it was hidden very well. I imagine my dad and Lily have checked on it; hiding it here has never been a problem before,” he added.
They walked a few hundred feet down the beach, Wolf pointing out his island in the distance. Up ahead, Regan saw a small inlet with large rocks mostly surrounding it. The trees between this point and the road were thicker, and Regan doubted she would have noticed it if she hadn’t been looking. Wolf waded into the water with the rest of them following as he walked around the rock outcroppings.
“There it is!” he announced, pointed to a small metal boat that was overturned against some of the rocks, water lapping at its sides and base.
Regan grimaced when she saw it. It was beat up and didn’t look remotely seaworthy.
Fred looked at the craft, and then at Wolf. “You want us to get in that thing? Look, there’s a hole in the bottom. How is this thing still expected to float?”
Wolf grinned. “It’s not a real hole. It’s a decal, like one of those bullet holes you can peel up and stick on a car?”
Fred shook his head. “What?”
“It’s a vinyl decal,” Wolf said, and with that he splashed toward the boat, reached over, and pulled the sticker off.
Tabitha giggled. “Very clever.”
Wolf shrugged. “It was my daughter’s idea.
With that, he untied it from the rock it was tethered to and pushed it over and out into the shallow water.
“Climb in,” he ordered.
Fred looked a little unsure, but climbed in before reaching out and helping Tabitha inside with Geno’s assistance.
Wolf had been rummaging near the rocks, and finally pulled some oars from where they’d been hidden, wrapped in plastic and covered in sand. “Geno, you take the middle bench. Regan and I will sit at one end while Tabitha and Fred sit at the other. We’ve got four oars. I’ll take one, Fred can take one, and Geno, I’m hoping you can be the middle man with two,” Wolf said, handing out the oars.
“I can do it,” Geno said, automatically flexing his muscles.
“We’ll switch off if we need to. It’s a little over a mile out there. The water is fairly calm, with the island providing a small barrier, and it’s not like the gulf waves are ever too bad, outside of storms. We shouldn’t be dealing with any large wave action,” he said, looking out over the ocean.
Regan took a deep breath. Taking a rowboat into the ocean didn’t seem like a very smart idea, but she had to trust that Wolf knew what he was doing. This was her new life, after all. She had to trust the four people in the boat to keep her alive by working together. It was definitely the dawn of a new beginning for her.
Epilogue
The Island: Lily
Dear Diary:
Dad’s home! I knew he was okay! When Grandpa saw the boat coming toward the island, he panicked at first because we couldn’t be sure it was Dad. I did exactly what Dad told me to do. I got the rifle he showed me how to use and headed for the only part of the shoreline on that side of the island where the boat can dock. Dad’s done all that on purpose, obviously. Huge boulders line the shore. Where there aren’t boulders, the steep, rocky incline makes it impossible for anyone to dock a boat. You have to go practically all the way around the island to get to a better spot. Did I mention how smart he is? I’ll never admit it, but he is super-smart.
&
nbsp; When we realized it was Dad, I was jumping up and down like a crazy person. Grandpa wasn’t happy to see all Dad’s new friends, but I’ll talk about that in a minute. Right now, I have to talk about how proud I made Dad. Once he got home, got something to eat and drink, and made the introductions, we toured the island. I showed him all the stuff we’ve been doing. He was really impressed with the tomato plants I kept alive and thriving. He kept telling all the new people how proud he is of me. It was kind of embarrassing, but I didn’t mind, it’s so good to have him home.
Dad said those plants and the rest of the food we’re growing is going to be what keeps us alive He’s talking like we’ll be living like this forever! I thought all this was temporary. I can’t live without electricity and school and friends and everything else for the rest of my life. I kept thinking we only had to do this for a couple weeks, or maybe months. He’s talking like this is our future. Dad has always been a prepper, I know, and I liked prepping, but I always thought it was like a short-term thing. I’m seriously going to lose my mind if this lasts forever.
The people he brought with him are nice enough. I really like Regan. She is so pretty and tough. I mean, she doesn’t look tough, because she’s skinny, but you can tell she is. I’ve always liked blonde hair, but I love her black hair. I saw bruises on her face and arms, and Dad told me not to ask her about them and not to stare. He said she got into some trouble but got out by herself. That is one strong woman if you ask me. I could never get beat up like that and live to talk about it. I love her style, too, even though she says she wishes she could change clothes.
I think Dad likes her. He says we can try and find all of them a change of clothes. His stuff is too big for the women and too small for the men, and so is Grandpa’s. I can’t imagine having to wear the same clothes every day, and they’re so dirty! When I made a big deal out of it to Dad, he told me not to bring it up again. He said it was the least of our worries. It might be the least of his worries, but I think Regan thinks new clothes are a big worry.
Fred is really funny. He is so tall! I can’t think of who he reminds me of. Maybe like a nerdy teacher. He is nice, and a little shy, but very smart. I heard him and Dad talking earlier. They were doing all kinds of math, talking about the amount of water we need to stay alive. Fred is like a human calculator. According to him, we need to come up with another way to make the water from the ocean safe to drink. Fred is convinced he can come up with a plan, and he seems really smart, so I think he will.
I know Dad is happy to be home, but he’s also worried about the future. We were supposed to ride out the apocalypse alone. Now, we have all these extra people. I know what Dad is thinking. He’s thinking we don’t have enough supplies. And I don’t want to be afraid, but I am. What are we supposed to do if we run out of food before this whole thing is over? Dad says not to worry, so I’m trying not to. I know he’ll figure it out somehow.
Anyhow, the other two people, Geno and Tabitha, they’re nice, too. I really like Tabitha. I can tell her and Regan are good friends. It makes me miss my own friends. Tabitha is really sweet. She reminds me of a mom, or what I guess a mom should be like. She’s always asking how everyone is doing even though she has a huge bump on her head. Dad and Fred fixed it up with our medical supplies when they got here. She said she has a mild concussion. I don’t know what they went through to get here, but I know it was serious.
Grandpa says Geno is going to be good to have around because he knows a lot about engines and stuff. He can fix the generator if it breaks, or the pump for the aquaponics.
I guess we all have our own little thing we are good at. It’s like we’re creating our own colony, which is kind of cool. These people don’t seem too bad, honestly. I don’t want to be stuck on this island for the rest of my life! I really hope this apocalypse doesn’t last forever. Ha! This apocalypse. How weird to say that.
Tomorrow, Dad already has a bunch of stuff we have to do. We didn’t have a chance to look at the supply room today. Tomorrow, he’s going to see what we have and try to come up with a plan to stretch it out. He also wants to plant some more vegetables in the small area out back. He was a little mad he didn’t do it before he left for the show because he says he’s been thinking about it for a long time. He said he thought he had time, and Grandpa said we all thought we had time, but we all should have known better. We were supposed to be ready for anything at any time. We weren’t. I mean, we were more prepared than a lot of people, but I guess Dad wanted to do much more before anything like this happened.
Dad told his friends he has what’s needed to survive until we become self-sustaining, and everyone acts like that’s the only really important thing. I’m not exactly sure what it means, but I guess he wants us to grow enough food and desalinate enough water for us to live here forever.
I’m not going to think about all that. For now, I’m going to keep pretending everything will be better soon. In a few months, anyway. At least it won’t be quite as lonely now that I have a couple other girls to hang out with. I think Dad is happy to have extra people here, too. He says it will make it easier on all of us. We won’t have to do so much work by ourselves. Grandpa seems to agree, but I can tell he’s a little worried about strangers living in our house. We only have four bedrooms. Grandpa and Dad are sharing a room now, the married couple are in Dad’s room, and Regan and Fred are in the guest room. There’s only one bed in there, but Fred said he would sleep on the couch. And then there’s me and my room, obviously. I’m glad I still have it to myself, but it feels a little selfish. Dad didn’t ask if I wanted to share, and it is small, so I guess it’s okay. It’s the first time having the smallest room has ever made me happy!
That’s all for now, Diary. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow is like. Dad said Tabitha would need to stay in bed, but the rest of us have a busy day. I think Dad and the others should take the day off. Dad looks like he could sleep for a week. They all do. He said they didn’t get a lot of chances to sleep. He also lost a lot of weight. He joked and said he needed to lose a few pounds. I know Dad and that isn’t true. He tries to keep the scary stuff from me. It must be really bad out there.
I’m so glad he’s home. I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about him anymore. I’m not going to give him any more to worry about, either. I won’t tell him how afraid I am. I’ll get over it. I mean, this can’t really be forever, can it?
End of Surviving the Swamp
Survivalist Reality Show Book One
Surviving the Swamp, 7 March 2019
Surviving the Refuge, 11 April 2019
Surviving the Elements, 9 May 2019
PS: Do you love post-apocalyptic fiction? Then keep reading for exclusive extracts from Surviving the Refuge and Freezing Point.
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About Grace Hamilton
Grace Hamilton is the prepper pen-name for a bad-ass, survivalist momma-bear of four kids, and wife to a wonderful husband. After being stuck in a mountain cabin for six days following a flash flood, she decided she never wanted to feel so powerless or have to send her kids to bed hungry again. Now she lives the prepper lifestyle and knows that if SHTF or TEOTWAWKI happens, she’ll be ready to help protect and provide for her family.
Combine this survivalist mentality with a vivid imagination (as well as a slightly unhealthy day dreaming habit) and you get a prepper fiction author. Grace spends her days thinking about the worst possible survival situations that a person could be thrown into, then throwing her characters into these nightmares while trying to figure out "What SHOULD you do in this situation?"
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They thought their journey would be over when they reached the island refuge, but life isn’t as simple as what they’d hoped.
At first glance, Wolf’s home is a prepper’s dream, but there’s a whole new learning curve that comes with living on the island. Regan is frustrated to learn that Wolf’s twelve-year-old daughter outmaneuvers her constantly, and more seriously than that, Regan begins to feel like every move she makes is the wrong one—all except with Wolf, that is.
Even as the group begins to acclimate to the island, Wolf has to stay strong for his team and his daughter. Making it “home” wasn’t the relief he thought it would be. Instead, he finds a whole new range of skills he has to teach the group, and it all has to happen in the face of failing equipment and a quickly approaching storm season. Everywhere he turns, he finds something else going unexpectedly wrong.
Struggling to keep up with the demands of life on an island and as part of a group, Regan finds herself in a rapidly disintegrating situation that causes her to question everything: her survival skills, the integrity of the group, and even the promise of safety they’ve worked so hard to secure. It’s enough to have her considering striking out on her own—even if it means threatening the safety of the team. But when the true threat is revealed, it will burn down everything the team knows—the good and the bad.
Get your copy of Surviving the Refuge
Available 11 April 2019
Surviving the Swamp (Survivalist Reality Show Book 1) Page 26
