The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves

by Richard Heredia

  No, she knew, she liked it a lot.

  …And he is considerate…, the thought popped into her head was almost audible and she nearly stopped. Instead, though, she merely hesitated and continued on, the thought progressing. He made me feel comfortable and at ease. Even when I was about to blow a gasket, he made me see him - the kind, thoughtful boy. He forced me not dwell on the terrible images I had racing through my head back then. He made me see he wasn’t a threat, that he was a friend… His sensitivity to my fear was… it made me feel warm inside…

  She blinked rapidly, a surprised look erupting on her face. She immediately masked it, not wanting, in any way, shape or form, to have to explain it.

  …Warm… In spite of herself, she felt a tingle of warmth wash cross the top of her chest, up her neck and beyond. It seemed to explode from her cheeks with such force it almost made her eyes water.

  She glanced, self-consciously, at both Louis and Anthony, to see if they’d witnessed her silent emotional outburst. They were both staring to the right, peering hard, with mild frowns of concentration, through the mellow storm at something in the distance.

  Instinctively, she followed their eyes and was surprised to see the forest had ended abruptly. For the first time in half a day, she stepped onto concrete. Although deeply covered in almost half a foot of snow, she knew the firmness of it. She was able to step with confidence, knowing she could trust her footing. She looked down, picking up her foot and saw she was, in fact, on a sidewalk - the concrete began at the exact spot where the forest ended. She had been so intent upon Anthony, she hadn’t noticed she had stepped up onto it. She brought her head up, searching for what had to be there.

  Sure enough, ahead, looming out of the semi-daylight was the great bulk of the Vons supermarket, standing dark and vacant through the veil of the storm.

  They all exchanged looks of deliverance. She was certain they all breathed a sigh of assurance at the time moment. The notion passed through them like wildfire. They were going to find some of what they’d need in order to survive this cold, heartless place.

  They quickly crossed the parking lot, entirely devoid of cars, and made their way to the front doors on the right-side, front of the building. As Joaquin and Jason explained before, they were completely smashed in, as if something huge had plowed through them with tremendous force. Sophie noticed as well, several of the large front facing window panes were shattered too. She let the thought slip her mind and instead, stared into the inky blackness of the interior of the store, trying to make out anything substantial, but couldn’t.

  Then, she started, her breath caught in her throat as Garfield suddenly emerged out from the murk, carrying a flashlight in his mouth. He promptly gave to Anthony before he disappearing back into the store, saying: “The front of this storage place is clear. I am going to check behind the doors in the back to make certain it is clear back there was well.”

  He was gone before the teen could reply.

  Sophie watched as Anthony turned on the black, Mag-Lite four-cell flashlight, shining it into the supermarket. “We should find as many flashlights and batteries as possible. I have a feeling they’ll come in handy in the future,” he said. He looked at her and smiled before he stepped into the store and the darkness beyond.

  Her heart skipped a beat. She could only blankly stare as Mr. Patas and Kenai followed immediately, then Joaquin.

  “They usually keep the batteries by the check-out counters. The flashlights are in the aisle where they keep the brooms and mops and crap like that,” called out Joaquin once he was in the store. He turned back to his friend. “You coming, man?”

  Sophie looked over at Jason, who shrugged his shoulders reluctantly. “I’m not sure I want to go back in there, dude, after what happened this morning. I think I’ll stay by the door and see if anything creeps up on his, while you’re busy in here, ok?”

  “I’ll stay here too,” added Sophie, watching some of the embarrassment leak out of Jason’s body. “I’m still a little freaked out over everything - the animals and all.”

  “Yeah, ok, that sounds good. What about you little buddy, do you want to come and help us get some food and supplies?” asked Joaquin, trying to put as much excitement in his voice as possible.

  He is not as smooth as Anthony is with little kids, thought Sophie, grinning inwardly. She caught herself at the last moment. What the hell am I doing to myself? she demanded, half-scolding and half-curious.

  “Yeah, sure,” answered Louis. As an afterthought, Sophie heard him say to Joaquin, as they walked away, “You think we could get some candy bars, too?”

  She heard the big teenage boy reply in affirmation, but they were out of earshot to make out exactly what he said.

  “Hey, thanks for being cool,” Jason said when she turned away from the supermarket to look outside.

  “Well, I actually am a little weirded out over all this, you know? So, it wasn’t out of total coolness that I volunteered to stay here. I just need some down time, all of this has been quite a lot to take in with as little time as I’ve had to process it,” explained Sophie, downplaying her actions.

  Jason seemed to take it for what it was worth. “Yeah, I feel you.”

  They stood there, a few feet apart, in silence for a few minutes. Both of them watched as the snow continue to drift down out of the sky, blanket after blanket, the wind now blowing it back and forth, slowly, as if it were as confused as the world around it. The uncanny cold was inescapable. It slammed against their faces, an iciness that shouldn’t have existed in southern California, but seemed quite the norm here.

  Yup, I’m definitely not in City of Angels anymore…

  Sophie peered back at the boy opposite her, unwilling to think about all that had changed overnight. She wanted to get away from the unsettling, double-sided knot in her stomach. She was treading down an unfamiliar road. The sense of foreboding stacked upon the thought was growing with every minute. She couldn’t shake it, no matter how much she tried. Even with the world becoming what it had, the sense of dread continued to mount. Things were bad, yes, but she knew there was something else, something more on the horizon, more horrendous than losing every person she had ever known. She didn’t want to think about it anymore.

  Without warning, there he was, dropping into her life, almost out of thin air, confusing her even more.

  No, no, no, dammit! Stop thinking about him!

  “So, why are you afraid to go deeper into the store?” she asked to change her train of thought, to get away from him. Already he was becoming too much of a distraction for her.

  “This was where Joaquin and I were first attacked,” was his simple reply, voiced monotone, without inflection.

  His answer shocked Sophie. It was an answer furthest away from her consideration, the very last sort she could’ve imagined. “Attacked? What do you mean ‘attacked’, by whom?”

  “Yeah, we were attacked, and not by a ‘whom’, more like a ‘what’.” He leaned against what was left of the metal doorframe, waiting to see if she understood him.

  “You’re gonna have to explain it better to me, Jason, because I am totally at a loss. What are you trying to tell me?”

  He looked at her for a few seconds longer, his brow creasing with every passing second. He suddenly came off the ruined frame, so swift Sophie leaned away from him unable to catch herself. A strange look of morbid curiosity flashed across his face. “Wait a minute, are you telling me you haven’t seen anything out there, anything that might want to hurt you?” He was so intense she didn’t know how to react, let alone respond.

  Sophie frowned. “Other than those transformed animals with you guys… no… why?”

  “Sophie, I was really beginning to think you were cool people, so please tell me you’re not messing with my head. You truthfully haven’t seen any other creatures out there?” Jason’s eyebrows were almost to his hairline with the fierceness of his stare. His eyes were opened as wide as they could manage for an Asian.<
br />
  This made Sophie frown even more. What was he talking about? And, why get so worked up about it? “Well, I thought I saw a man dressed up in a Halloween costume early this morning, but it was at a distance. I figured the storm was playing tricks on my eyes. Why, Jason what have you seen?” she asked, concern beginning to fill her mind.

  He ignored her question entirely. “What type of costume?”

  Why the funny questions? she thought. He wasn’t even answering hers. “I don’t know like a medieval warrior costume. Why?” she asked forcibly now, not liking the turn in their conversation. It was the directness of Jason’s speech, like she was a kid or something less. He was talking down to her, condescending. She hated that. She might be blonde, but she wasn’t stupid, not in the least!

  “That wasn’t a costume, Sophie. What you saw was a Swüreg warrior, probably out scouting for one of us, so he could inform others of our location. What you saw wasn’t even human,” he answered, deadly serious, draining the anger she’d just begun to feel.

  She stared back at him for almost half a minute, saying nothing, not even moving, letting everything sink in, as the pieces began to fall into place. “So, earlier when you guys were talking about protection, you weren’t talking about protection from the weather or from some sort of random event. You guys meant protection from something tangible, something intent on hurting us on purpose, correct? Is that what Anthony meant by the animals being on your side, that all of this was done on purpose?”

  “Yes,” he began, taking a deep breath, seeing she hadn’t been acting or fooling with him after all. She hadn’t known. “Something - and I don’t know what for certain – but, some-thing wants us to hold us against our will and take us to some place, some place unpleasant. Though, I have no idea what it is or how far it might be or for what reason it wants us to go there with it. There is no doubt in my mind; it will stop at nothing to get us there. It’ll hurt us if it has too. I have already been a witness to some of their brutality,” he paused, swallowing deeply.

  Sophie could readily read the fear in his eyes. It sent a trickle of fear up her spine.

  “Joaquin didn’t get that nice shiner from a fall. He got it when one of those assholes clocked him straight in the face when he tried to pull me away from one of them. No warning, nothing. It just hammered him in the face, so hard, it nearly knocked him out. I know how hard is it to do something like that with a guy as big as Joaquin. He is always in tip-top shape and he is strong. I mean, real strong. He’s in the 300 club at school. Do you know what that means?”

  Sophie shook her head in the negative.

  “It means he can bench press more than 300 pounds. Actually, I think he’s up to 340 pound now…,” he trailed off. “And do you know what?”

  Again, she shook her head.

  “That thing dropped him like nothing, no problem, just another day at the office and boom! Joaquin was on the floor.”

  “Oh my god,” was all Sophie could muster. She tried to reconcile what Jason was telling her, but it was too fantastic. She hadn’t seen anything like what he was outlining for her - nothing like that at all.

  She nearly jumped a mile when Garfield came out of nowhere, quiet. One second they were alone and the next he was there, staring at them.

  “Sorry, I did not mean to frighten you, Lady-kitten. If the others should ask, the way is clear out here. I am going to check the parameter should Kenai or Tony-boy inquire,” and with that, he bounded away, gone as swift and as silent as he had arrived.

  “Jeez, that cat is something else,” Sophie stated, making Jason laugh under his breath. “I’m not sure I could ever get used to seeing a cat of his size and feel one hundred percent sure it won’t harm me.”

  “I was like when I first saw him too. He had just practically destroyed one of those Swüreg dudes in like a second. He was holding what was left of its heart in his claw at the time, so it was probably a bit more frightening than your experience.” Jason was smiling, but his eyes told Sophie he wasn’t lying.

  She was certain he hadn’t embellished either. “Oh! That must have been awful.”

  “It was. I almost blew chunks,” he said, deadpan.

  Sophie laughed aloud.

  After a bit he laughed as well. “I’m not fibbing or fudging in the slightest, I promise, I think I introduced myself to everyone by saying I was merely trying not to throw up.”

  “Yeah he did,” said Anthony. He had come back up to the front of the store, flashlight still in hand, smiling lightly. “Is everything ok up here?”

  “Yeah, your big ass, scary cat just came by and said the way was clear around the building, so I guess we’re ok for now,” replied Sophie with a little more indignation than she wished to convey. Apparently, Garfield had unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.

  Anthony laughed. “Yeah, he can be a little intimidating when he wants to be. Just remember, it’s all a big show, rub him on his chest and he’ll roll over like a dog and purr like there’s no tomorrow.”

  “I’d like to see that,” commented Jason, having already seen a taste of Garfield surly disposition.

  “Oh! He also said he was going to ‘check the parameter’,” she intoned in mock military fashion, making Anthony smile broadly. She sniffed a laugh and smiled back.

  Their stare lengthened.

  “How’s it going back there,” asked Sophie quickly, shaking herself from the boy’s eyes.

  “Good actually, we were all a little worried over how we were going to lug all of the stuff we need through the snow and everything. But, Joaquin found a bunch of sleds perched on top of the freezers in the frozen food section. So, the others are in the process of tying the five shopping carts we found to five of the sleds he found. That way we’ll only have to drag the supplies back to the cave in one trip.” Anthony seemed very pleased with their progress.

  Wait what, had he said something about a cave? A whole slew of questions came swirling through her mind, but Jason spoke before she could ask.

  “Oh man, that’s good news. Were you able to find something for Andrew to wear?” said Jason, hopeful.

  “We found only a bunch of throw blankets he could use, maybe… Well, knowing him, he’ll figure it out in two seconds flat. Anyhow, we grabbed them all, figuring we could use whatever he doesn’t need at night when we sleep, you know? We ain’t got shit to keep us warm at night,” Anthony rationalized with a shrug of his shoulders.

  “Yeah, that sounds –“

  It was too much. Sophie interrupted Jason with a wave of her hand. “Wait, you guys found a cave?”

  Anthony nodded, while saying, “Oh yeah, I guess you couldn’t’ve known about that, huh?” He chuckled, then, “Yeah, we found a cave. Well, actually, Kenai found it, but that’s a long story. I will tell you about later when we’re not so pressed for time. I really don’t want to be out here any longer than necessary, especially since we really don’t know what’s around the corner.

  “Anyway, the rest of our group is waiting for us back there as we speak, all cozy beside our campfire, I presume.”

  Sophie felt her stomach jump into her throat. Oh my god, a campfire!

  “Wow,” she said with a small bounce on her toes, “well, I guess you guy are better off than I had expected. I could totally use a good warming up. It is awfully cold out here.”

  They both glanced down at her damp jeans.

  She shrugged, tilting her head to the side, mouthing “yeah, I know.”

  “Well, like I said earlier, we’re all better off, Sophie, now that you and Louis are with us. There are more of us, right, which is good. You remember, right?” he clarified with a mock punch at her shoulder not actually touching her.

  Sophie giggled. “You’re funny.”

  Sophie didn’t see Jason glancing at the both of them, back and forth, a quizzical expression spreading across his face.

  “I’m gonna go back and see if they’re done yet, cool?” Anthony raised his brow, and then spun on his
heel not really waiting for an answer.

  Sophie watched him turn to a silhouette against the brightness of his flashlight until he walked in between aisles, out of sight. “How many more of you are there?” she asked, looking at Jason’s face when he didn’t answer immediately.

  He was staring back at her with a knowing expression etched across it.

  “What?” she asked feeling self-conscious at the look.

  “Nothing,” answered Jason with a chuckle. “There are five more waiting for us back at the cave. Anthony’s two little sisters, a guy named Andrew and two more of their pets.” He was still smiling when he finished, a small smirk at the corner of his mouth.

  What is up with this guy today? Sophie asked herself as she watched his face, knowing full well he was hiding something from her. She could sense it from more than just the cast of his face. It was his body language too. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out precisely what he was thinking.

  She and Jason fell into a semi-silence, occasionally broken by periodic giggles, stifled, bubbling up from Jason as if he had too much air in his belly or something.

  She turned away from him, slightly annoyed. Not only was he not explaining himself, he was taunting her, each one of his stupid laughs were mocking her. She gazed outward, realizing the snow had slackened. It wasn’t as dark outside as it had been a few minutes earlier. The snow was still falling, but it did so at more of an angle. The wind had begun to gust harder.

  “Man, it sure would be nice to have something hot right now. Even hot cocoa, I don’t care as long as it’s hot,” uttered Jason, out of the blue.

  Sophie glanced over at him to see if he was still acting like an idiot. His entire demeanor had changed. He was watching the snow dive and dip in the wind.

  “Hot cocoa sounds perfect to me,” was all she said when Louis came up to them with a flashlight of his own in one hand and a market bag full of assorted candy bars, Skittles, M&M’s and Gummy Bears.