A man ambled out from a garage, wiping his hands on a greasy rag. “Hey there!”
Hunter paused before slowly opening the passenger door, but he didn’t get out, only putting one foot on the driveway. He studied the man, wondering if his friendly demeanor was real or if he was sick with the virus. He took out a mask and told Derek to put on one as well. “Hello, sir. My name is Hunter and this is Derek. We’re going house to house looking for survivors.”
“Hey, Hunter, I’m Garret.” He tucked the rag in his back pocket and tipped his head to see Derek. “How’s it going, Derek?”
The man sighed as focused on Hunter. “ Well, I can save you some trouble. I’m the only one on either side of this road for a mile each way. I checked myself a few months ago when I figured it was finally safe to leave.”
“Nobody else is here with you?”
“Nope. I’m divorced for twenty years now. I’d have been dead too, except I took a few days off to paint my living room, had my music blasting, got a little drunk and when I was done and sober, the world had ended.”
“How have you managed all alone?”
“It’s been damned hard, I’ll tell you. I felt like Robinson Crusoe or something.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “I planted a shitload of vegetables out back, mostly at the wrong time, but I kept them watered and rigged up some shade to keep them from drying up. I babied those carrots and potatoes until I had a decent crop for a single person. Shot some rabbits, fished on the little creek that ran through the back of my property until it dried up last summer. It’s coming back now, and so are the fish. But, mostly, I dressed up like one of those Hazmat guys and raided every freezer and pantry in those houses. You won’t find a thing to eat in any of them.”
“So, you haven’t seen or spoken to anyone in all this time?”
“Nope. I saw a couple of guys on dirt bikes go by a few times, but by the time I got outside to flag them down, they were long gone.”
While the man was friendly and talkative, he wasn’t acting crazed as those who’d caught the virus had. More likely, he was just lonely and rambling after not talking to a living soul for nearly a year.
Hunter exchanged a glance with Derek. “You think that could be them?”
Derek shrugged. “Maybe.”
The man looked confused. “You talking to me?”
“No, sir. We know there are a couple of guys who were rumored to have been from the Air Force base riding around on dirt bikes. They seem to have been helping people out now and then, but they don’t stick around for a thank you. We just want to let them know about a meeting we’re holding three days from now. It’s to get all of us survivors together so we can help each other. Are you interested in going?”
“You bet I am.” His face lit up like Hunter had told him Christmas was coming early.
After telling him where and when, Hunter asked him to spread the word if he happened to see any other people before the meeting.
They left, doing a quick check on the other homes in case Garret was mistaken, but saw no signs of life. They made an X, but didn’t add an S to any of the doors.
At the last one, they found human remains scattered near the front door along dozens of beer cans, empty bottles of whiskey, and crumpled packs of cigarettes.
Derek stared at the scene before backing away. “This is crazy. I knew people died, but…I guess I thought Amanda exaggerated, you know? But she was right.” He spun and fled to the truck.
Hunter took a quick look around, decided any supplies from this house weren’t worth the risk and returned to the truck to find Derek, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, his body shaking as he stared straight ahead at the house of death.
Last summer seemed a lifetime ago when Hunter had had to terms with the scope of the tragedy, but it seemed as if Derek was only now realizing the depth of what had happened.
He gave Derek a few moments to process it all before he asked, “Are you okay?”
There was no reply for perhaps thirty seconds. Then as if something had broken loose, Derek, eyes watering, his nose running, sobbed about his mother’s death, his friends gone forever, his high school graduation, college, all of the things he’d planned in the next few years. “Everyone is gone—why do we even bother? Why? What’s the point?” He pounded on the steering wheel before wrapping his arms around it and burying his head in them.
Hunter sat motionless. What could he say to this boy he barely knew? What should he say? The radio beeped and his dad asked them where they were and if everything was okay. “Ah, yeah, Dad. We’re fine. Just give us a few more minutes, okay?”
Derek came up for air, looking for something to wipe his nose with, finally fishing a napkin from the crevice between the seat and the console. It was probably leftover from some fast food run a year ago. When he finished, he looked drained; his eyes red-rimmed, still sniffing. “I’m sorry, man. I’m such a wuss.”
Hunter shook his head. “No, you’re not. You’re a survivor, same as me. And like my dad. You think we haven’t had our own moments when we ranted and raved about the fairness?”
Derek looked at him askance. “Yeah, right.”
“For me, it came after finally reaching the island and finding out Trent had died. All that I had gone through to get there seemed pointless. I was so happy to see my family, but then Trent was dead and, like you, I wondered why he died and not me and what was the point of going on? Everyone else was dead so we might as well be too. And my dad, he blamed himself for Trent’s death.”
Derek’s head was bowed as he picked at the leather cover on the steering wheel. “So how did you get through it?”
Hunter thought back. He’d had Sophie to help him, and she’d had her own demons to work through that he tried to help her deal with. His dad had had Elly, and even Sean had been there after Steve’s death. “I talked it out with those closest to me. I think my dad did too.”
He let that sink in then added, “From what I can tell, Amanda would do whatever she could to help you. And you have your twin. He might not be where you are yet, though, if he hasn’t seen any of this for himself. When he does, he’ll need you there to help him.”
“Yeah. Maybe. But…still, the world sucks now. I want it to be like it was.”
“Yeah. I know. I think we all wish that, but what comes next in this world is whatever we want it to be.”
Derek nodded and straightened his shoulders. “Tell them we’re on our way.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Over the next two days, the group canvassed the area and on the morning of the meeting, Cole looked over the list of survivors they’d spoken to. It was a very short list. Not including their groups, there were only twenty-seven other survivors. Only four of them were under the age of twelve. Five were teens, and the others were adults of all ages.
He knew there had to be survivors they hadn’t reached yet, and hoped those they had spoken to would come across them and invite them to the meeting as well. However, going by what information they had, they’d have to assume that there would be around sixty people.
“What are we preparing in the way of food?”
Elly, Piper and Jake and Daniel had checked homes that had been marked as unoccupied time to look for provisions. Usable food was mostly confined to whatever was canned as rodents or bugs had destroyed anything in bags or cardboard. That still left them with a nice haul, including a couple of canned hams, an industrial sized can of pork and beans, and three cans of Vienna sausages. They found more, including more than twenty pounds of whole wheat flour, and thirty pounds stored in a freezer at a commercial bakery. They wouldn’t be using all of it for the feast tonight, but Piper and Sophie had been hard at work baking a dozen loaves of bread. Frozen vegetables hadn’t survived deep freezers as well as other foods, much of it was dried up, but they had sorted through several bags and had big bowl of peas, carrots and corn mixed together.
Jake and Daniel had scouted out the park a couple of days ago a
nd had bags of charcoal and grills taken from backyards, already in place. Picnic tables were rounded up and placed close together and Sean and Joe had gone out too, finding a convenience store that had paper plates, plastic ware and napkins. Those items had all been untouched by people seeking supplies in the last days.
Another thing that made scavenging here unlike they’d found in other places was that many of the homes here still had electricity going if the power hadn’t been knocked out for some reason like lightning hitting a transformer.
That meant the deep freezers held contents that were still useable. Freezer burn probably had affected some of the contents and they’d have to watch out for food that had spoiled if power had been out for a short time, then came back on, refreezing the spoiled food,, but they only took from freezers that had something that had something that would alert them if the freezer had been compromised. If there was a carton of ice cream still intact, it was a safe freezer. If the ice cream was all over the inside of a now working freezer, they passed on the food.
Elly bustled in, large bowl of what smelled like stuffing in her hands and set it on the other end of the dining room table Cole had been using as a desk. Cole’s mouth watered. “Where did you get that?”
“Ah, your brilliant and resourceful niece has been saving every scrap of bread, letting it dry and then stashing it in a freezer zipper bag. So, we have several different kinds of bread—sourdough, biscuits, cornbread—all of it is now seasoned to with sage and thyme and chicken bouillon cubes.”
“That right there will be enough to draw folks from miles around if they could smell it.” Cole rose rounded the table to sniff the steam escaping from the bowl.
The kitchen door opened and Cole went to see who had come in. It was still weird living communal style with people they had only met a few days ago, but everyone was getting along well, so far.
“Hey, Cole. My dad has the meat ready to go.” She washed her hands at the sink, then eyed the loaves of bread. “Oh, my god. I can’t wait until dinner.” She grinned “And something else smells wonderful. I can’t place it, but it’s familiar…”
“Stuffing?”
“That’s it!” Amanda sniffed again. “But there’s something else too.”
Piper came up from the basement door, an apron around her waist, now holding it to form a pouch. Bulges in the pouch made him look hard to guess what they could be. He didn’t have long to guess as Piper emptied the pouch on the kitchen table. Cans of sweetened condensed milk, a canister of cocoa power, and, of all things, a canister of powdered hot chocolate covered the surface.
Piper grinned at Cole’s surprise, but then turned to the oven, opened it, and pulled out a sheet pan.
Cole gaped as she set a chocolate cake to cool. “Wow! Piper, you’ve outdone yourself.”
“Thanks, Uncle Cole.” She set her pot holders aside and said, “I’ve been thinking…when things are a little more settled, maybe I could trade baked goods for other food. For instance, I could trade a fully baked cake for a quantity of flour or sugar. Someone else could trade me so much chocolate or vanilla. Another person could trade eggs and dairy.”
“I see what you’re saying. With all of the items, you could bake cakes for all of them if they don’t have all of the ingredients, and you’d get to keep the extra to trade for things like beef or vegetables.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s a great idea, Piper. I was already thinking your mom could trade her medical care for things she needed. Like how doctors used to be paid with chickens or piglets.”
“Speaking of chickens, Travis tells me they are all doing well, and he, Luke, and Zoe took care of them this morning, gathering enough eggs to make this cake.” Elly examined the canister of hot chocolate mix. “What are you going to do with this?”
“There’s a lot I can do with it, actually. They have powdered milk, so right there, that’s helpful. I could make a chocolate biscuit, for example.”
Elly scrunched her nose. “I’m not so sure about how good that would be.”
Piper laughed. “I know it sounds weird, but it wouldn’t be much different than a chocolate cookie—which I can make when I have eggs. But without eggs, it would be a biscuit and what if I added something savory like chili flakes? That could be good with a spicy chili.”
Cole thought about it and wasn’t sure but in these times, unusual combinations were the norm, so he shrugged. “I’d eat it.”
“Me too,” Amanda chimed in. “If it’s chocolate, I’ll eat it.” She laughed.
“Same, Amanda.” Piper shared a smile with the other woman. “But that’s an idea for later. I thought it would help me thicken a frosting I have in mind for the cake. I don’t have butter or cream, or even powdered sugar, but I have this condensed milk, cocoa powder, a little shortening, and this hot cocoa mix. With a dash of vanilla, I think it’ll make a decent frosting.”
“I’m sure it’ll be delicious.” Elly smiled. “Is there anything I can help with now?”
“No, I don’t think so. Sophie wanted to help more, but she wasn’t feeling so great. She’s lying down.”
Elly shot Cole a worried look then asked Piper, “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know…I think so? My mom is checking on her now.”
Cole drew Elly close. “Why don’t you see about Sophie, and then lie down for a bit yourself? We have a few hours before we have to be at the park.”
She drew back, looking undecided.
“Yeah, Elly. I think everything is done for now.” Amanda spread her arms. “We have enough food for a small army…er, well, I hope it’s not an army, but you know what I mean. All we’ll have to do is transport it to the park and warm it up on one of the grills.”
“Jake said they would get one grill with a small bed of coals just for that purpose. The other grills will be for cooking the beef and grilling slices of the ham.”
“Where’s Hunter? Does he know about Sophie?”
Piper said, “He’s out making sure the animals are all fed and watered a bit early so we don’t have to worry about them while we’re gone.”
Amanda bit her lip. “You know, I’ve been a little worried about leaving this place unguarded. If everyone knows we’re at the park, what’s to stop them from coming in and taking over this ranch too?”
Cole thought about it. “You’re right.” He wondered if Joe would stay back. And maybe Mike. Both men were good with guns and both were level-headed. “I think Joe and Mike would be okay with it if we leave them some of this delicious food. It wouldn’t be fair to them to take it all.”
“I’ll cut them huge slices of cake, and fill plates with stuffing and vegetables.”
Amanda said, “I’ll have my dad cut them two big steaks just for them.”
“I have time. I could even cook up the steaks just before we leave so they can take their meal out on the deck while they keep guard.”
“Okay. I’ll go propose it to them.” Cole left and found the men in the barn, chatting while watching a pregnant cow munching on hay. Amanda’s father stood beside them, favoring his left leg, but otherwise, appearing healthy. Will had instructed the other two on the butchering of the steer they were eating tonight.
When he asked them, they were a little disappointed, but agreed it made sense. They perked up when Cole mentioned the steaks and cake.
Will looked pensive. “Maybe I should stay too. I don’t want another ranch stolen from me.”
Cole started to agree that three men would be better than two, but thought better of it. “Will, of course, you do what you feel is right for you, but I am a newcomer here. I think success in uniting this community hinges on you being there.”
“Me? Why me? I know cattle. That’s it. My wife—she was the smart one. She was like you. Amanda’s like her too. You guys will do fine.”
“It’s not about intelligence, and you’re no slouch in that department. It’s about people. Even if you don’t know these people personally, what you say
will resonate with them. Your story of survival will be closer to their own. What I say won’t carry a whole lot of weight with these folks, but you, you’re their neighbor. What you do and say will matter to them.”
Will looked undecided, his eyes darting from Joe to Mike as if seeking their input. Mike just nodded, but Joe said, “I think Cole is right. What he won’t tell you is that he’s good at bringing people together because he other people’s strengths and weakness right away. He’s a good guy and people will listen to him, eventually, but he could use your help in getting acquainted with them.”
Cole blinked in surprise. It was probably the longest speech Joe had ever given and he was humbled by the vote of confidence.
Shrugging, Will agreed. “But I’m no talker so don’t expect me to say anything.”
“I don’t expect a speech, but maybe an introduction?” Cole lifted a hand, his thumb and first finger a few inches apart. “Just a short one? And I’ll even give you my slice of cake—although I might follow behind you and lick the plate clean.”
Will laughed. “Fine. And you can keep your slice of cake.”
Cole put on a clean shirt. It was one he’d packed a year ago when they had first left for the island but hadn’t ever worn. It was just a plain white Oxford. It was his go-to shirt for most occasions. Oddly, the shoulders were tighter than he recalled, and the front, looser. He changed into a well-worn, but clean pair of jeans, marveling at the softness imparted by machine washing and drying.
Elly also changed clothes, but had a harder time finding something to fit. “My belly is just too big now.” She wore a pink, stretchy long-sleeved top over some kind of black stretchy pants that accentuated her new curves.
“You look great. I mean it.” He smiled when she rolled her eyes at him.
“You’re just saying that.” But she smiled to soften the comment. “Oh, and Sophie is fine. She said she just had some tightness. Jenna said it was Braxton-Hicks contractions. All normal. She had her drink some water and lie down. She’s planning on going tonight.”
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