by Eric Vall
“We have plenty stacked up,” Jeff said. “And we brought some inside just earlier.”
“Wow,” I said and looked around to my team. “Thank you all. You did very well this morning.”
“No problem,” Betty said with a wave of her hand. “You’ve been working so hard we wanted you to be able to relax for a few hours.”
“Well, I appreciate it,” I said, and then took the plate of food the old woman handed me.
I devoured my breakfast first, then sipped Rolly’s strong, black coffee after I was done. The caffeine felt good in my system, and I realized just how well I had slept the night before.
“Did somebody bring the sentries breakfast?” I asked.
“Yes,” Betty answered.
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
I stood up and walked over to a large window in the common room and looked out to the courtyard. The snow must have been a foot high, but I could see tracks from where people had walked to and from the sentry post. The morning was bright with a blinding sun that reflected off the white of the snow.
“Pretty, huh,” Paige said as she came up next to me.
“It is,” I agreed. “But also deadly.”
“Well, let’s hope some bad guys got taken by it last night,” the brunette said.
“Has there been much firing this morning?” I asked.
“A few shots here and there,” Anna answered as she came to stand on the opposite side of me.
“Good,” I said. “Hopefully the snow has slowed everybody down.”
“It seems to have,” Paige said. “And we told everyone about the flares.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at the pretty brunette.
“That’s kind of our job,” Anna chuckled.
“And I appreciate when you do a good job.” I grinned.
“You feel better this morning?” Paige asked.
“A million times better,” I answered.
“Don’t let yourself get that tired again,” Anna said with a raised brow. “The last thing we need is an ex-Army Ranger falling asleep with a weapon.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I laughed.
“That’s all we ask,” Paige said.
“I do want to go check on the sentries,” I said. “Who’s out there right now?”
“I know Bailey is,” Anna said.
“Where’s Tara?” I asked.
“She’s on the next shift,” Paige said. “She’s down bringing the sentries breakfast right now.”
“Really?” I asked with wide eyes. “How did you get her to brave the cold?”
“It was easy.” Paige grinned.
“I don’t believe that one bit,” I chuckled.
“She lost at nose goes,” Anna said.
“What is nose goes?” I asked.
“Nose goes?” Paige asked as if repeating it would spark something for me.
“I don’t know what that is,” I said. “Am I supposed to?”
“It’s a kind of game,” Paige explained.
“You say nose goes and you touch your nose,” Anna added.
“The last person to touch their nose has to do the thing,” Paige said.
“That seems like a strange way to assign tasks,” I laughed.
“Yeah,” Paige said. “But we needed somebody to volunteer to go first.”
“And Tara hogged the blankets last night,” Anna said with a shrug.
“Did you make an assigned person to take sentries meals from now on?” I asked Paige.
“Already done,” she assured me.
“There she is,” Anna said and pointed out the window at the bundled up form of Tara coming up the drive.
The platinum blonde stomped her way across the courtyard and thrust open the door with vehemence.
“You two are bitches,” Tara hissed while eyeing Paige and Anna.
“You’re fine,” Anna chuckled.
“Thank you for going,” Paige said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Tara smirked. “Now, where’s the coffee?”
“Oh, I forgot,” Anna said. “We also withheld coffee until she went.”
“She’s right,” I teased. “You two are bitches.”
The girls laughed but poured Tara a cup of coffee after she took off her snow gear.
“Alright,” I said. “I’m going to go check on the sentries.”
“Do you want help?” Paige asked.
“No,” I said. “You stay here and relax for a while, I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Tara said, and she took a long pull from her coffee.
I threw on my winter gear and stepped out into the cold. The wood stoves in the dorm building really were keeping it nice and warm, the contrast between the heat from inside and the cold outside was startling.
The sun was warm on my face as I walked, but the temperature was at least freezing, if not colder, and the snow crunched beneath my feet as I walked. I heard a couple shots as I walked, so I decided to cut through the woods to get to the sentry post.
It was colder under the cover of the trees, but the view was beautiful so I didn’t mind so much. Snow glistened from the tree branches, and I couldn’t help but feel as if I was in a Vermont postcard. The air was dry as I breathed in heavily through my nose, and small birds chirped in the trees above me.
I saw my sentries up ahead and called out to them quietly.
“Hey,” I said. “It’s Tav.”
Bailey was closest to me so I made my way through the trees and took a seat next to her.
“Hey,” Bailey greeted me with a smile.
“I just came to check up on how things were going here,” I said.
“We’re fine,” Bailey assured me.
“Anything new going on?” I asked.
“Well, there is one thing,” the blonde said, and she bit her lip.
“What is it?” I asked with narrowed eyes.
“Well, the groups have started a new tactic,” she said.
“What are they doing?” I asked.
“They’re swimming,” the blonde hippie said.
“Swimming?” I asked. “They’re trying to cross the river?”
“Yeah.” Bailey nodded.
“Have they had any luck?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “The river is really high from all the rain and this part is deep and fast. Nobody has made it across.”
“Even if they did, they would die of hypothermia,” I said.
“That’s what I thought,” Bailey said. “I don’t understand why they’re being so stupid.”
“Are they doing it solo or when there is a group here too?” I asked.
“With a group,” she answered.
“That’s why,” I said. “They’re trying to get somebody across undetected.”
“But we can clearly see them,” she scoffed.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But they’re hoping you’ll be too occupied with the group to focus on them.”
“Isn’t that just putting your group in danger?” the blonde asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “But have the groups been crossing the bridge right away or have they been waiting.”
“Waiting,” Bailey said. “Dammit. I knew something wasn’t right. They were standing around.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But at least this new tactic isn’t working out well for them.”
“Nope,” the blonde agreed. “What should we do though?”
“Nothing right now,” I said. “If they want to drown or freeze to death, that’s their prerogative. Just don’t let anybody across the bridge.”
“Alright,” Bailey said, but just then I heard splashing. “Do you hear that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go check it out.”
Bailey and I stood up and walked out of the trees.
“Cover us,” I called back to the other sentries.
“Will do!” I heard Dan call back.
Bailey and I walked over to the edge of the river bank and looked down. Ther
e, in the middle of the river was a man, maybe my age, flailing his arms and trying to stay above water.
“There’s no group this time,” Bailey said, but she looked around us anyways.
“No,” I said. “Probably somebody traveling solo.”
“It’s just so sad.” Bailey shook her head.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” I said.
Before I could tell her not to, Bailey raised her weapon and fired off a shot that hit the drowning guy square in the forehead. Blood swirled with the white frothy water, and the guy was carried downstream by the current.
“Sorry,” Bailey breathed. “I just couldn’t watch him drown.”
“I understand,” I said. “Drowning is a terrible way to die.”
“You aren’t mad at me?” the blonde asked.
“Not exactly, no,” I said.
“What does that mean?” she asked with a soft voice.
“I’m not mad at your reasoning,” I said. “I’m not really mad at all, but I do want to remind you to be sparing with your ammo.”
“Right,” Bailey sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” I told her. “Just remember next time.”
“I will,” she said.
“How has it been out here otherwise?” I asked.
“We’ve had a few groups come through since I took over,” the blonde responded. “One of them passed by, but they had some women and children with them. The others didn’t.”
I followed Bailey’s eyeline to the fresh bodies on the bridge. The pristine snow was scarred with their blood, and I shook my head at the situation.
“Part of me feels bad for them,” Bailey said quietly.
“Don’t,” I told her. “They’re making the decision to try to steal from us.”
“I know,” she said. “But I took an ethics class one time, and we discussed someone stealing food to feed their family and whether it was morally wrong. I couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t.”
“Where were they stealing the food from?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Bailey asked, and her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
“In the situation,” I said. “Where were the people stealing food from?”
“A store, I guess,” the blonde said.
“A store accounts for lost goods,” I told her. “The people who work there don’t rely on the food inside to survive, they get paid to work there.”
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed.
“Would you have made the same decision if it was somebody stealing for their family, but from another person in need?” I asked.
“I guess not,” she said. “That’s much more difficult.”
“That’s the situation we’re in,” I told her. “It is difficult, and I’m sorry you’re in it with me.”
“I’m not.” The pretty blonde grinned.
“No?” I asked with a smile.
“Not one bit,” she said. “I mean, it sucks, but you’re right. We’re protecting our family.”
“Yes, we are,” I told her. “And I don’t think most people would fault somebody for that.”
Just then I heard voices from down the road, so I put my hand up to Bailey and listened.
“More coming,” she whispered.
“Let’s get in the trees,” I whispered back.
We made our way back to the tree line and into the woods where we took up our usual sentry posts.
I didn’t hear any more chatter, and I thought maybe I had been mistaken, but after a moment a group of nine people came into view.
They stopped and stared at our signs and the bodies that filled the road.
“This is fucked up,” a blonde haired guy in the front said. He wore a big fluffy coat, but from his tight jeans I could tell that he was particularly thin.
“Let’s get out of here,” a brown haired woman said.
“I see smoke coming from up the hill,” a blue-haired young man said, pointing to the smoke coming from the wood stoves in the dorm building. “They probably have a fire up there.”
None of these civilians appeared to be armed, but several had on large coats, so I couldn’t be sure.
“We should just go,” the brown haired woman said.
“They have a fire,” the blue-haired guy snorted. “I’m fucking freezing. I think the least these people could do is share some warmth.”
“You know as well as I do not to rely on strangers to invite us in,” the brown haired woman said. “Now let’s go.”
The rest of the group started to follow the brown haired woman as she continued down the road, but the blue-haired man stood in place, staring up at the smoke.
“Fuck it,” he said. “I’m going up there.”
“Jason, don’t,” the brown haired woman warned.
“Look at all these bodies,” he said. “I doubt anybody is down here right now.”
“Jason,” the brown haired woman said, her tone more authoritative.
“I’m goin’,” he said and he took a step onto the bridge.
Before I could even blink Bailey let off a round, and the blue-haired guy fell backward mid step. The other members of the group cowered but they didn’t scream.
After a moment the brown haired woman stood up once more and looked out into the woods where we were posted.
“We’re going!” she said firmly. “Please let us by in peace. Nobody else will try to take from you.”
I watched as the brown haired woman led the others down the road, and once they were out of sight, I turned to Bailey.
“Good shot,” I complimented the blonde hippie.
“Thanks,” she said. “We’ve had a few groups like that. If you shoot one, then the others typically move on.”
“The women seem to be smarter than the men about it,” Merideth laughed.
“I’m not surprised,” I said. “I’ve worked with enough of each to know that women tend to be more calculating in their risks.”
“I think we have everything handled here,” Bailey said. “You can go back up to campus if you want.”
“I will,” I said. “I’m sure I have sentry duty later this evening.”
Just as I was about to stand up, gunshots came from the road, and I turned to see a large group of maybe twenty men and a few women storming through the snow.
They fired in all directions and darted toward the bridge.
I set my scope on the leader coming up the middle, but Bailey took him out with a quick shot to the face, so I moved to the one behind him and took him out as well.
A stray bullet whizzed by me, and somebody took out the shooter.
The battle was over quickly, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the stupidity of the group.
“What’s so funny?” Bailey asked.
“That whole situation,” I said. “They came at us so loudly.”
“Well, you have to have a war cry,” Merideth joked.
“I suppose you do,” I laughed.
“It is kind of funny,” Bailey said. “In a morbid sort of way.”
“Definitely in a morbid way,” I said. “You sure you have things handled down here?”
“Definitely,” Bailey assured me. “That was the first group like that.”
“There will be more,” I said.
“I’m sure there will,” the blonde sighed. “But we’ll be ready whenever they come.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be back later to relieve you.”
“I don’t think Paige scheduled you for today,” Bailey said.
“What?” I asked.
“You’ve been kind of coming down whenever,” Bailey said with a shrug. “I think she figured that you would just keep doing that.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll talk to her. Thanks.”
The snow crunched under my feet as I stood up and headed back through the woods toward the campus. I could see my breath in the air as I walked, but the cold of the day was nothing compared to the night before. I deci
ded I needed to talk to Rolly about seeing if we could minimize the smoke from our chimney. I didn’t want another situation like that blue-haired guy, and I figured if we could lessen the smoke, then maybe that would lessen people’s drive to get up there.
Winter was a freezing, trying time of year, and most people would do anything to stay warm.
Chapter 11
I stepped into the dorm building and was immediately assaulted by the warmth of the place. It was pleasantly hot compared to outside, though I figured the real temperature was probably only in the seventies. I looked around at the people in the common area, but I didn’t see Justin, Marla, or the kids. I made my way up the stairs to the second floor and found them in the common room there.
“Hey, guys,” I said with a smile.
“Hey, Tav,” Mitch greeted me.
I saw that Frank was sitting up on the couch, so I smiled at him as well. The boy looked less pale than he had been before, but honestly I was just happy to see him sitting up.
“Hey, Frank,” I said. “How ya feelin’?”
“Better,” the small boy said.
“Good,” I told him, then I turned to Marla. “Can I talk with you for a minute?”
“Of course,” she said, and she led me to a nearby dorm room. “What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to check with you about Frank,” I said. “Is he doing alright?”
“He’s much better,” she said with a nod.
“I was surprised to see him sitting up,” I said. “Happily surprised.”
“I was too,” she sighed. “He gave me quite a scare there for a while.”
“He gave all of us a scare,” I said.
“Thank you again for getting the IV bags,” Marla said sincerely. “It made a world of difference.”
“Of course,” I said. “I just want to help.”
“I know,” the woman said with a smile.
“Well, I’ll leave you be,” I said, and I reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” Marla said, so I spun back around.
“Is there something else?” I asked. “Did you need to talk to me?”
“I just wanted to say thanks for one other thing,” she said.
“What’s that?” I asked, puzzled.
“Mitch told me you talked to him,” Marla said with a soft smile.
“He was pretty worried,” I said. “I didn’t do much.”
“Well, it meant a lot to him,” she said. “And that means a lot to me.”
