Stranded Box Set

by Theresa Shaver

  “So, we just went on. They went to a plant nursery and found seeds and we planted a garden around the playground. A few parents finally made it here and took their children away. Some of the kids finally succumbed to their cancer or other diseases they had been fighting and some of them healed enough to try and travel with their family members back to their homes. I wish they had of just stayed. From what we can see from the roof and what our scavenging parties saw, there were no homes to go back to. But one by one they left and the family members of children who passed left, too, until it was just me and Albert. Then the first snow came and something strange started happening. We would find boxes of canned food or stacks of firewood in front of the lobby doors. People remembered or they heard Albert’s story and they tried to help when they could. It was an amazing feeling knowing that there is still good out there. But it also caused something else to happen. People saw this place as a sanctuary for children and when they ran out of food and hope they brought them here and left them. I guess they thought they would have a better chance of surviving here than out there in the city. Some of them have come back for their kids and some of the kids were old enough to run away to try and find them again. Right now, there are sixteen children here. Eight of them will never leave here. They all have either a terminal disease or complicated medical issue and quite frankly, I have no idea how they’ve lived this long. The other eight are healthy, well, as healthy as near constant starvation allows. They have no one in this world but me, now that Albert is dead. I just don’t know how I can keep them all alive by myself.” She turned her head and met each teen’s eyes. “So, I know exactly where you can find the medicine your town needs in large quantities but I need a big trade for that information.”

  Alex was the first to speak. “You want us to take the kids home with us.”

  Leslie nodded and then bit her lip waiting for a response.

  Alex sniffed back the last of her tears from hearing the woman’s story.

  “I want to take the kids home with us. But we can’t. We don’t have room to transport them on the sleds. I’m so sorry.”

  Leslie’s face fell but her head and everyone else’s swung to Cooper when he spoke. “Yes, you can. I’m not going with you.”

  Before anyone could process his words, another voice spoke up. “Neither am I. I’m staying here.” They all turned to see Lisa sitting up with a determined expression on her face. “Also, I’m sitting at a solid thirteen so I’ll take that pain pill anytime please!”

  Leslie pushed herself to her feet and slid out of the room as the teens all started to talk at once.

  Emily rushed over to Lisa’s bedside and helped to lower her back onto the bed. “Lisa, why? Why would you stay here?” The room quieted as everyone wanted to hear what she had to say.

  Lisa scanned each of her friend’s faces and gave them all a sad smile. “You are all my family. You took me in and helped me be a better person than I ever would have been in the old world. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to each and every one of you. But, my Dad, he’s here and as much as he has to account for, he can’t do that if I’m miles away. Also, I’m going to be a big sister so I have to be around to make sure he or she doesn’t grow up to be a jerk like I did! You guys gave me the first real home I ever had. You showed me what it means to be a family so now I have to show him and the only way I can do that is if I stay here in the city.”

  Emily had tears dripping down her face but she was nodding her head in understanding and so were Alex and Quinn. Alex turned her gaze from Lisa to Cooper.

  “Cooper?”

  He gave her a beautiful, happy smile. “This is my place.” At Alex’s confused look, his smile just got bigger. “Prairie Spring’s is not my place and Red Deer isn’t either. I keep feeling lost. I want a place where I can help and do something worthwhile. This is it. This is my place. I’m not going to leave a single woman here all alone with eight sick kids to try and feed them and keep them safe. This is where I’m supposed to be. One day I might head back your way but right now, here, this is where I’m supposed to be.”

  Alex opened her mouth to argue but then closed it. There was nothing she could say to dispute his reasoning. That’s what all of them wanted. To do good and help others where they could. Cooper had found his place so she just returned his big smile with one of her own and nodded her head in agreement. She had to hold back an exclamation of surprise when he turned to Lisa and shot her a wink. Maybe this was his place in more than one way.

  Quinn came to stand by her bed and took her hand. “I’m still not sure we can fit eight kids. I guess it would depend on how big they are.”

  Leslie stepped through the door with two tiny paper cups in her hand. They had pain medication in them and she insisted Alex take hers. Once she was satisfied both her patients were taken care of, she turned to Quinn.

  “None of the kids are very big. The oldest is ten and I’d be surprised if he weighed over ninety pounds.”

  Quinn thought about it for a minute and then motioned Cooper over. “Hey, can you go swap out Josh? I need to talk logistics like weight and gas issues with him.”

  Cooper nodded and turned to leave but hesitated and then turned back to Quinn and Alex.

  “You know how I said that this is my place? That this is where I’m supposed to be?” At both their nods he grinned. “Well, you two found your place a while ago and it’s not Prairie Springs…it’s with each other. Whatever happened, let it go. Don’t lose your place.” With that, he turned and left the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Josh came stomping into the room with Dara close behind him. He scowled at the girls and focused in on Quinn.

  “What the heck, man? I go on guard shift for a few hours with my lady and our people start leaving the Scooby gang? What did you do?”

  Quinn held up his hands in defense but said nothing so Josh swung his gaze over to Lisa. He made his voice sound hoarse with an Italian accent.

  “Don’t you know that no one ever leaves the Mafia? Once you’re in, you’re in for life!”

  Lisa just smiled indulgently at him as Dara shoved him out of her way and went to sit between her and Alex’s bed.

  Josh shook his head at no one appreciating his humor and turned to Alex. “Hey there, Red. Good to see you awake but you’re looking a little woozy. You ok?”

  Alex blinked a few times at him and tried to smile but the medication was taking hold and she felt herself slip away.

  Josh blew out a worried breath at her reaction and turned to Quinn. “Is she going to be ok?”

  Quinn nodded. “Yes, she just needs some rest. Leslie gave her some pain killers so they probably knocked her out.” He brushed an errant curl from her face before asking, “Cooper fill you in?”

  Josh rolled his eyes. “Sure, we came with seven, lost two and gained eight. No prob, piece of cake!”

  Quinn sighed and looked away. “I know but is it doable?”

  Josh looked over at Lisa and the other girls before answering. “Well, short answer is…yes.”

  Quinn raised his eyebrows in question. “So, what’s the long answer?”

  “The long answer is I’m leaving my sled here for Cooper and Lisa. I understand their reasons for staying but I’m not going to leave them without transportation. Or protection for that matter, so they keep the rifles and we dump at least half of the ammunition we have left with them. We’re giving them almost all the food we brought as well so that lightens us up a lot. We have the two sleds and their trailers and the Ranger that will tow the third trailer. Alex isn’t going to be able to drive so that puts her and the driver in the UTV. Depending on how small the kids are, we can put three in the back of it too. Not comfortable but it can be done. Two of us on one sled with a kid in between on the bench. One of us and two kids on the bench of another and that leaves two kids left. Only other place for them is on one of the trailers.”

  Quinn winced. “That’s not very safe, is it?”

&nb
sp; Josh snorted. “What the heck’s safe anymore? We’ll bungee cord them down to it or something!”

  Quinn shook his head in amusement. “Or, one of us in the trailer with one kid to keep them in place - while bungee corded in. Then two kids on the bench of the other sled with one of us driving.”

  Josh gave a sharp nod. “Deal!” He looked down at Alex’s sleeping face and frowned. “What kind of timeframe did the nurse give you before Alex can be moved?”

  Quinn blew out a breath. “Well, she said it could take a few weeks for the concussion symptoms to go away but they might take longer. Her arm shouldn’t be used for at least a week to ten days.”

  “We both know Red’s not going to wait that long to head home. She’s going to insist we leave in the morning. As much as I don’t want to aggravate her injuries, we might have no choice. There’s a bit of bite to the air outside. Not as bad as it was but it’s definitely getting colder. If the hard cold hits us again before we get home, well, we just might not make it home at all.”

  Quinn turned and walked over to the window. They were on the third floor so he had a pretty good view of the sun inching closer to the mountains as it got ready to set. At best, they only had two hours of daylight left. He turned back and saw Leslie enter the room with a large paper bag. She walked over to him and Josh and held it out.

  “This is all the stock I have of the two medications that are effective in treating the plague.”

  Quinn just stared at what now seemed to be a small bag. “How many doses are in there?”

  She swallowed hard. “Thirty courses total.”

  Quinn’s shoulder’s drooped but he nodded. “Ok, so where do we find more?”

  Leslie bit her lip and looked away while she answered him. “I just need a guarantee that you’ll take my kids somewhere better. I can’t just trust…”

  Quinn’s face filled with anger but it was Josh who spun towards her.

  “Lady, we are leaving a ton of food, ammunition to protect you and two of my very good friends with you as well as a snowmobile. Even if this place you send us to has burned to the ground, we’ll STILL take these kids out of here to our homes! What else do you want, a contract in blood? Fine, go get your vampire pokers and get on with it!” He spat out while holding out his arm for her to draw blood from.

  She looked up at him in surprise. “Two of you are staying? What?”

  Josh dropped his arm and huffed out a breath.

  “Yes, Cooper and Lisa are staying here with you. Cooper wants to help protect you all, now that your friend has died. Lisa’s dad lives at the Zoo with a community there so you might want to consider joining them for even more security.” With her expression filling with hope, Josh softened and reached out again, this time to pat her arm. “I promise, the kids are going with us. They’ll have more than enough to eat and warmth and love from all our families. Please, tell us where we need to go.”

  With tears of gratitude in her eyes, Leslie told them. “There’s a central distribution center for all medications in Calgary. They made all the deliveries to every hospital and all the pharmacies in the city. Even if they’ve already been looted, it probably would only have been for the narcotics but I doubt they’ve been hit. There’s no sign saying what’s in there and it was a very secure building. The only problem is that it’s on the other side of downtown. That’s somewhere I wouldn’t want to go through.”

  Josh was already digging the map of the city from an inside pocket of his parka. He spread it out on the floor and looked up at her.

  “Show me.”

  Once she had shown them the location, Josh leaned back against a wall and tapped his lips with his finger as he thought it out. He finally gave Leslie a hard look.

  “You know you can’t stay here any longer, right?”

  She sadly nodded her head. “We should have left a long time ago. We just didn’t know where to go.”

  Josh leaned over and tapped a spot on the map. “It’s just not possible to go it alone anymore. These guys seemed like decent people to me, except for a couple of blowhards, that is. They have security, heat and they grow food year-round.”

  She nodded slowly. “Ok, but why would they take on eleven more mouths to feed?”

  Josh grinned. “Because what they’d be getting is worth much more than food.” At her confused look, he explained it to her. “They will be getting a trained trauma nurse, all the medication and supplies that you still have here, two soldiers with automatic weapons and a functioning means of transportation. Also, the food we give you will sweeten the pot. They don’t have a lot of meat and that’s mainly what we brought with us.”

  Leslie leaned back on her heels with a wistful smile. “Sounds great but how am I supposed to make this magical deal with them and move all my kids and supplies there without getting jacked along the way. Also, what’s that got to do with you guys going to the distribution center?”

  Josh fell back against the wall. “One, you aren’t going to make the deal. I am. Two, we will transport you, the kids and the supplies there on the river. Three, the Zoo is over half way to the distribution center building so that’s where we leave from in the morning. Four and five…we’re going to need a lot more gas and finally…it’s going to be a really long night!”

  Josh looked up when a shadow blocked the light from the map to see Dara standing there with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. His face split into a cheeky grin.

  “Hi honey, can I go out to play?”

  She shook her head in annoyance and stepped to the side so Emily could join them with a matching frown. Emily pointed at the map and barked out, “Break it down! How does this play out?”

  Josh gave her big exaggerated nods of his head. “Yes, ma’am! First, though,” he said and turned to Leslie, “are there still lots of cars with gas in your parking garage?”

  She nodded. “Yes, the second and third levels haven’t been touched yet.”

  Josh beamed at her. “Perfect, there’s our gas station. Ok, Cooper, Lisa and I go back to the Zoo, like pronto! We sell them the deal and when they fall all over our feet in thanks, we radio you guys and then you and the love of my life bring the sleds, the trailers loaded with all the kids who are staying and Leslie riding double with one of you.” Leslie’s expression turned to objection, but before she could speak Josh held up a hand. “Stop, the trailers will be padded with a kazillion blankets. Four kids to a trailer, all laying on their sides, all tucked in tight. We’ll secure the tops with more blankets and then use bungee cords to keep it all in place. It’s the only option other than doing the trip ten times and that’s NOT an option.” When Leslie spread her hand in a continue gesture, he nodded and went on. “Once you are there, we will leave Lisa and Cooper with you and then Emily, Dara and I head back here to get all the supplies that you want to take and will have made ready for us to load up. We will then bring those supplies to the Zoo and stay there for the night. Just before first light, Cooper, Emily and I will head to the building to get the meds. After that, we drop Cooper off back at the Zoo and come back here to load up the rest of the kids and go home. All that matters is that the river stays frozen and hopefully empty.”

  He leaned back and gave a half bow but then threw his hands in the air at the scowls being sent his way.

  “What?” He asked in annoyance and pointed at Quinn.

  “So, I’m just supposed to sit here while you all go running around the city?”

  Josh cocked his head. “Good point. Ok, you come too and we’ll leave an injured Alex and eight little kids to fend for themselves.” Quinn glanced over at a sleeping Alex in concern before stepping back with a small nod so Josh turned and pointed at Dara.

  “Why am I not going to help break into the medicine building? Why do I have to stay at the zoo?”

  He again cocked his head to the side. “Good point. Ok, you can come too and we’ll leave an injured Lisa, Leslie and eight sick kids there alone and hope that group doesn’t double cr
oss them now that they have a bunch of supplies, ammo and one of our sleds. We’ll just pick them all up from off the river, where they’ll be thrown, and bring them back here. OR… you keep them honest with your big daddy boom stick until Cooper can get back to watch over them.”

  Dara stuck her tongue out at him, but stepped back in agreement. He turned and pointed at Leslie, pre-empting her before she could let loose.

  “You’re going to have to just trust us. You and the kids go before the supplies so that you already will have a place there. We don’t want your supplies and we aren’t going to steal them so just let it go. The kids will be bundled up and safer than we will be in the trailers. I promise we will go as slowly as possible to keep them safe.” When her mouth snapped shut, he raised an eyebrow. “Is there anything else?” When she just glared at him, he sighed and put a hand on her arm. “Leslie, this is the only way I see this happening. We could just go get the meds and leave you, Cooper, Lisa and the kids here but I think we both know that the sanctuary image that was protecting this place is now gone. There is just no way the three of you can defend this place on your own. You have to go. Either we take you or you wait and try walking there. Do you think that’s doable?”