by Eric Vall
“I’m, like, super jealous,” Tara grinned, then she turned to me and gave me a pouty face. “When do I get my turn?”
“My door is always open,” I smiled.
“Oh please,” Paige said. “I’m sure you guys fucked when you scouted out Burlington.”
“That was like over a week ago!” Tara exclaimed. “I’m a very sexual creature.”
“We know,” Anna said, and she rolled her eyes.
“Here comes Rolly and Bailey,” I told the girls. “Let’s cool it for a bit.”
“If we have to,” Tara pouted.
“I’m sure Rolly would appreciate it,” I chuckled.
“Looks like the hunt went well,” Rolly said as he approached, and he pointed to the deer Anna and I had taken down.
“It did,” I smiled.
“I should start cleaning it,” Paige said.
“How about we eat first,” I suggested. “Anna and I can do it after.”
“Didn’t you already do it?” Tara laughed, and I was angry with myself for a second for walking into the joke.
“I don’t want to know,” Rolly said, and he sat on the bench next to Paige.
“No,” I assured him with a laugh. “I don’t think you do.”
“I’d like to help with the deer though,” Paige smiled.
“We can do it together after we eat,” Anna smiled at the brunette. “How’s breakfast coming?”
“Good,” Tara said. “Betty gave us a few eggs though, did you guys want them this morning?”
“That sounds great,” I smiled.
Tara served the cooked meat onto plates, then fried up some eggs for us, and Bailey retrieved some deer meat to feed Winchester.
“This is good,” I said after I had taken my first bite.
“Thanks,” Tara smiled.
“I think we should call a meeting tonight,” I said.
“What for?” Anna asked.
“Just to see how everyone is feeling now that we’ve gone to each farm and helped out,” I shrugged.
“Why don’t we go to Betty’s?” Paige suggested. “The farms are pretty close to each other, and I bet the civilians will already be there.”
“It’s a good idea,” I told the brunette. “But I want to get everyone accustomed to being here.”
“Right,” Paige nodded.
“I can go tell them,” Bailey offered.
“That would be great,” I smiled. “But you need a buddy.”
“Anna, you go,” Paige said. “I’ll take care of the deer.”
“Are you sure?” Anna asked. “I can stay and help, and we can just go after.”
“It’s no problem,” Paige chuckled. “I don’t mind doing the dirty work.”
“Neither does Anna,” Tara snickered through a bite of her breakfast, and I saw Rolly roll his eyes, but Paige snickered at her joke.
“I think I’ll chop some wood after we eat,” I said in an attempt to ignore Tara’s remark. “Unless you need some help Rolly?”
“I think I’m all set,” the old man said.
“Okay,” I nodded, and finished eating my breakfast.
“Thanks for cooking, Tara,” Rolly smiled at the platinum blonde once everyone had finished.
“No problem,” Tara grinned. “I like cooking.”
“I’ll keep making the coffee if you keep cooking,” Rolly chuckled.
“You have a deal,” Tara said, and she shook Rolly’s hand playfully.
“Let’s get to work,” I smiled, and I stood up.
I chopped down four trees and split them while the girls went to tell the others about the meeting. I felt good after Anna and mine’s romp in the woods, and I found myself whistling while I split logs.
It had been a nice week of spending time with the others and preparing for winter, but I knew we would need to begin supply runs again, we still needed a lot of winter gear for everyone, and I figured that meant that there would be more run-ins with Canadians. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but I knew that it was something we would have to deal with, and I hoped that after winter was over, we would be in the clear for a while.
“Hey,” I heard Paige say behind me, and I turned to see her holding two water bottles. “I figured you might be thirsty.”
“Thanks,” I grinned, and I wiped the sweat off my forehead and took the water.
“I figured we would start dinner a bit early since everyone is coming over tonight,” Paige said.
“Good idea,” I told her, and then I took a long pull from the water bottle.
“Okay,” the brunette nodded. “I’m going to start it now and have Tara help. Is there anything specific you would like?”
“Surprise me,” I smiled at the brunette, and she blushed. It was cute that she had asked me what I wanted, and it made me feel almost husband like.
“Okay,” Paige smiled, and she offered me the other bottle since I had drained the first.
“Thanks,” I said, and I opened the second bottle.
“Of course,” Paige said. “Do you need help stacking the wood?”
“No,” I shook my head. “You girls start dinner. I’ll be over shortly.”
By the time I finished splitting the last few logs and stacking the wood, I could smell something delicious coming from the fire pit, so I made my way to the benches and took a seat.
“Smells good,” I said, and I looked at the large pot, then Winchester came over and nudged my hands, so I gave him a few pets before he went to lay by Bailey once more.
“It’s fish soup,” Paige smiled.
“It’s an old recipe,” Tara grinned.
“Old recipe, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Tara nodded. “It was my grandmother’s or something, I found it one day in high school and I make it every fall.”
“Grandma’s are the best cooks,” Paige smiled.
“She was Norwegian, I think,” Tara mused. “I found a whole recipe book of hers, but this one is my favorite.”
“Well, it smells delicious,” I told her.
“Paige did a lot of it,” Tara said proudly.
“Tara, why didn’t you go to cooking school?” Anna asked.
“I don’t know,” Tara shrugged, and she stirred the soup. “I didn’t really care about school like you guys did.”
“Yeah,” Paige nodded. “But you’re a great cook. I’m surprised you didn’t want to be a chef.”
“Eh,” Tara shrugged again. “Honestly, I kinda figured my dad would give me a job, or I could marry someone rich he knew and not have to work at all.”
“Oh my God,” Anna laughed.
“Hey, it seemed like a good plan at the time,” Tara chuckled.
“But don’t you feel better now, being self-sufficient?” I asked with a smile.
“I do,” Tara nodded. “It’s nice to feel useful. Before, I didn’t really feel like I was good at anything.”
“Did you never cook for boyfriends?” Rolly asked. “I’m sure they would have told you how wonderful of a cook you are.”
“No,” Tara shook her head. “I made them take me out.”
“It sounds strange,” Anna chuckled. “But I think the apocalypse helped Tara become a better person.”
“I was a good person before,” Tara’s eyes narrowed at the redhead, then she chuckled too. “Just not as good as I am now.”
“I think what Anna means,” I started. “Is that you’ve grown a lot.”
“Yeah,” Tara smiled. “I think we all have.”
“Yeah,” Anna said. “Rolly even has a girlfriend now.”
“Oooohhh,” the girls all said in a chorus, then they burst out laughing.
“I’ll have you know in my day I was quite the ladies’ man,” Rolly said to me, and he chuckled. “This is nothing new.”
“We know it’s not new,” Paige smiled at the old man. “We’re just happy for you.”
“And we like to tease you,” Tara grinned.
“You like to tease everyone,” Bailey
chuckled, and she absentmindedly petted Winchester.
“Gotta be fair,” Tara laughed.
“I am really excited about this soup,” Bailey smiled. “It smells so good. There’s only one thing that could make it better.”
“Cornbread,” Paige and Anna said at the same time.
“Exactly,” Bailey laughed.
“You don’t make it with cornbread,” Tara informed us. “You make it with rolls or biscuits.”
“I don’t know,” Bailey said. “I always liked cornbread more than biscuits.”
“That’s it,” Tara joked. “No soup for Bailey.”
“Hey,” Bailey pouted.
“Oh, alright,” Tara grinned. “But you have to say biscuits are better.”
The girls bickered playfully until the soup was done, and Paige poured each of us a bowl. We all moaned as we took the first bite of soup, it truly was delicious, even though I was sure Tara had to have been missing some ingredients. We ate quietly and enjoyed our dinner, and Winchester chewed on a leg bone from the deer we had caught that morning.
Just as we finished eating the others began to arrive.
“Perfect timing,” Anna said, and she stood up and waved our tribe over to the fire.
The other girls moved to the ground to sit, Winchester made his rounds to everyone to get maximum attention, and soon everyone was gathered around and had exchanged niceties, so I figured it was time to start the meeting.
“Okay,” I said to call everyone’s attention, and the talking died down. “This is just to see how everyone is feeling.”
“No bad news this time?” Cathy laughed.
“No,” I smiled and shook my head. “I just wanted to see what everyone was thinking.”
“I feel better about winter now,” Betty smiled. “Everyone has been working hard, and it’s nice to have the help at the farm.”
“I’m glad that’s working out,” I smiled.
“It’s good to feel more useful too,” Donna nodded, and she smiled at Betty.
“I’m still nervous about winter,” Jenny said softly. “It’s gonna be so cold, and I just want everyone to be safe.”
“We will be,” I smiled at the ginger-haired girl. “But it’s okay to still be nervous.”
“The barn is just about ready,” Rolly informed the group, and Betty kissed him on the cheek.
“We do have one thing to consider,” I said.
“I knew there was bad news,” Cathy joked.
“No,” I chuckled. “Just something we all should think about.”
“What’s wrong?” Jeff asked.
“We have our water filtration system up,” I explained. “But I’m not sure that I trust our water lines not to freeze once it snows.”
“Shoot,” Donna muttered.
“We have a plan now to find some large receptacles,” I said. “And we’ll be on the lookout for water jugs as well.”
“Having to store water would make it almost impossible to shower,” Mike said.
“And we have to think about the animals,” Marla nodded. “They require a lot more water than we do.”
“Yes,” I said. “So whatever ideas anyone has are welcome.”
“I’m guessing we don’t want to dig that long of a line?” Jeff asked.
“Not if we can avoid it,” I said.
“We can melt snow for the animals,” Jenny suggested. “We’ve done that before.”
“We could,” Betty said. “That’s a lot of snow, though.”
“That’s still an option,” I said. “But if we do end up having to store water, then Mike’s right, it will decrease our shower frequency.”
“I can live with that,” Cathy said.
“Yeah,” Donna nodded. “I’d rather be alive than clean.”
“We’ll try to avoid it,” I said. “And Rolly and I are considering possibilities, but anything you all come up with is welcome as well.”
“Okay,” Justin nodded. “I’ll give it some thought.”
“That would be appreciated,” I smiled.
“Does anyone have any concerns about how things are going now?” Anna asked.
“You all spent this last week helping everyone,” Dan noted. “But what about supply runs?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “We’ll be resuming supply runs tomorrow.”
“We’ve stockpiled a lot at this point already,” Paige smiled.
“Yes,” Anna said. “But we’re going to keep at it.”
“We have almost everyone’s comfort items now,” Bailey grinned.
“That’s great to hear,” Joanna smiled.
“How is everyone on coffee or tea?” I asked.
“We’re good at our place,” Marla said.
“I would take some tea,” Betty smiled. “If you’re offering.”
“Of course,” I said.
“How are we on winter clothes?” Jeff asked.
“We have some,” I told the red-bearded man. “But we still need quite a few things.”
“They’re our first priority right now on supply runs,” Anna added.
“Yes,” I said. “That and water bottles.”
“However we can help, we will,” Cathy offered.
“I know,” I said, and I smiled at the sandy-blonde haired woman.
This routine meeting felt good. It was nice to be able to focus on survival and comfort, and I was proud of my tribe and all that they had accomplished. They had worked together very well over the last week, and we had built a decent stockpile that was only going to continue to grow. The best part was that we were all gaining confidence in each other, and I was trusting the others to do more and to do a good job, they had proven they were more than capable, and I was happy to give them more responsibility, though my team would always handle the tough jobs, at least for now.
I finished the meeting, and the others went home, leaving my girls and I to sit around the fire since Rolly had opted to spend the night at Betty’s and come back in the morning. The girls and I discussed plans for tomorrow and where we would head for our supply run, Paige picked out a small town to the south, and I chose Anna and Tara to accompany me on the run.
The fall air was crisp as the sun dropped below the horizon, and I looked at each of the girls’ faces in the firelight and thought about how far they had come since I first met them, and about how much they had taught the others. They really were warrior women, and I was proud to be their captain.
Chapter 12
I woke at dawn as normal, woke the girls, told them to get dressed and meet me for coffee, reminded Anna and Tara to get their backpacks and put on their vests, and then I headed to the fire pit with my own supplies. Betty drove up with Rolly just then so I stopped to greet them.
“Morning Betty,” I called out and I walked over to the vehicle.
“Good morning,” Betty smiled.
“Thanks for dropping Rolly off,” I said.
“Well, I took him,” Betty grinned. “I figured I should bring him back too.”
“Much appreciated,” I said. “Did you all enjoy your night?”
“Uh, yes,” Rolly said, and he blushed and got out of the car.
“Well,” I smiled. “I’ll let you say goodbye.”
I started a fire in the pit and waited for Rolly and the girls to join me while the water boiled for coffee.
“Good morning,” Bailey said, and she took a seat next to me.
“Morning,” I smiled at the pretty blonde.
“Are you making coffee?” Paige asked, and she took a seat next to Bailey.
“Water’s boiling now,” I smiled.
“We heard Betty pull up a few minutes ago,” Anna said, and she gestured to where Rolly stood with his head inside the driver’s window. “You’d think they wouldn’t mind saying goodbye after they spent the night together.”
“If anything, that makes it harder,” Tara chuckled.
“I agree,” I laughed.
“They’re so cute,” Paige sighed, and she
went to the shed and retrieved some meat for Winchester.
“Hey everyone,” Rolly said when he joined the group.
“Have a good time last night?” Tara asked with a raised brow.
“I… uh,” the old man stuttered, and he held out a carton with one hand and rubbed his neck with the other. “Betty sent me with some eggs for breakfast.”
“That would be great,” I smiled.
“How come you get to hear all the details of our love life, but you won’t share yours?” Tara joked.
“Probably because I don’t ask to hear yours,” the old man chuckled and took a seat next to Anna.
Tara cooked us up some eggs and rabbit for breakfast, and Rolly took over the making of the coffee. Once everyone was fed and caffeinated, I figured it was time to go.
“Alright,” I clapped and stood up. “Let’s head out.”
“Right,” Anna nodded, and she took one last drink of coffee.
“I’m going to tend to the garden,” Bailey smiled.
“I’ll work on the water filtration,” Paige nodded.
“And I’m on barn duty,” Rolly said.
“Good plan,” I grinned. “Paige, Bailey, I want you to help Rolly when you’re done.”
The girls nodded, and I headed toward one of the trucks that sat in the courtyard.
“Which do you want to drive?” I asked Anna.
“Are we taking both?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “The Guard truck will have the trailer attached.”
“Um,” she said, and she pursed her lips. “I’ll drive the jeep.”
“Okay,” I chuckled, and I turned to Tara. “Who do you want to ride with?”
“Is that even a question?” Tara asked wryly, and she hopped in the passenger’s seat of the military vehicle.
“I guess not,” I laughed.
“I’ll follow you,” Anna called out, and she hopped in the old jeep.
“Okay,” I nodded, and I got in the truck and fired the engine up.
We were on the road in no time, and the town we were headed to wouldn’t take more than forty minutes to get to by car, so I took it easy since Anna was following us.
“So, what’s this town we’re headed to?” Tara asked.
“Wayfair,” I told her. “Paige showed us last night.”
“I’m not great with names,” Tara shrugged.
“You remembered my name just fine when we met,” I chuckled.