He comes over and shakes his head. “What are you doing?”
I blow out a breath of frustration. “Can you just please help me to get this pump working? I want to see if there’s still water here!”
He crosses his arms and spears me with a look. “Why?”
I match his stance and cock my head towards the pump. He might be twice my size but I’m twice as stubborn as he is so it only takes half a minute for him to throw up his arms in concession. I watch in annoyance as he kicks the handle twice and gets it moving. He’s bulked up in the last few years with all the training his dad makes him do and it only takes him five pumps for the water I was hoping for to gush out of the shower head.
Inside I’m overjoyed to check the last box on my list but all I say is, “Cool, thanks!” And turn away to head back to the Hummer.
He catches up to me quickly, grabs my arm and says with exasperation, “Joss, what are we really doing here?”
I bite my lip before replying and answer his question with one of my own.
“What do you think of Skylar?”
He narrows his eyes at my misdirection but drops my arm.
“She’s fierce and furious. Not that I blame her after what my dad pulled on her.” He kicks at the ground with the toe of his boot. “I don’t know why he has to be such a hard-ass all the time! He didn’t have to kick her and the kid out of their home. There’s plenty of room on the other side for all of us. It’s like he needs to constantly rub everyone’s nose in the fact that he’s the boss. I get so sick of it.”
I make an agreeable hum in the back of my throat before saying, “You know it’s going to get worse, right? He’s going to work those people to the bone and once everything is planted, start on the breeding program. That means that Skylar and every woman, both outside and in, will be forced to have babies, year after year. That includes me! And what do you think the chances are that we’ll get to pick who our baby daddies are?” At his look of disbelief, I snort. “Seriously? I’ve seen the spreadsheets he had the doc make up! It’s all about population diversification. Lots of babies with lots of daddies!”
His face is pale when he gives his head a hard shake. “He wouldn’t do that! I’ll talk to him. Make him see reason!”
I reach out and grab his hand and say with compassion, “No offense, Jackson, but when was the last time anything you said swayed your dad?”
His face crumples. “Then what are we supposed to do? I can’t sit by and watch that happen to you or anyone for that matter!”
His expression is so filled with hopelessness that I take a chance.
“We could leave! Find a new home and start our own rebuilding. I’m sure there’s others that feel the same way that would join us. The skies have cleared. Now’s the time for us to start building a future for US, not for him!”
I see hope cross his face for a split second before he frowns and shakes his head.
“We both know he would never let us or anyone go. He’s too powerful, especially now that he has AIRIA to track us with the drones. He’d catch us in a day and then punish us with a life even worse than the one we have now.”
I want to rant at his cowardice but I know that won’t win him to my side so I stay silent and wait as he spins away from me and looks over the camp.
“So was this your plan? This place?” He asks with his back to me.
I walk around to speak to him face to face and make my case.
“The wall gives us a barrier of protection we can defend. The well is still flowing for water and the atrium gives us a place to grow crops inside as well as out here. The nearby hotel will give us resources to scavenge. All we need to do is start siphoning off supplies from the bunker to get us through a year or two until we can be self-sufficient. We would need weapons, seeds, and MRE’s to start. If we can get enough people to come with us, we could grow here and defend it!”
He looks around again. “And when the General comes after us with those still loyal to him? A lot of people will die!”
My face firms up in determination. “Jackson, I survived the first eight years of my life as an inconvenience to every person around me. I survived the first three years in the bunker by hiding and I survived the last four years under your father’s thumb, forced to be his lackey spy. I had no choice in any of that but now that the skies have cleared, I do have a choice and it sure as frack isn’t going to be surviving as his broodmare! I choose not to survive anymore but to LIVE!” The last word explodes out of me with all the pent-up emotion that I’ve been forced to suppress for the last seventeen years causing Jackson to take a step back from me. I spin away from him and give him my back. “I want you to come live with me but I’m ready to do it alone if I have too.”
I don’t wait for a response from him. I stride towards the Hummer, trying to get my emotions under control. I’ve kept that door tightly locked for many years and it’s served me well. I can’t let something as basic as feelings derail me now. By the time I slam the door to the Hummer closed, I have a big old padlock on the door in my mind and I start to worry about how Jackson will respond to what I said. If he shares any of my plan with his father, this plan will be over before it even starts and that will mean my only option will have to be a direct assault on the General and everyone who supports him. It would be very messy and I would be in a lot of danger, even with AIRIA under my control.
He gets in the Hummer and starts it up without saying a word, making me clutch my hands tight in my lap so I don’t gnaw on my nails in worry. He puts the vehicle in gear but doesn’t press the gas. Instead, he lets out a deep sigh. I keep my face turned to the window as he begins to speak.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you’ve had such a hard life, Joss. I’ll help you. I’ll help move as many supplies as I can to give you the best shot at surv…living, I mean. I’d like to think that when the time comes I’ll go with you but I don’t know if I’m strong enough to leave him.”
I finally turn to my friend. “Thank you, Jackson. I just have to ask, I mean, if you say anything to your Dad about this…”
A hurt look crosses his face as he shakes his head. “I wouldn’t do that to you! You’re my best friend, Joss. I’d do anything for you, even let you go.”
Even as I nod in gratitude, I feel a part of my heart break. By the time I’m done with my plan, he will either come with me willingly or hate me forever. Maybe both.
Chapter Ten … Skylar
Everything hurts. My eyes burn and feel swollen and full of scratches. My back aches like I’ve been laying on a bed of pointy rocks and some of the blisters on my hands are the size of grapes that weep a clear fluid every time I try and stretch them from the curled swollen paws they resemble. I can’t stop coughing as my lungs try and expel some of the ash and soot that they were forced to breathe in all day. Each cough brings another round of aches as my abused muscles brace against it. When the wind stops blowing ash against my shirt, I lower it, crack my puffy eyes and blow out a breath of relief when I see that we’re climbing through the trees on the way to the bunker. Almost…home, or at least almost to my tent that’s now my home. I didn’t think this day would ever end and I just can’t fathom how any of us are going to be physically able to do it all again tomorrow.
I slowly turn my head and scan the others in the truck bed. Some of them are better off than me and some are worse. Lance, Marsh and Rex look wiped out but not as bad off. They’ve been living in the outdoors for years and have conditioned their bodies to chop huge amounts of wood, giving them the calluses needed to protect the skin on their hands. Sasha, on the other hand, looks almost catatonic. I turn the other way and glance at the guards. Even if I had the energy to try and engage some of them, I would fail because they won’t look at any of us. I don’t know if it’s because they no longer see us as people worth talking to or if they’re ashamed of what we were forced to endure in those fields.
The guy in charge of the work group today must be a sadistic bastard because
he didn’t let up on us all day long. His name is Donnelly and he barked at us constantly to keep moving, keep digging and his favorite, get up! Other than twice receiving water, we worked from the moment we unloaded from the truck until the sun started to go down. You’d think with just under two hundred people we would have made huge progress but I only managed to plant two rows and barely that. When they cleared the field of the contaminated topsoil they neglected to go back over it with a tiller to loosen the soil up for planting, leaving a hard-packed level that needed to be tilled by hand with shovels and axes to loosen the soil enough to plant anything. It was backbreaking work especially for people who haven’t been doing much physical activity in years.
I’m looking at my blackened palms and the curls of skin that hang from them from where blisters have broken when I hear Rex groan, causing me to lift my head up to meet his gaze in question. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes while he answers me.
“I was hoping they’d have the wash houses done by the time we got back.”
I lean to the side and see that we’ve arrived back at the bunker but there are two trucks of people ahead of us to unload before it’s our turn. I look over to the construction area and see that the wash houses are no more than half-done. It just makes me more tired knowing that there won’t be a way to get clean of the ash, soot, and dirt before laying down for the night. I close my eyes again while we wait but a minute later there’s some kind of ruckus happening with people yelling up at the front of the line.
“That’s Ethan,” Lance says with a slight smile. “Always doctoring.”
Our truck moves up to the next spot in line getting us closer to all the yelling and I can now make out words.
“You get him out here right now!” Is what I hear before I see Ethan stagger to the side of the next truck. I push to my feet in concern as fast as my body will allow when I see another soldier rush towards him but sag in relief when he just reaches down and helps Ethan to his feet again. They both disappear behind the truck but the yelling has stopped so I slowly lower myself back down.
Lance looks to me as he’s on the other side of the bed without a view.
“Looked like someone hit or shoved him but he’s ok.”
Lance’s lips flatten into a hard line but all he does is nod. It sucks, but it was his plan to take what they dish out and not fight back until we’re ready to make our move. The truck lurches ahead minutes later and I can’t wait to get somewhere I can just lie down flat on. The gate is opened and I watch as people stagger, fall and slide out the back until it is our turn. Lance and Marsh have to lift Sasha to her feet to get her moving and I stand behind them with Rex as they lower her gently into Ethan’s arms before hopping down themselves. I have no hope left in me so I just lower myself to my butt and prepare to slide off the end when a harsh voice rings out.
“What was SO important that I had to come out here?”
I look up from my dangling feet to see the thunderous expression of Uncle Bill as he strides towards us and decide to stay put to see what plays out. The soldier who had helped Ethan to his feet whirls around to face him.
“Look at this! Look at the condition of these people!” He yells in indignation.
The General looks around at the workers sitting or lying down on the ground and gives an indifferent shrug. “Your point?”
The soldier, who I think is the doctor Ethan’s been working with throws his hands into the air in frustration. “My point? My point is they should have been given gloves and goggles at least to protect them from the environment as well as food, more water and rest. They were worked so hard that many of them are flat out broken!”
I’m watching my uncle’s face so I see the flash of satisfaction cross his eyes before they return to annoyance. He did this on purpose. He wanted us to suffer so that we’d be put in our place and not have the energy or the will to cause him any problems. He is a monster and it just fuels me to escape from here and from him. As if he’s heard my thoughts, his eyes find mine as I sit at the end of the truck bed and he scans me up and down focusing for a moment on the damaged hands I clutch to my chest. Just as fast, he dismisses me and looks back to the doctor.
“You can’t make an omelet without cracking a few eggs, Craven. The crops need to be planted if we want to get a harvest before the weather turns again. Did you think rebuilding would be easy?” He sneers.
Doctor Craven shakes his head in disbelief. “Bill, none of us will be eating that omelet if you pulverize all the eggs first! They can’t go at this pace, especially without the proper gear.”
The General studies the doctor for a moment before giving him a nod. “Fine, do what you need to do to fix them up and I’ll have Donnelly adjust the schedule.” He turns to leave but not before I catch the small, smug smile that tugs at his lips. Oh yeah, this was totally his plan all along. Grind them into the dust then look like a savior by helping them up. If I had my guns right now, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to empty every bullet into him.
I shove off of the back of the truck bed and slide to the ground. Anger has pushed aside my weariness giving me the strength to try and help some of the people on the ground to their feet. The doctor and Ethan are leading the workers towards the huge barrack doors that the doctor ordered opened. Dr. Craven is yelling orders to some of the soldiers that are milling around to fetch him medical supplies and fresh clothing and towels as he has us line up by gender at the shower room doors.
I take Sasha from Lance and Marsh and get into line, leaning her against the wall with a steadying hand to keep her upright. While we wait for our turn in the shower, I scan the barracks that I had to myself for so many years and see that all the changes Rex and his people had done when they moved in have been reversed. All the bunks are back in their original places and there are no more sheets up to give privacy. There are a lot of soldiers standing around staring at us. Some of them have expressions filled with sympathy or pity. Some are indifferent and some are annoyed. I tilt my head back against the wall and close my sore eyes so I don’t have to look at any of them. Frack them. Frack them all!
“Skylar, Sasha?” Brings me out of the half-doze I’ve fallen into while standing against the wall. Ethan’s in front of me holding out his hand but I have to blink a few times for my sight to clear enough to see that he’s holding out a palm filled with pain relievers. I have to force my stiff, swollen fingers open to take three of the beauties from him and dry swallow them. He pulls my hands towards him and winces before doing the same with Sasha’s.
“As soon as you’re finished showering, I’ll get some ointment and bandages on these. You’ll need to try and not use them as best as you can for a while.”
I huff out a laugh. “Really? Ok, I just let the men with the big guns know I’ll be taking the rest of the week off. Do you think they’ll dock my pay?”
He smiles at my attempt at humor and pats my arm. “There won’t be any work for a few days. The General made his point so now he’ll let all of you rest before sending you out again.”
I arch my eyebrows. “Caught that too?”
He rolls his eyes. “He’s a classic dictator bully. I’m sure he has a perfectly crafted playbook in his pocket for how to subject people to his will. This won’t be the last game he plays with us.”
I sigh in agreement and look over his shoulder. Standing not far away are Jackson and Joslin. While his expression is filled a mix of disbelief and outrage as he looks over the state we’re all in, Joslin is staring right at me with a look of determination. It’s almost like she is trying to tell me something with her eyes but I’m just too tired to figure it out and to be honest, she creeps me out a little bit with the way she looks at me like she knows me.
The woman beside me stirs with a groan and shuffles through the shower room door breaking my attention from the weird girl so I nod my thanks to Ethan and pull Sasha with me into the shower room. The warm moist air seems to perk her up and she steadies on her feet before grabbi
ng a towel from the stack and rushing to an open stall. I move a little slower than her. As much as I know the hot water will feel amazing on my sore muscles, I also know it’s going to really hurt my damaged hands to soap up.
Peeling my clothes off is a challenge in itself and I stare down at the gross heap of them and consider bringing them into the shower with me to clean. I don’t have an unlimited supply anymore and I don’t want to give them up but there’s no way I’ll be able to wring the water from them with my hands in this condition so I just leave them on the floor. At first, I just stand under the hot spray and let the nasty ash and soot wash off of me but I need soap so I grit my teeth against the pain and just go for it. Judging by the sounds coming from the stalls around me, I’m not the only one suffering. I just hope the pain pills kick in soon to take the edge off.
By the time I’m clean, all the comforting that I would have gotten from the hot water is lost to the extreme pain from my throbbing hands. It takes three times as long to dry off and get the fresh clothes that have been left in a stack, back on my body. I’m practically asleep on my feet as I stagger out the door and take my place back in line against the wall to wait for my turn to have my hands treated. I can’t even stay on my feet this time so I just slide down the wall until my butt hits the floor and I close my eyes.
I don’t know how long I sit there but when I feel a hand on my leg and open my eyes I see that most of the line is gone. There are only six people left to be treated and none of them are near me. I turn my head, expecting Ethan to be in front of me but instead find Joslin there with a medkit in her hands. I’m just too tired to care so I give her a blank stare and hold my open hands out to her.
She grimaces down at them but opens the kit, pulls out tiny scissors and starts snipping away the peeling skin. Her voice is low as she keeps her eyes on my hands.
“I volunteered to help. I was hoping for a chance to talk to you alone.”
Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 43