Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4

by Theresa Shaver

  He studies me with a blank expression long enough that I start to feel nauseous before he finally nods his head and a pleased smile crosses his face. “Another excellent idea, Miss Frost. I will remind them that their family, friends and loved ones would be proud of everything we’re trying to accomplish here.”

  I see Jackson heading our way so I wrap it up. “Very good, Sir. I’m sure everything you say tonight will fill the troops with determination for what’s to come. It looks like quite a few of them have relocated to the chairs where we’ll be screening the movie if you want to head in that direction. We wouldn’t want the evening to run too late with us having big plans for first thing in the morning.”

  He looks over his shoulder and sees the chairs filling with his people so he gives me a brief nod and turns on his heel. He passes his son without a word and heads towards where the microphone is set up. Jackson joins me with a frown on his face and mutters under his breath just loud enough for me to hear, “Like I don’t even exist to him.”

  I let my hands slip into his and give it a squeeze before letting it go and lifting my tablet up to my chest. I can’t bring myself to look at him when I say in a low voice, “I’m so sorry Jackson. I’m sorry.”

  He bumps his shoulder into mine in a friendly gesture but before he can say anything his father’s voice comes over the microphone capturing his attention and letting me angle slightly away from him. I take a deep breath and my finger hovers over the command that I’m more than ready to give. The General is rambling about the hard journey across the country to get here and all the things we had to sacrifice during the long years of being in the bunker in the east. When he starts talking to them about their lost family, friends and loved ones and how we would be rebuilding the world in their memory, my finger stabs down on the command that brings the huge screen behind him and every other screen in the bunker to life. I made sure that we had extra monitors installed all the way around the bunker and even in the kitchen in the guise of making sure everyone had a chance to watch the rare entertainment of a movie. I wanted to be sure that not a single person would miss what I had to show them. The video playing behind the General is showing the faces of every single person that made it to the bunker the day the bombs fell. Right away, people start calling out, “My wife! My mother! Those are my kids!” - until there are so many voices calling out that you couldn’t even make out individual words anymore.

  I keep my eyes off of the screen, as every image is already embedded into my memory permanently and stay focused on the General’s face as his expression turns to bewildered. He’s nodding his head as the people yell out the names of their loved ones that they see on the screen behind him as if he thinks that they’re saying their names to honor their memory. The soft gasp from Jackson lets me know he’s seen his mother but I don’t look his way. I keep my eyes on the General waiting for the moment when clarity will come to him but it doesn’t come until his microphone cuts out and every speaker in the barracks blare’s out with the words he uttered that horrible day seven years ago.

  “Letting civilians into this bunker will only cause distraction and chaos to the soldiers. They’ll need to stay focused and train until they’re as sharp as a fine steel blade if we’re to make it through the years ahead. They already believed that all those people are dead so we’re going to keep it that way. We all must sacrifice for the greater good.”

  I watch the realization of what’s coming cross his features and he frantically scans the crowd that is now on its feet. He manages to yell out, “SHUT…” before the sounds of multiple bullets firing drowns out the rest of his sentence. Anyone not on their feet by then surges up with yells, screams, and roars of agony and rage. As the crowd surges toward him in a murderous rage his eyes finally land on me and I see the moment he realizes that I’m the one who’s done this to him.

  I raise my hand up to my brow and send him a crisp salute before he’s taken down by the first of his men to reach him. I stand and watch as arms and feet fly at him even though I can no longer see him and wait to feel the sense of triumph, the sense of justice, that I thought I would feel after all these years of holding the pain inside - but all I feel is hollow. When the sound of a single gunshot echoes out through the room followed by cheers from the crowd that was beating the General, the feeling I have inside is as if a door has closed.

  I’m about to turn away to pull Jackson from the area when movement rushing towards me catches my eye and I spin around. Donnelly is pounding towards me with a look of murderous rage twisting his features into an ugly mask. He knows I did this. He’s never liked me from the start and he’s always been bitter that the General took me under his wing and raised my clearance level. He’s made it halfway to me from across the barracks when one of the soldiers tackles him from the side, with a few others piling on top. They know that Donnelly is the General’s right-hand man and all-around lackey. The General often used Donnelly to mete out punishment and many of them suffered under his cruel control. When it’s clear there’s no way he’ll be getting back to his feet under so many bodies, I turn away and grab a hold of Jackson’s arm.

  His face is so pale as tears wash down his cheeks continuously. The sound coming from his throat is something you might hear from a wounded animal caught in a trap. There’s so much pain, grief, and betrayal in it that it hurts every cell in my body to hear. I need to get him out of here. He just watched his mother being gunned down and now his father is dead too. Even if at some point he comes out of his shock and his grief turns to hate towards me, I can’t leave him here with these people. I don’t know if they’ll blame a teenager for his father’s crimes but I’m not willing to take that chance, so I haul him as fast as I can out of the barracks and through the double doors to the administration hallway. He staggers against the wall like he’s going to collapse but we’re still not safe here so I use every ounce of strength in my body to haul him back onto his feet and drag him to the double doors that lead to the tunnel that’ll get us into Skylar’s area.

  As soon as we clear the next set of doors and they close behind us, I shout out to AIRIA to lock it down and initiate program End Game. My hands are full just keeping Jackson up and moving to be able to use the tablet to send the commands but verbal commands work just as well and I no longer have any fear of anyone overhearing me.

  End Game is a virus that I built into the code that I uploaded into AIRIA’s core on the day we arrived and it takes four minutes to cycle through all her barriers. We’ve just managed to make it to the other end of the tunnel and through the cavern doors when the lights change to red and AIRIA announces the evacuation. Skylar is running towards me but she skids to a stop when she understands what the words that are coming from AIRIA’s speakers mean. That the one person she always thought she could count on is about to die.

  “WHAT DID YOU DO?” Is screamed at me in rage, but everything that I’ve done tonight is finally settling in and I’m feeling numb so I just shove her past her, throwing over my shoulder, “I did what I had to!”

  Ethan meets us a few steps later and takes Jackson’s weight off of me leaving my hands free to finish up what needs to be done with the commands. I use the tablet to send the orders for AIRIA to open the main barracks doors but to continue to keep every other door on lockdown. The soldiers will have only one option to exit the building, straight into the cleared area. That means we need to get out of here, quickly. I scream at the shocked faces around me to “MOVE!”, causing some of them to flinch but it has the desired effect to get them running towards the truck.

  Less than a minute later, the overhead doors open at my command and we’re pulling out with Lance behind the wheel. I look over to check on Jackson, but it causes my heart to clench in sorrow at the pain he’s going through right now so I look away and ahead. We have to go slowly over the rugged track with the livestock trailer attached to the back of the truck. I start pulling on one of my curls in nervousness that we’re running out of time. If enough of
the soldiers get in front of us and block the gate I don’t know if Lance would plow ahead or stop.

  A few minutes later, I feel a surge of relief when we swing around the side of the mountain and see the road between us and the gate is empty. There isn’t even anyone standing at the gates guarding it anymore. We pass the row of trucks that won’t be going anywhere, parked up against the rock wall, before clearing the edge of the mountain and getting a clear view of where the tents are set up. There are soldiers everywhere milling around. Some are fighting and some are on the ground rocking back and forth with grief but almost as one all heads turn our way when they hear the sound of our engine.

  I yell out at Lance, “Floor it! Don’t let them get between us and the gate to stop us!”

  We’re all thrown back against our seats as the big heavy vehicle surges ahead when he slams on the gas. The chain link gate might as well be tissue paper at how easily it parts when he hits it. He keeps the speed up as much as he can on the dirt track down the side of the mountain but thankfully it’s fairly smooth after so much traffic has gone up and down it in the past week. As soon as we turn onto pavement he gets the speedometer back up again and throws a look at me over his shoulder.

  “How long until you think they’ll come after us?” he asks.

  I shrug one shoulder, suddenly beyond exhausted. My voice is hoarse when I tell him, “They can come after us all they want but they’re not going to catch up to us on foot. None of them will be driving. All the keys are locked inside in the armory.”

  He spares another glance over his shoulder and asks, “Are you sure?”

  Sarcasm creeps into my tone. “What do you think?”

  Marsh lets out a loud Rebel yell and leans over the seat behind me to wrap an arm around me. “I think you’re a freaking superhero genius. That’s what I think!”

  I gently push his arm off of me and slump against the door. I’m not ready to celebrate yet. I’m well aware that there are two people in this vehicle that probably hate me right now. We drive into the night, stopping first to drop off Ethan and Marsh at Skylar’s dad’s truck. When it starts up and they pull in behind us we continue on our way to the highway. As we take the exit that leads to our new home, I remember there was another thing I wanted to do before we disappeared. We’re not going to be able to accomplish it tonight because there are only three people here who actually know how to drive and two of them are already driving while the third is practically comatose. I lean forward anyway to tell Lance so that I don’t forget.

  “As soon as possible, we need to get over to the fields where they started the planting and take at least one of the tractors they left there. We will need it to do our own planting if we want to get enough in the ground to get us through the winter. It’s essential.”

  I see him nod his head so I leaned back and slump once again against the door, staring out the window and up at the stars that have been hidden for so long. I don’t know what’s going to happen next or how long we will make it here, but at least we have a fighting chance now of rebuilding the right way.

  I close my eyes and picture the two people who took me into their home and showed me what love was. I picture them smiling at me in pride for what I’ve done, for avenging them. Then, I let them fade away.

  Chapter Seventeen … Skylar

  I finish digging the hole under the only tree inside the camp’s wall. Although it looks gray and dead I know there’s life in it because tiny green buds are starting to form on its branches. In a few months, they’ll grow into leaves and throw shade over this resting place. I toss the shovel to the side and kneel down picking up a jewelry box we had scavenged from one of the gift shops in the resort next to us. I gently lift the lid and look down at what I’m burying today. It’s simply a piece of plastic, a completely lifeless object but it represents so much to me.

  Not that long ago this plastic box could give me the sound of my mother and father’s voices telling me that they love me. It could answer any question I asked of it when I was confused, lost or lonely. It represents seven years of me learning how to be an adult, how to be a mother, how to survive in this new world.

  As I bow my head, I hear the sound of my little brother giggling with all the joy of freedom while he runs across the just greening grass that is growing here for the first time in so many years.

  It’s time to let go of the past and look to the future. There’s so much opportunity for us here and it’s thanks to this small square of plastic communicator that I’m ready for it.

  I gently set the open jewelry box into the hole and reach out to close the lid but a soft sob escapes from my chest at saying goodbye. I hold back the next one that wants to come out, determined to put this behind me and reach out once again to close the lid. A green light flares awake on the front of the communicator and a tinny voice comes out of it.

  “Skylar Ross, are you in distress?”

  I rock back on my heels in surprise and wonder and the hole that I felt inside my chest feels a little less empty. I scrub the tears from my cheeks as a grin tugs at my lips but I continue the motion of closing the box. I grab the small shovel and cover the jewelry box with dirt and then pat it down firmly. I feel a sense of security knowing that my AIRIA will always be there if I need her but as I turn away and join Ben in a game of tag under the sun I know that I don’t need her…for now.

  Fire & Fury

  Book Four - Endless Winter

  Chapter One … Skylar

  When we reach the closed gates of the summer camp, Rex jumps out of the truck and is joined by Marsh from my dad’s truck. There is nothing but silence inside the vehicle while we watch them in the headlights as they push the gates open. No one is celebrating the arrival at our new home because we’re all a little shell-shocked by what went down tonight. Ben and Matty are asleep, curled up with each other against the back door. Jackson, lost in his grief, is in the middle and Joslin is beside him staring ahead with an empty expression on her face. Lance, Rex and I rode in the front seat with Ethan. Marsh, Sasha, and Belle rode in my dad’s truck.

  Once the guys get the gates open, Lance drives through and swings the truck toward a large building off to the right. It’s so dark out here that I only get brief glimpses of other small buildings as the headlight beams wash over them. He parks the truck pointing at the front of the large building so that the headlights light up the entrance and shuts the engine off. Ethan pulls up beside us, adding the light from the smaller truck.

  Lance turns to me before quickly glancing into the back seat at the others and then looks back at me.

  “You guys hang tight for a few minutes while we get some lights on inside. I put out some lanterns that we brought earlier today but I don’t want to mess with the generator until we have daylight in the morning.” When no one responds to him, he sighs. “We’ll leave the unloading for tonight and just get some sleeping areas set up. It’s been a long day.”

  More silence greets him so he just opens the door and gets out joining Ethan, Rex, and Marsh. I watch until they disappear through the entrance and then close my eyes. I have so many conflicting emotions flooding through me right now and I need to try and get a handle on them before I start interacting with the others, especially Joslin. Right now I’m torn between hating her for destroying AIRIA and gratitude for getting us away from what would have been a brutal life under my Uncle Bill. I want to be happy that we have this new place that Lance and Marsh claim is amazing and a huge stockpile of supplies to help us get started but the loss of my home and AIRIA has tainted it.

  I had come to accept that Ben and I would leave the bunker to work on building a new life before the soldiers came but I always thought I would have AIRIA and the bunker to go back to if things didn’t work out in the world. Now that my security blanket has not only been taken away but shredded and burned to ash, I’m terrified.

  A knock on the window beside my head brings me back to my surroundings with a flinch and I see Rex’s inquiring face o
n the other side of the glass. He uses his thumb to point toward the building so I nod and unbuckle my seatbelt and twist around to the back seat. I let my eyes skim past Joslin and Jackson until they land on the two sleeping boys, reach back and gently shake them awake. I have to force an uplifting tone into my voice when they blink owlishly at me.

  “Come on, sleepyheads. Let’s go check out our new home!”

  I twist back around and push open my door before jumping down and opening theirs. I help them both down from the high truck cab and pass a sleepy Matty to Rex to help steady him. Once Ben is on his feet, I reach back up to close the door and make eye contact with Joslin. She and Jackson haven’t made any move to leave the truck. They look so lost and alone sitting there. No matter how I feel right now about her and what she’s done, they are both with us now and we’ll have to find a way to make it work. Jackson doesn’t even seem to be on the planet with us so I start with him.

  “Hey, Jackson! Jackson!” His eyes blink a few times and his head slowly turns my way. I hold back a wince from the complete devastation I see in his eyes and push forward.

  “Hey, there. I need you to come with me. Come out of the truck, Jackson. Come with me and I’ll take you somewhere you can lay down and sleep. Ok?”