“Yeah, it looks that way,” I say. “We’ve looked everywhere for them and we can’t find them.”
Rex sits up and looks toward the main building. “Any chance Belle decided that chicken was on the menu tonight? Maybe your missing chickens are in a pot right now!”
I turn and look that way but his words get Skylar’s attention causing her dreamy expression to change to one of concern as she pushes herself up into a sitting position too. She shakes her head firmly.
“No, she wouldn’t do that. She knows that I’m trying to build up our flock. They have to be around here somewhere.”
Marsh shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know, we can’t find them anywhere. I checked for any possible hiding places in the cabin and Joslin and I walked the whole perimeter looking for them. Where else could they possibly be?”
Skylar pushes to her feet and reaches down to pull Rex up with her. “We’ll go check with Belle to make sure she didn’t take them if you guys want to go back to the cabin for another look. Make sure you check the rafters in the roof. You never know, they somehow might have made it up there to perch. How many are missing anyways?”
I blow out a frustrated breath. “Three of the adult hens and three of the baby chicks. I can see maybe the hens making it up to the rafters somehow but there’s no way the babies would have. We’ll head over there and then meet you guys in the yard once we’ve checked again and we’ll go from there.”
We split up, with Marsh and I heading back to the hen cabin for another look but I don’t think we’re going to find them in the rafters. Even if we do find the hens there, where the heck would the babies have gone?
A quick look inside is all it takes to show me that the hens aren’t there so we head over to the main building to see if Skylar’s had any better luck. She and Rex come out with the boys hot on their tail. When we meet up, she shakes her head.
“No chickens for supper tonight. Nobody’s seen any of them loose so we’re going to have to do a better search for them.” She purses her lips in an annoyed way and looks around the yard one more time before saying, “We’re going to have to walk the perimeter again but this time we’ll look for any holes that they might have gone through.” She shakes her head. “You watch, it’s going to be something stupid like they’re under one of the other cabins or something. As much as I enjoy my eggs, chickens can be a royal pain in the butt!” She looks down at Ben and Matty.
“Okay, you two need to be super detectives and help us find our missing birds. I want you to look in every cabin and listen carefully for any squawking or chirping in case they’ve managed to get underneath one of the cabins. The rest of us will start behind this building and go in separate directions to check for holes in the perimeter fence. We’ll all meet back here and hopefully, one of us will find the little buggers!”
Ben and Matty whoop in excitement at the task and take off for the nearest cabin while the rest of us circle around to the back of the atrium building and go our separate ways. Marsh and I go left while Skylar and Rex go right. It doesn’t take long for my back to start aching as we walk hunched over along the fence looking for a hole.
After a few minutes of this Marsh asks, “So, what kind of movie do you want to watch tonight? I’m good with watching a chick flick if you want.”
I stop for a minute to stretch my back out and spear him with a look. “I’m not really a chick flick kind of girl. I’d rather watch something sci-fi or action if you don’t mind.”
A grin spreads across his face. “That’s awesome! And just so you know, I’m not really a chick flick kind of guy either. I just wanted you to know that I could be okay with one if you wanted.”
I laugh at him and ask teasingly, “Marsh, are you trying to tell me that you can be sensitive?”
He looks uncertain for a minute but then nods his head exaggeratingly. “Yep, that’s me, Mr. Sensitive. I promise if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I’m your guy!”
I tap my chin in consideration and then nod. “Well, I guess that’s good to know. If I ever feel the need to have a good cry, I’ll make sure to find one of your shoulders.” I say mockingly.
His cheeks redden in embarrassment causing him to look away before bending over and scanning the base of the fence again. “I just want you to know that, you know, there’s more to me than meets the eye. We haven’t really had much chance to get to know each other that well so I just…”
When he trails off without finishing the sentence, I reach out and put a hand on his arm. “Relax Marsh, I’m just giving you a hard time. I like you. I mean, I like what I know of you so far.”
Now it’s my turn to blush in embarrassment so I pick up my pace a little bit until I’m ahead of him and start scanning the fence again. I feel kind of ridiculous. I somehow managed to be a secret agent for seven years and take down an entire bunker full of military soldiers but I’m completely out of my depth when it comes to dealing with the first boy who’s ever showed an interest in me. I just hope it gets easier. My only consolation is that he seems just as clueless as me.
By the time we make it all the way around the perimeter fence and meet back up with Skylar and Rex, my back is screaming at me in pain from walking hunched over for so long. None of us have had any luck finding any holes in the fence and the boys are still popping up and down then running from cabin to cabin on their hunt. They’re making so much noise that if there are any missing chickens around they’ll hopefully scare them out of hiding. Skylar throws up her hands.
“Well, I don’t know what else we can do except keep our eyes out for them. They’re bound to show up eventually. We’ll just have to let everybody else know they’re missing and hope someone spots them.”
Rex nods his head in agreement. “They’re here somewhere. I just hope they didn’t get themselves trapped somewhere they can’t get out of. It would be a real shame to lose six chickens but I agree, I’m not sure what else we can do except keep an eye out for them.”
Skylar looks over at the chicken cabin in annoyance and nods. “Well, looks like our break is over Rex, so I’m going to go over and see if I can figure out which ones are missing. I might have to pull another one of our laying hens so it can brood on a nest. If these idiot chickens are going to kill themselves on a regular basis, then we’re going to need lots more baby chicks.”
Skylar and Rex head over to the chicken cabin and I turn to go into the building and find Marsh in my way. I give him a brief smile.
“Thanks for your help on the search today. I’ll take a look through the movie collection and see what I can come up with for us to watch tonight.”
He nods and gives me his goofy grin that doesn’t seem so goofy to me anymore. It’s kind of charming now.
“Yeah, of course, it was my pleasure. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help…anytime.”
I can’t help the silly smile that grows across my face at his adorable awkwardness as I step around him. He’s like a cute puppy dog - if puppy dogs had killer cheekbones!
Chapter Fourteen … Skylar
It’s late when I finally get the two monkeys settled down for the night. We had spent the evening watching a movie about a board game that transports the player’s house into outer space. Every role of the dice has the players fighting aliens or asteroids and they can’t get home until they finish the game. I have to admit, for a kid movie, it was pretty good. The laptops that Joslin had brought with her are lifesavers when it comes to entertainment for the boys. Being able to use the batteries to watch movies instead of running the generator and wasting gas is awesome. I plant a kiss on each of their sleepy foreheads before turning out the light and heading to the door with a soft smile on my face. It was a really nice night sitting with the two little monsters pushed up against me smelling like fresh cut grass and, well, boy. Coming to the camp and building a life here just gets better every day for me after so long living in the bunker.
I leave their door cracked open a few inches in case
they need me during the night as I head into my room through the connecting door we built in the wall between the offices. I glance over at my bed for a few seconds before turning away and heading out into the hallway. A glass of milk is on the menu for a bedtime snack. As I walk down the hall, I see Joslin’s door is cracked open with the light still on. I can’t help myself from glancing through the opening. My steps slow when I see her and Marsh sitting together on the small loveseat we had brought over from the hotel for her room. They’re facing each other and talking softly while holding hands. I speed back up again so they don’t see me and grin. Looks like I’m not the only one who’s happy to be building a life here in the camp.
I go into the kitchen and grab a glass before quickly opening the fridge and pulling out a pitcher of milk and shutting the door just as quickly to keep the cold air in. We only run the generator a few hours a day now to conserve our gas so the appliances have to rely mostly on the solar power we have set up. The kitchen is dimly lit by a few strategically-placed solar lawn lights that we scavenged from the resort grounds. They don’t put out a lot of light but there is enough to navigate around the counter and tables in the next room. Every morning we take them back outside and let them charge in the full sun before bringing them back in at nightfall. I head down the hallway back toward my room, this time not pausing at Joslin’s door and I’m about to turn in to my doorway when flickering light further down the hallway catches my eye. It looks like someone has a candle lit in the atrium so I head down there to see who is still up.
When I step into the atrium it’s much brighter than what a single candle could light up. It’s coming from the right side of the room and I stand there confused for a moment trying to figure out what would cause it to be so bright over there. When my brain comes up with the answer the glass of milk drops from my hand and shatters on the concrete floor sending the creamy white liquid and glass shards everywhere. For half a moment I can’t get the breath that I need to get out the scream that’s building in my chest but then it finally sucks down into my lungs and I let loose as loud as I can.
“FIRE!”
I spin on my heels and run in a sprint back down the hallway screaming “FIRE” at the top of my lungs. I reach out and grab the door frame to my room and use it to propel myself through the opening straight toward the connecting door to the boy’s room. I slam it open and it hits the wall behind it with a loud bang causing both boys to shoot up into sitting positions on their beds
“Up, up, up! We need to go outside right now! When they both immediately throw back the covers and scramble to their feet, I point at the floor by their beds. “Shoes! Just slip your feet into them, don’t worry about tying them!”
Their faces are filled with fear but they do as I say and I quickly grab them by their hands and lead them out of their room and through mine into the hallway where Marsh and Joslin are standing looking every which way in confusion.
“Joslin! Get the boys out of here. Take them to the playground and keep them there. Marsh, on me! There’s a fire outside behind the atrium and we need to grab all the fire extinguishers we pulled from the resort.”
Joslin grabs the boy’s hands and starts pulling them down the hall toward the exit and I call after her.
“Once you get the boys to the playground, start banging on cabin doors and get everybody else out here to help us!”
She releases Ben’s hand for a moment to wave over her head that she heard me so Marsh and I bolt back toward the atrium. We’ve been using one corner of the big room to stack many of the extra supplies we brought from the bunker as well as all the material and goods we’ve scavenged from the resort so far. Leaning up against the wall are about ten large red fire extinguishers. It’s a roll of the dice whether or not they’re going to work after not being serviced for the last seven years, but it’s all we have right now so I scoop two up and say a quick prayer that they’ll still be useful. With our arms full of the heavy extinguishers, Marsh and I pause and take a good look at the flames that shine through the atrium windows. I swear that they’ve already doubled in size.
Marsh lets out a harsh curse and I nod my head curtly in agreement before we turn and move as quickly as possible back down the hallway to the exit. We both know that the only thing out there on that side of the building is the storage shed where we’ve been keeping the generator and most of our extra fuel containers. If we lose all of it, and it looks like that’s what’s happening, it’s going to be a real hit on our options for where we can go in the future.
By the time we stagger under the weight of the extinguishers through the front doors and into the yard, Lance and Ethan are just coming out of their cabin and Joslin’s pounding on Rex’s door. I drop my two extinguishers on the ground and start waving at Lance and Ethan.
“Over here! The generator shed is on fire! As soon as I see that they’ve heard me and they’re heading in our direction, I turn and run back into the building to grab two more extinguishers with Marsh hot on my heels. We make two more runs and by the time we get around the atrium and see the fire up close, my arms feel like wet noodles. I’m surprised to see Lance and Ethan just standing between the atrium glass and the shed that’s now a blazing inferno. They’re not even trying to put out the fire so I drop one of the extinguishers and work frantically at trying to pull the safety wire from the handle of the one that I still have in my arms while screaming at them above the roar of the flames.
“What the frack are you doing? We have to try and put it out!”
Lance turns and looks my way before coming over and pulling the extinguisher from my hands. He has to yell to be heard over the sounds of the fire.
“Skylar! We’re not going to be able to put it out. It’s being fueled by all that gasoline and even if we had twenty extinguishers, it’s too late! We just have to keep an eye on it now and make sure it doesn’t spread to any of the other buildings.”
I shake my head in denial but the heat that’s evaporating the sweat from my face tells me he’s right. Without a fire truck or high-pressure water hose, there’s no way that blaze is going to be put out. I stand there feeling defeated and watch as our precious supplies burn until an arm reaches around and pulls me back against his chest. Rex uses his other hand to wipe the tears that I didn’t even know we’re falling from my face. He rests his chin on top of my head and whispers.
“It’ll be all right. It’s just stuff. All that matters is everyone’s safe. The boys are safe and we’ll just find a way to carry on.”
A soft sob escapes my throat at his words and I let my tense shoulders droop back as I lean against him. He’s right, this is a setback but everybody’s safe, no one got hurt and that’s all that matters. Lance, Ethan, Marsh, Rex and I stand there for a good twenty minutes watching the fire before Belle comes around the corner of the building and interrupts our mourning with a loud gasp.
She drags her eyes from the inferno with a shake of her head and meets mine. “Skylar, I put Ben and Matty back to bed in Rex and Marsh’s cabin. They’re scared so Joslin and Sasha are staying with them but you two should go talk to them and reassure them that everything’s okay.”
I nod to her, thankful that she’s taken care of the boys and pull away from Rex. I turn to Lance. “Are you okay to watch over this while we go settle the boys down?”
He waves us away. “Yeah, we’ve got this. There’s little wind so I don’t expect it to spread much further but we’ll keep an eye on it anyways until it dies right down. You guys should try and get some sleep after you talk to the boys. We’re going to have to have a long discussion tomorrow about what we’re going to do going forward after this.”
I close my eyes to try and push back the despair of losing so much gas and then nod at him, Ethan, and Marsh before taking Rex’s hand and walking away toward the cabin that the boys are in. When we open the door to the cabin, I’ve barely taken two steps inside when Benny launches himself at me and begins to sob. Matty’s right behind him and crashes i
nto Rex. It takes us over an hour to get them settled down and to convince them that they’re safe and that everything will be okay. I pull out every single song I had ever sang to Benny as a baby to get him to finally go to sleep and by the time Rex and I step back out of the cabin my voice is raw and my body vibrates with exhaustion, the adrenaline dumped into my system earlier long gone.
I look over in the direction of the fire but the flames can no longer be seen above the main building. Just a glow is left. I feel like I should go and relieve Lance and the others but I’m just so tired that I find myself sitting down on the steps of the cabin.
Rex lowers himself down beside me and slings an arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him.
“You should go try and get some sleep, Sky. There’s nothing you can really do tonight.”
I shake my head against him but I know he’s right.
“I’m going to stay here and crawl in with Benny. I don’t want to be too far away from him right now but I just want to sit here for a minute with you, if that’s okay.”
He plants a soft kiss on the side of my head and murmurs, “Of course we can.”
I turn my eyes away from the glow of the flames and lean back against him so that I can stare up at the stars. Even after a month-and-a-half of seeing them they still give me comfort knowing that the long winter is over and I imagine that my parents are somewhere up there watching over us. I don’t know how long we sit there but sometime later as I begin to nod off, Rex pulls me to my feet and takes me back inside and helps me lay down beside Benny without disturbing him. Even though I was almost asleep a few minutes ago on the steps, now that I’m laying in the soft bed with Benny’s warm weight against me, I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes all I see is flames. The idea of all the things that might have happened if I hadn’t seen the flicker down the hall or if the fire had spread to the main building keeps me awake. The darkness behind the windows starts to lighten before I finally drift off but it’s not a deep sleep. I keep floating in and out until I finally give up when the sun brushes against my face. I rub at my gritty eyes and take a deep breath causing me to wince at the bitter smell of smoke that coats my skin and clothes. Being careful not to wake up Benny, I slide out of bed. A glance at the other bunks shows me that Matty is sound asleep but Rex is no longer with him so I quietly open the door and leave the cabin.
Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 62