When Skylar doesn’t answer right away I look up from my tablet and find her staring at me so I raise my eyebrows in a “what?” expression. She frowns at me and turns to Lance.
“I like the idea of staying here after all the work we put into the place but I don’t like not having more options due to the gas issue so can’t we try and find more gas?”
I answer her question before Lance has a chance to. “No, that’s not possible anymore. I mean, there’s gas out there that we could find but it would be too degraded to be useful at this point. Like I said at the last meeting, we could add a ton of stabilizers and additives to it so that it might work for a while but in the end, it would destroy any engines we use it in and that’s not a chance I think we want to take with most vehicles out of commission now.”
She stares hard at me with a frown on her face that confuses me. It’s almost like she expects something else from me and I don’t understand what so I just shake my head at her and turn back to Lance.
“By my calculations, we have enough gas to drive to the city and scout out the westernmost edge of it, drive back here load everything up and then go back to our chosen location. That will take all of the fuel in our tanks - leaving us with the five-gallon spare cans as our only remaining supply. As far as scouting the city on foot, that is not an option or at least not much of an option. The city of Calgary encompasses over three hundred square miles and at the time of the bombing the population was one point three million. It had quite a sprawl so trying to cover that much ground on foot would just not be possible. I do have some overview photos that I downloaded from the satellites as well as some maps of the city that we could go over to give us an idea of what’s where so that we wouldn’t have to waste time or fuel driving around.”
Lance nods his head in thoughtful consideration before asking, “So you think we should go then?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t say that. I’m just giving you the data so that we can all make an informed decision. Something else to consider, if we decide to stay here, I would suggest we make the short run to the closest ski hill and look for chains for our tires. I do know that there can be a large amount of snowfall traditionally in this area so driving on the roads will become almost impossible once full winter hits. If we can get chains for the tires and even possibly a plow attachment for the cargo truck, we would have more options should something occur during the height of winter that forces us to leave.”
I set my tablet down on the table in front of me and look around at everyone at the table before continuing. “I’ve always been open to finding a different location for our permanent home. The only reason I picked this camp in the first place was because of its proximity to the bunker and the ease of transferring supplies without anyone realizing what we were doing. I think relocating to the city has a lot of potential for us but whatever we find there will need a considerable amount of work to set up so that we have the ability to grow crops over the winter as well as for defense. Because of the lack of fuel, we will only have one shot at finding the right location for us and then we will have a lot of work ahead of us. I’m expecting winter to come early so that means we have at best one month to accomplish everything we need to before the cold weather sets in. I would recommend that we save the fuel for now and in the spring once the snow melts make the move.”
Lance looks around at everyone sitting at the table and receives nods of agreement. “All right then, it’s settled. We’ll stay here for the winter and then come spring, we look to relocate to the city. That’s some good advice, Joslin, about the tire chains and plow attachment. We shouldn’t have any problem finding those things at the ski hill down the road. You said there was no one occupying it when you sent the drone overhead, right?”
When I shake my head, he goes on. “So, the two most important things we will have to achieve between now and the beginning of winter is to make a run to the ski hill and start chopping more wood. Now that we’re not going in to get pellets for the stoves we brought back and installed, we’re going to have to step up our wood chopping considerably to get us through the winter without freezing to death. We will have to move everyone into this building as well as the animals. There’s just no way we’ll be able to cut enough wood to heat multiple structures. It’s going to be crowded and by the end of winter it’s going to be smelly, but we’ll survive,” he says with a smile.
Rex pushes back from the table, gets to his feet and points at Lance. “There, it’s settled, now you need to go grab a shower and catch some shut-eye. You look exhausted. Take a break, Lance. Marsh and I will head out and start downing some trees this afternoon. We can work on sectioning them tomorrow.”
I’m slightly surprised when Jackson pushes to his feet as well. “I’ll join you guys.”
I see the subtle signs of surprise on both Marsh and Rex’s faces and feel relief that Jackson is finally starting to try and include himself in more activities with the others. Hopefully he will put even more effort into it. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long and tense winter with us all stuck in this building.
Lance laughs but it’s clear just how tired he is when he nods in agreement, gets up and slowly leaves the room without giving his usual list of cautions to the boys, even though they’re going to be leaving the fenced area. I look to Ethan in concern but when he meets my gaze he just nods reassuringly.
“He’s okay. He’s just tired. Things have been going so well here and he started to let his guard down a little bit so the fire put him in a bad frame of mind. He just needs to get some sleep. He’ll be back to himself soon enough.” He pushes away from the table and stands. “I think I’ll go take another look at the herbal remedies you downloaded for me. With all of us in this building with the animals this winter I want to make sure we have a good supply for any coughs and colds that might pop up.” He turns to the boys. “You all make sure to stay safe out there!”
Belle and Sasha leave the table and head back into the kitchen and it’s easy to tell that they’re both relieved that we won’t be leaving here anytime soon. Rex, Marsh and Jackson head out leaving just me and Skylar at the table. I pin her with a look.
“Is there something you want to say to me? You’ve been giving me weird looks for the past little while and I have no idea what it’s about.”
She doesn’t answer me right away. Instead, she looks down at the table and runs her thumbnail along a groove made by some long-ago summer camper. When she finally looks up at me her face is filled with indecision.
“Look, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others because I don’t really know what your game plan is here but why can’t we just go back to the bunker to get more gas? I’m sure there’s no one left up there by now so we could just go and get what we need and come back.”
I shake my head in confusion. “What are you talking about? The bunker is shut down. There’s no way for us to get in there and get to any of the supplies.”
She cocks her head to the side and gives me a look of annoyance. “We both know that’s not true. You made the soldiers and everyone else think that she was self-destructing but AIRIA is up and running just fine. Don’t misunderstand me, I like living out here under the sun and I don’t want to go back to living inside that mountain but there’s no reason why we can’t go and get the things we need from there and bring them back.”
I just stare at her in surprise. I don’t know if she’s deluding herself because she can’t accept AIRIA’s demise or if she really thinks that I was bluffing, but this isn’t healthy. She has to accept that AIRIA is gone.
I put as much compassion into my tone as I can when I say, “Listen, Skylar. I know AIRIA was like a parent to you, a lifeline even, but this is unhealthy. You need to let her go. She’s not coming back. She can’t help us anymore.”
Her expression shifts to surprised amusement. “You think I’m delusional? Really? You really think that I just can’t accept that she self-destructed?”
At my slow nod
, Skylar burst out laughing. I just sit and wait for her to come to her senses and when she does she shocks the heck out of me at what she says next.
“AIRIA is up and running…period. A month and a half ago I had a little mini funeral for her where I buried my communicator to say goodbye. Imagine my surprise when the fracking thing starts talking to me and asking if I was in distress! I don’t know what you did to make it look like you shut her down but it didn’t work!”
My mouth is hanging open in shock at this and my mind is going a million miles a minute to try and figure out how that could be possible. If what Skylar is saying is true, that means AIRIA found a way around my virus and did a reset somehow back to before we took Skylar’s clearance away from her. When I uploaded the virus, AIRIA wouldn’t even communicate with Skylar because of her red clearance level so if her communicator was working and AIRIA was addressing her that means she’s somehow reset herself to before the General took control of her systems.
I finally refocus on Skylar and shake my head slowly in awe. “Do you know what this means? This is a game-changer for us. With access to everything in that bunker and AIRIA herself, we could go back and implement the plans that you and the others had come up with before the General showed up. We could get more people and really start to rebuild this time without that lunatic threatening us. Oh, my God, this is amazing!”
Skylar throws her hands up in the air. “Whoa, whoa, who said anything about getting more people? I’m just talking about going and getting some supplies, some more gas. I did that whole ‘taking in the refugees’ thing and it didn’t turn out that great for us. I like it here and I like the dynamic between, well, most of us. Scaling up the rebuilding effort like you’re talking about, that’s something I’d really have to think about.”
I nod my head in understanding but I’m distracted by all the plans and options we could have now. “Sure, sure, we could talk about it, think about it. But seriously Skylar, think about everything we could do with AIRIA and the bunker under our control again. We need to tell the others.”
She shakes her head quickly. “I don’t know. I can already see how that’ll go. Half of them are going to want to go straight back to that place and give up this camp. It was my home for seven years and it protected me and Benny but now that I’ve been out here for a couple of months, I can see how living in the bunker was just existing. Living out here in the world, building something, growing things under the sun and sky, this… this is really living. I don’t know if I want to give that up.”
I feel the smile growing across my face. “That’s just it, Skylar, you don’t have to give it up. It wouldn’t be like before when you were trapped inside and you couldn’t go outside because of the radiation. We’d be able to come and go as we please. We should just go back for the winter and then in the spring we could move outside again. Think about it, we would have access to all the bunker supplies and protection but also be able to be outside whenever we wanted. It would be the same thing as staying here this winter, just a heck of a lot more comfortable. We’re going to be trapped in this building for a good portion of the winter and yes we’ll be able to go outside now and again when the weather isn’t too bad but while we’re stuck inside this building it’s going to be uncomfortable no matter how much wood we chop. There’s two very, very important things in the bunker that should make this decision easy for you.”
Skylar arches an eyebrow. “Really? And what is that?”
My smile gets even bigger when I say, “Central heating and hot water on demand!”
She laughs while shaking her head. “Okay, I’ll admit that that’s a pretty convincing argument you have there but I’d like to just think about it for a while before telling the others. Can you give me that?”
I nod my head eagerly. “Of course! Take your time and really think it over but I know you’re going to come to the same conclusion as me. Going back is the best option for us. We will be able to do so much more than we can now with what we have and where we’re at.”
I push my chair away from the table and stand. “I think I’ll join Belle and Sasha in the kitchen for a while.” She arches her brows at me in amusement. “Don’t laugh, they’ve been giving me cooking lessons. I hope one day I’ll be able to master not burning water!”
Skylar grins even wider. “Yeah, you keep working on that. I got to go get the boys on some school work before they become screen zombies.”
I watch her as she walks across the room and out the door, marveling at the fact that she sat on the secret of AIRIA being functional for well over a month. I look around the dining room where we’ve eaten our meals for the past couple of months and smile. I’m actually kind of glad she never told me before this because I might have tried to convince them all to go back sooner and then I would have missed out on what it was like to live here with my family, in our home.
Chapter Seventeen … Rex
Before heading to the gate that Ethan is holding open for us Marsh, Jackson and I grab a few axes and saws to pile into a landscaping cart that we had brought over from the resort. We head left and follow the wide path into the forest toward the cleared area where we’ve been taking our wood from. Lance has been taking Marsh and me on wood chopping expeditions for years so we give Jackson a rundown on safety as we walk.
“You always want to make sure you know where the tree you’re working on is going to fall and make sure you’re on the right side of it. We’ve been working in this area since we got here so there’s space to drop them safely without them getting hung up. We’ll bring down five or six today and trim off all the branches for now. Tomorrow, everyone will come out and we will section them off to bring them back into the camp with the ATV so we can split and stack them. We’re going to have to do this over and over again for the next few weeks to make sure we have enough split wood stored to get us through the majority of winter so I hope you’re good with sore shoulders and blistered hands.” I tell him with a smile.
Marsh groans. “Oh man, remember the first time we did this back after the bombs dropped? I thought my arms were going to fall off after the first day he had us chopping.” He laughs. “My palms were shredded from the ax handle and I thought Ethan was going to blow his top at dad.”
I laugh along with him and turn back to Jackson. “Well at least you’re not a scrawny eleven-year-old with next to no muscle so maybe it won’t be so hard on you.” When he just nods tentatively I try and keep the conversation going. “Thanks for coming out here with us. It’ll be nice having another set of arms around to make the work go faster.” When he just nods again without speaking I bite back a sign of frustration that wants to come out and try a different approach to get him to open up. “So you never really gave your opinion on relocating at the meeting. How do you feel about the subject?”
He shoots a quick glance Marsh’s way and meets my eyes briefly before focusing ahead again. “I don’t really care, honestly. I mean, it would be pretty interesting to see what’s happening in the city and as far as supplies go, I’m sure we’d be able to find more there than out here. Other than that, it just doesn’t really matter to me either way.”
I glance over at Marsh who just shrugs his shoulders and rolls his eyes. Trying to get Jackson to have any type of conversation with us is like pulling teeth so I throw up a hand to get them to stop. After what happened this morning with Skylar and him and the things I said, I need to nip this in the bud right away. The guy’s had long enough to figure out his place in the group and whether or not he wants to be a part of it.
“Jackson, I’m trying to make an effort here but it’s not going to work unless you give a little bit back. It was a good first step you volunteering to come with us but you’ve got to communicate with us, buddy. The only way we’re all going to get to know each other better and start forging the bonds of trust is if we talk to each other,” I say to him in the most compassionate tone I can rustle up.
He turns to me with a scowl on his face. “What d
o you want from me? I told you I don’t care if we stay or go. What else do you want me to say?” He throws his head back to stare up at the sky for a minute before the tension in his body flows away and he drops his head. His tone of voice borders on weary. “I don’t know how to do this, okay. I was surrounded by soldiers who didn’t want to hear my voice or my opinions for years. Every time I’d offered an opinion or try to have a conversation, I was shot down or looked down on because I was a kid. The only person I’ve been able to have real conversations with since I was eleven years old is Joslin. So I’m sorry if I’m having a hard time getting into your buddy banter but it’s honestly because I don’t know how. If that doesn’t fit into your perfect group dynamic then maybe I should just leave.”
His words make me see him in a different light that I hadn’t even thought to consider, making me fumble my response.
“That's…I…crap! Listen, man, I’m sorry. I had no idea you were so isolated from your father and his men. But that right there is just the kind of thing you need to share with us so that we can start to get to know you.”
Marsh starts walking backward down the trail away from us with a goofy grin on his face.
“Yeah man, see, now we know you need to learn good-natured buddy smack talk. I’m totally open to giving you lessons! Let’s start right now. If you two Shirleys are done talking about your feelings, there’s some timbering to…”
His sentence ends in a scream of agony and he drops to the forest floor. I’ve never heard anything like the sounds of agony that are coming from my best friend and I’m standing frozen in complete shock trying to figure out what the heck is going on. The sight of Jackson, rushing toward Marsh, who’s rolling around on the ground screaming - knocks me out of my confusion and I lunge toward him as well. When I see what’s causing him so much pain I almost have to turn and puke right there.
Endless Winter Box Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 64