Geno moved to the window, immediately trying to push it open using his brute strength.
“You’re wasting your time and energy,” RC said flatly. “The window won’t budge.”
“I’m not going to just sit here!” Geno growled. “The window can’t be that strong—it’s a window, for crying out loud!”
Wolf whispered to Lily and got a nod in return, and then walked over to Regan, squatting down in front of her and ignoring Geno’s outburst. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She shrugged. “As okay as the rest of us.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“For?” she asked, defiantly raising an eyebrow.
He looked down at the floor. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Regan scoffed. “Really? When? When we have some privacy? Oh, wait. We won’t because we’re trapped in here by your crazy ex-wife who you conveniently forgot to mention existed.”
“Not now,” he growled, rising to his feet.
“Is there anything in the bags that would break the glass?” Fred asked, picking up one of the bug-out bags and shaking the contents out onto the floor.
Lily looked at the pile of gear and put her hands on her hips. “Why’d you do that?”
“I wanted to find a tool of some sort,” Fred replied.
She rolled her eyes, yanked the bag from his hand, and dropped to the floor to begin repacking it. “When we get our chance to move, we’ll need the bags,” she muttered.
“She’s right,” Wolf agreed.
Lily’s head popped up and she grinned vibrantly, basking in her father’s approval. Regan knew Lily had been fighting to gain her father’s praise since they’d all arrived on the island, but it had been hard to come by because of the attitudes she’d constantly fallen into. Now, she had finally gotten it. At least there was one positive to the whole mess.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Geno snapped. “You said we can’t break the window, and the door is locked,” he said, crossing the room and cursing as he yanked on the door handle once more, trying to pull it open.
“Is it just me, or is it really hot in here?” Tabitha asked, fanning her face with her hand.
RC nodded his head. “It is going to get very hot and stuffy in here. We have the vent that will give us plenty of air, but it isn’t going to be comfortable. We need to stay calm, keep our heart rates down, and think.”
“Sit down on the floor,” Wolf ordered Geno and Fred, moving to sit against the wall himself. “It’s cooler down here.”
“Not much,” Geno muttered as he lowered himself down beside his wife.
“At least we have food and water.” Tabitha commented half-heartedly.
“Yes, and she’ll be back soon,” Wolf said. “She wants the house and the supplies. We’re locked in the room with all the food. They’re going to have to open that door at some point. When they do, we make our move. There are more of us than them.”
“They have guns. We had guns,” Fred pointed out.
“They can’t shoot all of us at the same time,” Wolf replied calmly.
Regan’s mouth fell open. “That’s your solution? Seriously? One or two or even three of us are supposed to sacrifice ourselves? Is this where we quite literally take one for the team?” she asked with disgust.
“I think it’s a good plan,” Geno chimed in.
“The plan sucks,” Regan shot back.
Wolf shrugged, clearly unbothered by her outburst. “We don’t have a lot of options. The wire shelving provides no barrier. The cans of food aren’t going to stop a bullet. Hopefully, we’ll have enough time to act before any shots are fired.”
“Then what?” Regan shrieked, her voice rising as the hysteria threatened to take over.
Tabitha patted her knee. “We’ll think of something. Let me get you a bottle of water.”
“I don’t want a bottle of water! I want out of here.”
“Everyone needs to stay calm. There’s nothing we can do but wait,” Wolf said, moving to sit next to Regan.
Regan flinched when he tried to wrap his arm around her. She wasn’t interested, and certainly didn’t want to be on display.
“They’re coming back,” RC announced.
Everyone scrambled to get up. Instinctively, they stood together in the middle of the room, forming a semi-circle as they watched the small group on the other side of the window. They were up to something.
“Are they arguing?” Tabitha asked.
“Looks like it,” Fred agreed.
They watched the hand gestures and the looks of frustration on the faces of the men. Clearly, Virginia’s small army wasn’t on board with whatever it was she had planned. One of the men shoved another.
“Maybe they’ll shoot each other,” Regan said with a small smile.
Virginia was gesturing toward the house.
“Shh,” Fred hissed into the quiet room, earning him glares from everyone. “I can hear a little of what she’s saying.”
The tall man walked toward the window, standing in the corner of the room so that he wasn’t completely obvious to the others outside as he got closer to the window.
No one talked or breathed, each of them with their heads slightly turned as if it would help them hear better.
“They want to kill us?” Tabitha whispered. “Is that what I heard?”
Fred nodded, holding up his hand to shush her. Regan’s stomach clenched into knots. Wolf put an arm around Lily, holding her close to his body as they listened to the argument happening over what to do with them. The voices were getting louder, making it much easier for them to hear what was being said.
“We don’t need to kill them!” Virginia shouted. “I said we take the island. They can leave. I want him to suffer!”
One of the men stepped forward. He was taller than the rest, and Regan decided this was the true leader of whatever was really happening out there.
“I say we kill them, toss their bodies in the ocean, and be done with it,” the man said loudly.
Tabitha gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Wolf instinctively pulled Lily in closer. She didn’t resist.
The tension in the room escalated even higher as they all grappled with what they were hearing. Right now, Virginia was the only one keeping them alive. She wasn’t an ideal choice for a protector, either. The woman was crazy at best and out for serious revenge. And the men she had in her company weren’t keen on following her orders.
Fred took a deep breath and stepped away from the window. “I hope they decide the window is too valuable to shoot through.”
“What?” Regan asked, aghast at how lightly he was taking the news.
“They won’t shoot the window. They’ll have to open that door. Like Wolf said, they can’t kill us all. We’ll rush them. We can figure out a way to defend ourselves. There are knives in those bags. We can throw knives at the first person who opens the door,” Fred explained.
Regan could hear what sounded like the ocean in her ears as she listened to Geno and RC add their suggestions for an attack. It was all too much to take in. They were supposed to be safe here. No one was supposed to be trying to hurt them. This was their refuge.
And yet, its sanctity and safety had been destroyed. Even if they did come out of this alive, Regan’s trust and resolve had been shaken. She would never feel safe on the island again.
“Is everyone on board?” Wolf asked.
Regan blinked. “What?”
“Everyone has a knife. Geno and I will stand next to the door. I’m going to go low, taking them out at the knees if possible. Geno is going to stab the first person through the door. Dad, you’ll be next up. Fred, I’m counting on you to throw those cans of food if Geno and I are disabled.”
Tabitha was shaking her head. “What if they open fire?”
“We fight with everything we have. Arm yourselves with canned food. I’m going to try and wrestle away one of the guns. That will help even the odds,” Wolf explained.
“What if one of them stands outside the window and shoots?” Lily asked.
Shaken by the turn of the conversation, Regan looked at the little girl and immediately felt terrible for her. No child should have to be exposed to such violence as this.
“We’ll be okay,” Regan said with a firmness in her voice that surprised her. “Your dad isn’t going to let them hurt you.”
Lily met her eyes, and Regan expected her to say something rude. Instead, tears showed in her eyes as she nodded her head.
“There’s nothing more we can do but sit and wait,” RC announced gently, patting Lily’s shoulder. “They’ve left and gone toward the shore.”
“Maybe they’ve left us here to die,” Lily whispered.
“No. She wants the house too badly,” Wolf assured her.
“Your father’s right. They’ll be back. They’re probably coming up with a plan,” Fred agreed.
Regan sighed and resumed her seat on the floor. Tabitha joined her. Everyone else found their own spot to sit and wait for what would be the fight of their lives.
22
The time had dragged as they’d sat around awaiting their fate. The room itself had become incredibly uncomfortable to the point that drawing in air was a burden, and the air felt thick and ripe with body odor. With almost no air coming through the vent, it seemed as if a heavy blanket had been draped over all of them. Regan’s stomach had begun revolting against the cloying feeling of having too little air to breathe, and the fact that the available air was nasty only made things worse.
Outside, the rain had passed, but the sky had taken on a murky, dangerous look, suggesting there was more to come. And, meanwhile, the humidity inside had gotten to the point where it felt like they might as well be out in the Florida sun.
Tabitha had taken on the role of hostess, doling out servings of granola and dried fruit and bottles of water. And meanwhile, Regan had realized that the bathroom issue was bound to come up eventually if they were forced to stay in this room much longer. Regan could only hope Virginia would make her move soon. The humiliation of going to pee in the corner of a very open room was not something she thought she could get past. Wolf had casually told everyone they could empty one of the freeze-dried food cans and use that as a vessel for body fluids, and Fred had suggested the empty water bottles, as well, but that was an option more suited to the men. Regardless, nobody had bothered to further or encourage discussion—all of them, clearly, wanted to avoid things coming to that point.
And, of course, none of the options appealed to Regan any more than they did to the others. The smell in the room was bad enough without adding bodily fluids to the mix.
“I think we might be seeing them real soon,” RC said from where he’d been standing next to the shelves, looking out the window.
“Why?” Geno asked.
He nodded his head toward the window. “There’s another storm coming. Even a storm like we had last night will drive them indoors, and the look of the sky suggests we’re in for another bad one. They’ll want shelter.”
A thought occurred to Regan. “Where did they stay last night? Were they in the house?” her voice rasped as she thought about the men roaming around, watching her sleep on the couch. Everyone else had been tucked away in a room, except for her.
No one answered her question. No one could.
“I guess it’s a good thing we’re in here,” Fred mused.
“A good thing?” Lily questioned him. “Are you crazy? This is not good!”
“There’s a storm coming in and we’re in the room where the window is actually closed and locked down. We don’t have to worry about debris coming in,” the tall man pointed out.
“He has a point,” Wolf agreed.
A flash followed by a loud boom had Regan nearly jumping out of her skin. “That was close!”
RC nodded. “It won’t be long now. Everyone get ready to grab your weapons when I say go. You all know the plan.”
Regan got to her feet and Tabitha followed suit. They all formed a semi-circle around the window, watching a brand new storm begin raging beyond their small safe haven. Lightning strikes splashed across the sky, and Regan could feel the electricity in the air even through the window. It was a violent storm, and she felt suddenly grateful to be locked in the room. She hoped Virginia was terrified.
A loud crack followed by a popping sound burst through the air, and the room shook with the force of the combination of lighting and thunder.
“Crap,” Wolf muttered. “That was close.”
“Did the house get hit?” Geno asked, his eyes wide.
“More than likely it was a tree,” Fred interjected.
Regan groaned inwardly, knowing there was about to be a long lecture about lightning strikes and what they did or didn’t hit. He didn’t get the chance.
“Fire!” RC shouted, pointing to the sky where smoke could be seen spiraling upwards against the dark clouds.
Regan could see bright orange sparks shooting up like bursts of fireworks.
“Where?” Wolf asked darkly.
Tabitha grabbed Geno’s arm with one hand and Regan’s hand with her other. “Is the house on fire?” she whispered.
No one answered. Their eyes were focused on the smoke trail that was growing thicker, now tinted orange.
“It has to be close to the house,” Wolf acknowledged.
“What’s on that side?” Regan asked, unable to focus enough to think clearly with that smoke billowing upward.
“The greenhouse,” Fred answered, “or if it’s the house, some of the bedrooms.”
It couldn’t be the house, she told herself. Their luck couldn’t be that bad.
“There they are!” Lily pointed in the opposite direction of the fire.
Everyone focused on the men and woman outside as Virginia and the men ran past the window, heading in the direction of the smoke. They watched as Virginia’s hands went to her head as she spun around, shouting orders at the men.
“It’s the house. The house is on fire,” Wolf said, his voice deadly calm.
“We have to get out of here!” Tabitha shrieked. “She can’t let us burn to death! Is she that much of a monster?”
Wolf didn’t answer. His gaze was focused on the men running around—one had picked up a shovel and was racing back toward the fire.
Regan shook her head. There was no way they would put out the fire with no water. They were all running around like chickens with their heads cut off and getting nowhere. Apparently thinking the same thing, Virginia stopped what she was doing and raced to the window.
“Where’s the fire extinguishers?” she shouted through the window as she opened it slightly once again, allowing in a welcome rush of fresh air.
Wolf glared back at her, refusing to answer.
“The house is on fire, you moron! Tell me where they are!” she screamed, her voice twisted with fear and disgust.
Wolf shrugged, a maddening calm radiating from him. Regan wasn’t entirely sure that was the best choice, but she knew she had to trust him for the moment. Still…if a fire extinguisher could put out the fire, that seemed like a much better plan than sitting inside a burning house and hoping for the best. In her opinion, at least.
“You’ll die in there!” Virginia shouted, voicing Regan’s own thoughts.
“You could let us out and, with our help, you could put out the fire,” he said, not shouting, but speaking loud enough for her to hear.
Another lightning flash rent the air, illuminating the area that had grown dark with the storm clouds. Regan couldn’t believe Wolf was bargaining with this woman. They needed Virginia to put out the fire or they would all die.
“I’ll let this whole place burn, Wolf!” she shouted through the closed window.
“Doesn’t matter to me. Your guys plan to kill us anyway. I’d rather die and leave you with nothing.”
“What are you doing?” Geno hissed. “I don’t want to die in here!”
Wolf turned a
round, his back to the window and Virginia. “She has to let us out,” he said, loudly enough for the woman outside to hear. “She’ll never be able to put that fire out without our help and the fire extinguishers. She doesn’t know how to deal with the pump set-up I’ve got. I can pull seawater straight from the ocean and pump it through the hose instead of using our freshwater supply.”
Her eyes widening, Virginia rushed away from the window.
“Will the battery pump the water that far from the sea?” Fred asked once she had run off after the men.
Wolf grinned. “Nope, but she doesn’t know that.”
Fred was nodding his head. “Very clever.”
“What if the house had been set on fire? Like it may be now?” Geno asked.
Wolf shrugged, his eyes on the door as if he was expecting it to open at any moment. “I would use the fresh water to put it out, but she doesn’t need to know that. If a fire happened on the island, to the extent that the fresh water stores wouldn’t put it out, we’d leave. There is nothing more valuable on this island than our lives.”
Regan smiled, suddenly feeling a burst of confidence again. He had thought of everything. She was still a little pissed he hadn’t told her about Virginia, but that was a problem for another day. Right this moment, her goal was to get out of the oversized oven they were locked in.
“Wolf!” Virginia screamed from outside the window, back at the glass. “Wolf! Answer me! I heard you mention a pump! Tell me what to do!”
Wolf ignored her and focused on the group. Regan knew he was purposely baiting her.
“How does ignoring her help us?” Geno asked.
“She’s going to let us out of here. We run,” Wolf answered.
“They have guns,” Fred reminded them, as if they had forgotten.
“We break off, a couple at a time. Head for the boats. We aren’t going to win this fight, but we can escape with our lives. Don’t make it obvious. Pretend you’re getting water buckets. Lily, stick with one of them,” Wolf ordered.
“What’ll we do if we make it out of here?” Fred asked.
“We’ll worry about that when we have to. For now, we get out. Are we agreed on what we have to do?” he asked.
Survivalist Reality Show: The Complete Series Page 48