by Max Lockwood
“Oh, hello,” Alec said, looking confused. They had lived in the house for over half a year and this was the first visitor who showed up. He wasn’t sure what to think.
Elaina came scurrying into the living room, looking alarmed. “Did you say someone is here?”
“Hi,” Bethany said awkwardly, waving at the others. “I’m Bethany.”
“This is Alec and Elaina,” Melissa mumbled, pointing at the couple. “Can we get this girl a can of beans or something? She says she hasn’t eaten in a few weeks.”
“Of course,” Elaina said, rushing back to the kitchen. “I’ll make something for all of us to eat.” She grabbed the matches and went outside to start a fire while the others awkwardly stood around the kitchen.
“Sit,” Bobby Dean said, offering Bethany a chair. She graciously accepted it and gingerly lifted her aching feet off the ground. One by one, the others sat around the kitchen table.
“So, Bethany,” Alec said, trying to start up a conversation so they didn’t have to sit in silence, “where did you come from?”
“West Coast,” she responded. “It’s been a long, strange journey. I’ve been trying to keep to myself as much as possible, but after a while, I decided it was time for a change. I’ll probably go back to life on my own eventually, but it’s hard to constantly be on the run.”
“Where are you headed to?” Alec asked.
Bethany shrugged. “I don’t know anymore. I thought the East Coast would be a safe bet, but the last I heard, they weren’t doing much better than we are around here.”
“You’re right about that,” Elaina said as she removed various cans and boxes from the shelves. “I was in New York about six months ago. I never thought it would get this bad so quickly. People thought I was crazy for heading back west when I was already on the opposite side of the country, but I know it was the right call. We haven’t really had an incident here since we arrived.”
Bethany nodded. “I had been hiding out in a little shelter on the east side of the border for the last few months. I’m startling to realize that so much of this could have been prevented if people had just spread out a little.”
“How did you manage to cross the border?” Alec asked, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “The three of us hardly squeaked past and we had more resources than the average person. How did you manage to do it alone?”
“It was easier than one might think,” she replied. “I had also heard reports that the border police were shooting anyone who even touched the quarantine line. So, it came as great surprise to realize that the police had packed up and gone. The barbed wire and checkpoints were still there, but they weren’t being guarded. I spent days planning my crossing, just to find out that I could simply walk across the line.”
“Seriously?” Bobby Dean shouted. “I thought the border was pretty messed up, but at least it was keeping infected people away. Was it just mayhem down there? There had to have been over a hundred people trying to cross when we drove past the checkpoint.”
“No one. I’m not sure what happened, but I didn’t run into anyone else where I crossed. Either the government killed people off before leaving or the virus did them in. I tried to live off the land after that, but it wasn’t easy. Eventually, I gave up and headed in this direction.”
“Wow,” Bobby Dean breathed. “Did you run into a lot of Infected on your way here?”
“Some,” she replied, eyeing the pot of spaghetti as Elaina brought it to the table. “Not as many as I saw in Colorado, but still more than you would like to see. There are greater concerns to worry about. The Infected scare me, but they can be beaten once you learn how they operate. When you’re traveling alone, it’s easy to be quiet and hide. That’s usually enough to keep yourself safe. Otherwise, it’s a shot to the head or a knife to the chest. Sorry,” Bethany apologized as she was handed a plate of food. “I guess that’s not really polite dinner conversation.”
“What’s the bigger concern?” Melissa asked, but her question was drowned out by the sound of dishes being handed around. While the others ate ravenously, Bethany slowly cut her noodles and ate in measured bites, pausing for a sip of water or to dab her mouth between each one.
“Thanks, Lainey,” Alec said once he finished his plate. “That was really good.”
“It was just boiled pasta and canned sauce,” she said, looking a little embarrassed.
“No, it was really excellent,” Bethany said, setting her knife and fork down on her unfinished food. “I haven’t had a proper meal in a long time. I appreciate your hospitality.”
Elaina smiled, happy to have some validation in her newly-acquired cooking skills.
“Aren’t you going to finish that?” Bobby Dean asked, pointing to her plate.
“I’m bursting,” Bethany responded, rubbing her stomach. “But you can have the rest if you like.”
Bobby Dean cheerfully took her plate and slid the remaining food onto his. Melissa looked on in disgust as he loudly slurped the noodles, sending red flecks of tomato sauce flying.
“Do you need anything else, Bethany?” Elaina asked.
“Oh, no,” Bethany said. “Please, I don’t want to put anyone out.”
“How about a bath? I have some boiling water on the fire. A soak in hot water is good for aching muscles. Alec, why don’t you fill the bath for Bethany?”
He got up from the table and obeyed Elaina’s request, heaving heavy buckets of water from the well to the bathroom. When he was finished, he wiped the sweat off his brow and tossed the bucket outside. “You’re all set,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said softly before hurrying off to take a bath and leave the uncomfortable silence behind.
The second Bethany was out of the room, Melissa turned toward Bobby Dean and delivered a hard stare. She clenched her teeth so she wouldn’t start a shouting match.
“What?” Bobby Dean asked defensively. “She’s a nice girl. I don’t see what the harm is in letting her chill out here for a while. Besides, it’s not like she eats that much. She’s a twig.”
“She seems nice,” Elaina said, clearing dishes from the table. Alec jumped up to help her.
“We don’t really know enough about her to make that judgment,” Alec said.
“I don’t trust her,” Melissa said. “For someone who has been traveling on her own for that long, she looks too put-together. Are we sure she’s not lying about where she’s been? Besides, who travels alone if they can help it? There’s got to be a reason she hides from other people.”
“She did say she didn’t trust a lot of survivors,” Elaina offered. “Maybe she had a bad experience.”
“We’ve all had bad experiences,” Alec replied. “That doesn’t mean that we can’t see the value of teamwork.”
“You guys are crazy,” Bobby Dean scoffed. “Why are we arguing about this? She said she didn’t want to be alone anymore and she needed some food and water. We have plenty of those things. I’m not asking you to turn your grandparents’ house into Safe Haven, but what’s the harm in letting one girl crash with us?”
“We don’t know what the harm is yet,” Alec said apprehensively. “It’s true that she might be perfectly well-behaved, but she could also be putting on an act.”
“For what gain?” Elaina asked.
Alec lowered his head. “Don’t forget, you’re still a person of interest in this epidemic. Maybe she’s working for some organization and is collecting information.”
“She did say that it was really easy to cross the border,” Melissa said, getting excited. “And we know that her story doesn’t remotely match what we experienced.”
“That was months ago,” Bobby Dean groaned. “Who knows what things are like now?”
“What was that weird thing she said to us about finding this particular farm?” Melissa asked Bobby Dean.
“I don’t remember anything weird,” he said, fed up with the argument.
“She said that a guy told her that ‘good people’ l
ive here. How the hell would she know where this house was and that there were survivors living here?”
“The craziest part is that she thought we were good people,” Bobby Dean said offhandedly.
Alec frowned. “She said that?”
“I swear to you, that’s exactly what she said.”
“That does seem a little suspicious.”
Elaina shrugged. “Maybe we should talk to her about it. I know what it’s like to have people assume dangerously incorrect information about you. We shouldn’t kick her out unless we have good reason to suspect she’s a threat.”
Alec nodded. “Yeah, but we can’t be too obvious about it.”
The bathroom door opened and Bethany slowly padded down the hall into the kitchen, only wearing a ragged bath towel. She wore the towel so loosely, that Melissa was sure she was going to let it drop off her at any moment.
Melissa turned to Bobby Dean, whose mouth was slightly gaping open. She wanted to stomp on his foot to bring him back to reality, but that would only start another fight. She couldn’t compete with the beautiful young woman who was confidently strutting around in the nude.
“Did I interrupt something?” Bethany asked, looking at the others who had clearly paused a conversation. By the way they stuttered, it was clear that they were hiding something.
“No, not at all,” Alec said. “Was the bath okay?”
“Great, thanks.” She smiled politely. “I hate to ask, but I really don’t like putting dirty clothes back on after washing up. Are there any spare clean clothes I can borrow?”
Bobby Dean nudged Melissa in the ribs. She reluctantly got up from the table and gestured toward the bedroom. “Come on,” she mumbled. “I’m sure I can find you something.”
Digging through the closet, Melissa tried to put together the most unappealing outfit she could possibly create. It was obnoxiously petty, sure, but she didn’t like the way that Bobby Dean looked at the girl. Melissa wasn’t usually a proponent for tearing other women down, but she liked having Bobby Dean to cuddle with at night. She didn’t want to lose that.
Bethany let herself into the master bathroom and began to brush her hair with Melissa’s hairbrush. She helped herself to a generous helping of moisturizer and smoothed it over her entire body, not caring that a stranger was just a few feet away. She continued to raid the cabinet, looking for any type of cream or serum to smear on her skin and hair. Melissa couldn’t help but stare at her as she freshened up.
“My skin was so dry, I thought it would all crumble off.” Bethany laughed once she was finished primping. “I feel human again.”
“Here are some clean clothes,” Melissa grumbled, pointing to the ensemble on the bed.
Bethany picked up the oversized flannel shirt and buttoned it to the middle of her chest. It was at least four sizes too big and hung nearly to her knees. She grabbed the long woolen socks and pulled those on, ignoring the purple pajama pants Melissa grabbed in an effort to make her outfit clash.
“Much better,” Bethany said, examining her reflection in the mirror. Melissa scowled at how she managed to make her grandpa’s old work clothes look fashionable.
“Do you need anything else?” Melissa asked begrudgingly.
“No, I think I’m set. Where did you find all of this stuff? This house is adorable and it’s so well-stocked.”
“It’s my house,” Melissa said. “Well, it belonged to my grandparents. They passed away before we could make it down here. Most of the stuff is from them. My grandma really knew how to keep a home and she prepared for me to come live with them and ride out the epidemic.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“The rest of the stuff came from the next town over. You can visit there if you want,” Melissa said. “It’s less than a day’s walk away.”
“Cool, I’ll keep that in mind,” Bethany said, looking around the room.
Melissa bit her lip. She needed answers from the girl and she wasn’t going to wait around until Alec gently coaxed the information out of her. Bethany seemed relaxed and comfortable. If Melissa had learned anything from Callum, it was that hungry and road-worn travelers would do just about anything in exchange for a good meal and a hot bath.
“You said that someone told you to come here, didn’t you?” she asked nervously.
“Yeah. I met a guy who gave me a pretty good description of this place.”
Melissa wrinkled her forehead. “How do you know this guy?”
“It’s a long story.” Bethany sighed. “Seriously, the details would bore you. But the two of us were in a bit of a predicament together. We escaped our captors and traveled together for a little bit. But it was never going to work out between us. I liked my space and he was a liability. We mutually decided to go our separate ways. Before we parted, he told me all about this house and said it would be a safe place for me to go if I ever wanted to be with other survivors again. You saw me when I walked up here—I was a mess. Anyway, I don’t really like to talk about the past.”
Melissa found her vague answer even more confusing. “How did this guy know about my grandparents’ house?” she pressed, trying to poke holes in her story.
“He said he knew you guys,” she answered casually.
“Who?” Melissa asked, her voice going up in pitch and volume.
“His name was Will,” Bethany answered nonchalantly. “Do you mind if I take a nap here for a little bit? I think my lack of sleep is finally catching up with me.”
Melissa froze. After a few beats, she nodded weakly, unable to form words.
“Thanks,” Bethany said, pulling a crocheted afghan from the foot of the bed. She draped it over her body and rested her head on Bobby Dean’s pillow.
Melissa took a step out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving her hand on the doorknob for fear of falling over if she didn’t have something to support her body on. She thought she had shaken Will’s toxic presence once and for all, but he kept finding ways to come back and torture her for what she did to Natalia.
She was right not to trust Bethany. Girls like that relied on their good looks and charm, just like Callum. They were the most dangerous type of people because others so easily fell for their tricks.
After taking a deep breath and letting the feeling return to her limbs, Melissa went back to the kitchen, ready to present a strong case to the others who doubted her suspicions. Bethany could not stay another minute without destroying everything Melissa had worked so hard to achieve.
Chapter Six
It didn’t take long for Melissa’s initial shock to wear off. When it did, it was replaced by rage. Bethany was clearly taking advantage of the group’s goodwill and Melissa’s assets. She was a snake that needed to be removed from the farmhouse as soon as possible.
She stomped her way into the kitchen, her face burning. She knew the others would be disappointed that she didn’t follow the plan in retrieving information, but Melissa didn’t care. Sometimes, she just had to do things her way in order for them to be done at all.
When she returned, Bobby Dean was playing a game of Solitaire while Alec and Elaina stacked clean dishes in the cupboard.
“Where’s Bethany?” Bobby Dean asked without turning his head to look at Melissa when he spoke.
“She’s taking a nap,” she replied tersely. “Bethany told me something very interesting while she was going through my grandparents’ things.”
“Yeah?” Elaina said, straining to put a serving dish on the top shelf. Alec grabbed it from her and put it away with ease, giving her a wink. No one seemed too interested in what Melissa had to say, which infuriated her even more.
She let out a small, strangled scream out of frustration. It was involuntary, but it got the attention she was looking for.
“What’s up your butt?” Bobby Dean asked.
“I’ll tell you what,” she seethed. “Do you want to know how Bethany knew about this place?”
Alec turned to face her. “You asked?
Just like that?”
Melissa huffed. “How else did you plan on finding out? She’s keeping a lot of secrets but just managed to let this one slip. Your friend, Will, told her where she could find us. He must have remembered my description of where this house was and told her. He’s probably told all sorts of people.”
“Will’s alive?” Alec asked, looking at Elaina. They looked concerned, but not for the same reason Melissa was troubled by this news.
“It seems that way. He might not be anymore, but he was when they parted ways a while back,” Melissa said, trying to take control of her temper. “If they were friends, then she probably knows all about our past.”
“That’s the guy whose girlfriend you shot, right?” Bobby Dean said, trying to follow along.
Alec and Elaina cringed. Melissa turned to face him, her expression stony. “Yep,” she said flatly, “I shot Natalia Vincent in order to save Will’s life.”
“We know,” Alec said cautiously. “We’ve never blamed you for that. That was just Will’s way of dealing with the trauma. It wasn’t right for him to treat you so poorly. We were on your side about that.”
“It goes a little further than being treated poorly,” she said icily. “If you recall, he shot me in the arm. I nearly died.”
“We know,” Elaina said. “That’s why we didn’t try to find him after we lost him.
“We don’t know if she was friends with Will,” Bobby Dean said. “Maybe they just ran into each other once and he mentioned this place.”
“Wouldn’t that be convenient,” Melissa mumbled. “I’m worried about my safety here. What if she didn’t come here because she was looking for a place to stay?”
“What else would she be doing?” Bobby Dean asked.
“If she was such good friends with Will, maybe she came here to seek revenge. I mean, if he wanted me dead, it would be easier for him to send someone else in to do the job than to show up at my door.”
The others were silent. Alec and Elaina looked at the floor, but Bobby Dean gazed straight into her eyes.