by Nathan Jones
“You know he did it on purpose so he'd have an excuse to snuggle up,” April said, further ganging up on him. Matt endured the ribbing good-naturedly as they left behind Tom Watts's house, where the Lynns were now staying, walked past his parents' house, and continued another block to the storehouse.
Half the town was already there, along with most of the remaining refugee families that had children. There weren't as many of those in the camp these days as there had been when Matt and Trev returned with April's family from their trip north. Small surprise with Razor running clandestine prostitution and other unsavory and illegal activities out among the tents. The families that remained did so out of desperation, and in spite of the attempts at a cheery atmosphere Matt could see that desperation on the faces of the refugee parents ushering their children through the chocolate line.
Seeing it Matt felt his blood boiling in spite of himself. In town Ferris was coming down hard on the slightest infraction and was on the verge of kicking down doors, but he wouldn't do anything about what was going on in the refugee camp.
Sam must have felt the tension in his arm around her, because she abruptly leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder in support. Then, clapping her hands, she went and took Aaron and Paul's hands and helped them get in line, while Matt followed close behind with his sister and her husband.
The boys had found an instant friend in the dark-haired woman, and Sam warmly returned their affection. Even though she'd been introduced as just Sam and that's what everyone called her, the boys had somehow decided to call her Aunt Sam. Aaron had even started asking embarrassing questions about whether Matt and Sam were going to get married.
Waiting in line quickly got old for a 5 year old and 2 year old, and Matt and Sam were doing their best to occupy the boys when he was sharply prodded on the shoulder. He turned to find Mandy standing there, smugly nibbling on a chocolate bar even though they were only meant for the kids.
“Hey guys!” she said brightly. “Taking the little monsters out trick or treating?”
“Mandy,” Matt said, doing his best to keep any hostility out of his voice.
Surprisingly Sam looked even more hostile, the first time he'd seen an expression of dislike from her. Her tone was hostile too when she spoke. “Didn't expect to see you here. I thought you'd be off enjoying your two weeks of reward food for ratting out someone who helped you.”
Matt supposed he shouldn't be surprised at Sam's reaction, since she'd been forced to put up with Mandy for almost two weeks while he'd been gone. Because of that at first the dark-haired woman hadn't liked Trev at all and had been very vocal in detailing everything Mandy had claimed about him. When Matt refuted all of it and explained everything his friend had done for the family Sam had changed her opinion about him, which increased her dislike for the family's former houseguest even more.
If the blond woman felt the slightest bit of shame for her actions she didn't show it. “I haven't been enjoying it, actually, since I haven't even had to use much of it. I'm with Private Gutierrez now and he's been taking care of me. One of the FETF soldiers, you know. He's exactly what I'm looking for in a man.”
Gullible? Matt thought. Gutierrez was the soldier who'd helped them during the fight with Razor, and however he might feel about the FETF presence in town it was hard not to feel sorry for the man. Dating a viper would be more appealing than a relationship with Mandy.
But he kept that thought to himself. However he might feel about her, and whatever he might like to say to her after what she'd done to his friends and family, she'd already proven she could be trouble if you got on her bad side. And if she was dating one of Ferris's men she'd just have that much more influence she could bring to bear in whatever petty retribution she might decide to enact.
His family had enough trouble to deal with already, and calling her out wouldn't do any good anyway. Better to avoid stepping on the viper. “Excuse us,” he said coolly.
Mandy took another nibble of her chocolate. “Sure, I should go see how Raul is doing anyway. That's his first name, you know.” She winked at Sam. “And I'm sure you've noticed his Latin good looks. It's okay if you're a little bit jealous.”
As she sauntered off he couldn't help but notice Sam deliberately turning to fuss over the boys. “I really don't like her,” she muttered.
“I don't blame you,” April said, giving the younger woman a quick hug. “Ugh, she's awful. I'm impressed you put up with her for so long. Mom said you were practically a saint.”
“And of course she'd land on her feet even after everything she's done. Let's just forget about her.” Sam picked up Paul and kissed his cheek. “Are you excited for chocolate?” He nodded solemnly.
Matt was only too happy to follow her advice, although he couldn't help but notice Mandy and Private Gutierrez getting all lovey dovey near the door of the storehouse and handing out chocolate bars together. Luckily the arrival of some neighbors in line and their kids making friends with Aaron and Paul distracted him, and he let himself relax and enjoy the moment.
After about fifteen minutes of waiting the boys finally got their chocolate bars, and Matt and Sam helped them open the wrappers. They immediately began devouring the treats with obvious enjoyment, and Sam leaned against him as they watched. Matt put his arm around her.
“Cold?” she asked. She had that intent, expectant look he recognized from the few girlfriends he'd dated, and to top it off was leaning a bit closer as she stared directly into his eyes. It was a signal only a moron could miss.
“Freezing,” he said, then leaned down and kissed her. It was a moment he'd been waiting for, for far too long, and now that it had arrived it confirmed everything he felt for this remarkable woman he was fortunate to have in his life.
They were interrupted by April clapping and whistling behind them, and Matt broke away grinning, noticing that Sam's cheeks were flushed as she grinned back at him.
“Okay you two lovebirds,” his sister said, ushering her sons away from the storehouse in the direction of home. “Were we going to head back to Mom and Dad's for games or did you two want to get all PDA on us?”
Sam took Matt's hand as she answered. “Well we have to be a couple before we can play couples Spades, don't we?”
Matt let two banter as they headed home, content to enjoy the moment. There were a lot of things wrong in the world, but it was important to remember that there were a lot of things right with it, too.
Chapter Five
Storm
Lewis's leg had healed slowly but steadily over the last week.
The swelling had gone down, the bruises fading to brown and yellow, and his cousin removed the tape over the wounds regularly to let them drain, until eventually they closed and scabbed over. Although he could move around after the first few days he avoided doing so, giving his body a chance to recover, and when he did need to get on his feet he made liberal use of the crude pair of crutches Trev made for him and did his best to keep his weight off his leg.
As for Trev, he alternated his time between patrolling, gathering food, and building the outhouse he and his cousin had talked about. He also kept his rifle handy at all times, not only in case he needed to defend himself but in case he encountered another deer and the opportunity presented itself to bag more meat.
He'd seen no sign of the last two bandits since the gunfight on Halloween, and the refugee group they'd saved seemed to be long gone. He did glimpse other refugees heading along Highway 31, and just as Lewis had predicted the few groups he saw were divided into those heading northwest and those heading southeast. He wondered what the refugees said when they passed each other: no good news, he was sure.
He always watched the passing groups, but so far all had stayed to the road and traveled along it at the best speed they could. If there were any more bandits preying on the poor people he saw no sign of them.
In spite of his caution he never looked too closely at the refugees, unable to witness the constant disp
lay of human suffering. The guilt of wondering if he shouldn't be doing something for them constantly warred with the knowledge that there wasn't really much he could do, not for so many people. And anything he did risked giving away their presence on the mountain and could potentially put them in danger.
As for the bandits he and Lewis had killed, on the day after the fight Trev had taken the time to go out and bury them, noting when he did that the refugees had stripped them of any useful supplies Trev had left behind. Trev didn't begrudge them what they'd found, and in a way almost regretted taking the weapons and depriving them of that added defense.
He and his cousin now had more firearms than they needed, especially considering Trev hadn't found much ammo for them, and the refugees might have found better use for those guns. He had a hard time picturing that group of mostly women, an older man and teenaged boy, and a few children turning to banditry, while if better armed they could deter any more bandits they encountered.
Hindsight. They'd had a good reason for taking those guns, in case the other bandits came back. And while the refugees had been less of a risk to them, with Lewis wounded they couldn't afford to take chances.
The burial had been an unpleasant task, reminding him of the lives he'd needed to take, but he couldn't very well leave them sitting on the mountainside to rot for multiple reasons. Not that he necessarily thought they deserved to be buried: he'd contented himself with digging a big hole as deep as he could manage in the clearing behind the log, dumping the bodies into it, filling it in, and leaving it unmarked.
Trev had done other digging that week, a much deeper hole at one end of a slightly larger hole with a ramp leading down to it where they'd put the outhouse. At the moment he was spreading a few final dabs of mud on the stick thatch he'd tied over the outhouse frame, both for insulation and to make the structure more sturdy. It was nearly the last touch to finish the structure.
The day was chilly and windy, with ominous clouds building to the northwest and around the mountainside above them, but Lewis had still made his way outside to sit on a camping chair with his leg propped up on one of the larger logs from the firewood pile watching Trev work. Both for the company and to get out of the cramped space in the lean-to for some fresh air.
After a bit of discussion they'd agreed to dig the entrance to the outhouse facing southwest, away from the prevailing winds. For the door Trev had built a simple log frame with a tarp wrapped around it., which would just sit in the opening and could be easily moved aside. To prepare for deeper snows he'd built another frame with more tarps, as sturdy as he could manage, to go over the ramp leading down to the outhouse and prevent it from getting snowed in. Using rope hinges he'd tied the top square of the frame so it could open upward like a cellar door, which would hopefully keep it accessible even during snowstorms.
The outhouse was constructed inside a copse of trees a bit north of the hideout that would further keep off the snow, as well as hiding it from unfriendly eyes, especially on the logging road above. It was also on a slope that curved the other way so any runoff would carry the refuse in the opposite direction of their home and the icehouse.
Trev finished slapping on another bit of mud near the peak of the conical roof, then threw the prepared plastic and tarp over the structure and nailed them to the log frame against the ground. With that final task complete he was happy to call the job done.
When he turned to get his cousin's approval he found that Lewis was looking past him at the looming clouds. They were quickly darkening to an ugly color. “That's looking like the first major snowstorm of the year,” his cousin said grimly.
He nodded and looked back at the outhouse. “We got this done just in time.”
“And thank goodness for that. If I had to lean back against a tree one more time because I can't squat with this leg I'd be tempted to stop eating.” Lewis levered himself to his feet, grinning. “I've already got some rocks heating up on the stove, so if you don't mind I think I'll take it for a test drive.”
“Go for it,” Trev said, but he couldn't share his cousin's levity. Those clouds really bothered him because he'd never been through a major snowstorm on the mountains. And even if the weather cleared up a bit after the storm and the next one was a while in coming it meant the easy time they'd had fishing and gathering edible plants was over. It might drive deer farther down the mountain and into his sights, but then again it might've already done that and they were all in the valleys now, well out of reach.
They still had about 50lbs of meat from the buck Lewis had brought down, as well as another 30 or so of frozen trout. Most of the edible plants they'd foraged wouldn't store well and they'd been eating them as they found them, but they did have a roughly 20lb bag of frozen currants from some bushes he'd found. They could hope to find more game even after the snows fell, but as far as Trev knew what they had would have to last them until the spring thaw.
He hoped it was enough.
By the time Lewis emerged from the outhouse, holding the heating rocks in his gloved hands, large flakes of snow had begun to fall in swift flurries. Higher up the mountain and farther north they could see signs of thicker snows already falling. His cousin looked up, blinking away a flake that landed in his eye, then sighed. “Better go bring as much firewood as you can manage to pile against the lean-to before the snow really starts falling. We'll want it handy if this storm turns out to be as bad as it looks. Sorry I'm not in any shape to help.”
“Don't worry about it,” Trev said, hurrying ahead of his cousin towards the woodpile. As he was gathering his first load he also checked to make sure the icehouse was still locked. More to keep out any animals that came sniffing around than because he expected thieves to show up during the storm.
The snowfall quickly thickened from flurries to a constant howling blast that drove snow into his face and sent it swirling all around, to the point that everything beyond thirty or so feet became blurry silhouettes or was completely obscured. He managed to get in a dozen or so loads in ten minutes, piling them beside the door where they could be quickly retrieved, before he was forced to flee to the warm sanctuary of the lean-to.
The storm came in with him, bringing snow and noticeably chilling the room in the moments it took him to close the door. Trev dusted snow off his head and shoulders beside the stove, shivering slightly, and glanced over at his cousin. “We built a protected entry for the outhouse, but maybe we should think about one for the hideout too.”
Lewis snorted. He was reclined on his cot, scribbling in his journal. “I brought the tools in while you were gathering up wood. You're welcome to get started on that right now if you want.”
“Yeah, no thanks.” Trev shucked off his winter gear and settled into one of the chairs in front of the stove. “So this storm could last anything from hours to days. What now?”
“Settle in, I guess.” His cousin tucked his pencil into his journal and closed it, then awkwardly moved over to the other chair. “I got some playing cards from Matt. Want to play Speed?”
Trev nodded, although he wasn't exactly ecstatic at the suggestion. “This might be a boring winter.”
“Hopefully.” Lewis's expression darkened. “Shame about the terabytes of entertainment I had back at the shelter. It's probably all still there, but without the solar panels those hard drives might as well be paperweights. And without us there to take care of things damp might set in and it'll probably all be ruined by spring.”
There wasn't much to say to that. Lewis started dealing, and as the wind howled outside the shelter, rustling the few exposed corners of tarp near the door, they settled down to wait out the storm.
* * * * *
The FETF soldier finally stepped back, lowering his crowbar to rest at his side as he wiped sweat from his forehead with his free hand. That made a dozen holes he'd punched in the walls around the room looking for hidden compartments, which of course he hadn't found.
“Satisfied?” Matt's dad asked, trying not to let hi
s hostility show. He stood with his wife, Matt, and Sam, huddled in the corner as they did their best to stay out of the soldier's way.
Ferris must've heard it in his tone anyway because he turned from the hole and frowned at him. “You make it sound like this is personal, Larson. This is just a standard inspection, same as we do for everyone else in town.”
Sure it was. Matt was sure everyone else in town had their couch cushions torn open, walls smashed into, and floorboards ripped up, not just the family living in one of the only households in Aspen Hill that had held out and refused to voluntarily allow an inspection even when the administrator made them mandatory. Not to mention the fact that Matt was friends with the cousins who'd had a treasure trove of supplies for Ferris to loot and the man was probably hoping for more of the same here. If so he'd be disappointed.
It was probably not a good idea to mention any of that, although he couldn't keep completely quiet. “So now we're eligible to go through the ration line?”
The bureaucrat's eyes narrowed. “You are. Once the inspection is complete. Although I should inform you that we've had to go to half rations.”
Matt tried not to show his alarm. That was a bad sign. “Even people going through the line are already starving. This is going to make it worse.”
“And whose fault is that?” Ferris snapped. “Hoarding food while others are starving is a crime against the law as well as a decent person's conscience. We're trying to keep everyone alive here.”
Yeah, and making sure everyone starves in the process, just like Dad and the cousins warned at the meeting a month and a half ago, Matt thought. “Why are you talking like there's a bunch of food out there? You're gathering every spare scrap you can find to hand out in the ration line, so if there's not enough that means there's more mouths to feed than food to feed them.” Ferris just glared at him, so he continued. “If you're satisfied we don't have any food maybe you can let us get back to trying to survive.”