The Returners

  Jacob had been thinking a lot as usual, going over all the different scenarios that might confront them when they got closer to Greenstone. Travel would have to be on the back roads that led into the town. That wasn't an issue, but once they were off the woods road they would be coming into an area where people had been living. That would possibly put them at risk of having to deal with large amounts of Returners. Not that those areas were heavily populated, but there had been enough people it could create a problem. Who knew if any Returners had wandered out from town? All he wanted to do was make sure he got everyone there safely.

  Jessica had told him it was three or four miles after they got to the paved road before they would make it to her house. They'd all been surviving in the woods for so long, he wondered how much had changed in the outside world in that time period. Had it gotten worse or had the Returners thinned out? Maybe they weren't as prevalent as they had been before? He stopped as he could see the trees starting to thin out ahead of them.

  "I think that's the road into Greenstone," He said. Pointing to where it was starting to open up. "We have to figure out a couple of things before we choose to move any further today or not. So why don't we all sit down and take a break." He took off his backpack, setting it down next to his feet and leaning his gun against a tree.

  Everyone was more than glad to stop and rest. They hadn't stopped since this morning and it had been about five hours of solid walking since. Truthfully none of them had wanted to stop or slow down after what had gone on earlier. Now that the chance presented itself, they welcomed it with open arms. There wasn't much to sit on so everyone sat upon the ground. It was still a bit damp, but no one really cared, it just felt good to get off their feet.

  Briella passed around the canteen she'd filled up in one of the streams they'd passed. The water was still ice cold and refreshing. There was also a small amount of smoked meat Jessica had brought from the cabin. They hadn't eaten this morning and the small amount of food was more than welcome. Jacob let everyone including himself enjoy a few moments of reprieve. He could see even though everyone was in a pleasant mood that fatigue from the journey was starting to set in.

  After everyone had a few moments to relax, he decided it was time to figure out their next step.

  "We aren't far away from Jessica and Emily's house if that's the road we need to get on. Three or four miles from what Jessica's told me. That's going to put us awfully close to dark, but I think we can do it. We'll just have to be on extra guard, the Returners are going to be more prevalent once we get into areas people lived. You all know they're attracted to noise, we need to be quiet and try and avoid confrontation unless it's absolutely necessary."

  Jessica passed him the canteen, he stopped and took a drink from it before passing it to Briella.

  "Or we can camp out one last night. This gives us the option to start early in the morning fully rested and plenty of time to assess the situation once we get into town." He looked at everyone waiting for someone to speak up, but no one did.

  "Raise your hand if you think we should go now." No one rushed to raise their hand, the only one's who did were Joe and Emily and they did so hesitantly.

  Jessica stood up and brushed off the dirt and pine needles that clung to her clothes from sitting down on the ground.

  "I think we should stay put Jacob. This has been a long few days and I think everyone could use some extra rest. We don't know what we're going to be walking into once we get into town. My house is on the outskirts, but it's still close enough it could be crazy there. It won't be good if it is and we're tripping over ourselves from exhaustion." She looked at him, her eyes pleading to let them rest. "But we'll do whatever you decide, you've gotten us this far."

  Part of him wanted to go and part of him wanted to rest, his body was beginning to feel it. He'd probably spent more time traveling through the woods than the others since this had begun. If he felt like this than he could only imagine how rough it must be on them. One more night wasn't going to hurt anything, but there was still a sense of uncertainty creeping around inside him. There was always a sense of fear and apprehension when you had to spend a night out in the open, no matter how well protected you might be.

  "Alright, we'll stay put. We'll have to go further into the woods if we want to have a fire or anything. I don't dare do it this close to the road because it would only attract trouble. Let’s rest for another half hour then we'll get going. That way we can get camp set up before it gets too dark."

  The wave of relief that came over everyone's faces told him he'd made the right decision. Jessica hugged him and whispered, "thank you" into his ear before sitting back down.

  Jacob sat down, putting his back against the tree he had leaned his gun against. He closed his eyes for just a moment, and before realizing it drifted off to sleep. Joe, Briella, Jessica and Emily saw Jacob fall asleep. Knowing how hard he had pushed himself mentally and physically during this trip they let him rest. It was a good time to make small talk and discuss the next part of the trip.

  "When we get to my house Briella I wanna show you my room," Emily said excitedly.

  "That sounds good, you can show me your stuff." She was glad to see Emily excited about this, and it gave her something to look forward to. The kid’s personality was infectious and you couldn't help but smile and laugh when you were around her. She really was a good kid. Matter of fact she reminded her a lot of herself before she'd been at odds with her father. When that had begun it seemed to strip away her joyful innocence.

  "We boarded the upstairs of the house off when we were there before. That's where we stayed most of the time unless we needed something. We didn't go down often because those things always seemed to be wandering around,” Emily said.

  Jessica wanted to make sure Briella and Joe knew a little about the place and surrounding area. That way they would at least have some knowledge about it in case something happened to her before they got there.

  "There are four rooms upstairs. Two bedrooms and what used to be my husband’s office as well as the bathroom. There's also the attic, which isn't very big, but it's extra space. It was mostly used to store supplies after everything started."

  "Are there a lot of houses around yours?" Joe asked. He was curious what the layout of the area was. It was good information to have, you never knew when it might come in handy.

  "There are seven houses in a small cluster near ours, and a bunch more spread out up and down the road. All together probably twenty-five houses total. I think we were the last people alive on the road. The only reason we fled was because our supplies were running short and winter had hit. With just the two of us it was getting dangerous to go out for supplies. We had to go further and further to find any," Jessica said.

  For some reason she found talking about all that trivial information to be therapeutic. It had been a long time since she'd talked about the old neighborhood and her house. She had lived there for close to Ten years, it was her home. Talking about it also made her realize how much she missed it, or at least how it used to be.

  "That's good to know, gives us a rough idea of the layout of the area." Joe was beginning to like their chances even more with the new found information Jessica had provided.

  For the next forty minutes the group went over more details about the house and the area. They talked about different things pertaining to the rest of the trip, as well as random questions anyone had. For the most part the conversation steered clear of anything too serious. The conversation had all but ended when Emily suggested they wake Jacob up so they could find a good camping spot.

  Jessica went over and woke him up, he was a bit groggy, but thanked her for letting him rest. Standing up he threw his pack on and grabbed his gun. He didn't have to say anything to the rest of the group, they had already gathered their things and were ready to go.

  After walking for about an hour they came upon a wide stream running through a small hollow that had steep hills on both sides of it. The
forest was fairly thick in this spot, it made for a perfect campsite. It would allow them to have a fire for warmth and cooking, and not be noticeable. Which was always something in the back of their minds.

  It didn't take them long to get the campsite set up. Emily and Joe built a small fire pit while Briella and Jessica gathered wood for the fire. Jacob broke some fir boughs off the trees and made bedding for everyone. The boughs would keep them off the ground and fairly dry. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. The camp was completely set up and ready to go within an hour, giving everyone time to mill around and relax.

  Briella, Emily and Jessica had gone off to answer nature’s call while Joe and Jacob sat around the campsite taking time to enjoy the break from travel.

  "I'm glad we decided to do this. After pushing ourselves the last few days it's going to be nice to relax. Truthfully as much as I wanted to go tonight, I think this was the right decision," Jacob said.

  "Yeah, I agree. I think everyone needs the extra rest. Do you mind if once the girls are back Briella and I go take a look around the area? We won’t go far, I'm just curious to see what's out here." Always the explorer, Joe liked to scope out what was around his camping area. It was something he'd always done when he would go on trips with his family before everything had happened. He guessed old habits died hard.

  "I don't see it being a problem, just don’t go too far. We've only got a few hours of good daylight left." There was nothing wrong with scouting out the area, he actually thought it was a great idea. He was more worried about them wandering too far and getting lost.

  Briella, Jessica and Emily walked back into the campsite right as he stopped speaking. Joe stood up and walked over to Briella.

  "I'm going to go explore a little, you want to come with me?"

  "Sure." She was up for it. It was too early to sleep and she didn't feel like sitting around right now even though they'd been walking all day.

  "We won’t be long, be back in a few," Joe said as he and Briella began following the stream.

  Jessica looked at Jacob with a smile on her face and began to laugh. "It must be nice to be young and full of energy. All I want to do is sleep."

  Jacob laughed and nodded his head in agreement. "Yep, same here." They looked over to Emily waiting for her to say something, but she laying down and had already dozed off.

  Jessica walked over and sat down next to Jacob, giving him a quick kiss before taking his hand. Sitting there quietly they took in the beauty of their surroundings. They forgot for a moment about all the bad things that had been going on. It was little moments like these that made it worth not giving up, worth fighting to survive when it seemed like there was no hope. Soon they were lost in each others company as they made small talk and enjoyed their moment alone.

  Joe and Briella had been walking for about fifteen minutes. So far they hadn't come across anything they could use or eat, but they were enjoying each others company. They talked about the times they'd spent together at the camps and even laughed about some of it. Rounding a small bend they came upon an area where the water had pooled up off to the side of the stream. It was about fifteen feet wide and looked to be about four maybe five feet deep. The water moved through it just enough so it wasn't muddy and stagnant, it looked fairly clean. They stopped beside it and Briella knelt down, putting her hand in the water.

  "The waters pretty warm, I'm kind of surprised," She said as she stood up and looked at Joe.

  "Yeah it's probably because it's not moving too fast, plus the sun's hitting it through that opening in the trees." He bent down and put his hand in. "Looks pretty clean as well."

  He stared into the water looking for any fish that might have gotten trapped, but he didn't see any. Standing up he turned to speak to Briella who had stepped behind him, his jaw dropping as she stood before him completely nude.

  She leaned forward and kissed him. "I need to get cleaned up, I'm dirty after all this traveling...you wanna join me?"

  He couldn't find the words, standing there in a stupor he just nodded his head while she waded into the pool. Joe couldn't do anything but stand there staring at her.

  "You going to just look at me all day or are you coming in?"

  Her words snapped him out of it, quickly he undressed and waded out to her. Wrapping her arms around him Briella pressed her lips against his. They kissed passionately as Joe's hands began to explore her body. Pulling her closer their bodies now pressed together. Passion overtook them and their bodies joined as one.

  It had been almost an hour and a half since Briella and Joe had left. Jessica was beginning to worry, her motherly instincts always on alert. She was about to say something to Jacob when the two of them came back into the campsite. Briella's hair was wet and both of them were grinning from ear to ear and had a glow about them.

  "I've seen that glow before," Jessica said with a smile.

  Briella's face began to turn red. Wanting to change the subject she told them about the pool. "We found a nice clean deep pool of water and it's actually pretty warm. We decided to take advantage of it and clean up."

  Jacob stood up and grabbed Jessica by the hand pulling her to her feet. "How far down there is it?'

  "Not far maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. If you walk along the edge of the stream you'll see it," Briella said as she sat down on one of the piles of fur boughs. Joe sat down beside her still holding her hand.

  Jacob looked at Jessica, then back at Briella and Joe. "You mind keeping an eye on Emily? Jessica and I want to take a look, I know I wouldn't mind cleaning up."

  Jessica looked at him and winked. "Me either."

  "No problem, I'll start cooking up what we have left for food," Briella said.

  “Thanks,” Jessica said.

  Jessica looked at Jacob and winked, and he did so back with a slight chuckle. They headed off down the stream to find the pool. A smile on their faces, enthusiasm in their step, knowing a chance to be alone awaited them.

  Chapter 17

  The night went by without incident, everyone awoke energized and in good spirits. Today was the day they would make it into town. Knowing they would need the energy, the group ate what remained of their food supply. Once finished eating they headed out to the road that would lead them into Greenstone. They walked for a few miles passing abandoned houses, places that had once been so full of life were now eerily quiet.

  It seemed almost surreal to be wandering by houses again. Everything seemed so bleak and lifeless, and pounded home the fact life as they once knew it was nothing but a memory. So far there hadn't been any sign of Returners, that didn't mean there weren't any around though. Everyone kept themselves on extra alert and paid careful attention to their surroundings.

  The fact they had been in the woods for months made it even stranger to be back amongst where people once lived. In the woods there were animals and birds that brought the forest to life. It seemed strange to see and hear nothing, not even the occasional cat or dog. Jacob thought to himself that was strange, as far as he knew Returners generally didn't bother animals. Maybe because the human populace had declined they were turning on those now. He didn't know how they functioned or what drove them so it was hard knowing what they would or wouldn't do.

  They had traveled a little over a mile and houses were becoming more frequent, which told them they were getting closer to town.

  Jessica pointed to a small building just up ahead of them. Even from this distance you could see the windows had been smashed out.

  "That's Davis Family Quick Stop. It looks like it's been hit hard, but maybe we'll find something in there we can use," She said.

  "I don't see why not, I cant see anything that should cause us a problem," Jacob said as he scanned the area for signs of possible trouble.

  After determining it was safe the group began working their way towards the store. They were out in the open and vulnerable, moving slowly and cautiously to be sure nothing caught them off guard. They were about a hundred yar
ds away when they saw a Returner come around the edge of the building. It stopped and seemed to look around searching for something. A second Returner appeared from the far left of the first one. The group was out in the open and exposed. If they made any quick movements they would give themselves away. Jacob signaled for the group to lay down where they stood. Everyone dropped down as quietly and quickly as possible.

  Jacob looked at Jessica and whispered to her as loudly as he dared, "You think you can pick them off with your .22? Shouldn't be so loud it draws attention if more are around."

  "I think so." Sighting the gun on the first Returner that had come out, she took careful aim.

  The Returners somehow seemed to be aware of the groups presence and began to amble towards them. These ones appeared to have been returned for a long time as they moved stiffly and slowly. That was a lucky break for the group, it gave Jessica time to take them down. The first one was now only thirty-five yards away.

  Taking a deep break and exhaling Jessica squeezed the trigger. The gun crackled and the Returner dropped to the ground. Her aim dead on, the bullet striking it in the head. A third Returner had come from behind the building and was now visible.

  "Another one just came from where the first one did." Joe's eyes were fixed on the one that had just appeared. "What should we do?"

  Jacob responded his voice still low, but audible enough for everyone to hear him.

  "Stay put for now, keep your eyes open in-case anymore come out. Let Jessica do what she can."

  Jessica squeezed the trigger again. The second Returner stumbled forward a few steps, but didn't drop. The shot had gone low and struck it in the neck. A trickle of blood poured out from the wound. Refocusing her aim she fired again, this time striking her mark. The Returner moved a few steps forward seemingly unaware it had been shot before dropping to the ground.