Solar Reboot

by Matthew D. Hunt

  “Dad?”

  Piper was at the shattered window. Her pale face reflected the grey sunlight from the clouds, and the white of the snow beneath. It made her look ghostly, or elfin, like something from a fairy tale. Unless that was in Alex’s head, too.

  “Pipes,” he said. “Can you make sure the back door isn’t locked?”

  “I …” She glanced down at his stomach, and her eyes widened still more. “Oh my god.”

  “I’m fine. Really. Just … just please open the door.”

  She did, and then she helped him hobble to the nurse’s office. Over and over again he mumbled how he was fine, just fine, he’d be okay. She wasn’t even asking.

  She probably knew he was lying.

  The nurse’s office had gauze, and bandages. But he needed fluids. He couldn’t very well set up an IV—they had to get moving—but if he didn’t get something in his body to help produce more blood, he was dead.

  “Piper,” he gasped. “Water. Please, as much of it as you can get.”

  “I—where?” she said.

  “There was a drink machine next to the vending machine. Get another chair.”

  She nodded and rose to go.

  “Pipes!”

  Instantly she stopped. “What?”

  He lifted the Glock. “Just in case.”

  She shivered, but she took it with her.

  Moments later, Alex heard glass shattering. Soon Piper returned with half a dozen one-liter water bottles in her arms. Alex had managed to patch himself up. The hole wasn’t as bad as he feared, but he didn’t like to imagine what was going on inside his belly. Every movement hurt.

  He downed two water bottles and shoved the rest in his pack. Then he got to his feet. Pain wouldn’t let him stay silent, and he cried out as he felt something shift inside him.

  “Dad, you should sit back down … you should rest, you’re hurt …”

  “Can’t rest,” he said. He lifted one hand to grip her shoulder and gave her a smile, though he knew it looked weak. “I’ll have to heal up on the road. I’ll be fine till we get to the cabins, at least. Then mom can have a look at me. Okay?”

  She didn’t answer for a moment. Her bottom lip was quivering.

  He gave her a gentle little shake. “Hey. I’m gonna be okay. Trust me. Come on.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Yeah, okay. Come on. I’ll help you get back to the horses.”

  “That’s the spirit,” he said, grinning. He put an arm over her shoulders and leaned on her as they stumbled out of the office and through the halls of the school.

  It was a lie. Every word of it. Alex knew it, and from the look in her eyes, Piper knew it, too.

  But they kept walking.

  CHAPTER 33

  It was two days after Cameron and Bettie had talked, and Cameron was leading a hunting party out in the woods. She liked hunting. It was clean. Uncomplicated. Just her and her gun and some others from the community, and whatever they were looking to kill. All her worries about the cabin community faded away as she tried to get some food for them to eat.

  Even when one of the sources of her worry was in the woods with her.

  Wade was with her, along with Chad and Russell. They’d split up less than an hour’s walk from the community. Now Russell and Cameron were in the woods to the south, while Wade and Chad had taken the river to the east.

  Cameron’s rifle was ice cold, and she kept running her hands over it to keep it from picking up frost. The snow had stopped falling, but it was still thick on the ground and heavy in the trees. The sky was the same grey overcast it had been since the solar reboot had started—that was what the girl Naomi had called it a few days ago, and the name had stuck—but the winds and storms had abated, at least for a little bit. The world was quiet except for their footsteps, free from birdsong or the calls of animals. Sound couldn’t travel far with so much snow around to muffle it. Despite herself, despite her focus, Cameron kept coming to a stop as she walked. Everything was so pretty it didn’t look real, like a picture on a holiday greeting card that had clearly gone through too many passes in Photoshop. After a moment she’d come to her senses, or Russell would clear his throat, and they’d press on.

  At first they’d feared game might be hard to find, what with this strange winter in the middle of summer. It turned out to be the opposite. Animals were everywhere, running about freely as if it was summer, but standing out in stark contrast against the snow. They’d managed a couple of rabbits in just an hour. Then, shortly after noon, Russell stopped Cameron with a hand on her arm and pointed. Not too far away was a young white-tailed doe. She stood nuzzling the snow on the ground, probably looking for green shoots beneath it. She was upwind, and hadn’t noticed them yet.

  Cameron gave a quick glance around for a fawn—it was the right season for them, though the snow didn’t make it look that way. But she realized, with no small amount of guilt, that she’d bring the doe down regardless. They weren’t desperate for food yet, but that would only remain the case if they took what they could get when they could get it.

  She lifted the rifle to her shoulder. Sorry, she thought, imagining she was speaking to the deer. My family needs me more than yours needs you. I’m sure you’d disagree, but I’m the one with the gun.

  CRACK

  A nearby branch snapped. The trees were overloaded with snow. Branches were dropping like crazy. It was a miracle no one had been hurt yet.

  The sound startled the deer. But she didn’t run. She lifted her head and looked right into Cameron’s eyes.

  Cameron’s heart skipped a beat. She pulled the trigger.

  The doe fell to the ground, a bullet through its brain.

  Russell whistled. “Damn good shot.”

  “Not really. I was aiming for the lungs.”

  He balked and looked at her. She stared at him deadpan for a moment before cracking a wry smile. Russell chuckled and shook his head. Together they set off across the meadow towards the deer’s body.

  “You learn to shoot like that in the force?”

  “Yeah. Not that I was in combat, but nobody gets away without learning how a gun works.”

  “True enough, but not everybody comes out shooting like that. You’re a natural.”

  Cameron frowned, somewhat uncomfortable. “I’m more proud of knowing how to save lives than take them.”

  Russell shrugged. “Sure, sure. Just saying. You’re good at it. No point in denying it.”

  “Come on.”

  They lifted the doe up together, and Russell slung it over his shoulders. They followed their own footsteps back towards the cabin, a measured trail of indents marching away from a small pool of blood.

  They hadn’t been walking for ten minutes before they heard a distant shout. Cameron froze in her tracks, Russell stopping a moment later.

  The forest went dead silent.

  The shout came again. Cameron!

  Russell looked at her. “Is that Chad?”

  She didn’t bother to nod before setting off at a run. Russell, still carrying the doe, trotted behind.

  Her mind was already racing. Shouting would disturb any game. Chad would know that, so if he was shouting it meant he wasn’t hunting, and didn’t care if he scared off whatever Cameron was hunting. That meant something was wrong.

  Wade.

  Chad appeared a moment later, stepping out from behind a tree so suddenly that Cameron almost decked him. She skidded to a halt in the snow.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Wade,” he said. “I lost him.”

  “Lost him where? Never mind. Take me to where you saw him last.”

  He set off at a jog, and Cameron kept pace easily. He huffed out a hurried explanation. “It was like it vanished. One second we were together, within sight of each other, and then I was alone. I looked for a while before I came for you.”

  Cameron didn’t answer, just kept running east. They were in a narrow valley that ran st
raight north, with the cabin community resting at its mouth. The valley ended at two good-sized lakes at the foot of a mountain, a good source of clean water and the reason for all the wildlife nearby. The lake ran off into a river on the valley’s east end, where it spun wide around the cabins and fell into the pass where the freeway had been built. Visions rushed through her mind of Wade falling into the river and being swept away, vanishing over the falls miles away. Her stomach clenched.

  Then again, maybe he murdered Hernando. In which case, good riddance.

  She banished the thought as soon as it came. Wade had the benefit of the doubt for now. He was part of the community. That meant his safety was her job.

  And then she reached the river, and there was Wade.

  He was kneeling at the bank, washing his hands in the water. His head snapped up the second Cameron and Chad came into view, drawn by the sound of their running footsteps. When he recognized them, he raised his brows.

  “What’s the rush?”

  “Wade, man! Where’d you go?” said Chad.

  Wade made a show of looking back and forth before spreading his hands. “Right here? Where did you go?”

  “I … I lost you, and when I couldn’t find you I went looking for Cameron.” Chad scratched at the back of his neck, frowning like he was doubting his own story.

  “Well, when we were out here, I thought I saw a rabbit, so I whispered for you to follow me and went after it. Didn’t realize you hadn’t followed me until later. But I got the rabbit.” He lifted it from the ground, swinging it back and forth slightly. “You had the gun, so I had to use my knife.”

  He put the rabbit back down and lowered his hands to the water again, scrubbing away the last of its blood.

  Something had Cameron’s nerves on edge. It was hard to put a finger on it. Nothing seemed all that strange about the story. Wade did have the rabbit. Chad could easily have lost track of him for a second.

  But she found it harder to believe that Wade would lose Chad. Something about his story seemed too polished. Almost rehearsed. And combined with the misgivings she already held, what she’d talked about with Bettie …

  Wade looked up from the river at her. His lips spread in that easy grin of his. “How about you and Russ? Get anything?”

  Cameron heard footsteps from behind. She waved a hand behind her without looking. “More than a rabbit.”

  Russell trudged into view, huffing a cloud of steam with each breath. The doe’s head lolled against his arm. “Hey. Everyone all right?”

  “Everything’s fine,” said Wade. He picked up his rabbit again and stood. “Guess we should head back out again.”

  “Why don’t we head back,” said Cameron. “A deer’s a good enough haul for one day.”

  “Might find another one.”

  Cameron met his gaze. “Let’s head back.”

  Wade tilted his head and shrugged. “You got it, boss.”

  * * *

  Ken was on gate duty when they returned, nose buried in some fantasy novel. He didn’t notice the approaching party until they were almost on top of him, but once he did he hurried to open the gate.

  “Bettie wanted to see you,” he told Cameron.

  Cameron frowned. “Why?”

  “Didn’t say. But she seemed pretty upset. She wanted to go out looking for you right away, but of course I told her told to wait ‘til you came back.”

  Cameron glanced back at the rest of the party. Wade waved her off.

  “Go. We can skin and clean them.”

  She set off for her cabin at a brisk walk. But she could tell it was empty almost from the moment she opened the door. A quick search confirmed it, and she headed back out to search the rest of the community.

  Bettie was nowhere to be found. Most people had seen her running around. She’d spoken to a few of them, and everyone confirmed what Ken had said: she’d seemed pretty upset.

  She stopped short after checking on the last cabin. Still no Bettie. Where the hell would she have gone? There was nothing else within the fence line except some trees.

  The fence line.

  She went to the area where Gina was working, moving at a jog now. Her nerves were already on high alert from Wade’s mysterious disappearance, and none of this was helping.

  Please let her be there. Please let her be talking with Gina, and all right.

  Gina was there. Bettie wasn’t. Gina had a small section of the fence down and two holes dug, putting new, fresh-cut posts in to replace two that were nearly rotten away. She looked up at Cameron’s approach and must have seen some of the worry in her expression.

  “What is it?” she said. “Is everything all right?”

  “Have you seen Bettie?” said Cameron.

  Gina frowned. “Sure. She was here not too long ago.”

  “Where did she go?”

  A moment’s silence stretched as Gina cocked her head. “I … I’m not really sure,” she said. “She came over to talk and see how I was doing, bring me some water. But then she told me to go take a bathroom break and she’d watch the gap in the fence. But, um. When I came back, she was gone. I guess she got tired of waiting, but I swear I wasn’t gone that long.”

  Panic clutched Cameron’s throat. She turned and sprinted all the way back to the front gate. Wade, Russell, and Chad were nearby, doing their grisly work with the day’s haul.

  “Bettie’s in the woods. Outside the cabins. We need to go find her.”

  Russell and Chad froze, but Wade shot to his feet. “You sure she’s out there?”

  “I’m sure. Get everyone who can take care of themselves. We’re leaving five minutes ago.”

  * * *

  Eight of them set out from the cabins, and Cameron split them up into two parties of four, with instructions for each party to split up again once they’d spread out a little ways. Part of her wanted to put Wade in charge of the other team, but another part of her—the part she ended up listening to—wanted to keep him where she could see him. They headed east while the other party headed west, covering much of the same ground they’d seen while they were out hunting. If Cameron guessed right, Bettie had passed them while they were heading back to camp, and would have stayed out searching east to west for Cameron rather than pushing farther north.

  But why was she out here in the first place?

  That question could wait till they’d found her.

  When they reached the mountain’s wide southeastern ridge, Cameron ordered the party to split up again. She sent Jeremy and Ken east, following the ridge down until it hit the river, while she and Wade went west, following the land up.

  Wade spoke almost as soon as the other two men were out of sight. “She’ll be fine, Cam. We’ll find her.”

  “I know we will,” she said. “Keep quiet so we can hear if she calls out.”

  He fell silent.

  The first hour revealed nothing. After another, they met Chad and Russell coming from the west. They split up again, with Chad and Russell heading southwest while Cameron and Wade struck southeast, forming a sort of web pattern.

  The third hour passed. Still nothing. Each team had a gun, and there was one back at the cabins as well. Anyone who found something was supposed to let off a shot to let the others know. But the silence of the mountains kept pressing down on them. Cameron could almost feel its weight on her shoulders.

  Someone will find her. They have to.

  They reached the outskirts of the camp. Wade halted.

  “Maybe she went farther north,” he muttered.

  “Maybe,” said Cameron. “Let’s go.”

  They turned and headed back towards the mountain. They spread out now, walking just within sight of each other to cover as much ground as possible. The slope increased. They were both fit, but it wasn’t long before their breath came heavy and hot, shooting into the air in clouds.

  “We might have gone far—” Wade began.

  CRACK

  A rifle shot.

  They stoppe
d dead and turned, looking down behind them. There, just visible in the far distance, was the cabin community.

  A moment’s silence stretched.

  Nothing else. Not a gunfight. A report.

  They broke into a run.

  Scott flagged them down before they reached the cabins and directed them east towards the river. He didn’t say much, but his face was grim. Cameron recognized it and felt herself start to shut down inside. It was the calm face she put on in the ER when she knew she was about to watch someone die. When a heart rate monitor let out a long, steady beep that would never end. When she knew she was about to bring two parents the worst news they’d ever hear.

  They’d found Bettie in the river. By the time Cameron reached the spot, they’d already pulled her out and laid her on the bank. Cameron knelt beside her. Eyes closed, skin cold and clammy.

  She flipped over the corpse—that’s what it was now, after all.

  Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Heavy. One clean blow. It had been quick, at least. Could easily have happened from a falling branch. The trees were overloaded with snow.

  But she didn’t say that. She waited for Wade to say it.

  “Must have been a tree branch,” said Wade. “They’ve been falling like crazy.”

  “Christ,” muttered Russell. “What was she even doing out here?”

  Me. She was looking for me.

  Cameron turned Bettie back over, laying her down gently. She stood and turned to the men.

  “Make a litter,” she said. “Bring her back to the cabins.”

  Wade met her gaze. His brow was furrowed, worry clear in his eyes. “You okay?”

  Cameron stared at him. He didn’t blink. She turned on her heel and headed towards the cabins.

  CHAPTER 34

  The burial was short and sweet. They put her in Cameron’s back yard, right next to the garden. In lieu of a coffin, Cameron wrapped her in clean white sheets. Once they’d buried her, they built a small mound of stones at the head of the grave. Cameron vowed to herself that if the world ever got back to normal, she’d get a gravestone—a proper one—and put it there.