Sin: A Survival Romance Fiction (Her Story Trilogy Book 1)

by Kensley Hatch

  “So should I take it that you’re just incredibly shy when it comes to speaking in front of groups?” Julian’s inquiry sounded serious, but the mischievous look on his face begged to differ. He had seen her take charge far too many times these past couple of weeks to make that seem like a viable possibility.

  “No.” Summer repeated. “I just don’t think God wants to hear from me anymore.”

  Julian looked genuinely surprised. Summer looked away from him uneasily.

  “I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of.” She confessed, her tone suddenly subdued.

  They fell in silence once again, and Julian walked away to dump the water out of the pot. He came back over and took the stack of bowls from Summer’s side.

  “Well, I don’t really think that’s how things work up there.” He finally said, waiting for Summer to look at him again. “But regardless, we’re going to play a game of hacky sack, and if you don’t join us, that would be a real sin.”

  Summer grabbed the spoons from their place in the snow and stood up to face him.

  “Thanks, but I think I’ll sit with my mom. She’s not doing well.” She added.

  Julian shrugged his shoulders and walked over to where Tania and Michael were waiting for him. Summer went over and sat down on the tarp that had been spread out next to the fire where Meline was sitting. The younger Mary had just left to join Tania and Michael’s game, while the other Mary and Stephanie had gone into their tent. Summer rubbed her mom’s back and scrutinized her face.

  Ever since the chemotherapy and radiation, Meline had been short of breath and always looked pale. However, now the wheezing at night had turned into a hacking cough during the day.

  “We need to look at what medicine we have.” Summer said resolutely.

  “I don’t want to waste it unless it’s necessary.” Meline protested.

  “You’re getting worse. I’ll look at it in the morning when I can read the labels.”

  Meline was about to say more, but was stopped by another coughing fit. Summer patted her back, and when she stopped, Meline squeezed her hand with that maternal closeness that was so familiar to her. Summer looked out in the distance as the night grew darker and shuddered.

  “Did it look like Bridger took more food than what they needed?” She asked, almost unaware that she had spoken the words out loud.

  Meline tilted her head.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean did it really look like they were just going to hunt for food or do you think they may have…” Her words trailed off, but Meline picked it up.

  “Left us?” The words were pronounced slowly.

  Summer shut her eyes tightly and then shook her head as if to get the idea out of it.

  “No, I don’t think Bridger would do that.” Meline’s voice sounded sure. “He would have left a long time ago if he wanted to. Don’t you think he cares about us?” The question was genuine for it was strange to see Summer’s apparent lack of trust in his departure.

  “Of course.” Her demeanor changed, and the lines on her forehead went away as Summer’s voice picked up a lighter note. “You’re right. He’s stayed this long. There would be no reason for him to leave now. I just worry too much sometimes.”

  Meline smiled knowingly and kissed her daughter’s forehead.

  “Me too.”

  The night’s temperature had dropped, and Summer scooted closer to her mother. Their fire became the new sun acting as their only source of heat and light. Meline gladly watched the rest of her children hit the hacky sack back and forth between their teams in a rare moment of playful respite. Mccarthy had joined the group as well, and the sound of shouting mixed with laughter filled the woods around them.

  The sight was comforting to Summer, but eventually, she found herself staring off into the darkness once again, looking where Bridger had disappeared a couple of hours ago. She had lied to her mother, and for that, she felt a little guilty. However, she would much rather bear the burden of that small lie than let her know how worried she really was.

  The days seemed to be getting harder, and Bridger’s threat was still in the back of her mind. He had protected her family for many months, and she knew it hadn’t been easy. Though she tried to hide this from the others, she knew for herself that he was not the kind of man to do something for nothing. She had dreaded the time when he would decide to survive on his own without the disadvantage of two teenagers, a sick woman, and a resistant girl.

  She had thought that maybe the addition of Julian’s group would help his resolution to stay, but recently he had acted more tired and moody than ever. Their presence had given her a small amount of security since she hoped they could work together if anything did ever happen with Bridger. However, her overwhelming desire to appease Bridger had caused her to remain distant from the new group, and there was no telling if they wouldn’t choose to go with him if they split up. Julian and the other men were capable enough, but she knew she could count on Bridger’s abilities under any circumstance. He had helped them escape, and had fed them with his crossbow in the beginning when she was still clumsy with her axes and hadn’t even begun to learn how to trap. If they ever encountered marauders, it was Bridger’s presence that would bring an imposing element to her otherwise fragile-looking family. Plus, he knew her, and despite the agitations and even the fears that Summer often felt around him, it was better than being alone. Now she was left to wonder if tonight had turned into the time when he would go.

  Chapter 13

  “Do we have anything besides pain killers?” Summer asked, rummaging through the box of pill bottles.

  Mccarthy was standing behind her with folded arms.

  “Our collection has gotten lower than I thought, what do you think Meline has?”

  “I don’t know.” She muttered, tossing a bottle back into the box and picking up another to try to read the label. “Her immune system is very susceptible right now. She’s already had cancer and measles, so who knows what’s next.”

  Summer’s frenzy had been brought on gradually as she had been awakened throughout the night by her mother’s dry coughing that lasted for minutes at a time. Her whole body shook with the coughing spasms and forbade any kind of restful sleep for her or anyone else in the tent.

  “We don’t have any medicine besides painkillers, and even if we did, I have no way of knowing what is making her sick.” Summer pushed away the box and took a step back, holding her forehead with her hand.

  “What are her symptoms?” A voice spoke up from behind.

  Mccarthy and Summer both turned to see Stephanie watching them. Summer breathed out in frustration since it should have been obvious what her symptoms were for anyone who was living in the camp. Nevertheless, she inhaled and faced Stephanie.

  “A horrible hacking cough, severe congestion, aching body, she’s always exhausted even though she pretends that she’s not. Sometimes she can’t breathe if she lays on her back too long. Anything else you’ve noticed?” She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her tone, but her patience was thin this morning.

  Stephanie’s pursed her lips, and she didn’t answer right away.

  “I was a nurse before the Invasion. It sounds like pneumonia to me.” Her diagnosis was confident, which was unusual for her regularly reserved personality.

  “So what do we do?” Summer said, trying to reign in her exasperation.

  “Well, first of all, she needs lots of liquid.” Stephanie walked over to the box and searched until she picked up an ibuprofen bottle. “This will probably be the best option out of the medicine we have. Also, warm teas will help to loosen mucus in the chest and lungs. What spices do we have?”

  Stephanie turned to Mccarthy.

  “I’m not sure. You can look through them.” Mccarthy lifted a box sitting on the sled.

  “I believe we have turmeric,” S
tephanie recalled before she sifted through the box. “Ah, yes. Get a pot of water boiling, and I’ll make her some tea.”

  Summer looked around for their large pot and took it over to some undisturbed snow which she then started shoveling into the basin. When she had nearly filled it, she hoisted it up and took it over to the center of their campsite.

  Just then, Michael and Tania came running up in excitement.

  “Guess what!” Tania called. “You’ll never believe what we just saw!”

  “Not now.” Summer was busy adding fuel to the flames of the fire.

  “Pheasants!” Michael blurted out, causing Tania to hit him on the arm.

  “I was going to tell her.” She complained, but then continued once she saw that they had gotten their sister’s attention. “We saw pheasants not far from here. Four maybe five of them. They scattered when we came upon them, but I bet they’ll return if you’re careful about how you lay the traps.”

  The apprehensive lines on Summer’s face momentarily vanished as the possibility of sustenance other than soup and canned vegetables suddenly became tangible.

  “Show me.” She demanded, hanging the pot above the fire hurriedly.

  She motioned for her siblings to follow her as she stopped at the tent and quietly entered to grab her trapping equipment without disturbing Meline, who had finally gotten to sleep after last night’s battle. When she emerged again, Michael and Tania eagerly pulled at her arms and began dragging her to the spot where they had discovered the birds.

  The afternoon was filled with the activity of deciding where to set the traps up and what possible strategies they could use to catch the pheasants. Michael and Tania helped Summer set up and then take down the ropes as they analyzed several possible locations that were most likely to fall in the path of their prey. Tania’s stomach rumbled at one point with the all too familiar sounds of hunger, but this time Summer and she exchanged smiles at the noise. It brought the possibility of a full meal to the forefront of their minds and almost to their taste buds.

  In the meantime, Julian found himself in what felt like a nearly deserted campsite. He had borrowed an ax from Summer’s holster and had gone off to cut down more wood for their fire, yet when he returned the three Coburns were nowhere in sight. He spotted Stephanie and his uncle talking to each other near the supply sleds, and the Marys were drying out some plants they had foraged. Meline was sitting alone at the campfire sipping from a battered tin mug. Summer’s siblings had become his default for company, and he approached Mccarthy to find out what happened to them. Mccarthy promptly told him about their discovery and turned to continue his conversation with Stephanie about something to do with medicine. Julian looked up at the sky where the clouds obscured the sun, and it reminded him that winter was when they were furthest away from the Earth’s most significant source of warmth.

  He glanced back at the fire with the shivering lone woman sitting nearby, and he promptly went inside his and Mccarthy’s shared tent.

  Unexpectedly, a thick fur blanket was placed around Meline’s shoulders. She looked up to see Julian standing above her.

  “That’s from the deer,” Julian responded as if her questioning look had been verbalized. “I’ve been meaning to give it to you for a while.”

  “Thank you.” Meline pulled it tighter around her shoulders gratefully.

  “Deer’s coats are coarse, but at least they’re warm.” Julian continued, sitting down next to her on the tarp.

  Meline patted his knee softly, and the warmth of her look reminded him of his own mother. Meline had that way about her.

  “Tania likes you.” She rasped before taking another sip from her mug.

  “I like Tania.” Julian’s face lit up with affection. “And Michael too.” He added with a grin, thinking back on their game of hacky sack. “They’re good kids.”

  Meline cleared her throat so that she could talk.

  “They are.” She finally managed. “They’ve been through a lot. More than I would have ever imagined for anyone to go through at their age. The Invasion has marked us all.” Her voice was gentle but heavy.

  Julian didn’t respond but thought back to his own childhood, which had more luxuries in it than even a normal childhood had back then. The things that used to consume his thoughts now seemed so trivial when he knew teenagers whose biggest excitement was finding some winter birds so that they could possibly eat decently for a day.

  “Summer is good too.” The statement brought Julian back to the present. “It has been her who has kept us together during all of this.”

  “Yes, she’s very anxious about your wellbeing.” He agreed.

  “It has come at a cost, though.” Meline’s voice was weak, but even still Julian could sense the troubled feeling in it. “Something has changed inside of her, but she won’t tell me what it is. I think she knows that I know that something is wrong, but for whatever reason, she has decided that it’s safer if she shuts me out. I can see it in her eyes. It’s like a wall has been built, not to keep others out, but rather to keep something in. Like the cages at a zoo.”

  Meline was interrupted by a burst of coughs, and when she stopped, her eyes were watering.

  “We all have demons.” The words were hoarse from the coughing. “Some people feel like they have to explode to get them out. Anger or violence is their answer to internal stress. Others hold it in. Whether it’s discipline or fear of the kind of explosion that would burst if they let it, they decide that the safest course of action is to hide their pain, so that no one will see it. The intensity makes them feel out of control, and so they try to stifle it. My Summer is the latter type.”

  Meline sighed with all of the weight of motherly despair.

  “It frightens me because I can’t tell what damage is being done on the inside, but I know there’s a battle raging.” Meline turned her head to look at Julian directly. “Internal violence can be the most deadly.” She barely pronounced these last words as if speaking them aloud might add to their difficult truth.

  The depth in Meline’s eyes struck Julian, and it reminded him of a crying girl in a library in what must have been a different life. He clenched his jaw resolutely and put his arm around Meline, rubbing her arms for warmth.

  “Everything will be alright.” His words were stronger than consolement and set with determination. “Summer is smart like you. She’ll overcome whatever it is that’s inside of her.”

  His voice got lighter, and he smiled at Meline through the corner of his eye.

  “Did she ever tell you of the time our professor forgot his notes and she pretty much took over the class for the day?”

  Meline’s heaviness was soon replaced with pride that glowed more and more as Julian related the details of his stories about Summer at the university.

  The afternoon waned away, and soon, three silhouettes appeared around the corner of a snowbank. Tania waved at her mother and Julian. They walked over to the two people by the fire, and Summer felt slightly disconcerted at seeing her mom so freely talking with Julian. However, she tried to make it appear like she wasn’t looking as she rubbed her hands together. They were at the painful stage of cold that was not fully numb, and it stung to feel the blood rush back into them as she placed them close to the fire.

  “I doubt the pheasants will come back today, so we’ll check the traps in the morning.” She finally announced after waiting in vain to be questioned about it.

  Meline looked up from her conversation and nodded her head in acknowledgment.

  “Well, let’s cook something cause I’m starving,” Michael said loudly, walking over to the sleds and picking up several cans of soup and carrots.

  Putting up the traps had been tedious work, and with little food or sleep, it made the afternoon feel exhausting. The night wore on, and everyone instinctively spread out amidst the campsite as they continued the waiting
game for both the pheasant traps and the return of Bridger and Phil.

  Meline had retired early, and Summer was laying down on the tarp next to the fire hoping that Meline would be able to breathe better tonight. Michael was playing with his sling, and Julian was helping the older Mary organize their boxes of supplies. Summer looked to her right and saw Tania throwing her knives into a nearby tree as Mccarthy, Stephanie, and the other Mary watched her. It had grown dark, but the minutes endured for what felt like hours. The soup they had prepared earlier had barely settled anyone’s stomachs and added to the discomfort of boredom.

  Suddenly, a noise from the forest brought Summer’s head up to look in its direction. Everyone froze as more crunches of footfalls told of the presence of something near the edge of the camp where Michael was standing. He slowly put a rock that was in his hand into his sling, and they all waited for another sign of movement.

  “I think it’s a rabbit.” Michael hissed, trying to keep his voice low enough to avoid spooking it.

  Summer saw the outline of some creature where he was looking and her heart pumped faster as she haltingly sat up, without ever taking her eyes off of the unaware animal. Michael glanced back one more time, and Summer nodded, signaling him to action.

  In a flash, he whipped his sling above his head and threw the stone at his target. The rabbit leaped forward and ran into the camp.

  “Get it!” Michael called, but Summer was already diving for the place where she had left her axes. However, her holster was nowhere in sight, and she frantically felt around in the snow while the rabbit darted around Mccarthy and escaped Tania’s knife that came sailing through the air. Michael shouted again, but it had already scurried into the cover of the darkened trees and was gone in the next instant.

  “Where are my axes?” Summer fumed, angrily scrambling the snow as if they were somehow still there.

  She twisted her body to look back at the stunned faces of everyone else in the camp.