by Eric Vall
“We’re here to relieve you!” Anna yelled over the howling wind.
Slowly the others on sentry duty came out, and we met them at the tree line, using the pine tree branches to try and shield ourselves from the snow and wind that raced down at us.
“Thanks,” Jeff breathed. “It was getting mighty cold out here.”
“I’m sure it was,” I said, and then I thought for a moment. “I was going to let you guys know the plan but I don’t want to keep you out here longer than I need to, I know you all are freezing.”
“What plan?” Bailey asked, her nose and cheeks red from the cold.
“Everyone inside can explain it to you,” I said. “You all go in and get warm. Good job today.”
“Alright,” Justin said through chattering teeth. “Let us know if you need anything else.”
“Go see your family,” I told the dark haired man, and I clapped him on the shoulder.
Everyone else headed back toward the house except for Bailey, and she looked at me inquisitively.
“Do I need to know about this plan?” the blonde hippie asked.
“Yes,” I told her with a smile. “But you must be freezing. Head inside, the others can tell you.”
“Rolly is on guard duty,” Paige said. “And Tara is up there, just ask one of them, they’ll tell you.”
“Alright,” the blonde said with a frown.
“Good job today,” I said, and I kissed her on the forehead. “Now go get something hot to eat.”
“Okay,” she said with a signature soft Bailey smile. “Stay warm out here.”
“We’ll do our best,” Jenny chuckled.
Bailey followed the others back up to the house, and Paige and I passed out hand warmers. Once everyone had settled into a position in the trees, I reached my hands into my pockets to feel the warmth of the small orange heat pads.
The snow continued to flurry around us, but it was dark as hell, and about twenty minutes passed and I hadn’t seen a sign of anyone else. I figured that maybe the darkness and the six inches of snow on the ground would keep everyone at bay for the evening, but that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. I would stay down there with the sentries and make sure that everything ran smoothly.
The heat on my hands was welcome and refreshing, it spread up my arms and heated my whole body. I felt my eyes grow heavy as I watched the snow fall frantically onto the road in front of me.
I forced my eyes open and took a deep breath of the freezing cold air. I needed to stay awake and keep things on track. There was nothing worse than a leader who didn’t do his part.
I thought back to the last time I had slept. It was at the ski lodge with Paige and Bailey, and I hadn’t gotten much sleep that night because I’d made love to both of them for most of the evening and morning. Since then I had run a mission with the girls and kept watch that night. I hadn’t had a chance to sleep at all, not even a small nap, and I knew that exhaustion was finally catching up with me.
I wanted to stand up and move around to wake my body up, but I knew that if I did, then I risked alarming the others, or not being ready whenever somebody did show up on the road. Instead, I pulled my hands out of my pockets to get them away from the warmth of the hand warmers. That heat did nothing to help me stay awake.
I took a quick look around to gauge my team. They all appeared to be alert and ready.
Paige laid on the ground behind a large bush, her rifle next to her, Anna crouched down, alternating her weight from one leg to the other, Donna’s breath was slow and steady as it came out of her in small white puffs, Jenny leaned against a tree, Joe sat crossed legged with his rifle across his lap as he stared out at the road, and Joanna sat in front of a tree and leaned her back against it with her rifle spread across her lap.
“Hey,” I called out to Joanna.
“Yeah?” the young girl asked.
“Turn your rifle the other way,” I told her.
She looked puzzled for a second, then her eyes widened with understanding and she flipped the rifle around quickly.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“It’s okay,” I told her with a soft smile.
“Did she have it pointed at us?” Paige chuckled.
“Yeah,” I said.
“I swear my finger wasn’t near the trigger,” Joanna said with embarrassment.
“It doesn’t matter,” Anna said. “It’s just a rule, you never point a gun at anybody who isn’t a target.”
“I’m really sorry,” Joanna said again.
“It’s alright,” I told her. “You’re still learning.”
We were all quiet once more, and I felt my breath grow heavy. It was becoming difficult to keep my eyes open, but just as I felt them flutter closed I heard voices coming down the road.
“Tav,” Anna whispered, and my eyes shot open.
“I hear them,” I whispered back, my voice rough from lack of sleep.
I yawned and shook my head to try and wake myself up some more. The voices were coming closer, and I was beginning to make out actual words.
“Fuckin’... our asses off,” somebody said, but I had missed part of it.
The wind was making it difficult to hear, so I cocked my head and lifted my hat from over my ear to try and get a better angle.
“I’ve been hearing gunshots from this direction,” a female voice yelled. “Do you think this is safe?”
“It’s better than freezing our asses off, Rebecca,” a male voice called out with a French-Canadian accent.
“Maybe she has a point though,” a different female voice said. “I’m not looking to get shot at.”
“We have guns too, remember?” the male voice said, and suddenly I was more awake than I had been.
I watched the road as the snow piled down another fresh layer of white muck. The group of people came into view after a few moments, and I tried to see through the snow to gauge their reactions to our signs and the bodies scattered around them.
A large male was at the front of the pack, and he slowed his steps as he looked around and took in the gory sight in front of him.
“Hold up,” he called back to the group, and I studied the way he moved and crouched lower. I thought it was possible he had some military training based on his movements, but I didn’t know enough to be sure.
Regardless of if he had training or not, he only carried a rifle with him and only six others out of the group carried weapons at all. There were probably fifteen of them in total, and I figured they wouldn’t be too difficult to take down if they decided to take a step over that bridge.
“What the fuck?” one of the women in the group said, and she stared around with large eyes.
“This must be where the shots were coming from,” the man in the front said.
“Let’s just stay on the road south,” another woman said.
“We’re going to die out here in this cold,” the man retorted. “We need to try and get up there, they probably have supplies.”
“We can find supplies somewhere else, Chad,” the first woman said.
I set my scope on Chad and hoped he would listen to the women.
“Yeah,” the second woman said, and she grabbed Chad’s shirt sleeve. “Let’s go.”
“I’m going up there,” Chad said determinedly.
I followed him with my scope as he took a few steps toward the bridge. The others in the group looked terrified, and they called out to him to stop, that it wasn’t worth it, but Chad took two more steps.
His foot had barely crossed the bridge when I took him out with a shot to the head. He went down with a spray of blood that covered the white snow in a crimson red.
“Oh, my God!” the first woman screamed.
The second woman collapsed to her knees and started to cry, but the first woman grabbed her and pulled her up, ushering her farther down the road.
The rest of the group ran after the women, and I watched as they all trailed out of view.
My lids grew
heavy once more, and I felt the exhaustion overtake me. I wouldn’t last much longer at the rate this was headed, but there was one other thing I needed to do first.
“Everybody gather up,” I said as I stood up.
“What’s wrong?” Anna asked, and she rushed toward me.
“Nothing,” I said. “I just need to show you all something.”
Everybody gathered around quickly, and as I stood I felt my body grow heavy from the lack of sleep.
“I brought some flares down for you,” I said as I pulled them from my pocket. “If you ever get into a situation that you can’t handle, light one off.
“Alright,” Anna agreed.
“Are you going back up to campus?” Paige asked.
“I think so.” I gave the brunette a small smile.
“Good,” Donna said, and I raised an eyebrow at her. “You look like hell.”
“It can’t be that bad,” I chuckled.
“It has been a while since you slept,” Paige said.
“You’ve earned it ten times over,” Jenny said with a small smile. “Go get some rest.”
“We’ll be alright out here,” Joe assured me. “We have Anna and Paige with us.”
“Well, alright then,” I agreed. “If you get a group that’s too large to handle, I want you to send someone up to get reinforcements.”
“I’ll go,” Paige said. “I know the woods up to the campus pretty well.”
“Good thinking,” I told the pretty brunette.
“We got this,” Anna said. “Now go get some sleep, you look like you’re about to fall over.”
“I still managed to make that shot though.” I grinned.
“Yeah, you did,” Joanna laughed.
“Fine,” Anna said with an eyeroll. “Whatever will help you get some sleep.”
“Thank you,” I teased, and then I got serious. “Really though, be careful down here and don’t be afraid to call for backup.”
“Tav,” Anna said, and she cocked her hip out. “We got this, now go.”
“I’m going, I’m going,” I said, and I raised my arms up in surrender and started back toward campus.
I shook my head as I walked, the girls knew how to make me smile even in the worst situations. The snow pelted me as I stumbled forward, but I was slow in my movements. My body was heavy from lack of sleep, and I felt my eyes grow heavy, even as the wind blew snow flurries across my face. I’d done plenty of sleep deprivation training in the Army, but I was starting to hit the limits of what I could really endure.
It had been a long few days and sleep was well overdue. I could barely keep my footing, I knew that anybody walking behind me would see these tracks and assume I was a belligerent drunk. Luckily, the snow continued to come down, and the tracks would be covered quickly.
I reached the dorm building and stepped inside to the warmth of the wood stoves. The heat was a welcome burn on my ice cold face, and I took a moment to breathe in the dry, hot air as I took off my jacket and boots.
“Hey,” Cathy said as I took a seat on the couch next to Kimmy.
“How’s it going up here?” I asked.
“We have it handled,” Merideth said with a small smile.
“I was just about to take some food down to the people on sentry duty,” Cathy said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Let me fix you a bowl,” Merideth said, and she scooped me out some hot soup and handed it over to me.
I didn’t blow on it or wait for it to cool, I took three quick bites, barely tasted the hot mush in my mouth, but by the fourth I let out a long moan.
“This is delicious,” I said, and my eyes closed in bliss. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Merideth said. “Kimmy was the one who cooked it.”
“Really?” I asked, and I looked to the dark complexioned woman next to me.
“It’s an old family recipe,” she stated. “Goes back to the days when everybody was short on food.”
“You mean like the depression era?” Jeff asked.
“Yeah.” Kimmy nodded.
“It’s great,” I said, and I finished off the bowl quickly.
I scanned the area and saw that Marla and the kids were missing.
“Where’s Marla and Frank?” I asked.
“They’re all in a dorm upstairs,” Kimmy informed me.
“Justin was pretty tired,” Merideth said. “They went to bed just a bit ago, I bet they’re still awake if you need to talk to them.”
“No, that’s okay,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure they were here somewhere.”
“A lot of people to keep track of,” Jeff said.
“There are,” I agreed with a smile.
“You seem very tired,” Kimmy said. “Why don’t you go rest as well?”
“You’re a new mom,” I chuckled. “Shouldn’t you be more tired than me?”
“I get plenty of sleep,” Kimmy laughed. “Anthony is an easy baby. Besides, you’ve been out in the cold fighting.”
“I have,” I agreed. “I think I will turn in.”
The warm food in my belly was making me even more tired, and I felt the heaviness of my body as I got up and stretched.
I headed upstairs, but I figured I would swing by and see Rolly before bed, so I made my way to the top floor and found him and Betty in the dorm room I had left them in earlier.
“Hey, oldtimer,” I said with a rap on the door.
“Decided to turn in?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m exhausted.”
“You were exhausted hours ago,” Betty chuckled.
“I wonder what that makes me now,” I laughed.
“Dead on your feet.” Rolly grinned.
“Probably true,” I agreed. “Is there anything you all need before I head to bed?”
“I think we’re okay,” Betty said.
“Did you guys get dinner?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Rolly said. “Cathy brought us up some soup.”
“She said the new girl made it,” Betty said. “It was delicious.”
“It was very good,” I agreed.
“Don’t tell Tara she can cook,” Betty joked. “I doubt she does well with competition.”
“She has no competition,” I chuckled.
“You be sure to tell her that,” Betty laughed.
“I’ll do that,” I said. “Well, goodnight you two. Make sure someone takes over for you soon.”
“Will do, boss,” Rolly said.
I made my way back to my old dorm room, but Bailey and Tara found me and I heard a small rap on my door.
“Come in,” I called out as I took my damp shirt off.
“We just wanted to check in on you,” Bailey said.
Winchester ran in from behind them and put his front paws on my chest.
“Hey, boy,” I said, and I petted his black head and gave him a kiss.
“Are you alright?” Tara asked.
“I’m fine,” I told her. “Just tired.”
“Is there anything you need before bed?” Bailey asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“Are you going to sleep in here?” Tara asked.
“I figured I would,” I said. “I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable with us all sleeping out in the common area.”
“Nobody else is on this floor,” Bailey said.
“Yeah.” Tara smiled. “Come sleep with us, we were just about to head to bed.”
“That does sound nice,” I said with a small smile.
“Finish getting changed,” Bailey said. “We’ll have the bed ready whenever you come out.”
“Sounds good,” I said, and the girls left me alone once more.
I finished getting undressed and I put on some dry boxer shorts, then I sat on the bed and put my head in my hands. It had been a long couple of days, and I was so beyond tired that I felt loopy.
We had accomplished a lot since the first attack, and hopefully many of the others passing by wouldn
’t be as stupid as Chad had been earlier, but I wasn’t putting all my eggs in that basket.
The moonlight poured in through the window of my room, and I looked down at my pale skin and felt the coldness that still emanated from me. My belly was warm, but I was sure the rest of me was still cool to the touch.
I heard distant firing from outside in between wind gusts, and I knew there were others down at the bridge. I hated that the world had come to this. It was utter mayhem, people trying to steal from one another and willing to kill for it. Winter would take out a lot of the assholes, but there were always a few cockroaches that survived no matter what you threw at them.
I yawned, stood up, and headed out to the common area. The girls had the bed set up on the floor, and a spot just my size sat in the middle of the two of them. Winchester laid at the foot of the bed, and the girls looked up at me.
“Took you long enough,” Tara teased.
“Sorry.” I smiled.
I took my spot between the two girls, and they each cuddled against me, their body warmth radiating through me and warming up my bones that had become ice.
I stroked their hair and kissed each of them on the forehead, but I was out like a light before I could formulate another coherent thought.
Chapter 10
I woke well past dawn the next morning. Bright sunlight flooded the room, and I reached out to my sides but found nobody there.
I looked around the room, but again found no one, so I got up, threw some clothes on, and headed downstairs.
“Well, well, well, look who decided to join us,” Anna teased as I came down the stairs.
“Why didn’t anybody wake me?” I asked while rubbing the sleep from my face.
“We figured you needed the rest,” Paige explained.
“Thanks,” I said, and I took a seat on the couch.
“Coffee?” Rolly asked, and I perked up instantly.
“Yes, please,” I said, and the old man handed me a cup.
“How about some breakfast?” Betty asked.
“That sounds great too,” I said. “I’ll head out and check the traps after I’m done.”
“Already done.” Paige grinned.
“And the animals?” I asked.
“Fed and watered,” Anna assured me.
“What about firewood?” I asked.