Stranded Box Set

by Theresa Shaver

  He handed her the slip of paper while he kept telling them what they’d been told.

  “They thought they had it contained for a week but then more people started coming down with it. Dr. Mack doesn’t know where it’s coming from, but so far it’s only hit the people in town. With the quarantine and arctic temperatures, no one’s been bringing food in from the farms so they’re starting to run low on that, too. We’re going to have to put together a delivery for them. I’ll do the rounds this afternoon and co-ordinate with the other farms. As long as we leave the trailer at the road block, no one should come in contact with anyone that is infected.”

  Alex looked up from the list. “Can Dara and I go with you? If everyone’s still healthy on the other farms, then there shouldn’t be any risk.” When he frowned, Alex plowed ahead. “Please, Dad? We’re going stir crazy here. We just want to see our friends for a few minutes!”

  Peter took her side. “The guy said that all the farms on this side of town are clean. I think everybody is going stir crazy. It would be good for all of us to get away from here for a few hours. I’m sure Mom and Susan would like to visit with some of the other ladies too.”

  Alex almost laughed out loud when her Mom jumped to her feet in excitement.

  “Yes! I mean, it would do us all some good to see other people for a change. As long as there’s no risk, then we should all go.”

  With her mom’s agreement, they all decided to go and Alex and Dara slipped back upstairs. Once they were in their room with the door closed, Alex went to her closet and pulled an old shoe box from the top shelf. Inside was handwritten copies of the medical supplies inventory at Mrs. Moore’s house. She went down the list looking for what Dr. Mack wanted but only found one match and unfortunately it was one of the medications that didn’t have a huge stock. She showed it to Dara who frowned.

  “I know this is really selfish but should we give it to them? There’s not a lot of it and what happens if one of us or our friends get hit? It would be used up in town.”

  Alex’s first thought at her friend’s words was outrage, but then she thought of all her family dying with no medicine because they had given it all away. She dropped her head in her hands in defeat. How were they supposed to make such a decision? If they didn’t give it to the town and all their friends and family stayed healthy then they could be responsible for people dying but if they did give it away and their people did get sick, it would be their fault if they died. She moaned into her hands before lifting her head with an agonized expression.

  “I don’t know what to do!”

  Dara pulled her friend into a hug. “Neither do I. Let’s just take today and think about it. We’ll go see the rest of the gang and maybe it will be clearer by the end of the day.”

  Alex nodded sadly. She was excited to get away from the farm and see her friends, but this decision would be one of the biggest of her life and it weighed very heavily on her shoulders.

  Chapter Five

  With the plow having cleared part of the road for them, they decided to drive the short distances between farms. The fierce cold would have been hard on all of them and the horses if they had driven over in the wagon. It was a tight fit with all six adults but they squeezed in and had Jake and the baby sit on the adult’s laps.

  “Wooooo Hooooo! There’s MY girl!” Josh bellowed as he stomped across the snow-packed yard towards Alex and Dara when they piled out of the truck. He scooped Dara up and swung her around all while planting a huge kiss on her. When he finally let her down, he moved in on Alex.

  “Come here, Red. I know how jealous you get but don’t worry, there’s enough of me to go around!”

  Alex was laughing too hard to successfully dodge his grab and ended up in her own bear hug with a smacking kiss on top of her toque covered head. She felt twenty times lighter by the time he dropped her back on her feet. She had missed him and the others so much!

  “Man, am I glad to see you two. I’ve been feeling slightly caged here for the past few months. We really need to get everyone together, it’s been way too long.” Josh said.

  Dara wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into him. “No kidding. Some boyfriend you turned out to be! I’ve seen you like three times since the beginning of September. This weather is turning all our homes into jails.”

  Alex agreed. “Yeah, it’s been pretty tough not being able to see everyone but it’s also probably the reason none of us have gotten sick. As hard as it’s been, we’ve been incredibly lucky too.”

  Josh’s face turned serious. “Yeah, about that, we need to talk. Let’s head over to the barn. I’ve got the genny running for us so the heaters are blowing. I figured the parentals could use some time away from us as much as the other way around!”

  The girls followed Josh to the barn and slipped inside, grateful for the warm air that met them at the door. As soon as Josh shut the door behind them Alex and Dara started to pull their wool hats and mitts off. It was such a treat to feel the warm air against their skin but it was overshadowed by the sweet sound of familiar laughter. Alex’s eyes grew wide and then she was off, racing down between the stalls to the tack room. She just stood in the doorway with the biggest grin spread across her face until she couldn’t take it anymore.

  “EM!!!”

  Emily Mather’s blond hair whipped around when she spun at the call of her nickname and she almost knocked Alex off her feet when she bolted into her.

  “Oh my God, Alex! What are you doing here? I can’t believe Josh didn’t tell us you were coming. OH! I didn’t bring your Christmas present. I’ve been dying to give it to you! How are you? What have you been doing? What…”

  Emily’s questions were stopped short by Alex pulling her into another hug. She felt tears fill her eyes as happiness flooded her heart at having her best friend with her again.

  “Hey, I’m all for a lovefest, but maybe you guys could include the rest of us? Also, I didn’t know any of you were coming or I would have hired a DJ for the party!” Josh joked.

  Alex was beaming when she finally let go of Emily and took a good look around the rest of the room. Lisa and David were here as well. After hugs were given all around, Alex couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed by their missing friend. She met Josh’s eyes across the room and he read her mind with a shake of his head.

  “I’m sorry, Alex. He’s still checked out.”

  She gave him a tight smile and looked away. As sad as she was about Quinn’s lack of interest in her and their friends, she was also very angry at him. The loss of his Grandfather was heartbreaking, but cutting everyone who cared about him from his life was stupid.

  The group enjoyed catching up on what they had all been doing for the last few months, which mainly consisted of a whole lot of nothing as the weather and then quarantine had left all of them stuck at home, but the main topic of conversation was what was happening in town.

  Emily voiced what they were all feeling. “I just wish we knew what was happening or we could at least help in some way! I feel so helpless. We don’t even know who’s died or who’s sick!”

  Josh nodded. “Dad talked to Don Carver at the road block this morning after the dump truck came through and plowed the road. We took a load of pork in when the driver said they were running low on meat. Dad wouldn’t let me get out of the truck, but he filled me on what Don told him.”

  He looked around at his friend’s faces and swallowed hard. “Almost sixty dead and many still sick. All the meds they had are gone but most of what they had in stock didn’t really help anyway. Don said that they made contact with the military in Red Deer, but they aren’t able or don’t want to help us out with anything. Apparently, they have too many people in their camps as it is and not enough supplies. What they do have for meds they plan on holding tight to in case they get hit with the virus, too, so we’re on our own.”

  Alex and Dara’s eyes met. They had a very similar dilemma with the small amount of medicine in Mrs. Moore’s stockpile. T
hey both looked away in frustration. How could they condemn the military for withholding the drugs when they were doing the exact same thing?

  Josh interrupted their thoughts. “I’m sick of just sitting around here doing nothing! I want to help in some way. I don’t know, maybe go find medicine or something!”

  Alex looked around at the nodding, frustrated faces of her friends. They were all sick of being caged in but there wasn’t any choice.

  “I’m just as frustrated as the rest of you. If it was any other season I’d say let’s go but this weather would kill us if we tried. The only reason we’re even seeing each other today is because that plow opened up our road and we could drive. The temperature is too extreme to even think about taking the snowmobiles for more than a few miles.” She shook her head, “At least we can see each other a little more now. With the road open and all of us healthy, our parents should be more open to letting us move around a bit. Let’s plan on meeting at my place in a few days. Maybe we’ll know more about what’s happening in town after our families make a food delivery to the roadblock.” Alex looked at Josh with a silent plea for him to get Quinn to come. As usual, he knew exactly what she wanted and gave a nod.

  They spent the next hour catching up with each other and they were all disappointed when their parents called for them to head home. Alex’s parents decided not to visit anyone else that day, she was sad and relieved all at the same time. On the one hand, she desperately wanted to mend things with Quinn, but on the other, she was terrified that he would dismiss her again, firmly closing the door on any chance they had at a future together.

  Everyone in Alex’s house was in a better frame of mind after getting out and socializing for a few hours but it only lasted for a couple days. There was nothing new from town when her dad dropped off supplies. It was the second day that the news he brought back sent them all into depression with a feeling of helplessness.

  Her father’s face was drawn and tired as he told them what he had learned. “It’s worse. They had six more deaths in the last day and eight more have come down with symptoms. Dr. Mack is overwhelmed with the patients he already has at the community center so what’s left of the council has decided to enforce a house by house quarantine. No one is allowed to leave their homes and move about town and anyone who comes down sick will have to stay where they are.” His eyes welled up with misery. “That pretty much sentences anyone else in that house to getting the virus, too. It’s extreme but they hope it will keep it contained and it’ll burn out this way.” He rubbed at his weary face before continuing, “They can’t even bury the bodies because the ground is so frozen and the remains are too dangerous to store until spring. Apparently, they’ve had to burn all the bodies. I understand that, but it’s tragic that there can’t even be funerals for the families. There will have to be a memorial service for all of them once this is over.”

  Alex felt sick to her stomach with grief and frustration. All she could think was there would be no memorial if no one survived the virus. Her eyes met Dara’s and she saw the same emotions there as well. After everything that the town had been through and all the fighting they had done to free them, it was unbelievable that this was how it would end. She wanted to scream and rage at the world and the idiots that had caused the world to be in this state. The impotent frustration that boiled inside of her had her bolting from the kitchen.

  Dara joined her in the mud room without a word as they both geared up in heavy winter outerwear. The bitter air was a slap to their faces as they left the house and headed towards the RV. Alex raised a hand to her wool-covered head and tried to rub away the headache she woke up with this morning. Her first breath of the cold air had amplified it, sending a sharp spike of pain to her temples.

  The girls entered the RV and both held their breath as the engine stuttered a few times before finally catching. The cold was wearing everything down. They took their seats at the small dinette table and waited for the furnace to gradually warm up the air.

  Dara shook her head with a frown before asking, “What are we going to do next winter? I mean, if we even make it through this one! The gas and propane will only last so long and then we will be totally dependent on wood for heat.” When Alex just gave her a hopeless shrug, she changed the subject. “I wish we could do something to help. I feel like a monster for not handing over the small amount of medicine at Mrs. Moore’s.”

  Alex dropped her aching head into her mitten-covered hands and groaned. “I don’t think I can handle this anymore. I just want to scream in frustration. We’re trapped every way I turn. It’s too cold to go anywhere and search for more medicine and if we give them the little we have, what happens if one of us gets sick? There’s no right answer here and I just don’t want that choice on my shoulders!” She let out a deep sign and lifted her head to meet Dara’s gaze. “I think we should give the meds to my parents and let them decide.”

  Dara frowned and bit her lip in thought before slowly nodding her head. She was about to respond when they heard the sound of engines coming closer. As one, they leaned towards the small frosted window at the end of the table and started scraping the frost from the glass to see who had come.

  A grin split Dara’s face as she leaned back from the window. “It’s my goof boy and it looks like he brought your…err, Quinn.” She finished with a wince.

  Alex slid away from the window with an uncertain expression. Seeing Quinn had her heart soaring and then falling all at once. She was slightly disgusted with herself when the sight of two more snowmobiles carrying the rest of their friends filled her with relief because it meant there would be a buffer between her and Quinn.

  A blast of arctic air blew through the camper as everyone climbed in and found places to sit or lean. A quick glance in Quinn’s direction showed Alex his unreadable blank expression so she quickly looked away and sent smiles to the rest of her friends as they pulled off hats, gloves and scarves. Once everyone was settled, Josh launched into the latest news.

  “First off, can someone please explain why we left sunny California and rushed back here to where the air literally breaks our faces? I mean, come on! This is getting ridiculous even for Alberta.” He looked at all his friend’s faces and let out a deep sigh before continuing. “I’m sure you’ve all heard what our dads learned at the roadblock today but something else has come up.” He paused with a grim look before swallowing hard. “The virus has made it out of the town’s borders. It sounds like a few people bolted when Dr. Mack and the council announced the quarantine of all houses. I guess they thought they could get out before they caught it, but it was too late, and now they’ve spread it to one of the farms.”

  Gasps and shocked expressions filled every face in the group.

  “Who’s farm?” Alex whispered as if saying it quietly could protect them.

  Josh’s expression was filled with fury before it crumpled into anguish. “The Curry’s.”

  Alex sat back in her seat like he had punched her. The Curry farm was one of the largest farms on the south side of town and they had taken in twenty-five people from town as well as their own six. Alex had babysat their four children regularly before the lights went out. She also knew that there were at least ten other children staying on the farm with their families. The tears flowed hot like lava down her cold cheeks as her eyes flew to Dara. How could they even think about holding back the medicine from those kids?

  Quinn’s angry declaration interrupted her thoughts. “No one is coming onto my property! We’ve set up rotating guards and all of you should, too!” His eyes were hard and his mouth a firm line.

  Alex had never seen this side of Quinn before and she didn’t know what to say. She was saved from having to respond when David jumped to his feet in anger.

  “So what? You’re just going to shoot anyone who comes to you for help? What is wrong with you, Quinn? What happened to turn you into this, this…jerk?”

  Quinn looked at him with contempt. “Please, give me a break David
! It’s no different than them bringing a loaded weapon and pointing it at my family. I will do whatever it takes to protect the people I’m responsible for but it’s no surprise that you wouldn’t. Ever since this started you’ve sat back and looked down on us while all the rest of us did the dirty work to keep you and your family safe. Why change now?”

  Alex surged to her feet. “Quinn! That’s enough! Instead of attacking your friends, how about you help us figure out a way to fix this?”

  She caught the briefest flash of sadness in his eyes when he turned to her but it quickly disappeared when he responded.

  “There is no way to fix it without medicine and no one can get out to scavenge for medicine with the temperature being so low. Just coming here across the field risks frostbite! I would love to say let’s go to the city and hit a hospital but we’d be dead before we made it ten miles from town! So tell me - how do you think we can fix this, Alex?”

  Alex gritted her teeth against the pain in her head before bringing her hands up and rubbing at her temples in frustration.

  “Arrrrr, I don’t know but there’s got to be something other than letting everyone die or shooting anyone who comes near us! I just can’t think with this headache.”

  Everyone started talking and arguing at once so Alex closed her eyes and willed her headache to go away. She felt someone rubbing her back and for a brief moment she thought Quinn was back, but when she opened her eyes it was Josh standing beside her squinting at her in concern.

  “I’m with you, Red. I woke up with a pounder myself. I’d roll someone for an extra strength Advil right about now!”

  Alex winced in agreement but then her eyes flew wide in understanding. It took Josh a half a beat to understand as well and then his eyes flew wide too. Alex turned to the rest of the group and yelled them into quiet.