by SM Olivier
“You brought this on yourself.” Uncle Mitch scowled at her.
Trevor leaned down next to her ear and began to whisper to her urgently.
“I’m not saying sorry,” I heard her screech out before she pushed away from the table. “This is total bullshit! I’m not a workhorse. I shouldn’t have to work.”
“Yes, you should!” Trevor stood up, showing a rare show of anger. “It’s not fair to Uncle Mitch or our families to throw a temper tantrum. Please, Em, apologize.”
Corbin snorted and shook his head. Trevor shot him a look of loathing before he tried to pull Emery close and comfort her.
“If you don’t work, you don’t eat, Emery Rose.” Aunt Carol glared at her. “You’re acting like a spoiled teenager, not a twenty-one-year-old woman.”
Emery teared up dramatically and turned into Trevor’s chest. “I can’t believe you’re treating me like this. I’m family. I’m scared, and I miss my daddy. Why can’t you give me some more time?”
Corbin stood up and glared at her. “Not everything is about you, Em. You think we all want to be in this situation? Don’t you think we all have someone we miss? You’re going to have to get over yourself and suck it up.”
She recoiled before she was on the defense once more. “This all started because I called your little whore out.” She glared at me. “Are you happy that their all ganging up on me?”
“Don’t call her that again,” Kingston said in a quiet, deadly tone. “You behave as if you didn’t corner me last night in just your underwear. You propositioned me while your sister’s ex-boyfriend was waiting for you at your cabin. Let’s not throw stones from glasshouses. Your sister has more class in her pinky than you have in your entire body.”
Trevor recoiled away from her. “What?” he inquired in a hurt tone. “Did you really do that?”
“No!” she cried out, looking panicked. “He’s lying!”
Kingston began to laugh mirthlessly, crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head. “Can we get on with this meeting? Your need for attention is comical.”
“Why would he lie about something like that?” Trevor inquired with a deep frown. “You disappeared last night for a little while. Where did you go?”
A small part of me felt sympathy for Trevor. I knew how it felt to be betrayed. However, if Emery ever cheated on him, wasn’t that karma coming back around?
I refused to acknowledge Emery and dug back into my soup like the whole conference room wasn’t becoming privy to my private life. It hurt me and made me mystified by how we were sisters. More than sisters. We were identical twins. I couldn’t understand how BJ and I could be so different. The same people raised us.
“She’s having them lie about me now,” Emery pouted. “She’s mad that we’re together and wants everyone to hate me.”
“You’re bringing this on yourself, Emery,” BJ huffed out. “Stop lying. Stop trying to blame others for your behavior. Just leave. Some of us want to get some sleep tonight because we earned it. It’s sad that you want to continue tearing Avery down and blame her for your actions. She’s our sister. Why are you so jealous of her, Emery?”
“I’m not jealous of Avery. I just don’t think it’s fair she gets preferential treatment. Avery was late to our meeting. She disrupted it.” Then her lips twisted grotesquely before she smirked. “Aunt Pam, Uncle Mitch, and Aunt Carol, what do you think about your sons sleeping with their cousin? You told some people tonight that they couldn’t have a cabin because it needed to go to family units first. Yet you gave her a cabin with her boyfriends. Why do Trevor and I have to live in the big house with ya’ll, and they get their own space? You’ve always favored her over me!”
Aunt Pam stood up and glared at Emery. She rarely got angry, and I cringed at the look in her eyes. “Emery, stop disrupting this meeting. There isn’t enough room up at the house for all of them, and they are a team. They have more than pulled their weight around here, and in your father’s absence, he appointed Avery a decision-maker. If she wants a cabin, she’ll get one.”
When Emery went to protest, Aunt Pam held up her hand. “Before you start throwing more of a pity party, it would behoove you to remember how irresponsible you’ve behaved in the past. You haven’t shown any fiscal or personal responsibility, to the point where your father has had to pay for your expenses time and time again to bail you out. Avery has demonstrated her maturity for years now. She didn’t blow through her grandparents’ inheritance, her mother’s inheritance, and modeling money as you have. She got scholarships on her own merit and has never had to call your father for a single dime.
“You’re spreading lies about your sister. Don’t think I haven’t heard them. You are with Trevor now, and by your own accusations, he’s your cousin, too, dear. You need to start doing some soul-searching and determine if you’re the cause of most of your problems. Corbin is an adult. If he entered into an arrangement with Avery, then it’s their business and no one else's. I, for one, love the fact that at least one of my sons will be happy.”
Emery recoiled back, and for a split second, I believed Aunt Pam had truly hurt her. Real tears entered her eyes, and she appeared wounded by the inference that Trevor wouldn’t be happy with her.
“I second that for Wyatt,” Aunt Carol said with determination. “Avery has a huge heart, and I’ve seen how happy she’s made Wyatt. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to his father and me.”
I felt my heart expand at their approval as Aunt Pam smiled at me.
“Maybe you need a little time out,” Uncle Mitch said. “Meet me at the dining hall at 0700. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
“Whatever. Are you coming with me?” Emery turned to Trevor.
He had sat back down and put his head in his hands. His eyes met mine for a moment, and for a split second, I was transported back in time to when I had opened the door of his bedroom. I had cried out like a wounded animal when I saw him lying beside Emery. He had woken up and looked at me in confusion before he looked over at a smiling Emery. When he had gazed back at me, I saw the horror, regret, and pain once he’d realized his mistake.
He had chased me out of his room, buck naked, as I called Sylvia to come pick me back up, hoping she hadn’t gotten that far. He tried to beg me to forgive him, tried to convince me he hadn’t realized what he’d done. Sobbing, I’d told him I couldn’t be with him anymore, that I had needed him all day and he hadn’t been there. I informed him about our lost Bella and told him I couldn’t forgive him for his mistake. He had collapsed on the bottom of the stairs, amid red solo cups, beer bottles, female undergarments, and the rest of the party wreckage from the night before, begging me to return, revealing in every expression that he’d regretted his blunder.
Now as he looked at me, I wanted to feel sympathy, but he had brought this all on himself. I turned away.
“No, Em,” he said finally. “I have a responsibility here, and I’m going to take it seriously. We have no choice but to start acting like it.”
I refused to look at her as she left the room. Wyatt came over and pulled me from the chair and back into his lap. He squeezed me close, and Easton reached over to grab my hand as the meeting finally began.
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“Do you think if we were to procure campers and RVs that it would be a better long term solution?” Axel inquired as he jotted something down in his notebook. “If we continue finding more survivors, maybe the camper cabins can be used as transient facility until we can determine if the people will contribute as they should. You have all that space and hookups for campers and RVs, and they’re not being utilized.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Aunt Carol enthused. “Young girls like Michaela shouldn’t have to share a cabin with all the rest of the single females. She’s determined to take care of her siblings, and she should have the space to do so.”
“Should a girl of fifteen be given that amount of space?” Amy asked hesitantly. “Maybe it’s best if we take care of h
er siblings and keep her in the single female cabin.”
“We tried to offer it,” Aunt Pam said with a slight frown. “She was opposed to the idea. She feels like her siblings are her responsibility. Plus, she’s already more than proven herself. She deserves the space, but the hunter cabins may be too big.”
“There’s an RV dealership not too far from here,” Eddie stated. “If we leave in the morning with enough people, we should be able to make one trip.”
“Okay,” Uncle Mitch said as he walked back over to me. “So, who do we have available to make the run?”
I had volunteered to take over the whiteboard, with the list of everyone’s specialties. I had neat penmanship, and the project played to my strengths of organization. I had written out our primary focus areas: kitchen, clean up, contracting, gardens, livestock, security, recovery, and stocking. It was easy to slot some people into their “jobs,” but there were others, like me, that would be considered a floater.
Out of necessity, people like Josh and Chad would have to lead the gardens and livestock occupations until everything was established and we had the right people allotted to those jobs. Both men were better utilized on security and recovery, but we couldn’t move them just yet since they were the only ones with real experience when it came to farming and raising animals.
“These are the people that have no real spots yet,” I stated as I began to list the people with no real “talents.”
“I don’t think it should be any of our newcomers,” Axel stated firmly. “I don’t like the idea of sending any of my men out with untrained civilians until I feel comfortable with their abilities.” He eyed me warily as if he expected me to protest, but I wholeheartedly agreed.
“And people like Rhys Miller should never be required to do any recovery,” Corbin added. “He has two young kids, and he can efficiently work security here without putting him in direct danger.”
“How do we know when people can go with the recovery team?” Donny inquired. “Our list is long, and the longer we wait, the likelihood of danger of the undead kind arises.”
“They can start on security,” Uncle Mitch stated. “Between me, Axel, and Joe, we’ll determine if they can be better utilized out there and decide what we absolutely need, from most important to least.”
“We have to be realistic, though, and accept that most of them won’t want the job or simply can’t do the job,” Axel stated bluntly. “From the sounds of it, Rhys and three other people could handle the stress and protect the super-mart they were holed up in. It’s important anyone out there doesn’t become a liability.”
“It’s a reasonable expectation,” Uncle Mitch agreed. “How does our food supply look?”
“I’ll go through the pantries tomorrow,” Trudy stated. “Obviously, we hadn’t planned on all the extra mouths to feed, so we have limited resources. Can I give you my list by lunch?”
“Sounds good.” Axel nodded. “I’ll need Eddie’s and Donny’s expertise for prime locations to acquire the goods. However, I am inclined to agree with Donny. I think we need to have a team or two dispatched every day. We already know there are just some items we need, regardless of a list.”
“Okay.” Uncle Mitch nodded. “Any other suggestions to make sure our community thrives?”
“Gas is not an infinite source. The equipment we have runs on gas, but we need to think about the long-term supply,” Josh stated.
“We already have a few gas carts in the supply building,” Wyatt stated. “We can go back to the mall and start siphoning the gas from the vehicles in the parking lot.”
“Maybe we should hit up an automotive store, too, for fuel stabilizer, just in case the gas we get goes bad,” Kingston suggested. “Plus, we’ll need a mechanic for maintenance of the vehicles and campers we plan on getting. Felix has a basic understanding of engines and mechanics, but maybe we should approach Warren and find out how much he really knows about that stuff.”
Warren was one of the guys that had arrived tonight. We were pleasantly surprised to find more than a handful of people with experience that would help our community in the long run.
“I’ll approach him in the morning,” Uncle Mitch agreed. “I already had the electrician and contractor approach me at dinner. They seem eager to jump into any projects. I know we need to finish installing those solar panels, just in case. And I’m hoping to have the contractor team up with Donny and have them start on sectioning off the camper cabins. Even if they are used as temporary living facilities, I want people to have some semblance of privacy. Anything else we should address right now?”
“I think we need to be mindful of how we handle our waste,” Chad spoke up next. “We have pigs now. Our feed is limited, and pigs and chickens can be scavengers. Recycling and reusing waste will be important in the months ahead. I noticed a lot of people were quick to throw away uneaten food today, when the pigs and chickens will eat most of it if not all. We just need to be careful not to give the chickens garlic or onions. Scraps would cut back on some of their normal feed. I’ll find some old trash cans, and we’ll label them. It’s not like we have trash collections coming by anymore.”
“I didn’t even think about the trash and recyling issue. I’ll make sure to start recycling back in the kitchens, too,” Trudy stated. “I forgot my grandma used to feed the chickens a lot of our food prep waste.”
“Perfect,” Chad said with a smile before looking at Donny. “I think I’ll have Sam collect the food waste after every meal.”
Donny smirked. “I’ll let him know in the morning.”
“Should we require someone that young to do that?” Eddie said with a slight frown. “Shouldn’t we let the kids be kids? I don’t want to put that much responsibility on their young shoulders.”
“He has a learner’s permit,” Donny said with a shrug. “If society thinks he’s old enough to be responsible behind the wheel, then he’s old enough to help around the campground.”
“We can even give some of the younger ones chores. It’ll be good for them,” Aunt Carol added. “I’ll take a few of them down to the chickens tomorrow morning and we’ll collect eggs.”
“I’m sure some of them would love to feed the little ones,” Wyatt said with a small smile.
Axel’s team had taken Bane with them to a local farm and garden, center along with a small group of people. He said Bane did great, and the store wasn’t even touched by the infected or any looters, surprisingly enough.
The team had been able to secure a couple tractor-trailers and nearly emptied the store of anything useful. They procured garden equipment, more fruit and nut trees, fruit bushes, seeds, and different kinds of feed. The store still had animals as well. The team had returned with over fourteen dozen different chickens, ducks, rabbits, and turkeys. They said it appeared like an employee had dumped bags of food in their enclosures and left gallons of water to keep them sustained.
The fowl were currently in the greenhouses, under heat lamps, until they were old enough to be slowly introduced to the other flock of chickens we were able to obtain. The kids had gone crazy over the tiny new additions.
Chad and Donny had a lot of work cut out for them tomorrow. The roosting boxes and perches would have to be built for the chickens. Some of the fencing needed repairing, and chicken wire would have to be erected around the fence as well, to prevent any predators from coming in.
“I’ll take one of the older kids over to show them how to care for them,” Aunt Carol volunteered.
“All good things. Okay, so let’s finalize this list, and we’ll leave shortly after breakfast,” Uncle Mitch said. “We’ll have another breakdown meeting tomorrow night, but earlier.”
We all laughed. It wasn’t even midnight yet, but we were all feeling today’s activities. I was relieved when Stephanie had volunteered to watch Isa. I was so close to bringing her since I missed her, but Easton reasoned with me. She had been sleeping for hours, and it didn’t make sense to wake her and disrupt her sle
ep.
“We’ll have the list ready by breakfast,” Corbin reassured Uncle Mitch before he walked over to where I was standing.
“I can stay back,” Uncle Mitch blustered.
“Go to sleep, old man,” Wyatt teased before coming over to the whiteboard as well.
“I’ll show you old man,” Uncle Mitch teased before putting Wyatt into a headlock. “Carol, keep the bed warm. I’ll be up in a little bit.” Uncle Mitch was built similar to his son and still in great shape. If they were serious, I had a feeling the wrestling would be a pretty even match.
“I’ll more than keep it warm for you,” Carol said suggestively with a bold wink.
“Mom!” Wyatt cried out in horror while making no real move to break his dad’s hold. “I can’t unhear these things!”
“Good, take some notes,” Aunt Carol said saucily. “Ask your dad for some pointers. After nearly thirty years of marriage, your father still keeps me satisfied. I’m sure Avery would love to say the same in thirty years.”
“Mom!”
“Aunt Carol!”
We cried out simultaneously as everyone laughed at our expense.
Everyone began to trickle out. Aunt Pam made a stop by Corbin first. He reached down and gave her a hug and a kiss on her cheek.
“You better treat her right,” I heard her murmur to him.
Corbin looked over at me and gave me a warm smile that made butterflies take flight in my stomach. I didn’t know I could feel so special and cherished by a mere smile. It was hard to imagine that my ex-fiance's brother and childhood friend could ever garner the affection I felt for him now.
“Always, Ma, always.” He kissed her forehead. “Night, see you in the morning.”
Aunt Pam came over to me and took my hands in hers before standing on her tiptoes and kissing my cheek.
“I love you,” I mumbled to her, still grateful for her acceptance of my relationship with Corbin and his friends.
“I love you, too, honey.” She smiled. “It wasn’t the way I planned it, but somehow I have a feeling your mother’s looking down on us now, laughing. She always thought it was going to be Corbin, until you and Trevor became inseparable. One of the last conversations I had with her, she told me how she envisioned your brother’s and sister’s future mates and your wedding with Corbin. I thought the disease had made her more confused than normal. I never corrected her, but maybe even then, she knew.”