Snow & Ash: Endless Winter (12 page)

“Well, that’s it, we had a good run. Almost seven years but there’s no denying it now. The well is dry.” Lance scrubbed at his face with his hands before turning to face all of us. “Honestly, that’s three years longer than I thought it would last.”

We all stand around the kitchen staring at the sink like it’ll magically start filling up with water despite Lance’s words until Ethan clears his throat.

“Alright, we knew this was going to happen and we’ve talked about it. We have two weeks of stored water in the barrels to take us through the transition to the hotel. We’ll be fine.”

Marsh grumbles in annoyance and I shake my head. “I can’t believe we have to move to the hotel. Ted and his men are such asshats!”

“Language!” Belle snaps but she also nods in agreement.

Lance holds up his hand to stop the flood of complaints that are about to pour out.

“Yes, they’re jerks but it’s not like we’ll be going in begging for scraps. We negotiated this move a while back. We have things and skills he wants for his group so we won’t exactly be under his thumb the way the others at the hotel are. We’ll be sharing their space and water but he won’t be ruling us like the others. We need to make this work. We need access to that water.”

I glance over at Sasha and frown. She’s gone even paler than normal. None of us have what you would call a tan with the sun barely showing through the dead sky since the bombs dropped but with her red hair she’s the palest of us all. I grit my teeth in frustration at the idea of putting her anywhere near Ted and his men. Every time we’ve met up with them to trade they leer at her and make nasty suggestive comments. She’s only just turned fifteen and she shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of BS. I turn back to Lance with a hard face and tone.

“I don’t like the creepy way they look at Belle and Sasha. We need to make it clear to them that they keep their hands to themselves and watch how they speak to them!”

Sasha’s face flames up into a red blush and Belle pulls her closer with a frown. I have to look away at the adoring look Sasha sends my way. She started looking at me differently about a year ago and it’s uncomfortable. She’s my little sister and she always will be so I wish she’d knock it off. Marsh’s muffled snort draws my attention and he bats his eyes at me like a love sick fool which earns him a solid arm punch.

Lance shoots Marsh a “that’s enough look” before turning to the girls.

“You two have nothing to worry about. I’ve already discussed that with Ted. I’ve made it clear that they’re to keep their distance from the both of you and that the first man to harass you in any way will get an arrow through the throat. He’s assured me he’ll keep his men under control.”

Belle nods in relief but I don’t buy it. Ted and his men have ruled over the survivors at the hotel for too many years. They treat those people like slaves and they’re used to getting what they want. Marsh and I will have to stay close to the girls to make sure they’re safe.

“Will there be other kids for me to play with?”

Matty’s bouncing on his feet in hopeful excitement making my heart tug for him. Poor kid might have been safe and fed all these years but he’s lonely for other children to play with. We all take turns playing with him and Belle and Ethan teach him school work but he needs to run and yell and play with kids his own age. I put him in a headlock and give him a head rub causing him to belt out a laugh.

“We’ll see squirt. There should be a few kids over there but you still need to stay tight with us for safety.”

He wiggles out of my grasp with a hoot of triumph and bounces over to a box in a corner that’s overflowing with toys. A wave of love fills me. I’m so grateful I have Matty. Belle, Sasha, Lance, Ethan and Marsh are my family but Matty’s my blood. He’s a reminder everyday of Mom.

“Alright, every one, we need to start packing. This move will take a lot longer than when we came here from the store. The hotel is a lot further away but at least this time we can do it during the day. We’re stripping this place bare but we’re leaving the cached supplies in the hiding places. We don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. All the plants need to go though so we need to start transferring all the box gardens into containers. We’ve scavenged plenty of them so we should be able to transfer everything.

Even with the large wagon we built a few years ago it’s going to take many trips. We need to do this ourselves. We don’t want Ted’s people to know everything we have so we cover as much as we can with tarps. They’ll know we have a lot but they won’t know exactly what we have. I’m going to head over there in a bit to let him know we’re ready to move and take a good look at the rooms they’re giving us. Once we move the first load over, someone will need to stay over there and keep guard. We might have to live with them but we will NEVER trust them.”

It took us five very long and tense days to move everything we wanted into the hotel. It was incredibly stressful being on edge constantly as Ted and his men watched our every move. Marsh, Ethan and I rotated guarding our rooms as the others made trip after trip hauling our supplies. Every one of us had to turn away one of Ted’s men at the door when they came sniffing around to try and get a look at what we had, or what they thought they might be able to steal from us. We truly were moving into a viper’s nest.

Lance had turned down the rooms Ted wanted us in. The guy tried to put us smack dab in between his men’s rooms but Lance said no so our living area was in an unoccupied wing with seven connecting rooms. Before we could move in we had to haul beds out of three of the rooms so we could set up a living room, kitchen area, storage room and a growing room. We took the interior connecting doors off all of the rooms except for the ones we would be using for sleeping and used them to barricade all but two of the corridor doors. Being so far away from the main hotel population meant we would have to haul buckets of water, but it was worth it for our privacy and security. Once we had everything moved in we went to work setting up makeshift wood stoves that we had made from clothes dryer drums. Then we set up our small windmills on the roof above our rooms with the wires coming in through a small hole Lance drilled above the window and to the bank of batteries inside.

We were dependant on Ted for water but we would try and be self-sufficient in every other way. The price we paid for daily water rations was Lance and Ethan’s skills. Lance would now hunt for both our group and the hotel and Ethan would take shifts doctoring. The rest of us would continue doing what we had been doing for the last seven years. Belle schooled Matty and Sasha and kept our food growing with Marsh's and my help. The two of us did security and scavenged goods from the town when Lance or Ethan was around to watch over the girls and Matty.

We were all bone tired by the time it was all done and we were sitting down to the first real meal in our new home when a knock came on the door. Every one of us turned to stare at the door. Lance gave a weary sigh.

“I guess this’ll be the new normal. Seven years with not one visitor. That was nice.”

He pushed away from the table and reached for the compound bow that he never went anywhere without before opening the door. I tipped my chair back to see around Belle and promptly dropped it back on all fours before nodding at Marsh and Ethan and shooting to my feet. They followed suit and we formed a line shoulder to shoulder between the door and the table.

“It’s Ted and some of his men.” I told them in a low voice.

Marsh and I might not be as strong or as hard as Lance but we both had shot up to near six feet in the last three years. Marsh was all long arms and legs but I had a decent width to my shoulders. Living on wild protein and home grown vegetables without the processed junk we used to eat had cut any excess flab from our frames. Chopping wood daily and hauling everything we needed on our backs had added muscle. We might not intimidate them but we would hold our own if we had too.

“Hello Ted. What can I do for you?” Lance asked while blocking the door.

“Lance, I just wanted to come by and welcome you all to my hotel. Make sure you’re all settling in ok, see if you needed anything.”

“Thanks, we’re settling in just fine.”

There was a pause before Ted spoke again, “Surely you’ll invite your new neighbours in?”

I could see Lance cock his head to the side before answering giving me a glimpse of Ted’s hard expression.

“Well to be honest Ted, we’re not quite ready to host such a large house warming party. We’re also just sitting down to dinner.”

Again there was a pause as if Ted was waiting for Lance to say more. He finally gave a fake laugh.

“Don’t worry about it, we won’t keep you long from your table. How about just me and Mickey come in? It’s only the right thing to do. As your host I feel it’s only proper for me to welcome your people personally.”

I saw Lance tense up but he stepped back and allowed Ted and his number one man into the room before shutting the door on the other smirking men in the hall.

I met Ted’s eyes with a level, blank stare. The last thing we wanted was a confrontation so soon after moving in. There was nothing physically special about the man. He was average height with mouse brown hair and plain brown eyes. It was the look in those eyes that put you on edge. They were always looking at everything and they gleamed with calculation. His number one man, Mickey was another story. Everything about the guy screamed “thug”. Bald on top, with long greasy hair that hung past his shoulders. His skin was heavily tattooed and exposed as he always seemed to be wearing a tank top. In the frigid cold we lived with every day it was a stupid way to project just how tough he wanted everyone to think he was. He had beady, watery eyes that always seemed to look at you with contempt.

Ted pasted a slimy insincere smile across his face as he stepped deeper into the room.

“Boys, Ethan welcome to my home. We look forward to you treating our aches and pains doc.” He took a good long look around the room and craned his neck to see into the next one before Lance smoothly stepped forward and blocked his view. Ted’s smile dimmed but he side stepped around Ethan so he had a direct line of sight to the dining room table we had hauled over and the girls sitting at it.

“Ladies, welcome to my home! We’re so happy to have such loveliness brighten our dreary halls!”

Belle and Sasha stared back at him but only gave brief nods. Matty, unaware of the tension in the room bounced in his seat.

“Hi, I’m Matty! Do you have kids I can play with?”

Ted’s lost his smile completely for a second before he flashed it back on at Belle.

“Why, what a charming child! Is he yours?”

Again Belle didn’t speak but gave another sharp nod pulling Matty’s chair closer to hers.

“Well, I do believe there are a few other children around here somewhere but not very many. Such a hard cruel world we now live in that such…fragile children don’t survive long.”

His tone was sweet and wistful but I took his words as a veiled threat so I moved behind Belle and placed my hand on Matty’s shoulder before speaking to him.

“Matty doesn’t need to be strong when he has all of us protecting him.” My tone wasn’t harsh but it wasn’t nice either, causing Ted’s eyebrows to lift up in amusement.

“Of course, of course and clearly you’ve all done such a good job, so far.”

My fist and teeth clenched in anger and I would of said more but I caught Lance’s subtle head shake and hard expression that smoothed out instantly when Ted turned to him.

“Well, I’m very glad to see you all settling in. Now, we should go over the expectations and compensations of you all living in my home.”

Lance’s face went hard, very hard and he took a heavy step towards Ted causing Micky to step forward also with a gleam of anticipation in his eyes.

“That was already negotiated between us! The deal stands!” Lance said in a menacing tone.

Ted waved his hands around the room taking us all in. “Yes, yes, I just want to make sure everyone is on the same page. As discussed, you will hunt and provide much needed meat for the community as well as be added to the security roster. Your, umm,
partner
, will treat our ailments and attend to any injuries that might surface. What I wish to discuss is what the rest of your group will be doing to contribute to the good of the community? As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

I hate this guy. He’s so slick with his proper words and fake tone when it’s clear to see he only wants to insult Lance and Ethan’s relationship and have the rest of us under his thumb. I try to keep a straight face when Lance crosses his arms and shakes his head.

“Nothing. They will bring nothing to your community. The meat I will bring in and security shifts as well as
my husband’s
medical skill’s will be more than enough to cover their water rations. None of us will need a free lunch from you or your people. As I told you before, this arrangement is for water and nothing else. We will feed ourselves and protect ourselves. If anything, you all are getting more from us than what we are getting. Should we NEED anything more from you we will negotiate a trade on a case by case basis. Now, with that being cleared up let’s definitely be on the same page. If you need me or Ethan then you may send one, ONE of your men to come and get us but other than that there is no reason that any of your men should be in this wing of the hotel. Just to be clear, we are NOT your people. We are trading partners only and that was the deal I made with you from the start. If that no longer applies then we can be out of here in twenty four hours.”