Snow & Ash: Endless Winter (13 page)

All eyes in the room were fixed on Ted’s no longer smiling face. All the fake smiles and slickness were gone as he glared at Lance and then like a switch had been flicked they slid back into place.

“Yes of course, that was the deal we negotiated and I stand by my word. I merely wondered if your people would be interested in participating with the community. I’m sorry if you took it otherwise.

You may want to train your people in your spare time though. There’s a chance we will need all the fighters we can get in the coming months. I’ve recently received information on a possible threat to us. It seems your well wasn’t the only one to go dry. There’s a large group up at one of the ski resorts and their well has gone dry also. My informant tells me they’re considering making a try for the hotel. Unfortunately, they aren’t as civilized as us. I’ve heard they’ve become rather…primal, if you will.
MY
men won’t be able to protect YOUR people if we’re attacked. So you should take precautions.”

Lance’s face was blank but I could see the fury in his eyes as he gave a sharp nod and then walked to the door and held it open for Ted and Mickey. The two men left without another word. The room was silent as we all thought over the implications of what we had just learned until Lance sat back down at the table. He picked up his fork to eat the now cold dinner in front of him before dropping it back down.

“I’m sorry everyone. This was a mistake. I’m sure that bastard knew about the threat before we made our deal. He was looking for more fighters to handle it. We need to start looking for another base. Boys, Ethan and I will have to hold up our end of the deal so that leaves you two. I know you’ve both been all over this town by now so I need you to start searching again. We need a place that’s close to the edge of town that has a well. We can set up the windmills and batteries to work a pump. Start looking on the other side of the highway on the opposite end of town from where our old base was. If we can find a place over there, it will put quite a bit of distance between this hotel and the ski resort. This isn’t our fight and I have no plans on making it ours. We need to be very careful and trust no one but the people at this table. We’re getting out of here!”

Man I’m tired. The past week has been catching up on butter and cheese making as well as canning vegetables and fruit. I honestly can’t think of a good reason why I do it except Dad started us on it and I’ve just kept to his plan. We don’t even need this stuff. There are so many supplies in this place and the barracks next door that Ben and I could live to a hundred and never run out. I guess it just helps to stay busy and feel like I’m accomplishing something. There’s a feeling of satisfaction when I see all those pretty filled glass jars all lined up but man, it’s a lot of work.

Ben’s taken to video games like a fish needs water. I had to put a timer on his playing after the first few days. The kid would play from morning to night if I let him. He needs to stick to his schooling and chores schedule. If the world ever gets back on track out there he’s going to need to know things to help rebuild when he grows up. Sometimes I feel completely hopeless about the future but I can’t quite give up. Something will change one day and we’ll leave this place and be with other people. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

I’m both excited and terrified for that to happen. My entire social structure has been one small boy, an annoying computer voice and characters in TV shows and movies. I’m so lonely for a real friend that sometimes I make up situations in my head where I have a group of girlfriends and we laugh and tease each other about boys. Sadly, those imaginary girls are all from the TV shows I’ve watched. What scares me is that I won’t know what to say to real people if I ever get the chance. Or even worse, there won’t be any people left by the time I leave here.

My mood’s taken a downturn these last few days and depression is starting to set in again. It’s time for me to take a walk through the dead forest and sit under the broken sky. It’s been months since the last time I went out so I go track down Ben. He’s right where I thought he’d be, with the cow. Ben treats the cow like a pet every chance he gets. Dad and I had never named the cow but when Ben started to get older he insisted that we name the beast. So cow became Nods. Dumb name, but he picked it because every time he talks to her she nods her head like she’s agreeing with him, must be nice to always be right in her eyes. I wonder if she’s as lonely for her kind as I am for mine because I swear she gets excited when Ben comes to visit her. She’s like a dog with Ben, nodding her head and bumping it into his scrawny chest in affection. She even gives him nasty swipes from her enormous tongue now and again making him giggle madly. Me, I get the cold shoulder and have to watch and dodge for a kick now and then. Not sure what I ever did to her but I’m so not her favorite.

“Hey Benny-boy, chores all done?” He and Nods nod in unison making me roll my eyes but grin too. “I’m going out today so hit the bathroom and grab a snack. You get your choice of movie or game for the next two hours.”

He lifts those sky blue eyes that exactly mirror mine up to me and they’re shinny with happiness before they dim.

“Sky, you’ll come back right?”

My mouth rounds in an oh. What, where’s this coming from?

“Of course I’m coming back! Why would you think I wouldn’t be?”

He looks away and rubs Nods velvety nose before answering me.

“Dad went out and never came back so I just wondered if one time you wouldn’t come back too.”

I’m at a total loss here. Ben was only two and a half when Dad died. I never told him what happened just that he had gone to Heaven to be with Mom so how does he…

“AIRIA!!!”

“I am sorry Skylar, he asked and I am not programmed to lie.”

I close my eyes in frustration for a second before kneeling down in front of Ben and taking his hands in mine.

“Listen Bug, I will always come back, ALWAYS! I will never not come back for you! AIRIA watches out for me when I go out. She’s always scanning the area out there for anything dangerous and I take my rifle with me as well. I’m very careful so that I will always come back to you. Ok?” He nods his head and so does the big idiot behind him. “Benny, you know you can talk to me, right? You don’t have to ask AIRIA, you can ask me anything. I promise I’ll always be straight with you. I’ll answer any questions you have.”

His sad little face scrunches up in determination. “I do have a question. Can I have another boy come for a sleepover?”

My mouth drops open. That so wasn’t what I thought he was going to ask. I take a deep breath to tell him about the fate of the world but he just plows ahead.

“Cuz I saw this movie where two buddies have a sleep over and they have gun battles with orange guns that shoot soft bullets and then they build a fort with furniture and blankets and then they eat pizza! Sky, what’s pizza?”

I just stare at him and try to keep the tears that are pushing at my eyes from showing. This kid, this poor sad lonely kid will never have a buddy to have Nerf gun battles with. I have to swallow hard to push down the absolute devastation I feel for all that he will never have.

“Benny, Ben, I’m sorry. There are no other boys that live around here to come and play. I wish there was. I really do! I know it’s not the same but tonight we
will
have pizza and then we’ll make the biggest furniture and blanket fort ever! I know it’s not the same and I don’t have any of those toy guns but I do know how to make sling shots. We can have an epic battle together.”

His face falls for a second but then firms up into a grin. He throws himself at me and wraps his skinny little arms around my waist. “That’s ok Sky. You’re my best friend! We’ll have a great time!”

I try to push a smile onto my face for him but it’s so hard when everything is cracking and breaking apart inside of me. I push him gently away from me.

“I don’t have to go out. I'm sorry, I didn’t know how worried it made you.”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s ok. You should go. You always come back happier. Really, I’m ok with it. Besides, you said two hours of gaming time! No take backs!”

I know I should stay in with him but I’m swamped with sadness and sliding quickly into despair. I need to get a handle on my emotions and going out is like hitting the reset button so I just nod.

I take a good long look at him before I step into the decontamination room. His whoop of joy at the massive car crash he has in his video game is like a balm to my heart so I step in and the door closes behind me. It doesn’t take me very long to suit up. I stopped wearing the containment suit a long time ago. I now wear a heavy white and grey snowsuit that I found with hundreds of identical ones in the barracks. It has a hood that closes tightly over my head and I wear goggles and a filtered mask to keep out the ash and snow that’s always blowing around.

“AIRIA, is the perimeter clear?”

“Skylar, nothing is currently detected. Increased cloud cover has made any satellite coverage unavailable. Do you wish for me to monitor Benny-boy’s movements?”

“Yes, same as last time.”

“Ten-four little buddy. Safe travels!”

I shake my head as I sling my rifle and clip on my communicator. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t of told her to search her data banks for slang and casual sayings. It kind of comes out creepy in her stilted mechanical voice.

It doesn’t take me long to reach the hunting stand and climb the footholds. I settle down on the stool and let the silence settle over me like a blanket. My eyes are on the boiling grey and black clouds in the sky as I let the memories of sun, laughter and happiness flood over me. I think about Mom and Dad and the life we had before the bombs. I make up fake memories of how my life would have gone if they had never dropped and I start to find peace. Mom and I are shopping for my first formal dress. I can see every detail of the perfect princess cut gown when it all goes away at AIRIA’s words from my waist.

“Skylar, movement detected.”

Everything freezes in that instant. All the memories and unfulfilled moments scatter like leaves in the wind and what replaces it is that I promised Ben I’d come back and the image of a bullet hole in my Dad’s back. I shoot to my feet and frantically search the forest for movement but don’t see anything.

My voice is a harsh whisper when I ask,

“Where, where are they? How many?”

“Skylar, four life forms detected. They have crossed the perimeter south of your location.”

South, south is the direction of the door. Can I make it back without them seeing me? If they see me go in then they’ll know where we live. Even if they can’t get in they’ll know where we are.

“AIRIA, can I make it back to the door before they do? Will they see me?”

“Skylar, detection would be seventy eight percent probable based on their current location and speed to yours.”

I can’t take the chance. I have to protect Benny and the location of the door. I have to hide. I scan the forest under me for a place to run to before I realise I’m already hidden. They have no reason to look up if I don’t give them one, so I drop down onto my belly and rest my cheek against the frozen wood with my rifle lying beside me, ready if I need it. I reach down and mute the volume so AIRIA won’t give me away at the wrong moment and then, then I wait.

I kick an empty windshield wiper fluid bottle out of my way as I make my way back to the hotel. It’s been another disappointing morning of not finding a new base. Marsh and I have been looking for a week now, me in the morning and him in the afternoon. It’s frustrating and just getting worse as the days go by and the tension gets thicker. Moving to the hotel was a definite mistake. The girls and Matty never leave the rooms because there always seems to be one of Ted’s men hanging around the doors to our wing. It’s almost like they’re guarding us and every time Marsh and I leave they ask where we’re going. They never get an answer from us, making them more and more hostile every day. We’ve taken to going out of our way and back tracking our route to make sure were not being followed. I’m starting to think there will be a fight when and if we do try and move somewhere else.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Belle so stressed out before and Sasha is driving me nuts. She’s bugging me every day to go with me on my searches. I know she has a crush on me and I should tell her it’s never going to happen but it feels like I’d be kicking a puppy if I do. Marsh doesn’t help matters the way he’s constantly razzing me about it. The rest of the time he’s looking at Sasha the way she’s looking at me. Uggg! If she’d just turn her head and look at Marsh, she’d see the way he feels about her and maybe leave me alone.

We don’t need this crap right now with all that’s going on, especially now that Lance is gone for a few days. Ted sent some of his men to scout out the ski resort group to try and find out if they were planning on making a move on the hotel. He insisted that Lance go with them because he’s the only one with a military background.

We've got to get out of that hotel! I can only pray that Marsh has more luck this afternoon. I scan the parking lot of the fast food place I’ve been meeting Marsh at to switch off and give him the search map we use to not overlap each other but there’s no sign of him. I give him ten minutes and then head towards the hotel. The temperature has been dropping for the past hour and my hands feel like ice bricks in my gloves. I’m so sick of this cold, barren world. I miss the sun and how it used to feel on my face.

I’m almost at the hotel parking lot and I keep expecting to see Marsh heading my way but he’s nowhere in sight. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this when I hear the sound of a metal door bang open and then close. That’s probably him heading my way now, but my stomach clenches as I pass the last building that blocks my sight of the hotel parking lot and I see Matty running towards me. My body goes colder than it already is but with fear, not the air temperature. I take off in a run to meet him halfway but after only a few strides I’m slowing down in confusion because he’s seen me and he’s grinning.

“Matty, what are you doing out here?” I yell across the last few yards making his grin slip slightly.

“Rex! Ethan sent for Marsh to go down and help him with a patient so I ran down here to tell you so you wouldn’t be waiting for him!”

I take a deep breath and chant to myself, “don’t yell, don’t yell” but I yell anyways.

“Matty, you’re not supposed to BE out here! What were you thinking?”

The kid’s grin is gone and a scowl fills his cute face.

“I’m not a BABY! I’m eight and a half, Rex. I can help out sometimes, you know! I was trying to be nice so you weren’t waiting around out here in the cold! Jeeze!!!”

I'm mad, but only because I’m terrified something might happen to him so I start nodding.

“I’m know you want to help and it was nice of you to think of me but listen Matty, things around here are…umff!”

Out of nowhere something dark and smelly is thrown over my head and what feels like steel bands clamp down on my arms. It takes me a minute to shake of the dumb confusion of what’s happening. Matty’s choked off scream of fear is like a dagger stabbing me with part fear part fury and I start thrashing with all I got until a sharp pain in the back of my head takes me away.

My head is pounding like someone’s using it for a drum and my stomach is aching like I took a punch to it. I try and stay still cuz I feel like any movement's going to make me puke. What the heck happened? Last thing I remember, I was in the parking lot looking for Marsh when…Matty! My eyes fly open but there’s something covering my face and I can’t see anything but dim light through a cloth. My hands automatically reach to pull it off but they’re stuck behind me tied up with rope. Something shifts against me and I realize someone’s leaning against me. I stay as still as possible and listen hard. There, it’s muffled through the cloth but I can hear breathing that hitches in silent sobs.

“Matty?” I whisper.

“Shh!” He shushes me and relief floods through me that he’s here with me. “Listen, they’re fighting.”

I try and get my breathing under control cuz it sounds so loud under the fabric and then I can just faintly hear them.

“…such an idiot! He’s going to be so pissed! You two were supposed to grab both the teenagers. Now what are we…” The angry voice fades out and I miss what it says next but I can put two and two together. They were supposed to grab me and Marsh but Matty was out in the lot instead. I strain harder and hear, “take him anyway. Get going and get back here quick.” I try and process what’s happening through the pain in my head. What do they want with us? They have to know our people will come looking for us, right? Who took us? Is it people from the ski resort or Ted’s guys?

Before I can think of anything else I hear footsteps heading towards us and feel Matty tense against me. Seconds later the bag is yanked off my head and I blink to clear my eyes. A snarl of rage slips out of my mouth when I see two of Ted’s men standing over us. The men are like night and day. One of them is very tall and broad across the shoulders and he’s scowling down at me. The other one is medium height but skinny like he hasn’t had a decent meal in years. He’s looking nervously at Matty and wringing his hands in worry. The big guy barks out a command at me.

“Get up!”

When I just sit there looking up at him, his lips compress tightly and he reaches down and hauls me to my feet. The other guy is gentler as he helps Matty up. We both have our hands tied behind us making it hard to stay balanced when big guy shoves me forward to start walking. I take a good look around to see where we are as I walk but there’s nothing except dead trees and the mountains in front of me. I almost face plant when I crane my head around to check that Matty’s behind me and look past him trying to see if anything’s familiar. I lose my balance and stagger to the side coming down hard on one knee. White hot pain shoots through my leg as I feel a sharp rock dig into my bone and I let out a gasp of pain.

“Get up!” growls big guy.

I try and struggle to my feet as involuntary tears start leaking from my eyes but I end up falling on my side. Matty drops to his knees beside me and starts crying when he sees my tears.

“Rex, are you ok? Rex, are you hurt?”

I shake my head at him and try and push the nausea back from the pain in my knee. I have to stay strong for the kid but he surprises me when his face goes all angry and he yells at the two men.

“He can’t get up! You have to untie him so he can walk you, you, asshat!”

Even through the pain and fear a jolt of shocked amusement flares up in me. I’ve never heard Matty swear before and hearing Marsh's and my favorite term come from him is funny. Little guy must find it funny too because he lets out a snort but quickly holds up a hand as big guy takes a menacing step towards him.

“Whoa, Bo! The kid’s right, about their hands, their hands! We’re never going to make it back here by dark like this. Let’s tie them in front so they can have better balance.”

Big guy’s name must be Bo. He glares at little guy before grunting and hauling me to my feet. Minutes later, with our hands retied in front of us we start walking again. I shoot a wink at Matty to let him know I’m good and he did a good job. Then focus on the path ahead of us and try not to step down too hard on my throbbing leg. When I had looked back before I fell, I had seen town in the distance and the distinctive peaks behind it so I now know we’re headed north. The ski resort that Lance went to scout is west of town so I don’t know where we’re going. I ask question after question but all I get in return is a few cuffs to the head from Bo, so I just keep my eyes peeled for any chance Matty and I can use to escape.

The first hour passes with us walking on pavement as I plot and scheme with no results. In the second hour we start walking off road through trees and dead bushes. We’re walking uphill and it’s getting steeper and harder to walk with our hands tied. The cold is really starting to set in and I’m worried about Matty. This is probably the longest he’s been outside since the bombs dropped. We’re both dressed in full snow suits with scarves, toques and gloves but it feels like the cold is deepening by the minute. Winter gear is something we have a lot of, with the town once being a hub for skiers, there was plenty of snow gear to scavenge at the beginning. The only thing that gives me comfort is how little guy keeps helping Matty over rough spots and steadying him when he loses his balance. I still don’t know where they’re taking us but I can’t imagine little guy being so nice to my brother if he plans on hurting him.

By the time we’ve been walking for two hours my limp is more of a stagger from the damage I did to my knee. I can feel that it’s swollen up and it’s almost impossible to bend. I’m slowing everyone down and every time Bo has to haul me forward his face gets a little more mean until he’s practically dragging me. I let out an agonized roar when he gives a yank on my arm and I step into a depression and wrench my bad leg further. Bo’s growling at me as he pulls me to my feet but that leg is done and I collapse as soon as he lets me go.

Matty throws himself down beside me on the ground in panic. “Rex, you ok? What’s wrong, Rex?”

I groan and roll over and try and straighten out my damaged leg. My whole body is rock hard tense as it tries to deal with the pain and my teeth are clenched so tightly I can’t get words out to calm him down.

Little guy steps in between me and Bo who looks like he going to strangle me with hands he’s made into claws and bends down to feel my leg. When he feels just how swollen the knee is under the snow pants he leans back and lets out a tired sigh.

“Well Bo, unless you want to carry this kid over your shoulder, we aren’t going any further.

Bo throws his hands up in the air in frustration. “Mickey said we have to go further so their people won’t find them! We’re still too close!”

All the blood drains from my face at Bo’s words causing little guy to look away from me and stand up. This can’t be happening. Are these guys really planning on killing a little kid and hiding his body? Matty starts to cry so I pull him closer and loop my tied hands over his head so I can hug him. I don’t know what to do! My leg’s not going to get us far if we try and run. Even if we do get away, we have no food or water to stay hidden until it heals enough to get back to town. The only thing I can think to do is make Matty run now. Little guy and Bo have stepped away and they’re arguing.

“Matty, you have to go. You need to run right now while they’re distracted. Try and get back to town and get Marsh and Ethan to come rescue me. You have to be strong and go!”

Matty buries his head deeper against my neck and shakes it hard. His words are muffled, “NO, I’m not leaving you!”

I try and think of the right words to convince him to go and save himself, but a wave of despair washes over me. It’s too late. They’re done arguing. Bo comes over to us and pulls my arms up so little guy can pull Matty off of me. I’m trying to fight Bo off and get to my brother cuz he’s thrashing around bawling in terror but the big guy just pins my arms to me and hauls me up and over his shoulder like I’m as light as a feather. I can’t see anything as my face smashes into his rock hard back but he only takes about ten steps before he flips me back over and I hit the frozen ground hard on my butt. The back of my head slams into the frozen bark of a tree making my vision swim. I’m dazed for the few minutes it takes them to tie me to the tree that my head hit, but I can hear Matty’s cries right behind me so he must be tied to the same tree on the opposite side. I give my head a shake to try and clear my vision and look down at the rope that’s wrapped around me five or six times pinning my arms and body to the tree.

Bo and little guy step around the tree in front of me and I look up at them through tear filled eyes. Bo’s just standing there with his arms crossed looking pissed but little guy frowns down at me sadly before he speaks.

“Look kid, I’m sorry this had to happen but that’s just the cards we were all dealt. Hey, I’m no kid killer. I was an accountant before all this, but I’ve got my own family I have to take care of so I follow orders.” He swallows hard and looks away from me for a minute before his tone softens. “It won’t hurt. The cold will just make you sleepy. You’ll both just go to sleep and all this…hell…we now live in will go away.” He shakes his head one more time and turns and walks away.

Bo looks down at me with complete indifference before grunting, “Night-night.” And then he walks away too.

I just sit there stunned for a few minutes. This isn’t really happening is it? They’re not just going to leave us out here all alone to die, right? It takes a bit for the denial screaming in my head to fade before I accept that we’re on our own and I start working on the rope. I rock back and forth and try and bounce up and down to loosen it but the cold has made it rock solid and there’s hardly any give to it. I try and ignore Matty’s cries every time I jerk my body against the rope. I know it’s pulling against him when I move but I can’t just sit here and do nothing. His crying gets louder and louder until I just can’t take it anymore.