Surviving Passion (6 page)

            “Hello! Welcome to Brian’s Crater. Dan give you a rough trip? Of course he did, I don’t need to ask. He find you in town? No one else with you? There’s a clan of very nasty men frequent that area. Glad you’re here. They didn’t have you captive or you’d look a lot worse for wear. That’s good. He’d have stolen you out from under the lot of them if you were. Glad he didn’t have to. Is there anything I can get you?”

            Selena realized that her jaw was hanging open and that at some point it had become her turn to speak.

            “Uhh … no. Th—thank you.”

            “Well come on, honey! Sun’s a’settin’. I’ll show you to where you’ll be sleeping. Got enough cabins for everyone. Did Dan tell you that this used to be a wildlife field research center? Probably not. It wasn’t very well outfitted, technologically speakin’. But it’s full of books and old workstations. Belonged to some university or other. Hard to keep track of what’s what now that so much time has gone by.”

            She prattled on and Selena did her best to listen. She was interested, but terribly overwhelmed. At least this woman seemed genuine, brusque and forward as she was. It had been a long time since Selena had seen anyone who was portly like Blaire, and she guessed there was probably no shortage of food here. Her light brown hair was twisted into a bun and thanks to the laugh lines at her blue eyes and the wisps of grey at her temples she looked to be in her late forties. She had probably been well into her twenties during the Crash. There was something comforting about knowing people who remembered what life was like before the Crash turned everything upside down. Blaire would be able to answer many questions, Selena guessed.

            “Now what was your name again? Been a long time since we had someone new. Got so excited I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Blaire. Oh, and that’s my boy Tim,” she gestured back toward the boy who was unsaddling the horses.

            “Selena.”

            “Well that’s a pretty name. And you’re gorgeous, so that fits. If you’d have said Gertrude I might have laughed my ass off,” she grinned unabashedly.

            “Thanks,” was all Selena could muster.

            “Now, did you make those clothes?” Blaire asked, eyeing them appraisingly.

            Selena nodded.

            “Well some people have their complaints about Dan but he certainly ain’t no fool! Lucky find, you are. A leatherworker to boot! Did you say you were alone or you left your group?”

            “On my own.”

            “Oh well then it’s a good thing he brought you. Knowing him, he’d have tied you to the saddle if you didn’t come willingly.” She barked out a laugh as though it was a very common idea. “Couldn’t leave a nice girl like you out there at the mercy of who knows what or who. Don’t you mind him, he’s got a loopy attitude towards women, but it’ll usually work out to your favor. Much as he’s an ass, I almost never really disagree with him.”

            They approached a small cabin and Blaire went on, “Well, I hope you find us tolerable. Ain’t no one’s idle. Everyone pitches in. We mostly stick to what we’re best at. You might have guessed I do most of the cooking here,” she chuckled, patting her ample belly.

            “Now this was where old Brian used to live, poor codger. Prickly guy but we still missed him when he passed. He had his workshop here in the main room,” she narrated leading Selena up the steps to the door and stepping inside.

            The light was fading and Blaire grabbed some kind of lamp from a little table by the door. Gathering up the flint that lay beside it, she lit the wick and lifted the lantern proudly. “There, you see? I render the animal fat for fuel. It took some tinkering but eventually I found a way to get it burning smoothly. Use it sparingly.”

            Selena nodded, casting her eyes around the inside. A desk sat before the front window and there were leatherworking tools all around, most of which she hadn’t seen before. One of them looked like something her dad had described. It was like a big wooden clamp attached to the front of the chair and it was supposed to help hold the leather in place while you did your sewing. Selena’s interest was piqued.
If it’s not too hard to use, it could make the work go a lot faster.
She examined the thing carefully, running her hands along the wood, but Blaire was moving on, so she resolved to come back to it.

            “And here’s your bedroom, honey.” Blaire announced as she strode into the adjoining room. “The bedding is all nice and clean, don’t you worry. I try to keep the unoccupied rooms as livable as possible. I’m guessing you want to stay in here for dinner tonight? If I know Dan, you need some recovery time before we barrage you with introductions. I’ll bring you your supper.”

            “Yes, thank you,” Selena said, feeling incredibly relieved.

            “Alrighty then, be back in a jiffy.” She handed Selena the lantern.

            And just like that, Blaire bustled out of the cabin leaving Selena alone in the quiet dimness. Listening to all that talk was starting to grate on her. She thought she liked Blaire, but in the past few years she had become totally unaccustomed to chatter. Selena sat on the bed, admiring the decent condition of the blankets and the frame. There was even a little pair of tables, one to each side, with drawers. Selena tossed her pack on the floor next to the bed and lay down, testing the mattress out of curiosity more than anything else. It was only moderately sunken in the middle so it couldn’t have had a lot of use over the years. Selena couldn’t remember the last time she had lain in anything so soft. All at once she was uncomfortable and hopped to her feet. The room suddenly reminded her of a very small cave she had once ventured into during a bad rain. She had almost opted for the rain after a few minutes in there.

            Selena noticed a separate door adjoining the bedroom. Behind it was an empty closet. She wandered back into the main room and found another door that opened to a completely neglected bathroom. With no plumbing, the only thing it would be good for was storage. She shut that door and heard footsteps coming briskly up the stairs.

            “I’m back!” Blaire hollered as she opened the door carrying a tray with an actual plate on it. “Here’s your dinner. It ain’t gourmet but it’s the best we got,” she said, setting it on the desk.

            There was a steaming hot, generous cut of steak on the plate, as well as some fresh tomatoes and green beans.
Not gourmet?
Selena thought, wide-eyed with surprise.

            “Where’d you get fresh vegetables?” she wondered aloud.

            “Oh, those. Well it just so happens that you’re inheriting the station of the first person that came here to hide out when everything went to hell. Old Brian was smart enough to steal all the seed packets from the hardware store when everyone else was thinkin’ they were smart for taking the canned foods,” she chuckled robustly. “I miss that ol’ coot. Anyway, we’ve got a real nice garden. Everyone takes a turn workin’ it since it’s probably the best thing we’ve got goin’. We don’t want to forget how to propagate the seeds so we make sure everyone knows how. We weren’t so smart about the leatherworking. No one was itchin’ to learn from Brian. Not because they didn’t like him, mind. It’s just they thought it was tedious.”

            Selena listened attentively, but with no intelligent reply to offer, Blaire got set to leave.

            “Well, I’ll quit talkin’ your ear off for now. No promises tomorrow,” she told her with a wink. “Enjoy your dinner. And if you wind up feeling social, we like to get together ‘round a fire for storytellin’ when anyone gets back from a trip. Not that Dan’s much of a storyteller, but the boys enjoy the reports. They’re settin’ up for it now so feel free to pop on over. No hard feelin’s if you don’t want to, mind.”

            With a wave, the older woman went out the door.

            “Oh and the doors have got locks,” she said popping her head back in. “Feel free to use ‘em.”

Four

            Selena took her time eating. There was a fork, but she opted for the knife and her hands. The food seemed to taste better that way, and her family had never bothered with forks. She hadn’t tasted beef in ages. Her small family hadn’t needed to kill anything big for just the three of them, so it was rare they would hunt anything larger than a rabbit. The real delight for Selena was the fresh produce. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d tasted a tomato.

            Thoroughly satisfied by the end of the meal, Selena felt revitalized and ready to face the night. Resolving to carefully examine these new leatherworking tools as soon as it was bright enough the following morning, she blew out the lamp and stepped out the front door into the darkness. Emerging quietly from the doorway, she watched for signs of any people lurking about. There seemed to be no one nearby, but she heard several clear voices in the distance. Heading down the stairs, Selena stealthily set off in that direction. It was strange hearing people make so much noise with no fear of discovery.

            When she saw the golden flames of their bonfire, Selena continued her approach as silently as she could. It wasn’t hard with the din of the gathering drowning out everything else.

            There were other cabins around and paths cutting through the grass everywhere. A huge tree towered nearby and a few of its colossal branches sprawled high above the fire pit. Selena listened to the many voices as she mounted the trunk. Finding handholds was difficult, so she chose one of the lower branches and slowly pulled herself along towards the fire. She made sure not to set the leaves shaking unless there was a breeze to disguise it. When she felt near enough, she was lucky to find a twist in the branch that she could lean against comfortably. Selena wasn’t too worried about being seen. She probably wouldn’t be, but if she was, so what? She only wanted to observe them.

            An inspection of the scene fifteen feet below revealed that they had built a very respectable fire. There was a big log close by for sitting, as well as wooden and plastic chairs scattered around.

            There had to be at least ten people down there, and there was so much chatter the noise sounded surreal and overwhelming. Selena had a very difficult time focusing on one conversation without being distracted by all the others. She bit her lip in concentration and spotted the two men that had come out to greet them earlier. Ben’s droll tone was easy to distinguish.

“So you left all those supplies for some chick who can sew. Way to go, Dan.”

“Yeah Ben, and you’re gonna ride back and get ‘em for me,” Dan threatened, looking as cheerful as she had ever seen him.

“Like hell I am,” he muttered, making his long face look longer still.

“I won’t give you too much of a hard time about it,” said Cal. “I mean, God
damn
.”

As before, he stood with his arms folded and his legs far apart. A strong alpha attitude radiated from him, Selena observed, but he still managed to look unassuming somehow. Maybe it was the blue eyes and his easy smile.

“Keep it in your shorts, Cal,” chided a woman before snickering to another. He shrugged unapologetically at them.

Selena took a moment to survey the two girls. The one who had spoken was of African descent with a pretty face and a confident manner. She was probably about Selena’s age. Her friend looked more introverted and at least ten years older. Her limp, mousy hair and long torso gave her a slightly masculine appearance.

“Lust all you like, but don’t cry to me if you get stabbed,” Dan told them, looking peeved.

The same girl giggled with delight. “I gotta meet this girl now! Someone finally managed to give him a hard time.
Poor
Dan.” She guffawed sarcastically, adding, “I hope you didn’t think anyone was gonna feel bad for
you
.”

“I’m with Gina,” Ben said flatly.

“Me too,” chimed a blonde. She was sitting close to a very big man with a ponytail and beard. They had their backs to Selena, so she couldn’t see their faces.

Dan acted as though he hadn’t heard them, and Selena was momentarily distracted by a pair of men that stood apart from the others. One of them was bragging loudly about some amazing thing he’d done while hunting. He was short but loaded with bulky, undefined muscle. He looked shifty and there was something obnoxious about his attitude. Selena disliked him immediately. The man he spoke to looked lean and older, with wisps of grey in his black hair. He was Asian, but Selena couldn’t say what country his lineage had come from. His face was totally inexpressive, so she couldn’t gather much from him.

Selena’s focus returned to Dan as he began to speak again.

“There’s something else,” he told them. A subtle change in his voice held Selena’s attention. She frowned as everyone else hushed, even the pair of men standing apart from the others. Dan seemed to be eyeing the big guy with the blonde girl.

“They’re back,” he said.

Suddenly there were several voices at once.

“How many?” Cal asked.

“Where?” inquired another.

“Was Jake with ‘em?” the big guy demanded.

“Bear—“ Dan started, with his brows knit together seriously.

“Was Jake with ‘em?” the man pressed, in a quiet but dangerous tone.

“Yes,” came the grudging reply after a moment’s pause.

Selena’s brow furrowed. What kind of enemies had these people acquired, she wondered. Squabbles often broke out between various bands, she knew, but based on their reaction, it seemed a safe bet that this conflict was particularly serious.

There were, of course, gangs of men who took what they wanted from others rather than going through the trouble of working for it themselves. Selena figured that the men she’d run into were just such people. Perhaps the conflict was with the very same group?
What did this Jake do to Bear?
Selena wondered, watching the big man.

Dan’s answer had rendered the group momentarily silent just as Blaire approached with a basket of small apples.