The Survivor Chronicles: The Risen (21 page)

Victor nodded but he glanced nervously
around the room. "Rochelle why don't you take him in and show him,"
Mary Ellen suggested. "The kids can all sleep in the room by the
kitchen, if that's ok?" she asked Claire.

Claire nodded and squeezed Freddie's
shoulder. "I think that's a good idea."

Xander held up a sleeping bag in front of
him and shook it before her. "I've staked out a place near the
lake, for us."

She smiled as she took hold of his hand,
there was nowhere else she would rather sleep. She followed him
outside with Carl, John, Donald and Josh. "I'll come wake you in a
few hours for the watch," Carl told them as he lit a cigarette.

"Sounds good," Xander said.

Carl and John walked behind the cabin to
keep watch through the night. Donald had a rifle resting against
his shoulder as he and Josh strolled down the dirt drive toward the
road. Xander led her around the group of boulders. He spread the
sleeping bag out in a small hollow that would keep them sheltered
from view. Tilting her head, she couldn't help but smile as she
watched Xander. She admired the bunch and flex of the muscles in
his shoulders and arms. When he was finished, he turned toward and
held his hand out to her.

Her sleepiness was forgotten as she took
hold of his hand and settled onto the sleeping bag next to him. She
knelt across from him with her hands on her thighs. He was in much
the same position as his gaze ran over her. "Riley…"

She rested her hand against his cheek and
ran her fingers over the scruff that now lined his square jaw and
cheeks. He'd been such an integral part of her life while growing
up. A constant presence that she'd sometimes resented and hated but
had always relied on. Even when he'd been teasing her and driving
her nuts, she'd always known that he would be there for her. He'd
become her rock through all of this; she didn't know what she would
do if she lost him, but for now she was going to savor in his
company and enjoy being with him. To live when so many others were
dying.

She kept her hand pressed against his cheek
as she leaned forward to kiss him. His hand pressed against hers as
his other one settled on her back. He brought her closer to him and
held her tenderly. She felt the love he had for her in every tender
kiss and touch. When he'd held the sleeping bag out to her, she
knew this hadn't been his purpose, but it was what she desired more
than anything else right now. She lost herself to the feel of him,
to the sensation of his body against hers, and the brief reprieve
from reality that he gave to her.

When it was over, she lay staring out at the
lake, with her head on her hands as she watched the moonlight
shimmering across its serene surface. There was lingering
discomfort in her body but this was the first time she'd felt truly
at peace in weeks. The night sky was beautiful and clear again,
they were some place they could make safe, and possibly make a new
life, and she was in the arms of the man she loved.

"Are you ok?" Xander inquired as he ran his
fingers up and down her arm.

She smiled as she rolled over to look at
him. "Yes. Are you?"

He grinned down at her before kissing her
nose. "I'm better than that. I would have had the world end years
ago if I'd known it would bring you to me."

Laughter burst from her. "You're an
ass."

"So you've told me many,
many
times."

"And I will tell you many more times I'm
sure."

"So am I." He kissed her cheek again when
she rolled over to stare at the lake.

"It's beautiful here," Riley said. "I
believe we can find happiness here."

"I hope you're right," he said as he pulled
her against his chest.

"I usually am."

"Hardly," he snorted and nuzzled her ear.
"We should probably get dressed before the others come back. John
might enjoy the show a little too much."

Riley giggled but she pulled away from him.
She sat up and grabbed her bra and shirt from a nearby rock. "I
doubt that."

"I don't," Xander grumbled as he pulled his
shirt over his head.

She grinned at him. "But I only have eyes
for you."

He poked the end of her nose with his index
finger. "You better."

"I love you." She rested her hand against
his cheek again and pulled him close for another kiss. "I always
will."

"I love you too. I always have."

She finished dressing and curled up next to
him again. The heavens hadn't opened and angels hadn't started
singing when Victor had come to, but they may just have found their
own piece of heaven within these mountains.

The sound of the crickets, the gentle
lapping of the water against the shore, and the warmth of the arm
wrapped around her lulled her into her first undisturbed sleep in
weeks.

Carl,

Over the following couple of weeks, they
worked vigorously to get the cabin cleaned and a safe perimeter
established. They made traps for small game animals and set up
booby traps for the lethal humans in the area surrounding it. He
had planned to dig a trench at least six feet deep in a circle
around the entire cabin; unfortunately the rocky terrain of the
ground had other plans. There were certain areas they'd managed to
dig down at least six feet and about three feet across, but for the
most part rocks or boulders had blocked their way. Almost all of
the ditch around the cabin was at least three feet deep now. It
wasn't deep enough to keep someone trapped in it but it was good
enough to break an ankle, wrench a knee, or maybe even snap a
leg.

They'd also wound some fishing line through
the trees and attached bottles, cans, hubcaps, and anything else
that would make enough noise to alert them to the fact that someone
was approaching the cabin. With that advanced notice, and then the
trench to get through, Carl felt confident they would know if
someone approached the cabin.

It wasn't the best security system in the
world but it was better than nothing, and far better than anything
they'd had while they'd been on the move. Sometimes he almost
considered the cabin as his home, but he'd lost one home already
and he wasn't about to get attached to this one when they would
probably have to run again.

Carl rolled his shoulders and wiped the back
of his forearm across his forehead. He rested his shovel against
the side of the pit he'd been digging with John. His head was
beginning to throb; it wasn't a normal headache, but a twinge in
the area that the bullet had carved across his skull.

He touched the gouge that had been torn
across his scalp from the front to the back. There was no denying
that he was lucky to be alive; he was made aware of that fact every
time he looked in the mirror and saw the puckered pink skin on the
side of his head. He wasn't sure if his hair would ever grow back
over the scar, but the hair around it had gotten long enough to
almost cover it.

John stood on the other side of the four by
four square, tossing dirt over his head as he worked on making the
hole even deeper. Carl leaned against the dirt wall and lit a
cigarette. He took his shovel and tossed it out of the hole that
was now over his head. Even if they couldn't make a trench, they
were trying to find some softer areas of ground to create
good-sized holes in. He and John had been working on this one since
yesterday morning, but it was deep enough now as far as he was
concerned. They'd mostly completed it yesterday but they'd wanted
to get it a little deeper before covering it up.

"I think this is good," Carl told him.

John glanced at him over his shoulder and
nodded before tossing his shovel out of the hole too. Carl grabbed
the plastic rungs of the stepladder they had uncovered in Al's
shed. Some of the steps were chipped and the worn plastic shook
beneath him as he climbed. He'd be amazed if it lasted another
week, but it was doing a good job of getting them in and out of the
pits for now.

Carl waited for John to climb out of the
hole before grabbing the ladder and removing it. Josh looked up
from the rock he'd perched on to keep watch. Over the past couple
of days, they had each taken turns at having a break and keeping
watch in order to make sure that no one approached while the others
were inside of the pits. Josh had assumed the watch a half an hour
ago from Donald.

Carl stepped around the assorted rocks
they'd had to remove from the hole in order to dig. They had
scattered the rocks haphazardly around the area. He walked over to
another pit about fifteen feet away from his. A shovelful of dirt
being flung out of the hole almost hit him in the leg as he stepped
up to it. Xander and Donald stopped digging when his shadow fell
over them; they shaded their eyes against the sun to look up at
him.

"You ready to call it quits?" he asked
them.

"Beyond ready," Xander said and tossed his
shovel out of the hole. He grabbed hold of the rope they'd tied to
a tree and swiftly pulled himself out of the hole with his hands
and feet. Donald rapidly followed behind him and wiped his hands on
his jeans when he reached the top.

Carl turned away, grabbed a bottle of water
from the cluster nestled by some boulders and sat on one of the
smaller rocks. Twisting the cap off, he took a swallow of water as
the others gathered around him. They still had to cover the holes
up, but he needed a break first. He lit another cigarette and
accepted the granola bar that John handed to him.

They'd managed to catch half a dozen
rabbits, some squirrels, and shoot a few of deer over the weeks but
food supplies were running low and they were going to have to go
somewhere outside of this area for those supplies. He had hiked
over to the cabin next door on the day after they'd arrived here.
There hadn't been much to discover there but he'd found two
shovels, two ax's, a mattock, and a crowbar. He would have loved a
pickaxe too for some of the rocks, but beggars couldn't be
choosers.

There hadn't been any food or water in the
cabin but there had been some bedding and a kerosene heater that
John had almost kissed when he spotted it. It didn't matter that
they had no kerosene for it, that heater had been John's prized
possession as he'd proudly carried it back to the cabin.

Carl had intended to search the other cabins
surrounding the lake but he hadn't had a chance to get to them yet.
A part of him thought they might stumble across the mother load
when they finally
did
get a chance
to search the other cabins, the more logical part knew they would
most likely be almost useless too.

"I think we should try going into town
today, when this is done," he said as he took another gulp of
water.

"I think you're right," Xander agreed and
poured a little of the water over his head before drinking some.
"Let's get these covered up so we can get out of here while it's
still early."

Carl nodded and rose to his feet. He grabbed
some of the branches Riley, Victor, and Freddie had collected and
piled together yesterday for this step. The five of them worked to
lay the branches over top of the pits in an attempt to make them
look as natural as possible. He wasn't sure how strong the sense of
smell was on the more ravenous people. They definitely didn't do
anything to ease the hideous aroma they emitted, but even if there
was a chance the sick ones could somehow smell them on these traps,
Carl still would have built them. Maybe the pits were only a false
sense of security, but he still liked that sense and he would dig a
hundred more if there were any chance it would help to keep them
all safe.

Carl grabbed some leaves and pine needles
from the ground and sprinkled it over top of the branches. He
kicked the debris on the ground around to hide the material that
he'd removed from the forest floor. Glancing up at the sky, he
judged it to be around ten o'clock but he was probably completely
wrong. One thing he was going to put on the list of supplies was a
watch; he hated this boy scout shit.

"Let's go," he said and kicked at the ground
one more time.

He grabbed hold of the rifle he'd propped
against another rock and fell into step with the others as they
made their way back to the cabin. Taking hold of the first
perimeter fishing line, he ducked under it before stepping over the
next one. He was careful to avoid setting off the alarms as he
didn't exactly feel like being shot at by one of his own people. If
he hadn't known where the trench was, he wouldn't have seen it, but
he jumped over it when he got to the edge of it.

He spotted Riley sitting on the boulders by
the lake when he came around the corner of the cabin. Victor
perched beside her with a fishing pole in hand and Rochelle sat
beside him. Riley rested her hand on Victor's shoulder when she saw
them, she said something to him, and climbed off of the boulder.
The two of them had been spending a lot of time together over the
past couple of weeks. Riley and John had become the ones that the
younger kids gravitated towards, but Victor followed her around the
most. Carl believed they looked at Riley like an older sister, John
amused them and was their biggest source of entertainment.

Pushing a damp shirt aside, Carl ducked
under the line of clothes that been stretched from the cabin to a
large maple across the clearing. Even if the clothes were being
washed in the lake, he loved the fact that what he wore now smelled
of lake water and summer air instead of BO and blood. Riley walked
over to join them and stood on tiptoe to kiss Xander.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"We'll add more of them over time but we've
got two done," Xander answered and draped his arm around her
shoulders. "We think it's time to search the town for more
supplies."