Lost World (23 page)

“Don’t wanna burn wood in there,” Axl says. “I’d bet that chimney ain’t made for it, an’ you’d have a house full of smoke in no time. We’d hafta check it out to be sure, though.”

Brady nods slowly. “I was afraid of that.”

“Keepin’ warm is gonna be tough, but nothin’ a few blankets can’t fix. Gettin’ a few kerosene heaters would be good. Had ‘em growin’ up, an’ they put out a lotta heat,” Angus says, moving away from Darla so he can stand next to his brother. “First thing we gotta worry ‘bout is food. We’re gonna hafta get them MREs.”

Winston pulls at his beard as he looks back and forth between the brothers. “MREs?”

“Found us a place out in the middle of nowhere,” Angus says. “One of them prepper freaks must’ve lived there, ‘cause the whole basement was packed with MREs.”

Brady frowns and shakes his head like he doesn’t understand. I’m sure he isn’t alone. Not everyone is familiar with the term.

“Prepackaged meals, like soldiers eat when deployed,” I say.

Understanding crosses his face, and he smiles like he’s just been handed a suitcase full of cash. “A whole basement full?”

“Few hundred meals down there,” Axl says. “It’ll help us get through winter. We just gotta get ‘em an’ bring ‘em back.”

“Take the SUV.” Brady waves his hand. “Or any car for that matter. They’re all ours now.”

“We need to get ‘em, but I like the idea of lookin’ for them animals first. Them MRE’s ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Axl replies with a nod. “I wanna figure out what else we need an’ where the closest town is.”

“Hope Springs is about thirty miles from here. It’s a small college town, but they would have the best selection. The closest town though is Duncan, which is where I’ve been going for supplies. They don’t have a lot, but there’s a Lowe’s and Wal-Mart. Even a Costco. The overall population was smaller than Hope Springs, so I figured it would be less overrun.”

“You seen many people there?”

Brady shakes his head. “No one. I’ll be honest, you’re the first people I’ve come across since this started.”

“You haven’t seen another living person this whole time?” Sophia asks.

Up until this point, we’ve all been sitting back. Letting Axl and Angus and Winston gather information from Brady. Now though, all eyes are on our new host.

“I have not. There was actually a part of me that was starting to wonder if I was alone.”

Parvarti’s dark eyes study Brady, but they’re as unreadable as usual. “Why keep going?”

Brady tilts his head and watches Parvarti for a second before saying, “Other people have never defined my life before, so why start now?”

Parvarti’s eyebrows pull together, but the admiration in her eyes is unmistakable. She nods but doesn’t say anything, and for a few seconds she and Brady just stare at each other. It’s like they’re having some private conversation right in front of us.

“I hate to interrupt,” Sophia says, “but what are the living arrangements going to be like? It’s been a rough couple days, and I’m thinking the kids could use a nap. I’m not going to lie, it wouldn’t hurt me to have one too.”

Brady tears his eyes away from Parvarti, and his gaze moves to Sophia’s round belly. He smiles, but it’s sad. “When can we expect a new addition?”

Sophia rubs her hand across her stomach. “Joshua says some time in the beginning of April.”

“Rest is important.” Brady clears his throat and looks down, focusing on the cup in front of him. “Take whichever home you like, although you may want to avoid the one next door. I may have turned the garage into a chicken coop, and I’m afraid the living room is quite noisy.”

“Thank you,” Sophia says.

Brady nods but doesn’t look up.

Axl’s gaze meets mine. He shakes his head and I shrug. Neither one of us knows what to make of Brady most of the time, and at the moment, I’m not sure I want to know. It probably has something to do with his dead wife, which is just too depressing to think about right now.

“We don’t wanna spread out too much,” Axl says.

“Right.” Winston inhales and looks the group over. “These houses have three bedrooms? Four?”

“Most probably four, although the number of beds may vary. I have two extra rooms here.”

“We won’t need more than two other houses, then,” Winston says.

The thought makes my stomach clench painfully. He’s right. Our numbers are dwindling.

“They had a couple kids across the street in the blue house, so you and the children may want to go over there,” Brady says to Sophia, before turning to Max. “Those toys need someone to keep them company.”

Max’s face lights up at the mention of toys. It’s probably the first time he’s smiled since Dylan was killed, and despite the fact that Ava looks like she can barely keep her eyes open, even she manages a smile.

“Thank you,” Sophia says, getting to her feet. “I’m going to head over there now and try to get them to lie down. The longer I sit here, the more exhausted I realize I am.”

Winston nods, and a couple people murmur goodbye as she leads the kids out, but everyone seems to be just as worn out. We could all use a really good night’s sleep in a real house. A real bed. It will make us feel human again. Maybe not so broken.

After Sophia’s disappeared with the kids, Winston looks the group over. “I’ll take the other room over there. Don’t want to leave them unguarded.” He scratches his chin. “Who wants to stay where? I’m not your dad, but I think we should stay as close as possible.”

Parvarti ends up taking the same room she had the night before, while Lila and Al head up to the one Axl and I occupied. Angus and Darla volunteer to move into the chicken house, which only leaves Anne, Joshua, Axl, and me.

Thinking about living in the same house with my mom and Angus going at it in the next room makes me want to throw up. “We’ll take the house next to Sophia’s,” I say. “When Hadley and Jon get here they can have the other room.”

Winston’s eyebrows shoot up, but he doesn’t tell me I’m delusional.

“Who?” Brady asks.

“Friends of ours that got lost,” Axl says.

“You’re kiddin’ yourself if you think they’re comin’, Blondie.” Angus spits into the sink, then wipes his mouth on his sleeve. “They’re gone. Ain’t never gonna see ‘em again.”

My face gets hot and I take a step toward him, but Winston puts his hand up. “Fine. Sounds like a good idea.” He turns to Angus. “We can have Joshua and Anne join you two, if that’s okay.”

“I ain’t got no problem with the doc movin’ in.”

“Good, then.” Winston takes a deep breath, then blows it out. “Now we need to talk about supplies.”

My blood’s still simmering when they start their discussion. Most of it is obvious. Food and water, weapons and hunting gear. Even fishing stuff. More ammo. Brady grabs a pad of paper and writes it all down as they talk.

“Warm clothes,” I say, “especially for the kids.”

“Houses probably got a lotta that.” Angus spits into the sink again. “We can go through ‘em.”

“I’ll do it,” Darla says. “Even get Al and Lila to help out. You all are gonna be busy planning and there’s no reason for me to stand around like a dummy. I can do stuff too.”

“Good idea.” Winston drums his fingers on the counter. “We want coats and sweaters, but also warm socks and boots. Hats and gloves. Anything that will help us get through the winter.”

Darla nods her head so fast her hair bobs around her face. “I’m on it.”

She hurries out while Angus and Axl start discussing measures for reinforcing the fence. From there the men move on to finding livestock, then seeds for planting. Brady takes notes the whole time, chiming in about the area whenever necessary. I don’t add much, and a part of me feels out of place. Like maybe I’d be better off going through the houses too. But I just can’t bring myself to follow my mom.

Maybe I won’t be able to forgive her after all.

“That’s a good start,” Axl says. “We gotta set up watch too. We can get Parvarti on that while we head out to look for them animals you was talkin’ ‘bout. She can walk the perimeter.”

“Is that really necessary?” Brady asks. “I told you I’ve been here for weeks now and haven’t seen a single living person. What makes you think they’re going to suddenly show up now?”

“‘Cause it’s fuckin’ cold out there,” Axl says, but there isn’t any malice in the words. “People are gonna be lookin’ for shelter, but there ain’t many safe places left. You’ve been sittin’ on a gold mine, only you didn’t know it. There are some real dangerous people out there, an’ they ain’t gonna have a problem slittin’ your throat if it means havin’ a roof over their heads.”

Brady frowns and his eyes cloud over. “I suppose you’re right. With civilization in shambles and no law to tell them what to do, it stands to reason people will resort to violence to survive. It’s just a hard thing to acknowledge.”

“And not just to survive,” I say, thinking about Vegas, “Sometimes they do it just because they can and they want to.”

A shudder runs through my body, causing Brady to raise his eyebrows at me. I look away though, terrified that his sharp gaze will penetrate my secrets.

It’s snowing when we get ready to leave for the farm. Not a few flurries, but a full-on storm with arctic winds and flakes the size of dimes. The sky is so overcast and the snow so thick that not even a single ray of sunshine makes it to the ground. The temperature has dropped significantly since yesterday, making me more thankful than ever that we managed to find this neighborhood. We need to get on those kerosene heaters, though.

We take only the SUV, hoping to find a trailer made for towing animals at the farm. Brady comes with Axl, Angus, and me since he knows the area. Angus isn’t thrilled about our addition, but Axl is as unconcerned about it as I am. You can never really please Angus, anyway.

“Should take us about twenty minutes to get there in this weather,” Brady says from the passenger seat, looking at Axl.

Angus grumbles next to me, making comments under his breath about how he isn’t sure Brady can see over the dashboard.

The snow is so thick that it takes us more like thirty minutes to get there. It’s a good thing Brady has a four-wheel drive or we might not have made it at all, not with how hard the snow is coming down now. As it is, we have more than one tense moment where the tires slide on the icy road.

The old, white farm house is dark when we pull down the driveway. The front door is open, and even from here I can see how much snow has blown inside. Probably happened when the owners came back from the dead and stumbled outside, looking for food. Axl drives by the house without slowing, heading toward the big, red barn at the back of the property.

When we park, the four of us hop out. The wind blows so fiercely that I swear my bones rattle. I pull my hat down over my ears and keep my head turned toward the ground as I wade through the snowdrifts in front of me, following the men to the barn. It’s up to my knees in some places and showing no sign of stopping.

Angus and Axl have to work together to pull the big barn door open. It creaks louder than the wind, and I immediately pull my gun. The second I can see into the barn, I catch movement in the dark shadows. Whether it’s zombies or animals, it’s hard to tell.

We walk in as a group, not saying anything. The wind is too loud to allow us to have a conversation even if we wanted to talk, which we don’t. We’re all on edge. Between the snow and the dark barn, none of us are thrilled about being out here.

We leave the door open and flip on flashlights as we start searching the shadowy corners of the barn. My nose is so stuffed up from the cold I can’t smell a whole lot, but as far as I can tell, the place is clear. With the exception of animal shit, that is.

We stick together anyway.

Something snorts to my right, and I spin around only to have the beam of my flashlight land on a hog that snorts again when confronted with the bright light. The thing is huge and covered in dry dirt, looking like it tried to burrow into the ground. Probably trying to keep warm.

“Damn,” Angus mutters, moving closer to the huge animal. “Didn’t really think we’d find anything after all this time.”

Brady walks up and pans his flashlight across the pen, illuminating a few white sticks. “We got lucky. She ate her young.”