Sometimes…I screwed up.
“We didn’t cut them down,” Jesus said with a shrug. “There wasn’ t time. But yeah…we’re sure.”
A few weeks ago, I had made a decision that I was still struggling to come to grips with. It all started when Jon, Jesus, and Jake went on a search for supplies. They encountered a group of people that were barely hanging on. It had reached the point where they resorted to cannibalism.
Long story short, we brought them all back here. Their numbers included a little girl around Thalia’s age named Misty (who saw me as the devil) and a man who was the apparent leader. Mr. Patton.
At some point, he decided that he would rather try his luck out in the frozen wilds versus stay with us. As a group, we came to the decision that he was within his rights; but he would not take Misty until the weather changed. We told him that he was welcome to return in the spring to claim her if she wished to go.
Now, I should make it very clear that Misty wanted nothing to do with that plan. She has made it difficult at times, but the past couple of days, she has seemed to settle in. She even helped Thalia set the table last night.
“And you saw definite signs of survivors?” I asked.
“Unless zombies have taken to stringing people up…just that alone would be confirmation, don’tcha think?” Jesus did a poor job of keeping the sarcasm from his voice.
“Considering what we know of Mr. Patton, he could piss off the pope,” Jake offered. “But I still think we are looking at the possibility of some hostiles cruising the area. If they have a good knowledge of this locale, we might be paid a visit. I think we should set an extra watch down at the entrance during the day for a bit. Also, we want to talk to Jon, but I think it is a good idea if you let me and Jesus patrol the perimeter .”
“You think it is that bad?” I was all for being cautious, but this seemed like perhaps there might be more to the story.
The pair of soldiers looked at each other. I saw something passing back and forth. Yep…there was more to the story. I figured I could wait a few seconds while they decided to pass on what was probably vital information. Why did these two continue to treat me like I was an outsider? Oh yeah…because I was not in the military! Well it wasn’t me who decided that I should be the leader…or mayor…or whatever the hell they were calling me.
“The gal that left with Patton,” Jake finally spoke. “She was gone. They killed the guys , and I am guessing that they took her.”
“Fine…let Jon know what is up. Tell Billy to post up down on the stand. I will leave it to you guys to set a rotation. As far as the patrol thing…if Jon thinks it is a good idea, obviously I defer to his judgment.”
The pair walked up to the cabin and went inside leaving me standing here out in the freezing cold to mull over this newest development. Honestly, I should have known it was coming. Other than a petulant child, we had not had trouble one in the past few weeks.
Well…not since the loss of Emily.
I was mildly surprised that not one single person had said a word to me when I came back inside that evening. Nobody asked if I’d put her down…nothing. I suspect that Dr. Zahn had something to do with that, but it is a can of worms that I did not want to open. Just this instant flash of thinking on how nobody had asked me anything was enough to get my throat tight and my eyes watering.
I was walking up to the huge log cabin welcome center that acted as our home. Well, walked is not the right word exactly. In the past several weeks, the snow had really piled up. In fact, I now had a better understanding as to why the building was up on a platform supported by tree trunk-sized stilts that were about eight or so feet high.
Even with that much elevation off the ground, the snow had reached the porch. We didn’t have paths through the snow as much as we did troughs. In fact, we had so much snow, even the
“We didn’t cut them down,” Jesus said with a shrug. “There wasn’ t time. But yeah…we’re sure.”
A few weeks ago, I had made a decision that I was still struggling to come to grips with. It all started when Jon, Jesus, and Jake went on a search for supplies. They encountered a group of people that were barely hanging on. It had reached the point where they resorted to cannibalism.
Long story short, we brought them all back here. Their numbers included a little girl around Thalia’s age named Misty (who saw me as the devil) and a man who was the apparent leader. Mr. Patton.
At some point, he decided that he would rather try his luck out in the frozen wilds versus stay with us. As a group, we came to the decision that he was within his rights; but he would not take Misty until the weather changed. We told him that he was welcome to return in the spring to claim her if she wished to go.
Now, I should make it very clear that Misty wanted nothing to do with that plan. She has made it difficult at times, but the past couple of days, she has seemed to settle in. She even helped Thalia set the table last night.
“And you saw definite signs of survivors?” I asked.
“Unless zombies have taken to stringing people up…just that alone would be confirmation, don’tcha think?” Jesus did a poor job of keeping the sarcasm from his voice.
“Considering what we know of Mr. Patton, he could piss off the pope,” Jake offered. “But I still think we are looking at the possibility of some hostiles cruising the area. If they have a good knowledge of this locale, we might be paid a visit. I think we should set an extra watch down at the entrance during the day for a bit. Also, we want to talk to Jon, but I think it is a good idea if you let me and Jesus patrol the perimeter .”
“You think it is that bad?” I was all for being cautious, but this seemed like perhaps there might be more to the story.
The pair of soldiers looked at each other. I saw something passing back and forth. Yep…there was more to the story. I figured I could wait a few seconds while they decided to pass on what was probably vital information. Why did these two continue to treat me like I was an outsider? Oh yeah…because I was not in the military! Well it wasn’t me who decided that I should be the leader…or mayor…or whatever the hell they were calling me.
“The gal that left with Patton,” Jake finally spoke. “She was gone. They killed the guys , and I am guessing that they took her.”
“Fine…let Jon know what is up. Tell Billy to post up down on the stand. I will leave it to you guys to set a rotation. As far as the patrol thing…if Jon thinks it is a good idea, obviously I defer to his judgment.”
The pair walked up to the cabin and went inside leaving me standing here out in the freezing cold to mull over this newest development. Honestly, I should have known it was coming. Other than a petulant child, we had not had trouble one in the past few weeks.
Well…not since the loss of Emily.
I was mildly surprised that not one single person had said a word to me when I came back inside that evening. Nobody asked if I’d put her down…nothing. I suspect that Dr. Zahn had something to do with that, but it is a can of worms that I did not want to open. Just this instant flash of thinking on how nobody had asked me anything was enough to get my throat tight and my eyes watering.
I was walking up to the huge log cabin welcome center that acted as our home. Well, walked is not the right word exactly. In the past several weeks, the snow had really piled up. In fact, I now had a better understanding as to why the building was up on a platform supported by tree trunk-sized stilts that were about eight or so feet high.
Even with that much elevation off the ground, the snow had reached the porch. We didn’t have paths through the snow as much as we did troughs. In fact, we had so much snow, even the
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