The Road Home by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 38

Late afternoon faded into the dim light of evening as the sun slowly slipped beneath the sullen clouds of the western horizon. Their sight no longer impaired by darkness, the four friends, who were once six, made their way back to the house they now considered home – at least for the time being. They moved quickly, fearing the risk of being seen by anyone who might still reside in the small mountain town. Upon entering, each dropped their bags and collapsed on whatever furniture was nearby. Fear left them winded and wishing to be back at class, as though the disease that was sweeping the world had never raised its ugly head.

“Shit,” Eli said. “That was scary as fuck. I’m not sure I want to do that again.”

Maya, seeing the need to stay ahead of starvation, responded.

“Well,” she said. “I hate to tell you, but if we’re going to survive, we’re going to have to keep doing this. We have to stay supplied.”

“The good thing is,” Aurora interrupted. “We have flashlights, so we can do this at night and no one will see us.”

A wave of hesitant silence tumbled over the group as they considered the wisdom of exploring the town at night.

“What about the wolves?” Jackson asked. “I don’t if any of you remember, but Nathan and Eli ran into at least one back at that store. And Nathan got ripped to shreds.”

Aurora, already spooked by having wandered through the darkness that previously enveloped the service station, spoke up with tears in her eyes.

“We fucking know that, asshole! We don’t need to be reminded, okay?”

“She’s right,” Maya said. “We need to keep moving forward. We can’t afford to dwell on the past. What’s done is done.”

A tense quiet washed over the room as each took a moment to remember their fallen friends, but Maya, who saw the need for a distraction, interrupted their silent reverence. She was a quick thinker and presented a plan that would involve everyone’s concentrated effort.

“Guys, listen up,” she began, “We’ve got to have a plan. We can’t just sit on our asses until we run out of food. We’re going to have to get back out there at some point.”

“Okay,” Jackson replied. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Well,” Maya replied. “First, let’s get all of this put away and get some rest. It’s already dark out there, so I think we should all turn in. We’ll talk again in the morning.”

Everyone agreed and, getting up from their respective places, stretched and wearily filed off to their chosen places of rest.