Fighting Rough

7

“You don’t think they’ve been gone a long time?” said John.

“Quit worrying already,” said Cynthia. “We’re new here. We don’t know how things operated.”

“We’ve been here a week already,” said John. “And don’t tell me I don’t know my own brother.”

“You said yourself you barely spoke to him in the last ten years. Or was it didn’t speak at all? I don’t remember.”

“You’ve really got a way with words,” said John.

“Sorry,” said Cynthia. “I just get a little sarcastic when I get stressed.”

“Oh yeah?” said John. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Very funny,” said Cynthia. “But it has been a long time. What do you think we should do?”

John shrugged his shoulders.

John and Cynthia were standing at the edge of the camp, looking out into the blizzard.

“This is a blizzard, right?”

“I guess so,” said John. “Sure looks like one.”

“I’m freezing,” said Cynthia. “I’m going back in the tent.”

“It’s not much warmer in there.”

“Whatever. It’s better than this.”

John watched Cynthia’s back as she disappeared into the white mist of snow. You couldn’t even see from one end of the camp to the other.

What was surprising to John wasn’t just the snow, but how fast it had come on. Just this morning, when Max and Mandy had left camp, there had only been the clouds. Not a single snowflake had yet landed.

John shivered in the cold. Max and Mandy, out there somewhere, must have really been freezing. He hoped they were OK. He didn’t like the idea of finally finding his brother and then losing him again. Maybe he was just worrying too much. Maybe the circumstances were making him worry.

John decided to go check in with Georgia. Despite her injury, she seemed like the most capable of everyone there. She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. It was lucky Max had found her, from the sound of the stories he’d heard.

It had taken John a few days to get everyone’s names right. For so long, it had mostly just been himself and Cynthia. Now there were all these new faces. Until a few days ago, John hadn’t realized that Jake and Rose were actually just as new to the group as he and Cynthia were.

Unfortunately, Jake and Rose actually didn’t seem like they’d be much help in any situation at all. They seemed to have been added to the group by default. Almost by accident. It didn’t mean they were bad people. In fact, they were almost overwhelmingly friendly and open, considering the circumstances.

But they weren’t who John would turn to now.

Georgia was in the tent, resting in the corner. Her eyes were half-closed, and she seemed somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.

She nodded at John as he entered.

“Close the flap,” said Cynthia, glaring at the snow that blew inside, along with a gust of frigid air. “You’re letting all the heat out.”

“There’s no heat in here,” said John. He looked at Georgia. “Georgia,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

“She’s resting,” said Cynthia. “She’s tired. She got shot in the back, you know.”

“It’s fine, Cynthia,” said Georgia, struggling to sit up. “I’m a hell of a lot better than I was. What’s on your mind, John?”

John squatted down near Georgia. Cynthia came over from the other side too. She glanced at John, shooting him a warning look that seemed to say, “don’t bother her too much. She’s recuperating.”

“The storm’s getting really bad,” said John. “I know Max and Mandy weren’t expecting this when they left.”

“You’re worried about them?”

John nodded.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned since knowing Max,” said Georgia. “It’s that he can take care of himself.”

“But something’s not right,” said John. “I mean, they set out hours ago. I know I sound like I’m just overly worried about my brother. And yeah, that’s part of it. But I’m worried about us here at the camp too. What if something happened to Max and Mandy? What if that man James spotted is out there?”

“You’re worried about an attack on the camp?”

“Something like that. I can’t shake the idea that the guy who followed us on that dirt bike… well, that he might have tracked us here.”

The flap to the tent opened, and another burst of cold air entered, along with plenty of snow.

It was Sadie, bundled up in a huge blanket that was wrapped tightly around her.

She looked around the tent.

“James isn’t here?”

“James? I thought he was with you,” said Georgia.

“No,” said Sadie. “I thought he was in here.”

Everyone looked at each other.

“You haven’t seen him?” said Georgia.

“I’ll go look outside,” said John, getting up immediately.

He had his hand on his handgun as he went through the tent flap. The snow was blowing harder than ever.

John went from one end of the camp to the other. He stuck his head into the van where Jake and Rose were cuddled up together. But there was no sign of James anywhere.

John started peering at the snow, trying to make sense of the footprints, but the wind was so strong now that the only prints he could really make out were his own. And maybe some from Sadie who’d just been out there mere minutes ago.

John was about to enter the tent again when the flap opened and Georgia came hobbling out.

She had to really brace herself against the wind.

“No sign of him?” she said.

“No,” said John. “I’m sorry.”

John didn’t know Georgia very well. He tried to read her face, to see how she would react to the news of her missing son. But he couldn’t make much out. Her expression was intense, but unreadable beyond that.

“I’ll get my stuff together,” said John. “Cynthia and I can set out to look for him.”

“No,” said Georgia, shaking her head to John’s surprise.

“You don’t want us to go look for your son?”

“There’s no way to see,” said Georgia. “What good will it do?”

“That’s crazy,” said Cynthia. “We’ll bring a compass.”

“Yeah,” said John. “It won’t be easy. But we’ve got to try.”

“James can take care of himself,” said Georgia. “I just hope he hasn’t done something stupid, like trying to find Max and Mandy himself.”

John could see it in her eyes now. She was worried about her son, despite what she said. And it was killing her that she couldn’t go looking for him on her own. As John understood it, she’d taken a very serious hit to the back. She was much better than she’d been, but certainly in no condition to go trudging through a blizzard’s snow.

“I’m going,” said John. “No discussion. I won’t go far. Not far enough to get lost myself, at least. But if James is anywhere nearby, I’ll find him. If he’s in trouble, I’ll help.”

“You’re not going by yourself,” said Cynthia. “What’s all this ‘I’ about? I thought it was ‘we’?”

“It’s a big risk,” said John. “I’ll go myself.”

“Since when have I not done everything with you?”

“If you’re insisting,” said Georgia. “Then you’re taking more than those handguns.”

“The hunting rifles?”

Georgia shook her head. “Won’t do much good in this snow. Visibility’s so bad as it is.”

“Then the handguns will be better, right?”

“There’s a shotgun from the pot farmers you can take.”

“Good,” said John. “And that’s where we’ll start then. Maybe James went to check out the other camp.”

“Everyone here’s going on watch duty,” said Georgia. “We’ll be ready if anything happens here. I’ll go get you the shotgun.”

John marveled at Georgia’s ability to keep it together, considering that her son was missing.

“She’s a tough cookie, eh?” said Cynthia, as they watched Georgia disappear. It didn’t take long since the visibility had gotten even worse.

“You sure you’re coming?” said John.

“If you’re going, I’m going,” said Cynthia. “You think his disappearance has anything to do with your brother?”

“I doubt it. That doesn’t make sense.”

“But something’s going on.”

“Max probably just decided to wait out the storm. Maybe he couldn’t find his way. He’s probably holed up comfortably under some pine tree or something.”

“If he can’t find his way back, I hope we can.”

“You’ve got the compass, right?”

Cynthia nodded.

“Then we’ll be fine.”

But John had his reservations. He wished Cynthia wasn’t insistent on coming along. But he knew her well enough, and knew how stubborn she was. There was no point in even trying to talking her out of it.

John had to do it. He didn’t know James well. But to John, he wasn’t much more than a kid lost out there. And possibly in great danger.