Getting Out

32

“I think that’s it,” said Mandy, pointing ahead.

The five of them had emerged from the woods and were standing in an overgrown field. It had been a good solid two hours of hiking from where they’d left Max.

They gazed across the field at the house.

It was a farm house all right, but it looked like it hadn’t been used in years. All of the windows were boarded up with wood.

“I can’t believe we got here,” said Chad, who had arrived, panting a little, after the others. He immediately threw his pack down and flopped onto the ground.

The others were tired and hungry.

Mandy felt mixed emotions on getting “home.”

In one way, the journey was over. She hoped it had been the most difficult part, but she knew that it wasn’t. She knew that a thousand challenges would crop up in the future.

And the house… it wasn’t as if she was expecting a castle. But she had been expecting a house that looked a little more… serviceable.

“It’s not too bad,” said Georgia, standing next to Mandy.

“Are we going to really live there?” said Sadie.

“Shut up, Sadie,” said James. “At least we’re going to have a place to live. And we can grow food here. You do like food, don’t you?”

“How are we going to grow food?” said Sadie, her voice full of snark.

Mandy knew that she had a point. Getting seeds or animals was going to be a monumental task. She didn’t even know where they were going to start.

“I hope Max is OK,” said Chad from the ground.

Mandy hoped so too. Without Max there, she felt lost. She’d led the group quite capably to the farmhouse, but she now realized that they’d all been looking to Max for direction, for what to do next. Max always seemed to have a plan, no matter how bad things were.

“Well,” said Mandy. “Let’s go check it out.”

Everyone kept their rifles out in front of them. They knew at this point not to expect the best.

Chad groaned as he got up.

The house actually looked a little better the closer they got to it. The old white paint was peeling, but the house looked solid.

They set their packs down outside, and they decided that Mandy and Georgia would enter first.

“Ladies,” said Chad. “Excuse me, but if anyone should go in first, it should be me.”

They were surprised. It turned out that Chad really had turned over a new leaf. He was willing to potentially sacrifice himself for the good of the others.

Chad held his rifle in front of him, ready to fire it at close range without the scope if necessary. His pack was laying outside with the rest of them.

The door wasn’t boarded up, and Mandy opened it for him. It hadn’t even been locked.

Chad took a step inside, before calling out, “I can’t see anything in here.”

“I’ll come in,” said Mandy, taking a flashlight Max had loaned her.

She walked behind Chad, holding the flashlight so they could see clearly. Some daylight came in little streams through the boarded up windows. But whoever had boarded the windows had done a very thorough job, and it wasn’t enough light to see by.

“This actually is pretty nice,” said Mandy.

To her surprise, the house was still full of things you would expect in an older house. There were plates in the kitchen, spoons in the drawers. There were bookshelves with books in the living room, and there were beds in all the upstairs rooms.

There was even canned food in the basement. There were cans of peaches, tomatoes, and even pickles.

“I’m getting hungry just looking at all this,” said Chad.

Mandy laughed.

The danger of a possible intruder in the house seemed to have passed. They spent some time exploring the house before heading back into the sunshine to join the others.

“It’s better than we expected,” said Mandy. “There’s even food in there.”

“Nice,” said James.

“I just hope Max makes it back soon,” said Georgia, eyeing the sky.

Mandy knew what she was thinking: the sun was going to set soon, and it would be more dangerous out there at night. Not to mention more difficult to find the way.

But Max had a flashlight. And he was smart. He would make it back, Mandy was sure of it.

They set about bringing their packs and their gear into the living room of the house. It was strange to see the survival gear and the hiking backpacks sitting on the nice carpet of the living room, next to an old fashioned ornate sofa, with hardbound books on the shelves.

“I don’t understand why this stuff is still here,” said Sadie, looking at the books.

“Come on, Sadie,” said Georgia. “There’s still work to be done. You can look at the books later. Give me a hand with the cooking.”

With her flashlight, Mandy found some candles in the kitchen drawer, along with some matches.

She was about to bring them back to Georgia so she could get started with the cooking, and to put them around the house where they might need them.

Only at the last moment did she realize that she was in what was actually a kitchen. She tried the stove.

To her absolute surprise, when she turned the knob, gas came out of the burner. She lit it with her match and sure enough, it continued to burn.

“Georgia!” she called out. “Come look at this!”

Georgia and Sadie came into the room.

“Wow,” said Georgia. “I can barely believe it.”

“Well I guess we shouldn’t get used to it,” said Mandy. “I suppose it’s a tank that’ll run out eventually.”

“Let’s just enjoy it while we can,” said Georgia.

Mandy turned off the gas to conserve it, while Georgia and Sadie rooted around in the cupboard to see what kinds of pots and pans they had.

Unfortunately, no water came out of the tap.

“Maybe it’s just shut off,” said Mandy.

“Maybe,” said Georgia.

“Do you think the city water will still be running?”

“This place is probably on a well,” said Georgia.

“Yeah,” said Mandy, agreeing, but she realized her mind really wasn’t on the cooking. Her mind was on Max. Part of her wanted to go look for him, but Max had warned her specifically against that. He’d said it would be too dangerous, and that they needed to stay together as a group. The worst thing that could happen, Max had said, was that the group further fragmented.

Mandy left Georgia, Sadie, and a rather reluctant James, to get down to cooking. They had to improvise quite a bit, because the remaining perishable foods at this point were varied. There was a bit of chicken left, some bacon, a single egg, half a stick of butter. It was a hodgepodge, but it would work. They would be fed. For now.

“No sign of Max?” said Mandy, sitting down on the front porch steps next to Chad, who’d been guarding the house from the outside.

The sun had set, and darkness was settling over the land.

“Nope,” said Chad, looking across the field into the distance. “Not that I’d be able to see him right now anyway.”

“You think he’ll make it?” said Mandy.

Chad nodded. “I’m sure of it,” he said. “Ever since he was a little kid, he’s been a tough old bastard. He can deal with anything.”

“So what’s the story between you two?” said Mandy. “Some kind of childhood rivalry or something?”

“It’s not complicated,” said Chad. “We were good friends, and then I got into drugs. That’s pretty much it.”

Mandy didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say, and she was learning that sometimes no words were needed.

After half an hour, Georgia called out that the food was ready.

Mandy joined them inside, where they ate in the dining room at the table. Chad remained outside, insisting that he stand guard. Georgia sent James to bring some food to him.

“It’s strange to be sitting around a table like civilized people again,” said Mandy.

“I like it,” said Sadie.

“What about you, James?” said Mandy.

James had been conspicuously silent all day, all through the walk.

“It’s nice,” said James. “I’m just worried about what we’re going to eat in the future.”

“We’ll figure it out,” said Georgia. “Remember, your mother’s quite the hunter.”

“But we only have so many bullets,” said James.

“We’ll figure something out,” said Georgia. “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

When the meal was finished, Mandy went back outside to join Chad on the porch.

“Still no sign of him?”

“Nope,” was all Chad said.

She could hear it in his voice. Chad was worried about his friend. Just like she was.

Mandy realized that she’d assumed Max would be there with them, his comforting, strong presence, his leadership. But maybe he wouldn’t make it…

She realized that she’d assumed that she and Max would become a couple. It had happened quickly, this change in mindset, and it had become something of a background thought that she merely assumed…

Now, though, she wasn’t so sure. He might not make it back.

After a couple hours of waiting on the porch, Chad told her that she’d better get inside and get some rest. He assured her that he was fine to stay up. He still couldn’t sleep right because of not having his pills. The stuff was out of his system, but it would be a long time before his body was back to normal.

But Mandy stayed on the porch with him, refusing to budge, even when Georgia came out and asked her to come inside.

“I’m just going to wait out here a little longer,” said Mandy.

Georgia nodded, and went back inside with her kids.

Chad and Mandy didn’t speak through the night.

Mandy’s mind was filled with a thousand thoughts. She thought about the future, how they would survive out here, how they would grow their food, how they would defend themselves against the hordes of people that Max had assured her would come from the city.

But most of all she thought of Max.

The hours of the night passed. Long, dark hours. The animals were awake, making noises. Mandy heard the hoot of an owl, and movement off in the distance. Towards dawn, they heard the birds waking up, singing their songs.

The sky was cloudless, and the moon faintly illuminated the fields in front of them, all the way to the edge of the forest. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, giving them good night vision.

The sounds were not what Mandy was used to. Back in her suburban life, the only sounds she’d heard at night were cars speeding by on the highway. And the occasional bird in the morning, of course. But the sounds in the suburbs were nothing like the sounds out here. If this had been a vacation, Mandy would have felt relaxed. And that was the strange thing—this was just the sort of place one might come for a relaxing vacation, to get away from it all.

The sun was rising, and Mandy was still awake.

“You still awake?” said Chad.

Mandy just grunted her acknowledgement.

“He’ll be here soon,” said Chad, trying to comfort her. He seemed to understand her feelings for Max.

But Mandy didn’t see how he could possibly come back. It should have only taken him a few hours at the most. But it had been all night.

“Hey,” said Chad, poking her. “Look!”

Mandy lifted her tired head and looked to where Chad was no pointing.

At the edge of the overgrown field, there was Max.

It was definitely him. Mandy felt she would recognize him from any distance.

He was emerging from the forest.

Her heart leapt as she saw him.

But something was wrong. He wasn’t walking right.

“He’s limping!” said Mandy.

She got up off the steps quickly and ran towards Max.

Chad followed, his heavy footsteps falling at a distance.

“Max!” cried out Mandy.