The cargo door was opening as well, and George stepped out holding one of the rifles. He looked toward the house as he spoke. “Let’s go have a look.”
Megan stepped in front of him. He stood over her, and sunlight beamed down from behind him, casting Megan in shadow. She shook her head as she shoved the handgun into the waistband of her pants. “I can do this by myself. I need you to stay here and watch those two.” She waved a hand at the open van door.
George looked indignant but had the decency to hide it behind a forced smile. He kept it there and did his best to look confident and tough, but Megan could see how awkwardly the rifle sat in his hands.
“Megan, you can’t do this alone. Come on! We can scope this place out, and if there’s trouble, we’ll back each other up.” His sickly grin got even wider, and he moved a step closer. “In fact, if anyone should be staying here, it’s you. I’ll go. You stay here to keep an eye out for any trouble.”
Megan stared up at him with a smile on her face that did not reach her eyes. George was nearly a foot taller than she, but she did not look intimidated. When she stepped closer, his smile faltered and he backed up slightly.
“George, I don’t think that’s a good idea. In fact, I think it’s a lousy idea.” Her smile disappeared, and her demeanor became stern.
“I’m going up to that house, and I am going to make sure no one is there. If there are any of those things, I’ll shoot them. If there are any people, I’ll try to reason with them, but if that doesn’t work, I’ll do what I have to, whatever that may be. Is any of this unclear to you?”
“Megan, I-”
“No, George, I don’t want to hear it. There’s no time for any macho-man bullshit right now, okay? I’m tired, hungry, and can’t deal with your BS on top of everything else.”
The intensity in Megan’s eyes made George want to take another step back, but he rocked on his heels instead.
“Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that…” he sputtered.
“Forget it, George. We can argue later about who should do what, but for right now, I don’t want to worry about hurt feelings, all right? I just want to get this over with, and the longer I stand here the grouchier I get.” She stomped past him, bumping his arm as she did. He staggered back slightly even though there was no way her slight frame could have moved him. George turned to watch her walk toward the entrance of the property, a look of stunned confusion on his face.
“Let her go.”
George turned to look at Jeff, who had his seat reclined back and his arms behind his head. “She’s going to do whatever she wants, and I doubt there’s much you can do to stop her.”
George looked back at Megan and sighed.
Jeff propped himself up on his elbows. “Megan was a basket case when I first met her. That was only yesterday.”
George stared at him, his eyes narrowing in confusion at the comment.
“Yeah, I know. It doesn’t seem possible,” Jeff said with a knowing smile. “But as you can see, things have changed. Our little Megan has grown up fast.” He winced, gingerly rubbing his jaw. “I bet her husband had fun dealing with her when she was angry.”
He shifted and put his hands behind his head again as he lay back on the seat.
George stared at him and then gritted his teeth in frustration and flopped down in the open doorway of the van. He glanced at Jason and saw that the boy was staring blankly out the window, ignoring the conversation.
Turning back toward the house, he could no longer see Megan. The rifle felt strange in his hands, but he still wanted to jump up and go after her. His heart raced, and he felt torn between taking off and guarding Jeff and Jason, who weren’t in the best shape at the moment.
After a couple of minutes that seemed like forever, George stood up. He had resisted interfering for as long as possible. With the rifle in hand, he began moving away from the van. He knew that Jeff and Jason had the other rifle with which to defend themselves. That, along with the fact that he had heard nothing more ominous than the wind blowing, was enough to convince him that he needed to help Megan whether she liked it or not.
“I’m going to see what’s taking her so long,” he tossed behind him as he skirted the trees behind which they had parked. He came around them and stopped short.
Megan was standing on the porch with the front door open behind her, waving at him.
* * *
Megan had searched the inside of the house once she discovered the back door was unlocked. It looked like it had been abandoned weeks before, with many of the possessions of the family that had lived there gone. The garaged revealed only some dried oil spots where their vehicles once sat, but the pantry was stocked with all kinds of canned and dry goods. She didn’t attempt to open the refrigerator, knowing whatever was inside had gone bad long ago. The rest of the house looked to be in good order.
There were four bedrooms, which thrilled everyone to no end. Reasonably fresh sheets were in the linen closet, and George and Megan gleefully set to changing the beds. Jason snapped out of his daze a bit during this process and claimed one of the rooms that had obviously belonged to a teenager.
Megan played nurse and tended to Jeff’s bruises. There was little she could do for his jaw with no ice, but she bandaged his scalp, stinging his cuts with peroxide. After a quick examination of George and Jason, Megan pronounced that they were all in good health with no outstanding wounds or infections with which to concern themselves.
They agreed to have dinner together after checking out the barbeque grill and finding the propane tank half full. No steaks, of course, but George insisted he could do something interesting with the Spam and pork and beans they found on one of the shelves.
They discovered with some surprise that there was still water pressure and realized that the property had its own well and a generator in the basement. None of them had the knowledge to get the dusty old machine running, but they did find several large containers and fill them with water.
They pulled the van into the garage and loaded it up with the loot they had found in the house. Jeff was feeling less woozy and took charge of the task, dumping as much as he could into the rear of the van.
There was no heat, so each of them took a quick and invigorating cold shower and then ransacked the place for clean clothes. They picked through a sizeable collection of books and packed up several in a small cardboard box. When they sat down to dinner on the deck a couple of hours later, they felt exhausted but happy.
“It’s been a hell of a day, hasn’t it?” Jeff leaned back in his plastic lawn chair and stretched out, lacing his fingers behind his bandaged head.
“Well, if that ain’t the understatement of the century.” Megan jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, and they all shared a quiet laugh.
“So now what?”
The survivors stared off into space as Jeff’s question hung in the air.
“I’m not asking for a big picture answer, guys, just asking what we should do next.” Jeff paused, staring at his empty plate.
“I mean, you know what I want to do.” The pause became awkward as Jeff, then Megan, and finally Jason looked at George. He could feel their eyes burning into him as he looked down at his hands. “I can’t ask you to help me get to my family. I know it’ll be dangerous. But I need to get back to them. I think…I think I want to find a car and head back home on my own.”
There was defiance on George’s face when he looked up. His eyes moved to Megan as she leaned over the table toward him.
She tried to smile but couldn’t. “We understand, George. We won’t try to stop you when you decide to go.”
Her smile did come then, but it was not confident or strong. She held her hand out to George, and he stared at it, his face full of relief. He blinked slowly and took her tiny hand in his oversized paw. When George looked over at Jeff, he was nodding in agreement. There was a hint of regret in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly.