He knew he needed to get to the farmhouse. It might take him a very long time, given how difficult it was for him to walk. He kept extra ammo for the Glock and the rifle. He kept food and water, which he would need for the journey. He kept the water filters that they would need in the future. He kept his emergency medical kit, which he didn’t bother trying to use now, since he knew that he didn’t know what he was doing with it, and he didn’t know what else he could do now for a gunshot wound.
It was only in thinking of the medical kit that Max remembered being cut. He paused to examine the wound. It wasn’t as bad as he’d initially thought. It was a long cut, but it wasn’t deep, and the bleeding had mostly stopped.
Max took the provisions that he wasn’t bringing along, which was the majority of what had been in the pack, and carefully buried it under the same leaves he’d used to cover the pack. He took his pocket knife out and carved a single line in one of the trees, to serve as a marker for some future date. In the future, he could come back and recover the provisions. There might come a time when they meant the difference between life and death.
Shouldering his lightened pack, gritting his teeth against the pain, Max set off, limping with his crutch. His eyes studied the forest around him, and he was alert. He listened to the sounds. He wasn’t going to be ambushed, no matter what condition he was in.
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.