Lily ducked her head. “Not good,” she said. “We had a lot in the beginning. That’s the other reason I escaped. I could see we were running out of food. I don’t know why they haven’t resupplied. Maybe they’re afraid that someone is going to find out what they’re doing. They tried to kill a sheep and eat it, but everyone who ate the meat got sick.”
Jacob didn’t say anything. She’ll find out the truth soon enough. I wonder how she’ll feel then.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“I’m Lily,” she replied.
After that, they slept. When Lily awoke, she felt mentally rested for the first time in a year. Once again, she followed Jacob when he left.
As they traveled, Lily took over the cooking chores. When Jacob caught something, Lily prepared it and cleaned up afterwards. She tried to give Jacob his mummy bag and to take her blankets back, but Jacob was firm if gentle. The answer was, “no.” She didn’t press it. She was alive, and she was free, at least for the moment, and Jacob seemed intent on keeping her that way. She still didn’t quite believe that the bad times were over, but at least he had not tried to force her to have sex with him.
Once, he asked her how old she was, and she told him that she was twenty one. He responded by saying that she would be the third adult in their camp.
She didn’t tell him that she had no intention of staying in their camp, and that she was heading down the mountain as soon as possible. She knew that he was making up much of what he told her, but she did not know why. How will he explain the fantasy when we get to where we are going, wherever that is?
On the third day of their travels together, they came to a stream. Jacob turned towards the west, and they followed the water. The next day, the stream grew larger and faster as it gathered the waters from tributaries, and the day after that, it became a small river. About noon, Jacob stopped. Behind him, Lily stopped also. She could tell that Jacob was alert and listening.
For a moment her fear returned, but then Jacob said in a loud voice, “It’s Jacob.”
Minutes later, she saw two boys come out of the woods and hail Jacob. The smaller boy was African-American. The other boy was lighter but not by much.
“Hey, Bro,” the younger boy said. “You’re back early.” His eyes were filled with reserve as he examined Lily.
“Change of plans,” said Jacob. “This is Lily. She’s from the Retreat.” He pointed to the younger boy. “That’s Eric. And that’s Ahmad.”
For a moment, Lily stared at the two boys, and then she looked back at Jacob. She was startled by the realization that he had already known about the Retreat. She kept silent, waiting to see what would happen.
“Do you want one of us to run down and tell the Chief?” Ahmad asked.
“No need. We’ll be there soon enough,” Jacob answered.
“How’s your food?” Eric asked. “You hungry?”
“Nah, we’ve been eating. What have you got to drink?”
“Mrs. Brown sent us a whole canister of Kool-Aid,” Eric said. “The Chief is saving it for the patrols, but you can have some.”
“Cool,” Jacob replied, his eyes lighting up.
Eric handed him a thermos. Jacob took it and ignoring the screw-on cup, drank straight from the thermos. Then he looked guiltily at Lily.
“Want some?” he asked, indicating that she could use the cup.
Typical boy. “No, thank you,” she answered and took a drink from her water bottle.
After exchanging a few more words with the patrol, Jacob and Lily continued their journey along the swiftly running river. At sunset they came out of the woods, and Lily got her first look at the camp. The sight of the crude Lodge astonished and alarmed her, but the A-frame cabin, and the dining hall, and the big yellow bus parked beside the heavy machinery in the parking lot conveyed some sense of normalcy.
“I need to check in,” Jacob said. “But first, I need to use the bathroom,” he added with a blush. He headed for the Lodge.
Lily noticed a woman speaking to a teenage boy. When she approached them, they were obviously surprised to see her.
“Pardon me,” she said with a polite smile. “Can you direct me to the Administration Office?”
“Uh, it’s over there,” the woman said, staring at Lily while pointing to the A-frame cabin. Lily thanked the woman and went to the cabin. She knocked on the door.
“It’s open,” said a voice from inside.
Lily opened the door and stepped in. A young boy sitting at a desk raised his head and stared at her.
“Hello,” she said. “Is the person in charge, here?”
“Who are you?” the boy asked brusquely.
“My name is Lily,” she replied. “I came here with Jacob. I need to speak to the person in charge of this camp.”
“Jacob’s back?” the boy asked. “Where is he?”
“He’s using the restroom. Please, I really need to speak to the person in charge,” Lily replied.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and then a man and the woman that Lily had just spoken to entered the cabin.
“Hey, Chief,” the man said. “Everything okay?”
“I guess so,” said Mike. “This woman says she came here with Jacob. Say’s, he’s using the Porta Potty.”
Jacob came through the door. “Hello, Chief,” he said.
“What’s going on here?” Lily asked demandingly. “Where is your Administrator?”
Her fear had returned. She had thought that everything would soon be back to normal, but nothing seemed normal about this place.
Jacob, Hector, and Jean looked at Mike.
“I’m in charge here,” he said. “My name is Mike, but most everyone calls me, ‘Chief’.”
“This is Lily, Chief,” said Jacob. “She’s from the Retreat. She doesn’t know about the Fog.”
Jean gasped. “You’re from the Retreat?”
Lily didn’t answer. Her mind was numb. She sat down heavily on the bed.
“This can’t be happening,” she whispered to herself.
Jean looked at the woman with pity, and then she said to Mike, “Chief, can I be alone with her for a minute?”
“Sure,” said Mike. “Take your time. Let’s go, guys.” The three males left the cabin.
“I didn’t get to the Retreat, Chief,” Jacob explained. “I found her about a week ago. I decided you would want me to stop and bring her back here. Sorry.”
“Good job, Jacob,” said Mike. “You can go back there later with Jean. I was already thinking that sending you there alone was a bad idea. About Lily. It’s late, so I’m going to let her stay in my place tonight. I want you to stay there, too.”
Jacob’s mouth dropped open. “What?” he said.
“Upstairs, I mean,” Mike explained. “In the loft. Just so she’ll have someone around who she’s familiar with. Tomorrow, I’ll move her to a bunk.”
“Oh, alright.”
The next day, Lily feeling weary and subdued, met with Mike and his Council. She gave them an account of her experiences at the retreat.
“Jacob, why do you think they got sick from eating that sheep?” Mike asked.
“Didn’t prepare it properly. Sounds like they cut the stomach or intestines,” Jacob replied.
“Lily, did they try to eat another sheep?” Mike asked.
“Not while I was there. No one wanted to take the chance,” was her answer. ”We were living on deer and goat milk.”
“How many of those people are still alive?”
Lily thought for a minute. “When I left, there were five men, eight women and four kids, but one man was real sick,” she said. “He might not survive.”
“Seventeen people,” said Mike slowly. He stopped talking and thought about it. Then he looked at Jacob.
“Jacob, think you could prepare one of those sheep properly?” he asked.