Dead Of Winter - A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Novel (Enter Darkness Book 2) Read online

  “The garden we have here is fine,” Brad pointed out. “We have plenty of produce and we’ll be able to plant again from seeds next year—”

  She dropped down into the chair beside his, leaning forward earnestly. “Okay, then what about a city? We’ll have more resources there and looting will be easier, too. You said that we needed to make some supply runs, anyway. We wouldn’t have to travel nearly as far if we were in a city.”

  She didn’t seem to be getting it.

  “So, you want a warm city?” he asked. “I mean, I guess we could load up the car and head for Miami.” Her green eyes narrowed and he raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. He wasn’t doing very well at getting her on his side. “Sorry. It’s just…it won’t work.”

  “You don’t know that,” she said.

  “Of course I do,” he replied. “And you do too; you have to! Didn’t you see…” He trailed off, realizing something important. Anna hadn’t seen. He changed tactics. “You left before the EMP, Anna. You haven’t seen the cities, or the roads that lead to them. There’s nothing left there except scavengers.”

  “What about moving a little more south?” she asked stubbornly. “We wouldn’t have to go into the cities. Surely someone else had a garden that we could use.”

  “Look, Anna, even if I wanted to leave here, we wouldn’t get far before winter hit,” he said honestly. “And getting stuck on the road in a blizzard really isn’t on my list of things I want in life.”

  She sighed, her lower lip between her teeth again, as she clearly cast around for another suggestion. She just as clearly came up empty. It didn’t feel like a victory when he saw the sparkle of tears in her eyes.

  “You’re really sure that we can get through the winter here?” she demanded, finally betraying her fear. “You’re not worried about anything?”

  “No,” Brad said. “I’m not worried about being able to survive out here through the winter. Why are you?”

  She gave a jerky shrug. “It’s already so cold. And we’re so far away from everything.”

  He leaned forward and took her hands in his. Her fingers were ice-cold and her lips had gone pale. Everyone had an irrational fear that made them do senseless things. His fear was bugs. Hers, apparently, was cabin fever.

  “This cabin has been here a long time,” he said, keeping his voice steady and calm. “One Maine winter won’t change that. No matter how cold it gets.” When she looked doubtful, he squeezed her hands. “Hey. Remember our promise? We trust each other, right? Trust me now. I know that I’m making the right decision on this.”

  Maybe it was his tone of voice. Maybe it was the look in his eyes. Either way, after a moment, she squeezed back, her eyes meeting his as she said, “Okay. I trust you. We’ll stay.”

  Chapter 3

  “Oh, so that’s what that’s for!” Sammy said as Brad pulled open the small attic door and tugged down the ladder about half an hour later.

  Anna looked up at the small door in the hallway ceiling. “How small is it up there?” she asked.

  “Pretty small,” Brad confirmed.

  “I think I’ll sit this one out,” she said firmly.

  “That’s okay,” Brad said. “I need someone to hand stuff down to, anyway.”

  “Mom doesn’t like small places,” Sammy said.

  “Everybody has something that freaks them out,” Brad said, heading up the ladder. Apparently, Anna had at least two things, but he didn’t mention that to the kid. There was something nice about feeling like your parents were invincible, and he wanted Sammy to be able to hold onto that illusion for as long as possible.

  “You know what I don’t like?” Sammy asked as he followed him up.

  “What?” Brad asked, half distracted by trying to get the oil lantern lit in the dark attic.

  “Masks,” the boy answered promptly. “Especially the kind that look like animal heads. Like the horses and the zebras. They’re freaky because they flop around too much. Real zebras’ heads don’t flop like that.”

  Brad nodded, turning so that Sammy wouldn’t see his smile. “I can see how that would be weird.”

  He put the oil lamp in the middle of the floor so that it would cast light over the majority of the attic and glanced around. The place was pretty packed, which was very much what he’d expected. Lee had been a major pack rat.

  Luckily, he’d also been an organized one. Weatherproof boxes lined every square inch of the walls, but they were all neatly labeled. At least, the position of the labels was neat—perfectly parallel to the edge of the lids, in fact. His father’s handwriting was a different story, but if Brad squinted and stared for long enough, he could make the words out.

  This was clearly going to be a bigger job than he’d anticipated, so he scanned the labels quickly, looking for blankets. Cold-weather gear was the top priority at the moment. The last thing any of them needed was to catch a cold.

  His father’s “B” was pretty easily recognizable, and he found two boxes of blankets relatively quickly before handing them down to Anna. He also found some winter clothes and pushed those down as well. They were in several different sizes and most of them were men’s clothes, but they’d be fine for layering.

  “Okay, that’s it for today,” he said. As much as he wanted to dig through the bounty in the attic, the day was bright and sunny. Although it was cold, it was still perfect for getting a lot of the outside chores taken care of. He didn’t know how many more of these days they would have before winter hit.

  Sammy’s lower lip slid out. He was digging through a box in the corner that was filled with board games and puzzles. “But I wanted to look around!”

  “I know, kiddo. You can take that box with you if you want. But we’ve got a lot of things to do outside while it’s sunny,” Brad said, guiding the boy in front of him and over to the ladder. “We’ll come back up soon.”

  They’d have a whole winter to fill with tasks like exploring the attic, after all. He didn’t share Anna’s dim view on the coming season, but he knew they were going to be snowed in for a least a few days. He also knew that the inevitable bouts of cabin fever were going to be much harder for a newly turned nine-year-old than for either of the adults. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to save some surprises to dole out to the boy over the winter.

  Anna smiled up at him as he stepped off of the ladder. “Thanks for the blankets. We’ll be really warm tonight.”

  He smiled back as he turned to put the ladder away. “You’re welcome.”

  “Would it be a good idea to hang them on the line outside today?” she asked. “Since they’ve been packed away for a while? It’s not too bad, but they’re a little musty.”

  “Yeah, it’s definitely a good idea,” he agreed. “I didn’t even think about that.” He hefted one of the boxes onto his shoulder and picked the other up with his free hand. “Okay, let’s get started.”

  They followed him out and Anna began hanging the blankets on the clothesline at the side of the cabin. She’d been right; they were clean, but they definitely smelled like the backup supplies that they were. Lee probably hadn’t touched these in years. Brad reached down to start hanging up the stuff in the second box and the first thing his fingers touched was a red-and-white quilt.

  He tossed it over the line and secured it with a few clothespins as he said, “My mom made this.”

  Anna turned his way to see what he meant. “Really? It’s gorgeous,” she said as she stepped closer to get a better look.

  “You can have it for your room, then,” he said, liking the way her eyes had widened when she saw the quilt.

  “No, you probably want it,” Anna said, even as her hand stretched out to trace the pretty and complex patterns.

  He smiled. “We’ve got enough blankets to go around,” he said, gesturing to the boxes that were still nearly full. “I’d like you to take it. My mom would be happy that you appreciate it so much.”

  “Then I’d love to have it,” she admitted, still tracing
the designs. “Thanks, Brad.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said, looking at the way the morning sun awoke those gold highlights in her hair and admiring the slight scattering of freckles over her nose. He hadn’t noticed those before.

  “What are we gonna do today?” Sammy asked.

  They both turned to him. He was leaning against the porch railing, looking bored. Anna tucked her hair behind her ear and turned back to the boxes, shaking the next blanket out with a business like snap before she slung it over the line.

  “It’s about time we did something with those rabbits from yesterday,” Brad said to Sammy. “I was thinking that I’d show you how to skin and gut them before we do anything else. Why don’t you run to the cabin and bring them out?”

  Anna wrinkled her nose as Sammy headed for the house. “Better him than me. After I finish up here, I’ll get started in the garden, if you want.”

  “You don’t have to help on this go around,” Brad said. “But your time will come.”

  He’d been gently pestering her to learn how to skin the animals he brought in for weeks, now. She did okay with cleaning the fish, but she couldn’t seem to manage gutting a mammal. He understood it, but compassion and squeamishness wouldn’t keep her alive if something happened to him.

  “I know,” she said with a sigh as she shook out the next quilt. “Just…not today, okay?”

  “Okay,” he said. “Would you mind starting in the orchard instead of the garden, though? We really need to get the last of those apples, and you know how much Sammy loves to dig for potatoes. I don’t want to alarm you, but in my professional veterinary opinion, the kid is part mole.”

  She laughed. “Sure, I can start in the orchard. Is this your way of giving him a reward for the skinning?”

  “Seems only fair,” Brad agreed. “It’s not the most fun job in any circumstance.”

  “I know you don’t love it,” Anna said, looking slightly ashamed of herself. “I really will help with the next one.”

  “I’ll hold you to it,” he promised.

  “I’ve got them!” Sammy called out, running back.

  “Great,” Brad said. “Let’s take them down into the cellar so that your mom doesn’t have to watch.”

  He caught the flash of gratitude in Anna’s eyes and smiled as they walked away.

  “What?” Sammy demanded. “Is something funny?” He looked around as if he’d missed some kind of joke.

  “Nothing,” Brad said quickly. “I’m just in a good mood, that’s all.”

  They walked down the cellar stairs and over to a small table Brad had set up for just this purpose. He laid one of the rabbits out on it.

  “Now,” he began as he handed Sammy a small knife. “I know that you know how to be careful with this, so I expect you to be on your best behavior with it. We’ve got a lot to do, so if you cut off a finger I won’t have time to fix it till tomorrow.”

  Sammy laughed. “That’s so gross!”

  “I do what I can.” He gestured to the rabbit. “We want to try to keep the skin intact as much as possible, so—”

  “Why?”

  “So we can make your mom a fur coat,” Brad joked. “Actually, you never know what you might need, so we keep everything we can.”

  “Like how you made me eat that liver?” Sammy asked.

  It had been a hard sell, but Brad had finally convinced Sammy to do it a few weeks back. “Exactly,” he confirmed. “Now, let’s get started.”

  Sammy made a mess with the first rabbit, but he got the hang of it much faster than Brad had anticipated. The kid was good with a knife. He was looking up to tell him exactly that when he saw that Sammy had abandoned the third rabbit and was currently carving a design into the tabletop. The pattern was intricate, almost like a henna design, but that wasn’t exactly the point. Brad rapped on the tabletop with his knuckles.

  “Pay attention, kiddo.”

  “Sorry,” Sammy said, getting back to work.

  “It’s okay,” Brad said. “I didn’t know that you liked carving.”

  Sammy grinned. “Yeah, I didn’t, either. But I like the way it feels.”

  It was good to know. In addition to rummaging in the attic, reading, and playing board games, Brad could add this to the list of things for the kid to do while he was stuck in the cabin this winter.

  Brad returned the grin. “I’ll make sure to get you some extra wood sometime soon.”

  Once the rabbits were skinned and gutted, Brad tasked Sammy with burying the few pieces they couldn’t use and walked into the house to clean up and get supper started. It was hours and hours away, but they could have a stew. There were plenty of spices and it would take the whole day to cook.

  He pulled down the stew pot and dropped part of the rabbit meat into it. Then, he added a little more. They were going to have a long day, and they’d need something filling at the end of it. Anna might think that they were running out of food, but he knew better. She was just panicked at the thought of not being able to run down to the supermarket. They could definitely afford to have a hearty meal at the end of the day they were about to put in.

  Brad dropped in some chanterelle mushrooms he’d found growing while he was out hunting yesterday. Then, he added a handful of diced onion and a handful of parsnips. Grabbing the shakers from the cabinet, he added salt, pepper, and garlic, which were his go-to ingredients to make pretty much anything taste good. Or, if not good, at least edible. He splashed some of the canned chicken broth he’d found in the pantry over the concoction and then added some water.

  There was still a good bit of meat left over and he debated on what to do with it, not wanting to leave it sitting out all day. The idea came to him in a flash. He could use the rest of the rabbit to make some more broth. It wouldn’t be bad to have on hand in case someone got sick this winter. He grabbed another pot and set about doing just that.

  By the time he got back outside, Sammy was happily digging for potatoes and there were two baskets of apples on the porch. He could hear the bedding snapping in the slight breeze and he leaned against the railing, planning his next step. He was the one with the most expertise in the medical garden, so he figured he’d start there. There were still quite a few things that needed to be done there, so he eyed it critically, trying to figure out where to start.

  “You look like you’re working hard,” Anna huffed, carrying a third basket up to the porch. It was less than half full. “I think I got everything except the bad ones.”

  Brad took the basket from her and set it down next to the other two. “Thanks. We can make some apple butter tomorrow.” He gauged the amount of fruit she’d gathered and added, “And we can dry a lot of this so that it lasts longer. There might even be enough for Sammy to have some every day.”

  Anna nodded. “I thought so, too.” She looked down at her sneakers and cleared her throat. “I’m…I’m sorry I freaked out.”

  Brad shrugged lightly, not wanting her to be embarrassed. “It’s okay. I understand.”

  “Really?” she asked, looking up at him from her place on the step. “Maybe you can explain it to me, then.”

  “Winter steals your freedom,” Brad said. “And we’ve already lost so much. So, it feels worse than it actually is.”

  Her eyes widened. “Wow. Since when did you become a philosopher?”

  “I was born great,” Brad said with a grin. “I can’t believe it took you this long to notice.”

  She smacked him on the arm. “Don’t you have work to do?”

  “A little,” he admitted. “Will you help me keep an eye on the rabbit stew today, though? Just stir it if you happen to be in the house.”

  “Sure thing.”

  They went their separate ways, Brad to the medicinal garden to begin gathering and labeling and Anna back around the house to make sure she’d grabbed every piece of usable fruit there was to get.

  That night, Brad knew that everyone was as happy to dig into the stew as he was. He was happy that h
e’d made such a large batch for their meal. Sammy was spooning his bowlful up with machine-like rapidity and already eyeing the pot to make sure that there was enough for seconds. Even Anna was eating quickly and silently. They had all put in a long day, longer even than Brad had planned. It had given the stew time to simmer and develop some seriously good flavor, but it had also made his back ache, and he’d been glad to take his seat at the table tonight.

  Once the first bowls had been finished and seconds ladled in, they looked around at each other, their hunger finally sated enough to allow them some time for conversation.

  “We got a lot done,” Brad said. “Winter gear is down from the attic, all the apples and root vegetables are harvested, and I have seeds from everything in the medicinal garden as well as a good start on beefing up that first-aid kit.”

  He had headache remedies, compresses for bruises and wounds, toothache cures, and things to aid everything from insomnia, to sore muscles, to anxiety. He didn’t feel nearly as worried about the lack in first-aid items now, which was an anxiety remedy in itself. He planned to finish the kit tomorrow. Some of the tinctures needed to brew overnight.

  “And I insulated all of the pipes under the house,” Anna said.

  Brad stared at her with his spoon halfway to his mouth. “You did?” Anna had vanished from sight for a long time in the afternoon, but he’d assumed that they’d simply been missing one another as they went in and out of the kitchen.

  “Yep,” she said, seeming happy to have surprised him. “I wanted to check on the pipes once I was done with the orchard. I found all of the stuff I’d need already under there, so I thought, why not go ahead and do it? We don’t want to get caught by surprise by a freeze and we definitely don’t want a pipe to burst.”

  “No,” he agreed. “We don’t.” They obviously didn’t have running water, but they’d still had good luck with the drains, so she certainly hadn’t wasted her time.