I leaned back into the car seat once more, trying to distract myself from the fact I’d lost reception on my phone.

A sea of trees could be seen outside the window. An unending tide of brown and green that stretched out from the corners of the dirt road and far beyond the mountains in the distance.

“Where are we again?”

“Dunstonberry.” My uncle replied, casually dodging the question.

“That name isn’t on any maps Uncle Uter. My phone was telling me we were in the middle of nowhere before I lost service.”

“Northern Ontario is hardly the middle of nowhere.” Aunt Cherryl repeated. “It’s a beautiful land with a rich culture.”

“I’ve literally counted seven hours since the last time we saw a gas station.” I countered. “That, and we’ve spent those seven hours on a dirt road. I’m surprised a bear hasn’t come out of the woods looking for a snack.”

“Bears are shy creatures.” Uncle Uter assured me. “Besides, we’re in very big car. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

Aunt Cherryl turned her head to gaze into the back of the van. Smiling at she looked at us.

“Cecil, dear. I understand it’s a big change. Its normal to be a little anxious about the whole affair. Maybe a little nap would help? Eva seems to be doing fine.”

I gave my cousin a sideways glance.

If she was worried about our new home, it didn’t show. Her sleeping face was a mask of tranquil happiness. Soft breaths soundlessly going in and out.

Looking closer, a line of drool had fallen from her open mouth to fall her clothes.

“I’m not nine anymore auntie. I don’t think I can fall asleep as fast as she can.”

Uncle Uter stifled a laugh.

“Of course you can’t. Hey Cherryl, leave our big man alone. Don’t you know he’s already fourteen? He’ll be the one driving before long. He’s too old to take naps in the car.”

“Probably for the best.” She piled on. “Wouldn’t want him falling asleep on the wheel. Big boys need to stay alert and brooding or they wouldn’t look all cool and mysterious.”

I felt a blush creeping onto my face and tried to hide it by squirming deeper into my seat.

“You guys are awful and I’m not brooding. This whole thing is suspicious. Why do we have to move out to some town in the middle of nowhere for a promotion? Why would any company want to have their main offices out in the middle of the woods?”

“The town is named after them dear. I assume this is where it started.”

Uncle Uter nodded.

“It’s a growing family business. Makes sense that they wouldn’t want to expand just yet.”

“I looked them up online! Dunston Corp is a global mining business! They literally have no reason to keep an office up here!”

I hesitated before continuing. Knowing that Uncle Uter knew what I was about to say, and that my concerns had already been dismissed. He’d explained it all away as rumours and gossip. Ignoring everything I’d said and pointed out. Regardless, I had to try.

“People say bad things about them. About the… secrecy. Some people say they bribe the government to stay away from their town. Other people say that it isn’t a town at all. That it’s the compound of a cult. They say Mr. Robertson is a crazy conspiracy theorist that thinks the world is ending. That him and his family do all sorts of weird stuff in their compound. That’s why there’s no internet and why the town doesn’t show up on any maps.”

My eyes searched for the rearview mirror.

Uncle Uter’s reflection rolled his eyes.

“Right. Tell me again Cecil. Who are these people? Are they provincial police? Plaintiff’s suing Mr. Robertson for some crime or another? Paparazzi?”

He made a rude noise.

“People will say anything about anything. That’s how the internet works. I bet they’d be saying the exact same thing about us if we had that kind of money.”

Aunt Cheryll place a hand on her husband’s thigh.

He stopped. Tensing slightly, before relaxing once more.

“That said, there are things we haven’t told you yet.”

“I knew it!”

Aunt Cheryll shushed me. Pointing at Eva.

I lowered the volume of my voice. Leaning forward so the two of them could hear me.

“I knew there was something fishy about all this. You two spent weeks talking about the promotion before accepting it. You wouldn’t have done that if there wasn’t a catch.”

“We would’ve spent weeks discussing it anyways. Moving is always a big decision and grown-ups have to take a lot of things into account before committing to it. Including the welfare of their kids.”

Aunt Cheryll’s face sported an appeasing smile.

“Still, there were, other factors to consider. Mr. Robertson is…. His family are….”

“They're preppers.” She finished for him.

I, didn’t know what that was.

“Is that some weird cult?”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“No!” Uncle Uter protested. “And make sure you don’t talk about it in that way. Preppers aren’t a cult.”

“Most of the time.” Aunt Cheryll corrected.

“There were criminals in the seventies and eighties that did questionable things. That much is true. My company is not like that. We have a finger on every continent except Antarctica and we’re at the forefront of developing greener mining technologies. There’s nothing criminal going on.”

“What’s a prepper?” I insisted. Feeling a surge of panic washing over me.

“They’re people who believe the world is ending.”

I stopped, going from fearful to confused in the blink of an eye.

“The world is ending. Global warming’s been proven for decades. It’s a real thing.”

“Not like that. They think it’ll end due to a nuclear exchange or something.”

“I… I mean, its possible? Why is that a problem?”

“Its not.” Uncle Uter said briskly. “Mr. Robertson is a billionaire. With a B. If he wants to spend his family’s fortunes on high-end bunkers then that’s his business. We shouldn’t judge the man for his personal beliefs unless they involve illegal activity. Which they don’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he’s filthy rich Cecil. Why would he need to do shady things to his own employees if he’s already filthy rich?”

“I can think of a few reasons.”

“Well, stop thinking about them. We’re going to a normal town to do a normal job. You’ll attend a normal school and have a normal education. Better yet, you’ll be eligible for some pretty fat scholarships as long as I’m working this job. So, you and Eva will make sure to study hard and make the most out of this opportunity.”

“Is that why you took the job?”

“That, and it came with a house.”

“A HOUSE!”

“SHHHH!”

“Sorry, sorry. Its just. Man, I know I’m fourteen but… I talk to my friends you know? Housing prices are, not exactly cheap anywhere. How did you manage that?”

“For your information, I happen to be a very good employee.”

“Good enough to justify a free house?”

“I sure hope so, because our old landlord was raising rent far past what we could afford.”

Oh.

Oh.

That.

Explained a lot.

I felt a rush of shame overpowering me. Stemming form all those times I’d seen uncle Uter and aunt Cheryll struggling without saying anything.

They must have had been under a lot of stress if this was our best option.

“I’m sorry.” I said meekly. “I’m sure you had to work really hard to get this job. I promise I won’t say anything about Mr. Robertson or his bunkers.”

“Thank you, Cecil.” Aunt Cheryll answered. “It’ll be easier than you think. You’ll see. Give it a few months and it’ll feel like any other place.”

We drove in silence for the next few hours.

Uncle Uter had to stop the car when we ran out of gas and he went to the trunk to retrieve the spare canister.

The forest outside was still as imposing as ever. The leaves fluttering endlessly as the daylight fled.

The shadows under the canopies seemed deeper, somehow. As if the darkness had grown even darker.

I almost expected to see some deer or a moose walking out of the woods. It would have made sense, given that this was their home.

Nothing came out however. The whole forest was silent as the grave.

I tried to peer deeper into the vast nothingness. Hoping to make out a bird or some other animal.

My eyes found the branches baren. Completely bereft of squirrels or birds of any kind.

“Hey, is this normal?” I asked, feeling like an idiot as soon as the words left my mouth.

“What is dear?”

“The forest. Is it supposed to be this empty?”

She barked out a laugh.

“Cecil. Dearie. The forest is anything but empty. Just look at how much of it there is. You’re probably not seeing animals because all the animals are off doing their own thing kilometres away.”

She was probably right.

I was about to put my headphones back on when I felt the car shake slightly.

Before I could say anything, uncle Uter threw himself back into his seat. Slamming the door behind him and putting his whole weight on the pedal without putting on his seatbelt.

The car roared like some terrible beast. Pushing forward so quickly that the force made me sink into my seat.

“Uter? What’s wrong?”

“Not now Cheryll! Need to drive!”

“Uter? Uter, why are you making that face? Is it a bear?”

“I SAID NOT NOW!”

Eva woke up. Startled by the sudden noise.

“Dad? Mom? What’s going on?”

“Not now sweetie. Go back to sleep. It’s all good. We’re going. Its all good.”

I turned around, trying to figure out what had spooked my uncle.

The street was empty. As were the surrounding trees.

“What did you see?”

“Dammit Cecil! I need to focus on the road! Shut up and let me drive!”

I sealed my lips in the face of his outburst.

Whatever it was that he saw, it had rattled him to his core. Better to leave it for the moment so that he could focus on keeping the car on the road.

The engine was much louder now than it had been moments earlier. A glance outside showed me that the trees were passing us much faster too.

I craned my neck to see the speedometer. My eyes bulging as soon as I took the numbers in.

“Holy cow! Are we supposed to be going that fast!?”

“I’ll take a ticket over that thing any day. Also, shut up. I’m driving.”

Aunt Cheryll was trying to calm down Eva who was starting to sob amidst all the chaos.

I turned my head once again, hoping to catch an errant glimpse.

No good. Whatever he’d seen was long gone now that we were practically flying.

Uncle Uter didn’t ease up on the pedal though. He kept his foot firmly planted on it for another half hour. Stopping only once a man-made structure became visible in the distance.

It was a gate closing off access to the road beyond it. With massive searchlights on the roof and metal fencing on either side.

Even then, he didn’t hit the brakes. Instead, he took his foot of the pedal so that we slowed down naturally as our momentum kept pushing us forward.

He would glance at all the mirrors every few seconds. His eyes bloodshot and open so wide I feared they might pop out at any second.

“What did you see?” His wife asked him.

“An animal.” He said brusquely.

“What kind of animal?”

“I don’t know. It was big. That’s all. I have no idea what it was. I’m not in any hurry to find out. We… I’ll tell the authorities about it when we get to the gates.”

He did exactly that once we’d finally come to a full stop. Going to a booth inside the gate to talk in private with three muscular men. Surprisingly, all three had shotguns on their hands as they walked.

Four of their co-workers stayed behind to talk to us. Asking my aunt what it was that we’d seen.

“I’m telling you I don’t know. One moment we were talking about the forest and next thing you know my husband’s spe…driving at the speed limit to get us here. He didn’t tell us what he saw.”

One of the men, the one with the big red beard, gave his coworkers a quick glance. After which, they stepped back and turned to face the deepening darkness.

“Don’t worry ma’am.” He said stiffly. “We’ve had some run ins with wildlife around these parts. Its relatively normal.”

“My husband…”

“Hasn’t seen a real wild animal in all his life.” A bald man cut in. “We’ll take care of things out here. Don’t you worry.”

“How do expect me to not worry when we just…”

“Ma’am. I get it. You’re tired. You’ve been on the road all day. You feel sore and irritated. Its fine. Whatever it was that you saw, we’ll handle it. That’s what the guns are for.”

Wow. Way to cut someone off man. You definitely didn’t come across as a creep telling my aunt to shut up.

On the one hand, I was furious that he’d try something like that on us when we were obviously right to be scared.

On the other hand, these guys did indeed have guns and we were stuck in the literal middle of nowhere without internet or cell reception.

Probably best to keep our complaints to ourselves for the time being.

Aunt Cheryll must have agreed, because she nodded slowly. Keeping her eyes on the men while remaining silent about the way they’d spoke to her.

Looking down, I realized that she was holding Eva’s hand. Tightly clutching her tiny fingers.

I added my own hand to the mix and gave a tight squeeze.

“It all good.” I told Eva. “We’re very close to the town. This is just a security thing to make sure nothing bad gets in.”

She was silent, but nodded.

Uncle Uter came back a few minutes later. His face was beet-red. Like a bright balloon about to burst.

He got in the car once more and moved us forward. Passing the gate without another word.

“Uter? Dear?”

“I got his employee Id. Its fine. I’ll put in a complaint with Human resources in the morning.”

He kept his silence past that point. Stewing in his own anger until we reached the town.