It wasn’t an easy trek back to the Farm after raiding the warehouse store, the caravans the dogs pulled were all near the limits of their strength. The more they brought back, the better it would be for the Farm in the long run. Especially the coolers of meat they were hoping made the trip safely in the Void. This time, Girl was the fastest among them, though she did pull a garden cart of her own. They had much more to explore in the City and they would return soon.
They found Wickett near the hill they had left him on. The elk looked them over with placid earthy eyes as they flopped to the ground around him. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Some of it.” Girl said as she lay down on her back in the thick grass. “We need to get this stuff back to the farm.”
“Too bad we can’t make someone else do that.” Lucky said, “I don’t want to go back yet. We just left.”
“I know, right?” Girl said. She lay there for a long moment in silence, hands pillowed behind her head. Suddenly she jumped to her feet. “Duh! I’m gonna call Dad, I bet he can meet us somewhere and we can give him all the stuff.” She dug her phone out of her pocket and was touching the screen before she could even see it.
Lucky could only hear one side of the conversation, but it was enough. “Hey, Dad.” A pause. “Yeah, we’re doing great. We got some supplies, but we don’t want to come all the way back. Can we set up a meet somewhere? Yeah. Yeah.” She was pacing. “I know where that is. Yeah. Good idea. Yeah.” She looked down at the ground for a moment, her mouth moving without speaking. “Um…” She said at last. “About two hours? Maybe? We’ve got a lot of stuff, Dad. Yeah. Okay.” She turned her attention toward the dogs and made a wide circling gesture that had them all pulling their caravans back into motion.
“See you there. Love you, Dad.” She said, hanging up the phone. “Alright ladies and gentledogs, let’s get moving. We’re going to meet Dad at a campground near the lake. It’s not too far from here, but far enough it should be safe from whatever’s wandering around in the city. Dad thinks it could be a good base for us while we explore the City. I think he’s right. We’ll be safe at night if we set up a base.”
“I keep guard.” Wickett said, walking with a regal air as he followed Girl and the dogs.
“That’s an excellent idea.” Girl said. “Then we can be sure things are safe while we’re gone.”
“I get others too. That I do for you. That last I do for you, yes?” Wickett said.
“Yes.” Lucky and Girl said it almost in unison.
The dogs were barely dragging themselves along by the time they reached the campground. Lucky flopped down on his side, still tied into the makeshift harness that Girl had rigged up. “Gotta figure out a better way to do this.” He panted.
The old boy scout camp’s tired archway was halfway falling down, the words unreadable. The central courtyard with its tilting flagpoles and overgrown parking spaces. Long abandoned administrative buildings sagged with age and rot, closer to the lake a few buildings stood tall and straight, but the dock had long since collapsed into the water. After a long moment, Girl climbed to her feet, dropping her heavy pack as she rose. “We’ll figure something out.” She walked over to Lucky and unhooked him from the harness. The other dogs were quickly freed and all five of them lay panting in the shaded dirt under a sprawling oak tree.
When Man finally arrived, he was driving a massive truck with a long trailer. He didn’t bring anyone else with him and it took the pair of them a very long time to load up the truck and the trailer with all of the things they had picked up at the warehouse store. It was almost dark by the time they finished. After, Man stood next to the truck, looking out over the dilapidated camp. “Your Grandpa came here when he was young.” He said after a moment.
“Really?” Girl asked. She was standing next to Man, leaning back against the truck with her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
“He used to tell stories about this place. Said his dad and granddad had come here too. He was disappointed he couldn’t send me here.” He glanced down at Girl. “Guess we sent you here instead.”
She grinned. “Guess so.” The smile died on her lips after only the briefest of moments. “The City was empty.”
Man’s brow drew together gently, thoughtful rather than angry. “Tell me what you saw?” He listened as she told him about the first subdevelopment and the hospital, the rats and the Pit, and the strangely empty streets. Occasionally one of the dogs would make an observation, but for the most part it was just Girl who explained what they had seen. When Girl finally fell silent, Man reached over and ruffled her hair.
“You’re a good kid.” He said. “And I’m proud of you.” His brow was still furrowed. “I don’t think I tell you that enough.”
Girl’s smile was wide and dimpled. “You don’t have to tell me, I know. I’m proud of you too, you know.”
He nodded. “Alright,” He said, “Now, I’m willing to bet that the City isn’t as empty as you thought it was. I’ll bet they were hiding out. Something has happened in that City, something terrible, and I’ll bet whatever survivors are out there they’re keeping a low profile. Especially with how that hospital is being handled. Something isn’t right in there. I want you to be very careful.” He sighed. “I want to tell you not to go back in there.”
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“I can’t not.” She said after a long moment of silence. “If there are survivors in there and they’re hiding from something terrible, they need our help more than ever. Besides,” She said with a shrug. “We need the supplies.”
“You brought out a lot of supplies already.” Man said.
“I brought a lot, but it won’t last forever and we don’t know how long whatever this is is going to last. If it’s forever…” She trailed off for a moment, “If it’s forever, we’re going to need more toilet paper.”
They both laughed at that.
Man’s expression turned serious. “Look for radios when you’re out there. Walkie-talkies, CB radios, a HAM if you can find it. If this keeps going on, eventually cellphones won’t be worth much anymore and we’ll need ways to communicate.”
Girl nodded, her expression clouded by a frown. “I don’t understand how everything seems to have collapsed so much.”
“What do you mean?”
“Where’s the military? The police? Why aren’t there news shows telling us what to do? People gathering together? Where’s the government in all this?” Girl’s voice was starting to sound strained.
Man put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. “Isa, I don’t know the answer to any of those questions.”
“Why did we leave home?”
“I thought it would be safer away from the city. I didn’t know what had happened, still don’t really, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.” He shook his head and squeezed her tighter. “I wanted you and my mother safe. That is my main concern. The neighbors were just extra. You and your Gran are the most important people in the world to me. I’ll do whatever I can to keep you two safe.”
She frowned, cuddling into the sidehug. “Why did you let me go with Lucky then? I’d be safer back at the Farm, wouldn’t I?”
He drew in a deep breath and sighed. “You would be, probably.” He admitted, “But I can’t keep you chained up. Lucky is a good dog.” The big dog wagged his tail and Man smiled down at him. “You are a good dog.”
“Thanks, Man.” Lucky said. He didn’t get up from the soft, cool grass.
“Callum.” Man corrected good naturedly.
“Right, Callum.” Lucky corrected himself.
“Since this whole mess started, you and the dogs, you’ve just thrown yourselves into it. This System thing seems to be like playing some adventure game or another. If that’s the case, then you and the dogs need to get as strong as you can. Do the side quests, build your base up, gather resources. I don’t like that it’s my daughter in this position, but I don’t get to make those choices. You do.”
Lucky rolled to his belly and slowly sat up, his attention suddenly snagged, truly, by the conversation. “I wouldn’t let anything hurt Girl, if I can help it.”
“I know you won’t, Lucky.” He sighed and squeezed Girl tightly once more before heading to the pickup’s bed. “I brought a couple of things to help make this place a little more habitable. It’ll make a good forward base for you and the dogs. Eventually, I think we’ll send some more people to join you, but for now, you guys are the best prepared.” His expression was tense. He brought down a camp stove, a propane lantern, and a few little canisters of propane. “Make sure you use your solar charger every day. Even if your phone battery isn’t too bad, don’t want to be caught short. I’ll call you every night at 7pm, I should have been checking in all along.” He shook his head, pulling out a small cooler. “Home cooked meal, just warm it up tonight.” The final few things he pulled out were several notebooks and pens. “Keep a journal.” Again that tightness in his face and this time in his voice.
Girl studied that familiar face for a long moment. “I will. And I’ll be careful. Really careful.”
“I know you will, Isa.” He wrapped her in a tight hug. “I don’t doubt you for a second.”
She gave him a squeeze that was just as tight. “You take care of yourself, too.”
“I will.” He squeezed tight one last time and then turned back to the truck. “Pick a building to hole up in, but make sure it’s not one of the ones here around the courtyard. The more out of the way your base is, the safer you will be.”
“Will do, Dad.” She wrapped her arms across her own chest and the tension in her was evident in her straight posture. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. 7pm.”
Man nodded and put the truck in gear, turning on the lights as he followed the roundabout and drove the big truck and trailer down the rugged dirt road that led to the camp from the distant blacktop road. Girl watched him go, until the red tail lights had disappeared from view and the grumbling roar of the truck had faded into silence.
At long last, she said, “Why did that feel so much more like goodbye.”
Lucky rubbed his flank along her leg, leaning into her to offer comfort. “Maybe he felt like he could say what he really wanted to say without everyone else around him.”
“I think he’s scared.” She said, hugging herself tighter. “Wonder if something is going wrong at the Farm.”
“I could try a Dark Bark, but I think the Farm is too far away to raise them.”
“It’s okay, I don’t want everyone all concerned about this. Tomorrow, we can ask Dad to send someone to act as a runner between here and base.”
“Maybe a couple of the coyotes would come.” Lucky said.
“Maybe.” She mused, then she shook her head. “Let’s find one of the tents over by the lake. It’ll probably be safer there.”
It didn’t take much to move the supplies Man had left and those they were keeping to Cabin 17. It was a large, roughhewn cabin with a sagging dirt floor. Inside were the moldering remains of ten bunkbeds, twenty trunks, a couple of tables and a handful of broken chairs. The mattresses were browned and disgusting, sending up a moldy stench that not even Girl’s less sensitive nose could handle. Near a sofa with a broken back was a wide fireplace and a river rock chimney and Girl used some of the chair parts to start a small fire.
“We’ll take watches again. If it’s your watch, walk around outside, we want to keep an eye on those woods.” Lucky said.