The early morning sunlight streamed through the window and she cursed herself for sleeping so long. But without an alarm clock or Jake to wake her up, her body had taken control. Still, she felt she wasn’t too late to make the journey to the other houses and back. The sooner it was over, the better.
Heading through to the living room, she found Peaches sound asleep. Aby was glad that she hadn’t had another of her crazy turns in the middle of the night and tried to harm herself. Yesterday, emotions had been running high for both of them. They were both delirious with lack of food and water. Today would be better, she convinced herself.
“Peaches? Let’s get up and go,” she said, gently nudging Peaches. The older woman groaned and cursed under her breath.
“It’s still so early…”
Aby sighed. She should’ve known that Peaches wouldn’t be an early bird. It took her ten minutes to coax Peaches off the sofa and then another ten to force Peaches to dress and take a duffel bag for supplies. By the time they’d set off for the nearby houses, Aby was in a terrible mood and Peaches was insisting on complaining as they walked.
“Honestly, this all seems like a fool’s errand. Maybe we should go back and just give up,” Peaches said mournfully. Aby bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from shouting at the older woman.
“It’s going to be worth it. We’re definitely going to find something of use, no matter what...and I know you don’t want to go hungry again.”
Peaches carried on muttering to herself, but she didn’t try and convince Aby to turn back again. After a while, Aby managed to tune her out completely and it made the entire journey a lot more peaceful.
They walked for a long time. Despite her complaining, Peaches held up well with the long hike, and she was actually very useful. She found a crop of wild strawberries that she picked for them and her sense of direction was pretty perfect. Aby knew she herself was incapable of making a single journey without her GPS. She was suddenly very grateful for her companion.
The sun was high in the sky when Aby spied two cabins in the distance. She pointed them out to Peaches.
“Is that where we’re headed?”
Peaches nodded. “Yep. They’re the closest thing I have to neighbors, I suppose. Let’s just hope there’s no one home. It’s not very neighborly to steal from them, after all.”
Aby felt a mixture of fear and exhilaration in her stomach as it twisted into a knot. She had no idea if they were going to meet anyone in the houses, but they hadn’t seen a single other person on their trip there. The odds were looking like they were in their favour.
“Alright, let’s pick up the pace...the sooner we get in and out the better,” Aby insisted. Peaches nodded, finally being compliant for once. The pair of them stuck close together, ready for anything that came their way.
But they found that the hour that followed was easy. Almost too easy. They found an open window in the first cabin and Aby clambered through it, letting Peaches in through the front door once she’d checked the house for inhabitants. The kitchen held an abundance of dried food, long life milk, honey and peanut butter. Aby remembered Jake telling her a few days ago that honey could never go off, and that peanut butter would preserve even if it wasn’t refrigerated. She even found a bottle of wine which she snuck into her bag as a treat. She knew they needed to take important things, but Aby also knew how a good glass of wine could cure all ills.
Peaches filled her bag up with canned fruit and vegetables. She turned her nose up at the dehydrated meats she found canned up in the cupboards, but Aby insisted that they should take it. It was preferable to trying to hunt and kill animals themselves.
The house seemed overly prepared for the scenario they’d found themselves in, but Aby wasn’t about to question it. She piled cans of soups, instant coffee and oats into her bag, ignoring the weight of the bag on her weary shoulders. It was painful to carry it, but it was also totally worth it.
In the second house, they found more food, but also a shed full of lengths of rope and a shotgun. Aby couldn’t believe their luck. The rope was heavy to carry and the shotgun only had a few spare bullets, but Aby knew both would be useful. When Peaches claimed she couldn’t carry a single other thing, Aby took on the responsibility alone, hooking the rope over her shoulders and carrying the gun as they headed back for Peaches’ house.
It was impossible to appreciate the spoils they’d accumulated until they got home and spilled it out on the floor. Aby stared at the sheer amount of food before them and felt her stomach grumble in anticipation.
“This will keep us going for months,” she breathed. She almost forgot for a moment that she wasn’t planning on staying. She had to find Jake and Megan. But when there was so much food to line her stomach, weapons to keep her safe and a warm bed to sleep in, it was hard to imagine venturing out again. Why would they when they had everything right in front of them?
Aby prayed that somehow, Jake would find her there. She didn’t want to go out into the unknown again. She wanted to just collapse now and relax. But there was more work to be done. They had to make sure their supplies were secure so that no one could easily swipe them the way they’d just done. Aby pushed Jake out of
