“Alright...we need a shovel. We’re going to bury some of the long-life food in the garden. Then we can use the rope to hoist some more supplies up into the tree, out of sight. Sound good?”
“Sounds like hard work,” Peaches sniffed in irritation. “Can’t it wait?”
“No,” Aby said firmly, though she desperately wanted to say yes. She was exhausted. But she knew how quickly things could change in their new world. She knew someone might turn up at any time and try to ruin their hard work. They had to push on to make sure they didn’t fall flat at the last hurdle.
Peaches wasn’t a lot of help as Aby dug a hole for their supplies, but she claimed to be keeping a lookout for trouble. Aby told herself the ache in her shoulders and the sweat on her brow was a product of success, which made it easier to bear. By the time she’d buried the first lot of supplies, she could feel the pang of hunger in her stomach and she was ready to rest, but she forced herself to make a sort of pulley system with the ropes, hoisting a set of supplies wrapped in a sheet up into the tree. It failed a few times and sent the supplies plummeting back to the ground, but after one burst carton of long life milk and a whole bunch of rearranging, she eventually made it work. Peaches even looked impressed.
“I have to say, you’ve done a good job. Why don’t I make dinner? That seems fair after all your hard work.”
Aby wasn’t in any position to argue. She also took Peaches’ offer to borrow some of her clothes. She peeled off her sweaty garments for the first time in days and brainstormed some way to wash their clothes while Peaches cooked them some soup on their campfire to eat with a hunk of still in date bread. As they ate together at the dinner table, Aby felt herself relax a little. They’d done good. They were going to be alright.
“What a day!” Peaches declared as she wiped her mouth at the end of their meal. “I’m exhausted! Have you been running around like this every day since the EMP?”
Aby didn’t want to tell innocent Peaches about the horrors she’d encountered on previous days. It seemed cruel when Peaches was so sheltered from it all. But she considered that maybe if Peaches understood what was out there then maybe she’d pull her weight more. She was about to open her mouth to tell her more when her heart froze. She could hear a car engine and the crunch of wheels on the gravel driveway. Her first thought was Jake.
Her second thought was trouble.
“The gun,” Aby hissed, but Peaches was frozen in fear. Aby leapt to her feet and found the shotgun, heading for the front door. She peered out of the window as a tall, skinny man got out of the car. Her heart sank when she saw it wasn’t Jake, but she wasn’t surprised. It seemed she’d had all the good luck she could have for one day.
Aby was breathing hard as the man approached the house. He seemed to be alone and unarmed. It comforted her to think that she had the upper hand. As he knocked on the front door, her heart skipped a beat. Peaches appeared behind Aby, shuddering in fear.
“What do we do? Do we let him in?”
Aby shook her head furiously. The man seemed harmless, but that didn’t mean he was. She didn’t want to underestimate him. When he received no response, the man knocked again.
“Hello?” he called out. “The name’s Tex...I don’t mean no harm. I’m a friendly face, I swear. I just want to offer you some comfort. I’m trying to set up a friendly neighborhood trading system...we’ve all got to look out for one another, right? Times like these...we could all use a friend.”
Aby met Peaches’ eyes. Peaches clearly wanted to give the man a chance, but Aby held up a finger, telling Peaches to wait. She wanted to hear more about the proposition without giving themselves away. Tex sighed outside.
“Okay, I should explain...you’re right to be cautious, of course. You’re probably wondering, what can this stranger offer me? Well, I’m no salesman...but I think the deal I can give you sells itself. And hey...let me in and I’ll leave my handgun outside. It’s only polite, right?”
Aby chewed her lip. If he was coming inside the house unarmed, where was the harm. She was armed and she had Peaches for backup, even if she wasn’t likely to be of much use. Aby knew that logically, the man wouldn’t stand a chance against her shotgun.
So why was she so reluctant to let him inside?
“I think we should let him in,” Peaches hissed. “It’s my house…I’m opening the door.”
Aby didn’t have the right to protest, even if she wanted to. As Peaches headed for the door, Aby held the shotgun close to herself like a shield. It made her feel safer. When the door opened and Tex was standing there with his hands in the air and his gun on the ground, Aby relaxed even more.
“Hello there, ladies,” Tex said with a charming smile. “Would you be kind enough to let me step inside for a moment and talk to you? I won’t take up too much of your time.”
“Of course,” Peaches said enthusiastically. “It’ll be nice to have a real man around the house for a little while...do come in.”
Aby had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at Peaches’ shameless flirting. As Tex headed inside, Aby kept her guard up, but she didn’t aim the gun at him. He nodded to her politely and Peaches led him through to the living room.
“What a lovely home,” he declared, even though there was clutter everywhere from the day’s activities. He turned back to Peaches and
