SATURDAY
Dean stands beside the front window, watching the street outside. The same position he’s been in for the last half hour. Ever since we finished hand washing in the laundry tub. No idea why I felt the need to do laundry at this hour of the night after the welcome party. Guess it was to expend some nervous energy.
I did the soaping and scrubbing; he handled wringing the clothes and hanging them out to dry on an airing rack we found. We even managed to behave like adults and not make handling each other’s underwear too weird. And all of this happened while Sophie told us the top one hundred most interesting facts about her new best friend. When we finally got her to go to bed, she was out like a light. The sleepover wasn’t mentioned again. I’ve been forgiven for now.
“I don’t like it,” he says, for not the first time. “Think about it…why’d they pick a house a block away from us? What are they hiding, huh?”
“You wanted us to live on the opposite side of town.”
“That’s beside the point.”
“How about there aren’t that many houses large enough for their group to comfortably stay together?”
He grunts.
“You thought they were okay after the welcome party. What changed?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.”
I sit in the corner of the couch, thinking deep thoughts. “The more people we have, the safer we’re going to be from predators like the ones they were talking about.”
“Yeah,” he says. “There is strength in numbers, and it makes us less vulnerable to ambush. But we need to be careful. Not everyone is going to be happy to have some sort of democracy with law and order.”
“You’re worried about a hostile takeover?”
He shrugs and checks the street again through the gap in the curtains.
“It’s not like there’s going to be a grab on resources anytime soon. Everything is still out there. The only thing we’re short on these days is people,” I say. “Wait. Are you worried they could have been followed by those assholes from Bakersfield? Is that what this is about?”
“It’s one possibility.”
“Hmm. Today was a good day,” I say. “Making new friends, hanging out around the fire…it was nice. It doesn’t seem right, does it? To enjoy life when so many other people died? I know it’s just more survivor’s guilt, but it’s hard to ignore sometimes.”
“What would your mom want you to do?”
“To go on living my life to the best of my abilities.”
He nods. “I better go. I’ve got the first watch. Leon is taking second. We’re going to keep an eye out for at least a night or two.”
“I can take third watch. Cut down on the time you’re both out there.”
“Not until you’ve had a few more firearm lessons. Keep the walkie-talkie by your bed just in case, okay?” His gaze is as serious as can be. “If I see a few people, you grab Soph and get in a cupboard. More than that and you both hide down by the creek, wait for me, and we leave town.”
“I know the plan.”
“Firearms are stored in the locked cupboard out in the shed and the secure boxes in my wardrobe and on the top shelf of the pantry, okay?” he says.
“I talked to Sophie about not touching any guns. But we need to keep doing that regularly. Things she should and shouldn’t pick up. As previously mentioned, everything’s just out there lying around, ready and waiting.”
“Agreed.” His expression is still serious as he says, “Naomi seems to know her shit. Said her dad was a survivalist. Used to take her hunting and made sure she knew how to defend herself.”
“Okay.”
“He was the one who called and told her to isolate early on.”
My smile feels off for some reason. Like it isn’t sitting right on my face. So strange. “Sounds like you two had a good chat.”
“She’s been teaching Reema and Charlie some stuff. They’re going to start joining us at morning lessons,” says Dean. “Not with guns. I don’t want them near you with firearms until we know them better. But learning self-defense from a woman might be useful for you.”
