Alex came out of the house and headed towards the old camper to see what the boys were up to. She saw Quinn wrestling with a large propane tank and he set it by the back of the motorhome. Wiping the sweat from his face, he saw Alex approaching and gave her a smile. “Hey, where are Josh and Dara? I thought we should have a meeting to plan things out. I sent Josh in to get you guys.”
Stalling for Dara and Josh, she told him, “They’re just in the middle of something. Why don’t I throw some lunch together? We can eat while we talk. Oh, and before I forget, there’s a gun safe in the basement. We need to look for keys for it,” she said, hoping to distract him.
“That’s great! Hopefully, we won’t need them but it’s good to be prepared just in case. Let’s have lunch on the patio and we’ll look at the maps we found in the camper.”
Alex went over to the bikes and pulled out the ham pancakes she had made this morning as well as the apples and carried them over to the patio table. She went inside the house and got some cans of soda and a pile of napkins. As she was heading back out she stopped at the door to the basement and called down the stairs, “Lunch is ready! Meeting on the patio in five minutes!” and continued out onto the patio.
Alex looked over at the fresh graves of the Petersons. The poor dog was still lying beside them and Alex was again saddened that she didn’t even know its name. She went back into the house and got a bowl and filled it with water from a jug. She took it out and placed it beside the dog, hoping it would show some interest. The dog looked up at her with the saddest eyes and gave a small whine then laid its head back down. Close to tears, Alex moved away and sat at the patio table waiting for the others. She was wondering if the dog would stay there until it died or if they should try to take it with them when Cooper and Quinn joined her.
Quinn followed Alex’s gaze and with a sigh sat down beside her. “There’s nothing we can do, Alex. The dog will stay there and die or it’ll go wild. We can’t take it with us. We have enough on our plates without having to care for a dog. I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing her arm.
“I know. It’s just so sad. With all the death and destruction of the last few days, that one dog is so heartbreaking is silly. I can’t help feeling so sad for it.”
Cooper leaned toward her. “It’s not silly, Alex. Being able to be sad for one dog after all the death you’ve seen is a good thing. I think by the time we get home, we will all be hardened to a lot of things. So be sad when you can and take joy and happiness where you find them. Only when you stop feeling should you be worried. And right now what I’m feeling is……hungry!” he joked, lightening the mood.
Josh and Dara came out of the house and took seats at the table. Dara’s eyes were red and puffy but she seemed composed. Everyone took a ham pancake and apple and started eating.
Josh finished his pancake quickly and said, “This is pretty good, Alex, but now that we have a working stove and oven we can have better meals. The fridge works too so we can keep things longer. What do you guys think about taking a few laying hens with us for eggs? There are some fold-up cages that would fit in the back of the truck. And if we have to, we can get rid of them for roasted chicken dinner. I also found a spring room under the barn. It has cheese and butter as well as some meat so even though the freezer part of the fridge is small, we can still take some of it.”
Quinn was nodding, “That’s a good idea, Josh. A few hens and we can have fresh eggs that we can stock up on in the fridge. They would also be good for barter. So, I think we should stay here for the rest of the day and night and head out first thing in the morning. We need to stock the camper and truck up and hopefully find a way to fill up the water tanks on the camper. Alex found a gun safe in the basement, so we need to find keys for it and see what’s in it. I also think we should go over these roadmaps we found and see if we can find a way to get around Las Vegas without getting too close to it. It’s going to be nasty around that city. It would be good if we could map out a few different routes around all the major cities we need to get past. Travelling on back roads and secondary highways might be our best bet. The interstate is going to be packed with cars and people.” He looked around the nodding group and finished with, “Okay, let’s get packed up and sorted out. I say we have a BBQ for our supper and get a good night’s rest and then head for home.”