Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins (45 page)

Beth picked up the first rinsed dish, “I know how you meant, and so did I with my
Mom
.”

Ceara began washing the first of the plates,
“Beth, is Maximus really going to be ok? He hasn’t really even woke up since we brought him in.”

Beth took another dish drying it, “Honey the first day is the worst for human or animal, if he isn’t doing a little better by morning then we can worry, but until then let’s j
ust call it, self-healing, OK?”

Ceara smiled, “Well to be truthful
,
I have never had to deal with any surgeries. My
Mom
and
Dad
were healthy as horses, well until that day…”

The rest of the dishes were slowly brought in by the others and Ceara along with Beth got all of them washed and dried. Beth tossed the to
wel on the counter, “All done!”

Ceara followed her into the living room with
Maximus;
Beth was carrying a small bowl of water and set it there by his head. She stood to leave and was surprised by a hug from Ceara, “Thank you again, Beth! I really love my dog and I would fall apart without him, and may have shot Colt on principle. Alden couldn’t blame me either; he told us he would kill us over Tonto.
”

Beth stepped back out of the hug, “Ceara you have to understand that Colt w
ould never do that on purpose.”

Ceara shrugged, “I don’t care.” She knelt down and kissed Maximus then stood, “I’m going to get over to our cabin before Charlie starts worrying, it is getting pretty dark and he knows I don’t have my gun. Don’t tell Alden!” With
that Ceara headed for the door.

Alden stepped out of the shadows as Ceara came down the steps, Ceara Jumped and screamed, “Goddamn it Alden.”

Alden smiled, “Let’s see… are you with in reg’s tonight.” He looked at her eyes and knew the answer. Placing his hand on her shoulder he turned her towards her cabin. “You and Charlie will take first watch. I found a ladder in the shed so I want you both up on the roof of the center cabin. Your watch runs till 0200 hours then you’ll wake Beth and Colt they’ll go till 0400hours. The they will wake Tabitha and
myself up and we’ll finish it”

Ceara turned, “Okay hold up Alden, I’m sorry but I always wanted to ask this. What the hell is up with you military types and your OH hundred hours shit? How exactly does that stuff work?
”

Alden sighed, “You know what
,
Ceara you can ask Charlie cause he knows and he’ll have four hours to explain it
;
which I figure might just be enough time for you to get it.”

Ceara rolled her eyes as they reached her cabin. She went up the steps and yelled as she walked in the door, “Drop your socks and grab your…No that’s not right.”

She turned to Alden who was laughing now. It’s cocks then socks, honey.” he turned and walked away as he heard her say, “The General
says we pulled first guard duty because I went unprotected!!!”

Charlie looked at her as she came in the door. His face started to turn red and he was chuckling. “What’s so damn funny?” Ceara said giggling.

Charlie turned around with a bag of stuff Ceara had brought back from town. He reached in and pulled out a pack of Trojans. Ceara turned bright red and got very flustered, “Charlie I swear to God I didn’t get those, really I swear I didn’t! God I hate that old man! I know he did it and he will be laughing even harder at me now.”

Charlie was still holding the box looking at her, she stormed over, “Well either put one on or let’s get outside and get the damn guard duty done!”

Charlie grabbed his
rifle
and handed Ceara a shot gun. As the two went out Charlie was remembering a scene from a movie he saw and started singing, “This is my rifle this is my gun, these bullets are for killing and these are for fun,” as he swung the
box tossing it onto the table.

Ceara turned and glared at him, “You’ll think fun when I kick your ass off the roof.”

Alden was standing in his door way watching the kids as they headed up to the roof. Ceara saw him, “Alden, you and me are going to have a chat.”

Alden smiled, “In the morning cupcake. You got guard duty” as he closed his door.

The
morning came with no disturbances
, Charlie walked out of his room just as Ceara walked in the bathroom. He heard the shower turn on, “We
ll damn! Oh well, when in Rome”

Charlie went out the back door to use the woods as his restroom. As soon as he was done he made his way over to the fire and got it going and started coffee. Walking back in the cabin he saw Ceara sitting at the table drinking a glass of water. Her hair up in a towel, wearing a t-shirt and Charlie realized it was one of his. “Raiding my clothes
already?” he said with a grin.

C
eara smiled, “All my stuff is dirty, so I guess today is wash day. I don’t really know how we are going to dry them though.”

Charlie joined her at the table, “Tell you what, you go wash and I’ll see if I can find some rope or something to make a clothes line with. If not, I’ll see if Alden is ok with me using some of his string.”

Ceara got up setting her glass in the sink, “Deal, I’ll go brush out my hair and throw on some jeans and get ready. I wonder if anyone else needs to wash too.”

Charlie watched as she left, wondering if she even noticed how cute she looked in just a t-shirt. But the way she was bouncing around he thought she
assumed it was just normal.

Twenty minutes later Ceara was back out with her backpack stuffed with clothes, “You got any you want washed?”

Charlie headed to his room and brought back a white laundry bag full of clothes. The red splotches on the bag showed that some of the clothes were covered with blood. He set it down and looked at Ceara, “I don’t know if we can get these clean. I mean with the blood and all.”

Ceara looked at the bag, “We can try, I did grab some hydrogen peroxide and
Mom always said that worked
fairly well
on grass stains
.”

Charlie smiled, “I’ll see what I can find in the shed for a wash tub and rope.”

He headed out the back and ran into Alden who was carrying four metal bars in his arms. “What’cha got there?” Charlie asked.

Alden gave him a stern look, “Peace pipes for the Jolly Gre
en Giant. What’s it look like?”

Tabitha, who was walking behind
Alden
,
started to laugh. She had a coil of black cable in her hands, “Yeah
,
these we’ll use as Hooka tubes,
we’re going to make it a water pipe.”

Alden turned and smiled at her, you catching on cupcake.”

Charlie took it all in stride, “Well Ceara is planning on doing our laundry, and I’m going to see if I can find some clothes line.”

Alden turned with poles and pointed with them to the shed, “On a bench in there, there was a coil of clothes line never been opened. But it’s cotton rope so be careful it could be rotten, don’t stretch it to tight or try to put too much weight on it.” He turned and headed to his c
abin with Tabitha right behind.

Charlie got to the shed and found the rope, it looked almost brand new. Turning he started to move things around. Picking up an old green tarp he found two wash tubs and a washboard
, “Sweet.”

H
e put the tubs together and placed the wash board in the tubs along with the rope. Walking back up to the cabin he called out, “Ceara. Come on honey
,
I think I found all that we need.” Ceara opened the door and he was standing there with the tubs smiling at her. She had a strange smile on her face and her eyes were soft and it looked like she had a tear. Charlie set the tubs down and walked to her. “You okay? Is something wrong?”

Ceara smiled at him and leaned in and kissed his cheek, “No Honey, I’m fine.” She went to the tubs and set the clothes down. Looking at the washboard then to Charlie, “I’ve never seen one of these for real. Heard about them but never used one.”

Charlie walked over next to her, “Well honey I have. The sisters had these at the orphanage and when I was bad I had to do the laundry by hand. It sucked and I hated it.”

Ceara looked at him again and once more kissed his cheek, “Okay honey…. go get some water going on the fire and you can show me how it’s done.”

Charlie’s face was a little red from blushing as he picked up a metal bucket next to the house and went to fill it in the kitchen. As the water was pouring in his mind was racing, “Why does she keep kissing me. Why don’t I try and kiss her back.”
Charlie had never had a girlfriend and Ceara was the closest thing.

Ceara went down the back steps, “I am going to check on Maximus, I’ll be right back.” She ran across the yard to Beth and Colt’s cabin, knocking on the back door she stood waiting hop
ing it was Beth that opened it.

Colt opened the door in just jeans; Ceara couldn’t help but notice how fit he was. “Ummm, is Beth up yet? How is Maximus?”

Colt stepped back, “Yeah, she is actually in there, she is
checking on him now, go ahead.”

Ceara scooted passed Colt and headed to the living room, Maximus was still lying down but he was a wake. As soon as he saw her, he tried to get up but Beth held him down. Ceara ran over kneeling down she hugged Maximus,
“He looks so much better Beth!”

Beth immediately stopped petting Maximus when Ceara came over. “Ceara, he is just fine. Trust me, grant you he did have minor surgery but seeing him wag his tail, and him making an attempt to come to you is an extremely good sign. I am sure that he will be hungry soon if he isn’t already.”

Ceara smiled wide and held on so tight that there was absolutely no air going between the two. “If you wish to stay here for a while that will be good but if you want to go get him some water I think that would be even better. Then later we can see if he is hungry and give him a little
dry food and
first to see if that will stay down.”

Just then Colt walked up to the door, “How’s Maximus doing?”

Beth stood up and smiled, “He’s not out of the woods yet
,
but he is showing signs of improvement. I think we will let these two be alone for a bit.”

Beth knew how upset Ceara was with him and she thought that it would be best for right no
w, was to give them their time.

As Beth left the room
,
Colt moved slightly to let her pass then followed right behind her. When Beth got into the kitchen and started to wash her hands. When she was finished Beth turned around and saw Colt looking at her and just then she noticed that the only thing he had on was nice pair of jeans. “Well, good morning to you.”

Beth could feel the redness in her checks and didn’t expect to see Colt partially dressed. “Clothing optional today I take it?”

Colt smiled, he was happy they were back on speaking terms; he scratched his stomach “Yeah well
,
I have a habit of forgetting shirts in the morning, I’m going to get some coffee. Do you want me to bring you some back in?”

Beth sat down at the table and thought about trying to become friends with Colt, to be honest, the reason that she was trying this time was how damn hot he looked, but Beth was not that type of girl. “That would be nice Colt and maybe on your way back you could go pick up some bagels with cream cheese and a few strawberries cause that would be amazing.”

Colt smiled again, “Coffee yes, bagels not so sure about but you are right, they do sound really good.” His face lit up, “I wonder if there is any chance any areas, like stores of houses would have the makings for bread! I use to make homemade bread all the time!” He shrugged and headed out the door, “Be right back.”

Colt went to the fire and looked around, everyone was gone, so he grabbed the pot with two cups and headed back in the cabin. As he set the cups down and started filling them Beth laughed, “You living on the edge, aren’t you?”

Colt set the pot down and looked at her confused as he set hers down, “I’m not following?”

Beth motioned to the coffee pot, “Alden will blow a gasket.”

Colt looked to the pot then back to Beth, “Well he wasn’t out there so I figured wh
y keep making trips out there.”

Beth chuckled then picked up her cup, “Well, you are correct! However if he comes back we best run it back out there so it doesn’t get cold.” Blowing on it before taking a sip then doing so Beth could not believe how much she had taken even the simplest things for granted. “Damn Colt!! This coffee tastes so good. I mean, I know it’s just coffee but I am starting to really appreciate the little things anymore.”

Thinking about his comment about bread Beth continued, “I knew we could not have any bagels silly, but you did bring up a very interesting point. Perhaps the next time we go for supplies we can look for something like that. However, we don’t want to get too much in case we have to get out of here quickly. It’s going to be hard enough trying to just get what we have out of here now.”

Colt set his cup down just at Ceara walked in, “I smell coffee!”

Colt held out his cup to her, “Here you go; I’ll
get me another cup.”

Ceara begrudging took the coffee mumbling thanks. Colt w
ent to his room to get dressed.

Ceara sipped the coffee sitting across from Beth, “Charlie is getting a thingy ready for me to wash clothes so as a thank you I would be happy to do your l
aundry with mine and Charlie’s”

Beth smiled, “Well I do hate laundry! Honestly; you need to stop with the thank yous. We are all in this together and I am very happy to be able to help.” Ceara laughed, “I didn’t hear you say no, so go get your clothes so I can get back out there with Charlie. He is probably walking around wondering where I am.”

Colt came back in and leaned on the counter filling up his
cup. “So what’s the plan Stan?”

Ceara took one more drink of her coffee and stood, “I’m going to get out of here, just bring me your clothes BETH, when you get them together.”

As Ceara walked out,
Colt looked to Beth, “You know I didn’t mean
to get Maximus shot don’t you?”

“Colt,
she’s very young and
you know as well as I do
,
that things now have changed
. We
know what it is like to lose people. Well, Maximus to Ceara would be the equivalent to her baby or something along those lines. I know that you didn’t mean it and somewhere down the road Ceara will more than likely know it too. Right now though, all you can do is be kind and give her some space. Woman are like that.”

That statement was not far from the truth, cause Colt had really pissed Beth off before but after some time she eventually got over it and she knew that giving Ceara some time she too would. “In fact I bet she starts changing when Maximus starts getting better one day at a time. You see, time is all anyone of us has anymore and living day by day is just what it is, nothing more and certainly nothing less.”

Colt took a drink of his coffee and wondered how long before he pissed Tabitha off too, he didn’t seem to be having much luck with the women of this group. “I know you’re right, but she seems to really think that I just
waited to
shoot the guy till I gave him time to shoot Maximus. Do you know how stupid that s
ounds? What really happened was… plain and simple
I hesitated because I was shooting a living breathing man, not one of those monsters.
”

Colt grabbed his coffee cup wondering how to change the subject without being obvious, “
So what was Ceara talking about, why does she want your clothes?”

Just then there was a
hammering
from outside, Colt went to the door and saw Charlie stringing a clothes line. “You need any help?”

Charlie waved, “Not just yet but I may in a little bit. Alden is with Tabitha putting up that antenna.”

Colt waved back to him and turned back to
Beth, “Is Ceara doing laundry?”

“Yep!”
Beth quickly got up and headed off to her room. She had several dirty cloths and did not want to waste the chance to get them washed. Quickly she grabbed them from out of her duffel bag and the pair of pants that she had laid over the bottom of the bed. After having a tight grasp on them she hurried out of her room, past Colt and when she got to the
back
door she looked back smiling, “Hey, I am not wasting the opportunity to get me some clean cloths cause if I don’t well, these funky things might just grow a set of legs and run
, not walk, away on their own!”

Turning Beth went outside while saying,
“Scrub a dub dub here I come!!”

Colt laughed but then realized that he would need to wash his own clothes soon too. With Ceara the way she was Colt thought it better to do just like Beth said and give her some space. He wou
ld do his own laundry tomorrow.

“WHAT THE HELL!!! WHERE IS MY GODDAMN COFFEE??”

Colt jumped “Shit!”

Alden was
back;
he set his cup down and grabbed the pot heading out the door. Just as he got to the fire Alden glared at him, “Boy, let’s get this rule set real fast… NO ONE and I do mean no one fucks with my coffee. Don’t clean the pot, don’t drink the last cup without fixing more and you damn sure don’t fucking walk off with the pot! Unles
s you are delivering it to me!”