The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (67 page)

“
Anyway, the rest of our
group is waiting for us back there as we speak, all cozy beside our
campfire, I presume.”

Sophie felt her stomach
jump into her throat.
Oh my god, a
campfire!

“
Wow,” she said with a
small bounce on her toes, “well, I guess you guy are better off
than I had expected. I could totally use a good warming up. It is
awfully cold out here.”

They both glanced down at
her damp jeans.

She shrugged, tilting her
head to the side, mouthing “yeah, I know.”

“
Well, like I said
earlier, we’re all better off, Sophie, now that you and Louis are
with us. There are more of us, right, which is good. You remember,
right?” he clarified with a mock punch at her shoulder not actually
touching her.

Sophie giggled. “You’re
funny.”

Sophie didn’t see Jason
glancing at the both of them, back and forth, a quizzical
expression spreading across his face.

“
I’m gonna go back and see
if they’re done yet, cool?” Anthony raised his brow, and then spun
on his heel not really waiting for an answer.

Sophie watched him turn to
a silhouette against the brightness of his flashlight until he
walked in between aisles, out of sight. “How many more of you are
there?” she asked, looking at Jason’s face when he didn’t answer
immediately.

He was staring back at her
with a knowing expression etched across it.

“
What?” she asked feeling
self-conscious at the look.

“
Nothing,” answered Jason
with a chuckle. “There are five more waiting for us back at the
cave. Anthony’s two little sisters, a guy named Andrew and two more
of their pets.” He was still smiling when he finished, a small
smirk at the corner of his mouth.

What is up with this guy
today?
Sophie asked herself as she watched
his face, knowing full well he was hiding something from her. She
could sense it from more than just the cast of his face. It was his
body language too. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out precisely
what he was thinking.

She and Jason fell into a
semi-silence, occasionally broken by periodic giggles, stifled,
bubbling up from Jason as if he had too much air in his belly or
something.

She turned away from him,
slightly annoyed. Not only was he not explaining himself, he was
taunting her, each one of his stupid laughs were mocking her. She
gazed outward, realizing the snow had slackened. It wasn’t as dark
outside as it had been a few minutes earlier. The snow was still
falling, but it did so at more of an angle. The wind had begun to
gust harder.

“
Man, it sure would be
nice to have something hot right now. Even hot cocoa, I don’t care
as long as it’s hot,” uttered Jason, out of the blue.

Sophie glanced over at him
to see if he was still acting like an idiot. His entire demeanor
had changed. He was watching the snow dive and dip in the
wind.

“
Hot cocoa sounds perfect
to me,” was all she said when Louis came up to them with a
flashlight of his own in one hand and a market bag full of assorted
candy bars, Skittles, M&M’s and Gummy Bears.

“
Hey,
you guys, want some candy? Joaquin said the sugar might do us some
good in all this cold weather. Isn’t that cool? Who knew, after all
this time, that eating candy was actually
good
for you!” he proclaimed,
pinning the flashlight in the crook of an armpit, while he opened
up the bag for them to choose what wanted.

Sophie smiled at the boy
as Jason reached in a pulled out a king-sized Snickers
bar.

“
Ah man, that’s a good
choice,” said Louis his eyes sparkling with joy. “I took the whole
box of those, man. I love them.”

Sophie reached in and
grabbed one too. She knew she could use the energy, especially
since she hadn’t eaten since last night, at dinner. She and Jason
ripped open the wrappings of their respective bars and each took
substantial bites. She hadn’t realized how hungry as she was. The
combination of roasted peanuts, caramel, peanut nougat and milk
chocolate were like ambrosia to her taste buds. It was quite likely
the best Snickers she had ever eaten in her life.

She looked over at Jason.
He was peering out into the storm once again. She could tell he was
savoring the candy bar as much as her. He seemed so content to be
silent and eat, she didn’t want break the mood. She merely
continued to chomp down on her Snickers and look out into the storm
with him.

Beside her, Louis was all
moans and groans of pleasure as he ate candy after candy from his
bag, all the while muttering emphatically, “Candy is good for
you!”

They continued their vigil
for ten minutes more, gazing out and about, the parking lot, seeing
nothing of significance.

From behind them, there
was the screeching sound of something heavy dragged across the
floor of the supermarket. All three of them turned around to see
Joaquin, Anthony, and Mr. Patas pulling a shopping cart each, while
Kenai pulled two all by herself. Every one of the carts was nearly
bursting from the huge loads they bore. Covered with thick
furniture pads, they’d lashed them down with heavy-duty nylon ropes
to protect whatever was inside from the wind and the snow. As
Anthony had mentioned before, each shopping cart was perched atop a
medium-sized sled, tied to it with more of the nylon roping. Sophie
could see it was the rungs of the sleds making the irritating
noise. They were better suited for snow and ice, not
linoleum.

When they had reformed
their group, Anthony looked around, stopping to smile briefly at
Sophie, then said, “Well, are we ready?”

She smiled back, frowning
when she heard Jason snigger behind her.
I’m gonna seriously club this dude if he doesn’t stop!
She realized Anthony was still peering in her
direction, a strange look on his face. She grinned crookedly not
sure what to do or how to react.
Yeah, I’m
gonna pound on you, Jason!

“
I think we are,
Tony-Boy,” replied Kenai, using Garfield’s pet name for the
teenager.

Sophie sighed with
relief.

They set off back into the
snowstorm and back to the cave where they rest of Anthony’s
seemingly ever-growing band was waiting - hungry and anxious for
them to return.

At least there’s a
campfire in there. Even if Jason continues to act like an ass that
alone would be worth the torture
, she
thought as the weather of the strange new world consumed them once
again.

~~~~~~~~<<<<<<{ ☼
}>>>>>>~~~~~~~~

The Key to
Survival

Day One, Thursday, 9:07
am…

“
Do you think they’ll get
here soon?” asked Mikalah in the baby-ish, whiney sort of tone that
had always annoyed Elena.

However, the moment her
sister spoke the first syllable in that fashion, in light of what
she and Mikalah had endured of late, it was tolerable for once. In
fact, it suited to the situation, the more she thought about it,
because she felt the same. She was worried for her brother,
frightened at the prospect he might not return. This new world was
dangerous. Add that she was still in shock over the fact she might
never see her parents again, she’d probably be speaking in the same
fashion before long.

“
That is a hard question
to answer with any certainty,” replied Mugzy in his overly formal,
refined sort of way. He was fastidiously grooming his salt and
pepper hair with the long nails of his hand, untangling even the
smallest of knots as he did so. Somehow, the large claws where more
dexterous than the tiny ones he had possessed the day
before.

“
What do you mean?” asked
the girl, sitting up straight from the log she’d been leaning
against. Only this time, her voice was more normal and filled with
curiosity.

Mugzy cleared his throat.
“Well, my dear, they are just too many variables.”

Mikalah’s face twisted in
confusion.

Elena felt hers twist in a
similar manner.

Seeing this, Mugzy
continue. His eyes darted between both girls, his self-grooming
forgotten. Elena could tell he was focusing his thoughts, wanting
to be clear, concise, so they’d understand. “A great number of
things could be hampering their ability to return quickly, little
one. The weather, the gathering of supplies, finding adequate means
to transport the provisions once they’ve finished gathering them,
etc., etc.” He paused for a moment. “There could be other factors
delaying them as well…”

Mikalah’s abrupt intake of
breath signified her shock at the thought of something bad
happening to the others.

“
Mugzy, don’t frighten the
girl more than she’s already been frightened on this dreadful day,”
admonished Kodiak from the entrance of the cave where she was
keeping an eye, and a nose, on the world outside. She didn’t turn
to face them, but spoke loud enough so they all could
hear.

Elena, sitting next to
Mugzy, sat upright like her sister, She was nearer the blazing fire
they had going in the fire pit. She tried with all of her mental
might not to think anything bad had actually happened to her
brother and their new friends. Yet, time didn’t lie. They had left
the cave more than an hour ago. She wasn’t ready to deal with such
notions. She didn’t want to cry, not now, not
ever
. She might never stop once she
started.

Mugzy harrumphed
apologetically, looked directly at Mikalah, saying, “Girl, I
apologize, if I have upset you. I was merely trying to answer your
question as honestly as possible. I guess I should practice my tact
a bit more, now that I can speak. Right, my little flower?” he
finished. He peered over at Elena, who’s equally anxious expression
melted under his black-eyed gaze. Elena, in turn, smiled
reassuringly at her sister, sharing the strength provided by the
tenderness in Mugzy’s eyes.

I love you,
Poochers
, she thought as she reached out
and stroked his beautiful coat. It had always been matted and yucky
when he was a mere dog. She was somewhat mesmerized by the dramatic
changes in her former pet. He was different now. He was
magnificent. He was almost a polar opposite of himself, a Mr. Hyde
to his Dr. Jekyll. She knew she liked him as he was now, but she
missed the scruffy, smelly dog he had once been at the same time.
He had always followed her around, pining for her attention,
whimpering and whining for the slightest bit of notice. He loved
the scratches and the pats from anyone who would pause long enough
to give them, but it had always seemed to Elena he had always saved
something special, just for her, a unique squeal or wag of his
tail. Maybe he had or maybe it was something she wanted to believe
more than witnessed, but it had always rung as true in her heart.
There was no doubt in her mind, Mugzy was her dog. She’d seen it in
his large dark, eyes on the first night she’d brought him home and
he had slept in her bed. His orbs were soft, always soft, when her
gazed at her.

It seemed to her their
roles had reversed. She was the one in need of his attentions, his
protection now they’d been stranded in this unlikely place. This
place where there were no houses and no streets, no electricity, no
space heaters, and no internet or cars. Those things were all gone.
She was out of her element now. She was the one at the mercy of the
land around her. She was the one in danger. Human Beings from her
home world had controlled almost every aspect of their environment,
having mastered it centuries before she’d been born.

This had been Mugzy, in
world of “before”. He had been the one in dire need. He had been
the one at the mercy of the circumstances around him. She, like all
sensitive girls her age, had embraced that condition. She had
enjoyed taking care of him, keeping him safe.

Now, he would have to do
it for her, because she was the one who was vulnerable. Never again
would she be as safe as she had been with her family on Wilbur
Avenue in the vastness of Los Angeles – all of that was gone. Her
life, mercilessly altered forever, had been tossed on its’ head.
She would miss the old Mugzy, but she would love the new one,
nonetheless, no matter what he looked like.