natcat

This Means War

"You can have a look at this, Nina." I said as I pushed out my chair and stood up. "Maybe a new pair of eyes is what I need."
I let Nina sit down and walked away as she started pouring over the map. Maybe she could make more sense of it than I could.
I moved through the creaky cabin to the old bedroom Daisy and Em were in. Despite the door being open I knocked carefully, not wanting to barge in rudely.
"It's me, Sam." I said as I waited by the door. "Am I okay to come in?"

This Means War

"Getting anywhere with that?" Nina asked me and I shook my head.
"Not really. I managed to grab those maps from the base, but I figured since this one was already here, we would definitely be somewhere on it." I said, smoothing the map out. I had found it underneath a bunch of books on that shelf Spencer had been rummaging through. "If you look here, where this cross is, I think that's where we are. But there's nothing to say it is or isn't. It's not very helpful." I tapped the map for her to see.
"It must be old." Nina said getting up to have a proper look. "There's no building symbols on it. Nothing that suggests there's an army base within the surrounding hundred miles at all. It's probably from back when they could go hunting out in this forest and the only remotely terrifying was a deer. No enemy soldiers to contend with."

This Means War

It was tough not to laugh at Joe every time he sneezed like that. I felt bad for the guy but after what we'd been through, it was something that kept making me smile to myself and that was something.
Em perked her head up from the game of cards she was playing against Nina. "You've already lost anyway." She said to Nina as she dumped her cards and stood up from her chair.
Nina frowned and scoffed. "You mean you got caught cheating and now you're copping out cause you're a sore loser." She started gathering the cards as she spoke, but Em had already headed in to check on Daisy.
I heard murmuring and assumed Daisy was awake, I decided I would give them a moment before I went to see how she was.
"Spencer." Nina said looking over at her younger brother who was almost finished the book he'd picked up earlier. "Spence!"
"What?" He looked up slowly, clearly unimpressed with being interrupted by his sister.
"Do you want to verse me? I need practice before Em comes back."
"No." He looked back down at his book.
Nina scoffed and looked over at me. I had a map spread out over the table. Someone had previously marked an 'x' on the map lines, I had yet to figure out whether it was the cabin we had found or something else.

This Means War

"Thanks." I sighed and then shrugged, scanning the four siblings as they stared at me. "Well, I guess we wait." I said looking out the window at the rain that was literally bucketing down. I picked up one of the chairs that lay beside the table, brushed off the immediate dust and sat down.
"Anyone find any-" Em was interrupted by Joe as he sneezed, not once, but four times in a row. "...cards?"
Joe breathed heavily and ran a hand down his face. "I'm going to stand outside for a bit." He said, his eyes watering as he moved towards the front door.
"Poor Joe. It really is a horrible allergy." Nina said watching him leave.
Spencer walked across my vision and started rummaging through the items on the bookshelves.
"Spence, should you really be doing that? This was somebody's home once." Em said warily.
"Yeah, well it doesn't look like they're coming back, does it? I'm sure they took everything that they cared about." Spencer said pulling out books and reading the blurbs on the backs.
I rested my elbow on the table beside me, listening to the rain pound down on the mossy tin roof. It didn't sound quite right, the moss stopped the tapping sound you would usually hear on a normal tin roof, it was much more muted.
I watched the others as they eventually settled in.
Joe ended up sitting on the porch outside, Nina gave him an extra jacket in case he got too cold. Though he said he preferred the cold to the dust.
Spencer had chosen a book and had sat down on the floor, leaning against the couch everyone avoided.
Em simply hovered between Daisy and one particular window she seemed to like the view out of.

This Means War

I had only opened up a few of the windows to air the place out a bit when the others came rushing inside.
"Good timing." I said, noticing Joe as he tried to fight his allergies. "Sorry, Joe. Nina said you wouldn't be pleased."
"There's a bedroom in there you can put Daisy in. Looks better than that horrible thing." Nina gestured to the couch and I had to agree, I frankly would rather sit on the floor.
Joe nodded and moved into the small hallway, setting Daisy down on the bed. "Everything is so dusty. God, Spence. Couldn't you have spotted something more clean?" He said as he came back in the the main room, rubbing his nose.
Spencer rolled his eyes and started snooping through the kitchen cabinets.
"At least we're dry." Em was setting down her bags beside the couch. "If only we could actually use the fireplace." She said looking at it sadly.
"No chance. There's probably some blankets or towels here that can help us warm up?" I looked at Nina, wondering if she'd found anything of the sort while she was checking the other rooms.

This Means War

I pushed open the screen door with my foot, moving out onto the old porch that wrapped around the cabin. From what I could see, there was nothing here. No one here. The bush of the forest came right up to the handrails where various plants wrapped themselves onto the cabin.
I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. Suddenly I realised there was rain coming down, not heavy, but I knew it would increase soon.
"Nina, get the others. We're all good." I called out to her as I made my way back inside. We really needed to do something about the dust. I could see Nina's footprints from where she had gone to check out the other rooms.
"Did you find anything?" She said to me as she popped her head out of the bathroom.
"No, just dust. Lots of it." I tucked my gun into it's holster and began dropping my packs onto the floor.
"I'll grab the others." She said and I nodded, rolling my shoulders as she darted out the door.

This Means War

"I really, really hope not." I replied to Nina as we made our way to the cabin. It was so surrounded by bush, the roof of it covered in the greenest moss, that we honestly could have walked right past it if not for Spencer.
I looked about, noticing that I couldn't even spot a driveway of any kind. It was just here, alone and hopefully abandoned.
Nina reached the cabin porch first, creeping up the stairs and settling beside the door. We both had our hand guns drawn out in front of us. The tension that hung in the air as I nodded for her to swing open the wooden door was making my heart beat loudly in my ears. Nina reached out and pressed down the handle, I cringed as it squeaked, announcing our arrival to whoever might possible be inside.
The door was stiff in it's hinges as she pushed it open. A good sign, I thought as she gestured for me to enter.
The smell hit me as soon as I stepped inside. It was dark, dank and extremely dusty.
"Oh man, Joe is gonna hate this. He's so allergic." Nina muttered as she followed me in.
I scanned the room in front of us. A small, barely there kitchen was crammed into the corner opposite us, broken cupboard doors hanging from rusty hinges. There wasn't much left in here besides a small couch with a hole in the middle where the spring had broken through and a small round wooden table with a few chairs knocked over beside it. Various decorative items lay covered in dust amongst an old bookcase that sat next to the small fire place.
"I would say it's definitely not been used in a long time." Nina said and I could tell she was beginning to relax.
"Check out those doors." I said, nodding to the two that most likely led to a bathroom and a bedroom. "I'll check out the back."
"Okay." Nina lifted her gun up again, moving towards the closed doors. I stepped forward, cursing the creaky floorboards as I made my way to the screen door on the opposite side of the room, my footsteps leaving imprints in the thick layer of dust that covered the floor.

This Means War

"Yeah, well. We can only do so much. She's just going to have to hold on." I said peering up at the rumbling sky.
I hitched the bag up higher on my shoulder and tried not to put my head down against the wind. We needed to be looking, for anything, that was going to keep up reasonable dry for the coming storm.
"What's that?" Spencer piped up almost two hours later. We had paused only twice, mainly so Joe could put Daisy down for a second and stretch his arms. I had offered to give him a break but he said he was fine, that he didn't mind. I think he just knew I wouldn't have the strength to carry Daisy as safely as he could.
"What's what?" Em said looking drearily out at the bushes that surrounded us.
"All I can see are trees. Trees, leaves, sticks, dirt... Please tell me you see something more interesting." Nina said her arms folded tight against her chest, huddling into herself for protection from the wind.
"Over there." Spencer pointed to a slight break in the trees.
"God, you've got good eyes. To think you used to wear glasses." Nina shook her head, a smile creeping on to her face.
I finally saw what the others could. "I'm not sure. What if someone's there? It's an obvious place for us to hide, if those soldiers come by."
Joe shook his head. "It's too obvious, which is perfect. Isn't it?"
"Look, we'll check it out. If it looks like someones been there recently, we'll move along." Em said reaching for the gun she had tucked in the waist band of her uniform.
"Okay, but not you Em." I said and stepped forward, reaching an arm out to stop her from advancing through the trees to the well camouflaged cabin Spencer had spotted.
"What, why not?" Em said affronted.
"Because, Daisy needs you." Nina said putting a hand on Em's shoulder. "He's right. We're essentially useless to Daisy, you are the reason she's alive right now." Em started blushing as she rose her brows, clearly not expecting that from her sister, and turned back to go stand by Joe, who was gently resting Daisy against a tree out of the winds reach.
"Sam, let's go." Nina nodded to me and I reached for my weapon, preparing myself for the worst.
"Wait, why do you guys get to go? I spotted it!" Spencer said coming to stand by Nina and I.
Nina thumped him. "Shut up and stay here."

This Means War

I took a deep breath, watching as Daisy finally nodded off. "Okay, now for the hard part."
Em was already packing up the medical equipment. "Let's get moving, the sooner the better."
And so we did. We didn't have much to organise but ourselves, so once we had our packs on our backs, aside from Joe who had volunteered to carry Daisy's first, we headed out.
He had her cradled like a baby in his arms. To be honest, it was lucky he was here, because I certainly couldn't carry Daisy like that, definitely not looking as comfortable as he did, as if she was just a feather.
I walked at the front of the group, with Spencer, as Em hovered around Daisy checking her every now and then. Nina held the back of our line as we wound through the trees and undergrowth, looking for anything that looked safe and secure to cover in from the rain, possibly even for another nights rest.
"I just hope to the high lord that we aren't going back the way we came." Nina sang out.
"Don't be stupid, Sam know's what he's doing." I heard Joe say. "All I know is that that horrible base camp we just left was south, as long as we're headed north, we're good."
I tried not to grimace with Spencer walking at my shoulder. I had no idea how I became the leader of this supposed group. I had a few plans and ideas sure but I wasn't in any way qualified for this, to make decisions for lives that I didn't have any right making decisions for.

This Means War

"I don't know about you guys, but that grey sky just doesn't look too good to me." Spencer said as he stared up at the sky. I followed his gaze and couldn't help but agree. What had been a lighter grey had now moved on to become a more intense grey, the darker kind that always brought rain.
"Dammit." Joe said, saving me from saying a worse word.
"Look, we can handle rain guys. What are you afraid of?" Nina said putting her hands on her hips.
"Nina, a wet Daisy mixed with the fever she already has? Not a good mix. I'm not feeling good about it." Em said as she finished off stitching Daisy's leg back up. She put down her tools and reached for some fresh bandages to redress the wound.
I looked at Nina, who was now pursing her lips, thinking hard.
"If we give Daisy the drugs, maybe we could get moving and see if we can find some better cover? A cave, or something along the lines of it?" Spencer suggested and Joe looked at him dumbfounded.
"Little brother, you're not as dumb as you look are you?" He said, folding his arms with a smile.
Spencer rolled his eyes.
"I think that sounds like a good idea." I said, looking down at Daisy. She still looked to be in pain, her cheeks wet with her tears. I felt horrible for what had happened, not that there was anything I, or any of us, could have done, but what she was going through was awful. "What do you reckon, Daisy?"