The Cabin ~ Harvey Mills

'Spicy eyes!'

☆No POV☆

"Believe what? Lucy, what are you talking about?" Flo pressured, voice slightly rising with every word. Anticipation settled down in the room, coating it with a thick layer of fog. Being so unaware of things scared Harvey, his past certainly didn't help with that. He was so used to not knowing what's going to happen next, that even a small little movement could send him into a panic attack. Only Max was aware of what was going on with Harvey, but he was never fully aware of just how much damage the boy had truly felt.

"Look at this." Lucy handed the phone over to Flo. She snatched it in a heartbeat. Wanting to find out what was going on, Harvey stood up and walked up to the brunette, peering over her shoulder and scanning over The News. Flo's heart dropped at the last sentence, looking up at Max and Lucy with a confused, sad, worried expression. Flo handed the phone back to Lucy, taking a seat on the end of the bed. The room fell into a silent realisation, everyone too scared to say anything. Max stood, staring at the ground whilst Harvey mimicked his actions.

"Hey guys," Lucy spoke up, standing up from her spot, earning the looks from everyone else in the room, "it can't be all that bad? I'm sure we can cope."

"Stop kidding yourself. We will never know how to cope on our own. We need food, water, clothes, all the essential things for living." Flo informed. She knew Lucy was just trying to help, but to her, helping seemed beyond a path she could ever reach. Help was so far away that the sun was probably closer.

"Yeah, you're right. But we can find them! We can look for a shop. I'm sure there must be some here somewhere." Harvey shrugged, attempting to lighten the mood.

"It's a pandemic! It's a real life situation, with real life problems. There's no way we are going to be able to cope on our own for who knows how long! Covid isn't something to be messing with. If we really have to stay here for lockdown, then we need to find things so we can carry on living." Flo answered. She never meant to be so harsh with her words but reality needed to be shown in it's true light. This wasn't some make believe story with make believe characters. This was their lives on the line here, any wrong move and they will suffer.

"Why don't we just go home then?" Max asked, a shrug accompanying his sentence.

"It's a global lockdown, we can't. We have to stay in whatever house, flat, bungalow we slept in the night before. If we are seen outside without a good reason then we will get arrested." Flo replied.

"Surely going home is a good enough reason to be out and about." Harvey spoke.

"No. They won't believe you, trust me. The police in my neighbourhood can't tell the difference between a lie and the truth. They will arrest you either way." Flo sighed. Harvey sat down on the edge of the bed. No one said a word, too busy thinking and in their thoughts to say anything else. Silently, they all listed the people that they were going to miss. Flo listing only the people most close to her whilst Lucy listed everyone she liked.

"Right! Come on!" Max clapped, flinches being visible from everyone. "We need a game plan. You said it yourself Flo, we need food, water, any essential items. And for that, we need a shop."

"But how will we find one? There are no shops in my neighbourhood." Flo frowned.

"So, two of us go out and find one. Take everyone's backpacks and go on the hunt for a shop. Hopefully we'll be able to find one before dark." Max ordered, everyone nodding along. "Now, I'm not sure about you guys, but I really want wifi in this cabin." Everyone replied with 'same'.

"I think I saw a wifi box downstairs near the entrance when we came in." Lucy smiled.

"Okay, great. Someone who is good at engineering and fixing wifi boxes needs to stay here and fix it." Max nodded.

"What about the signal? Won't it suck since we're in the middle of the forest?" Flo questioned, her eyebrows knotted together.

"That's the thing, the signal will be perfect. As me and Harvey were walking up her last night, I saw a few utility wires near a road just behind this cabin. In fact, I'm certain that's what runs this cabin and keeps the electricity in it alive and working." Max's words and enthusiasm was getting everyone hyped and ready to tackle the job together.

"Guys, I think we might be able to do this." Lucy smiled, smiles and nods being returned to her.

"We just need to work together, okay?" Max encouraged. Everyone agreed. "Right, me and Flo will take all the empty backpacks and bags and go and find a shop. Lucy, since you're so creative, I want you to stay here and spruce up the cabin a little bit. Make it more like home, okay?"

"Yes sir." Lucy chirped.

"Harvey, I know you're good with fixing cables. I want you to also stay here and see if you can fix the wifi box. Check everything else works as well. When we get back, we need to have lamps, showers, toilets, cooker, ovens, fridge, tvs all working perfectly. Do you think you can do that?" Max asked.

"Of course." Harvey smiled.

"Perfect. Right, everyone ready?" Max questioned one final time. "I think we will survive just fine." He smiled. "You know what, I can't resist. Everyone, hands in." Groans escaped everyone's lips. "Oh come on. We're a team."

"As if your encouraging words weren't cheesy enough." Lucy playfully mocked. Max rolled his eyes as the others laughed.

"Come on, please. I've always wanted to do this." Max pouted. Reluctantly, everyone put their hands in. "On the count of three, say bacon bits. 1... 2... 3..."

"Bacon bits!"

"Spicy eyes!"

Max scolded his twin. "What? Bacon bits are lame. I don't want to say that in our chant." Harvey rolled his eyes, the girls erupting into laughter.

"I can't believe you ruined my dream and perfect chant. Bacon bits are life man!" Max huffed.

"Okay, okay, we can do it again." Harvey smiled.

"Really!?" Max's eyes lit up.

"No." Harvey patted his twins shoulder and began to walk out the room. "Unlucky little bro." Harvey teased, knowing full well how much it wound up Max.

"Oh you little-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Keep it PG Max." Flo laughed.

"But he- Harvey- He just-" the girls quirked their eyebrows as Max stumbled on his words. "Oh forget it!" He threw his hands up in defeat.