The Fringe

Chapter 9

We had found an old abandoned refugee camp from the war that was mostly still standing but parts were damaged and inaccessible. Markus, Dad and William searched around for the backup generator to get some lights going and hopefully some heat since it was starting to cool down for the night time.

                I grabbed my flashlight and slowly walked in with mom, Kate and Alex right behind me. I began to rummage through a room trying to find blankets and pillows, anything that we could use for the night. Alex tripped over a couple objects and we all stopped and I turned back to her, shining the light down on what she tripped over. She just stayed quiet and then we continued on through the building in search of something.

                Lights finally came on and I shut my light off and stared around the room. Everywhere we looked there were cots, blankets, pillows, empty bags of clothes that people had left. It was completely deserted and looked like it had seen better days.

                "Okay, so we have stuff to sleep on tonight. We can start searching through the bags and try to find whatever we can to salvage. Grab a bag and start piling it up for each of you. I'm not sure how long we're going to be out here and without resources." I told them.

                "These are people's belongings, Finley. We can't just take them." Kate protested.

                I sighed. "And these people aren't here. They are dead, or are located elsewhere. Chances are, these clothes have been here for many years. If you find anything salvageable, take it." I told her. She just stared at me. I patted her arm. "I know it's hard to think about, but you have to trust me. Markus knows where he's going and now my job is to keep you guys safe." She just nodded and they began to search for things.

                Ben called my name so I left them and walked out of the room and followed him to another room where a few computers were set up. William was sitting in the chair typing away on the boards and pulling up new screens on the computers. "Dad found this after the generator went on. He was able to hack into the system. We're trying to get any sort of information now." He told me.

                I walked over to the computer system and glanced at each screen. One of them showed a map of the compound and it gave me and idea. "Do you think you can expand that map so we can see where we're at and how far we are from anything else?" I asked. William clicked away on the keys again, focusing on the map on the one screen and soon, we had an image.

                "You can't be serious." Markus whispered. "It's still standing." We all looked at him. He pointed to a building that took up most of the screen with its size. "Right here, this is where I was stationed before I found your parents. It looks like it's still in use."

                "Based off the measurements the screen gives, it looks like it's less than 20 miles away. I squinted to see the compass on the top of the screen. About 17 miles E-NE. We can make that in the morning." I told him.

                Markus shook his head. "The drive out here worn down the fuel in the truck. We won't have enough to make it, and walking would be too dangerous."

                "There's got to be fuel somewhere. Fin, let's go search for some." Ben said and we both walked out not even sure where to start.

                "I'll get Alex and Adam to help. The more eyes, the better chance." I told him and he nodded. I walked back to the cot room and everyone was sitting down. "Alex, Adam, hey we could use your help. We need to find fuel for the truck. So we're going to split up and search. You're coming with us."