The Last Cabin

Chapter 22

It was spring time and much to our surprise, we heard a loud, large engine coming from the road. We had gotten used to the noises we were accustomed to, but this shook us to our bones. A military tank rolled up to our property, taking up every inch of the road. A couple of men dressed in military attire jumped out and said they saw the smoke from our chimney and wanted to see if anyone was alive out here, then they told us of the community they were trying to gather up north. It was only around 50 people, but they were going around looking for more survivors. We asked questions about what the world looked like, if anything was going back to normal anytime soon, but the news was grim. Out of all the surrounding cities, there wasn't a sign of any other groups of people. Most had succumbed to the virus and had been killed, while some with the virus still lurched about looking for victims. The world as we knew it before would not be coming back, at least not in our lifetimes.

Finn and I looked at each other and knew right away we wanted to stay put - we had a rhythm here and it was home now. As one military officer went back to the tank, another whispered to us he was unsure of the future of the group, and wanted to know if we needed help, and asked if he could join us with his wife. With all the extra work needed in the garden, we jumped at the opportunity to have another couple join us. Although hesitant about our food supply issues; he told us it shouldn't be a problem, then the man smiled, and jumped back into the tank, only to show up again in a much more quiet truck only three days later. He and his wife were to take one of the neighboring houses that was empty. I about fainted when I saw they loaded the back of their truck with supplies they were willing to share.

The garden and outdoor projects started to pick up. I thought it must have been April, with the occasional rain showers and blue skies with fluffy clouds above us. It was pleasant to work outside. Lacey and Cole, the new couple, came by to work the soil and make rows for the seeds. Getting water from the creek to the garden was a hassle we had all last summer, but with the extra hands, I knew this year wouldn't be as bad.

Lacey didn't speak too much. Nonetheless, we got along, and I enjoyed her quiet nature alongside me. She was from the South, and raised by a tight-knit family. Occasionally, I got her talking, and she would come back to the day she saw her parents and brother getting ripped apart right before her eyes. They had all lived together on their family farm. She was in her truck when it happened; she didn't know what to make of it at first, but all at once the entire house got swarmed. Her brother and dad were fighting as much as they could, but they only got so far before she watched as, limb by limb, they were torn apart. She was lucky to get out herself. Lacey told the story with a distant stare, and then retreated into her own mind again, not to speak for another couple of days.

Cole was a man's man, but gentle. He didn't push Lacey and spoke to her in a tender tone, but strived to get more done each day. It was a blessing to have him around; he was a workhorse that never stopped until the sun was no longer in the sky, then he brought out a bottle, of which he acquired a case of 60, and drank with Finn - It was nice to see him having a little fun again. They joked and told funny stories of when they were young. Sometimes they got on the roof of the cabin and shot at wild pheasants or went naked with painted stripes below their eyes, into the woods with their guns to see what they could catch. Lacey and I didn't question it. And if I was being honest, we ate more once Cole was around.

By the end of spring, Marcie and Thad started coming around again, and we all blended into a family. We worked side by side, planting seeds from last year's crop, watering, fixing what needed fixed and shared our meals. The men would find new things they needed to build, and the ladies would tend to the garden and find new ways to cook the things we'd been stuck with.

One evening, I had used my homegrown garlic for a vegetable stir-fry with rice. Neither of us could believe the taste - it was spicy and rich beyond what we had ever known to be garlic. Everyone around the table was in awe, especially after not having it fresh for almost a year now. Sure, we had powdered, but this was something else. I'd had garlic my whole life, but it felt as though I was eating it now for the first time. We all laughed at the excitement of it, feeling silly that we all were making such a big deal about something so simple. But all of life felt brand new now.