Rescue

Part 12: Luxury... Maybe?

    My feet finally touch the ground and Ray and I release our tight holds on each other. We share a smile and turn towards the front door.

    I turn the doorknob with some extra force and the door opens with a long, low creak. The inside is illuminated through the windows with fresh daylight.

    Dust particles are highlighted in the atmosphere and we both cough, waving it away from our faces. The floorboards squeak when I walk on them and there are countless spiderwebs around the interior.

    "It's... something," Ray says with an optimistic tone. "Not a luxury, but it's something."

    "We have a bit if cleaning to do if we're gonna live here," I mention. He groans and I shrug, giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but I'm not sharing a room with a bunch of squirrels."

    "I need to clean myself off," he grumbles. "Where's the shower?"

    I cough and he gives me a look of confusion. "Uh..."

    "What's the matter?"

    "Well, we're so far from civilization that this place doesn't have any wifi, running water, or even electricity." I mouth an apology to him and he just stares at me, trying to process what the hell I just told him.

    "So... how am I supposed to shower?" he asks with a dreadful look. I point out the window to a lake just behind the cabin.

    "We'll wash up and do laundry there."

    "Oh thank god, I thought we had to wait for the rain or something," he laughs. "So... can you show me around, maybe?"

    I nod and we move farther into the cabin. The front door opens right into the kitchen, so that was our first stop.

    "So since we don't have electricity, we can use this solar-powered stove, or make a campfire." I point at the stove, which is covered in dust. "There's no fridge or anything, so we can't keep things cold until the winter. We do have some cupboards to store things that don't spoil quickly, though."

    We walk into another room with a sofa, a rug, a decent sized coffee table, and a large cabinet. I open the large cabinet and he gasps, a smile forming on his face. "There's probably around 100 or so board games and card games in here, so we shouldn't get bored very easily," I laugh.

    "If I remember correctly, there should be a solar-powered record player in here somewhere."

    "We'd better look for it later," Ray suggests.

    Into the next room, still on the first floor, is a queen-sized bed with a nightstand on each side plus a small closet of some clothing from long ago.

    "I think some of these should fit you," I explain and show him the closet. He nods and sits down on the foot of the bed.

    "So... is there only one bed?" he asks.

    "Yeah. I can take the sofa if you want, but considering how we slept last night, it's probably not a big deal now."

    He looks away and bounces his leg. "I'm fine with sharing the bed if you are."

    "Okay," I say as I stand up and open the door to the hallway. He follows me out and we move upstairs, creaking the stairs with every step.

    We crawl into the attic at the top of the stairs, barely leaving any headroom for us to sit up. We move towards the middle and sit up. There's just a few spiderwebs up here, plus a bird's nest, but nothing else is here.

    "That's the whole place," I say.

    "We need to make this place livable," he explains.

    "I can go catch some fish to cook, it's maybe a five minute walk from here."

    "Okay, I'll dust out all the bedding outside."

    We go back to the first floor and part ways, each going off to do our own tasks to start living here.

...

Ray POV

...

After Adora is out of sight, I go back in and grab the covers off the bed and wedge the pillows underneath my arms.

Walking outside, I reach a spot around twenty feet from the front door and start fanning the covers out one by one in the wind. The dust all flies off, some of it getting in my eyes making me looking away.

I do the same with the pillows and haul everything back inside. After the bed is made, I look around. These spiderwebs are disgusting, plus the dead rat in the corner of the room.

Wait, I think I saw some cleaning rags in the kitchen when Adora showed me around.

Sure enough, there is one. Although there's no cleaner, I use it to clean out the dust and some of the spiderwebs in the corners of the ceilings.

...

Noah POV

...

The police put me under house arrest because they're 'suspicious' of me and my 'intentions'. There's a whole electronic cuff locked around my ankle that'll go off and alert them if I leave my front door.

I do have access to the internet now, though. I'm seeing a ton of alerts around the area for people to keep a lookout for her, but I can't find anything saying she's been found. Maybe she escaped.

There are also some missing person reports for some guy named Ray Marcus. I guess he's the police chief's son. Who knows, maybe Adora's with him somewhere.

...

Adora POV

...

I opened the cabin door holding two fishes and grab the solar-powered stove burner. Ray comes into the kitchen with a cleaning rag in his hand.

"The place is dusted for the most part," he announces.

"Thanks, Ray. Lunch should be ready eventually. There should be some plates in the cupboards and a pot. We can use the pot to boil some water."

He puts plates on the counter and brings the pot outside to get some water.

...

Fourty-minutes later

...

We sets our plates on the coffee table along with glasses of hot, clean water and sit on the floor.

"To be totally honest, I think we could get used to this." he says through a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, I doubt anyone can find us here."

We eat in comfortable silence, until the looming thought rolls through my mind and puts a heavy weight on my chest.

We're safe from people, but anything can kill us out here.