Wildfire: The underdog

Chapter 15: Missing supplies

Day 142

"Come on, Winny. Stop giving me that look. I must stay in shape while I can. You said it: 'motivation is key to achieving any goal in life.'"

All my niceties had finally paid off as Whitney eased up around me. She trusted me enough to converse with her, and I felt confident to share details about myself before coming here. Once the bonfire was ready for tonight's gathering, Whitney sat on one of the logs as I casually joined in while everyone around us finished their tasks.

I talked about my past routine, the two hours at the local gym, and the attempted low-carb diet. From there, Whitney seemed more intrigued by how someone lean could have had a rigorous, active lifestyle. She was kidding, of course. I prided myself on her confidence and the rightfully earned trust she gave.

"You're going to disappear from all that exercise, is what you'll end up doing."

I shrugged with a generous smile. "It keeps me busy,"

"Winston and I have a couple of pounds going on. For us, it makes sense to have a daily, active lifestyle. But you're still young, Alex."

You're still young. It was Joyce who said those words. It was during the morning when I told her about my wish to travel to Puerto Rico. "I used to have friends." I'd told her. "I've just been enjoying my company a lot more." And I'd half-lied.

Joyce's reaction was pitiful, as though I told her I had terminal cancer. And that is when she said those words. "You're still young."

I knew I could still make friends. But Sal and my other friends from college had probably forgotten about me since the virus, and I didn't feel encouraged to begin anew. I never told Joyce this, but it felt like no one would ever make me feel important or worthy again.

Then in a Whitney-fashion moment, she changed the subject. "Try and bring some provisions for your next scouting trip," Of course, it wouldn't be Whitney if she didn't scold you at some point. "Otherwise, I'll have to find someone else to do the job since you can't keep coming back empty-handed."

I've kept Jonah and the fire tower a secret—not even Paul knew. It made me feel criminal-like to keep this hidden from Whitney, but it's not like I am lying. I won't lose sleep by twisting the truth a notch.

"I've set a flag on a couple of solid grounds."

"It's not good enough," Whitney said, making my excuse seem pathetic to my ears suddenly. "The next scouting mission, make sure you bring resources back to the camp."

"Right," I muttered, now feeling like a complete moron. "Oregon Park has plenty of hiding spots, caves, and summits," I added with feigned morale. "I keep forgetting to bring my climbing equipment."

"We have those at our disposal. Next time, ask."

I nodded wordlessly as Diego slowly approached from one side, calling Whitney towards him.

Whitney stood as I heard Diego saying not-so-subtly something about missing inventory, including emergency rations. I heard something similar when I was with Paul. Joyce brushed it off, saying that equipment gets misplaced constantly since no one knows how to keep them safe.

Most items were meaningless or replaceable: a piece of duct tape, some kindle, or even makeshift knives. But this time, Diego spoke about provisions: MRI packets which were rare to obtain, and making them required a lot of material. There's been a shortage of bandages over the last few weeks.

Whitney stared and blinked. She always did that when she was about to tear up from anger.

I slowly walked away before things could get any uglier.