SurvivorZ: In Cold Blood

24

"PAIGE"

Following their active day outdoors, most everyone in the group hit the sack early and immediately drifted off. Not so with Paige.

She spent her evening staring at the ceiling and listening to the gentle (and not so gentle) snores of the others around her. Occasionally, she would hear Robin, or Drew, or whoever was on watch at the time, sneak into the room to add another log on the fire.

Though her energy still felt depleted after everything they endured since their escape from Boston, her mind stubbornly refused to quiet down. Ever since Mike, Danielle, Tommy, and Doctor Bradshaw returned with a matching pair of Arctic Cats they found at a farmhouse down the road, the machines parked outside were all she could think about.

More specifically, her mind was occupied with thoughts of stealing the rides and leaving before anyone else remembered Penny Trask and put two and two together.

The sound of footsteps coming in from the kitchen caught her attention. She eyed the doorway, curious to see who'd enter.

In the dim light of the room, she caught Stan's bulky figure crossing over to tend the fire. She watched him stop in front of the fireplace to stoke the flames and check their supply of logs. He gave the sleeping crowd a final once-over before heading back out the way he came.

Paige got up, put on her coat and boots, and tip-toed after him. She caught up to him near the back door, where he was donning his gloves in preparation for a moonlight walk around the property.

"Want some company?" she asked in a low voice while removing her gloves from her pocket.

He studied her tired face in the dim light shining through the window. "What's wrong? Can't sleep?"

Paige shrugged wearily. "I haven't really slept since those bugs attacked Harvard. Every time I close my eyes, all I see are nightmares."

"Maybe you should ask Maureen for something to help with that?"

"Yeah, no. I'm keeping my distance, for obvious reasons," she replied. "Let's go outside. That's actually something I want to discuss with you."

She led him out the back door. The cold night welcomed her by nipping at her cheeks. She exhaled forcefully and watched the cloud formed by her breath quickly disperse.

Stan closed the door behind him and stopped on the doorstep to examine their surroundings. Thanks to some quick thinking on the part of Carl Graves, they apparently had the neighborhood to themselves again. Fortuitous, considering the noise the others made returning with the snowmobiles.

Which brought Paige to her topic of choice. "The Cats? Are they gassed up and ready to go?"

"Yeah," Stan answered. "They're in good shape. Hardly required any work on my part."

"Only two of them, though. Not nearly enough for almost twenty people."

"That's why they're planning to make a few trips into Dover tomorrow," Stan said. "According to the stickers on them, the machines they found came from a dealership up that way. We should be able to pick up everything we need there."

"Right." Paige nodded. "Then what?"

"Then we push on into Maine. Try to find someplace safe."

"But we'll never be safe, will we? I mean, never mind the trouble we'll be in should someone else remember us from Amherst." She leaned against the step railing and looked past him at the dark windows of the house. "A huge group like this? It's only a matter of time before trouble finds us again. This many people are noisy. Careless. They mistakenly presume their size makes them secure." She sniffed, eyeing him. "They're dead wrong."