GLOWING (Joel Miller)

24 | The House

By the time we stopped for the night, the sun had almost completely disappeared beneath the horizon. There was minimal cover here; we'd been trekking for a week and other than in the overgrown, long grass, there was nowhere to hide. I was beginning to miss the forests of Massachusetts and the security of the dense foliage. Here, I felt exposed. All around, people could be watching us and I would never know.

"Jenna?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced over at Joel, who was laying out his sleeping bag on the ground. We were camped out in an old abandoned barn. When I had seen it on the horizon, I was unable to suppress the excited shout that escaped me. Joel didn't even berate me, only adjusted his course slightly, to head in it's direction.

"Yeah?"

Joel stood up and brushed his trousers of loose straw. He picked his way over the hay bales and stopped in front of me. "I saw a house about a mile north." I nodded as Ellie climbed down the ladder from the hayloft, walking over to her sleeping bag and plopping onto it. "We should go check it out, look for supplies."

I nodded and hauled myself to my feet. "Okay." Joel took a step back so we were a more appropriate distance from each other. "I'm down to two cans of soup, so we definitely need to stock up."

Joel hummed in agreement. "You coming, Ellie?" The girl shook her head, crossing her legs and opening her book. "Okay. Stay here. We'll be back in an hour."

Ellie didn't respond, so Joel and I exited the barn. I blinked a few times to let my eyes adjust to the darkness. Joel switched on his flashlight and began walking in a northerly direction. I quickly took my place beside him, so that my path was in the narrow shaft of light.

We walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the only sound was that of our boots crunching on the dead grass and the cicadas all around us, hidden in the shrubbery. It was a peaceful quiet that I hadn't experienced in a long, long time and I felt like I could finally take a deep breath.

"How have you been doing?"

I glanced up at Joel, whose eyes were trained on the ground in front of us. His tone was oddly concerned, but it didn't surprise me much anymore. In the last week he had asked me this specific question more times than I could try to count. I'd known for a while that he had a softer—more caring—side, but seeing it come out was really quite satisfying.

I just shrugged, chewing on the inside of my cheek thoughtfully. "I'm okay."

"You talk in your sleep a lot."

"Okay," I replied with an awkward chuckle. "Creepy, much?"

Joel rolled his eyes. "What happened in KC, Jenna?" I didn't reply. "You've clearly been through absolute fucking hell, but it's like you're pretending it never happened." I knew he meant well, but I could feel my stomach churning at the thought of reliving my brief stint in Kansas City. "I know you're hiding something. I won't force you to tell me, but if you bottle it up, it'll kill you."

I finally looked up at him, smiling at his use of my own words against me. "Where'd you hear that?"

Joel chuckled. "Just think about it. I'm here if you need me."

"Okay." We slowed down as the large silhouette of the decrepit house loomed before us. Joel stepped forward and cautiously turned the door handle. I cocked my hand gun and held it at the ready as the wooden door creaked open on rusty hinges. "I don't hear anything."

Joel nodded in agreement. "Neither do I." We slowly crept into the kitchen, Joel's flashlight illuminating the dusty countertops ad ajar cupboard doors. Joel let out a sigh. "Looks like it's been picked over already."