War of Peace

Chapter Sixteen

Maddie

I wake up realizing Silas and I slept through the day and night. It's light outside and it's much cooler than the previous day.

"What are we going to do if it gets too cold outside?" I ask, looking at Silas curiously.

"I don't know. Maybe we can find some type of shelter," Silas suggests

"We can't just hibernate for the winter though. We have to keep moving. We need to find your cousin and the others. We need to keep trying to fix things."

"You're saying that as if we can just fix the problems of the world with one snap of a finger. This isn't our job."

"Yes but if not us, who? Who else is going to step up and do something?"

When Silas doesn't reply and there's silence, memory of the other night flashes through me. I squeeze my eyes shut and grab Silas's hand.

"I want to know everything. I have to find out what they did to Emma. I can't let this happen to all these other people. They're killing innocents, it's not fair," I tremble, tightening my grip on Silas's hand. I'm staring straight ahead at the dead creature's body and I'm burning with anger and resentment.

We need to get out of here. I can't look at the corpse any longer. It makes me sick. I take Ali's bag off my back. I almost forgot it was there this whole time. We haven't eaten in a long time. We need to go easy on the food but when I unzip the bag, the only thing remaining is the bag of potato chips I cried on the night Ali died. I toss it to Silas.

"It's all we have left," I mumble as I remember watching Ali drop to her knees in front of her own house and Emma was still alive.

I zip up the bag, throw it over my shoulder and begin walking with Silas beside me. We walk and eat the chips until they're completely gone. I'm still starving and it feels like I never even ate anything but there's nothing we can do about it, we don't even know how to hunt.

I stare at the empty bag of chips and can't stop thinking about Ali. I was always eating potato chips with her. I fold the empty bag up and shove it in Ali's pack. I'm going to keep it.

Silas and I are severely dehydrated but our water is empty. We keep walking, drained of energy.

I feel as though I'm going to pass out but we notice a dirt path that leads around a corner.

"Should we see where it leads?" but instead of waiting for a reply from Silas, I begin walking along the path.

"Maddie we don't know where this leads, it could be dangerous!" Silas hollers after me.

I keep walking anyway and I stop promptly in front of a huge modernized cabin ahead of me. Silas catches up to me and we're both staring at it in awe.

It's built of wood and cobble that varies throughout the structure. There's a patio with dark brown wicker chairs with cushions between the two ends of the cabin. There's windows behind the patio showing a visible hallway connecting both sides of the cabin. An outdoor fireplace is on the right side of the patio facing the wicker chairs.

The right side of the cabin is taller than the left because it has a second floor. It stretches further back and looks like there could be four or five bedrooms. A small balcony hangs over the edge facing the forest scenery.

On the right side of the cabin there are windows acting as walls and a wooden door in the center. The inside is visible. I can see a living room and a kitchen.

I can't keep my eyes off of it. It's so beautiful and big. I Imagine how nice the heating system and the food from a fridge sounds. It doesn't look like there's anyone home. No lights are turned on and I don't see any nearby vehicles. This cabin is like a dream home. I would happily live here the rest of my life. Is it weird that I can picture Silas and I making this a home together? I turn to him and he's picking at his fingernails.