The Winter

Chapter Five ~ Jessica's POV ~ Bonus Chapter

"I will check the kitchen and living room, Jessica and Zoe can check the bedrooms and bathrooms, and Leo can check the basement. Sounds good?" Dylan said.

Finally! Someone knows that we can't just sit around expecting to magically survive without food or water.

"But baby, I wanna stick with you! Not Jess-sick-a," Zoe said.

That spoiled brat has been bugging Dylan for ages now. I mean, I don't really know Dylan that well, but I don't think anyone would enjoy constant stalking, evasion of privacy and personal space, and don't get me started on the rumors spread about him and Zoe dating; made by Zoe.

Without realizing it, I rolled my eyes. Dylan said,

"You'll be fine for a couple minutes."

Haha.

I watched as Zoe lolled in the kitchen. Not waiting for her, I entered the hallway. It had a burgundy lining, which complimented the white walls nicely. I noticed a picture of a family hanging on the wall.

Wow. A mom, a dad, a daughter, standing together. Nice... The daughter looked about four, with the parents in their mid thirties.

I figured I wouldn't grab the painting off the wall, even though we were supposed to grab what we could find. I just couldn't disturb this perfectly content family. The thought of ripping the painting away from its resting place, its home, its family, disturbed me. I could never tear this family apart.... I've already torn mine.

As Zoe finally wandered over here I said,

"I can cover the bedrooms if you want to cover the bathrooms."

I assumed she would want the least work possible, plus, I kind of wanted to see if this family was the one that lived here, based on the amount of rooms. I was also curious about the fact that it would be nearly impossible for that family to live here. Because the child was so young, wouldn't they live in The Hub?

"No, you can check the bathrooms and I'll check the bedrooms," Zoe said.

"Ok."

"Well, I mean, I guess the bathrooms are smaller, so I'll do those, and you can do the bedrooms," she said with uncertainty.

Make up your mind already, will you?

I entered the first bedroom, and submerged into my surroundings.

"Wow!" I gaped.

Whoever's bedroom this is was surely living their life. I've never seen anything like it!

The wallpaper's setting was of the deep forest, with trees that seemed to reach to Mareal, the moon that orbits our planet, Creavel. It was almost magical. Fireflies lit up the forest with their uncanny yellow glow. A deer stood on the left side of the room, next to where the bed was placed. It looked almost immobile. I mean, it was, this is wallpaper we are talking about, but this was different. It looked like it was trying to signal for help, without the ability to.

I grabbed the blanket and pillow that was on the bed, and then checked the bed stand next to it.

Two hunting knives were perched up against the back of the drawer I found them in. Hunting knives, in a bedroom?

The knives had black covers on them, but the handle was green camouflage.

I quickly snatched them.

I opened the second and final drawer in the bed stand and found a notebook, no, a journal.

It had a starry cover and a dark red rim. I opened the book and read the first few sentences.

CHAPTER ONE

Date: February 12, 1956.

If your reading this book then your trapped. Trapped in the abyss of winter. You, my friend, are lucky to be alive. On the left side of this cabin, about 40 feet away, is something we like to call the border. If you pass that border, you can't come back. The Government sent a test dummy into the border. They never were never seen again. No one knows what's beyond it, we've all been too scared to try. You might die, vanish, be crushed by the reality that there's no way back, trust me, there's more. But... it might also mean freedom, it might be a perfect utopia, a better society, not a government controlled universe.

I'm going to attempt to go through it today, and I'm not exactly sure what will happen. All I know is that I have nothing else. My family? Ripped from me. Love of my life? Dead. My child? Wandered past the border. I have nothing left, and I'm going to try and find her. I decided it would be better to help someone before I go. That is my reason for writing this. My daughter is four. You may ask how we escaped The Hub, I'll give you that information, but-

I heard Zoe exit the first bathroom and enter the second one. Better hurry up.

I tossed the notebook under the bed, making sure it's hidden from sight. 

I entered the next bedroom. There was a twin sized bed right in the middle of it. A few candles sat on the edge of the bedside table. I grabbed them as well as the blanket and pillow that laid on the bed. The walls were a light pink color, definitely not as interesting as the master bedroom I was just in.

I entered the hallway. I had to wait a moment for Zoe and I heard the toilet flush, but when I did finally see her, I asked her this,

"What did you find?"

"Absolutely nothing," she replied.

"What!? You were supposed to look for materials we could use," I replied.

Oh my goodness, she probably didn't even try. Is she so used to her 'servants' doing everything for her, that she can't even contribute to the team?

"I did! I just couldn't find anything,"

Like I believe that.

"Ugh. Let's just report back to the others," I said as I walked back into the kitchen.

Stay tuned for the next bonus chapter consisting of Leo's POV!