Going Out
#4 of The Getaway (Thriller)
Going Out
*
The morning was cold. The gauge read seven F, and I could feel it, too, if I pressed my pads gently against the frames of the window. My breath misted on the cold pane. My whiskers bristled.
"We'll go today," I said.
Ken was sitting by the fire and warming his paws on its glow.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Weather seems as good as it'll ever be," I said, "and I really want to go as soon as possible."
"So it'll be today?"
"Yes," I said with affirmation. "We'll get some breakfast and then go."
"What're we having?" Ken asked.
"Everything," I said, "we need a lot energy for this. And we need to get stuff for the trip, too."
His ears perked.
"Like a picnic?" Ken suggested.
"If you like," I said. I couldn't help but smile.
"Great!" he said.
"We'll take a can of meat each," I said, "it won't be very delicious eaten cold but it'll do."
Ken chuckled.
"Aren't we being generous today?" he said. "I mean, not sharing a can..."
"Like I said, we need a lot of food," I told him. "So a can each it is. Let's get the water going. We'll have to take some with us as well, put it in the thermos or something. Some sugar and biscuits, too."
"You're really going wild, aren't you?" he chuckled.
"It's necessary," I said. "We need our strength. We've been on small rations for a while now."
"Do you have to call it rations?" Ken frowned. "Back when they started doing that, it just sounded so wrong."
"I know it did," I said," and it felt as much, too, but it's what it is."
"Do you think they're still rationing?" Ken asked. "Do you think it's all going on still? VQ and EWAP and EMRC, FCP, all that?"
His question stopped me. I hadn't really given it much thought, not really since our last visit to the town. Back then things had seemed bad enough...and when every day was filled with chores to keep our own little community of two on the good path, there really wasn't that much time, or even wish to think about the bigger picture.
Maybe I just didn't want to. Ken probably didn't. It was easier for him that way. Maybe it was easier for me, too. I just didn't speak about it like he did. We didn't talk to each other, either, not really, not with the right words.
"It probably is," I said. "We did hear that radio broadcast, didn't we, before...when was that?"
I couldn't really remember, either.
"Sometime after town," he said, "they talked about shortages, didn't they?"
"Yeah, they did," I said.
"Do you think they're better off than we are?"
"Who?" I asked.
Ken shrugged.
"Everyone," he said, "everyone on the VQ and Essential Workforce and...you know what I'm talking about. There was still food in the stores..."
"I don't know," I said again. "I presume that they're keeping the VQ running and everyone tries to scrape along as well as they can."
"Do you think we'd be better off in VQ?"
"I don't know," I told him, without doubt in my voice. "But all I know is that we are safe here, and have been safe all winter. And I intend to keep it that way, too, for the time being."
"I know you do," Ken smiled. "Thank you."
"I'm doing it for us," I said, "nothing more."
Ken got up from the fire and stood up to me, arms coming about me.
"I know," he whispered before kissing me softly on the lips. "I love you."
I squeezed him onto myself and held him close. He was warm, heated by the fire, really, and it felt good.
"I love you too," I held him tighter, when I whispered gently onto his neck furs.
*
The breakfast was over, and it was time to gear up. We chose the warmest clothes available, which there were plenty of, thankfully. I'd brought it all up with us when we came here, and there were some old things here that came useful now, too, when we put on woolen socks, sweaters and heavy boots. It was the general set-up we had to do when we went out to check the fishing traps, but today we were relying on it for much longer.
The clothing was just one thing. I had to take out the plastic kids' sleigh, old, faded plastic, but it was all we had, and once I put a new rope to it, it was good enough for us. I loaded our makeshift sleigh with two shovels, an axe, some rope, a bucket, a plastic tarp, a few plastic bags and a backpack containing our food and water for the trip. The sleigh did not end up being heavy, but it was important.
I took it for myself to pull while Ken walked behind us with another rope around his wrist, to act as a break if, needed. I led us on, in the thick snow, aided by our big boots and a single skiing stick for each of us. Walking right on the riverbank was the easiest way to go, with the snow relatively hard there, and occasionally the sleigh would bump against what must've been a rock under the snow. The woods offered a little bit of protection from the wind that way as well, and keeping our way was easier.
It wasn't fast. How much easier would it been if we had skis...or even snow shoes, or something. I'd thought about making some snow shoes, but there didn't seem to be any good materials for it, and the snow wasn't quite thick enough to warrant the effort. I was worried that one of us would end up twisting an ankle once the makeshift snowshoes came apart mid-stride. That meant heavy, sweaty walking in our thick clothing, our boots sinking deep into the snow.
We were half an hour out, perhaps, and I already felt exhausted. Ken's huffing breathing told me he wasn't any better.
"This lake seems much smaller when it's not frozen," Ken grunted.
"I'm sorry I don't know how to build an amphibian vehicle out of the boat using the outboard as a propeller," I rumbled, my breath making vapor.
Ken chuckled.
"That's funny."
"Where's MacGyver when you need him?" I shrugged.
"Got that ten-buck Swiss Army Knife though!" Ken said.
"Heheh. I need to get something to drink, I think."
I staggered over to the pathetic sleigh and drank water from one of the two thermoses.
"Do you need some?" I offered the bottle to Ken.
"I'm fine for now," he said.
"Just tell me when you need to stop and you can get some."
"Thanks."
We'd taken an hour until we reached the other side and then passed into the small woods on the bend, the little protrusion of land that signalled that the lake was sloping towards southwest. From then on we were in unexplored territory, not usually approached by us. Ken had been here on a boat, but that had been years ago. He hadn't really been coming here lately. It didn't fit his lifestyle.
The snow, as far as I could see, was untouched. There weren't even animal tracks, not where we were. With the wind blowing, that didn't surprise me. Any tracks would be soon covered. There were no signs of any purposeful movement, either. No snowmobiles, cars...hovercraft...what did I expect? That there was a booming community sight beyond or own little corner of the lake?
"There!" I said.
I looked over to Ken, who was squinting to see what I was pointing at. My gloved paw was directed towards the vision of a small red cabin, as well as a brown outbuilding of some sort, on the lakeside maybe...half a mile away? It was difficult to tell the distance over the snowy ice, let alone open water. I had thought that it would be about two miles, all in all, but it felt like we'd been walking for twice that. The snow really drained you.
"Is that Wilcox' place?" Ken asked.
"It's the only house here," I said, "it has to be it."
"I can't see anything moving there," Ken peered over to the building at the distance.
"I didn't expect to see anything, either," I said, "can't see a car, at least."
"Do you think he would've done the same as we do?" Ken asked. "Leave the town for here, to be safe?"
"I don't know," I replied. "Do you know if he had a family?"
"I don't know...I really don't remember."
"Maybe he's somewhere taking care of someone else," I said, "like we're taking care of each other."
"Maybe..."
I rubbed my muzzle.
"Let's go. We want to make a good way there so that we have a lot of time to check the cabin before we have to go back before nightfall."
"How long do we have?"
I took out my phone to check it.
"About five hours. If we cover the rest of the way in an hour, that leaves us...about two hours before we have to get back. It'll start getting darker but we should be able to get home in time. We better get going now."
"Okay."
We followed the lakeside, making our slow way, leaving deep tracks in the powdered snow. Once I took a fall, but landed harmlessly in the snow, and got a chuckle from Ken when I was brushing myself off.
"I hope this Wilcox is a terrible drunk who has that entire cabin filled with booze, because I think I'm going to need a drink after this."
Ken chuckled.
"Don't we have some at the house?"
"Didn't I tell you that this is about stocking up?"
"Well, yeah..."
"So, let's hope."
The cabin grew larger as we approached, but didn't look any more impressive even from the close. It became obvious that nobody had been there, at least ever since the snow fell. The road was completely blocked, with a layer of snow even with that around it which told us that nobody had managed to get there since the snow came. The yard was covered in a similar layer of thick white snow. Something black protruded out from the snow some way from the house, and it took me a while to realize that it must've been the poles of the old guy's small pier. The boat must've been here somewhere, too, though I couldn't see it. Maybe it was in the small wooden outbuilding.
"Doesn't look like anyone's home," Ken said.
"Good," I said.
"I still feel a bit weird that we're going to just go and steal his stuff."
"We're taking it, not stealing," I told him as we made landfall and stomped through the thick snow towards the house, "this is an emergency."
Ken chortled.
"I can't remember the last time when it wasn't some kind of an emergency or something."
"Don't remind me."
We reached the yard. The cabin's windows seemed dark, and the door had about a foot of snow in front of it, even with the small wooden porch that offered some protection.
"How're we going to get in?"
"That's why I took the shovels," I stepped over to the small sleigh and took them out, to hand one over to Ken, "we have to dig our way in. I was quite sure it was going to come to that."
"Do you think the door's locked?"
"We'll see, don't we?"
We worked up another layer of sweat with the shoveling, just enough that the door could be opened comfortably. A tug on the handle told me that it was indeed locked.
"Gonna need the axe," I said, "let me get it."
Look at me now...I'd never even opened a letter addressed to someone else...and now I swung an axe to smash it through a door to get into some random fur's house to steal everything I could take from him.
I gave it a few chops to break the lock, and it didn't need anything else. A few splinters was all that remained of it when I pulled the door open. It creaked, and was stiff, probably from taking too much moisture into the frames. I forced it open, and peered inside into the dark room beyond. I couldn't really see much...neither smell. It just smelled damp, and musty, and a hint of...something...couldn't really tell what, exactly.
"Hello?" Ken yelled.
"There's nobody in there," I said.
"Well you never know, right?"
"There's nobody there, not even ghosts," I said.
I hoped that was true.
I dug into my pocket and took out the flashlight. It was cheap, and the batteries were just regular ones and couldn't be charged, so I'd been saving it. I kept it in my inner pocket to keep the batteries warm against the cold.
"Let's see if your old man Wilcox is a packrat or not," I said as I turned the flashlight on.
*