Moving on..

Posted on Thu Jun 20th, 2024 @ 10:17pm by Serena Reynolds M.D. & Timothy Reynolds
Edited on on Fri Jun 21st, 2024 @ 4:35pm

1,446 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Winter is Coming
Location: Reynolds Family Hunting Cabin
Timeline: September 6th 2010- 7:00 a .m.

The woods were quiet.  In the early morning hours, most of the night life had already started to settle in for the day, and the day life had yet to fully awaken.

Up in his tree stand, Timothy was was quiet as the forest around him.  It was something he knew how to do well, becoming a hole in the wall.  It was one of the things that had made him a very successful sniper in the US Army Rangers. 

On this particular morning, he was up in his tree stand, before sunrise, hunting for deer, to have enough meat to last them the rest of the summer.  He had to get out here a few hours before dawn, so the forest could reset around him once he is in place.   Otherwise, the deer, extremely timid on a good day, would vanish faster than hooker's inhibitions on payday, if they knew he was near.

Shortly after the sun started to peak over the horizon, he saw his prey.  A six point buck had started to come through the trees towards him.  With cautious steps, it would stop occasionally and sniff the air.  Thankfully, Timothy was downwind, so the deer couldn't smell him.  The sun was also to his back, so the deer wouldn't be able to see him before it was too late.

Slowly and quietly, Timothy lifted his bow in his left hand, his index finger holding the nocked arrow in place.  As he raised the weapon to his line of sight, he carefully pulled back on the string, readying the arrow for flight.  A few more beats, and he would have a perfect kill shot, ensuring that the deer dropped, instantly dead, without ever feeling any pain.

Suddenly, a branch snapped off to his right.  As his eyes moved to identify the source, the deer did the same, then turned and fled.

Through the brush, a not-so-dead came limping after the deer, snarling and gnashing her teeth.  Up in his tree stand, Timothy's blood ran cold.  If there was one of those things around, there would be others.  His family was not safe here!  Adjusting his aim slightly, he targeted the former person's head.  Right before he let the arrow fly, he whistled, causing the creature to turn and look up at him.  As soon as it started to snarl at him, an arrow entered its right eye, fully killing it.

Serena was just finishing up feeding Patrick his breakfast while she kept looking out the window for Tim’s return. She was always nervous when he left the cabin, but she knew he would take care of himself. As their son tried to evade the washer she used to clean his messy face with a grin, Serena was not able to stop herself from grinning back at him. His delight and pleasure at such antics pushed the threatening darkness away.  Picking him up from the highchair, she placed him on his toy rug in front of the fireplace and set about putting the things away in the kitchen. A glance at the clock had her noting it was almost time for him to have his nap and then she could get some washing done and meal prep for when Tim brought home his hunt. 

Suddenly, the door opened and Timothy hurried inside, closing The door behind him quickly.  He had a look of frustration on his face.  “Get PJ dressed and pack both of your bags, Baby.  We're leaving!”  He moved over to the large weapons cabinet, and pulled open the doors.  He grabbed his rifle, and his old Mossberg 700 pump shotgun, placing them both on the table.  He then grabbed his Beretta and the ammo that he had on hand for all three firearms.  

Serena frowned but even as she moved to pick PJ up, she asked “Why? What's happened?” she didn’t disbelieve him, but she wanted to know what was going on. 

As he packed up his gear, he spoke aloud.  “There was a walker out there.  And where's there one, there's gonna be more.  The cabin is not sturdy enough to hold them at bay if a large enough horde shows up.”

Nodding, fear clear on her face, she gathered up PJ and hustled into the small bedroom and began to change him. “Tim? The coolers are on the back step. We should take what food we can.” Serena called as she deftly changed their child and dressed him in warm travelling clothes rather than the onesie he had been wearing. She grabbed his diaper bag and began stacking clothes and nappies in it as she placed him on the floor while she packed his things. As she did so, her mind raced with what they needed to pack and where they could possibly go. 

“On it, Honey!”  He called out as he hurried to grab the coolers.  Though he wouldn't be able to bring everything, he packed what he could, including plenty of ice and ice packs.  He then started to load up the back of the truck, ensuring the coolers would be covered and insulated, with some of the bedding, from the heat of the sun, thus preserving their fresh meat a little longer.  The rest of their bedding and pillows, he stuffed into a duffel bag, and loaded that in too.

Next, he loaded in the rest of his gear and uniforms, plus all of the dry goods and cookware needed to prepare them.  Once that was done, he grabbed as much of the baby’s things as they could pack and put those into the truck. Finally, he grabbed the rest of their luggage, loading it up into the roof rack.  After covering it all with a waterproof tarp, he went back inside, to his weapons.   After insuring each was fully loaded, he put his gunbelt, with right thigh holster, on and slid the Baretta into the holster.  “Babe! You two ready to go?!”

Serena had changed clothes as well and was now dressed in her hiking boots, jeans and a t-shirt under one of her button downs, she had a jacket over one arm as well. She came out with PJ in her arms and two backpacks. “Everything is in here,” she said, holding up one. “All our documents are in here. And I have filled three water bottles for us just in case.” 

PJ was snuggled against his mother, tired as it was close to his nap time, and watched his father with sleepy eyes. 

Serena walked to Tim and looked at the truck. “Ready when you are.”

Moving over to his family, Timothy wrapped them both protectively in his arms.  He then kissed them both.  “I will not let anything happen to either of you.”  He then remembered something.  “Mattias!”  He looked down at Serena.  “My cousin, Mattias.  You remember, the inventor?  He's got that yacht down in Newport News!  If we can get to him, and he's still there, I'm sure he would take us to safety!”

Serena nodded. “Then let's not delay, we will not want to be on the roads after dark.” Briskly, she moved towards the truck then groaned and handed PJ to Tim. “Here, put him in the truck, my medical bag!” she hurried back in and grabbed it from the closet where she had stashed it when they had arrived. She opened it, and put a herbalist book inside it from her bedside table and then she closed it again. She came back out to the truck and placed it on the floor behind her seat. She added the two backpacks she had been carrying, which held the last personal items of herself and their son.

As Tim climbed into the driver's seat, after putting their child into his car seat, Serena climbed into the passenger seat and put her seatbelt on. A glance at the car seat behind her, showed PJ was drifting off to sleep, his teddy bear in his arms and his pacifier in his mouth. Oh to be that innocent, she thought as she faced forward and kept her eyes peeled as he drove. 

Giving his wife a quick look, Timothy started up the powerful V8 engine and put the Blazer in gear.  As they started to drive away, he stole a look in his rearview mirror at their cabin.  His grandparents had built it themselves, after his grandfather came home from World War II.  Though he had lived all over the place growing up, the first part of every summer vacation started here.  Now, for the first time in his life, he wondered if he would ever see it again.

~OFF~

 

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