Hale's Cabin - Safe is an illusion

Posted on Sun Mar 2nd, 2025 @ 9:29pm by Survivor Kimberley Hathaway & Survivor Calista Sutton & Survivor Killian Sutton & Survivor Vienna Quinn & Survivor Thea Matthews & Survivor Edward Harrison Jr & Survivor Kelly Cardona

2,770 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Settling In
Location: Hale's Cabin
Timeline: September 20th

Kimberly looked up at the sky as she finished her hauling of wood to the construction site. She looked around and noted faces and the fatigue. So she put the load down and headed to the food area. They needed to eat and she set about preparing sandwiches for the camp. They had limited time for the bread and such they had, and if the gathering team brought back flour they could make more bread but for now, they would make do.

She cut up the last of their fruit and placed the food on a table they had brought out. "Lunch!" Kimberly called out to group as she made sure bottles of water were put out for those who needed it. "Come and eat!"

Vienna made her way across, she’d buried herself in work trying to forget that René was gone. Last she’d seen he was having a blazing row with Henri, she had no idea where he’d gone but Henri had gone after him, neither had returned. “Thank you Kimberly,” Vienna offered a polite nod of her head as she looked at what was on offer before choosing her food.

Thea too was feeling lost, Reuben had also vanished leaving her alone again. Right now she was focusing on her own health and that of her unborn child, she offered a smile as she moved across to choose some food and drink.

Edward made his way over to the table, wiping automotive grime off of his hands as best he could with a small rag. He had been busy, in his makeshift garage, giving each vehicle a good going over, following the long journey from the east. He hoped the team would be able to find some parts, or even engine oil and the other various fluids required to operate motor vehicles. Of course, he knew, without access to any of the refineries or factories that created those fluids, their vehicles would soon stop working. "Looks delicious, Miss Kimberly," he said with a smile. "Thank you for setting this up." The big man then moved to sit in the center of one of the benches, as he didn't want to tip it over with his large frame. He then waited for everyone else to sit and get what they wanted, before he reached out and took some food and a water bottle.

Lydia came in a few moments later, her gaze automatically searching out Edward. She had learned a lot working with him on the vehicles, reinforcing and expanding what she knew from the van. Her gloves, the ones that protected her artist's hands, were tucked away in the van again where they belonged and she moved in quickly, slipping into the seat beside him. "A blessing this is," she said as she surveyed the table. "And not one I'm likely to take for granted. Thanks, Kimberley. You're a miracle worker."

As soon as Lydia sat down next to him, Edward looked over at her and grinned softly. Though they had only known each other for a short time, he was quickly becoming very happy that he knew her. "Thanks for your help on the vehicles so far, Miss Lydia," he said softly, as he grabbed a water bottle for her.

Lydia accepted the bottle with a shy smile. "Thanks," she said softly. "Wonder how long it will before we run out of these and have to start fetching it for ourselves."

Edward remembered the stash that they had, then replied, "Well, as Major Hale said that he has a well here on his property, we should actually be using it now, that way, we can save the bottled water for an emergency."

"You know," Lydia said, "I've seen five gallon water dispensers that don't use electricity. We could fill those from the well and use them to dispense water ... " She paused. "A way to get water without having to haul buckets all the time??"

Edward nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like a good idea," he replied with a grin. "We could store the water jugs in the barn, keep 'em out of the weather."

Kimberly moved through the group making sure everyone had food and water. Then she went and got water to heat so she could wash the dishes and other items.

Lydia returned Edward's smile with one of her own before turning her attention back to the food. With so many highly qualified people in the group, she had felt herself drifting into silence. Unsure what she could offer; moments like this, within the warmth of Edward's smile, his presence, she felt herself coming alive again. Like a flower unfolding in the warmth of the sun.

Edward glanced at Lydia again, and thought he saw a mixture of emotions on her face. He didn't know what she was thinking, but, he hoped that if she ever needed any help, with anything, she would come to him.

Finally finishing what Killian had been working on at the construction site, he came over to where the food was and noticed that Calista wasn't there yet. Setting his sandwich down with a bite taken out of it, he took the bottle of water with him in search of his wife, knowing that she would be in one of two places.

After a quick jolt, Calista looked up as the green house door came closed behind her husband. "You scared me," she stated quietly.

"Sorry, babes, but it's lunch time and we've both managed to miss the call."

"I hate being this jumpy. You'd think that after everything that we have gone through that I would be a bit calmer, no?" she asked.

The question was more posed rhetorically than not, but it was enough of a question that Killian opted to answer it with a slight nod of his head.

She managed to dust off her dirty hands on the apron she managed to find from digging in a small barrel of dirt. While there was still plenty of fertilizer on the property and from around the area, she had managed to set up a huge compost bin on the other side of the greenhouse wall, opposite of the entrance that Killian had just come through. "I could probably eat."

"Thought so, you've lost enough weight," he said quietly against her hairline as he placed a kiss having wrapped her in his arms. It wasn't like she needed to lose the weight in the first place; it had been his worry over his wife's well being after everything that had happened and how on the run they were. "It's okay, we'll go get lunch and I can take a break and help if you like afterwards."

"Okay," she replied, folding her body into his.

He walked them both over to the lunch area. Calista grabbed a sandwich and sat down at the spot next to where Killian had taken a bite of food before coming to find her. "Sorry we're late. Sandwich hits the spot," he complimented Kimberly.

Kimberly smiled. "Thank you. And do not worry no one is punching a clock around here."

Vienna sat quietly eating her sandwiches, she hadn't had to face anything alone until now though she was more lucky than Thea, who was now facing being alone yet again.

Thea was sitting feet up enjoying a rest, she cold only do so much to help out, she couldn't manage the manual labour of setting up cabins so she was helping out wherever she could.

Kimberly checked on the sleeping PJ, she had been keeping an eye on the boy while his parents were out on their gathering run.

Then she gathered up more wood. She considered what she could make for dinner for the group as she did so.

"Anything I can do to help with Dinner tonight?" Calista asked after having a silent conversation with her husband. While she knew that he knew she was struggling, she also appreciated hin trying to help her out of her funk.

Kimberly gave her a smile. "Its getting colder at night, so I was thinking of a soup or stew." She said to Calista. "I have a few soup bases we could use."

Calista nodded. "I can help with that."

About that time, a sound drifted through the trees, guttural, hungry, and close.

Edward heard it first, jumping to his feet. "Everyone, inside the cabin!" He then hurried over to his truck and grabbed his prybar, hefting the nearly two-meter long steel bar in his hands, across his chest, like a spear. He then hurried back to the cabin and stayed outside, putting himself in between the approaching danger and his friends. He may not like violence, however, when called to it, he was a vicious protector.

Kelly was returning from a patrol of the estate when she heard the noise, rushing over to Edward she took up a position at his side.

Inside Vienna quickly grabbed her bow from where she’d left it, she’d defend those inside if she had to, but she was hoping it wouldn’t be necessary.

Kimberly grabbed up PJ from where he was sleeping and hurried inside the cabin.

The call was low and guttural, hungry, and it was taken up as the sound grew louder, by others. Something, it seemed, was coming though it was hard to tell how far away it was.

Lydia, who had been sitting in her van, a sketchbook opened in her lap, froze as she heard the sound, immediately unsure what to do. Moving as quietly as she could, her heart all but slamming against her rib cage, she crouched low and made sure that everything was locked, thankful that she kept all the windows covered by long habit. Weapon, she thought. If worst comes to worst, I'll need a weapon. She closed her eyes as she moved backwards toward the bed, stopping at the cabinets, frantically casting about with her mind, thinking about what she had, what she could use, and wished, for the first time ever, that Edward was in here with her.

Calista run inside before Edward barricaded himself between them and whatever was going on outside. Killian took stance next to him, a pistol in his back waist band and bat if it came down to it.

The sounds came closer, shuffling, dragging, moaning, as a group came out of the trees, moving through the homestead. First, one, then small groups.

Lydia had hardly anything that could function as a weapon other than a rolling pin. She held that now, cradled against her chest as she crawled backwards till she reached the cabinets beneath her platformed bed. She opened the smaller door and slid into the area she thought of as her garage. It had been emptied somewhat, since Edward had started working on their vehicles; she had outfitted the space as a hidey-hole with a warm sleeping bag, a pillow, water, energy bars and a good-sized flashlight among other things. She locked the door from the inside and crawled into the sleeping bag, trembling from head to foot, while tears slid quietly down her cheeks.

Killian motioned to hold their ground to see if this was a migrating motion or if they had been attracted to them. While blunt objects were better for dealing with the hoard, they weren't all that effective. They were effective in driving the numbers down without attracting everyone in a mile radius.

They moved slowly, seeking, the slightest movement, the softest sound. Something to distract them.

Edward watched, his entire body tensed for action, as he watched the group of nearly a dozen zombies, or whatever people called them, slowly move around the outer barriers, that had been hastily put up, after the teams went into town. One of the creatures snagged a noise maker line, which was nothing more than a few aluminum soda cans, strung loosely together, to rattle if disturbed. It was at this moment, that Edward realized that he hadn't seen Lydia enter the cabin. In fact, the last time he saw her, she had hurried over to her van. Turning his gaze that way, he saw, with growing horror, that there were four of the creatures shuffling through his makeshift garage. He then saw a quick image of Lydia, in her van! He just prayed that the creatures didn't hear her moving around inside!

Inside the Cabin, Kimberley put PJ down in the loft, and barricaded him in there. The boy was asleep which was a boon at least. She then headed down to the main level and pulled her froe from her belt.

The undead moved towards the group, they were only a small group smaller than they had seen before. They dragged their feet, and the guttural sounds from their throats sent chill up peoples spines.

Slow as they stumbled, Killian kept his stance. He had caught where Edward was looking at and motioned with his hands, mouthing silently asking about Lydia.

Kelly watched as the dead slowly moved through, she couldn’t risk bringing any of them down with a shot or it would create a frenzy amongst the others.

As Edward nodded to Killian, and started to indicate towards her van, there was the sound of breaking glass and a scream from that location. The scream made Edward's blood freeze in an instant.

Like a man possessed, he rushed forward, swinging his prybar as if it were the Grim Reaper's scythe, smashing one walker against an oak with one powerful swing left, smashing through the skull of another as he brought the swing right again. In less than ten seconds, he reached the garage, where he brought his prybar down like an axe, cleaving one walker in two down the middle. In seconds, he had terminated the rest, only to see that he had been too late. Lydia's body, had been pulled out of the van, with her still in her sleeping bag. In the time it took him to get to her aide, she had already been killed, her abdomen torn open, and her throat chewed through.

As he stood there, while the rest of the group took care of the other walkers, Lydia started to reanimate. As she started to reach up for him, her teeth gnashing. He put one large boot on her chest, pressing her back down. Moving the tip of the pry bar to her forehead, he took one more look into her dead eyes, a few tears starting to run down his cheeks, as he softly said to her, "I'm sorry."

He then jammed the prybar down into her skull, piercing it through to the ground under her. She instantly stopped moving. He stood there, silent as a statue, unable to take his eyes off what was once a very beautiful face. He was going to miss her smile.

Having heard the scream Kelly had followed on behind Edward, only to arrive in time to see what had occurred. “I’m sorry...” She walked up to Edward keeping an eye out for more of the dead. “We can...arrange a service for her when it’s safe.”

Edward nodded wordlessly, then pulled his prybar free. He followed Kelly back to the cabin, putting down three more walkers along the way. There were six more that were moving directly toward them and the cabin. Edward took up a guarding stance again, his face unreadable.

Kelly hadn’t yet had to raise her weapon, for the sake of quietness hand to hand was easier but it carried greater risks as well.

The undead's guttural sounds grew louder the closer they got, all but calling for others to come and feast.

Edward tensed up as a trio of the undead shuffled closer. When they were a few yards away, he stepped forward, brandishing his prybar like a scythe, taking them down quickly and effectively. That left five more walkers in the area, which were advancing towards them all.

The walkers didnt stop they just kept advancing. Slowly, methodically.

Kimberly left Thea in the cabin with PJ and headed out the door with her froe.

The fight that came was brutal but in the end surprisingly brief when it was done.

The walkers were down, and the survivors stood in shock looking around noticing that in the chaos they had lost several people and there were several missing.


Tags Calista, Killian, Alonzo, Edward, Kelly

OOC: if everyone is ok I will wrap this and start one where everyone comes together?

 

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