A small piece of land had been plowed behind the cabin to be used as a garden. Ulysses dug his hands into the dirt and rubbed it between his palms. The soil was warm from the sun.
You really did think of everything didn’t you?
When he walked back inside the cabin Kalen was gone from the couch. Anne was packing up the medical supplies, grabbing the pink stained cotton balls lying on the floor and placed the unused materials back in the first aid box.
“How’s she doing?” Ulysses asked.
“She’s still not saying anything,” Anne said.
Ulysses watched her lock the latches on the medical kit and then look up at him. The sweat from her forehead caused strands of her hair to stick to her face.
“Thank you,” Anne said.
“I shouldn’t have let them go off by themselves,” Ulysses said.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
Ray popped his head up from the basement door.
“Hey, guys, can I get a little help down here?” he asked.
Downstairs the glow from the lanterns lit up the bucket of water and workstation that Ray set up to test the water.
“I’m not sure I’m doing this right,” Ray said.
“Here,” Anne said taking the kit from him.
She grabbed the finger-length tubes and dipped them in the bucket. She filled five of them and dropped test strips into each one. She shook the tubes and let them sit.
“Each tube checks for something different?” Ray asked.
“Lead, pesticides, chlorine, nitrates, and pH levels,” Anne said pointing at each of the tubes. “Blue means they’re at a safe level, if they turn yellow, then they’re not.”
“How do you know how to do this?” Ray asked.
“Every time we came up to the cabin Mike would assign us different tasks. This was one of mine,” she said.
“If one of them does turn yellow can we fix it?” Ray asked.
“No,” Anne replied.
Anne looked at the pallets of bottled water by the food shelves. She counted them, doing the math in her head. If the well were tainted, then the four of them would only last a month before their water supply ran out.
When the test strips turned a light shade of blue they all let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, that’s one less thing we’ll have to worry about,” Ray said.
The sun was turning neon orange as it dipped into the horizon. Anne fired up the gas stove placing a few pots with water on them to a boil. Cans of green beans, corn, and chicken lined the counter.
Anne peeled the cans open and dumped them into the simmering water. She added a few spices to each, and let them heat up. Ray and Ulysses sat in the living room playing chess and Freddy had pulled out some of his toys he brought with him.
Anne walked down the hallway to Kalen’s door. It was closed. She stood in front of the door for a moment, wiping her hands on the front of her apron. Her stomach was in knots. She let a slow breath, then knocked on the door.
“Kalen?” Anne asked.
No answer. Anne opened the door slowly. Kalen was on her bed, lying on top of the sheets, her back facing the door.
Anne shut the door behind her when she entered and softly set herself down on the edge of Kalen’s bed. She stroked her daughter’s hair, letting the strands run through her fingertips.
“Honey, dinner will be ready soon.”
Kalen remained motionless. Anne brought her lips to Kalen’s ear.
“If you need anything, I’m here. Okay?”
Once dinner was ready, Freddy helped set the table and he, Anne, Ray, and Ulysses gathered around. Anne put together a separate plate and handed it to Freddy.
“Go take that to your sister,” she said.
Freddy grasped the plate with both hands and walked back down to his sister’s room. The door was cracked and he pushed it open with his shoulder.
“Kalen?” Freddy asked.
She was still curled up in a ball with her back to him. The curtains were drawn shut, blocking out what was left of the fading sunlight.
Freddy tiptoed into the room and placed the plate on the nightstand next to her, the steam rising from the piping hot plate.
“Mom made you some dinner,” he said.
Freddy stood there, his hands hanging awkwardly at his sides. He slowly walked up to the edge of her bed.
“I hope you feel better,” he said.
Once Freddy was gone Kalen turned around. She didn’t touch her food. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she had felt worse.
The thunder crashed outside. The wind and rain battered the side of the cabin. Anne watched the rain smack against the window. The lighting flashed across the sky, reflecting in her eyes and illuminating the room.
She paced back and forth in the bedroom. She couldn’t sit still. Every time she settled into one place she became uncomfortable and had to move somewhere else. In between the cracks of thunder she would close her eyes and see the red flames engulfing her home. She saw the faces of her neighbors, their eyes wild and crazy with rage and fear. She felt the warmth of Mike’s lips on hers before she ran to the garage. Then she started to feel hot. She could feel the flames ripping through her as if she was there with Mike. She wrapped both of her arms around herself and fell onto the bed, the tears falling from her eyes.
Just when she felt exhausted the entire cabin rumbled and shook. She swung the bedroom door open and could hear the faint screams coming from the living room over the cracks of thunder and the howl of the wind. One of the ceiling beams fell and landed on the couch in the living room where Ray was sleeping.
Anne rushed over to him. Blood gushed all over the couch and floor. Ray’s shin was bent inward, snapped in half.
Ulysses came up from behind her and helped roll the log off Ray and it thudded on the floor. Blood poured from Ray’s leg onto the couch.
“Ulysses, help me take him down stairs,” Anne said.
Anne lifted Ray onto her shoulder supporting him. Ulysses came around and threw Ray’s other arm over his shoulder. The three of them hobbled over to the basement. On the way there Freddy poked his head out of his room.
“Stay in your room and keep the door shut,” Anne yelled.
Anne and Ulysses kept Ray steady bringing him down the steps of the basement. The lower half of his shin swung back and forth with each step, and with each swing Ray dug his hand harder into Anne’s shoulder.
Once they made it all the way down the steps Anne cleared a table and lit a few lanterns while Ulysses helped Ray lay down. Ray kept glancing down at his mangled leg. Anne pushed his head back flat on the table.
“Don’t look at it,” she said.
“What do you need?” Ulysses asked.
“Scissors,” Anne said.
Ray’s breathing accelerated. His body was shaking. The muscle in his jaw flexed from grinding his teeth together.
“You got anything for the pain?” Ray asked.
“Are you allergic to anything?” Anne asked.
“No.”
Ulysses handed Anne a pair of scissors. She hurried over to one of the medicine shelves and she opened the box and pulled out a bottle of oxycodone. She tore a bottle of water out of the package holding it and fed Ray the pill. He choked a little bit, but managed to get it down.
Anne ran the scissors across Ray’s jeans and ripped them apart from his knee to his ankle, exposing the wound. Bits of bone poked out through the skin, which was a deep shade of black and blue.
“Ray, I’m going to have to push some of the bone back in and then try and set it. I don’t know if it’s a clean break or not, but the wound will get worse if I don’t try,” Anne said.
“Give me… More drugs,” Ray said.
“I can’t. You’ve lost a lot of blood and if you have too much oxy it could drop your blood pressure even further and put you in cardiac arrest. Ulysses, give him something to bite on.”