“Kate?” Cody took a step down the hallway and listened.
Still no answer.
Lynn took in what she could see of the Homestead. The hallway was like any other she had raided in her life: dusty carpets and doors leading into boardrooms. She supposed they were no longer boardrooms now, if the group lived here. They would be bedrooms now, living rooms, storerooms, and whatever else they needed.
“Do you think they…?” Ren didn’t finish her sentence.
Lynn glanced from her to Cody.
“I dunno.” Cody stared down the hallway intently. “I’ll go check. Take care of this stuff, will you?”
Lynn bit back a groan, but Ren got to her feet instantly.
“All right, final effort.” Ren actually smiled.
Only Eduardo echoed it. Dani was too busy scrambling to her feet to smile, and Flint, it seemed, didn’t smile at all. He stood stoically by and nodded at her when she glanced up at him.
Lynn looked away, then forced herself upright. “Where does it go?”
“The kitchen.” Ren took charge.
“I’ll go blow out the candles downstairs.” Eduardo got up with an agility and ease that made Lynn jealous. He disappeared through the door again.
Lifting the stretcher for a second time was murder on her arms and back, but she managed. Step by grueling step, she followed Dani down the hallway and into a fairly spacious room. The term kitchen was deceiving. Kitchens had a stove or a fireplace, something to cook on. The Homestead’s kitchen was more of a breakroom—she’d seen them before in office buildings, complete with machines to make drinks and others that used to hold packaged food. There were none of those machines in the Homestead’s kitchen. Instead, barrels and boxes were stacked along the walls. Thick wooden planks and Old-World desks served as spaces for meal preparation. Tables dominated much of the room, creating space for indoor meals and now, Lynn supposed, for sorting meat from fat and bones.
“On the tables, please.”
Lynn grunted in accordance. With the last of her strength, she lifted her load onto the table, set it down, and then stumbled to the side, out of the way of the others. Completely wiped, she slid down the wall. “Damn.”
“Double damn.” Dani lowered herself down next to her, then leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Beads of sweat slid down her neck and forehead.
Lynn pulled her legs in to avoid getting stepped on. Next to her hand lay a carved wooden animal, probably a horse. She picked it up and turned the crudely carved animal around in her hands. There were a variety of toys strewn about, Lynn now realized. Drawings—drawn straight on—littered the walls. Kids’ stuff. How rare was that these days?
When she looked up again, she found that Flint was the only one who had remained standing. He leaned against the window, looking out into the falling darkness. The others had taken seats around the tables.
“What a day.” Ren sighed. She dragged the sleeve of her loose woolen sweater over her forehead. Her face was red, and although she was still smiling, she looked just about done.
Lynn could relate.
“I should get the smokehouse ready.” Ren’s voice was filled with an intense unwillingness to move.
“I’ll help you, Ren.” Eduardo didn’t get up either. “Do you think they are okay?”
“Kate and Dean? Sure.” She didn’t sound very sure, though. “Well, I’m sure they made it home safe. I’m sure they’re not, you know, okay.”
Eduardo reached over to rub Ren’s arm.
Flint sighed deeply enough for Lynn to notice.
“Come on.” Dani stood and held out her hand for Lynn to take.
Lynn hesitated. She stared suspiciously at the extremity. “Where are we going?”
“To the roof. To work.” Dani wiggled her fingers. “Come on.”
Lynn considered getting up without help, but antagonizing Dani wouldn’t do her any good. She took Dani’s hand, which was calloused and warm, and stood. The second she had her balance, she let go.
“We’ll be right there,” Ren said.
“Take your time.” Dani picked up a slab of meat and strode out.
Lynn dug her fingers into the yielding, bloody flesh as well and lifted a large slab that instantly made her arms tremble. She hoisted it onto her shoulder for relief and strode out without looking at any of the others.
Dani had waited for her just a few paces around the corner.
Lynn almost bumped into her.
“I didn’t think you had it in you.” Dani smirked ever so slightly. The blood from the meat soaked through her leather jacket, but because it was already a dark crimson, it didn’t matter anymore. All of them were covered in blood.
Lynn watched it trickle down. “I’m tougher than I look.”
“Good to know.”
It seemed as if she had gained some of Dani’s respect. Not that she needed it. Lynn arched a brow. “Can we go now?”
“Sure.” Dani watched her a few seconds longer, then turned away and strode down the narrow hallway.
Lynn followed along and took in every little detail. At equal intervals, both sides revealed a door and a tall, narrow window next to it. Almost all of them had been covered by curtains; the others were dark.
Living quarters? Storerooms? She peered into the darkness of an uncovered window but saw nothing. Is Dean hiding in one of these? The thought made her tense. “Is one of these yours?” If Lynn got Dani talking, maybe she’d tell her more about the layout of the floor and where its residents resided.
“No.” Dani didn’t even turn her head.
She tried again. “It’s a nice setup you have here.”
Now Dani looked about. “Thanks. You know, I’ve gotten so used to it, I hardly notice anymore.”
The words reminded her of the camps she’d lived in as a child. “I remember.” When it became apparent Dani wasn’t going to say anything else, Lynn fed her another question to keep her talking. “Have you been with these people long?”
“Almost two years. Back then Cody, Eduardo, and Ren weren’t there yet. Some other guy died from an infected wound a few days after I arrived.”
“Sucks.”
Dani shrugged.
What more could you say? An infected wound was a death sentence unless you managed to make it through on bed rest, herbal remedies, and first aid alone. Lynn had seen plenty of good people die over nothing but a cold or diarrhea. There was no medication, and the big machines Lynn had once seen in a hospital she had raided had all been fried in the war. Besides, there was no one who could have operated the equipment even if it had survived, nor power to run it.
“Through here.” Dani directed her through a door and then up a smaller staircase. When she put her weight against a heavy door, it gave way with a high-pitched creak. She held it open for Lynn with her ass, hands occupied with the heavy slab of meat.
Lynn slipped past and forgot all about planning her escape. She didn’t even feel her sore limbs and still slightly hot features anymore. When she uttered an appreciative “wow,” she barely noticed her sore throat. Before her was paradise. Half of the rooftop was taken up by a garden, partly domed by a greenhouse made of sheets of glass set in a wooden frame. Lynn recognized beans, squashes, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, and a variety of herbs in low beds. Potato plants grew in barrels.
The other half of the rooftop was covered with an assortment of sheds and roofed areas, including a seating area, several small workshops—metal and wood by the looks of it—and a shed for what Lynn assumed would be gardening tools. A water tank towered over the concrete structure that housed the staircase. The center feature of the roof was a wide circle of stones on a bed of sand and tiles in which a fire had burned to coals. The dim glow cast shadows across four benches set around it in a square.