The car came to a hault at the step of the cabin Darla and Jack had spent so many lazy summer nights idling within. Had they? Jack couldn't quite remeber. He knew that it was familiar, and for a the briefest of moment, remembered the heat trailing in from an open window, his sister laughing at a long forgotten joke. Stepping out of the car, Jack took note of the humidity in the air, the scent of dew on the grass, and the sway of the trees above, and saw flashes of an older woman guiding he and Darla into the cabin, Darla only a child. The woman turned and smiled. It was his mother. The flash was gone, and he was again in the present, Darla and Adam at his side, and the hitchhiker behind. Kathy, her name is Kathy Jack reminded himself.
"I'm glad you came to your senses, its best we stay here till this revolution nonsense blows over." Adam said, as he stepped towards the door.
"The revolution isn't over; we just need time to regroup, and organize with the local chapters that survived Baltimore." Darla said in a drawl, the fatigue leaking from each syllable. They all needed rest. Save, perhaps, Kathy, who seemed the most alert of them all. Something in her eyes unsettled Jack. He would be keeping an eye on her.
Adam smiled, "Let's just see what happens, alright? We have time to think about our options." He said, opening the door for the group.
Stepping inside, Jack was hit with the sting of mildew in his nose, followed in a wave of numbing oak. He felt the an empty presence, like the tired eyes of an overworked parent finally afforded a chance to breathe. He felt a nostalgic bite against his chest as images of his mother and sister putting their bags down and sprawling across the living room couch crowded his mind. The couch had since decayed to a ruin, stained in feces and dirty water. It must have been years since Jack and Darla had been to the cabin, and even longer since they'd seen their grandmother. Grandmother? Jack was surprised to have thought of her as he had not known he had a grandmother. He heard an elderly voice call to him, before he was shocked forward by a hand on his shoulder. Adam led him to a chair which was mostly clean, and sat him down.
"You're tired, babe, get some rest." Adam said, before turning back to Kathy, who stood motionless in the doorway, as if processing memories of her own. Her mouth was slightly agape, and her alert stare turned to mush.
"You okay?" Jack muttered. Darla and Adam turned towards Kathy for the first time.
Kathy didn't reply, just shook her head, and forced a smile, as she stepped throught he doorway.
"I'll get a fire going; Adam, check to see if there's anything left in the cellar. Its been a while, but canned food should be fine, right?" Darla said, as she looked around for firewood that wasn't soaked through.
Adam nodded, before turning towards a set of stairs Jack hadn't noticed before. He then vanished from view, as Kathy squatted down next to Jack.
"How long have you and Adam been together?" She asked, her voice unconvinced of its own honesty.
"I don't know." Jack said, "I forget things sometimes. I forgot this place."
"Do you remember much about the ride over here?" Kathy asked.
Jack looked at her, puzzled, "Car ride?" He asked. I guess we had to get here somehow Jack thought, although he couldn't recall any particular component of the drive.
"Good!" Kathy said, slapping Jack a little too hard on the shoulder, as she slinked across the room towards Darla.
"I think you're right, by the way. About the revolution." Kathy smiled, "The other guy doesn't know the real world."
Darla looked up at Kathy, and said nothing, before turning back towards her task of firewood collection.
Any and all emotion from Kathy's face melted away when Darla's back turned to her. Once Darla's eyeline returned to Kathy, her face lit back up as though it had been beaming all along.
"Like, surely he knows that we can't stay here forever? There's a war, and we're involved even if he wants to hide!" Kathy continued, seemingly unaware of Darla's exhaustion.
"Look hon, I don't have time to talk about this right now. I need to get a fire going so I don't have to eat cold spam."
Kathy rose her hands in surrender, "Fair enough!" She replied, "We can talk more about the revolution later. After we get some food."
The sound of the forest overtook the silence of the room, as Jack leaned into the rocking chair, taking in the scent of the trees. He hadn't felt peace like that his entire life. Or at least the life that he could recall. He could hear birds chirping from the window. The cries of a Northern Mockingbird, the song of a bluejay. He didn't know how he knew what birds made which calls, but he held to the convinction with complete confidence. He could imagine what it would feel to be a Northern Mockingbird cackling between the trees, playing with its siblings, awaiting something. Intermixed swells of song, the Mockingbirds chirped like a laser beam, which to Jack's ear felt strange. Before long, the birdsong stopped, and Jack listened closely. He could make out the faint patter of wings across the sky, before even this ceased.
"Storm's coming." Jack said, involuntarily.
There was an electricity in the air, as the forest fell suddenly still. It started with the light patter of rain on the shingled roof, but rapidly shifted to a downpour. Jack noticed above the couch, droplets of rainwater stained green from the mossy shingles lathered the damp fabric.
"This'll have to do." Darla said, as she placed a pile of twigs, and a single relatively dry log into the fireplace. She took out a lighter, and a piece of paper torn from one of her manifestos and lit the wood ablaze, the fire easily catching the twigs and the log. Soon, the warmth of the fire filled the living room which had dropped rapidly in temperature as the evening grew and the storm raged.
Up the stairs, Adam carried a few cans of spam and corn.
"Most of the food expired years ago, but this stuff is only a year or so out of date, so should be good to eat." He said, "Kathy, do you have much experience hunting?"
Kathy nodded, as she seemingly struggled to maintain her cheery demeanor.
"Good, we can go out and get some squirrels or something once our cans run out. That should last us while we figure out a better means of getting food. I know some deer like to walk through the back yard, or at least they did when we were younger." Adam said.
"You remember this place, too?" Jack said, confused how Adam could have known of the cabin.
"Yeah! I spent a few summer vacations out here with you, Darla, your mom, your grandma, and....um, yeah." Adam said, as his face reddened and he grew painfully silent.
"I didn't know I knew you that long." Jack said, as he looked into the fire."
Adam rubbed his forehead, as though it would spill out a million thoughts that he shouldn't say, and replied "We've known each other since we were kids."
Before Jack could consider what Adam had said, Kathy tore through the silence like a rusty cleaver
"Let's cook something, I'm starving." She said, before grabbing up Adam's spam and corn, and handing it to Darla. "You cook, don't you?" Kathy said.
"Not well, but I can try." Darla replied.
"I'll cook, if you don't mind! I love you, Dar, but I don't trust your ability to cook at the best of times, and these most certainly are not the best of times." Adam said, as he brushed passed Kathy towards the fireplace.
"Figures." Kathy muttered to herself. Jack wondered if anyone else had heard it, or if he had imagined it.
Darla handed Adam a cast iron pan, and he placed it on the hearth above the fireplace. Opening up the cans, Adam dumped the corn into the pan, before shreading up the spam, and sliding it too intot he pan. Using the sleeve of his jacket as protection, mixed the pork and corn together through a series of backward flips. The contents sizzled against the slightly rusted pan, and before long, a rich brown coated the spam and corn, and Adam removed the iron from the fire, putting it on the table in the dining room across from the kitchen.
"Are there any plates left in the cubbards?" Adam asked Darla, who checked, and found a stack of inexplicably clean plates.
Darla put the plates out in a circle around the table, the pan in the center between each plate. Adam helped Jack up from the chair, and sat down next to him, Kathy putting herself between Darla and Adam, serving herself before anyone else had a chance to. She winced as the food was still hot, and she grabbed it with her hands.
Adam chuckled, "I would wait a moment, if I were you."
Kathy looked up at Adam with the venom of a waiting viper, before her eyes softened, and she joined in a laugh.
Darla gave Adam and Jack a knowingly look. They all had seen Kathy's cheerful act slip, and knew that she was dangerous. They would have to deal with her at some point, Jack could tell. What was still unclear was if Kathy knew that they all were aware of what she was doing. For the time being, however, there was food on the table, and the pouring rain made for a calming soundtrack to their supper.
After a moment to cool, Adam cupped a handful of the spam and corn and placed it onto Jack's plate, who, hardly before the food had time to leave Adam's fingers, ate every last morsel. Jack was hungrier than he thought. When was the last time he had eaten?
"Was there any water in the cellar?" Darla asked Adam.
Adam shook his head, as he served out the food for himself and Darla. "Its all clowdy, and was kept in plastic containers. I wouldn't drink it, personally."
"Might need to collect some rain water. I've got a thermos in my car I can fill up for us after eating."
"I always have a beverage with my meal." Kathy said, smiling, "Could you get us all something to drink?"
Darla rolled her eyes, before getting up to her car. She threw a tarp over her shoulders, and braced for the rain. Jack was confused why she went out at all. Maybe she wanted something to drink while they were eating, too. The spam was salty, after all.
"Can you believe she's still on that whole revolution business?" Kathy said to Adam.
Adam looked up from his plate, confused, "What?" He asked.
The girl, Darla. She thinks that, after everything we saw, everything we survived, we should keep fighting. Is she stupid?"
Adam shrugged, "wouldn't you want a better world?"
Kathy's face grew sour for a a blink, before the smile returned, "I can understand that, but what I don't understand is trying to make that world herself! All we should concern ourselves with his survival!"
"Ourselves?" Adam asked.
Kathy corrected her hunched posture, as she said, "well, we all survive better together than apart, right? Besides, I have hunting experience, like you, and no offense to our good Darla, but she doesn't seem the hunting type."
Adam laughed, "You'd be surprised! We three used to go hunting with Jack and Darla's uncle, he--" Adam stopped, looking over at Jack. Jack wondered which uncle he was talking about. Adam's face seemed to sink, before he turned back to Kathy, "We have experience."
"Rough relationship with this uncle? I've noticed you avoid him twice now." Kathy noted.
"Careful where you step, here there be wasps." Adam laughed.
"I insist--what happened between you and this uncle?"
"He was a dentist." Jack said, before he shut his eyes. Once they opened again, he was sitting back in his chair, disconnected from the space around him as his mind swam and his eyes moved through the room like they were weighed down by tar. Adam was at his side, holding his hand, Darla holding the other, and Kathy squatting by the fire.
"Jack, is it you?" Adam asked.
Jack smiled, as best as he could, and replied, "Of course its me. Who else would it be?"
Adam cried out, and held Jack against his chest.
"Didn't tell me he was crazy." Kathy said, "would have been useful information." She spoke with a strangely frank coldness.
"He's not crazy!" Darla insisted, "we both went through a lot as kids. I'm like our mom, and I stood and fought." Darla laughed to herself, "I even share my mom's name. Jack's like our dad, and froze. He got the worst of it."
Kathy turned to face the group. Jack noticed the rain had stopped.
"Things have gotten a little more interesting, then." Kathy said, as she smirked.
Silence fell in the room, as Darla gave Adam a knowing look, and he reached for something behind his back. Jack didn't see what it was before it was too late.
"So, who do we think is winning this war of goals: Darla, or Adam? Its all up to you, Jack. Do we join the revolution and die, or stay in the woods, and die?" Kathy said, as she too reached behind her back. "And the more important question: who gets to live the longest, and who dies tonight?"
Kathy spun her hand forward, pointing a gun at Jack, before Jack was deafened by a bang, and Kathy dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Jack turned to his right, and saw Adam shaking as he held his gun, still pointed where Kathy had once stood. His eyes were wide and frenzied, and in that moment, Jack felt alone.