Vacant – Chapter 14

Will POV

I woke in the morning and felt the cold air on my bare shoulders. I opened my eyes and looked around the room, remaining in my lying position. The only light was dim and came from behind me. I finally moved my head to look at Christina next to me. Black curtains muted the dim light from the windows, and it illuminated Christina's silhouette. She was sitting up, with her legs over the edge of the mattress, her back to me. I shuffled the duvet around a bit noisily as I sat up to show that I was awake. She turned her head a bit to look at me, but never made eye contact.

I noticed that she was still wearing the leggings and white button-up from the closet. I licked my lips, ready to say something to her, but she beat me to it.

"We should get up, Will," she suggested. "We're got a long way to go, and we have to decide what we're doing with the others."

I nodded and realized she couldn't see me. I stood from the bed and walked around to the post, stopping.

"Yeah, and we should get Shauna to whip us up something to eat, huh?" I said. She let out a small exhale like a laugh, which made me smile. I walked over to the windows of the room, where the black curtains were closed. I peeked out one and looked around, gauging the light. I figured it wasn't too harsh; the trees around the mansion shielded most of it. So I drew the curtains to the sides and let the light fill the room. I crossed my arms and looked down over the yard. There was a wrought iron fence, creating a large perimeter. Everything was covered in fallen leaves, which were all soaked from the previous night's rain. I looked out to the edge of the woods and scanned the line of trees. There was no movement aside from a faint wind picking up and rustling loose leaves from the ground and picking them up into a small swirl.

I turned around and leaned back against the windowsill, arms still crossed. I wasn't as cold as I was when I went to sleep last night. It seemed the have warmed up outside, which would make for a great traveling day if we were all up to it. The city was a couple hundred miles away, and it would be easier to make the trip in this kind of weather. Christina seemed to be thinking the same thing. Although, she was always going to be sidetracked by thoughts of Tris. I wish I could be too, but I couldn't afford it; I had to put the group ahead of just one member, especially if she was dead, which was not only possible, but also probable. At least Caleb was too doped up to try to have a say in anything that was going on currently. It wasn't a good thing to wish on somebody, to have him too incapacitated to make a decision. But if he were awake and fully-functioning, he'd want to find Tris, too. And he'd find a goddamn reasonable argument for it.

"We should get everyone together for some food," I said to Christina on the bed. "And put together a plan for the day. And we need to build a bit of trust with the others if they're coming with us."

She looked up at me and scowled. "Who says they're coming with us?" she asked. "Can't it go to a vote amongst the others?"

I sighed and shook my head. "Look, Chris," I said, slightly disappointed. I had hoped that she would have become a bit more reasonable about the others if she got the chance to sleep on it. "We need them. We need those men and Lynn. Shauna's not leaving her sister, and if she goes, they both go, and we lose our only cook. And those guys, despite what they may or may not have done to Tris-"

"They hurt her," she cuts in.

I continue without stopping, "they can help us. They're fighters, and they can protect the group, which is a job we cant do on our own. Mar is a medical student, and Caleb is hurt. I can't defend the group by myself, and you've barely had any training at all." She didn't seem convinced. I moved across the room and sat on the bed next to her. I debated putting my arm around her, but did it anyway without much thought. She hesitated, but then leaned into me. "Besides, they know what she looks like," I said referring to Tris and trying to comfort Chris. "If they ever see her again, they'll know to help her back to us. Just consider it." I stood up from the bed and went to get dressed for the day, leaving Christina to think about it on the bed.

…

I left the room after getting dressed and moved to where Marlene and Caleb were supposed to be staying. Christina wasn't in the bedroom anymore when I came out of the bathroom, so she had probably gotten dressed and gone downstairs. There were voices coming from the floor below, so I figured the others were up and socializing, which was perfect if they were going to be I knocked on the door softly, but there was no answer. I pushed the door open slightly and peeked in. There was a body under the sheets of he bed, which I figured to be Caleb, but Marlene wasn't in the room. I stepped in and left the door open behind me. I moved quietly across the room, looking around. This was a smaller room than the others, probably meant as a guest or child's bedroom. The floor was carpeted with a soft white fabric and there were two nightstands beside the bed. There were medicines and bandages on one nightstand, and one the other was the belts and knives and weapons that belonged to Caleb and Marlene. The room was dark, so I let in some light by the window at the far wall. Caleb moved around a bit and pulled his head out from the sheets. He looked at me and breathed in.

"Where are we?" he asked, and I remembered how drugged he had been throughout the trip here. I told him we were in an abandoned house off of the highway, and he nodded. He turned his head again up towards the ceiling and sat up.

The door along the other wall opened and Marlene walked in from what looked like a bathroom. Her hair was wet, and her face looked refreshed, although she certainly lacked sleep. She was drying her hands on a rag when she looked up and saw me.

"Oh, I thought I heard your voice," she said. She then looked to Caleb lying on the bed, raising her eyebrows. "How are you feeling, Caleb?" she asked. From her expression of surprise, I figured he was making some kind of improvement.

I crossed my arms and turned to see his answer.

"Well," he hesitated. "I'm definitely feeling better, and I bet I can walk now." I nodded in approval and looked to Marlene. She opened her mouth to object, probably to insist that he rest, but she saw my expression. She was probably thinking about the others downstairs and how we might need Caleb for the manpower. I tilted my head in a gesture of questioning. She licked her lips and then nodded.

"Well, let's go ahead and try it, then," she agreed. She turned away and entered the bathroom again. She came back out without the rag and went to help Caleb out of the bed. He threw back the sheets on his own and scooted to the edge of the bed and let his legs fall over. His feet hit the carpet, and he pressed his toes into the fabric. I moved towards them again and took one of his arms; Marlene had the other. I thought he would have denied our help, putting his pride ahead of his healing, but he took it gracefully instead.

"Okay," Marlene said comfortingly. "Whenever you're ready, Caleb." He nodded and took a breath. He struggled at first, but eventually forced himself to stand. His grip on our arms tightened and Marlene winced. I took my other hand and held it to his back for support. I looked to his face and noticed his pain seemed to be clearing. His breathing stopped being labored and his blinking slowed. Color returned to his face. "You're doing really well, Caleb," I told him, and I smiled encouragingly. A shaky breath came out of his mouth as he uttered a sound of agreement. I looked around the room at Marlene, who was looking behind us at the open bedroom door. I followed her gaze to find Four standing in the doorway. The smile faded from my lips and I hardened my face.

"Can I see you out here, pipsqueak?" he asked, although it wasn't much of a question. I scowled at him and looked back to see Marlene staring at me, waiting for me to do something. I dropped my hands from Caleb when I was sure he didn't need them anymore and went to the door, resting a hand on Marlene's shoulder as I left. "Get him armed if he can handle it," I whispered to her on the down low so she was the only one who heard me. She nodded. I realized Christina's distrust of the others was getting to me, but it wasn't a bad idea for Caleb to have a weapon.

I left the room and entered the hallway, where I closed the door. The stairs smelled of warm winter. Either Shauna had found a way to heat up some food, or they had found a candle and lit it. It was cozy, and I hoped it gave a sense of home so the others would get used to each other.

I turned to Four, as I continued walking, forcing him to follow me. "I'm an inch shorter than you, Four," I said, indignant. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't find every chance to embarrass me in front of my people. Respect is crucial."

He laughed a bit mirthlessly. "Well, if my torment really influences the respect you get from your people, I doubt it's very strong."

At the end of the hall, another door opened from the inside and one of the brothers walked out, the older, taller one. He laughed at something that his brother had said, and the latter came out after him, closing the door and punching the older one in the stomach as he turned around. Zeke took Uriah into a headlock and they fought jokingly. He looked down at his brother, who lost his smile as he noticed Four and I watching them. Zeke finally looked up and made eye contact with Four. I looked at him, too. His lips were pinched and a vein stuck out of his neck.

"Go downstairs," he said simply. Zeke immediately let go of his brother and they both stood up straight. They were silent for a second before Uriah said to his brother, "I bet I can beat you downstairs." He punched his brother's gut before sliding down the banister. Zeke uttered a quick apology to Four before chasing after his brother.
I shook my head, "Well, at least the respect between me and my people is mutual. I'd actually rather they not fear me." And was about to turn around the banister and walk downstairs when he grabbed my forearm, like Christina had done last night. I looked at him and squinted, then down at his hand on my arm. I looked back up at him and he quickly retracted his hand, more out of embarrassment than fear. "What?" I said coldly.

"Here," he said, holding out his closed fist face down. "I found this in my room last night. Seems like your girlfriend was there before me." I held out my open palm under his fist and he dropped something warm and metal into my hand. I looked at it closely, intrigued by what he had said. I was sure he was referring to Christina, but I wasn't sure what he was talking about specifically.

It was a silver locket in the shape of a heart, with the name Christina engraved in cursive writing in the outside center. I opened it and found that it was empty, and my hopes dropped a bit. I had wished there would be something inside.

"That's her name, right?" he asked for clarification.

"Yeah," I said, absentmindedly. It was a pretty common name, so I figured it was a coincidence that there had been a necklace like this one in the house, miles and miles away from where we had picked up Christina.

"Great," he said, patting my shoulder condescendingly. He adjusted his belt that held his weapons and went in front of me down the stairs. I stood for a second, thinking about what to do with the necklace. Obviously, I'd be giving it to Christina, but I thought about when I should. Later, when we were on good terms again, or maybe give it as a peace offering to get us there.

I shrugged to myself and slipped it into the pocket of my jacket. I walked halfway down the stairs before I remembered Caleb and Marlene.

"Hey," I yelled up to them. "Need help, you two?" They were the last ones upstairs, so they knew I was talking to them.

"Nope," Mar yelled back in response. Her voice was close to the doorway. Then the two of them appeared around the corner and I saw that Marlene was barely touching him. "He's pretty much got it down." He smiled a bit.

"Great," I replied. "I can bring your food up, though, so you can rest." His head whipped up at the offer. He shook his head.

"No, Will," he said. "No, I can't do that. I'm fine, really. I'm coming down by myself." I looked to Marlene to see what she thought as his medical professional. She seemed to think about it a bit, but eventually nodded with a small shrug.

"Alright," I agreed. "Do it, then, but don't strain yourself."

He agreed and kept walking, Marlene trailing behind him. I finished walking down the stairs and finally got to the main foyer. There main room to my right was empty, although the windows were all uncovered and the light shone in. At the far end of the room, where the light couldn't touch, candles were lit to give the room a cozy feeling. I looked to my right and saw the open dining area. The others were all sitting in chairs that surrounded a large coffee table. I remembered the mess of a broken table that had been there last night. The girls must have moved it out of the way this morning and brought in the coffee table from the living room. It stood on an old trunk so it was higher, and they had taken the white tablecloth from the broken table and draped it over the makeshift table. There was a small bloodstain near the edge of the cloth, which everyone had naturally come away from. I figured they had thrown the broken wood outside somewhere since it was nowhere to be seen. I checked for attendance around the room.

Four was in the back of the room, looking out of the window. Christina was sitting by Lynn, and they were having a polite conversation, although it seemed to be stiff. Shauna sat on the other side of Chris, monitoring their conversation, making sure neither of them said anything they shouldn't. She held a ceramic mug to her lips and her eyes found me standing there. She dropped the mug to the table and finished her sip.

"Oh, Will," she said pleasantly. "Nice of you to join us. There's food in the kitchen. I found out the oven was run on gas, so I could heat up some oats from the pantry. And Lynn went out this morning to the generator to see if it was working. So it started up, but it only powers a few outlets; I guess others have burned out or something. I got a coffee machine to work, too." I looked at her and we had a moment of silent agreement.

We both knew what was happening; we were getting too comfortable here. It was starting to feel like a home, and we were already softening. If we stayed like this any longer, they might lose their will to get to the city. And we had been traveling the last few days, so they might become weaker and lose the ability to kill with efficiency. This worried me maybe more than it should, but it was a possibility. I looked to Christina to find that she was now staring at me. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, although she seemed a bit more determined than Shauna to not get cozy here.

Just then, Zeke came in from the kitchen, swinging the door open. "Hey Shauna," he said, and she turned her attention to him. "Where's the coffee? You said there was coffee, right?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah," Shauna responded. "It's on the floor, though, since it couldn't reach any of the working outlets and a counter at the same time." He nodded in thanks.

"Thanks, hon," he said, making her blush. He smiled wide, letting his white teeth show. Then he slipped back into the kitchen, where his brother probably already was.

"And the mugs are by the sink!" she shouted as an afterthought. Zeke yelled through the door in acknowledgement. I walked in after him to get some food for Marlene and Caleb for when they finally got down here.

When I opened the door, Uriah was lying on the floor, staring at the coffee machine as it poured a new batch. Zeke was against the counter where the sink was, looking at the different mugs. They both turned to look at me when I entered, staring at me in unison. They remained silent as they then looked at each other, and finally back to the coffee and mugs respectively. I swallowed as I moved to the stove, where the pot of oats was sitting, still warm but uncooking. I thought about getting bowls myself, but I thought about everything I had preached to Christina before; I had to gain their trust. We had to become friendly with each other.

"Zeke," I said, and they both looked at me. "Could you get me two bowls from wherever they are?" I asked, looking at him.

He hesitated, but then nodded. "Yeah," he said, stiffly, setting down the mug he had been examining. As he moved to open one of the cupboards behind me, he spoke and Uriah looked back to his coffee again.

"Will, right?" he asked my name.

"That's right," I confirmed, nodding. I grabbed a ladle from where it lay on the counter by the stove. I dipped it into the oats and began stirring.

"Will, well," he continued. "That Marlene girl out there, is she single? Available?" I stopped stirring and turned my head to look at Zeke. He was smirking at is brother, who was looking at him incredulously. "Asking for a friend," he said, snickering.

"Oh my God, Zeke," Uriah groaned and threw his head back. "Fuck right off." Zeke finally let out a real laugh this time, loud enough for the others to hear.

They didn't speak for a second. Zeke came to me and brought the two bowls with him. I took them from him with a small "Thanks", and he leaned against the stove beside me. The machine beeped, signaling the coffee. Uriah sat up and grabbed the glass coffee carafe from it and stood. He brought it over to where Zeke and I stood.

He started to pour the two mugs full.

I began to fill the two small bowls for Marlene and Caleb, and I figured Uriah would still want an answer.

"Well, Uriah," I said. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look at me, but I remained measuring the oats. "Caleb and I are the only men in Mar's life, and she's not into either of us." This seemed to please him as an answer. I thought a bit too much for my liking. "And I'm not saying she'd definitely be into you. I mean, she's not entirely desperate." Zeke let out another laugh and punched his brother's shoulder. "All I'm saying is she's available. I don't know if she'd be into you."

I had an idea then. I handed the two bowls to him. He took them uncertainly. "What?" he asked, confused.

"Here's a chance to flirt," I told him, placing two spoons into the bowls. "Give these to her and Caleb. Introduce yourself." He turned and Zeke took this chance to give him a little shove out of the kitchen. He stumbled out, but righted himself quickly. Zeke smirked and crossed his arms, shaking his head. I took a few bites right out of the pot and replaced the lid again.

Then I went to pour myself some of the coffee. Zeke's laugh died off slowly until it was gone entirely. Then he looked at me as I sipped my coffee. He just stared.

"What do you want?" I asked finally. As he snapped from his self-induced trance, I realized he had been lost in thought and had stared at me by accident.

"Well," he started hesitantly. "Well, I was wondering about Shauna. If she was single." It wasn't a question, but he sure as hell phrased it like one.

"Did you guys seriously just come with us to steal our women?" I asked jokingly. He began defending himself, apologizing, but I stopped him.

"Kidding. I'm kidding," I said. "And to be honest, I'm not entirely sure. She's only been with us a short while, and I'm not sure about before the sickness. You might have to ask your friend Lynn about it. They're sisters, apparently." Zeke nodded and left, taking his coffee with him.

"Thanks anyway," he said to me. I smiled pleasantly.

…

Later in the day, the others had finished their meals and it was around three in the afternoon, we were all sitting around the house. Zeke and Lynn had taken Shauna out to look for a specific tree that she had insisted the homeowners must have owned, claiming they had its fruit and it wasn't store-bought. Four had gone off on his own into the RV, taking some things from the house and trading them with things from their own stash.

Marlene was upstairs looking after Caleb, and Uriah had followed, probably only because Mar was there. Christina and I were both outside on the front porch, sitting on the swinging bench. We hadn't spoken since this morning, but since then things had had time to cool down. And she was a sensible girl, so it wasn't a surprise when she had agreed to my offer to sit outside for a while.

The weather was nice for the day, and the breeze was light and pleasant. The sun shone down on the leaves, and there were no clouds in sight. This was unusual to have nice weather this late in the year, but after a storm like the one the previous night, of course the sky would have cleared up.

I was sitting towards the center of the bench and she sat close to me, bringing her legs up, letting me rock the both of us. She let her head rest on my chest, and I pulled my arm around her.

"You know," I began. "I'm thinking the others are definitely getting there. And you look like you're putting effort into it, so thank you." She laughed a little bit.

"Yeah," she said quietly. I was talking to Shauna and Lynn earlier about Tris, and it turns out I was wrong. I had kind of assumed it was one of the guys who had hurt Tris, like that Four guy," she continued. I noted that she was looking at Four by his RV as she said this.

"Except, then Shauna told me that he hadn't even been there when Tris and Caleb ran into them," she told me. I raised my eyebrows in interest. I didn't quite want to talk about Tris, but that was what she wanted to tell me about, so I listened. "Anyway, Lynn and Zeke had been the ones to find Tris and Caleb. And Lynn just attacked her. Just straight up attacked. I don't know why. And she just said it was 'self-defense.'" Chris said, putting air-quotes around "self-defense."

"Anyway, then she took Tris' head and threw it against the pavement or something, and then Caleb finally showed up, but Zeke shot him, which was like, totally unfair, right?" It was a rhetorical question, but I nodded for reassurance.

She went on and explained to me what happened to Tris from what would have been Lynn's point-of-view. I stopped listening around the part where they had taken her back to their farm. Instead I got out the locket from my pocket and let it pool in my hand. She started to get fired up about finding justice for Tris when I decided that was the right time. I let it untangle and fall in front of her face.

It swung back and forth and then finally slowed enough so she could focus on it. Then she shot up and snatched it from my hands. It was less graceful than I had hoped. I had planned that she would have gasped and thanked me endlessly, and then let me put it on her all romantic-like. And this was far from what I had expected. She held it in her hands now, and she stood, examining it. She opened it and turned it around. Then she looked back up at me, but her face was pale now, like she had seen a ghost. She held the chain in her fist and let the charm dangle slightly. "Where'd you get this?"

I stuttered and held out my open hands, thinking of an answer that wouldn't make me sound guilty. But then I realized that the truth wouldn't guilt me, so I went with that. "From the house," I told her. "It was in one of the rooms, so I figured I'd give it to you as a gift. I thought-"

"Tris was here," she said quietly, looking away from me. I stopped talking and stared at her. I finally stood, walking towards her. I tried to put my hands our to comfort her, but she shied away from me. I stopped.

"She was here, Will," she continued. "Tris was here. She had my necklace and she left it behind as a sign."

I shook my head in confusion, trying to understand what she was saying. "What the hell, Chris?" I said. "You're not making any sense."

She shook her head, too, but this was at me. "No, no," she insisted. "She was here. This necklace," – she held it up for me to see – "it's mine."

I nodded a bit condescendingly. "I know," I agreed. "I gave it to you."

She scowled at me, and I shrunk back slightly. "No," she argued. "No, I mean. It belongs to me. It's mine. My parents gave it to me years ago." My eyebrows furrowed. She continued, uninterrupted. "My mother had it when she… died. And Tris was there when she saved me. She must have taken it and kept it, because I sure as hell didn't."

We didn't speak for a minute because she was waiting for me to respond. When I didn't, she spoke again to break the silence and give her thought one final time for reinforcement.

"Will, Tris was here." And the afterthought was clear: we can't be that far behind her.