Chapter 8: The Cabin

Rylan and Ellie were still dashing through the cornfield, in fear that another bandit would cross paths with them. Fortunately, they seemed to be lucky...

"Jesus! How big is this cornfield anyway?!" Ellie exclaimed as they both wandered in the same direction.

"I guess this is why they call it a maize..." Rylan smirked as the drops of rain continued to fall from the sky.

She had to stifle a chuckle from that. "Shut up, let's focus here. Where-!"

"Don't move!"

The order was as soon as the two teens stumbled out of the edge of the stalks of corn, and they were on wet soppy green grass instead. Rylan and Ellie didn't take too kindly to the command so they pointed their weapons in the direction of the familiar voice and that was when Ellie finally realized who it was under the dark sky of the storm...

"Joel...?"

"Ellie?"

Claire and Joel turned on their flashlights to confirm that these were not some cutthroat bandits, but two young kids tumbling out of the corn, more than likely fighting for their lives as hard, if not harder than they were...

Not another passed when Joel and Ellie relinquished their weapons and embraced each other in heartwarming hug. "Oh... baby girl, you're okay now... I'm so sorry..."

"Joel... I'm sorry too..." She got out as they thunder and lightning above them raged on. The two of them separated after they realized the alertness of the situation at hand. Not to mention that Rylan and Claire felt a bit awkward.

"Well..." Rylan scratched the back of his sheepishly. "I don't mean to interrupt but... you know, we got some bandits back there to worry about."

Joel turned his attention away from Ellie and towards the boy, giving him a skeptical look. "And just who are you suppose to be?"

Ellie quickly went to defend him before Rylan could respond. "He's my friend, alright? He helped me get this far!" She already could tell what Joel meant. "Goddamit Joel, this isn't the time!"

Rylan added. "We can talk later when we find some shelter!"

Claire finally piped up. "Not until we find Brad, have either of you two seen him? Blonde hair? Blue shirt?"

Sounded vaguely familiar but they couldn't be too sure. "...No." Ellie and Rylan shook their heads which saddened her.

"Alright..." Joel sighed and he pulled out this pistol and turned back towards the cornfield. "I'll go back in and look for Brad, alone. ...Ellie, you know where the cabin is, take Claire and..."

"Rylan." He filled in the gap and introduced himself.

"Yeah... him." He growled at that and continued. "Take'em both there and we'll meet up later and talk. Got it?"

"But Joel-"

"Got it?!"

"...Fine." Ellie grumbled in agreement as she motioned the two of them to follow her while Joel dived back into the field.

"Please, find him Joel!" Claire called out to him as he disappeared and she went on to follow this girl who was hopefully leading them to a possible sanctuary from the storm...

Joel held his gun downward as he jogged at his own pace looking for any possible signs for the young man in question. "Goddamn it Brad, where the hell are ya?"

Strangely enough, Joel did not find any resistance in the field. The bandits either withdrawn from the entire area, or... no. They had to have left, for now at least. But Joel had only been searching on for a few more minutes until he came out into a small clearing where a rusty red tractor was parked.

There was nothing in the vicinity as far as Joel could see, but it was only until his flashlight shined on what he thought was a mound of dirt or something on the muddy ground did he come to recognize a body...

Cautiously, he approached what he assumed to be a dead corpse, and the realization of his identity became apparent as his flashlight as well as the lightning lit up the face of the victim in front of him. "Christ... Brad... shit."

It was him... it was the young man Joel had sent off to his death... he couldn't help but feel responsible for what happened here. Oh god... Claire will be ruined...

What could Joel do? He couldn't take his dead body back to the cabin. He didn't have time to bury him... although it bothered and maybe even pained him to do so, Joel shook his head, realizing he just had to leave him be, here in the middle of this fucking field. "...You deserved better kid..." Joel sighed as he reached down to close Brad's eyes. "I'm sorry..."

Joel had to bring back proof for Claire, beyond a reasonable doubt that Brad was dead, his gun maybe? No, she would deny it and say he dropped it. His compass then, his most precious possession from what he could tell. Joel guiltily searched his pockets for the golden item but to no avail.

"Bandits, might've looted him already..." He grumbled in deduction.

How the hell was he going to break the news to her? ...But Joel, out of ideas, turned his back on Brad's corpse and went back the way he came, hopefully things will turn out better now that he's reunited with Ellie...

"So, how do you two know Joel?" Claire asked to make conversation as the rain began to let up and the three of them began to climb up a steep hill only ten minutes after they split up again.

"I don't." Rylan answered. "We all came from Jackson that much I know."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "My fiancé and I escaped with him when those soldiers attacked, we've been traveling together ever since."

"You mean since yesterday?" Ellie responded, she only knew this girl for a less than an hour and already she could tell that she was going to come off as annoying.

"Yep." Claire smiled. "Just like you and your boyfriend."

"What?!" They both yelled while the blood rushed to their cheeks. They stammered and echoed each other's protests. "W-we're n-not-!"

Claire laughed. "Haha, it's okay, you don't have to be embarrassed. There's nothing cuter than young love."

"Just on hold a goddamn second, let us explain-!"

BANG!

The shot whizzed by, missing Ellie's head by mere inches!

"SNIPER!" Rylan shouted as the three of them found the nearest cover they could find and that was a thick log which was adjacent to where the gunshot came from. "Stay down!"

"What the heck are we going to do?!" Claire inquired in a panicked but whispered tone to the two teens. "I think we're pinned!"

Rylan tapped Ellie's shoulder to get her attention. "One of us is gonna have to peek up and see where he's at. Then we can draw his fire while another one of us flanks him."

"Sounds good." She agreed with his plan. "Okay let's-!"

"Pardon the intrusion..." Their hearts stopped at the sound of a deep western drawl of an accent as well as a boot slamming down on the log they were hiding behind. "...but the way I see it, you three may be dumber than a sack of hammers, ain't even realize how close I was."

"Hey! Fuck you old man!" Ellie hissed until her eyes crossed to meet the barrel of a bolt action sniper rifle which poked her in the nose.

The elder above them had blue jeans with boot cuts, and his large silver belt buckle glimmered from the little light that was left over from the day. He also wore a long-sleeved button-down shirt, with a red plaid pattern, and they could tell he wore his white cowboy hat and thick silver mustache with great pride. "Young lady like you shouldn't say such language..."

"You shoot her, you're dead." Rylan warned with his crossbow aimed right at the wrinkly man's forehead. Claire also mirrored his action, threatening to end his life as well.

"We can talk about this." Claire attempted to quell the tension. "We don't want any trouble."

The man chuckled. "Don't we all? ...Well, I ain't too keen on shooting any women or kids today... I just need to ya'll to be honest. Answer my question and we can all be friends."

"What's your question?" Ellie stared right into the man's dark eyes past the gun that was still on her nose.

"Ya'll with them bandits out there? You know anyone named Grant?" The man asked. "You look me in the eyes when you answer..."

Ellie replied with firm and definite tone. "No. We got past those assholes, they were shooting at us!"

"We don't know anyone named Grant!" Rylan stated truthfully.

The old man coughed as he took his weapon away from Ellie's face and shouldered it around his back, content with their answers. "Alright, good enough for me, sorry to bother ya..."

He was about to turn heel and be on his way when Claire chimed in and waved him back. "Excuse me! Maybe you can help us?"

Rylan and Ellie shot her a look which screamed: Claire really?! Shut up! When he said 'we can all be friends' he probably really meant: we won't shoot each other.

"How's that?" He turned back around to face his three acquaintances. "Ya'll on my property, trespassing on my daddy's land, and I'm letting ya'll walk away. That's help enough."

"We're looking for a cabin around here. Can you point us in the right direction?" Claire pried for information. "We can-!"

"The only cabin around here for miles... is my home." He revealed as he introduced himself. "My name is Carter Slade... and I ask you three, are you my guests or my target practice?"

Claire got the message and put her weapon away and held her hands up in surrender. Ellie and Rylan were still wary, but they soon understood as well as Rylan lowered his crossbow and Ellie holstered her weapon. "Okay... we'll start with names... what did your mamas and papas call ya when ya'll were toddlers?"

"I'm Claire, pleasure to meet a reasonable face..." Her eyes darted from Carter to the teens beside her. "This is Ellie and... Rylan."

Carter nodded. "Alright... why should I bring ya into my home? You gotta understand somethin' about what's goin' on out there. ...Hardly anybody can trust anybody these days..."

Rylan stepped up to reply. "You have our word, we won't be any trouble."

Carter raised his bushy eyebrow at that. "Your word, huh? ...Sayin' it don't mean it's good."

Ellie yelled, frustrated that this stubborn old man wouldn't trust them. She knew that familiar feeling... "Fuck it! Listen, we were here before and it was abandoned when we found the cabin last time, and now we really fucking need to stay here! So, I'm asking you... are you really going to turn us away when we both have those goddamn bandits as common enemies?"

Carter stroked his mustache, deep in thought and he turned back around towards the direction of his residence. "...Suppose not. I find it hard to say no to a little girl. ...Follow me then... and don't shoot me in the back."

Claire and Rylan looked at Ellie in amazement and they silently praised her for her efforts, so the three of them followed Carter on the homestretch of the cabin they were all desperately traveling towards since their escape from Jackson.

The clouds had finally dissipated, and the orange setting sun revealed itself already halfway below the horizon as the four of them hiked up a steeper hill. They were passing rocks and tall trees, climbing up a small dirt trail which they assumed will lead them to the front door. ...And they were right.

Now within sight around a cluster of trees and mountain path behind it, a two-story log cabin with a stone chimney wafting with a faint white smoke and eight windows, six on the first floor and two on the second. The large sheltered wooden porch looked very homey and inviting as the four of them walked up its stairs.

"Off to a good start..." Carter mumbled as he opened the front door and stood aside so that they would enter first. "Leave all your weapons next to the coat rack... you won't be needin' them."

Claire smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Slade."

"Call me Carter sweetheart. Now go on git, all of ya." He waved them in.

Ellie took the first step across the threshold as she stepped inside and looked to her right to see the coat rack and a boot locker. She gave a look at the old cowboy and relinquished her pistol, but she decided against giving up her switchblade and kept it hidden in her pocket.

Rylan was next and he placed his crossbow on the ground next to Ellie's gun. "Knife too boy..." Rylan grunted in frustration as he pulled out his knife and put it in the pile as well. "Good."

Claire quickly and happily put her pistol with the others and they were all inside with the door closed behind them. They looked around and saw that the first floor of the cabin was just one big room. The stairs to the second floor was centered in the middle of the cabin while each corner played a role as a different room. On the far right corner was the kitchen, on the far left was a dining table, and the closer left was the fireplace and sitting area, and the closer right was storage and supplies spot.

"If you gotta go, there's an outhouse past the back door. And beds are upstairs." Carter told them as he placed his rifle on the nearby wall with their weapons. "How long ya thinkin' of stayin'?"

Ellie wondered that as well. "We don't know yet..." Maybe when Joel got back they could talk about their next move.

"Hmm... hungry?" Carter took off his hat revealing his mop of white hair and set it on a hook on the coat rack as he moved towards the kitchen. "Sit down, make yourselves at home then."

"Thanks a lot." Rylan gratefully replied as he made his way to the dining table, with Claire and Ellie following.

The cabin's windows allowed some light in, and the fireplace and some lanterns were already ready to keep the interior out of darkness. Carter had a pretty nice set-up here...

"Hope you like rabbit stew..." Carter came back with a pot, and he put it on the table along with some bowls and spoons. "Ain't a lot but..."

"It smells delicious!" Claire excitedly said as she helped herself.

Carter joined them as they all slowly enamored themselves it what could be considered a normal dinner in the apocalypse. But that was when Ellie remembered to mention, "Hey uh... we should tell you that we have another friend on his way here."

Carter looked up from his stew to address the girl. "Slipped your mind huh? ...What's his name?"

"His name is Joel." Claire answered with a grin. "You'd like him, and he should be coming back with my fiancé Brad."

"There's two of them now?" Carter clanked his spoon on his bowl at this information. "Now am I gonna regret my hospitality to you folks? ...Because I can as sure as shit kick ya'll right back outta here. Pardon my French."

Rylan took it upon himself to reply. "We know that... sir. And we appreciate your uh... compassion but I can tell you're good people, and I'm telling you we're good people too. We didn't even try to kill you on the way over here, and we could have."

Carter sighed and stroked his mustache again, agreeing with the boy. "...Ellie, ain't it?" She nodded. "Go out there and wait for ya friends. Might be hard though..."

Ellie was about to get up and wait on the front porch for Brad and Joel when Carter spoke ominously...

"Because nowadays if you can't trust the people you're with... you might as well kill each other."

A/N- How will Joel react with the cabin already taken up residence? And how might Claire take the news of Brad's demise? Can they all get along and could the cabin be a permanent hideout?

Review your thoughts and theories on the matter, PLEASE :)

Thank you all to those who are following and fav'ing the story, spread the word and join the adventure.