A lonely cabin sits nestled against a cliff that surges up towards the top of the mountain. Winslow Wood might be on the other side... but it's hard to tell after walking for about an hour.
"Do you think we'll be safe here?" I say quietly. Alec knocks on the door with the off-chance of someone actually being home.
"It's hard to tell. I don't know if Vain is stubborn enough to come after us."
"He's greedy enough," I mumble.
No one moves inside the house. Alec pushes the rotting wooden door open with ease, being that it is literally hanging from its hinges. "Hello?" Alec calls out tentatively. I swat him in the chest.
"What if there's a serial killer hiding here?"
"A serial killer in the apocalypse. How cute," he says with a laugh. But I can tell underneath that he's considering it.
We step carefully into the dust-filled cabin, finding furniture covered with bedsheets and dead animal carcasses—old and new—scattered about. The intestines of a possum near the front door are scattered by the foot of a sofa, abandoned.
"Something's weird about this place," I say, covering my nose at the sudden stench of the dead animals.
Alec wraps an arm around me protectively. "I don't think we should stay here anymore."
"I was thinking the same—"
A bark erupts throughout the house. A single, bone-chilling woof that causes me to crash into Alec and hide against his chest as if I can't be seen.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a mangled beast surge out of an adjacent room to the entryway. It barks and barks at us, glaring at us through large black eyes.
But it doesn't attack. It merely stands protectively over its dead creatures.
"What do we do?" I whisper. "If we move, it might come at us."
"Get down," Alec whispers. "On your knees. We have to submit to it to show we are no threat."
"But that would also make us look like dinner handed to it on a silver platter!"
"Trust me, Belle," he hisses. "I learned about this in school in like third grade."
I wanted to ask why he remembered that, or better yet—why he was taught that, but I didn't bother. Alec is surprising me right and left today with all sorts of things.
We kneel down together on the ground, avoiding eye contact with the beast. After a few moments, the growling in the animal's throat stops. I glance at Alec to see he is outstretching his arm, the back of his hand toward the dog.
I want to smack his hand and book it out of there, but I can't convince the rest of my body to move. I just stare in disbelief as the beast steps curiously toward Alec, it's long nose starting to sniff in wonder. When the wet black nose touches the back of Alec's hand, Alec smiles and relaxes his grip on me. He starts to pet the animal's head, then its shoulders. The creature starts to wag its long shaggy tail as it sits before Alec. Its tongue lolls out beneath the thick mounds of fur matted all over it.
"What the—Alec, how did you—"
"I had a dog before I met you. We rescued him from the animal shelter in town... before Bayfell got rid of it. We had a mutt that was not happy to be there. But it turns out he just wanted to be loved by people. A lot of dogs do, turns out. They don't like being alone. That's why wolves live in packs. Dogs are the same way."
"But how did you know to do all... that?" I stick my arm out, imitating how he outstretched his hand.
"Remember the third-grade thing? That's what we were taught in science class when we were talking about canines and how to get them to calm down and warm up to you. This guy just needed to know our scent to know we were okay." He starts talking as if he were talking to a baby. "Isn't that right, boy? Isn't that right?"
"How do you know it's a boy," I say, sitting back and my feet and crossing my arms.
"I don't, but we can just wait until he-she uses the bathroom. If he-she raises his-her leg, then we'll know it's a boy. I bet it's a boy."
I grin. "I bet it's a girl."
Alec looks at me with round eyes. "What do I get if I'm right?"
I spread my empty arms. "A pat on the back and the glory of being right?"
Alec laughs. "Deal."
***
The dog warms up to both of us pretty quickly. Alec showed me how to introduce myself to the dog with presenting the back of my hand. The animal proceeded to lick my hand close to my thumb with its dirty, possum-gut-eating, slobbery tongue. But I wiped my hand off and pretend it didn't happen.
The dog eventually trotted outside and used the bathroom on a tree near the front door.
It's a boy.
Alec decides to name him Gus. But poor Gus is so heavy with fur that I search the entire cabin and find some beaten-up scissors in one of the cabinet drawers. Alec holds Gus still as I trip the dog's fur. He stays surprisingly calm as I snip away what seems to be a lifetime of fur attached to his skin. My work is uneven, but I'm not a dog groomer.
"There's his face!" Alec grabs Gus's face and riles him up a bit by juggling the dog's face in his hands playfully.
"Now, Gus. Let's get one thing clear." Alec sits in front of the dog, and I sit next to Alec, wondering what crazy thing he's thought up now. "I am the alpha, okay? You do what I say."
Gus stares at us absently, panting happily where he sits, his long pink tongue hanging out.
"Glad we have that straightened up!" Alec says, patting the dog on the back.
I touch Alec's arm. "We can't stay here. It smells like death way too much."
Alec nods. "Do you think Gus will follow us?"
"You want that flea-bag with us?" I ask in surprise.
"Belle," he says, gesturing around us. "He can hunt. Meaning he will bring us food, that is, if he's going to be loyal to us."
My eyes round, and I maul him with a strong hug. "You're a genius!"
"I thought you were thinking the same thing as I was!"
"Now you know I wasn't!" I giggle.
Alec gently pushes me away so he can stand. "Let's see if there's a room in here that doesn't reek. It looks like there's an upstairs." He glances back towards the front door that neighbors a set of stairs.
Alec helps me to my feet, and together we step over dead rodents and step gently up the rickety staircase. On one of the steps, my foot falls into a hole and I let out a surprised squeal. Alec grabs me around the waist and pulls me up one of the steps and holds me for a good fifteen seconds before I look up at him with wide eyes. "Thanks," I say with barely a whisper.
Alec smiles at me sheepishly. "It was more of a reflex."
I laugh, trying to shake off the scare we just had.
At the top of the stairs we find ourselves in a long hallway stretching down to the other side of the house Doors resided on both sides of the hallway all the way down. We opened the first door on the right to find it's a bathroom filled with grime and rust and all other horrifying things. We quickly closed the door and opened the second door on the right.
An empty room. No dead animals except for insects littering the floor.
Gus follows us inside. Alec walks to the window on the far side of the room and leans on the sill, his face nearly pressed to the cracked pane. "We'll be able to see if anyone is coming this way."
I glance around to find something to brush the floor off, but then I realize one important thing.
"Alec, we have nothing. Like, no supplies, clothes, food, water."
Alec looks back at me, his eyes filled with worry. "I know. We'll find something tomorrow. We need rest now more than anything. It's been a weird couple days."
I nod slowly.
Alec uses his own hands to brush the floor off, revealing the rotting wood flooring below. But it's okay enough to sleep on, I guess. Who knows what could crawl in my hair within the next few hours.
Alec takes off his navy blue jacket and lays it out below us. He pulls me close to him as we lie down on the filthy floor and his jacket that nearly masks the scent of the musty cabin. Gus settles down on the other side of Alec and begins snoring almost immediately.
"I'm going to promise you something, Belle. You've inspired me to have faith, and so I'm going to."
I look up at him.
"I promise that we're going to find a place that we'll be safe and happy, even if it means we're going to have to create a community ourselves. We're never going to be oppressed after that."
I smile. If only it were that easy, but I'm not going to tell him that. I just give him a kiss on the cheek before we both fall asleep to the sound of Gus's even snores.