Wade lets out a deep sigh, his breath coming out as a little fog cloud around his lips. I can’t help but smile. He looks so put out but at the same time, he indulges me.
As we walk, snow slowly starts to fall. The air is cold and crisp. The snowflakes hit our skin, melting instantly. It’s pretty when I don’t think about how dangerous the cold is going to get.
“There,” I say, reaching the peak of a hill and looking down. “Wade, look!”
“Oh,” I hear Wade breathe out beside me. We stare for a long moment, just taking it in.
There, at the bottom of the hill, is a little cottage beside a lake. There’s a shed and a dock and even a little boat. It’s surrounded by trees and forests, a single dirt road leading to it.
In another life, I can imagine taking vacations here. A little break from civilization in order to get away. A place where me and a partner could come and relax. I could read out on the porch while they cooked dinner inside. We could go swimmingtogether and if we were feeling daring, maybe we’d swim without our clothes. We would cuddle inside in order to warm back up.
It’s a dream for another time. Right now, we need to get down there before the snow really starts to fall.
“Come on,” Wade says, gently pushing my shoulder and leading me down the hill. Everything about this place feels just a little too good to be real. I pull out one of my throwing knives, having it ready just in case we run into trouble.
Surprisingly, we don’t hear any zombies around as we make our way down to the cabin. Wade leans his face against the door, listening for anything inside. He shakes his head.
“Nothing.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “We should still be careful. Just in case.”
He gives me a nod before opening the door. We step inside, alert and ready. The room we step into is the kitchen, a table to the right and the stove on the left. Past that is the living area, complete with a fireplace. To the right of the living area is a door to the bedroom which has a small bathroom attached. That’s it. That’s the whole house.
“Did we just win the lottery?”
Wade grunts, still looking around like something might jump out at him any moment. “Feels too good to be true.”
“It really does,” I say slowly. “But maybe for once, we got lucky?”
“I’m gonna go check the shed, just in case.”
“Want me to come with?”
“Nah, I’ll yell if I see anything.”
He walks back outside, leaving me alone for a moment. I turn around in a circle, just taking everything in. It’s been a long time since anyone has been here, proof of that in the layer of dust covering everything.
Making my way to the fireplace, I open up the vent, making sure there’s nothing blocking the chimney. Carefully, I stick my head in, taking a look. Everything looks good.
Then I rummage through the kitchen. There are some canned goods and other various nonperishables but the fridge is cleaned out. Whoever owned this place made sure to take care of everything before they left.
By the time Wade comes back inside, I have the gas stove turned on, heating up some of our canned goods. He looks bewildered.
“There’s nothing.”
I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“I couldn’t find anything wrong,” he says, his voice sounding far off and confused. “I just assumed we’d find something super fucked up. Like the previous owners. Or maybe some zombies trapped in the floorboards. Or the shed would end up being the spot a serial killer kept bodies. I don’t know, Briggs.Something.”
I turn the stove off and take the food off the burner. Then I walk up to him, putting my hands on his shoulders. No. That’s not quite right. I move my hands to cup his face, making sure we’re eye to eye.
“We deserve good things to happen sometimes, too.”
“What?”
I repeat myself. “We deserve good things. Stop trying to find something wrong.”
“But if I don’t stay vigilant, how can we make sure we’re safe?”
