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Sasha pulled to a stop in front of her uncle’s cabin. There were no other cars around, which told her they were alone, to her disappointment. She’d hoped someone from her family would have made it up here already.
They still might.
Lucy had fallen asleep halfway into the trip and was still asleep now. Sasha didn’t want to wake her just yet so she gingerly left the car and walked up the porch steps to the front door. Rising on her toes, she lifted her arm and felt around the door jamb. Her fingertips brushed against the spare key and she grabbed it before righting herself.
It had been years since they’d come up here as a family. There was a lake not far from the cabin, one they used to spend hours on every day either boating, jet skiing, or just sunbathing. That had been the only plus to these trips, but it looked like the one place she’d loathed coming to was now home.
She looked at the car and saw Lucy still asleep. Facing the front door again, she unlocked it and pushed it open. A stale, musky odor slammed into her. It was clear the cabin hadn’t been aired out in quite some time.
Sunlight filtered in through the faded flower printed curtains her aunt had put up years ago. Two couches, a coffee table, and a well-used fireplace sat to her right. A kitchen with a wooden island, one her uncle had built out of an old redwood tree, was in the center of the room. The dining room table sat to her left. Down the hall were a few bedrooms and a bathroom.
She made her way down the hallway and checked the bedrooms. Everything was clean but the air inside the cabin was thick and old. She went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Although they didn’t have electricity or running water, her uncle had rigged the sink so it worked from the cistern. The toilet, on the other hand, was a little more rustic. With a basin as the pot that needed to be emptied out after each use, the bathroom gave you the feeling of home comfort, but reminded you this was outdoor living at its finest.
She looked at the bathtub, one of those old clawfoot ones her aunt had gotten at an auction. She remembered her mother and father filling up the tub with water they’d heated over a roaring fire outside. The baths, though, were few and far between. They mainly used a portable shower that had been set up outside the cabin by her father, one that used either rain water or lake water. It did the job, although Sasha had hated every minute of it.
Sasha stared at herself in the mirror with its smears along the glass, its age evident. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and ran the back of her palm over the mirror, cleaning it off so she could see her face better. Her dark hair was piled high in a messy bun, loose strands hanging around her face from when she’d rolled the window down. Dark circles lined her big brown eyes … the same shade as her mother’s.
Tears threatened to come, but she pushed them down. Not now.
Exhaustion weighed heavily on her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept a full night. Well before the sickness had hit. Resting her hands on the vanity and hanging her head, she closed her eyes and exhaled roughly.
The plague. Even thinking that sounded absurd, like an end of the world movie or a line in a book. But it wasn’t fiction. This was her reality and she knew it was only going to get worse. There was no silver lining, no happy ending. She couldn’t see things getting better, but she hoped they did. She prayed they did.
She walked out of the bathroom and into the living room. Sheets were covering the couches, dust accumulated on the once white fabric. She went over to the pantry and opened the door, seeing a few rows of canned goods, some freeze-dried fruits, and ready-made boxed meals sitting on the shelves. Who knew how old they were, but anything was helpful at this point.
Rising on her toes, she grabbed a lantern from the top shelf, a stack of candles, and a box of matches. There were a few cases of batteries, but again, she didn’t know how old they were or how long they would last. As far as she knew it had been quite some time since anybody had been up here.
Setting everything on the island, she went around the cabin and opened up the curtains to let some light in. The sound of footsteps on the porch told her that Lucy was awake and making her way in. Her sister stepped over the threshold a few moments later, a bag in each hand and a forlorn look on her face. They didn’t say anything as they headed back out to the car and made a few more trips, grabbing the boxes of food, the supplies, jugs of water, and the few gas cans her father had already kept in the back of the Jeep when this all had started.
