Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
“I don’t think being an astronaut is on the table for me.”
“There goes that idea.”
“I do know that I don’t want to be in a cage all my life. I want to control my destiny. I don’t want to go back home, and I never want to see my family again.”
“Harsh, but understandable,” he says. “But being cooped up in this cabin can’t be a whole lot better than being cooped up in that compound. Gotta find a way to move forward, Merit.”
I rub my temples. “I know. But here? At least I’m free. If I insisted on going back to living in the caves like I’m some sort of wolf-woman, no one would stop me.”
“I’d advise you that it’s a terrible idea, but yes, if you absolutely insisted on doing that, I’m not going to pull a gun on you and make you stay here.” He shrugs. “Don’t really view freedom to do stupid stuff as the best kind of freedom, but you do you, girl.”
“It counts for something. Believe me.”
“I’ve never been in a cultist compound, so I’m going to take your word for it.”
“Also here? I can listen to the radio. I can hear new music, not just the 70s and 80s country bands my dad listened to. And I can read new books. I can’t believe how much I missed reading since they started burning all the books we had five years ago.”
His smile grows. “You can thank my mother and grandmother for the library here. They’re both huge readers, and insisted on stocking this hunting cabin well with plenty to read in case we ever got snowed in or otherwise pinned down here.”
“I’ve been shut off from the world all this time. I feel like I crawled out of a bomb shelter. I don’t even know what other twenty-three-year-olds do nowadays.”
“Bout the same stuff as they ever did, I reckon. Be horny and try to figure out what they’re trying to do with their lives. More things change, the more they stay the same and all of that.”
He pushes himself up out of the chair and stretches out.
“What’ve you been eating all this time? Besides the beans and soda pop.”
“I told you. Some fish. I tried to catch a rabbit but I didn’t really know how to skin it anyway. I picked a bunch of apples and berries.”
“So how long has it been since you had a meal worth a damn?”
“A meal worth a damn?”
“Did they at least feed you in your cultist compound?”
He kept referring to it as a cultist compound. Was that really what it was? “Lots of venison and beef. They didn’t bring in a lot from the outside world other than some pasta and bread sometimes, and most of the fruit and vegetables we ate were what we grew ourselves. All of it very plain too. My mother thought garlic was how the government was sterilizing all of us, and had various theories about other spices.”
Mac looks at me, sheer horror in his face. “You poor, neglected thing. You for damn sure need a good meal, and I think I can help with that.”
I remember what’s in the cabinets, and it’s not much. “Are you going to heat me up a really good can of beans?”
He laughs. “Hardly. We have other options.”
Mac heads out the front door and toward his truck. He pulls a big red chest cooler out and carries it into the kitchen. He sets some chicken breasts out on the counter and shoves the rest into the freezer. “We don’t really keep stuff in the refrigerator here, just in case a storm rolls by and knocks the power out. So when we come up, we bring some stuff with us. It’s meant to be a hunting cabin and all, but it’s not like we go hunting as soon as we get here. And not to mention we gotta be prepared if our trip turns up a little lean.”
“You’re a hunter?” I comment, looking over his shoulder.
“Not a professional. Just an amateur, it’s more about spending time with my dad and brothers.” He brings up some cauliflower and broccoli, along with a bunch of spice bottles. “Also need these. I can’t exactly stalk the forest and hunt down a head of wild broccoli.”
“What do you do then?” I say, legitimately curious about this weird man who stormed into my life. “For work, I mean.”
“I do construction. Family business, been going for decades. Me, some of my brothers, and my dad bust our asses to pay for all of this.”
I glance around the cabin, realizing that Mac’s family has to be pretty well-off to have a second home. “Do you come up here alone often?”
He finishes stocking the freezer before turning to the chicken breasts and vegetables. “Nah, first time I’ve been up here alone. Usually all the Rough boys come up here for a big family hunting trip. They all got family things of their own pulling them away now, so I figured fuck it, I’ll challenge myself by hunting alone. I need a break. But I’m glad to have company, Merit.” He smiles my way, and it makes me feel weird inside.