Journal Entry

Having new people around is kind of cool.

Kind of a pain, too.

I figured the kids were desperate for something fun that wasn't terrifying, so I took everyone down to the lake.

Turns out I was right.

It was nice seeing Elliott come out of her shell. The boys played with her like they'd known her forever, and somehow they already understood not to knock her over without me having to threaten anybody.

Maggie mostly floated around trying to pretend the rest of us didn't exist.

I get it.

I'd probably do the same thing.

Dad promised we'd find the broken camera and put up more perimeter protection soon. That helps.

I think Mom's happier too.

She'd never admit it.

But she came upstairs twice today without someone dragging her out of the lab.

That's probably some kind of record.

The morning after the Andersons' arrived started with everyone pretending they weren't trying to leave.

James noticed it before breakfast was even on the table.

Karen poured herself a second cup of coffee before finishing the first. Every few minutes her eyes drifted toward the heavy basement hatch near the kitchen.

Dr. Anderson wasn't much better.

He'd started explaining something about protein intake three separate times and lost his train of thought halfway through each attempt.

Even John looked distracted.

Between bites of pancake, he kept glancing toward the security monitors mounted along the wall.

Nobody was fooling anybody.

They were all thinking about the lab downstairs.

James cut into another pancake and watched his mother glance toward the hatch again.

"Just go."

Four adults looked up.

Karen blinked.

"What?"

"Go downstairs."

John nearly laughed into his coffee.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Anderson tried.

James pointed his fork toward the hatch. "Sure."

"We don't," Karen agreed to the lie.

"You've all been staring at that thing for twenty minutes," Maggie said without looking up from her book.

Across the table, Anderson suddenly became very interested in his coffee mug.

Caught.

John wasn't much better.

Only Karen had the confidence to keep lying.

"We're spending quality time with the children."

Elliott immediately pointed her fork at her mother.

"Mom, you don't even know what I had for breakfast." Elliot nodded to her empty plate.

Karen frowned.

"What?"

"I had two eggs and a piece of toast like I eat every morning." And only James was allowed to make it for her.

The table erupted into laughter.

Karen pointed accusingly at her daughter.

"Traitor."

"I learned it from James."

James tipped his coffee mug to his mother.

"Smart kid."

John snorted.

Anderson outright laughed.

Across the table, Maggie hid a smile behind her glass of orange juice.

Karen looked around dramatically.

"I am surrounded by enemies."

"Can we go fishing today?" Harry asked.

"Can we go swimming?" Jonas added.

"Can we do both?" Elliott asked before anyone could answer.

The three younger kids immediately started talking over one another.

James looked toward the adults.

Nobody was listening anymore.

Their attention had already wandered back toward the basement.

"Seriously," he said. "Go do science. We got this." Or at least he hoped he had it, three against one was not fair odds since his new partner doesn't seem to want to help.

Karen narrowed her eyes.

"You sure?"

"Mom."

"What?"

"You've barely touched your breakfast."

Karen glanced down at her plate.

Then at the hatch.

Then at Anderson.

Anderson looked away immediately.

Guilty.

"Fine."

She stood.

The others were on their feet before she'd even finished the word.

James laughed.

"Wow."

John shrugged.

"It's been a while."

"You were gone four days."

"I know."

"And now you're abandoning us."

John leaned over and kissed the top of Elliott's head as he passed.

"I have complete faith in you."

"That sounds like a trap."

"It probably is."

Within moments the adults disappeared downstairs.

The hatch closed behind them with a heavy metallic thud.

Silence settled across the cabin.

For exactly three seconds.

Then Harry launched a piece of pancake at Jonas.

Chaos resumed immediately.

By ten o'clock the cabin felt too small.

Not in a bad way.

Just crowded.

For months it had been James, Elliott, and his parents.

Four people.

Four routines.

Four voices.

Now there were eight people sharing the same space.

The conversations were louder.

The hallways felt narrower.

The energy inside the cabin seemed to bounce off the walls.

James finally stood.

"Alright."

Three younger heads snapped toward him instantly.

"Beach."

The reaction was immediate.

Three cheers echoed through the cabin.

Elliott nearly fell out of her chair trying to stand up.

James laughed.

"Slow down."

She was already sprinting toward her room.

The walk to the lake felt different too.

Normally it was just James and Elliott.

Sometimes John joined them.

Rarely Karen.

Now a small herd moved through the woods.

Harry and Jonas raced ahead along the trail.

Elliott immediately tried to keep up.

Failed.

Then accused them of cheating.

Nobody could explain how they were cheating at running.

That didn't stop her from insisting they were.

James followed behind carrying two fishing poles, towels, and his bow slung across his shoulder.

Maggie walked a few steps beside him.

A pistol rested in the holster at her hip.

Anderson had handed it back to her that morning without hesitation.

Apparently it was her preferred weapon.

James wasn't sure if that was impressive or concerning.

Probably both.

She hadn't said much since arriving.

Not because she was rude.

If anything, she seemed careful.

Like somebody who hadn't quite decided whether it was safe to relax yet.

The exhaustion in her eyes ran deeper than lack of sleep.

James understood that.

Everyone here did.

The lake finally appeared through the trees.

Immediately the younger kids exploded toward the shoreline.

Shoes flew.

Towels landed wherever they happened to stop running.

Within seconds all three kids were splashing through the shallows.

"Don't go past your knees!" James shouted.

Three voices shouted back.

"Okay!"

Not a single one of them turned around.

Not remotely reassuring.

Maggie dropped her towel onto the sand.

"You're basically a parent."

James groaned.

"Don't say that."

"You are."

"I'm eighteen."

"You sound seventy."

"Feels like it."

A laugh escaped her.

Small.

But real.

Then she headed toward the water.

James watched her go.

Partly because she was pretty.

He wasn't blind.

Mostly because she looked relieved.

Like she'd finally found a place where nobody expected anything from her for a few hours.

The next hour passed surprisingly peacefully.

Jonas discovered skipping rocks.

Poorly.

Harry spent twenty minutes attempting to catch a fish with his bare hands.

Even more poorly.

Elliott appointed herself queen of a sandcastle she wasn't actually helping build.

Nobody questioned the arrangement.

Apparently everyone had accepted her authority.

For now.

Eventually James settled onto an old driftwood log overlooking the beach.

For the first time in days, he wasn't actively doing anything.

He wasn't fixing something.

Guarding something.

Worrying about something.

He was just sitting.

The kids laughed below him.

The lake rolled gently against the shore.

Sunlight danced across the water.

For a few minutes it almost felt normal.

Almost.

John would hate that thought.

Normal got people killed.

Comfort got people careless.

Still.

It felt good.

A splash drew his attention toward the lake.

Maggie floated twenty feet from shore with her arms spread wide and her eyes closed against the sunlight.

Completely still.

James sat up immediately.

His brain supplied several terrible possibilities.

What if she hit her head?

What if she cramped?

What if—

Maggie opened one eye.

"What?"

James sat back down.

"Nothing."

Her mouth twitched.

Then she rolled onto her back again.

Idiot.

Still, he found himself watching the lake a little more carefully after that.

A while later Maggie emerged from the water and dropped onto the sand near his log.

Water dripped from the ends of her hair.

For a few moments neither of them said anything.

The younger kids were creating enough noise for everyone.

Eventually Maggie leaned back on her hands.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I forgot lakes existed."

James laughed.

"What does that even mean?"

"I don't know."

She shrugged.

"I just forgot."

Her gaze drifted back toward the water.

"I forgot people could do things that weren't survival."

The words hung between them.

James followed her gaze.

Harry and Jonas were attempting to dig a moat around Elliott's sandcastle.

Elliott was shouting instructions.

Nobody was listening.

"Yeah," James said quietly.

He understood exactly what she meant.

The silence that followed wasn't awkward.

Just comfortable.

The kind of silence that didn't need filling.

"I think Elliott likes having more kids around."

Maggie smiled.

"I think Harry follows her around like she's famous."

"He kind of does."

"She's going to love that."

"She's already loving that."

They watched Elliott dramatically assign jobs to everyone within earshot.

Harry obeyed immediately.

Jonas objected loudly.

Elliott ignored him.

"She's scary."

James grinned.

"Runs in the family."

That earned another laugh.

A bigger one this time.

The sound caught him off guard.

Not because it was funny.

Because it sounded normal.

Not a survivor.

Not somebody running for her life.

Just a teenage girl laughing at the beach.

For the first time since she'd arrived, she looked her age.

The boys looked like boys again.

Elliott looked like a kid.

None of them were healed.

None of them were fixed.

But for a little while, they were resting.

Maybe that was enough.

By the time they headed back toward the cabin, the sun had begun drifting lower in the sky.

The younger kids were exhausted.

Harry kept yawning.

Jonas somehow had sand in places James was fairly certain sand shouldn't be.

Elliott talked the entire walk home.

Every thought that entered her head immediately came out of her mouth.

Maggie walked behind them.

Listening.

Watching.

Occasionally smiling.

The cabin appeared through the trees as the trail curved uphill.

The familiar structure sat above the shoreline exactly where it always had.

Safe.

Waiting.

Home.

For months it had felt too large for the four people living inside it.

Tonight, for the first time since the world had ended, it felt full.

James glanced ahead at Elliott, still talking without taking a breath, while Harry and Jonas listened despite themselves.

Their voices carried through the trees all the way back to the cabin.

For the first time since the world had ended, it didn't feel quite so empty.

And for the first time in a long time, James found himself looking forward to tomorrow.