“We are all settled. I put my stuff in the chest by the fireplace. I also turned on the solar generator. I forgot how to turn on the water pump, so that's still off, but everything is in order. We are ready to unload. Are we using the lift?” he asks.

I shake my head and answer, “Thank you, don’t worry I’ll turn it on, and yes, lower it." I walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen. The whole cabin was very dusty. Walking to the kitchen I flipped the switch and the lights flickered on with a very slow hum. I opened the pantry and hit the three number sequence and the switch to start the water generator. Expecting the normal jolt it gave I was surprised to find that it was silent. I did the sequence again and it was still silent. I went to the kitchen sink and found that it wasn’t working. “Great, the water is out,” I said with frustration.

I walked outside to see if the power cord was hooked up to the generator. Reaching the generator shed I found it was disconnected. I plugged it back in then went to the house. Once again I stepped into the closet and did the sequence. The water pump kicked itself awake and I walked out of the closet. I turned off the light in the kitchen then went out front. Everyone had been busy unloading the UTVs. “The water and power are working great. There is only mild warm water, but it’s still mainly clean. All of the food can be put in the house, or in the shed by the generator. The other supplies can go in the storage room in the back of the cabin. Try not to load the lift up too much,” I said picking up a box of supplies and bringing it into the house.

Around sunset we had all of the supplies organized and counted in the cabin. We decided to go through and eat the more perishable food first. We all ate a variety of granola bars, power bars and potato chips for dinner. Everyone finished up the night with a quick five minute shower. I have gone days without a shower plenty of times while doing our yearly wilderness visits, but this time I savored the time I had. I put on the pair of long johns I picked out at the Depot and a camo shirt of my dad's I found in the closet. I went into the living room to say goodnight to Max, but he was already asleep. I gave him a kiss on the forehead, and headed back to the room.

Trevor must have been in the shower because he wasn’t in the room. I unzipped a forest green sleeping bag taken from the Depot and made it into a big blanket and pulled it over me. I reached over and turned off my lamp. The room was still dimly lit. I closed my eyes and I felt myself sinking into a deep sleep.

When Trevor came in I never heard him. Then again he has always been extremely quiet. I woke up in the middle of the night. The room was pitch black. It took me a minute to remember where I was. I pulled my right hand toward my face I couldn’t see it. I reached for the alarm clock on the nightstand and hit the light up button. It was four in the morning. I rolled over on my back and just thought about what has happened in the past few days. Everyone is dead. Where is my dad? Why didn’t Trevor go check on his mom at the hospital? What happened? What are we going to do? Are we even safe here?

These thoughts ran through my head for the better part of an hour until I finally decided to get up. I slowly pulled back the covers and sat up in the bed. I stretched my arms above my head and my shoulders let out a giant crack. With that sound Trevor shot up in the bed and looked around. He saw me staring at him with my arms stretched above my head. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?” he asked swinging his feet over the side of the bed.

“That still scares you,” I said with a laugh and getting out of bed. “It’s almost five."

He stood up on his side. Neither one of us thought to switch on the light and we ended up colliding with one another even though there was a small sliver of light coming in from the sunrise in the window.

His hands were on both sides of my waist just above my hips. Mine were on his shoulders. I looked up at him. His facial features I knew as well as my own. His thin nose, angled face and those deep green eyes. I couldn’t see their color, but I knew they were staring at me. He let out a small sigh and let me go. “How much longer are we going to keep doing this to each other? What you overheard my mom say means nothing,” I told him.

“Don’t you understand? She meant everything to your father, and to you and Max. She made it very clear when she said make sure you knew that there were better guys out there than me,” he answered.

“Trevor, that was three years ago. We were kids. Both of us were rebels and we did all kinds of stupid stuff. She never got the chance to see how much you’ve grown up since then,” I told him.

“So you are telling me that even though she only knew who I was she would be fine with who I am?” he asked turning to me.

“It doesn’t matter what she thinks anymore Trevor. She died two years ago. My dad loves you. He treats you just like a son,” I told him drawing closer to him. He was looking out the window. His hands were shaking.

“I know. But what are we supposed to do? All of us are all alone in the world right now,” he said still looking out the window. I touched his shoulder.

“Look at me,” I said. He turned around. “We have each other, and that makes us not alone." He grabbed my face and lightly touched my lips with his thumb.

“With you I have never been alone,” he said and touched his lips to mine. His touch was so gentle. I have always known him as a hard and aggressive person. I put my hands on his face and he wrapped his arms around my waist. It felt like our kiss took hours. When it ended he touched his forehead to mine.”I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” he said laying a kiss on my forehead.

“I’ve wanted you to do that for a long time,” I smiled.

He chuckled. “ Now that we have that out of the way we need to figure out just what in the world we are going to do,” he said withdrawing from my arms.

“I think we should start by breakfast,” I laughed and grabbed my clothes heading for the bathroom.