“Yes let’s get back to work,” Meagan said turning back towards the storage shed.

“What should I do?” I asked intending to follow her.

“You, Miss Tumble, are going to go back into the house get something nice to eat and drink and are going to rest. You lost a good amount of blood yesterday, and your body has had a great amount of stress and physical exertion in the past few days,” Meagan said turning towards me and ordering me in a bossy tone.

“But I want to help. I’m going to get bored just sitting there,” I said refusing to go and play the patient in the house.

“Soph,” it was Max who interjected. ”You scared all of us a great deal yesterday, and you need to rest. Come on I will walk you to the cabin and make you some food,” he said. Never before had he taken someone else’s side in an argument. He was always one with me. I hesitated then I nodded my head. I knew he was right. He walked over and took me away from Trevor. He and I both walked back into the cabin.

“So since you are going to confine me into the cabin why don’t you tell me what everyone brought back from yesterday. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who was able to get something,” I asked as he helped me sit on a bar stool. Pain shot up my leg, but I sat anyway.

"Well, both Justin and Aaron came back with scores of rabbits and one turkey. Sasha brought back a whole sack full of herbs she has drying in the pantry. Meagan found some huckle berry trees and picked loads of berries. Trevor shot another mule deer just as you, only his was bigger and didn’t almost kill him,” he said with a laugh while he pulled out a power bar and some berries and set it before me with a glass of powdered milk.

“Wow, that’s a bunch, and how about you?” I asked popping some sweet berries into my mouth.

“I shot six squirrels, and filled up half of the wood shed with firewood,” he said sitting down next to me.

“That sounds great. You always were the sharp shot when it came to squirrels,” I said finishing my bowl of berries and moving on to a power bar that was supposed to taste like lemon, but it tasted like carpet fibers. I made a bitter face.

“Thanks, I felt good. I filled two large boxes with pine cones, and also those bars are nasty,” he said with a laugh.

“Well, I’m happy about everything that we were able to get yesterday, but what are they doing out there?” I asked looking through the window.

“They are trying to figure out the best place to store all of the meat that came into our possession. The deer were both a good size and once they were butchered there was a great deal of meat, not to add to the rabbits, squirrels, and the turkey,” he said looking out the window with me.

“Do they know about the cellar that dad put under the pump shed?” I asked looking at him.

“I’m assuming not. I totally forgot until you mentioned something,” he said looking at me.

“That would be the perfect place to store anything that we can, and some of the non-perishables,” I said drinking my milk.

“You want me to go tell them that you figured out our storage issue?” he asked with a small laugh.

“Yeah sure tell them to come here,” I said laughing. Max walked outside and I watched as he told them I found a place to store our now bursting supplies. They all headed for the cabin and walked in.

“How is it that every time we have a dilemma you are the one who solves it with minimal effort?” Aaron said rubbing his temples.

“Well it’s plain and simple,” I said looking at him. ”I’m just smarter than you,” I said with a laugh. Everyone laughed and he just rolled his eyes.

“What's your solution, Soph?” Sasha asked.

“Under the pump house, there is a cellar about as big the kitchen. There should be shelves in there if they haven’t rotted with age. Our dad built it when he used to come stay up here for months after our mom died. I only just remembered it today,” I said looking at them with a smile on my face.

“You’re kidding me, there’s a cellar too?” Meagan asked looking in awe. “Geez, I take back everything I thought about your dad. He’s a freaking genius. It is almost like he knew this was going to happen,” she said looking around the room.

I wasn’t going to pretend like her comment didn’t hurt a bit. My dad was known to be a bit off. Some people in town called him crazy, especially after our mom died and he disappeared for three months. He always seemed to be preparing for something, even if he didn’t know what it was. That is what made him a great survivalist. He adapted. There is no doubt in my mind that he is still alive.

“Yes Mr. Porter was a genius, now Max can you show us where this cellar is so we can start moving things into it?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah sure follow me,” he said leading the troop out. Everyone left, except Trevor.

“I know you well enough to know that Meagan’s comment hurt you.

"I know you know she didn’t mean anything by it,” he said coming and rubbing my shoulders.

“I know she didn’t but was my dad crazy? I don’t mean the bad kind, I mean the good kind,” I asked him.

“How do you mean?” he asked.

“He built this place to last. He made sure to only show this place to people he trusted, he didn’t want us to tell a bunch of people about it. After all these years I was just thinking he really just wanted to be the supreme survivalist, but what if that isn’t true? What if on some level my dad knew that one day we would need to survive here?” I asked him with tears pricking at the edge of my eyes.

“I don’t know what to say, Soph. Both of those could be possible, or it can be something totally different. The only one who knows the answer to that question is your dad. It is best not to dwell on it. Now would you like help up to the bedroom so you can take a nap?” he said stroking my hair.

“Why do I need to go take a nap? I literally woke up a while ago,” I asked relieved that the previous conversation was over for the time being.

“Because Meagan said to rest and I can tell by looking at our eyes you are tired,” he answered. I did still feel tired. I nodded and he picked me up. My thigh was pressed up against him which caused me to wince. “I’m sorry am I hurting you?” he said in a concerned tone. I shook my head. He walked out of the kitchen and headed up the stairs. It only took him a few minutes to get there, but it felt much longer with the pain. He put me down right outside the door and opened it.

He helped me over to the bed and pulled back the sleeping bag. I sat down and he helped me swing my legs onto the bed. Then he covered me with the blanket and sat down next to me. He put his hand on my head and stroked my hair looking at me.

He leaned down and put a kiss on my lips. When he tried to pull away I put my hands behind his head and kept his lips on mine. We sat there kissing for several moments before I finally let him go. I smiled at him as he got up and walked to the door.

“If you need anything yell out the window rather than dragging yourself down the stairs. I will come up for you,” he said and left the room. I buried myself deeper into the blankets and let sleep take me.