Snow & Ash: Endless Winter Read Free Page A

was about to ask again when he let out a tired sigh.
    “Can you hold it for a few more minutes? We’re almost there.”
    I sat back against my seat and nodded at him in the rear view mirror, as scared and confused as I was about what I had seen in the last few hours I was also really curious about where we were going. I was just a baby when my Dad was a soldier. Mom said the last time he deployed I was two years old and I screamed for him all through the airport when he left. That was his last tour and when he came back he started up a business as a construction contractor. Even though I envisioned a cold damp cave full of bats, I knew Dad would never bring us to such a place to live long term. He had made the trip to his cave at least once a month and sometimes more often for as long as I could remember so I knew that he would have fixed it up into something habitable.
    A huge rut in the path made the truck lurch and Mom let out a low moan. I was really worried about her and let a heavy breath of relief out when Dad slowed the truck to a stop. My peanut sized bladder was screaming for relief but I knew Mom would be even more desperate, so I grabbed a box of tissue from the seat and scrambled out the door before opening hers and helping her down. We moved away from the truck behind some bushes and I tried to brace Mom so she could go pee, but she waved me off and braced herself against a tree. I spun away and found my own tree to balance against and did my business. I might be a mall girl at heart but I had camped with Dad a few times so I knew to bring the used tissue back to be burned later.
    Mom was back at the truck before me and she passed me a travel sized bottle of hand sanitizer after taking my tissues and putting them in the plastic bag Dad used as a garbage in the front seat. As I rubbed my hands together, I looked around and saw nothing but wilderness. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath of the late summer forest smell and tried to let the stress of the last few hours go. Opening my eyes, I looked at my Mom’s strained face and sighed. As crazy as this living in a cave business sounded to me, at least we would all be together.
    Mom leaned wearily against the side of the truck and cradled her big belly with one arm. Her face was pinched and tired looking as she watched my Dad pull our bags out from the truck bed. A small mountain of bags grew and I hoped we didn’t have far to carry them all. Once he had removed everything he pulled my back pack and a few of the shopping bags from the pile and tossed them in my direction.
    “Can you handle these, Sky? I don’t want your Mom carrying anything.”
    With a nod, I gathered the bags and stood watching as he shouldered both his bug out bags and struggled to right Mom’s suitcase. The tiny wheels on the case would not be much help on the rough, overgrown forest floor. As he tried to right the case, Mom pushed off the side of the truck and reached for the shopping bags draped over my arms. I gave her a concerned look but she just shook her head and took the bags.
    “Go help your father with the case Sky, I can manage these.”
    I could see the stress that lined Dad’s face and the way his jaw was clenched tightly. He only nodded at me and shot a quick glance at Mom when I helped him get the case upright and we finally started moving. It was a ten minute struggle to get to where we were going and we were all panting and sweating in the late summer heat when he finally came to a stop and dropped the bags.
    I looked around and saw only more forest and a rock wall. Seeing no cave opening I assumed we were taking a break, so I dropped my own pack and leaned against the rock wall to rest. I watched my dad take the shopping bags from Mom and gently rub her belly while speaking to her in a low voice. He kissed her gently on the forehead and then turned and stepped towards me.
    “Can you move Sky? I need to get the door open.”
    I looked at him in confusion but stood up