Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“There’s a pile of leaves by the door. You can head a little ways from the cabin if you want, but just make sure you can keep it in sight to get back, okay?” he asked.
“Okay,” I agreed, unhappy to leave my warm blanket, but moving around warmed me up quickly enough as I headed into the woods, going as far as possible without losing sight of the cabin.
By the time I came back, Riff was outside, holding onto one of the cups from the cabin.
“We have to leave some of the cups behind. It’s the right thing to do in this kind of situation,” he said. “But I took the jar, the honey, the last meal, and I found this,” he said, unrolling some material until it took the shape of a small sweater. “I think it belongs to a kid, but it should fit you,” he said, holding it out to me. “I shook it out. No critters. I didn’t feel right taking the blanket in case someone else needs to use this cabin for survival.”
“This will help,” I said, but knotted it around my waist, wanting to use it when I got really cold, not when I was reasonably comfortable. “I can carry something,” I offered as he shoved things into his pockets.
“Yep. Yourself,” he agreed, and somehow, I felt my lips curving up ever so slightly. It had been so long since I had any reason at all to smile that the muscles felt tight as it happened.
“Alright,” Riff said, pulling his phone out of his pocket to tuck it into a different one. “Yeah,” he said, seeing me look at it. “I turned it on while you were gone. But there’s no signal at all. And I have almost no battery,” he told me. “So I had to turn it off. As soon as we get anywhere near civilization, I will power it up, and call my brother. Then he will get us out of here.”
“Your brother?” I asked as I fell into step beside him, the morning birds chirping happily as they went about finding their breakfast.
“Raff,” he said, nodding.
“Wait… Raff?” I asked. “Riff and Raff? Like… who let in the riff-raff?”
“Exactly that,” he agreed, shooting me a tired-looking smile.
“Are those your real names?”
“Nicknames from when we were kids, but they kind of stuck. That’s what everyone calls us.”
“Your brother was with you at the… house?” I asked.
“Yeah. We were there to do a deal, but the fuckers were never going to make a deal. Shit got dicey.”
“I heard the gunshots.”
“Yeah. My brother got to the car, but there were people in my way.”
“He didn’t wait for you?”
“We have a deal for when situations get bad. Whoever gets to the car first leaves in the car, if it’s too dangerous for them to wait. The other will try to meet them down the road, or will call when they are somewhere safe to get picked up.”
And he had no signal to call his brother.
“He must be worried sick.”
“Raff isn’t usually the worrying sort, but… yeah. This is the longest we’ve ever gone without being in contact. We’re twins,” he explained. “And we… work together. So… yeah.”
“I’m sorry I’m slowing you down,” I said even as I felt the blisters forming on my feet, knowing I would only get slower as the day went on.
“Vienna, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. We will get to a road, then this will all be over. Besides, I’m not exactly hating a trek through the woods,” he said. “Been a while.”
“Are we in Arkansas?” I asked, watching his handsome profile.
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Is this where you live?”
“I guess… not anymore,” I said, figuring that months had gone by when I hadn’t paid bills. My apartment was surely occupied by someone else by now. My belongings, well, donated? Thrown away? I had no idea.
“Your family then?” he asked.
“I don’t have any,” I told him. “I had my grandma only. But she passed… I guess it’s two years now. After her… there was no one.”
No one to know I was missing, let alone worried I’d been kidnapped. No one to look for me, to lean on the police to double their efforts to find me.
“Where are you from?” I asked.
“Originally? Georgia. But my brother and I live mostly on the road. The place we rest our heads for longer than a night or two, though, is California.”
“I didn’t peg you for someone from California.”
“Well, we don’t live in the sun-and-fun part. We’re out in Inyo. Over by the Death Valley mountains that border Nevada. Get more of the seasons and shit. Bet it’s cold as fuck at night right about this time of year.”
“Why do you live on the road? Are you… salesmen?” I asked, though I wasn’t even sure that traveling salesmen even existed anymore. That sounded like a thing of the past.