Free Shenandoah by Everette Morgan

Chapter 1
    It had been a week since Marcus had crashed in the Shenandoah National Park.  Wynd still couldn’t come to terms with it.  She repeatedly had Jocelyn search the area with drones and in those seven days there had not been one single sign that Marcus could be alive.   Based on all the statistics and facts that Jocelyn provided for her, Wynd knew that Marcus should be dead but she just couldn’t accept that.  Deep in her heart she felt that if anyone could have survived that crash it would be Marcus and she refused to give up. Kim had already stopped her twice from taking the MAV and going to check for herself. 
    Wynd was trying to stop but she still cried herself to sleep every night. The first time she had truly felt safe after the virus hit was when she was with him. He was her safety net.  She knew he was there and would catch her if she fell… and now he was gone.  As she rolled these things through her mind, instead of giving up, she became more determined to believe that he was alive.
    As she went about her chores in the house in abject silence, no one tried talking to her.  She knew that in part they were grieving also but they were also trying to let her work through the grief.   Although they were extremely upset at first, the children were quickly getting back to their old selves.  All the Christmas gifts helped with that although Little Madison would still ask when Marcus was coming home.  She still missed her ‘Mawcus’. 
    It was New Year’s Day and some snow had fallen.  Looking outside at the beautiful snow that blanketed the area, Wynd thought the snow was at least a couple of inches deep.  Danielle and Lauren had taken all the children outside and they were playing in the snow.  ‘Wendy’ the weather girl was calling for at least eight more inches before the end of the week.  That was a lot of snow for this area even though they were on a mountain.  Wendy provided historical data on the weather occasionally and her statistics said that a century ago it would only snow a couple of times a year.  The weather patterns had been changing over the last century and snow was becoming most commonplace.  Wynd thought about going outside but changed her mind and worked on cleaning the house.  David was still resting in Marcus’ room from his ordeal and Kim was there with him.  Virginia was working in the kitchen as usual. 
    As Wynd was sweeping the dining room she looked up and saw Virginia looking at her. 
    “Would you like to talk about it?” asked Virginia.
    Wynd stopped sweeping, looked at her a minute, and then shook her head ‘no’.
    “Are you sure?  It really helps to talk about it,” said Virginia.
    Wynd shook her head again and continued sweeping.
    “Well… okay.  I’m here if you need me,” said Virginia as she started to turn away.  Then Virginia turned back and held out her arms.  Wynd paused for a second, dropped the broom, and ran into Virginia’s arms.  Virg just held her and let her cry. 
    “You know I had two girls.  You remind me a lot of them.  I know how bad the pain is that you are going through.  I lost them both to the virus.  Tom and I grieved together over them.  It really helps for someone to be there to share your load.  I wish you had got a chance to meet Tom,” said Virginia as tears welled up in her eyes. Wynd hugged her tighter as they both grieved their losses. 
    After Wynd calmed down, Virginia asked Wynd if she would like to help her in the kitchen.  Wynd nodded her head yes and they went to work on cooking lunch for the household.
     
     

Chapter 2
    A few days later Kim walked into the living room and there was Wynd doing the same thing she did every morning.  She had Jocelyn running a scan with the drone around the area that Marcus had crashed in.  Kim had tried to talk her out of continuing the search.  It had now been over two weeks since the crash.  There had been nothing to indicate that Marcus might have