Free Land by Theresa Shaver

supper. While waiting for the boys to return, Dara and Alex set up the small table between the two beds for more seating and placed the food and drinks as well as the map on it. It was getting dark outside when Quinn and Cooper finally came in and emptied one last bucket full of water into the tub. Alex was surprised to see the time was almost eight o’clock at night. As the two boys got cleaned up with the hot water she got out the lantern and a fat camping candle from the trailer and lit it. Alex went to the door and took a quick look out, noting that the beer drinkers were gone. She shut and locked the door and then pulled the heavy curtains closed. It wasn’t nearly as hot in the room as when they first opened it up but it was still very warm. Having the door open had helped to keep it cooler but Alex felt safer with it closed and locked now that it was getting dark. By the time she got the lantern lit everyone had gathered at the table to eat.
    “Mm hmm, just what I wanted after a hard day’s work! Beef jerky and trail mix. This sure will hit the spot.” Josh joked sarcastically.
    No one was happy with the supper but they all understood it was better to be cautious about advertising what supplies they had. As they were eating, they discussed what their plan was for the next day. Looking at the map and trying to figure out distances wasn’t all that easy. Alex couldn’t help wishing for Google earth to zoom in and see what was ahead of them.
    She wondered if she would ever see a working computer with internet again, or if someday her future children would. It was those thoughts that finally brought the whole situation home for Alex. She had to quickly leave the table and race for the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before throwing up what little she had eaten. Alex flushed the toilet and splashed some water on her face. She stood shaking in front of the mirror trying to get herself under control.
    A knock on the door and Dara came in, “Are you alright Alex?”
    Staring at Dara through the mirror Alex let out all she was thinking. “No more Google, no cars, no planes, no grocery stores, malls, cell phones, Facebook, new jeans, prom, Glee, no more iTunes and damn it, we will never see the last Twilight movie.” she ended with a half laugh half sob. Dara’s eyes had gotten wider as Alex listed the things that were gone.
    “Oh My God! I think I’m going to puke.” She covered her mouth.
    “Feel free, I already did.” Alex told her. “It just hit me. We’ve been go go going since the moment this happened that I finally realized that it’s done. All the things in our lives that we took for granted everyday are over. If we want music we’ll have to make it. If we want food we’ll have to grow it. It’s like we just got cast in a really bad Pioneer Village reality show.”
    “Oh shit, do you think we’ll end up sister wives, pumping out babies and farming?” Dara exclaimed.
    Alex couldn’t help it. It was all too much to process and she burst out laughing and couldn’t stop, even with tears rolling down her face. Dara started giggling and they both ended up howling with laughter and holding onto each other. The boys must have thought that they had lost it because none of them came to check on them. After they settled down and caught their breath they washed their faces and went back out to the main room.
    All the guys were staring at them, afraid to say anything, and that set the girls off laughing again. The table had been put back and the food cleared away. There were two mugs of steaming hot chocolate sitting on the night stand between the beds and the girls immediately claimed them, sitting back on one bed to drink.
    “Sooo, you guys ok?” Quinn asked. When Alex and Dara only nodded he continued. “Alright, Cooper is taking first watch until midnight, then me until three AM and then Josh until six. You two can have tonight off and take a turn tomorrow night. Josh will wake us in the