The Orphans Series Vol. 1: The Orphans (8 page)

              Shaun sighed thinking how the tensions between them had been boiling at the brim lately. The thought of sitting with dear old dad made him squirm and if he decided to have small talk about Karen then things would be getting heated fast. His dad was under the mindset if he kept inviting the girls over that they would just be one big happy family. Did his dad somehow think he was a baby and went to sleep at 9pm every night, and that he couldn't hear Karen arriving a few times a week, or his dad leaving a few times a week for overnight stays?             

             
Shaun looked around the room. There were clothes everywhere but the camouflage fatigues which should have been laid out along with his sleeping bag and his extra clothes for the next few days just weren't put together yet. It wasn't a current priority. "I'll pack later and be ready for tomorrow."             

             
Frank had been ready for two days, already pre-packed with all his gear ready to go sitting in the living room for an easy carry outside in the morning. He ran his hands through his hair--it was a nervous trait. He thought about when he was Shaun's age--he would be so excited and pumped up with adrenaline to go hunting with his own dad that he could barely sleep the night before. His dad didn't have to worry about him being ready. The night of Deer Hunting Eve, he'd be oiling his shotgun and double checking everything was ready. It annoyed the hell out of him how nonchalant his own son was about going. Someone who was half of himself he thought the trait would have rubbed off.              

             
"It's all about the finish work, you know? A successful hunt is because of good preparation, Shaun. Don't forget the cabin is a few hours away and most of that is on foot. So whatever you think you need, be ready to carry it up in your pack."

             
Shaun thought about this. "This is just our annual deer trip right? We're not going to become survivalists in the mountains right? Or I guess it'd be the hills of Iowa?"

             
Frank shook his head and smiled. "No, smart ass. Just make sure you stuff's ready to go. I already made sure that the guns, ammo, and hunting tags were taken care of. I picked up some new two and three quarter steel slugs guaranteed to punch a hole right through them. They're good to go. Wheels on the road at oh-four-hundred, so make sure you're up. I'm going to turn in soon, so make sure you don't stay up too late. You might need to drive."

             
"Right.... A thirteen-year-old driving. That'd be legal! Anyways, it's only twenty minutes away. I'll get packed once my writing is finished."

             
Shaun finished putting his thoughts down on paper and found his hunting clothes his dad had picked up for him. He packed the extra set in his hunting backpack along with the other clothes he'd need to stay warm at night when he wasn't trying to blend in with the deer. He stuffed essentials in there like his journal, pens, and a few modern day items that he'd not be able to live without. He packed his knife his Grandpa had made for him from a deer antler and he took out his wallet. He opened it to make sure the picture of his mother was there, kissed it, closed it and stuck his wallet into a water tight compartment in his hunting clothes bag. His dad always joked that no one was crazy enough to try and drive a vehicle up there, so everything that you wanted had to be taken in by pack. If his Grandpa hadn't had horses and a sled, the place would have never been built in the first place.

Chapter 6

Day -125: January 25
th
, 2017 World Population 7,343,853,555

              Morning came too soon, and as Shaun wandered out towards the kitchen the sweet smell, and the only good thing to him about the hunting trip, was the giant breakfast his dad would cook once a year. He squinted at the bright lights of the kitchen, and took in the deep smells of coffee brewing, eggs being scrambled, and bacon sizzling in the pan. He rubbed his eyes and saw his dad bouncing back and forth from skillet to skillet. His dad was already decked out in camo pants and a black, short sleeve t-shirt. He wouldn't put everything else on until they arrived or he'd be sweating in no time. Frank noticed his son standing there in flannel pajama pants and nothing else. "Are you all set to get a monster buck, Shaun?"

             
Shaun, who was anything but a morning person, shrugged and let out a non-committal grunt.

             
His dad laughed and took a long pull from his black coffee as he kept stirring the food around so it wouldn't burn. "Don't get too excited all at once! I don't want you to pull anything."

             
Shaun stretched and walked over to look at the food. He closed his eyes and could remember this kind of treat being weekly with his mother as opposed to yearly the morning of deer season. He peered around his dad and managed, "Smells good.... Is it ready yet?"

             
Frank shook his head. "Tell you what, why don't you get dressed and brush your teeth? We can eat these on the road."

             
"That works for me, but are you going to be able to eat these on the road?"

             
Frank opened the oven up, pulled out a large round pan of steaming hot fresh tortillas, and laid it on one of the two precut aluminum foil wrappers on the counter. "Who needs to waste time sitting around eating when we can make the worlds fattest to-go breakfast burrito?"             

             
Frank picked up the eggs, the green chili sauce, the bacon, potatoes and spicy pepper jack cheese. By the time he was done with the creation and wrapped it with another layer of foil, they were as thick as a man's forearm. He secured them in a thermo lunch box, topped off his coffee, and grabbed a couple sports drinks for Shaun.             

             
Shaun thought about it while he brushed his teeth and dropped off the Browns at the Super Bowl, and went into the medicine cabinet to grab a couple packages of antacid for his dad. It was to save himself and his dad some pain over the next few hours that they'd be sharing in close quarters.

             
It only took a half hour to get to the outskirts of the property which was abundantly thick with heavy oak and pine trees. The cabin was safely secluded from everything else made by man. In this case, they just wanted the opportunity to fill their freezer with deer that they always ate happily throughout the year. The location was twenty miles from home but it was an hour and a half walk up a steep hillside with full packs and guns. Half way up the gravel road it turned into a worn path. They made it up there in under the usual hour and a half. His Grandpa had built the place and a shelter underneath it when the Cuban missile crisis was going on in the 60's, and he had brought most of the heavy equipment up here during the winter by himself with a home built wood sled and a horse.

             
Frank stopped at the outside of the cabin and set his pack down in the snow. He was the cautious type, so he spent a few minutes with a flashlight walking the perimeter of the cabin. He checked that all the window padlocks were in place. Each one had a shutter that locked tight in the middle. The door had three separate padlocks, and a bar that went through the door which wouldn't budge until they were all removed. Between Frank and his dad, their ingenuity took care of any thieves unless they were really destructive. Frank deemed it was safe, removed all the locks around the house, and they went into the dusty, musty cabin, stomping the snow off of their feet.             

             
Shaun walked around taking it all in. If Ellie, Greg, or Tina could have seen him all decked out in his camouflage and carrying a gun around, they wouldn't know he was the same guy. He took a deep breath triggering all the memories of this place which came rushing back. He was thinking of coming up here when he was a kid long before his mom had passed and things were still good. His Grandpa, a giant of a man, would carry him halfway up the hill on his shoulders and the rest of the way on a sled. He looked at the wood burning stove, thinking of his Grandpa lugging it up the hill with a horse so they could have hot food. There were long chats about good old days which Shaun couldn't relate to but always enjoyed listening to. His Grandpa would go off about any topic and his dad nodding his head and smiling, knowing there wasn't a damn thing in the world he could do. His Grandpa would always toss tootsie rolls to Shaun knowing his son, Frank, would do nothing about it.

             
Shaun unfolded his cot and laid his pack next to it. He unzipped his camouflage coat, slid it off and looked around. The frigidly cool air drifting through the open door felt good on his sweat soaked back. After walking up that hill it was all he could do to still breathe. He smiled, thinking what would happen to the other guys on his wrestling team if they had attempted to walk up that hill with no free hands and a pack full of food, drinks, and clothes. The coach wouldn't have any issues at all with getting them to meet their weight goals.

             
Frank knelt down by the wood burning stove, grabbed some of the wood he kept stocked and some newspapers. Every year before they came up to hunt, Frank would make a special trip with some of the canned goods, drinks, and matches. The cabin had a stockpile because he always brought up extra with him. The canned goods lasted so long that Frank figured it wouldn't hurt to have a place with fresh safe food, water, and anything else you might need. There was all the protein you could eat just running around the woods. He never told Shaun there was always more than enough food, and he didn't really need to pack his own backpack tight with supplies.

             
Frank emptied some of the vegetables and frozen stew meat he had brought and set it on an old cast iron pot which just got better cooking over time. He looked at Shaun who was staring around and said. "That's supper on the go. Let's get set up and go see if we can fill our tags early and relax the rest of the weekend."

             
Shaun laid his leather shotgun case on the bed and unzipped the camouflaged gun case. It had the classic wood stock and the blued barrel he'd gotten so used to. He loaded the gun and then checked the remaining ammunition. He looked down while his dad watched and verified the safety was on. He looked up and found his hunting gloves and beanie and put the heavy camo coat on over all of this and zipped it up. He knew that in a few hours he'd be happy to be dressed in so many layers.
 

             
Shaun smiled finally, getting a little excited at the prospect of hunting. "I'm all ready to go. Let's bag 'em and tag 'em, dad."

             
Frank took a deep breath, relaxing a little and feeling good that maybe Shaun was finally getting into it. "I'm ready to go if you are." He knew he needed to talk to Shaun soon but thought maybe he'd do it later tonight while they were sitting around the cabin. There would be plenty of time to talk things out then. He didn't want to wait too long in case things didn't go well.

             
They headed out and Frank got the door shut after throwing an extra log on the fire to make sure the stew had plenty of heat to keep it cooking. He breathed in the cold hoping the sun would soon help heat up the day to thirty degrees. He showed Shaun a spot where they anticipated pretty high traffic and found himself a spot fifty yards down with plenty of trees to cover his place.             

             
Frank knew it would be all or nothing for them on the deer, because that's how it has always been--lots of movement or not--but typically where there are tracks there are deer. The day was relaxing and he needed it. He watched and waited the first hour for something to come but nothing did. He unlatched his pack and took out his medical journal, the one which he had kept since the beginning. He looked through it and saw his notes from the soldiers and lost himself in thought the rest of the afternoon.              

             
Shaun lost interest in holding his gun and staring at the woods in a little less than a half hour. He took out his journal, a pen and his music player. He leaned up against the tree, not feeling too much heat, and went to work on his thoughts. His writing ability was handicapped with the thick thermal gloves. He stayed warm with Ellie on his mind. He thought even if his dad decided to start dating Karen more then maybe it wouldn't be that bad. If he could spend more time with Ellie, she would forget about Greg. He had other plans and he thought maybe if he told her about Greg's intentions with Tina then maybe he'd increase his chances. He didn't want to screw up Greg's life--he looked up to him--and wouldn't want him to think anything less of him. At the exact same time, as much as he thought he would be the perfect guy for Ellie, he also knew if he told her about Tina then maybe he would be breaking her heart at the same time.             

             
He shook his head and thought about how hard it was to be a teenager and thought how easy adults have it. They got to work and didn't have anyone telling them what to do. They have lots of money and get to be with the girl they liked and probably got laid like every night. He couldn't wait until he had his own place and didn't have anyone telling him what to do. He was pretty sure that he'd be a journalist, if there was such a thing as paper publication by the time he becomes an adult. He checked his phone and looked at his signal. It was weak, but hopefully just enough to get a message to the outside world. He pulled up his contact list, hit Ellie's picture giving him the finger, and hit the envelope icon to send her a text. He typed out: "
Help, trapped in woods, dad has a gun, no deer, worried will be eaten by the old man, sos, lol
."