Chapter 1
|August 29th, 2010|
Freya Eve 'Faye' Dixon was a beautiful woman of average height with a lithe hourglass build, delicate defined features, flawless neutral-ivory skin, dark-brown silky hip-length loose curls, sharp-oval jade-green eyes, and neutral-rose heart-shaped lips. She was dressed in a black backless scoop-neck jumpsuit and a thin light-grey long-sleeved tunic with black two-inch heel combat boots. Her curls were pulled back into a sleek five-strand plait secured by a black ring of metal.
Warm arms wrapped around her waist and a head rested upon her own. Faye's tense shoulders eased under his reassuring presence and as she looked behind her and up, she knew who she would see. She had sensed it was him as soon as he got within a dozen feet of her, she had known exactly who he was as he had been her husband for nearly fourteen years.
Daryl Heath 'Dae' Dixon had crystal-blue eyes and cropped hair that was only auburn after enough time spent in the sun. He was several inches taller than her, barely half a head taller when she was in her combat boots with their two-inch heels. His black jeans tucked into combat boots and thin dark-grey long-sleeve shirt showed that he too was up for the day.
"What are you thinkin' about?" Daryl asked tiredly as he stared down at the quarry lake through the darkness. "It's early."
"I know." Freya said twisting in his arms and leaning her head on his chest. "But all I could think about was last night's broadcast."
"I'm worried too." Daryl admitted softly as he lifted her chin until her eyes met his. "But that's why we packed everything important into our camper, hooking up the trailer, and took our kids out of the city to the quarry."
"I know that, but even with our luxury four-season off-grid expedition vehicle and greenhouse-farm-harvester-storage trailer..." Faye trailed off wondering if she was being paranoid for saying. "I feel like we're not prepared for everything."
"Then we prepare some more." Daryl told her calmly, giving her a soft kiss. "We'll hunt, fish, forage, gather, and process until we're fully stocked even if we have to run the pelt-processer, solution-maker, soap-maker, dehydrator, smoker, and freeze-dryer twenty-four-seven."
"Alright." Freya agreed, letting any lingering tension fall away as she smiled softly at her husband. "I love you."
"I love ya, too, Darlin'." He says smiling and then tilts his head. "The girls'll enjoy the challenge."
"Yeah." Freya agreed and then chuckled. "But after a month they'll be wanting their own space back."
Both parents sighed knowing it was true. Their camper might be luxurious, but it wasn't built to house such a large family full-time.
It had one king-sized bed from converting the dinette, one full-sized bed that dropped down from the ceiling, and one king-sized bed over the cab. This meant that while they had their king-sized bed, their thirteen-year-olds shared the full-sized, and their eight-year-olds shared the king-sized bed with the three-year-olds and the eighteen-month-olds.
|~|~|~|
|Hours Later|
The early start to the day had been perfect, even if it had begun so early for the wrong reasons. The couple truly felt better once they had their machines full and running because it was a good start and they had enjoyed their pre-dawn hunting, foraging, and gathering.
Now, the sun was rising, and the children were waking up. Elara Rose 'Lara' and Elena Iris 'Lena' Dixon, the thirteen-year-old girls with their father's eyes and their mother's hair, were the first to wake up.
The were quiet as they made their bed, which amounted to straightening out their special sleeping bags and raising it into the ceiling. The special sleeping bags had a sleek waterproof exterior with a cushioned sleeping matt built into the bottom and a silk interior that had a silk sheet and a soft pelt blanket sewn inside.
They opened the wardrobe and went through their respective wooden boxes to gather their clothes for the day. They had showered the night before and were already in their jumpsuits and socks, so they pulled on thin long-sleeved tunics in two different shades of purple and their purple face mask gaiters that rested loosely around their necks.
They had each used to bathroom to do their business, wash her hands, brush their teeth, put on deodorant, and re-plaited their curls before pulling on black two-inch heel combat boots. The were lacing their boots up when the next set of twins began to wake up.
Amaya Faye 'Maya' and Amara Eve 'Mara' Dixon, the eight-year-old girls with their mother's jade-green eyes and curls only a few shades lighter, were a bit louder upon waking up. They were cuddled on the left side of the bed in their own special sleeping bags when they awoke.
These two had to be much more careful getting out of bed because of the three-year-old taking the upper-right corner of the bed and the railing surrounding eighteen-month-olds on the lower-right corner of the bed. Mara and Maya rolled their sleeping bags and slid them into their water-proof casing before wrapping their respective body pillow around it and securing them with the clips on the cases.
They tossed their bedding into the corner of their parents' made bed and waved at their older sisters before taking turns using the bathroom and getting ready. While one was using the bathroom to do her business, wash her hands, brush her teeth, put on deodorant, and re-plait her curls the other was pulling on her thin blue long-sleeved tunic and face mask gaiter before her black two-inch heel combat boots.
None of them would leave their camper unarmed when there was an unknown danger, so each of them added a trio of throwing knives in a sheath to the inside of each boot along with a dozen more surrounding each thigh and a half-dozen surrounding each forearm. The elder set of twins both strapped on a pair of G26s with one in a holster on each thigh. Their collapsed bows and quivers of arrow were laid out on top of the shelf next to the entrance for when they left the camper.
Talia Faith 'Tal' and Malia Hope 'Mal' Dixon, the three-year-old girls with their mother's hair and heterochromia eyes of jade-green and crystal-blue, were slow to wake. Tal was rubbing her eyes while Mal sat up and yawned. "Where's Mama?" They asked in unison seeing four of their sisters awake and ready for the day.
"Outside with Dad." Lara answered as the oldest, swiftly moving forward to gather them onto each of her hips. "Let's get you ready for the day and then we'll join them."
"I'll pull out their tunics and gaiters before dealing with their bedding." Lena told her twin moving forward to do just as she said.
"We've got Eden and Eira." Maya and Mara stated in unison, each moving to pick up a toddler.
It didn't take long to set the dinette to rights and have all of the bedding and pillows rolled and neatly stacked on the only bed still out. With all four of the older children working together, the youngest four were dressed and ready for the day within fifteen minutes.
Each of the eldest had a quiver on their back with a collapsed bow and a child in their arms as they made their way outside to greet their parents.
The campsite was fully set up with the four pop-up square tents combined at the sippers and the long folding wood table with the ten small ethanol tabletop firepits in the center of the table, a wood-burning stove in the far corner, twelve standing hammocks, and a dual-zone fridge near the entrance.
"Morning, Cubs." Faye greeted her children as she laid out breakfast sandwiches. Freshly made bread and smoked bear meat with a thin layer of spiced blackberry sauce. It would be a weird meal for most people used to their processed meats and breads, but it was a regular meal for this family who enjoyed an all-natural meal.
Everyone sat on the four hammocks around the table and dug into their food. It seemed like a regular family camping trip with laughter and chatter as they enjoyed a good meal, but as the food was finished and conversation tapered off reality set in.
"What's goin' on, Mama?" Lara asked softly, a nervous edge to her voice. "Why're we here?"
"We're gonna spent a few months here, Darlin'." Daryl told his daughters while sharing a look with his wife. "Something big is happenin' and we don't wanna be in the city when it hits."
"Are we livin' off the land again? Takin' only what we need?" Lena asked with mixed emotions. She loved spending weeks out here living off the land with her family, but she didn't like the reason they were here this time.
"We're not holdin' back, Sweetling." Faye told her daughters. "We're stocking up as much as we can without causing irreparable damage to the eco-system."
"Alright." Lara said in thought. "How can we help?"