Page 102 of What Remains

"We heard the truck—I was so afraid it wasn't you," she called out, her voice filled with relief.

Layla reached Beast before Seth had the chance to shut off the engine, bouncing impatiently beside the passenger door.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

Seth climbed out just in time for her to wrap both arms around his waist and squeeze with everything her small frame could manage.

"You came back!"

He laughed, ruffling her winter hat. "I said I would."

"I know." She beamed up at him, cheeks pink from the cold. "I just wanted to make sure."

Josie stepped down from the truck, and before she could speak a single word, Liz pulled her into a fierce embrace.

Josie hugged her just as tightly. "We're okay."

Liz looked past her sister toward the loaded vehicles, and her eyes went wide. "...Good Lord."

Jay climbed down from the Suburban with a grin stretched across his face. "I think we found enough supplies to make Sawyer cry."

Cara laughed. "Happy tears."

"I meant tears of jealousy."

Liz walked slowly around the Suburban, taking in the mountain of gear lashed beneath cargo nets—sleeping bags, backpacks, boxes of ammunition, winter coats, fuel cans, propane cylinders, axes, water filters, and cases of canned food stacked nearly to the roof.

"I don't even know where to start."

Jay clapped his hands together, the sound sharp in the cold. "Alright, folks. This mountain isn't going to move itself."

They started organizing things on the porch. Every thing got split three ways with two thirds going in their trailer and two vehicles and the other going into the farm house. Layla darted in and out.

"I've got it!" she insisted, straining dramatically under the weight.

Seth caught the box just before it slipped from her mittens. "You almost did."

She looked at him suspiciously. “No I do!”

She giggled and settled instead for a much smaller box filled with seed packets, carrying it toward the house with all the pride of someone hauling twice her weight.

Liz paused when she noticed the label. "Vegetable seeds?"

Cara smiled. "Tomatoes, beans, corn, squash, carrots—even strawberries."

Josie's eyes filled with sudden tears. "Mama would've loved this."

Liz reached over and squeezed her sister's hand, her own voice softening. "We'll plant every single one. In the spring."

Inside, the pantry came to life, shelf after shelf filling with canned vegetables, soups, beans, rice, flour, coffee, and enough dried food to stretch well beyond winter. Josie carefully organized the medical supplies into the old linen closet—antibiotics, bandages, sutures, pain medication, sterile dressings, and trauma kits—running her hand gently across the stocked shelves when she finished.

She shook her head in quiet disbelief. "This is... this is like finding treasure."

Outside, the generator came down with a shared grunt from Jay and Seth, its metal legs sinking into the snow. They moved on to the sacks of feed, their breath pluming in the cold air as they stacked them in the barn while Cara made a final check against her notebook.

"I think we're good.”

Jay nodded, glancing toward the Suburban. "Everything in that pile stays and The rest goes back with us."