World Ashen

Chapter 18 - Cayler

Neither Kenneth nor I slept at all yesterday since we were talking about plans on how to survive this never-ending winter. "Morning," Jack said as he sat down at the table with the rest of us. "How did you sleep?"

About half of us answered with, "didn't." Without food, there was no point in coming to the table the first thing in the morning when there wasn't food, but now there was food and a point. I guessed the Hayner's had used the mornings as a time to talk about what they did that day. Ever since we entered their lives, table routine had morphed into our lives.

"Well, last night, I came up with an idea for the wall. Of course, Cayler helped." Jensen looked over at Dawson, "we'll need to borrow the bikes."

"Um, some of us don't know how to drive," Shiloh pipped up.

Piper nodded, "good point. What if we set up a driving school?"

"Clear some roads and use them as a driving course," Jace said.

"We'll need some teachers. How about you, Amy? You can choose some others. Piper wants to teach French if anyone's interested."

"German and Hebrew too," Piper laughed. "What should the driving age be? It used to be fifteen."

"Fifteen sounds good to me," Jensen said. "We'll just start teaching at fourteen." Shiloh, who used to have her head in her arms, looked up, happy. "How many bikes do we have? An estimate will be okay."

Dawson tapped his chin. "About thirty."

"That's more than I expected," Jensen beamed. "Dawson, would you like to come with us to get the fence? You can map the area."

"Sure," Dawson said. His happiness made me smile.

Suddenly, Brianna, Laya, Olivia, and Mary-Anne placed a plate of food in front of us. "Eat while you plan, but not too fast, or you might vomit." We all thanked them and I just sat there, staring at the colorful meal. There was pineapple, cereal, pecans, and much more. Even Adina, Shoshannah, and Jenna had baby food.

"I never thought I'd see pineapples ever again," I said, spearing a piece with my fork. The second I placed it in my mouth, the pineapple's favor exploded. The overpowering sweetness caused nausea, but I still savored the last piece.

As soon as we were done with breakfast, we all started talking about past Christmases because Christmas was in four days. "Hey, it's the first day of winter," Angel said, then we began laughing.

"Well, when's the first day of spring?" I asked as a joke, making everyone glare at me. "Sorry," I said.

Jensen cleared his throat. "Today, we're getting the fences at the prison, right?" Tons of people murmured in agreement. "Children younger than the age of fourteen, please stand up."

Mary-Anne and a couple of others stood. Just as Jensen started continuing, the church bells began ringing wildly. Cameron stood up to yell, "we've got a family of maybe four heading in our direction!" Jensen quickly got ready and then went outside, coming back with the family a couple of minutes later.

The whole Parker and Michaels family were silent for two seconds. "Ellie, Shaun! It's been eighteen years since we last saw you! How's Isaac and Iris?" Angel asked.

The woman called Ellie smiled, "growing up fast. Isaac turns fourteen on Friday and Iris is twelve on Saturday. Why don't we start with introductions?" She had a British accent. She was the younger sister of Angel and Cameron, and Shaun was Thomas's and Haley's brother, the middle child.

"How did you find New Haven?" Cameron asked after everyone introduced themselves.

"We were looking for a new place to settle after raiders burned our house down to the ground. A man in town had told us about New Haven, and here we are."

Shaun clapped his hand on Thomas' back. "So. Where's Dad hiding?"

Thomas clenched his jaw. "He died two weeks ago."

"Oh. Is Mum alright?"

"She's in her room. She'll be happy seeing you."

That was an understatement since Katrina shot out of her room, hearing Shaun's voice. "Oh my God, Shaun! It's been too long!"

"Agreed. Remember Isaac and Iris?" Katrina started crying as she hugged her son and grandchildren. After Katrina released her son, Shaun turned to me. "Cayler Cason Reynolds, from Aunt Laura's class?"

I nodded, "yep."

"I remember hearing from Aunt Laura that you wanted to be like me when you grew up."

"Eh, you're still way cooler than me."

Shaun smiled. "Nah, mate. You're cool."

"Hey, Shaun. You and Ellie should probably pick out your house. Meet me back here when you're done, alright?" Jensen said, and his older cousin nodded.

Jensen sighed, worried. "Where were Shaun and Ellie when Yellowstone happened?"

Thomas said. "Indiana, I think. They were heading here on your birthday and were almost at your house when Yellowstone erupted."

I shook my head, "didn't they just say raiders burnt down their house?"

Thomas and Jensen nodded. "They have a house in Britain, Indiana, and Atlanta." Ellie and Shaun must've been very rich before Yellowstone.

"We're back and chose a house," Ellie said, closing the door behind her after her husband and kids entered.

"Well, welcome to New Haven," Jensen smiled.

"You still say well, a lot, I see," Shaun said, ruffling Jensen's hair. Jensen scowled and told him about the prison gates. "Right, it's only fair I help you with the wall since I live here now."

Luckily, it took a couple of hours to get the fences and bring them back to New Haven, so we began digging the trenches. Digging the trenches would take about two weeks since the snow was so thick. It would probably take a little longer if we took Christmas off, and we would. The work would be quicker if most of New Haven could help. Jensen left to get the rest of the town, and when he came back, he said, "I need everyone eighteen and higher, only the able, to help with the wall. Kids fourteen or can't drive, please go over to Mrs. Amy Michaels. Those younger than fourteen to six, please go to Mrs. August Hayner."

Jensen was doing something brilliant, splitting people into groups. Now, everyone had something to do. The younger kids would be in school, the older ones would learn to drive, and the adults would work on the wall. Jensen let me stand guard at the entrance instead of helping with the wall.

I stood on the wooden platform, thinking about what Wyatt had said about Mom and her death. Was Mom always with us? Maybe that explains why she was in my dreams. Maybe it was because I missed her. Even though I didn't remember her voice when I was awake, it was in my dreams.