Chapter Six
Over the next week, Murphy and I spent most of our time together. Every other day, we trekked to the radio tower, hoping to hear something. I shared with him what Matthew and Brett told me about the camps, but he wanted some sort of concrete proof before we left the safety of the woods.
On the days we didn’t go to the radio tower, Murphy began teaching me simple survival skills. I learned how to set up kindling and wood for a fire, keep it going, and even some plants that were edible. Unfortunately, although learning how to keep a fire going was practical, it meant nothing when I couldn’t start one.
“Are you sure there’s enough friction? Press harder against the wood,” Murphy said from above me.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes while bumps erupted on my arms from the deep tenor of his voice. In any other circumstance, his words would have a very different meaning. Who knew talking about making fire could be so dirty?
Murphy had been trying to teach me how to get a spark for the past five days, but no matter what I did or how hard I tried, I had no luck. In my defense, this was something most of us had to learn. Our last match from the few packs we had taken from town was used a few days ago.
To no one’s surprise, Rainer had stepped in immediately and started a fire with his bare hands and a few pieces of wood. I was convinced there was nothing the man couldn’t do, except maybe be nice to me.
Twisting the stick in my hands a few more times, sweat dotting at my forehead from the exertion, I finally gave up. Falling onto my back, I threw an arm over my eyes, sighing.
“I give up. Maybe tomorrow will be my day.”
Murphy laid down on the ground next to me and his stare seared against the side of my face. Uncovering my eyes, I turned my head until our gazes met.
“You have the right form. I think your pressure is just a little off. With no pressure, there’s no friction, and no fire.”
He had reiterated the same words each time I failed to create a spark. At this point, I thought it was just his polite way of saying I had weak arms. Which, to be fair, I did. Before everything happened, I would have said I could hold my own, but after three months of barely eating and doing nothing, I lost nearly all my muscle mass.
“You’d probably be making more progress if you practiced with me in the mornings,” Murphy added, another thing he had reiterated more times than I could count over the past week.
“Then who would catch all our fish?” I turned my head, smiling teasingly at Murphy, and he returned the grin with ease.
We both knew Emmanuel was the one catching the fish, and my presence was probably more of a nuance than anything, but he never told me to stop coming. And until that day arrived, I’d be at his side before the sun rose above the horizon, standing in the frigid stream.
My mornings fishing were less about proving to the others that I was capable of helping out and more about the comfort they brought me. And speaking of comfort, “Any more stories to share today?”
I twisted my body, raising up on my elbow as I asked Murphy the question. A few afternoons ago, when he had been showing me which plants were edible, I had asked him where he learned all this. He shared stories of how he and his mom would go camping every summer, and she taught him everything he knew. His stories were filled with laughter and for a moment, I forgot where we were. Since then, I had been itching to hear more about the man before me.
“How about this,” Murphy began, rolling onto his side until we were once again facing each other. “We head out to the radio tower and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
Happy to do something that didn’t involve straining my arm muscles, I hopped to my feet, holding out a hand for Murphy. He chuckled at my eagerness as his palm engulfed mine and the touch lingered, our eyes connecting, before he finally let go.
Shaking off the moment, I fell into step beside him, nudging his shoulder with mine. “Start talking, I need entertainment.”
“Don’t let Rainer hear you say that, it’ll just give him more reason to snap at you.”
His tone was joking, but we both knew there was truth to his words. You’d think that after his blow up, he’d have cooled off a little, finally getting months of pent up words out. Or that he’d realize I was actually trying here. Unfortunately, the blow up and my newfound efforts seemed to only kindle the hatred he had for me.
“Want to tell me how you two met? I can’t quite understand the friendship there,” I said delicately, not wanting to offend him. Rainer may be comfortable grumbling under his breath about me, but I wasn’t about to do the same.
“Why? Rainer’s a ray of sunshine.” Murphy smiled brightly as he hopped over a fallen branch and I couldn’t help the laughter that sprung from me.
Murphy joined in on my laughter before continuing to speak. “He moved into the house across the street from me when we were both ten. And at ten, it”s easy to become best friends. He asked me if I wanted to play catch and I said yes. After that, we were inseparable. That’s really it.”
We were silent for the rest of the walk as I thought about his story. Even though they couldn’t be more opposite, I knew Murphy and Rainer would do anything for each other. I wondered if that stemmed from a bond that lasted through decades.
The trees around us grew sparser and sparser a couple of hours later, and I knew we were coming close to the clearing with the radio tower. After a few more minutes, the tall metal structure came into view.
Slowing my steps, Murphy stepped in front of me, checking the area. After the debacle with Brett and Matthew, everyone was now overly cautious of our surroundings. And considering there wasn’t anywhere to hide in this clearing, Murphy always checked it first, his hand hovering close to the gun in his waistband.
“We’re good to go.” Murphy gestured for me to follow and I fell back into step beside him, casually strolling toward the bottom of the tower.
Once we reached the base, I sat down, knowing I was more here for company than anything else. Murphy had tried to explain how the different frequencies and wires worked, but he gave up after seeing the way my eyes had glazed over. Unfortunately, this was something I couldn’t learn in a week.
As Murphy fiddled with the wires and the radio he had grabbed out of his bag, I stared to the east, picturing the towns past the tree line.
“What do you think is going on out there?” I asked quietly, the thought impossible to ignore.
Ever since getting bits of information from Matthew, I had been unable to think of much else. Obviously, I knew there was something bad happening, but I couldn’t even fathom what it was. Or why it would cause people to set fire to multiple towns. And if what Matthew had said was true, it wasn’t only happening in Montana.
Murphy connected a few more wires, the static of the radio sounding back at us, before he sat down next to me. Gripping some weeds in his hands, he stared in the same direction as me.
“Honestly? I have no clue. If I had any idea, I wouldn’t be hiking up here nearly every day.”
“And here I thought you were doing this as an excuse to spend time with me.”
Murphy turned toward me with raised brows and I was shocked myself at my flirtatious tone. I wasn’t blind, with his unruly brown hair and striking blue eyes, it was impossible to deny I was attracted to him. But with everything else going on, flirting hadn’t been at the top of my priority list. In fact, it was probably at the very bottom.
But in this moment, something overcame me, and I didn’t regret my teasing words. If anything, I blamed it on the fact Murphy was all too giving with his charming grins over the past week.
When Murphy was quiet for longer than comfortable, I wondered if I overstepped some sort of invisible boundary. Some boundary that said, hey, we don’t flirt when we’re trying to survive and people could be dying in the towns.
Except, just as I was about to take back my words, Murphy winked, that charming grin gracing his lips. “That’s just an added bonus, Alessia.”
My heart rate kicked up at the glint in his eyes and subconsciously, my body started leaning toward his. His eyes dropped quickly to my lips, before meeting my eyes again, and I wondered if this was an idiotic idea.
Our bodies had an inch of space between them, and any thoughts of this being a bad idea vanished from my brain. I closed my eyes, waiting to feel the pressure of Murphy’s lips, when a voice sounded.
“This is an emergency broadcast. I repeat, this is an emergency broadcast.”
My eyes snapped open, meeting Murphy’s wide gaze. In tandem, we turned toward the radio, the stupid radio that had ruined my moment. After two months, this was the moment it wanted to broadcast.
Murphy jumped to his feet, taking the few steps to the hooked up radio. He twisted a few knobs until the static of the voice became clearer. Pushing myself to standing, I joined Murphy, listening intently. I may have harbored resentment toward the anonymous voice, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to hear what it had to say. Maybe these were the answers I had been waiting for.
“This is a national safety alert. Due to the ongoing crisis, all citizens are asked to relocate to the nearest government aided camp. Please listen to the following coordinates for your corresponding location.”
The voice continued to drone on for what seemed like another hour, listing off various coordinates that meant nothing to me. However, from Murphy’s pursed lips and focused eyes, I knew they meant something to him.
Finally, the coordinates ended, the voice repeating the beginning of the message. The hope I had for answers swiftly faded, however, I knew this wasn’t useless information. Murphy had said he wanted concrete proof there was something out there before we left the woods. And now we had it.
“Do you know which coordinates are closest to us?” I finally asked as Murphy unhooked the radio and stuffed it back into his bag.
Murphy didn’t say anything as he began walking back toward the camp and I had to hurry to catch up with his long strides. Not enjoying the fact that he was outright ignoring me, I grabbed his bicep, pulling until he stopped walking and looked at me.
“Does this mean we have somewhere to go? You wanted proof, we have it.” I scanned his face, trying to decipher what he was thinking, but his face was blank.
“We’ll talk to the others,” he stated before gently releasing my hold and continuing to walk.
My heart plummeted at his words. I knew what he really meant. We’d talk to Rainer. And I had a feeling that after that conversation, I’d be no closer to leaving these godforsaken woods.