22. Store Front & Store Back #2
They followed him around the corner. The alley opened into a vast concrete yard dominated by a distribution warehouse, its bulk completely hidden from the road by the storefronts.
Several semi-trailers still sat backed into the bays—one door hanging partially open, another sealed tight.
A faded company logo covered the side: Mountain Outdoor Distribution.
Jay's eyes widened. "This supplied the store."
"And probably half the state," Cara added.
Cade climbed into the open trailer first, his flashlight sweeping across stacks of shrink-wrapped pallets. He stopped. "Well..." A rare smile crossed his face. "...I'll be damned."
Seth climbed up beside him. Pallet after pallet filled the trailer: cases of freeze-dried meals, portable camp stoves, water purification systems, fuel canisters, sleeping pads, boxes of emergency blankets, generators, and—in unopened crates at the very back—a stack of compact solar panels.
Jay stared into the trailer, mouth agape. "We didn't hit a jackpot. We found the warehouse that stocked the jackpot."
Cara laughed, the sound echoing bright through the loading bay. "This changes everything."
"It changes the cabin," Josie agreed softly. "No more wondering if we'll have enough. No more rationing every little thing." Her voice caught slightly on the next words. "We can actually build something."
Cara's laugh echoed, bright and startlingly loud in the concrete bay. It was a sound none of them had heard in weeks.
The group moved at once, a surge of purpose cutting through the momentary relief. Jay climbed onto the forklift still parked beside the dock, and miraculously it sputtered to life after a few tries. He grinned like a kid. "I have always wanted to drive one of these."
"You've never driven one?" Cara asked.
"Nope."
"You should've led with that."
"Relax. How hard can it be?"
The forklift lurched sideways, nearly clipping a stack of pallets. Cara pressed her fingers to her temple. "Oh my God..."
Even Seth laughed. "I've changed my mind. You carry boxes."
Jay climbed sheepishly back down. "Fair."
While the others worked, Cade walked to the edge of the loading dock, resting a hand on the railing as he scanned the rooftops beyond the shopping center. Seth joined him a few minutes later.
"You still don't like it."
"No."
"Neither do I."
For several moments neither man spoke. They simply watched the silent town together—two Marines, two strangers, seeing the same things.
Finally, Cade broke the silence. "The world's too quiet before it gets loud."
Seth nodded, understanding exactly what the man meant.
The certainty settled in, cold and heavy: the loud part was coming.
The trucks couldn't hold another ounce.
Camping gear sat strapped beneath cargo nets, cases of ammunition wedged between toolboxes and fuel cans.
Every backpack, sleeping bag, propane heater, water filter, and winter coat had been arranged with such care that the beds of both vehicles resembled supply depots more than anything meant to travel a road.
Jay stepped back to admire the work, hands on his hips, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.
"I don't think we could fit a candy bar in there if we tried."
Cara shut the tailgate with both hands, letting the latch click home before answering. "I'll consider that a successful day."
Josie cinched one final ratchet strap over a stack of storage totes, giving it a firm, satisfied tug to test the tension. "I don't think Liz's pantry is going to know what hit it."
"It better not," Jay said with a laugh, "because I plan on eating my weight in canned peaches when we get back."
The laughter came easier now, unforced in a way it hadn't managed in days.
For the first time since leaving the ranch, they'd accomplished exactly what they'd set out to do.
No one had been hurt. No one had fired a shot.
If Seth believed in luck, he might have called it that.
But he believed in preparation, and so he stood apart from the celebration, sweeping the horizon one last time while the others admired the haul.
Cade noticed. "You done ?"
Seth glanced over. "Yeah?”
The younger Marine adjusted the rifle slung across his shoulder. His gaze drifted west, and Seth watched Cade's jaw tighten, a debate settling in his eyes. "This is where I leave."
The words came quietly, matter-of-fact, but they landed with enough weight to turn every head toward him.
Jay frowned. "You sure?"
Cade nodded slowly, his eyes settling on the snow-covered mountains rising beyond Lakewood. "The farther I go with you, the farther away I get from Alaska."
A heavy, reluctant silence fell over the group. They had all known this moment would come, but a sudden stillness settled upon them all the same.
Josie moved first. Reaching into one of the medical bags she'd packed that morning, she drew out a small waterproof pouch. Inside were neatly labeled bottles of antibiotics and pain medication, bandages, sutures, gauze, and a compact trauma kit. She held it out to him without hesitation.
"Take these."
Cade looked down at the pouch, his jaw tightening. "I can't. You'll need them."
"So will you." Josie kept her arm extended, her smile gentle but immovable. "Then promise me neither of us has to use them."
A corner of Cade's mouth lifted despite himself. "I'll do my best." He accepted the pouch and tucked it carefully into his pack, his hand resting on it a moment longer than necessary. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Jay disappeared into the Suburban and emerged with an old road atlas, its pages worn soft and stained from months of hard use. He spread it across the hood and flipped through until he found the right page, then uncapped a black marker.
"This isn't for now," he said as Cade stepped beside him. "Our cabin doesn't exist." He circled a tiny town several miles from Cara's property, then drew a bold X just outside its limits—marking nothing that mattered. "If you ever need a place to land, come here."
Cade studied the map, committing it to memory. "Someone will find me?"
“Yeah we will find you. Don't wander around the woods searching for us. Find the town, and wait. We'll come to you."
Seth ripped the page out and folded the map and pressed it into Cade's hands. "One condition."
Cade raised an eyebrow.
"Don't make me choose between you and everything else I've built here."
A faint smirk crossed the younger man's face. “Deal.”
Jay laughed. "I figured you'd appreciate that rule."
Cade slid the map into the same pocket as Josie's medical kit, then let his eyes drift across each of them in turn—Cara, Jay, Josie, and finally Seth. When he spoke again, his voice carried something rawer beneath its steadiness.
"I haven't exactly had people to come back to in a while."
The admission hung in the cold air, and the silence stretched until Seth stepped forward. He extended his hand. Cade looked at it for only a second before taking it, and their handshake was firm and brief, an entire conversation in a single gesture.
"If you find her," Seth said quietly.
Cade nodded once. “When I find her."
Seth's expression softened in a way few people ever witnessed. "Bring her home."
For the first time since they'd met him, Cade's guarded demeanor cracked—not with a grin, but with something far more fragile. Hope.
"That's the plan."
Jay pulled him into a quick one-armed hug before stepping back and clapping him on the shoulder. "Try not to get yourself killed."
"I'll pencil it into my schedule."
Cara laughed softly, blinking harder than the cold alone could explain. "If you ever make it our way, you've got people waiting."
Cade gave a small nod. "I'll remember that."
Josie hugged him next—a quick, warm embrace that spoke more of shared survival than a simple farewell. "Good luck."
"You too, Doc."
Finally, Cade adjusted his pack straps until his rifle settled comfortably against his shoulder. He glanced once toward the mountains, then back at the road stretching endlessly west.
"Alaska's waiting."
Without another word, he began walking, snow crunching steadily beneath his boots. None of them moved. They simply watched as his figure grew smaller against the white expanse until, after several yards, Cade lifted a hand over his shoulder in farewell.
He never looked back.
A faint smile touched Seth's lips. "Stubborn son of a bitch."
Jay chuckled beside him. "You Marines are all the same."
"No." Seth kept watching until Cade disappeared over the rise, his voice dropping low. "We're just stubborn enough to walk through all this for the people we love."
For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Seth climbed into Beast and turned the engine over, its familiar rumble filling the silence Cade had left behind.
"Let's get going."
The convoy pulled away, its tracks quickly vanishing in the falling snow. Seth focused on the road ahead, on the promise of warm fires and familiar faces. Still, his thoughts drifted west, following a lone Marine walking toward a woman he refused to leave behind.