So guys, what's the game plan for stopping in that town? You need to be ready to run if things get hairy
“So, what’s the plan with this town?” Roman asked Logan, once he was pretty sure Patton wasn’t listening. They’d gone back to their daily lessons since leaving the lake. Logan had said they should keep moving in the van for now, so they’d pretty much been driving constantly except for a few breaks to stretch their legs. This mostly consisted of walking behind the van as Thomas drove at a snails pace with the back doors open. That way, if they needed to, they could jump straight back in and take off. As far as Logan had said, the plan was to keep doing this for the spring and summer, and maybe then start to look for a better place to stay for the winter.
A minute ago, Logan had given Patton a few math problems to work through, and he was distracted explaining what he was doing to Barnaby (Logan had once explained what the rubber duck method was and the fact that you didn’t need an actual rubber duck to do it. He had insisted on explaining his lessons to Barnaby ever since.) So, Roman thought it was a good time for him and Logan to talk.
“Well,” Logan said, “The hope is that the town has a small grocery store that has supplies. If not, there is another town nearby which is assured to have a grocery store, but it is larger and closer to the interstate, thus I worry the population of the creatures may be higher. We need more food, however, and these two towns are good bets. It is better to try getting food before we are going hungry, unless, of course, there is an obvious danger.”
“Fair enough,” Roman replied.
“I will take the bags we kept from the shopping trip before we left the city and will get as much as I can from the store. If it is safe, I may even make a few trips inside. You and Patton can unload the bags into the van and hand them back to me to refill. You don’t have to worry about organizing them until we leave.”
“Wait,” Roman said, “hold up. What is this about you going apocalypse grocery shopping and me staying in the van?”
“It is the most logical plan.”
“I am not letting you go in alone while I sit on my butt,” Roman said, annoyed. “What if you get hurt?”
“Logan!” Roman hissed, careful to keep his voice down, so he did not draw Patton’s attention.
“Roman,” Logan said. “There are three of us, and Patton is just a child. If we both go in, we both risk death. If we both die, then what happens to Patton? The haunted car certainly isn’t going to be able to get him food.”
Roman opened his mouth to argue, but he couldn’t seem to think of anything to say for a long moment. He did not like the sound of this plan.
He knew, of course, that Patton was the priority. He and Logan had agreed on that silently even before all of this. They’d talked about what would happen when Logan hit 18. He would have gotten Patton (and Roman if he was able) out of the system. Roman, despite how he wasn’t the best at school would have to have graduate high school, so that once he turned 18 he could get a job that didn’t pay just pennies while Logan would manage to support them both while they were still in school. (He’d worked out the numbers and shown them to Roman. Even Roman could see it was a stretch for one high-school graduate level job’s paycheck.) They would have sent Patton to college, a 2-year or maybe a 4-year if Patton’s aunt hadn’t managed to weasel Patton out of his inheritance or if Roman’s family had anything to leave him. (Roman didn’t know; he’d been only 9 when they’d died and wasn’t allowed to see anything about it until he turned 18 or was adopted and his guardian got access.) Patton would have gotten a good job, maybe even enough to get Logan college educated so he could eventually pull more money in.
The plan had been to drag themselves out of the pit of poverty they’d been tossed into, and Patton had been the reason for it. He’d always been prioritized in all of Logan’s plans. The plans had changed now, but the underlining motivation had not.
The thing about the plans, though, was Logan always gave himself the short end of the stick in every single one of them. Yet, no risk he’d been planning to take was quite as big as this one.
“Why don’t I go then?” Roman asked. “You can stay in the van and I’ll go.”
“Because Roman,” Logan said. “In the current state of the world, physical ability is likely going to be a bigger asset to survival, and you have me beat in that regard. Long term, you have a better chance in the case where you are left alone with Patton. I am simply being pragmatic.”
Roman actually flinched at that. “That... that’s not true.”
“It is,” Logan said calmly.
“No, I serious don’t think we’d survive without you,” Roman said.
“But there is a greater chance,” Logan replied.
“Bullshit,” Roman argued back. Logan raised an eyebrow, and Roman refused to let it make him feel like a child throwing a tantrum. Screw him and his calm superiority about arguing that he is inferior. “We’re equal in this, understand me? I’ll stay in the van this time, but we’re switching back and forth. I go next time.”
Logan frowned. The bastard was not one for compromising. He was one for making people do what he said without any trade-off, but Roman folded his arms and glared. He could be just as stubborn.
They stared at each other for a long moment, and then Roman subtly glanced at Patton and back with a raised eyebrow. Logan narrowed his eyes at the threat.
“Fine,” he bit out. “Since you apparently have a death wish,” This hypocritical bastard, “we’ll trade who risks their lives each time.”
Thomas is open for questions.
Roman is open for questions.
Patton is open for questions.
Logan is open for questions.
