Page 37 of Cora

“Well, if it’s ok with you, I would like to start one,” Remi said. “With five of us living here, fresh produce would go a long way toward keeping us healthy and fed.”

Cora nodded, and Remi started looking through all the seeds, ready to begin his new project immediately.

Grabbing my hand, Cora tugged me further down the hall, punched in a code on a door, and pushed it open. I stepped inside, and my jaw dropped. Cora’s father had stocked enough weapons and ammunition to outfit a small army. I grin as I spot a hunting rifle with a scope.

“Now we’re talking,” I said as I took it off the wall. Our meat stores were about to grow exponentially.

Chapter nineteen

Cora

All of my nervousness about having the guys in my space melted away as they buzzed around the bunker, discovering everything I had down here. Their excitement made it feel like Christmas morning times a million.

Remi was in the greenhouse, planning the garden he wanted to plant as soon as possible, and Trent was in the pantry checking out everything I had there. I went back down the hall to check on Isaac and Derrick, who were in the armory.

“With the potential continuing threat, I think we should be armed at all times and travel in pairs,” Isaac said.

Derrick nodded in agreement. “I didn’t even realize there were other people out here besides us. It always felt relatively safe, but now we’ll have to look over our shoulder more.”

“Do you have any thoughts on the matter, Cora?” Isaac asked, turning toward me.

I swear that man always knows where I am. Do I smell? “My only thoughts are not to forget that I am capable of helping to defend the house, and a mile off the ridge is good big game hunting. I have a couple of deep freezers down here we can fill.”

“We’ll check out the ridge then, thanks,” Isaac replied. I turned to leave when I caught Derrick reaching for my hunting rifle out of the corner of my eye. I quickly moved to the wall and slapped his hand away.

“Hey!” Derrick protested.

I took the rifle off the shelf and held it to my chest while glaring at him.

“Is that one yours?” he asked with amusement.

I nodded.

“Ok, then I’ll make sure nobody uses it. Of course, if you want to use it, you realize that means you’ll have to leave the house, right?”

I rolled my eyes with a small sigh. Yeah, I knew that. Eventually, I’d leave the house, but right now, I was getting used to people in my space again.

“Princess, are there any other guns that are off-limits?” Isaac asked.

I nodded and studied the wall. I placed my rifle back in its slot and pulled another one of my handguns down. I pulled out a holster for it and slid it in, then secured it to the waist of my jeans.

Sighing sadly, I pointed to one more gun that was further above my head. That was Daddy’s favorite pistol. I didn’t want anyone using that either. When Isaac reached for it, I touched his arm to stop him. I shook my head and made a staying motion with my hands.

Isaac nodded in understanding and then clarified with me verbally. “You want that one to stay on the wall and not be used because it’s special?”

I nodded and smiled brightly at him.

“Then we’ll leave it there,” he assured me.

I patted his cheek. When I turned to do the same to Derrick, he grabbed my hand and yanked me against him for a kiss. Whenhe released me, he had to steady me before letting me go because I was feeling a little light-headed. I hadn’t expected that. Smiling like an idiot, I waved goodbye to them and left the armory. There were definite perks to being around people again.

“Oh, Cora!” Trent called as I passed the pantry.

I returned to the pantry and found him inside with a little shopping basket.

“Do you want to help me figure out what to make for dinner tonight and then cook it with me?”

I nodded. That sounded like a lot of fun. We “shopped” and chose a Southwest chicken and rice bake casserole dish. Since we didn’t have fresh chicken, we would use canned chicken. For dessert, we were going to make a pretzel Jello thing. I wasn’t sure about it, but Trent assured me it would taste good.

---