Arlo and Relle were the first to wake up. They were both surprised to see Madd and Sage asleep on the ground right in front of the door.
Relle walked over to her sister and gently woke her. She brought a sleepy Sage onto the couch that she had been sleeping on and dropped a blanket on her.
Arlo had a different approach to waking up Madd. Gruffly, Arlo kicked Madd's foot until he sat up, dazed. His hair was a dark mess of curls and waves. He glanced from Arlo to Relle.
"The storm...it kept me up and it woke Sage up to so...we played a few card games...what time is it?" He ran a hand through his hair and looked to Arlo.
"You can take my bed," Arlo grumbled.
Madd got up and walked immediately to the bed in the back. The moment he laid down, Relle could tell he was already asleep.
"There was a storm last night?" Relle asked Arlo.
Arlo shrugged, clearly as deep of a sleeper as she was. "You drink coffee?"
"Yes, black please."
"Good, there's no other option," Arlo said as he filled up the percolator with coffee grounds and water. He placed it on the stove.
After starting the coffee Arlo walked to the door and opened it. Just as Madd had said, it seemed like a storm came through. The ground was wet and little branches and debris littered the ground.
Relle followed Arlo outside into the cool, wet air.
"We're in northern Wyoming," Relle said. She gazed out at the hills around them.
Arlo gazed around as well, he gave a small nod as if satisfied with where Relle and Madd had found for the night. He gazed up at the cloudy skies and then walked around to the hood of his RV and opened it.
Relle followed, curious about what he was checking. She watched as Arlo leaned over the engine and made a face.
"What is it?" She asked leaning over the engine.
"The battery is drained," Arlo said tapping on a battery. "See this," he pointed to a gauge beside it. "I installed it to tell me how much electricity I had left in the two batteries. And it was all drained last night."
"How?"
"How long were you and Madd up after you pulled in here?" Arlo glared at Relle through his thick eyebrows.
"Not long, I went to bed right away...I was tired."
"Well, someone left something on, a light or something," Arlo looked back to the engine as if the engine might point fingers at who the culprit was.
"You said it was solar charged...can't you just recharge it?" Relle asked, instantly regretting the question.
"Do you see any sun?"
The day was as overcast as it could get. Dark clouds hung in the sky, threatening to drown them in rain.
"I'm sorry," Relle said slowly.
"Don't be, I know this wasn't your fault. Madd should know better by now, we've been traveling for three months." Arlo glowered at the RV's engine.
Relle wasn't certain what to say. She didn't want Arlo to be mad at Madd but she also didn't want to get into the middle of a family argument, which she was certain it would become.
"I'm sure that he didn't mean to," Relle offered.
"Course he didn't mean to, that kid just doesn't think," Arlo closed the hood of the vehicle, letting it slam loudly as he walked back to the RV and poured himself another cup of coffee.
Relle stayed outside, staring up at the cloudy sky. She hoped for sunlight to peek it's head through. Sadly, there was no sunlight to speak of. When Arlo walked back out of the RV, he held two hunting bows in his hand.
"What are you doing?" Relle asked quickly, fearing that the little inconvenience made Arlo lose his mind.
"You claimed you could shoot a gun, how about a bow?"
"Yeah, I mean I had my own back at the farm..."
"You didn't think to bring it?"
"I didn't think I'd need to hunt."
"Always be prepared for anything," Arlo said with confidence as if he were the star in an action film.
"You know, I have more experience with a gun," she said honestly as he gave her a bow.
"Guns are useful but you can't shoot a bullet more than once and ammunition is hard to come by. Shooting arrows is more practical in this situation," he explained as he began to walk away from the rest stop parking lot.
Relle followed hesitantly. Arlo walked up to the nearest hill and back down the other side. The grass was as tall as Rell's hips and the land was scattered with pines.
A heavy fog sat on the hills, disrupting much of the view. The air felt cold and wet to her skin as they walked on.
After some time of walking Arlo stopped and pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. He pinned the printed-out target onto the nearest tree. He walked back a good distance from the tree and gestured for Relle to do the same.
Relle stood beside Arlo and watched as he pulled the arrow back. In less than a second, the arrow was sent out from his bow and landed in the center of the target on the tree.
Relle and Arlo spent the better part of the morning shooting arrows at the target. Relle wasn't great at first, but Arlo was surprisingly good at teaching. Despite being a little too honest about her skills, or lack thereof, he had patience to watch her shoot over and over. Soon the feeling became a fluid movement and slowly her aim became better.
Relle smiled as she felt herself improve. Twice now, she had shot an arrow into the center of the target. It wasn't as perfect of a shot as Arlo's but she was getting better.
"Do you hunt with this?" She asked Arlo after a while of no conversation.
"I have, but not since the end. We've been moving too much."
"Maybe we should try? I'm sure you're tired of eating the same thing all the time," Relle suggested. "I still have some potatoes and carrots and stuff from the farm. I know it sucks to be stuck here but we could make the best of it."
Arlo gave her a sideway glance. "You're awfully optimistic for someone in your situation."
Relle could have been insulted by this, but she just shrugged. "I'd just like a nice meal. And since we have to wait for the sun to come to recharge the battery, I figure we could spend a little extra time on a nice meal."
"Are you saying you don't like the instant-meals?" Arlo raised an eyebrow. Relle couldn't tell if he was joking with her or mildly insulted.
"No, it's just..."
"It's fine, I'm sure a nice meal would be appreciated. It's been a while since Madd or I cooked anything that didn't come in a plastic bag," he said.
When Relle and Arlo returned to the camper, Madd, Cedar, and Sage were awake and outside. They were playing some sort of game that involved Cedar and Sage keeping a rather flat soccer ball away from Madd.
Madd chased the two children around the parking lot as they shrieked in laughter. All three of them stopped their game when they noticed Relle and Arlo emerging from the hills.
"Rabbits!" Cedar exclaimed. "I'm starving, all Madd gave us was coffee and it was gross."
"You gave them coffee?" Relle glared at Madd.
"I thought they'd like it," he said nonchalantly.
"They're eight and ten," she said, trying her best to not sound too angry.
"Well, I... didn't really think about that," Madd said. "I'm surprised that we're still here. I thought you'd be more eager to leave."
That was not the right thing to say to Arlo. All the calmness he had found from hunting disappeared in an instant. "Yes, I did want to leave the moment I woke up."
"Then why-"
"Because someone left the goddamned light on last night," Arlo glared at Madd.
Madd thought for a moment before realizing what he did. "Well, sorry, I didn't think-"
"No, you didn't, that's my point. You drained both our batteries just to have a light on."
Madd said nothing. Relle felt suddenly very uncomfortable. She took the rabbits and walked towards the RV, hoping that Arlo would calm down. She agreed it was dumb of Madd to not turn the light on, but she knew he hadn't tried to drain the batteries.
She set the rabbits down on the blacktop behind the RV. Cedar and Sage came hurrying up to her.
"Sorry I was gone for so long," she said to them. "But I thought we could use some real food."
"Can I help?" Cedar asked.
Relle nodded and handed him a knife. While rabbit wasn't something they typically hunted on the farm, it wasn't that hard to clean. Relle and Cedar were able to clean the three creatures in a decent amount of time.
If she were honest, Relle took her time cutting up the animal. She wanted no part in whatever was happening between Arlo and Madd.
"Would you guys like to cook it over a fire? We might not get that chance in a while once we're on the road again," Relle said.
"A fire, a fire," Sage said. "I wanna build a fire."