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trying to sound comforted by that fact. “I’m Abby.” I held out my hand to her and smiled.
    “Taya,” she said as she tugged on the strings of her hoodie and looked down at my open hand but did not take it.
    Her eyes shot around wildly, so I put my hand on her knee trying to comfort her. “You’re safe now.” She jumped at my touch, recoiling as if I was a monster touching her and I tried not to feel offended. “There’s no such thing as safe. There is alive and there is dead. Anything in between is just dumb luck.”
    “Wel then, I guess we are pretty damn lucky,” I said and a tiny smile appeared on her face only to be quickly removed.
    “Looks secure,” Max said as he popped his head in the driver’s window. Taya let out a quick shriek.
    “Wel helo there, I’m Max,” he said with a toothy grin. He opened the door and pushed back the seat so we could exit. Taya was hesitant at first, but took Max’s hand when he offered it.
    I grabbed my bag before leaving and folowed them up the steps into the cabin. It was a lot bigger on the inside then it appeared from outside. There was a smal kitchen area to my right, attached to a smal dining nook. Two couches faced each other in the living room with a large wooden coffee table in between.
    The wals were covered with various artwork, many obviously painted by kids. There were large photographs of groups of people wearing the same colored shirt that I guessed were camp photos of years passed. The children’s happy faces smiled back at me and I felt myself grow envious of them, wishing I could feel as happy as they looked.
    I saw that Taya had curled up in a chair in a far corner. She held her knees to her chest with one arm and was holding back a curtain with the other, peering out as if she was expecting something to come charging at us at any moment. I figured it was best to leave her be for the moment, so I continued on throughout the cabin.
    I tossed my bag on the dining table and made my way to the back of the cabin. There was only one bedroom and one smal tiny bathroom, but it was nice enough.
    “What do you think Abby?” Carter asked as he walked in carrying a bag he was bringing in from the Bronco.
    “It’s nice, lots of windows though,” I whispered the last part not wanting to worry Taya any more then she already was.
    “Yeah, I thought that too. Max went to find the maintenance building to see if he could find some paint.”
    “Good idea. Have you checked the cabinets yet? Any food?”
    “No not yet. So, how is she doing?”
    “I’m not sure, she hasn’t realy said much.” We stared at each other for a moment, “I’l try talking to her. See what happened.”
    “Ok.” He patted me on the back and headed for the front door. “I’m going to go find Max and see if I can help him before it starts to get dark.” I looked out the window and noticed the sky was starting to change color, signaling the setting of the sun. I sighed, grateful that the day was over, but this was our first night outside of our house and I wasn’t happy about spending the night someplace new.
    As I walked toward Taya I tried to think of what I could say to her, then I tried to think of what Carter told me after we lost our father. The girl was obviously scared to death and honestly I was too, even though I tried my hardest not to show it.
    I had an idea of something that might help keep her mind off of things, so I turned around and headed into the smal kitchen area of the cabin.
    “Hey Taya,” I caled her from the kitchen, but she didn’t even flinch, just kept staring through the window.
    I continued even though she had ignored me. “You want to help me make us some dinner?”

    “Okay,” she said and looked out the window one more time before heading for the kitchen. I watched her walk and took notice of how dirty her clothes were. I made a mental note to offer her some clean clothes later. Her black hair hung in knotty, matted ringlets around her face and