Beans & Boyardi

It had been just over a month since Jackson had secluded himself in the mountain resort, however it was not going as smoothly as he hoped. Isolation was something he had become quite used to growing up, what he had perhaps overestimated was his potential as a cook. The resort was indeed well stocked with enough dried goods that he would be able to survive for at least nine months, however after a week one of the connectors in the stove broke and he did not know how to repair it and so had been trying to cook over a campfire with very little actually edible results.

He had been putting off going down into town to scavenge for another box of reeds but was planning to grab some kind of portable stove if he could find one, but as he scanned the basement pantry Jackson realized he could put it off no longer.

“Really sick of cold beans.” Grabbing a can of pre-prepared ravioli he sighed and stared at the smiling face of an old man with a large white chef's hat, “it’s not you, Mr. Boyardi, it’s definitely me.”

Walking up the cold stone steps of the pantry Jackson’s heart stopped cold as he came up onto the main floor only to see the face of a woman peering in through the window on the far side of the entryway.

Rushing to the living room, where he had been spending most of his time, he could feel his heart beating like a jackhammer in his chest with each step. His hand closed around the metal handle of the fireplace poker which he’d picked his first night as weapon of choice should something like this happen; he had just hoped he would have been closer to finishing his composition when it did.

The face had disappeared from the window, but Jackson stood in the middle of the room that was now strewn with half dirty clothes and discarded sheets of music that had been scrawled over or torn apart in frustration. He was not sure how long he stood there, the way his heart hammered made it feel as if the moment had stretched on for hours when it had likely only been a few moments.

“Hi.”

A voice caused Jackson to let out a loud and unpleasantly high shriek of terror. He glanced to the pantry staircase that he had just moments ago walked up and stared in surprise at a woman who looked like she’d just walked out of some kind of action movie.

She was nearly six feet in height with a wide frame, the kind he’d seen on several of the linebackers on the college football team. Much of her jacket and the bag she had set on the ground were covered in dirt yet her face was still clean, she was someone who had done more than simply exist this past month she had truly survived.

“Holy crap!” He shifted his body to face her holding the fireplace poker between them as if it were a protective ward.

“Yeah that makes sense.” She put her hands up slightly in a gesture of peace that did little to soothe the fear flooding his system. “I’m not here to cause issue, I’m just looking to get out of the cold.”

“How'd you get in!?”

“Resorts like these always have a tucked away entrance for groceries and other resources to be brought in. They’re usually disguised as something innocuous, owners love having people serve them they just don't want to see them.”

“Oh…okay, well stay back! And…and get out!” His mind was going blank and all he wanted to do was to be left alone once again.

“I’m not going anywhere. Sorry, but it’s cold out and I don’t want to waste resources when there’s empty rooms here.”

“I’ll make you leave then!” He swung the fireplace poker in an attempt to look threatening but the faint smile she gave him confirmed to him it was anything but.

“I don’t think you’re gonna do that.”

“I will! I definitely will!”

“No, you won’t.” She took a slow step forward. “I’m guessing that you’ve never swung something like that before, certainly not in any attempt to defend yourself. So you’re gonna swing wider than you need to, which will let me get close enough to catch you before you can do any real damage.”

The woman took another step forward, “or… you could put that down and we could just talk this out?”

Jackson could see how calm she was, this was not the first time she had been in a situation like this, she would definitely be able to get the drop on him like she had said. Taking a slow breath he dropped the fireplace poker and stepped back. He was expecting her to rush at him, for it all to be over but thankfully she stepped back as well and still kept her hands up.

“Fantastic. Glad to see I was right about you being a smart kid.” She glanced around like someone trying to gauge the situation, like some kind of soldier from a movie. “You here by yourself?”

“Um…” Looking around at all the evidence around him there was nothing that indicated there was more than one person here, and he felt that trying to lie would just make things more difficult. “No. It’s just me.”

Her skepticism was written plainly on her face. “Seriously? What’s a kid doing out here alone in a situation like this?”

“I’m…” Jackson realized that if she didn’t believe he was here alone there was no way she would believe he was here to finish a piece of music, she'd likely consider that the height of stupidity. “Me and some of my friends from school rented this resort for the summer. I just came up early because my exams were finished like a week before everything went to hell.”

“Shit luck for you.”

“Yeah you’re telling me. The power went out like three weeks ago and I can’t cook for shit over a campfire.” He kicked one of the nearby empty cans. “Been living off beans and Boyardi.”

“Yeah, it smells that way.” Walking over to one of the windows she swiftly opened it completely, a gust of frigid late afternoon air blew through the large room they were both standing in.

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, what are you doing up here?”

The woman looked at him for a moment, clearly deciding if she would answer before giving a small shrug. “I’ve been moving north for the past month or so. Picking up supplies in the cities but sticking mostly to the woods and mountains to get around, you deal with less people that way.” Her eyes fell back over Jackson. “Usually, anyway.”

“So what are you planning to do?”

“Like I told you kid. I’m looking for a place to crash for a day, maybe two, then I’ll move on.” She scanned the room once again, “maybe I can teach you a thing or two in that time, help broaden your culinary options.”

“Wait, you’re not going to like… rob me? Or anything like that?”

“I meant what I said. Might ask for a few of your provisions, but all I want is a room with four walls. And I figure a place like this has at least four to spare.”

“Yeah, it’s got five.”

“Perfect. Upstairs?”

“Yeah…you can take the one at the end of the hall. It’s the biggest.”

“Appreciate it kid.”

“Jackson.”

She turned to look over her shoulder while climbing the stairs.

“It’s my name.”

The woman gave a nod of acknowledgement, “Harper,” before climbing the rest of the stairs and closing the door at the end of the hallway.