White Land

Posted on Fri Sep 4th, 2026 @ 12:04pm by Founder Serena Reynolds M.D. & Herdmaster Chloe Rouen & Provisioner Kimberley Hathaway & Provisioner Mackenzie Ellis & Archivist Carmen Harris & Steward Vienna Quinn & Steward Timothy Reynolds & Steward Timothy Cotton & Defender Devon McCadden & Scout René Rouen & Steward Henri Rouen & Senior Medic Roman Quinn & Caretaker Thea Matthews & Scout Jack Harris & Scout Kelly Cardona & Herdmaster Myles Harris & Senior Mechanic Edward Harrison Jr

2,857 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Winter's hope
Location: Wisconsin Homestead
Timeline: October 3rd

Morning dawned and Kimberley was already in the kitchen cooking breakfast and brewing coffee. Outside the farm was blanketed in snow. But animals needed to be fed, and cows needed to be milked. She looked out over the snow covered lawn and bit her lip. How long did they have, she wondered. Before they were discovered or... they had to move on.

Henri nodded to Kimberley as he entered the kitchen. "Bonjour Kimberley. Hope you slept well." He pulled out a coffee mug from a cupboard and poured himself a cup of coffee. He took a sip as he stared out a window at the snow covered farm.

Vienna walked into the kitchen with a warm smile. “Good morning Kimberley, Bonjour Henri.”

Henri returned Vienna's smile with a warm one of his own. "Bonjour Vienna." He gestured to the coffee maker with his mug. "Coffee or I could start a kettle of water for tea if you prefer?"

“Tea would be lovely, thank you.” Vienna smiled. “Looks like we had plenty of snow last night.”

Henri filled water into the kettle and set the kettle on the stove to heat before turning back to Vienna with a curious look in his eye. He heard the distinctive footsteps of his grandson.

A somewhat blurry eyed and yawning René stepped into the kitchen. He nodded at his grandfather. "Bonjour Grand-pere." He turned to Vienna with a smile. Bonjour mon amor."

Vienna smiled warmly at René. “Good morning René.” Truth be told she hadn’t long left René where the two of them fell asleep whilst cuddling.

Kimberley had greeted everyone with a smile and a nod and began toasting bread for the breakfasts. She already had dough rising in a bowl by the window.

The backdoor opened and Carmen came in, rugged up and took off her boots near the door. "Need to shovel to the barn." She announced. "But the chicken coop is accessible." She held up a basket of eggs. "Here" She handed them to Kimberley. "The gardens are covered. Good thing we got most of the vegetables out yesterday."

Kimberley nodded. "Yes. Thank you Carmen."

The teenager nodded. "The shovels are just outside for when we are ready. But we will need to cut a path so we can milk the cows and such."

Serena came in then, dressed in jeans and a sweater. She gave everyone a smile. She noted Carmen's outside clothes. "Who else was outside Carmen?" She asked.

"Jack and I went to the chicken coop. He is fixing the wire near the ground, there was prints around. Probably a fox." Carmen said.

Henri turned to René. "Take care of path to the barn after you eat."

René nodded "Oui Grand-pere."

Henri took the kettle off the stove and poured water into a tea cup with a tea bag and handed the cup to Vienna. "Vienna, after you and Chloè eat. Would you both take brooms and clear snow off the vehicles s'il te plaît?"

“Yes, of course” Vienna nodded as she took the cup. “Thank you.” Placing it down on the table she paused to think what she’d like for breakfast. “Breakfast smells delicious.”

“I’ll second that!” Thea smiled as she stepped through the door with Roman. She was practically grinning from ear to ear with Roman having proposed. “It’s a fun, if messy walk through the snow out there.” She paused to put her snowy boots by the door so as not to make a mess.

"Is there any hot chocolate?" Roman asked squeezing in the door behind Thea. Like her, he also wore a big smile. "messy yes and fun with the right person." He said looking at Thea as he did.

Devon entered the home, shivering slightly from the cold outside. Snow coated her back as she brushed them off. Looking around, she smelled hot chocolate floating from somewhere. Still, she kept to herself mostly, trying to get used to be with people.

TAGS

René grabbed himself a cup of coffee and a plate he filled with a couple pieces of toast and fried potatoes. He grabbed some cutlery from the drawer and took a seat at the big dining room table. He wanted to have a quick breakfast and get started on the morning assignment his grandfather had given him. He glanced into the kitchen as others began grabbing their food and more people showed up to have breakfast and get their own day started.

Vienna followed on behind René getting herself a small amount of everything on offer to make a hearty breakfast. Picking up her cutlery she sat down in her seat and started tucking in.

“Good morning everyone” Kelly smiled as she arrived ready to get stuck into breakfast. “Chilly morning but pretty out nonetheless.”

"Move Kelly." TJ said from behind her, "You're hogging all the heat." He teased as he placed his hands on her hips and squeezed into the room.

“Can you blame me?” Kelly grinned before stepping aside and kissing TJ on the cheek. “I’ll get breakfast plated up.”

"I don't blame you at all sweetheart." TJ replied giving her a kiss on her cheek. "I'll get our coffee while you get breakfast."

Serena watched in silence. Almost normal. Like a fun friend trip. She was about to speak when Jack entered and joined Carmen by the counter. Their little brother had wandered in as well.

"After chores, we need to check the fence line." Serena said softly. "Stevens Point is still an issue."

Henri finished his coffee, washed and dried his mug before placing it back in the cabinet. He turned to Serena. "I would like to build another enclosure. Sets some snares and catch rabbits for breeding. They breed faster than chickens and offer more meat than raising chickens. It will also reduce vegetable loss in the gardens come spring."

Serena looked at Carmen, Jack and Miles. They were the owners of this farm, so she looked to them. "Carmen? Jack? Miles?"

"Kelly and I will check the fence line as soon as we finish breakfast." TJ replied as held two cups of coffee, finding an open spot at the dinner table where they both could sit, relax the breakfast and the company of the others before going to work.

Carmen conferred with her brothers then nodded at Serena.

Serena nodded at Henri. "Henri, You have the go. Gather who you need."

Henri nodded. His first order of business woud be to design the enclose and determine the best place to situate it. He would sit down at the table and draw up a tentative schematic for the enclosure and then ask one of the Harris Children to walk the property to determine the best location to build.

Devon approached them with care, cradling her hot chocolate. She nodded at Serena, "Hey. Anything you need me to do?"

"You can help the guys with the patrol if you like" Serena replied

Henri took a sip of coffee and stepped over to Kimberley at the stove. He gestured at the skillet. "I'll take over the cooking Madame Hathaway while you get a proper breakfast in you."

Kimberely nodded. "Thank you Mr. Rouen" She left him to it and went to grab a plate.

Henri took over in the kitchen as Kimberly grabbed a plate and started filling it. He glanced at Kimberley and nodded. "S’il te plaît, appelle-moi Henri." He repeated himself in English in case she was not familiar with his native French. "Please, call me Henri."

She nodded. "Ok. Then you call me Kimberley."

A few moments later, Timothy came down the stairs. He was dressed and ready to face the day. As he moved to the kitchen, to grab a mug of coffee, he greeted everyone that he passed.

Serena kissed her husband as he passed and PJ patted his father's cheek and babbled.

Timothy smiled warmly, first at his wife, after he returned her kiss, then at they precious little boy. "You be good boy for your Mama, while Papa is out on patrol, okay?" He spoke in a soft, sing-song voice.

"Isnt he always?" Serena asked with a smile. She was trying to keep her face cheerful because so much had changed.

OUTSIDE

Carmen had gone back outside once breakfast was finished, bundled beneath layers against the cold. There was plenty to do before anyone could pretend the snowfall was pretty rather than inconvenient. The path to the barn needed clearing, animals needed tending, and somewhere along the fence line they still had to work out exactly how the fox had gotten close enough to worry the chickens. She was carrying one of the shovels towards the barn when something made her stop. Tracks. Carmen frowned. Not the little prints she and Jack had found near the chicken coop earlier. These were bigger. Boots. She lowered the shovel and stared. For a moment she wondered if they belonged to one of them. With so many people moving around the farm, tracks weren't exactly unusual. Except these were on the wrong side of the fence. Carmen moved closer, stopping before she reached it. One set of footprints ran along the outside perimeter rather than towards it. Snow had softened their edges, suggesting they weren't brand new. Last night, maybe. Before the snowfall had become heavy enough to cover them completely. Her eyes followed them. There. Another set. Then another. Carmen's stomach tightened. "Jack." She didn't shout it.

Something about the discovery made her reluctant to raise her voice. She moved along the inside of the fence, following the tracks from the safety of their side. Whoever had been out there hadn't tried to climb over. They hadn't cut the wire. They hadn't even approached the farmhouse. They had simply followed the fence. Then she found the post. Carmen stopped dead. Someone had carved something into it. A circle, perhaps two inches across, had been carefully cut into the weathered timber. It wasn't the sort of random scratch someone made while passing time with a knife. The circle was too deliberate for that. A single short vertical line cut through its bottom edge and extended slightly beneath it. Fresh pale wood showed inside the grooves. Carmen reached towards it, then stopped herself before touching it. Her gaze immediately went beyond the fence. Trees. Snow. Nothing moved. That didn't make her feel any better. Someone had stood here. Someone had been close enough to their home to put a knife against the fence and slowly carve a mark into it. And they hadn't been noticed. Carmen backed away. "TIMOTHY!" This time she did shout. Her hand tightened around the shovel as she kept watching the tree line. The fox suddenly didn't seem particularly important.

René was shoveling a path to the barn when Carmen's shout rang out in the cold, still air. He gripped the shovel tightly as he ran the 50 meters to where Carmen stood staring at the tree-line in the distance. "Are you alright? What is going on?"

Kelly was outside as well, hearing the shout she quickly came running to see what on Earth was wrong. Looking between Carmen and René. “What is it?”

TJ was outside, when he heard the hollering. Reaching the others, his gun at ready he looked at Kelly. "What's all the hollering about?"

Kelly shook her head, waiting to find out.

Carmen pointed to the post and the image carved into it. "Someone was here" she said softly.

“What!?” Kelly gave TJ a worried look. Last thing they needed was anyone from outside causing any trouble. “I haven’t seen anyone while I’ve been walking around.”

René inspected the symbol carved into the fence post. He then looked over the fence and studied the tracks. He glanced at TJ. "Two men at least. One is a large man, the other had a heavy backpack. The smaller foot prints are nearly as deep as the larger ones" He gestured to the fence post. "I'm not familiar with the symbol though. Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Upon hearing the shout, Timothy switched gears in his head, moving to the door and pulled on his army issue gortex winter coat. Before it was even zipped closed, he had his rifle and was outside, sighting down the barrel as he moved to where everyone was standing.

When he reached the post, he didnt look at it, his eyes and rifle barrel were actively scanning for a target. "Report!" He said in a clipped, military leader manner. His tone made it clear that he only wanted facts at that moment.

Carmen flinched slightly at Timothy's tone. For a second she just stood there clutching the shovel, suddenly very aware that everyone was looking at her. She wasn't one of the soldiers. She wasn't even one of the adults. She was thirteen years old and, until a few minutes ago, the biggest problem she'd had that morning was getting through the snow to feed the chickens. "I found them," she said quickly, pointing towards the tracks. "I was going back to the barn after breakfast. I saw footprints outside the fence." She swallowed and tried to remember exactly what she'd seen, because Timothy had asked for a report and she knew that meant he didn't want guesses. "They weren't there yesterday. At least, I don't think they were. Jack and I were over by the chicken coop this morning because something had been near the wire, but those were little tracks. We thought it was a fox." Carmen pointed along the fence line. "These go that way. They stayed outside the fence. I didn't see where they started." Her eyes moved to the mark carved into the post. "Then I saw that." She took a small step backwards, closer to René and the others. "I didn't touch it." That seemed important. "I was going to call Jack, but..." Carmen looked beyond the fence towards the trees before looking back at Timothy. "I didn't know if whoever did it was still out there, so I yelled for you." She hesitated. "They didn't try to get in." Her voice had become quieter. "That's worse, isn't it?"

Because Carmen could understand someone trying to steal food. She could even understand someone wanting shelter. What she couldn't understand was someone coming all the way out here in the middle of the night, walking around their fence, carving something into one of their posts... ...and then simply leaving. Her fingers tightened around the wooden handle of the shovel. "Why would somebody mark our farm?"

“That’s a good question, maybe scouts for another group.” Kelly added. “We’re going to have to be on our guard from here on out.”

TJ looked first at Kelly and then Carmen. "It's a sign. A sign to us that we aren't as safe as we thought we were. means we have to up our game and our efforts to prevent this or something worse happening."

René looked at the foot prints in the snow before turning to the others. "We should organize a small group to do a recce. Find who left these foot prints and determine their size and, if possible, their intentions. Two or three people to follow these tracks and two are three people to back track where they came from. A good chance that will be the same place, their camp or...how you say, base of operations."

Kelly looked at TJ. “We’ll volunteer.”

TJ nodded in agreement. "Yes, we certainly will. This needs to be dealt with immediately."

René used the shovel to gesture at the house. "We tell the others, pick who is going and get what we need." He glanced at TJ. "I am guessing you want one or two recce teams ready to go sooner rather than later?"

"Absolutely correct Rene. Kelly and I will be one team and we'll pick who the other team or teams will be." TJ answered crisply.

After a few beats of silence, as he continued scanning the clearing around where they stood, Timothy finally spoke. "Everyone, back inside. We will discuss the next steps with the entire group"

Kelly nodded motioning to TJ to go back inside.

TJ returned the nod and turned to go back inside so they could discuss this latest development.

René glanced at the tracks and the symbol on the fence post one last time. The Soulless were a constant danger, humanity was something far more dangerous though.

Carmen headed for the house at top speed.

Timothy waited until the rest of the group made their way to the cabin. Then, after standing completely still for a fewmomenrs, using his senses to determine if there was any danger close by. Hearing nothing put of the ordinary, he still backed cautiously towards the cabin, not taking his eyes off of the clearing on the other side of the fence line, until he was on the front porch of the deck. At that point, he turned and stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind him.

TBC

 

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