Loch looked around the house. It was cold, the fuel for the heat having run not or never been turned out since the Connection had come in the summer. He was tempted to try the heat, but decided not to. It most likely wouldn’t have worked, or could have just caused an explosion destroying the house with him in it.

  Ideally, he wondered if that would have killed him. He had a lot of Health, his body was pretty durable. Would a house explosion be enough to kill him?

  There was a pungent odor to the house. He glanced at where he thought the kitchen would be. Rotten food, mold. He had no desire to open the refrigerator and freezer, knowing the smell would be much worse. At this point, after all this time, there would be nothing worth saving. Even some of the packaged food would have been lost. But some would still be good.

  He’d hit the kitchen last.

  Loch had broken through the door. It had been locked, a useless Ring camera by the handle. It hadn’t taken much to kick the wooden door, breaking the wood around the lock, swinging it open. He could prop the door closed when he left, but why bother. No one was coming back to the house. It would just fall to rot, vines and moss creeping over it until it disappeared. It was too far away for anyone to come and take the wood and other building materials. Once Loch was done, the chances of anyone ever stepping foot in the house again were slim.

  It was sad, he thought, ignoring the pictures of the family, as he walked into the living room. This had been someone's home, they had lived their lives here, raised kids. Had a good life. Now it was just an almost empty shell. Memories no longer even lived there. He didn’t recognize the family. No idea if they still lived or not.

  Kristin had gathered a list of where everyone that came to the Clan had lived. There had been some on Sherburne Hill but Loch didn’t recognize the faces as people he’d seen around the Clanhold and David had checked the list, finding the people in the Clan that had lived on the road, going over with them if there were any personal items they wanted the scavengers to bring back if they could.

  Over and over people had been told that personal items were low priority. Things that would benefit the Clan as a whole, benefit the Clan’s survivability were the important things. But they never listened. They always screamed and yelled when nothing of theirs was brought back.

  Loch understood. It had been hard to not fill Piper’s Spatial Bag with their personal items, their important family heirlooms and mementoes, when they’d visited their house. Not everyone got the chance to return home.

  He pulled a blanket off the back of the couch. It looked like it was still in good condition. Into the bag it went. He’d borrowed Piper’s Spatial Bag when he’d left. It was Soulbound to her, which meant only she could empty it, but as he was her father and a blood relation, he could still fill it. A couple pillows went into the bag. He thought about the couch cushions but decided they weren’t useful enough. Books from a shelf, a couple of board games. Another blanket. From the hall closet, Loch grabbed about a half dozen winter coats and other jackets of various sizes. The pile of shoes, sneakers and boots were added. He grabbed a broom and threw it into the bag, along with a tool box on the floor of the closet, not bothering to go through it.

  A larger family room had more blankets and an old wood burning stove with a pile of wood. All the wood went into the bag. It wasn’t much, only about a dozen logs. More books and board games. Upstairs were three bedrooms. Without even looking at the clothes, he took it all. From the closets, the dressers. In the bathroom, he grabbed the medical supplies. Loch even took the mattresses, working to maneuver them so a corner was at the Spatial Bag’s opening. He looked away when they were twisted and warped, shrinking to fit into the Bag.

  Underneath the master he found a couple of the fireproof lockboxes. Loch was tempted to open them, but those were the family's important documents. The things that recorded who they were, what they had done. There could be jewelry in the boxes but he didn’t think it worth disturbing the family history. He did take the wife’s jewelry box.

  None of the kid’s toys went into the bag. Two boys. One obviously still in middle school, the other looking older, but not quite high school. Lots of building blocks and graphic novels. He grabbed all their clothes and blankets. From the linen closet were all the extra sheets, blankets, pillows and towels.

  Loch walked up the into the attic, glad it was daylight. Two windows on either end let in enough light to see. Trunks, chairs and desks filled the space. Totes were piled high. One tote had a bunch of books. He took the entire thing. Another was filled with photo albums. That was set aside.

  He’d been in the house for about an hour. It wook almost another to go through all the totes and trunks, grabbing the things of value to the Clan. From there it was down into the basement, where there was barely any light from the small windows. He found skis, boots and poles. All went into the bag. Loch wished they were cross country skis instead of downhill, but one of the Clan workers might be able to modify them or use for parts. The snowshoes were a good find. He grabbed some of the sports gear. It wouldn’t be useful for the winter, but maybe in the spring they could find some time to play sports again. He found hiking gear and backpacks, all of which he took. Coolers were grabbed and stuffed in the bag. The extra fridge and freezer were ignored. As was the garage. Too dark to see anything.

  Loch walked through the entire house again, making sure he hadn’t left anything behind, before he entered the kitchen. The smell was stronger, definitely coming from the fridge and freezer. There was a puddle of water on the floor under the appliance, black mold starting to form. He did his best to ignore it, moving to what he took to be the pantry cabinet.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Opening it, Loch smiled. This family had liked their canned veggies. There were stacks of all kinds. A couple dozen. It wouldn’t last long with the amount of mouths to feed at the Clanhold, but Loch was still happy to see it. Crackers, granola bars, ramen. Even the fruit gummies. The bread had gone moldy and he left the bags of chips. Anything opened, he left it alone. Loch worked his way through all the cabinets, ignoring dishes, pots and pans, and concentrating on food. His final stop was the downstairs bathroom, taking the rolls of toilet paper and paper towels.

  Walking out of the house, Loch met the rest of the team coming out of the house across the street and one further down. He looked up at the sky, seeing the sun starting to set.

  “Hopefully one of the next set won’t smell,” one of the Scavengers said, a couple of full backpacks hanging off his shoulders.

  Loch walked over to him, motioning toward the Spatial Bag. Taking one of the backpacks off his shoulder, the man held it over the Bag. He looked away, no one wanted to see the nausea inducing twisting and warping of the backpack as it entered the Spatial Bag. He followed up with the second.

  “There’s a pile of stuff waiting for one of the Spatial Bags,” he said, then realized who he was talking to. “I mean.. Uhm… sir…. Uhm.. Lord… uh…”

  “It’s okay,” Loch said smiling.

  ***

  It took two more days to clean out the houses between where they’d started and where David and his team had stopped. Loch stood at the intersection, looking down Knowles street. How many years had they trick or treated on Knowles and Pender? It was a great loop. Lots of houses, lots of people. The girls always ran into friends. Always the parents and friends for Loch and Kelly to hang out with.

  Even a couple houses with treats for the adults.

  The Scavengers had hit most of the houses on Pender and started on Knowles. There might even be a team down there now. Loch wasn’t sure of the schedule.

  He turned and walked toward the house and barn. The owners had built some fencing off to the side, creating space for horses. He wondered where the horses were now. Were they some that had joined Larry’s herd or had they wandered off into the woods and possibly died? Maybe they were still out there and would make their way back someday. Loch hoped for that option.

  The door had already been broken open. He admired the craftsmanship. The barn, and the fencing, had always looked good when he’d driven by. The owners had put some care and work into it. Inside the barn had a couple of stalls. Some old hay, now moldy, sat in the far corner, pieces strewn around the barn. Small scavengers had gotten into it, making a mess.

  The others had already stacked the saddles and other tack they’d found. Some harnesses and reins, blankets and a bunch of horseshoes. Loch put it all in his Spatial Bag. He walked around the barn, even climbing up into the loft, looking for anything else of use. There wasn’t much. He grabbed a pitchfork, some rakes, riding helmets and a bunch of rope he found.

  Leaving the barn, he walked into the house. Most of the blankets and pillows hadn’t been touched yet, neither had the mattresses. They’d decided to stay in that house for the night, finishing it up in the morning.

  There were piles of stuff set aside, more being added to them. Loch sat down near one, grabbing books and board games, utensils and food, stuffing them into the Spatial Bag. His was almost full. He’d emptied one of the others into his, giving more room for the Scavengers to grab more stuff. He wasn’t planning on rummaging through any more houses. He’d been gone from the Clanhold, and the girls, long enough.

  Everyone knew they were essentially stealing but since the likelihood of the original owners still being alive was slim, something no one wanted to think about, they had decided on scavenging. They weren’t raiding, they were taking for survival. Raiding was about taking because they could. This was all for survival of the Clan. Loch wasn’t sure who had started calling it rummaging, but he liked that term a lot better.

  Loch moved on to another pile.

  ***

  “There’s only two or three houses between here and the Bow Lake intersection,” David said as the group sat in the living room eating their dinner of jerky. “They’ve been cleared out already, so we’ll head down Knowles until we’re full up and can’t carry anymore.”

  “That wagon we found in the barn will help us carry a lot more,” Mikey, the youngest of the Scavenging team said, full of enthusiasm.

  The rest groaned.

  Loch laughed.

  He knew they would gladly take the wagon. They all knew that what they did was important, not just for themselves but everyone at the Clanhold. The more they could get, the more everyone would be better off. They would complain the whole way when pulling the large wagon, and it was a big one, but they’d still do it.

  “Are you coming with us, Lord Lochlan? Mikey asked.

  Loch gave the kid a mock glare. Not really a kid, Mikey was twenty, but his enthusiasm about everything made him seem a little younger. No matter how many times over the last few days Loch had told him to not call him Lord, Mikey still did it. Loch had given up. With the way Mikey was smirking, Loch wondered if the kid did it on purpose.

  “No, I’m going to head straight for the Clanhold, probably stop off at Bow Lake Fields to see how the start of construction is going.”

  “I can’t wait to have a house,” Jerry, another Scavenger said.

  “So you and Betty can get some privacy,” David said, causing everyone to laugh.

  Jerry didn’t look embarrassed.

  “Jealous?”

  “Hell yeah,” David admitted, earning more laughs.

  Loch smiled, watching the interplay between the group. It was good seeing people relax and laugh. He even joined in.