“It’s fine. We can wait,” Emma offered.
“Well, you don’t have to. Hopefully I’ll be right back. They couldn’t have gone too far.” Ben remembered several times when he had found himself many more miles up- or downstream than he had intended; it was easy to lose yourself in the rhythm and flow of the water while chasing after that next rising fish.
Ben switched the red LED light on and slung the shotgun over his shoulder.
“Stay…stay.” Ben held his hand out in an effort to stop Gunner, who had started to get up and follow him. The dog stopped reluctantly in an awkward half-seated position and followed Ben with his eyes as he headed out toward the creek. Ben shook his head and searched for footprints in the dirt near the bank of the creek. He couldn’t believe he was having to do this. It was shaping up to be a nice uneventful night, and he was really looking forward to having a peaceful meal. The fact that he was starving wasn’t helping his disposition any, either.
He hadn’t made it more than a couple of yards downstream when he heard the dogs growling back at camp. At least he hoped it was the dogs. Then Gunner let out a deep bark, a sound Ben recognized instantly. The boys would have to wait. He needed to get back and see what was going on. His mind raced as he retraced his footsteps over the rocks as fast as he could without stumbling. From the edge of the creek he could see the silhouettes of Allie, Sandy, and Emma in the light of the fire. With their backs to him, all three were standing up and facing the woods. Both dogs were up now, facing the same direction and standing at the edge of the light cast by the fire. Something in the woods had their interest.
“What is it?” Ben asked in the loudest whisper he dared as he approached the girls from behind. Sandy jumped and spun around to face him.
She held her hand to her chest and caught her breath. “You scared me. I don’t know. The dogs… They heard something.”
Ben was impressed that Allie had the modified 20-gauge drawn and at the ready. “All right, everybody,” he said. “Relax. It’s probably just a raccoon or something.” But after he said that, the noise that came out of the woods sounded much bigger than a raccoon. Gunner and Sam responded with growls and muffled barks, their hackles raised; both dogs were ready for action. Sam looked back at them nervously for a second before turning her attention to the woods beyond the light.
The noise grew louder and more consistent with each passing second. Ben was convinced that what they were hearing was footsteps. Whether it was an animal or a person, he couldn’t tell. With the KSG drawn, he held the gun at his waist and remained motionless, struggling to listen. Whatever was making the noise was definitely heading their way.
“Remember, Joel and Bradley are out there,” Ben cautioned. Sandy had drawn the small .38 that Allie had given her, and they all waited and stared into the darkness. The last thing he wanted was anyone firing blindly into the woods before they knew what they were dealing with. Why did Joel and Bradley have to be MIA right now?
Ben moved up, stood directly behind the dogs, and strained to see any movement coming from the stand of pine trees bordering camp. What they heard was definitely footsteps, and he expected to see something any second. Ben was about to call out a warning to whoever or whatever it was when he saw Gunner’s body language change. The fur along his back was flat once again and his tail wagged slowly. Sam was still on edge but was no longer growling. A few seconds later, Joel stumbled out of the overgrowth, doing his best to feel his way through the dense thicket of trees.
Ben dropped his gun immediately as Bradley appeared a few feet behind Joel, his hands held up to his face to block the branches from swinging back and hitting him.
“What are you guys doing? Are you trying to get yourselves shot?” Ben exclaimed. He let out a deep breath and calmed himself. When he saw the expression on Bradley’s face, he felt bad for raising his voice. It was obvious that he was already upset.
“The dogs were going crazy. We didn’t know what to think,” Allie added.
“We forgot to take our headlamps and couldn’t see well enough to come back along the creek,” Joel explained. “I didn’t want to get hurt on the rocks or risk falling in, so we tried to come back through the woods.”
“You should have called out and let us know it was you.” Ben shook his head. Bradley remained silent and looked to be near tears. Gunner and Sam rushed the boys and circled them, glad to see the threat was over.
“I got turned around and we lost our way for a little while. I didn’t realize we were this close, but we could smell the fire and tried to follow it.” Joel avoided eye contact as he spoke.
Ben was relieved to have Joel and Bradley back, but he was irritated about what might have happened if things had turned out differently. Though forgetting the headlamps was an honest mistake, that didn’t make the possibility of shooting one of his kids any easier to think about.
“Well, I’m glad you’re back. We were getting worried about you guys.” Ben put his hand on Bradley’s head and ruffled up his hair playfully, then lightly slapped him on the back. “Don’t do that again. I’ve got enough gray hair already,” Ben joked.
Joel looked at his brother and then down at the ground. “Sorry, I just didn’t want to risk getting hurt on the rocks.”
“Dinner’s ready. Why don’t we all sit down and eat?” Sandy had the food divided up and plated. Ben was glad to change the topic, and by the looks on the boys’ faces, so were they.
Chapter Fourteen
For the most part, dinner was enjoyed in silence. It was obvious that Joel felt bad about the incident, and it surely wouldn’t soon be forgotten. Bradley was especially quiet, but that might have been because he was busy shoving food into his mouth. They all were. It had been another long day, and they hadn’t eaten much for lunch because of the heat. While Ben and Sandy had been cooking dinner, Allie made herself useful by filling some of the empty Nalgene containers with freshly filtered water from the creek. The cool, clean water was a welcome addition to the meal, and Ben chalked up everyone’s silence to the meal more so than the close call they’d just had.
Gunner ate his steak impossibly fast, and it seemed to disappear with only a few bites and little fanfare. Sam took a little longer, but both dogs were done and licking their chops within a couple of minutes.
“Did you even taste it?” Allie broke the silence and teased Gunner.
“I can’t believe how fast they ate those!” Emma added.
“Well, did you catch anything?” Allie asked the boys.
Joel looked sheepishly at Ben for a second, then at Allie. “Yeah, a couple small brookies and a brown. Nothin’ worth keeping, really. It’s a good thing we have the deer meat.”
“Well, enjoy it while it lasts. If we have another day like today, it won’t last much longer,” Ben said.
“Hopefully the weather breaks a little. It seemed to cool down when we hit the mountains.” Sandy stood up and started to collect plates. The dogs kept a close eye on her as she made her way around to everyone, but there were no leftovers tonight except for a few scraps of gristle and fat. After the meal, no one seemed too eager to move for a while, and slowly the conversation returned to normal. The kids scooted in and sat closer to the fire, taking turns adding wood as necessary to keep it going.
Ben rose up from his spot on the ground and made use of the more comfortable passenger seat in the Blazer while he studied the map with his headlamp for tomorrow’s drive. Sandy rooted through a container in the back of the truck and pulled out a bag of marshmallows that she’d saved from Jack’s. She gave the kids three each and then came back to the truck.
“Want one?” She held the bag toward Ben as she popped one into her mouth.
He smiled. “No thanks. You guys enjoy them.”
Sandy closed her eyes and savored the marshmallow. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything sweet.” She rolled the bag up tightly and tucked the rest away for another time. It wasn’t long before Ben heard laughter coming from ar
ound the fire as the kids roasted their sugary treats on sharpened sticks. It made him feel good to see them enjoying themselves, and he felt guilty for coming down so hard on Joel earlier. But the feeling passed as he rationalized his initial reaction in his mind.
This wasn’t a weekend camping trip; this was survival, and out here, one mistake could mean the difference between living and dying. And as much as he loved the kids and hated to be stern with them, it was for their own good. The stakes were too high to treat it any other way. Of course, none of this was their fault, and they were just kids. Ben turned around in his seat and looked at Sandy, who was busy organizing the back of the truck.
“Was I too hard on the boys?” Ben asked.
Sandy paused and looked up. “No… No, I don’t think so. In fact, I think you handled it pretty well, all things considering. If it had been Allie who pulled something like that, I might have said worse.” Sandy went back to organizing, then looked up again. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Ben. You’re a good dad, and they know it.”
“Thanks. It’s hard to think of Joel and Allie as kids sometimes. I mean, all that we’ve been through… It’s got to be hard on them. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I do. But it’s hard on all of us. And yes, they are growing up fast. They have to, unfortunately. None of us asked for this. We just have to do the best we can. We’re supposed to be helping them plan for college or life after high school right now, not teaching them how to survive dystopia. There’s no rule book to follow, and I think you—we—are doing a good job.”
Ben sighed. “I hope so, but sometimes I wonder. I guess we just have to do the best we can.”
“That’s all we can do,” Sandy said with a smile.
Ben had been so engrossed in the conversation with Sandy that he hadn’t noticed Joel approaching.
“How far do you think we’ll get tomorrow?” Joel asked.
Ben turned in the seat to face his son. “Well, we’re taking a less direct route and avoiding the cities, so I’d be happy if we made it most of the way through Ohio.”
Joel nodded, but Ben could see that his mind was elsewhere and that he really hadn’t come over to talk about the drive tomorrow.
“Hey, I’m really sorry about what happened earlier,” Joel said, avoiding direct eye contact. “I know it was a stupid thing to do.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to come down so hard on you, either. I just worry about you guys. And now that your brother and sister are with us, I have more to worry about. I need to be able to rely on you more now than ever.” Ben put his hand on Joel’s shoulder.
“I know. I promise to try harder.”
“And I promise to try to not be so hard on you.”
Joel did a 180 and started to walk away but stopped mid-stride, then turned back toward Ben. “Dad, thanks.”
“For what?” Ben asked.
“For everything.” Joel turned and continued on his way.
“See, I told you.” Sandy smiled before she closed the back of the truck and followed Joel back toward the campsite.
Maybe Sandy was right. Maybe Ben was being too hard on himself. After all, they had made it this far. He closed the map and tucked it back down between the seat and the center console. Tomorrow was another day, and it would be here before they knew it.
Soon, it was time to get some rest. He’d let the kids enjoy a little more time around the fire for now, though. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and he didn’t have the heart to break it up. There’d be time in the morning to clean out the containers and replace the smelly water from Jack’s with freshly filtered water from the stream. If they replaced the water in the morning before they left, it would also stay cool longer. He’d feel better if they waited until daylight to do that anyway. The creek was close, but as far as he was concerned, they’d had enough excitement for one night already, and he wasn’t in the mood to push their luck.
Ben took a few precautions before turning in for the night and loaded the coolers with the venison into the back of the Blazer. The fact that Joel mentioned they could smell dinner cooking from some ways away when they were lost in the woods was concerning to him. There were bears in the mountains here, as far as he knew, and he could at least follow the same camping etiquette they practiced back home.
Normally they didn’t have the trucks nearby when they backpacked, so they would place any food items in a bag and suspend it from a rope over a high branch. But with the trucks handy, locking anything food-related inside and closing the windows should be just as effective, or at least he hoped. He really didn’t have the energy to rig up a way to suspend the coolers with a rope, and it wasn’t practical. Hopefully the fire would be enough of a deterrent to keep any curious animals at bay.
Ben did a quick inventory of the wood they had on hand and figured there was enough to burn through the night if they burned it slow. There was one very large log that he had rolled over from the edge of camp, and it would at least smolder through the night. This required digging out the firepit a little and abandoning the two-hole method, but that was the only way to make it work.
He cleaned up as best as he could and brushed his teeth before recommending that the kids not stay up too much longer, especially Joel and Allie now that they were on their own as far as the driving went. Ben left the flap partially open on his tent so Bradley and Emma could get in later without waking him up. After saying goodnight to everyone, he climbed into his tent with the KSG and lay down to sleep. He could still hear the kids talking, even though they did their best to keep their voices low, but he was too tired for it to matter, and within minutes, he was out cold.
Chapter Fifteen
At first, Ben thought that he imagined the noise. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized that what he was hearing was Sam. The dog was sitting by the opening to the tent and growling softly. Maybe she had to go to the bathroom; it was a big piece of meat that she and Gunner had eaten for dinner. But then he realized that she was upset and visibly shaking.
“What is it, girl?” he whispered. Ben surveyed the interior of the tent and made sure that the kids were inside. Both Bradley’s and Emma’s sleeping bags were zipped up with them inside. He hadn’t even heard them come to bed; he must have been sleeping pretty hard. Checking his watch, he was disappointed to see that it was already close to four in the morning. He felt like he’d only been asleep for a few minutes. He also knew that the chances of him falling back asleep were slim.
He slipped his boots on as quietly as he could, not bothering to lace them up for the moment. If Sam was up, so was Gunner, and the sooner he let the dogs out of the tents, the less likely they would be to wake anyone else up. Ben slowly unzipped the tent while hanging on to Sam’s collar with his other hand. He peeked outside before opening the flap any farther. Nothing. He moved the zipper around the opening, cringing as the sound seemed way too loud for anyone to sleep through—or, worse, for anyone sneaking around their camp not to hear.
He assumed Gunner was with Allie. He wanted Gunner outside with him in case there were some unwanted visitors waiting in the shadows. He wasn’t entirely sure about Sam yet, but Gunner would be an asset if it came to defending themselves against a threat.
He made his way outside the tent and released his grip on Sam’s collar. To his surprise, she stayed close to him, tail tucked and clearly nervous about whatever had woken her up. Ben held still and listened. He decided to tie his boots before he did anything else. He donned his headlamp and switched on the red LED function while he struggled to pick up any noises coming from the woods. But the only sound was Gunner’s impatient but soft whine from inside Allie’s bivy.
He made his way over and opened the fly just far enough for Gunner to squeeze out. The dog didn’t waste any time and made a hasty exit. Unlike Sam, Gunner struck out on his own, trotting confidently to the edge of their small semicircle of tents, his nose working the night air for information. Ben watched intently as Gunner made his way aro
und the perimeter of the site. Sam seemed emboldened by Gunner’s display of bravery and ventured a little farther away from Ben’s side. Both dogs gradually expanded their search until they settled on a point of interest near the creek and behind the tents.
There was no doubt in Ben’s mind that there was something out there; the question was whether it was on four legs or two. Gunner’s hackles were up now, and his tail was raised. Sam joined in on the posturing as the two remained focused on the invisible threat. Ben switched the headlamp off and crouched down but kept the shotgun ready. There was no point in giving whatever it was a clear silhouette. He remembered being able to see a clear outline of the girls earlier when he was returning from the creek. Although there was little light coming from the fire now, it produced a thick white smoke from the oversized log Ben had placed over the hole before going to bed.
He considered waking the others, or at least Joel, but decided not to. What if it was just an opossum or some other harmless critter that was causing the dogs to get excited? They had a long, grueling day of travel ahead of them, and he didn’t want them to lose sleep over nothing. It wasn’t like before, when they could share the driving duties among all of them if one person was too tired.
Snap! The sound was crisp and clear and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was also an indication that whatever was out there was a lot heavier than a raccoon and that it was close. The dogs tensed up even more and Gunner began to make his presence known with a low, thick growl. Ben’s hands tightened on the shotgun as he waited, certain something would jump from the darkness any second now.
Then the dogs started acting strangely; they seemed to be torn on which direction to focus their attention. Sam started by looking to the left, and Gunner wavered between looking that way and staying focused on the original point of interest. Were there multiple threats? Ben began to think so, and the possibility of whatever was out there being people grew in his imagination. It was time to wake the others, if it wasn’t too late already.
Dark Road (Book 7): Deception Page 7