“Not just that, Bri.” Stu said. “She probably wouldn’t have even agreed to come. Hal told her she was going out on a damn rescue mission. ‘Go get help, Liv.’ ‘It’s all up to you, Liv.’ Meanwhile, what he was actually doing was getting her the hell out of there. She’s already lost both her parents to those animals. I think he was trying to save his niece from whatever’s going on over there. It must be pretty brutal to have her risk coming all this way on her own. It almost killed her, for crying out loud.”
“Hal probably had no idea that Rob gave her that note.” Brian said.
“We are kind of getting mixed messages from those two, aren’t we? Hal’s message says to stay away while Rob is asking us to come.”
“So, why are you saying we have to go then, Stu?” Brian asked. “Why take Rob’s request over Hal’s?”
“If it was just about them, we’d respect Hal’s wishes and stay away.” Stu said. “It would suck, but we’d cut them loose and take Liv in as one of our own. Problem is, it’s not only about them. Rob’s note says there’s 21 of those pricks over there. Not only are they well armed, but it’s also safe to assume that they know what they’re doing. What do they have for vehicles again… a freakin’ dump truck?”
“Yeah, one of those big highway plow dump trucks.” Brian replied. “They also have a fleet of small pick ups and a full length fuel tanker.”
“Great, so they have the means to move a large number of people long distances too.” Stu said.
“Looks that way, yeah. Liv said they even brought a camper with them.”
“Xander’s men must know Liv’s missing by now, Bri. They may not have been able to track her, but they know she was headed somewhere. I figure it’s only a matter of time before someone tells them where we are or they stumble across us on their own. Shit, we might even run into them by accident out on the road. Who the hell could live that way?”
“Who the hell would want to?” Brian added.
“That note gave us their guard schedule, patterns, numbers, all that crap?” Stu asked as he resumed his march towards Leo’s camper.
“Yeah, I’ve got everything, Stu.” Brian replied, again keeping pace. “Rob has been paying attention to all of it. He even noted when they leave the resort to go out hunting. I guess Xander keeps them on a fairly strict schedule. Plus, of course, there’s that interesting bit about what Donny can do for us.”
“Donny, right… I gave that a lot of thought too.” Stu said with a sinister grin. “I think that’s the edge we needed. I hope it’s enough.”
Arriving at Leo’s door, Stu began pounding on it. He really wanted to get this meeting with Brian out of the way and go to bed, but if Leo didn’t make an appearance at this door he knew that sleep would be a while off yet.
To Stu’s relief, Leo eventually answered. He had a sleeping bag wrapped around him and he looked undeniably miserable.
“What do you want, Dad?” Leo asked. “The sun’s barely up and I was cleaning most of the night.”
Brian smiled, crossed his arms and prepared himself to watch Stu offer an awkward apology to his eldest son. Instead, he was surprised to hear Stu seamlessly shift gears and reprimand Leo for something completely different. In all the years that Brian had known Stu he had always known him to be quick on his feet, but this time Brian was truly impressed.
“Don’t you think you’ll be more comfortable in there if you threw a log in that woodstove once in a while?” Stu asked. “If you’re not responsible enough to look after yourself, Leo, I’m sure your mommy would be happy to have you back at home.”
“I know… sorry, Dad.” Leo said. “I’ll take care of it right now. Promise it won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t.” Stu said before turning around and storming off.
Brian didn’t say a word. He simply raised his eyebrows at Leo and turned to follow Stu.
“Impressive, Stu.” Brian said. “I thought he had you that time.”
“Ha. That’ll be the day.” Stu said. “Bri, do me a favour and make sure Leo and Liv aren’t left alone in that trailer today. I know Leo’s gunna want to spend some time with her, but we need a chance to lay down some ground rules first. My son’s 15 year old girlfriend has no parental supervision whatsoever. It has Syd and me more than a little worried.”
“I’ll keep an eye on them, Stu.” Brian said. “Leo’s a good kid. I don’t think you need to worry about him.”
“It’s not him I’m worried about, Bri.”
“Ah… Gotcha.”
“Let’s go talk for a few minutes, so I can get to bed.” Stu said. “I asked Corey to have his team back at camp by 2:00, 2:30. I’d like you to have everybody in the cabin by 3:00 for a meeting.”
“Everybody?” Brian asked. “What about the trail?”
“Screw the trail.” Stu said. “God help anybody that shows up here today… especially in the mood I’m in.”
◆◆◆
“This trailer is great, Leo!” Olivia said. “I can’t believe you’ve got your own place.”
“I know, right? I can’t believe it either.” Leo said, tossing another log in the stove. “I still have a lot of work to do, but it’s coming along. I spent the whole night cleaning it up for your visit.”
“What a gentleman. Do you remember the last time we were alone, Leo… what we did?”
“My first make out session ever… yeah, I think I vaguely remember that.” Leo replied as he stood back up and faced her. “I’ve been looking forward to getting you alone again ever since.”
She was impressed with the confidence that Leo had developed since that day. Olivia seemed to remember him being far less assertive than the young man standing in front of her now. He even seemed taller somehow.
“Well, we’re alone now.” Olivia said, somewhat confidently herself.
“Are you sure?” Leo asked. “I mean, I thought you still weren’t feeling great.”
“I don’t think a kiss will send me into a coma, Leo.” Olivia said. “You’re good, but you’re not that good.”
“Oh, I don’t know… look what you went through to get another.” Leo said with a smile.
Maybe a little too confident.
Three seconds after their lips met, somebody had already decided to break up their happy reunion.
“Leo, Liv, you guys in there?” Brian called out as he knocked on the camper door.
Leo tried to pull away, but Olivia held him for a moment longer. She wanted to make sure that the kiss was completed properly.
“Yeah, just a minute.” Leo eventually called back.
Olivia took a seat on the couch, pouting playfully, as Leo went to answer the door.
“What’s up?” Leo asked, holding the door open with a ridiculous grin on his face.
“Corey and them just got back.” Brian replied. “The adults are all going in for a meeting in a few minutes. You two need to get out of this trailer before your parents get up. Maybe you could take Liv out for a ride in the Bronco instead, keep watch for a bit.”
“Alright.” Leo said. “We weren’t…”
“…Don’t need to know, Leo.” Brian said, holding up his hand. “If your parents catch the two of you alone in there all three of us are in trouble, so hurry it up. I’ll be right outside this door waiting.”
“Oh… okay…” Leo said, obviously disappointed.
Softening a little, Brian then added, “I’ll give you exactly two minutes to finish up with whatever kept you from answering the door right away. Then I’m coming in there after you, Leo.”
“Thanks, Mr. Baker!” Leo said, smiling broadly as he shut the door in Brian’s face.
Kids.
◆◆◆
Once Leo and Liv were alone again, this time driving slowly up the trail, Liv breached a subject that was weighing heavily on her mind.
“Do you know if your dad is planning to help us, Leo?”
“I really don’t know what he’s planning.” Leo replied. “I was
out on guard duty yesterday until around 7:00 p.m. When Mom and Dad came out to relieve us they didn’t say anything about it. Nobody said anything to me today either.”
“What do you think they’ll do?” Olivia asked. “Do you think they’ll go?”
“I don’t know, Liv… I hope so.” Leo replied. “I already know what the biggest problem will be. We don’t really have a lot of ammo left. We’re okay for hunting rounds, but the stuff that our military weapons use is almost gone.”
“That’s a huge problem.” Olivia said. “Those assholes have tons of ammo. The backs of their trucks have crates of the stuff.”
“Shit… Did you tell Brian about that?”
“Of course, Leo.” Olivia replied. “I didn’t hide anything from him. I also told him about Uncle Hal’s friend, Donny.”
“The guy that helped you with the snowmobile?”
“That’s the guy.” Olivia replied. “He offered to help us get the resort back too.”
“How could he help us with that?” Leo asked. “My dad told me he’s just some old guy that lives by himself in the woods.”
“He is, but he’s an old guy with a pretty awesome little hobby.”
◆◆◆
“I was just heading over to see what was keeping you, two.” George said, meeting Stu and Sydney as they stepped onto the back deck.
“Sorry, George, I know we’re running a little behind.” Sydney said.
“Is everybody here?” Stu asked.
“All the adults are, yeah. Jenny’s watching the kids over at Corey’s place.” George replied.
“Where’s Leo and Liv?” Sydney asked.
“They went up the trail in the Bronco on a little date.” George replied. “They have your dog with them.”
“Perfect, they brought a chaperone.” Stu said.
“I understand why you wouldn’t want Liv at this meeting, Stu, but why leave Leo out of it?” George asked. “Isn’t he gunna be part of this thing?”
“He is, but not directly.” Stu replied.
“His ankle is hurting, George.” Sydney added. “He’s the logical choice to stay back.”
“Okay, but I don’t think Leo will see it that way.” George said.
“Don’t give a shit.” Stu said. “I’ve got an important job planned for him that doesn’t involve him hopping around a damn battlefield on one leg.”
“Your call, Stu.” George said. “Let’s head in there and get this thing started then.”
George held the door open for Stu and Sydney and then followed them in. Seeing that everybody was seated and waiting patiently for the meeting to begin, Stu wasted no time in removing his boots and walking to the front of the living room. Stu motioned for Brian to join him while Sydney took a seat next to Fran.
“Morning everybody.” Stu said, hamming it up with a large stretch. “I see you guys are all up early.”
“It’s 3:15 in the afternoon, Stu.” Brian said, holding up his newly reset watch.
“…And you’re late.” Corey added.
“That’s my fault, sorry.” Sydney said from the back of the room. Then she impishly added, “It’s not often we have the camper to ourselves.”
“15 minutes…” Terrell said, slowly clapping his hands and nodding. “Bravo, Stu.”
“Syd, why do you say things?” Stu asked while he lowered his head.
“We can talk about Stu’s incredible prowess later, guys.” Brian said, patting his embarrassed friend on the back. “We’ve got some serious business to attend to first.”
“Alright, we still have a few details to work out, but we’d like this to happen the day after tomorrow.” Stu said. “Bri and I have already figured out who we want on this and how we want to divide everybody up.”
“Please keep in mind that the decision to even do this hasn’t been made yet.” Brian added. “We’re not insisting that any of you do anything?”
“Right.” Stu said. “If enough of you say that you’re not interested, we’ll have to call it off.”
“Why are we even considering this?” Gwen asked. “I’m sorry, but this just seems insane to me. We’ve built a wonderful life here with our families and friends. Why risk losing it all for people we barely even know?”
“Our wonderful life here was made possible in part because of what Hal and his people provided us all winter.” Stu said. “Even though they’ve only been in our lives a short time, it’s important that none of us forget that.”
“Stu and I are going to lay out the whole thing, Gwen.” Brian added. “Once we’re done explaining what we have planned and why we feel we need to do this, I think you’ll understand.”
“Give us the names, guys.” Stacey said. “Who are you thinking?”
“Alright, that’s as good a place to start as any.” Stu said, glancing at Brian. “I’ll have a very different job than the rest of you, so I’ll leave my bit for the end.”
That statement got his wife’s attention. Sydney hadn’t been told much about the plan, so what her husband had just said caught her by surprise. She had assumed that she would be with Stu throughout the ordeal, supporting the effort by his side. Sydney would soon learn, however, that she may not even see her husband until it was all over.
“We’re gunna break into two fireteams of four.” Stu continued. “Corey will lead Sydney, Cole and Terrell. We’ll call them Team One. Brian will lead Team Two, made up of George, Stacey and Grace. For the most part, Terrell and Grace will be serving as medics only. They’ll be back from the fighting, but they’ll be armed and ready to get involved if needed.
“Ammo is gunna be a bit of a problem, so we’ll have to be careful will the automatics. Keep them in semi-auto as much as possible. Corey will also have the .50 cal with him and George will carry his 7mm magnum. We still have plenty of ammo for our hunting rifles, so the others will be armed with the 30-30 and the .270s.”
“Most of us will have a sidearm on us as well with at least one spare magazine.” Brian added. “We have enough shotguns that many of us can take along one of those too.”
“What about Leo?” Cole asked. “I have a hard time believing you’d rather have me along than him.”
“Yeah, shouldn’t Liv have some involvement in this as well?” Grace added. “I know she’s just a kid, but this is her home we’re talking about here.”
“Liv’s coming too, but she’ll be with me.” Stu replied. “Leo’s leg is messed up and his right hand is full of stitches, so he won’t have a combat role tomorrow. We want Leo and Fran to serve as our transports.”
“Transports…?” Fran asked. “Transports to where… the resort?”
“Absolutely not.” Stu said emphatically. “If we drove up to their gates, Fran, we’d be destroyed in seconds.”
“Apparently, there’s 21 of them over there.” Brian added. “We don’t have as much ammunition as they do either, so we need to try something a little different this time.”
“Leo will drive in from the east with Team One and Fran will drive in from the west with Team Two.” Stu continued. “They’ll drop everybody off three kilometres from the gates and then retreat back to a safe distance. The assault teams will then hump it from there to their designated positions.”
“What’s a safe distance?” Fran asked.
“If you drive seven kilometres after the drop off, Fran, that will put you at 10 from the gates.” Brian said. “That will be more than enough to keep you and Leo out of it.”
“If ammunition is such a tremendous problem, wouldn’t using it all up on this one mission leave us all defenseless?” Nichelle asked. “We still need to protect this place, not to mention hunt for food.”
“When we win this thing, folks, we’ll be swimming in ammo.” Brian replied. “The note that Rob gave Liv listed every observation that he’s made over the past two weeks. He’s counted at least 25 wooden ammunition crates. Every one of them is stamped with either 9mm or 5.56mm. That’s the same ammo that our pistols and rifles use.”
“That’s enough ammo to get us through this apocalypse and the next.” Stu added.
“What makes you two so sure we’ll even have a chance against these maniacs?” Terrell asked. “Believe me, I’ve seen what you people can do, but nothing you guys have said so far adds up to a win.”
“I know it sounds risky, but we haven’t mentioned our secret weapon yet.” Brian said. “Tomorrow morning, Stu, Corey and I are taking Liv out to find her snowmobile. Once we pull it out of the ditch, Liv will be taking Stu out to meet this Donny fella. For those of you that don’t know, Donny’s a trusted friend of Hal’s. His place is hidden back in the forest across the road from the resort. That was Liv’s starting point on her ride over here. He’s offered to help us out with this.
“Just before Liv left to come here, he told her something very interesting. Turns out old Donny was a driller/blaster at the mine for 35 years. Even more interesting, he made a point of taking a little bit of his work home with him everyday.”
“No way… dynamite?” Terrell asked.
“Yes way, dynamite.” Brian replied. “Liv said she saw the crates with her own eyes. He keeps them in a buried freezer behind his place. Donny told her that he has 100 sticks left and he’s willing to give us every single one of them.”
“Isn’t dynamite notoriously dangerous once it gets a little older?” Stacey asked.
“Hell yes, it’s dangerous. It sweats nitroglycerine.” Brian replied. “I guess the modern stuff used in mining is sealed in some way. Donny specifically told Liv to tell us that his stuff is perfectly safe to use. I guess he uses it to clear log jams in the river as well as blowing up the occasional beaver dam.”
“Any idea how to use it?” Terrell asked.
“None whatsoever.” Brian replied. “We’re hoping Donny will instruct Stu when he speaks to him tomorrow.”
“This is the break we needed, guys.” Stu said. “If we use this advantage properly the tide will instantly turn in our favour.”
“Yeah, if you don’t blow yourself up first.” Sydney said.
“If I don’t blow myself up first.”
Chapter 23
EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4 Page 36