by Bruno Miller
Crack! Crack…crack! Crack! Joel joined the fight before Ben had a chance to get off any more shots. The truck violently dipped to the right as it hit a large pothole and ran off the trail and into the woods. Ben thought they were down, but to his disappointment, the truck somehow corrected and continued on down the trail. He watched as the taillights bounced along, growing dimmer by the second. He was about to give up hope when the truck stopped dead half a mile or more down the side of the mountain.
“Great,” Ben uttered out loud.
“Well, at least they didn’t get away,” Joel added.
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Ben watched the truck for a while and saw no movement. He wanted to go check on the occupants, but it was too far away from the others for his comfort, and he didn’t want to waste the time it would take. And if he was being totally honest, he wasn’t sure if he had it in him to hike back up the mountain afterward. If the people in the truck were dead, so be it. If they weren’t, well, they wouldn’t be coming back here. And now that they were on foot, they wouldn’t be able to reach help as fast. At least that was what he hoped.
Ben’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps behind them. He drew his pistol in the general direction and prepared to shoot if it was another one of the missing moonshiners. But it wasn’t. It was Martin. He burst from the shadows, running as fast as he could with a pistol in his hand. He must have found the gun on one of the bodies. The sight alarmed Ben initially, and for a split second, he thought he was going to have to put a bullet in the guy. But then he noticed that Martin wasn’t focused on them at all. Instead, he was looking past them and down the trail the truck had taken.
Ben heard him huffing hard as he jogged several feet past him and Joel. He stopped abruptly and swayed back and forth slightly as he caught his breath. Without warning, he raised the pistol and pointed it at the truck.
Boom…boom!
Martin stumbled backward and landed on his butt after the second shot. Ben recognized the sound immediately, and it was then that he realized Martin had his Desert Eagle. Ben jogged over to Martin and helped him up while at the same time taking the pistol from him.
“I wondered where that was.” Ben looked his gun over, inspecting it for any damage. The last time he saw it, the old man was tucking it into his belt, but he hadn’t found it on his body when he took him out in the recliner.
“Here.” Ben handed Martin the smaller pistol he’d taken off one of the moonshiners. “You’ve got seven shots left with that.” He waited until Martin acknowledged what he had said before sliding the magazine out of his own pistol to see how many rounds he had left. The gun only held seven of the large .50-caliber cartridges to begin with. He confirmed that four remained. Thankfully, the Blazer and Jeep were only a few yards away, and with any luck, they could resupply before heading back into the camp and clearing the rest of the houses.
Joel was way ahead of him, though, and already had the Jeep opened up.
“They took everything, all of it. It’s totally cleaned out,” Joel huffed.
“Same here.” Ben opened the Blazer, but he could already tell that the truck had been emptied of just about everything—everything but the full magazine for his Desert Eagle; he had hidden it between the driver’s seat and the center console. He slid the magazine into his back pocket and checked the truck’s ignition. Nothing there, but a quick flip of the visor dumped a set of keys onto the seat.
He stuffed those into his pocket as well and closed the door. He blew out a sharp breath as he accepted the fact that they were going to have to repack the vehicles completely. Not only that, but they were going to have to find their gear. There would be no leaving this place quickly like he wanted to. It took them the better part of a day to load the trucks at Jack’s. All that effort to pack smartly and organize what they needed was wasted now.
Joel looked equally as frustrated and was about to slam the Jeep’s door but stopped short. He turned around and reached under the seat. A slight smile appeared on his face as he pulled out the .45 Jack had given him in Maryland. His hiding spot under the driver’s seat had proven to be a good idea and kept the pistol out of the moonshiners’ hands.
Joel tucked the gun into his belt and picked the AR-15 up off the hood. “We need to find our stuff,” he said.
“We will, but first things first: I need to finish clearing the houses. We’ll probably find everything that’s missing in the process. We should let the others know we’re all right, too. I’m sure they heard the shooting.” Ben was thinking out loud and hadn’t fully decided how to best go about things. Martin was armed now. That wasn’t his plan, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. He wasn’t concerned about the guy anymore. Martin could have made his move earlier, if those were his intentions, but it was obvious that the guy hated the moonshiners as much as Ben did. For now, he was going to have to trust Martin. Whether he lived to regret that decision or not remained to be seen.
There was no getting around the fact that they were going to be here for a lot longer than he wanted. It would take hours to find everything and repack the trucks. Even if they did it with less planning than the first time, they’d be here well into the morning.
Ben checked his watch and was disappointed to see that sunrise was only a couple of hours away. The lack of decent sleep over the past two nights was taking its toll on him, and he worried that it would soon start to affect his decision-making. He wasn’t alone, either, and he knew it. None of them were in top form thanks to the events of the last forty-eight hours. The night before it was the bears, and now this.
There was only one solution, and as much as he hated the idea, they really didn’t have a choice. They were going to secure the compound and protect it like their own until they were properly outfitted and ready to leave on their own terms. Pulling out of here in a hurry and half-cocked wasn’t what he wanted for them. Getting back out on the road without being prepared could come back to haunt them and have major consequences down the road—literally. That was how mistakes were made, and as far as he was concerned, they’d made too many of them already.
Chapter Sixteen
If they were going to make a stand here, they needed to pull everything back inside the gate and lock themselves in. At the very least, the Blazer and the Jeep had to be inside the camp, although the remaining truck belonging to the moonshiners might come in handy later as well. He and Martin could take care of that now, and he could send Joel back to let the others know what the plan was.
If Joel stayed to the right side of the camp and avoided the areas with the container houses, Ben was fairly certain he would be safe. There was a good chance the fleeing pickup was the last of the moonshiners anyway. If there were any left, their chance for escape would be over once the gate was locked.
Joel and Martin both agreed with Ben’s plan. None of them were in good enough physical condition to get back on the road right now anyway. It was settled, then, and Joel headed back to let the others know what was going on while his dad and Martin pulled the vehicles inside the compound.
It felt good to sit inside the Blazer and start it up. The familiar sound of the engine and the contours of the driver’s seat made the vehicle feel like home, as much as Ben hated to admit it. Luckily, the moonshiners made a habit of keeping the keys tucked into the sun visors, and it didn’t take long to park all three vehicles near the center of the compound, safely within the confines of the chain-link fence.
Sliding the oversized gate closed and willingly shutting himself inside the compound gave Ben pause. He hesitated for a moment before finally closing the bolt on the padlock. He hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake and biting off more than they could chew. What if none of them were thinking clearly because of fatigue? If they were wrong, it would cost them everything. He squashed the seed of panic that threatened to grow inside him and headed back to continue clearing containers with Gunner’s assistance.
Martin’s burst of energ
y had cost the man what little strength he had left; he would only slow Ben down. Instead, he asked Martin to stay at the entrance to the camp and use the air horn they found in a makeshift guard shack near the gate to signal them if he saw anyone approaching.
Ben thought about Cloverdale again and how they used a similar alert system. He wondered how the town was holding up as he and Gunner left Martin at his post. They’d have to keep a person on watch here at all times as well, at least until they were ready to leave. If the other moonshiners came around, they’d at least be ready for them.
He made his way back to the last container and picked up right where he’d left off, just like he told Joel he would. They had no way of communicating right now other than being specific about their plans. When they split up, it was important to follow through on what was said, even though he would have preferred to start at the larger place up on the hill. It was the old man’s place; that was what he assumed, anyway, based on the size of the multi-container house. It was much larger than the rest and sat off by itself a bit, giving it a commanding view of the compound.
But he had to start here. The kids were behind him, and if he could secure the containers as they made their way across the compound, their security would be guaranteed. As much as that was possible, anyway. Even if anyone was hiding inside the fence, he could keep them isolated and let Sandy and the kids start to explore the secured areas of the camp.
He told Joel to have them concentrate on locating food and water, not only for themselves but for Rita and Carlos as well. No amount of nourishment was going to turn the couple into competent fighters, but they could help out by pulling their weight and standing watch. That was as important as anything else, and it would at least give Ben and the others a chance to organize and pack up without having to constantly glance over their shoulders.
Ben needed to buckle down and fight through the fatigue. The sooner he got this place buttoned up, the sooner he could slow down. He couldn’t stop, but he could certainly shift gears. This process would be nerve-wracking enough with the constant possibility of an attack on their minds, so the least they could do for themselves was make sure they were safe inside the fence while they worked.
The first few containers were just as empty as the first one, and he was becoming more confident that the last of the moonshiners were in the truck. He still had to make sure, though, so he and Gunner continued on. Ben was impressed with Gunner’s aptitude when it came to searching the containers and made his work all that much easier without having to use a flashlight.
When Joel caught up to him, Ben was more than halfway through the compound. He told Joel to help the others and start with the first container he and Gunner had cleared. He told his son to grab anything of value—weapons, ammunition, gear, or food—and pile it up outside of each house so that it could be collected by vehicle later. He still wanted them to focus on food and water, but there was no reason they couldn’t start gathering other supplies as well.
Joel looked disappointed, but his time would be better spent helping the others. The containers were small, and adding another person to help clear them would have been overkill; there was barely enough room for him and Gunner at the same time. Ben was also hoping that they could come up with something for everyone to eat. It was going to be a long day, and they all needed fuel or they wouldn’t make it. He was looking forward to a cup or two of strong coffee as much as he was the food. Even a Clif bar would be enough to get by until they could afford the luxury of something more substantial and some sleep.
Plus, the sooner they all got a little nourishment, the faster and smoother things would come together around here. When it came to his reaction time, Ben felt his sharpness fading, and even his thought process about things seemed to be more labored than usual. They were definitely suffering from the effects of dehydration, among other things. He could only imagine the mental and physical deficit that Rita, Carlos, and Martin were operating on.
Sandy would see to it that they had priority when it came to food; he was sure of that. And that was good because the sooner they were back on their feet, the sooner they could start helping out. Ben wasn’t selfish and planned on reciprocating by helping them as well. Rita, Carlos, and Martin would all want to continue the journeys they were on before being trapped here. For the help they had given him already, Ben owed them that much at least. Besides, they were regular people, just like him, and had family waiting for them somewhere out there, so they deserved a little assistance.
Ben imagined that they would all drive out of here together and maybe even run the interstate for a while until eventually they went their separate ways. He remembered Rita saying they were headed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where her daughter lived. He needed to check the map before they left, but he was pretty sure that it wasn’t too far from Cloverdale.
He didn’t remember Martin saying anything about where he was from or where he was going. Maybe he was headed east and they would part ways as soon as they hit the blacktop. Ben would tell them all about Cloverdale, and they could do what they wanted with the information. He knew Vince was trying to build a community of like-minded people. And if nothing else, it would be a good place for them to get a few days’ rest before continuing on their way. Ben would be willing to caravan with them all the way to Cloverdale. There was strength in numbers—or some weakness, too, possibly—but in this case, he thought the risk worthwhile since these people were willing to help him and the kids escape this place.
Ben prepared to enter the last single-container home. Gunner knew the routine at this point and was already waiting by the door when he arrived. This was it for the small makeshift houses. Only one more place remained after this.
The large standalone, multi-container house sat uphill and about fifty yards away from the rest of the camp and the last house Ben was getting ready to search. If this container turned out to be empty like the rest, all their hope would lie in finding their gear in the big place.
The tactical placement of the dwelling wasn’t lost on Ben, and he began to think that having Joel along to help clear the structure might not be a bad idea. It’d be nice having an extra pair of eyes and ears just for getting up to the place. If any of the moonshiners were brave enough to make a final stand, that would be the place to do it.
Ben threw the door open on the last house, and Gunner rushed inside the container. This one was just as sparse as the rest. Other than a mattress on the floor and a few wooden crates stacked up for storage, there was nothing remarkable about the place. Gunner made his sweep in a matter of seconds and was ready to head back outside when Ben spotted another flashlight among some personal junk on top of one of the crates. He tested the light and put it in his back pocket before he and Gunner exited.
Stepping back outside, he immediately noticed that it was getting lighter out. The moonlight had given way to a magenta sky, and along with the stars, he could now also see the outline of a distant mountain that must have been to his east. Glancing at his watch, he confirmed the impending sunrise. He wanted to get to the old man’s place before it was too light out; he wanted every possible advantage.
Ben was also growing concerned about their gear. He hadn’t seen any of it in the containers they’d searched so far. There was nowhere left for their stuff to be but in the old guy’s house, which was large enough to hold it all. Ben used the increasing light and the scope on his M24 to take a good look at the place.
Was the old man so greedy and controlling that he had kept everything for himself? How did he have this level of control over the other moonshiners? The ramshackle places Ben had seen were just a step above living in squalor. None of that really mattered, though. What mattered was finding their gear.
Ben’s heart sank as the thought of the moonshiners having already traded away their things crossed his mind. That food and gear was their ticket home. Without it, he wasn’t sure how they’d make it back to Colorado. He’d know for sure soon enough.
Chapt
er Seventeen
When Ben caught up with Joel and the others, they had located a water source, thanks to Rita. She showed them where the moonshiners got their water: a spring located inside the compound. Ben took a minute to hydrate while he filled them all in on his plans and hopes about finding their gear in the big place on the hill.
Joel was more than happy to volunteer and help clear the last house, which came as no surprise, but Bradley offering to help out with his shotgun was something Ben wasn’t prepared for. Luckily, Sandy jumped in and asked if Bradley would stay with them because they needed him there. Ben was trying to think of an easy way to let his youngest down and was thankful for the rescue. They’d been through a lot, and the last thing he wanted was to squash his son’s enthusiasm. It was good to see him willing to fight, though, and it made Ben proud.
They had also managed to scrounge up a few things to eat from the smaller container houses. None of it looked familiar, and Ben grew even more concerned about being too late to save their supplies. What would they do if their supplies weren’t here at all? Should they cut their losses and forge ahead with nothing but the vehicles in hopes of reaching Cloverdale? Or would they have to go after the other moonshiners to reclaim what was theirs?
Ben stopped himself before his imagination went any further down that path and took another drink from the water bottle Sandy had given him. It was time to find out for sure.
Ben turned to Joel. “You ready?”
Joel nodded and took another swig of water before handing his bottle to Allie. “Ready when you are.”
“Be careful,” Allie said as they were heading out.
“We’ll be back soon,” Ben assured them and winked at Emma.
He and Joel went out of their way to swing by the front gate and check in on Martin, who was half asleep when they got there. Ben couldn’t blame the guy or be mad at him, but that didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping an eye out for moonshiners or any survivors left from the truck that crashed down the trail.