by Chris Bostic
“Drone!” I yelled.
CHAPTER 4
“Get down!” John shouted, but I hadn’t needed him to tell me that. John flopped next to the trunk of a giant tree, and instantly zeroed his gaze on Noel.
“Are they tracking you?” he asked sharply.
“No way, man.” Noel seemed equally nervous as his eyes turned to the sky. I kept my own on the stranger, partly because I felt like the drone could spot raised eyeballs easier than my camouflage hat and jacket. For all I knew, maybe it could.
“Just keep still,” John chided from a couple trees away. “We’re gonna be fine.”
“You believe that?” I asked, knowing that the drones had been far more menacing in recent weeks than earlier. The lack of an answer unnerved me even more. “John?”
“Nothing we can do about it now but wait.”
“And be ready to run if the Hellfires come raining down,” Noel added.
“Like we’d survive a missile attack,” John muttered under his breath, but unfortunately loud enough that I heard him.
Drones scared me far more than helicopters. They might not have carried as much firepower, but they had a way of appearing like phantoms—whisper quiet and lethal.
“Don’t say that.” I choked down a wad of stress in the back of my throat that felt bigger and hairier than a tennis ball. I snuck a quick drink and looked to John for a word of encouragement. He was too busy shooting Noel his iciest stare. Any colder and Noel would’ve frozen in place for real.
“It’s not following me. See?” Noel pointed to the sky, making me cringe at the sudden movement.
I finally raised my eyes skyward, and noticed the drone had expanded from a narrow circle out to a wide area. I watched with relief as the noiseless aircraft seemed to effortlessly glide off to the south and eventually out of sight altogether.
“Thank goodness,” I announced with a sigh.
John stood and adjusted the heavy, bulging pack on his back. “Let’s make tracks, fellas.”
“Good,” I said, but crept over toward John rather than head up the rocky stream. “What was that all about? I mean I’ve seen plenty of drones before, but the timing was a bit, uhm, suspicious.”
“Totally.” John subtly nodded his head toward Noel. “Good thing we’re not going back to camp yet. Keep your eyes on the sky.”
I wasn’t done watching the woods all around us either. I could only hope I didn’t trip on my way up the hillside with my eyes constantly flitting between the two different directions.
As the stream thinned out in the higher elevation, John took the opportunity to guide us out into the water rather than battle the brush along the edge.
Giant boulders and fallen logs provided a clean path, but reminded me of another place altogether. When I wasn’t checking the sky, I imagined I was some kind of dashing explorer climbing the eroded stone steps of a Mayan jungle pyramid. Complete with snakes and whistling birds, I made the climb with my rifle slung over a shoulder. It always helped to have my hands free in case I needed to catch myself. The wet rocks were slicker than snot.
Besides spending time with Katelyn, climbing the cool mountain streams was my all-time favorite activity, though my mom often said it was sleeping late. I certainly didn’t mind lying under the blankets as long as possible, but the hard stone floor of the cave usually had me up plenty early—at least I thought so.
My mother was the earliest riser I’d ever known, which always made for entertaining arguments back home. Ever since my brother, Austin, had moved to the basement, I seemed to take all the heat for sleeping in. Never mind that Maddie rarely left her room for pretty much the entire day. Now that her room was a cave about the size of the school cafeteria that we shared with forty other people, she still never left it for anything other than field trips and bathroom breaks with the youngsters.
I couldn’t blame her for that. As the aerial attacks had ramped up, outside travel had been mostly restricted to checking on the roadblocks, followed by hunting or fishing trips. With drones, jets, and helicopters occasionally passing overhead, there was no reason to risk being too exposed. The cave had to stay hidden.
The thought made me wonder again about the logic of bringing Noel back to the hideout. I had a feeling my dad wouldn’t allow it, which in turn made me wonder what would happen to the stranger.
Noel hadn’t complained a bit, or shown much aggression beyond a couple smart-alecky comments early on. He’d followed what few orders John had given with perfect attention, and kept any questions to himself. If anything, he seemed rather accepting about being kept in the dark. I wasn’t so sure I could relate. When my family had bugged out of town before the bombs fell, my parents had tried to keep the truth from me and my sister about what was really going on. It hadn’t taken me long to realize it was no family summer vacation, and I’d soon gotten the real answers—whether I’d wanted them or not.
“We’re almost there,” John announced, but I couldn’t make out the telltale sounds of the plummeting water of Rainbow Falls.
I wasn’t sure how John knew exactly where we were at. Granted, he’d been out to explore a lot more. An experienced hunter and nimble climber, it only made sense that John had the most physically demanding job of all the rebels in my camp. Still, the forest looked the same there as pretty much anywhere else. Stopping to give it a better listen, I heard nothing but chirping birds and stream water tumbling around the rocks under my feet as it raced downhill.
“You sure?” I asked.
“Yeah.” John pointed ahead through the great leafy tunnel. “Not much farther to Rainbow.”
“If you say so.”
“I just did.” John shot back a grin. “Quit being lazy and get on up here. You can see it for yourself.”
“I can’t see a thing,” I said, bristling at John’s words. “And I’m not lazy.” Though I said it, I didn’t make any actual movement to resume climbing the boulder staircase.
“I’m just joking. You can’t see it yet.” John waved for me to catch up. “But hurry on up here.”
“I will,” I replied, but remained planted.
John went on ahead several more paces, and worked his way over a fallen tree before turning back to check on me. “You coming, loverboy?” John’s hands went to his hips. “Better quit your daydreaming.”
“Busted,” Noel said, trying to pile on when it wasn’t his place. “You got told.”
“Nobody asked your opinion,” I snapped.
“It is true, though,” John said, choosing sides with the stranger to my dismay.
“What the heck?” I said, but quickly realized how whiny I sounded. “Why you riding my ass? I haven’t done anything.”
“You can say that again. Nothing.” John sat down as if to prove the point that I was trailing so far behind that he had time to rest.
Noel burst out laughing and sat on the fallen tree next to his new best buddy.
I snorted with disgust. “That’s crap. You jokers twist everything I say.”
“Just giving you a taste of your own medicine. You always think you’re so clever.” John stretched his hands out and slapped them back down on his lap. “Revenge is sweet. If your sister could see this-”
“Whoa, get off my sister.”
Noel laughed even louder, which made my face turn redder than canned tomatoes—not completely from embarrassment. No one was allowed to pick on Maddie but me. As far as I was concerned, even my brother Austin wasn’t allowed to get too cruel.
“Just go!” I hollered. “Let’s finish this. I’m ready to be rid of you both.”
The two of them watched as I found my legs and charged up the hill. I leapt from one boulder to another, easily managing to keep my feet dry as I scaled the towering steps. “I’ll show you daydreaming,” I mumbled under my breath.
Before I caught all the way up, John took off again with Noel following behind. I knew it was my job to be watching our new companion along with the sky, but I didn’t feel quite as
bad now that John had sided with Noel over me. Still, I rushed to keep up. I couldn’t quite catch them, and soon grew winded.
While I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me quit, I let my mind wander as I reverted to climbing and dreaming like John had accused.
The sun beat down through a little opening in the trees, adding sparkles to the crystal clear stream. The water looked like liquid joy as it spilled playfully over small stones, and rushed past the bigger boulders with pure delight. After stealing a quick glance at the clear, drone-less sky, I slipped back into full daydream mode.
It was impossible not to. Some of my best memories involved Katelyn, streambeds, and soaking wet clothes. The way they clung to her figure in just the right way, and how she’d laughed and shrieked when we’d doused each other. I resolved right then that we were sneaking out of camp later that night, no matter the repercussions from our parents.
I shook my head to clear the memories and focused back in on my companions. Somehow I’d almost closed the gap, and quickly resorted back to cautious mode. Given my latest transgression, I was overeager to do a better job—arguably to the point of hyperawareness of everything in the sky and the woods all around us.
As a result, I felt cross-eyed by the time we made it close to the waterfall, and was relieved when John held up a hand to stop us short.
The sound of pounding water masked any other sound from the surrounding forest, which did nothing to take the edge off my nerves. But I was exhausted enough from the climb that any trembling was far more related to tired limbs than fear. If anything, I was past the point of dread.
Although hardly possible, I should’ve been paying more attention. As we closed on the sound of pounding water, I initially missed the lone figure stepping out of the woods. A rifle was leveled at the three of us before I could get mine off my shoulder.
Worse yet, the person holding the weapon wasn’t my dad.
CHAPTER 5
“Hold it!” the man shouted.
I skidded on a wet rock and dropped to one knee. The cold stream water knifed through my jeans.
“No sudden movements,” the man added, but seemed to chuckle as I hopped up to get my soaked pant leg out of the creek.
I scowled and examined the man through squinty eyes. He wore a camouflage jacket that made him look like pretty much every other prepper hiding out in the park. He also sported a full, light brown beard. It seemed more neatly trimmed than most of the other mountain men.
“You were at the roadblock,” I said before I could cover my mouth.
The man nodded. “Where you boys going?”
“Rainbow,” John replied, looking not at all concerned. He stepped forward and extended a hand. “And you are?”
“Spotted Owl.”
A load lifted off my chest. To an outsider, it would’ve seemed bizarre the way the dynamic instantly changed, but I had indeed relaxed at the use of a code name. I knew from my mother that all the preppers on the forums had used screen names to keep things anonymous, yet built a strong alliance of likeminded people.
“I’m with Spotted Fawn,” John said, referencing his mother’s screen name. He laughed. “I guess that almost makes us like family or something.”
“Ha, yeah. The Spotted family.” The man turned to me. “You?”
“Sunning Bear.” I grimaced at my mother’s less than tough sounding name. If I’d had an account, I thought I’d have gone with something grizzlier, or at least less sunny—especially given the situation. Then again, I wasn’t sure that being named after a baby deer was particularly terrifying either, and I decided that women had no business naming themselves in a war.
“Outstanding!” Spotted Owl exclaimed. “Couple sons of the real heroes of the rebellion here.”
I was taken aback by the praise. Though I had learned that my mother had built up a nice network of fellow preppers, I hadn’t quite realized the extent of her reach. Beyond Katelyn’s parents and a few others, I hadn’t seen much leadership out of her besides the risky raid on Gatlinburg way back when the world first fell apart.
“So who’s this?” Spotted Owl pointed with his head toward Noel. With pleasantries out of the way, all our guns were safely slung over our shoulders again.
“Don’t you know?” I asked. “You were following him.”
“I was hoping you’d figured that out by now.” Spotted Owl looked from me to John and apparently realized we weren’t entirely sure if Noel could be trusted. “Seems risky to bring him wherever you’re bringing him without vetting him.”
“Well, he says he’s a deserter from the Army,” I offered.
“I’m standing right here,” Noel interjected. “I can speak for myself.”
“Then you better do it, boy,” Spotted Owl suggested.
I though it odd that our potential new ally acted like we were all kids, especially seeing how he couldn’t have been a day over thirty. Even so, that made him significantly older than me. Just not that much older than Noel.
With no detailed answer forthcoming from Noel, Spotted Owl jumped right in to interrogate him.
“What unit you in?”
“Third Infantry, Fort Benning, Georgia.”
Spotted Owl’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not the way I remember it. The Third is at Fort Stewart, Georgia.”
“They still are.”
“You said you were in the Third.” Spotted Owl looked to John and me. “That’s what you guys heard, right?”
Our nodding heads provided the answer.
“So…” Spotted Owl seemed to tense up. “Care to explain?”
“I was Third Brigade, Third Infantry. We’re a supporting unit to the Airborne Corps…at Fort Benning.”
I traded a confused look with John. Turning to us, Spotted Owl admitted, “Could be. It’s a big base.”
“It sure is.” Noel agreed. “We, I mean they, can project power all over the globe, and with a standing force well over a hundred thousand.”
Spotted Owl chuckled at the rehearsed line. “Well, kid, there’s not much need for that global influence anymore, is there? At least not when there are so many problems right here at home.”
“Plenty of that, sir,” Noel replied. “And I don’t want any part of responding to that. I signed on for foreign adventure.”
“Good for you.” Spotted Owl softened his expression further. “Now if we could just convince about a hundred thousand of your comrades in arms.”
“Right on,” John agreed. He pulled Spotted Owl aside. “We’re close to meeting up with some others from our group. You want to hang around?”
“You bet. I actually came looking for you. Spotted Fawn invited me over for a little powwow.”
“Cool. That was convenient,” John replied, though I had to wonder if it wasn’t a little too convenient. Nevertheless, I felt far better about Spotted Owl than Noel, though the deserter had gained some standing in my opinion.
John waved for the group to gather up. “Follow me and we’ll finish this little hike.”
He led us up toward the waterfall. The volume grew to the point where I thought for sure it had to be on a magnitude far greater than the falls where I’d first met Katelyn out in the woods months earlier. Though I occasionally liked to pick on her about letting Jonas, one of the kids she had been babysitting, fall over the side of the waterfall, I tried not to rub it in too often. After all, everything had turned out fine, even for Jonas. But I resolved to pick on her even less in the future now that John had pointed out my smart-alecky ways.
We closed on the waterfall, getting to the point where we could feel the cool spray on our exposed faces, but I still couldn’t see the falls. Or my dad.
John showed no signs of caution. He hopped up on a big boulder, and skirted around a pool of deep water.
“Watch your step here!” he shouted over the roar, and disappeared around a corner.
I brought up the rear, also edging around what looked like a little pond tucked into the depths of the
forest. Waves rippled across the surface as the sound of falling water splashing into the far end of the pool drowned out practically everything else.
Turning the corner around a clump of bushes and towering trees, I finally caught sight of the waterfall. From atop a giant ledge of stone, a weak stream plunged about thirty feet into the standing water.
I stopped, surprised to see that it was no more ferocious than where I’d rescued Katelyn and Jonas, though about twice as high. The other falls had pounded onto a field of rocks below, while this pond looked like one of those old movie scenes with showering water splashing into a tranquil pool. Only this time, a man stood at the top of the falls.
It was my dad, who was oddly out in the open. Of course, he’d been expecting us. Perhaps for a while. Still, he should’ve known better than to do something so risky.
Then again, Dad had sometimes seemed a little less cautious and more inquisitive than the hardcore preppers. I supposed being a banker could do that. My father and Katelyn’s had worked at the same corporate office in Knoxville before the crash, though the place had been so large that they apparently hadn’t know each other very well before the collapse. It didn’t help that my dad had been fired months before given his penchant for sharp criticism of the new regime.
My banker father wasn’t nearly as big of a prepper as my mother, and his fondness for wearing dress pants and ties, even while unemployed, seemed curious at best. But Dad knew what he was doing in the woods—at least most of the time. His apparent lack of concern about being exposed to the hostile sky was troubling.
John hurried off to the right, ducking under some limbs to find a narrow path to the top of the falls. We followed in single file, and soon found ourselves on a ledge of slippery rock that was bigger than my old living room. I ran on ahead.
“Hey, boy. Great view, isn’t it?” Dad said as I came into sight.
“Not bad. You saw the drone, right?” I said.
“I haven’t seen any, at least not today,” he said with a shrug. “Lousy things are everywhere.”