Feral Nation Series Box Set 2 [Books 4-6]

by Williams, Scott B.

  “No. If you go to Colorado to look for him, then I want to go too,” Megan said. “You need me because I can show you exactly where that camp is located, and besides, I would be worried the whole time I was waiting here. It would drive me crazy.”

  “If we go, it is likely there will be a battle at the end of our journey, Megan. You have been through enough already, and Aaron would not want you to take such a risk. But we will have a few days to talk about it. It will take that long to organize and get ready.”

  The planning didn’t get far however, before a new development changed everything. One of Ethan’s friends drove up to the place a few days later in his pickup, bringing a message from the tribal militia headquarters to the east. Megan couldn’t help but overhear the conversation from the front porch as she sat in the kitchen with Ava, the door partially open.

  “They captured a white intruder on tribal lands,” the man told Ethan. “He was heavily armed and traveling alone on horseback, so naturally it was assumed that he was up to no good and sent here by someone. But after they beat the shit out of him and questioned him for two days, he still wouldn’t tell them who he was with.”

  “So? Aren’t they just going to hang him and be done with it?”

  “Probably, but Nantan, my friend in the tribal council, told me something that the man kept repeating, and said I ought to come and let you know. He thought you’d be interested in hearing what this white man had to say, even if it is a lie.”

  “Me? Why would I care?”

  “Because he claims he came here looking for you. Well, not by name, but he said he was looking for Aaron Santos’ uncle. When they asked him why, he said it was because Aaron had been traveling with his daughter, and that he had reason to believe they were both headed here, to your place on the reservation.”

  Megan heard this and tried to make sense of it. Who could this man be, who thought Aaron was with his daughter? She knew Vicky’s mom and dad were in Portland, so it seemed unlikely her dad could have made his way here. Unless it was Colleen’s dad, there wasn’t anyone else in their group that could be mistaken for her if they had heard that Aaron had left for the reservation with a female friend. Megan went outside, apologizing for butting into the conversation, but she had to ask, even though she didn’t know Colleen’s dad’s name. “Do you know this white man’s name?”

  “Yeah, they said it was Branson. I believe they said Eric Branson. Do you know him?”

  For a moment, Megan was speechless, but then she got herself together and told them that yes, her father’s name was Eric Branson. Upon hearing this, Ethan said they would leave immediately to go and see this man who claimed to be him. The ride to the tribal militia headquarters seemed to take forever, with Megan seated in the front of Ethan’s pickup with Ava beside her in the middle as she told them all about her dad from the moment they left. She was certain there must be some kind of mistake, because it was impossible that her dad could be here. Even if he actually came back to the U.S. to look for her, which she hadn’t expected to happen, how would he possibly know she’d come here, of all places? Of course, she wanted to believe it, but it just seemed too far-fetched to make sense.

  But the man that brought the news told them that this fellow they were holding wasn’t just some random civilian. The tribal militia had captured him easily enough because they greatly outnumbered him and took him by surprise, but the interrogator could tell he had combat experience and training. And he was carrying weapons that weren’t easy for civilians to come by, at least not before the anarchy started. Megan knew her dad had a look and a way of carrying himself that made it hard to hide the fact that he was a dangerous man, and he had the toughness and resolve to take whatever punishment that interrogator may have dished out. She hated to think that he might really be hurt though, just because he came here to find her, but she wasn’t going to believe any of this was true until she saw him herself. Before she was allowed to do that though, she was taken into the headquarters of the tribal council and militia to answer questions about Eric Branson herself.

  “So, your name is Megan? Where did you attend college, Megan, and where did you live before that?”

  Megan answered truthfully, knowing they were checking her answers against whatever this man who claimed to be her father told them.

  “And you were traveling here with Aaron Santos because he was your friend in college, but you arrived here in a U.S. Army truck, with a story about Aaron being captured by some militia group in the mountains in Colorado….”

  Megan wondered what they were trying to get to, and for a moment thought this might be some kind of trick. Some of the men present had already heard her answer these questions before, when they interviewed her before letting her in when the military escort dropped her off. But she kept reminding herself that there was no way any of these people would know her father’s name, and she didn’t know how they would have gotten it. She continued to answer truthfully, providing all the details they asked for, including what she knew of her father’s service. She told them that he was a Navy SEAL and which SEAL team he’d been a part of, and then she told them the names of two of the private security companies he’d worked for after he got out and began contracting. She didn’t know the most current one, but she knew he had signed on with a company that had lots of assets in Europe.

  “If he’s here, it’s only because he’s looking for me,” Megan said. “He didn’t come back here to work for the American military or to contract for any militia, and even if he had, why would he be here on your lands? I just want to see him. If it’s really him, you’ll know he’s my father when you see the look on his face when he sees me. Please! I’ve told you everything I know!”

  Megan didn’t know for sure what was going to happen next but the man asking questions nodded at one of his companions, who then left the room. It was several minutes later before the door opened again, and when it did, three men entered the room: the one who’d just left, a uniformed tribal police officer from the jail, and her dad! Megan nearly knocked her chair over getting to her feet she was so excited. And when he saw her there in the same room with him, his jaw dropped in disbelief. It was true! The tribal militia really had caught Eric Branson sneaking onto Jicarilla land!

  * * *

  Eric was immediately cleared of all charges against him by the Jicarilla tribal council after he and Megan each told their versions of how they were connected to Aaron Santos while sitting there together in the same room. When he’d first seen her, Eric had assumed that she and Aaron had made it there together as they’d set out to do. But hearing her tell the details of his capture and her subsequent meeting with the sergeant at that highway checkpoint, Eric immediately understood why he’d found that second militia camp completely destroyed.

  “Of course they couldn’t tell you, since you’re a civilian and the conflict is ongoing, but you can bet that your intel gave them what they needed to make that strike. You did the right thing, Megan, and that took courage!”

  But Eric knew this news left his daughter full of doubt as to Aaron’s well-being. Upon hearing that he found so many dead, she wasn’t convinced that Aaron wasn’t among them.

  “I’m certain that I didn’t find anyone there that looked Native American, especially not anyone with long hair, and believe me, I looked, because Vicky gave me a good description. There must have been other hostages that were rescued, and we will find him, Megan, I promise you that! I’ll go and find that sergeant you talked to and convince him to look into where they were taken.”

  Eric knew this wasn’t enough to dispel Megan’s worry though, and he understood why. Aaron could have been severely wounded in the attack and may have died later in transit to wherever they were taking survivors they rescued. A number of things could have happened to him, but the fact that the sergeant was able to finagle a ride to the reservation for Megan was promising. Eric figured they must have had a really good reason for wanting to know the location of that militia ca
mp, and just as he’d thought when he first saw the devastation there, a really good reason for hitting it with such a hard and decisive strike. He was sure that there was a lot going on in this region that he didn’t know about yet, and that made going anywhere dangerous, but he’d promised his daughter he would do all he could to find Aaron, and he intended to keep that promise.

  “Aaron is a great guy,” Megan assured him. “He said that if I came here with him, I could stay as long as I wanted, but he knew I wanted to try and get back to Florida where Mom is, and he said he would do anything he could to help me. Now I’ve got to help him first, but after I know he’s okay, I still need to find out about Mom and Daniel and Andrew. I’m really worried about them, Dad!”

  “Don’t be, Megan. “Your mom isn’t in Florida, and neither is your stepdad and stepbrother.”

  “How do you know that? If they’re not there, then where are they?”

  “Daniel and Andrew are with your Uncle Keith in Louisiana. So is your grandfather. But your mom’s in Colorado. She came with me to look for you Megan, but I had to leave her in a safe place when I found out you were coming here. She’s probably not too happy with me right now, but she’s sure going to be thrilled to see you!”

  Eric gave her a brief run-down of the details; how he’d first returned to Florida and looked for them at their home, and then what happened after he made his way to his father’s place on the Caloosahatchee River. Megan was incredulous at all they had been through, and he barely gave her the half of it.

  “You did all that for me? Mom took all those risks to come with you?” Tears were running down her cheeks as Eric pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her.

  “Of course we did, Megan! You’re our only daughter! There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I’m just sorry I wasn’t here to keep you from having to go through what you did in the first place.”

  “Now I’m worried about Mom and Aaron! Are you sure she’s safe at that cabin? Anything could happen to them out there!”

  “I don’t know any place that’s truly safe anymore, Megan, but I felt good about Bob’s cabin or I wouldn’t have left them there. I felt much better about that than I did about bringing them with me. It’s in a remote area and not easy to find, and the three of them are well-armed. Your mom’s a lot tougher than you may realize, Megan. And Jonathan will fight to the death for her. Vicky is a survivor too.”

  Megan showed little emotion when Eric told her what happened to Gareth. It was clear to him that whatever feelings she’d once had for him were long gone. Her concern now was for her family and her true friends, like Aaron. She wanted to be reunited with all of them now and wanted to know how they were going to make that happen. With her mom far to the north in that mountain wilderness, and Aaron’s location unknown, Megan wanted to know what they were going to do next. But they were still in the room where Eric had been brought in to meet her, and Aaron’s uncle and aunt that had been looking after his daughter since she arrived were still in there with them, waiting.

  “You two are going to need a lot of time to catch up, and tell each other your stories,” Ethan said to Megan. “Both of you are welcome at my house for as long as you’d like to stay. Let’s go back there now and get away from this place. I’m sure your father has seen all he wants to see of it. You can discuss your plans there later and you know I will help you in any way I can.”

  Eric thanked him, and Megan agreed that would be a good idea. Eric walked her out of the room with his arm around her, and they were about to get into Ethan’s pickup when Megan pointed at something out on the main road leading into town.

  “Isn’t that your other truck, Ethan?”

  Ethan turned around and looked, squinting hard to try and see through the glare on the windshield as he watched the battered old Toyota heading their way. “That is my truck! Now, who would have the nerve to steal my truck and drive it straight to the police station with me standing right in front of it?”

  Eric didn’t know what to make of any of this until the truck skidded to a stop and the driver jumped out, causing him to reach for Megan’s hand, in case it was some kind of attack. But Megan tore away from his grasp and went running straight towards the young man who’d been driving. He was tall and long-haired and clearly Apache, and he ran to meet Megan with open arms.

  Convergence

  One

  THE MOVEMENT THAT CAUGHT her eye was slow and deliberate, and Shauna Hartfield would have missed it completely if she hadn’t been carefully scanning the banks of the creek below her as she sat motionless among the boulders of the rocky slope above. Hunting wasn’t really a necessity yet, and she didn’t plan to be here long enough for it to become one, but it was a good excuse to get out of the confinement of the cabin, and it gave her the feeling of doing something—anything other than waiting. She’d been out since shortly after daylight and had hiked a couple of miles down the heavily-wooded drainage below the cabin with one of Bob Barham’s scoped deer rifles, a bolt-action Remington 30.06.

  The outcrop from which she watched seemed like a good place to spot a mule deer or perhaps even an elk visiting the little swift-water stream, and at the very least, the view was nice and was far enough away from Jonathan and Vicky for her to get lost in her thoughts for a while. Shauna would take the shot if game presented itself, even though packing the meat back would be quite a chore and would require her to go back for one of the horses. Jonathan would be little help with his mobility still limited, and she and Vicky would have to do the bulk of the work. Still, fresh venison would be a welcome change in their diet and would enable them to conserve more of the considerable stash of supplies Bob had stored there at the cabin.

  Shauna carefully raised the rifle and brought it up to her shoulder so that she could use the scope to identify whatever it was that she’d seen moving. It had been a long time since she’d hunted, but she remembered that even the subtlest of movements that might be mistaken for a bird or other small animal could sometimes indicate the presence of big game: perhaps in reality the flick of an ear or tail, or ripple of light on hide or antler… The magnification of the 3x9 variable scope would reveal the truth, but even before Shauna could bring the telescopic sight into line with what she’d seen, she saw something else take a step in the same area, and it definitely wasn’t a deer or elk, because it appeared to walk on two legs!

  Shauna felt her heart race as she eased the scope over to this new movement to get a better look and make sure she wasn’t imagining things. If someone was really there, they weren’t moving now, and she couldn’t pick out the outline of a body. It was only when her crosshairs moved over the man’s bearded face that she could be sure he was real. The rest of his body from his boonie hat down was covered in camouflaged clothing, and even the weapon he carried at ready, as if expecting an ambush, had a muted camo finish. When the man took another step, Shauna saw more movement back where she’d first thought she’d seen an animal and knew that he was not alone. This one was making some kind of signal with slow motions of his hand, and it was then that Shauna saw to her chagrin that there were several of them, maybe a dozen in all, spread out over a wide area along the creek banks. All were heavily armed and similarly camouflaged, most carrying camo packs on their backs as well. They looked and moved like soldiers, but that didn’t mean they were the good guys, and it certainly didn’t make her feel any better about the fact that these men were headed straight up the creek, which would take them directly to Bob Barham’s property.

  The only positive thing about this unexpected development was that she had seen them first and she was quite certain they had no idea she was there. Whether they already knew about the existence of the cabin or not, she had no idea, but if they continued on the path they were taking, following the stream up, it would be impossible to miss. Shauna was careful not to move or make a sound, other than the slightest adjustments of the rifle so that she could view the men through the scope. Their movements were careful and studi
ed, indicating that they were trained and experienced at this sort of thing. If she’d been at the cabin with the others, they would have all been caught off guard with no warning of their approach.

  Shauna needed to warn Jonathan and Vicky, but how? Even though she had seen these men first without being observed, she was already too late. There was no way she could get ahead of them now, as the route up the drainage was a natural funnel that would force her to climb down and work her way along the stream bed because of the impossibly steep slopes between her position and the cabin. She couldn’t make it in time, because the point man was already well into the choke point and there was no reasonable way around it that wouldn’t get her spotted by those following him. Shauna was stuck, helplessly watching from where she sat hiding until the last of the men passed by on the way up. By then, her only option would be to follow, and what could she do if she did? Once these men discovered the cabin, Jonathan and Vicky would be trapped inside. Shauna was effectively cut off from her companions, and unable to help them unless she could think of something fast.