Torch

by Tricia Copeland

  Sadie wiped her forehead. “I’m sorry. I really thought your girl Jewel here knew everything bio-related. I doubt they patrol here often. Look at the undergrowth.”

  I remembered eighth grade before Owen disappeared when all I did was read books about animals and the environment.

  “She was into that stuff in middle school.” Amelie fit her arm around my shoulder. “You switched to biotech freshman year, right?”

  “Yeah, seemed more applicable.” I shrugged. “It’s a good thing we have Sadie.”

  “Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my.” Mace patted his gun. “I’ll blow ‘em all to smithereens.”

  Sadie shook her head. “You guys are seriously messed up. How well did you know those kids that died off the coast of San Francisco a couple of weeks ago?”

  The silence dragged out, and Amelie shed her hat. “They were in a different unit from ours.”

  “How many kids have they recruited?”

  Mace’s eyes didn’t move from the sky. “We volunteered. What Butler is doing is wrong. He’s going to get the whole country blown to smithereens.”

  No one talked for a long while. I switched my focus between the sky and undergrowth. Turner monitored the satellites, and the others scanned for anything out of place. After an hour, we decided to resume our route. We stuck to the smaller roads with tree cover so we could hide when we knew the satellites would be monitoring the area. I watched out the window as row after row of trees sped across my view.

  Halfway across the state, and as the sun reached its apex, the national forest land gave way to dense jungle that overgrew the road at regular intervals. Fallen trunks and vines hampered our progress, but the trees allowed us cover from satellite view. We reached the main cave entrance just as the last bits of light left the sky. Piling out of the vehicle, we stretched our muscles and set up torches in a circle surrounding the truck.

  Daytime noises gave way to the sounds of the night. Crickets, frogs, owls, and yipping coyotes called through the jungle. We debated entering the cave. The bats and hunters like foxes and bears might vacate the tunnels at night, but what other dangers lurked in the dark caverns? Two buildings occupied the clearing and, in a cabin lined with shelves of various tourist items, we found maps of the cave system. Studying them, we opted to come up with a design for our compound and enter the cave by day.

  Somehow our natural predators scared me more than the human ones. I knew what to expect from a militia, but the possibility of being attacked by a bear, mountain lion, or alligator left me unsettled. We reviewed plans for every threat we could think of, climbing a tree in case of an alligator, standing tall and waving our arms in the presence of a bear or lion. We had our guns, but they would be a last defense because of noise and potential for detection. I planned to keep my quiver and bow with me at all times.

  After sketching out an initial design for the camp, we decided to sleep in six-hour shifts. We pitched the tent at the center of the torches. Turner paired up with Sadie for first watch, and disappointed, I snuggled into my sleeping bag. I wondered why he’d not asked to be teamed with me. It’d been over a week since we’d had more than a two-second conversation alone. Maybe he didn’t like how I looked with my blackened face and hat-covered hair. Perhaps I could lose the face paint and hat till the ex-Lovelock crew joined us. But that could be a tell in Sadie’s eyes, and I rejected the idea. The stress of the day had my mind darting from that notion, to the rattlesnake, the chance we’d been detected in the national forest, and risk of attack by some large carnivore.

  I listened to the sounds of the forest around me, the amorphous rhythm of the crickets punctuated by the calls of frogs and owls. They weaved themselves into a ballet in my head, and I pictured myself leaping over a bed of snakes and thrusting my arms up to scare a bear. I twirled around to face my next attacker, a mountain lion lunging for me. Sucking in a breath, I shot up and jumped to my feet.

  “That must have been a bad one.” Sadie’s raspy voice greeted me.

  I turned my head to face her. “Yeah, weird dream. What time is it?”

  “A bit after three.”

  With my heart racing, there’d be no more sleep for me. Five hours was plenty anyway. “Where’s Turner?”

  “Scouting.” Sadie held up the thermal-radiation device, showing me his heat signature on the screen. “He’s one serious kid.”

  “We’re not kids.”

  “You don’t fool me for one second.”

  Ignoring her comment, I stretched. “You can sleep. I can take over watch duty.”

  “Don’t mind if I get an extra hour.” Sadie handed me the scanner and slid into her sleeping bag.

  Fitting my quiver over my shoulder, I exited the tent and followed the dot on my screen to Turner. A branch snapped under my foot, and I saw him spin to face me, gun aimed at my chest.

  “What are you doing?” Turner hiked to me. “A little head’s up would be nice.”

  “Sorry.” I wound my arms around his middle as he fitted the gun on his back.

  His lips formed a smile, and my worries from before melted away. He pressed his lips to mine.

  “Finally.” Wrapping his arms around me, he squeezed me to his chest. He planted a kiss on my head and released me. “We should get back to the tent.”

  “I know.” I pushed up on my toes and kissed him. “I missed this though.”

  “Me too.”

  Taking my hand, he started walking. As our arms grew taut between us, I trudged forward. All my mental babble came to a head, and I voiced my worries about my appearance, ideas on the cave build-out, and how we might avoid being recognized by the ex-Lovelock team. He echoed my concerns, noting we should take jobs that kept us away from others.

  Ten feet from the tent, I stopped. “We could’ve been talking like this for the last five hours. Why didn’t you pick me to team up with?”

  He held up three fingers, pointing out several things. First, I’d been getting too close to Sadie. Second, he hadn’t gotten a chance to work with her. Third, we needed to be vigilant. We couldn’t be distracted by each other. Being comfortable equaled being captured, attacked, or worse.

  “Dead. I got it.” I rolled my eyes.

  He grabbed my hands. “I love you. Always know that.”

  I pressed my lips to his. “I love you too. You should sleep.”

  Fitting his automatic rifle over my shoulder, he slipped into the tent. Within seconds, Mace exited. He insisted on taking the rifle, and although capable of handling it myself, I didn’t argue. I’d rather use my bow any day. Pacing around our makeshift base, we exchanged additional ideas for the cave compound and by first light were ready to start working.

  Joining us, Amelie complained we’d let her sleep too long and proposed switching off to get a full night’s rest until the rest of the team arrived. Turner woke next, and he and I ventured out to scout for live game for the day’s meals. Finding a small pond, we squatted near the edge. Turner pointed to a pair of ducks. As they neared the opposite bank, I let my arrow go, and it landed in one’s back. The second bird took to the air, and I aimed and hit it midflight. The fowl dropped to the ground, causing a flock of black birds to swarm to the sky. The rest of the birds on the water followed suit, and we were left with an empty pond.

  I would have liked to get three birds, but we retrieved the two and headed back to base camp. Cleaning the ducks, we started a fire and built a roasting spit. Sadie joined us as the meat dripped grease into the flames below.

  She took the canteen I offered her. “You guys don’t mess around, do you?”

  “Gotta eat.” Mace snagged a piece of the breast, fanning his mouth as the hot meat landed on his tongue.

  When the interior turned white, we sliced the birds, dividing them in equal parts between us. Eating, we hashed out a plan for entering the cave. The original tourist access seemed like a good place to start and we doused the fire and packed supplies. We lumbered down the hill, past the abandoned visitor’s cabin
where we’d found the map. The crumbling cement path curved as it descended. Stone walls covered in moss and ferns lined the walk, rising above our heads as we reached the entrance. A metal grate door stood pad-locked to another solid metal door and frame that appeared to be bolted into the stone walls on either side. Mace snapped the rusting lock with the bolt cutter and it clanked to the cement.

  Hinges squeaked as he opened the screen. A second padlock held the solid metal door behind it closed. Turner directed us to stand back as he pressed the cutters closed over the metal arc of the lock. With a pop, the padlock fell to the ground. We expected bats or birds to come barreling from the cave, so opening the door, Turner jumped back, and we crouched to the ground. When nothing happened, we slid on our jackets and switched on our headlamps.

  Sadie tugged on my arm. “The bats may be hibernating. It’s not good to wake them. They may not survive the winter if disturbed.”

  “What winter? Do they even hibernate anymore?” Turner led us into the dark passageway.

  Aiming my lamp at the floor and then structures above, I found no evidence of bats. A string of lights hung from hooks drilled into the rock ceiling. “The cave is wired for lighting. That means we can get electricity in here.”

  “This seems too easy.” Sadie panned the walls with her lamp. “It’s amazing that the cave remained sealed.”

  “If all the doors are solid, I don’t see why not.” Turner started walking into the tunnel.

  Amelie pointed over her shoulder. “Hey, if you guys are good, maybe Mace and I can check out the generator and electrical system. Sort of divide the chores.”

  “Good idea.” Turner maintained his course. “Just stay on the comm. Let us know if you hear anything from Colorado.”

  Amelie and Mace exited the cave, closing the gate behind them. I started making mental notes in my head. We’d have to secure and hide the entrances, have some sort of look-out system inside and outside, maintain the generators, and see if we could connect other equipment. Keeping a brisk pace, we toured the main loop and surveyed the exits in under an hour. There were no large spaces for setting up a dorm or tech room, so we’d have to use the six to ten feet offered by the cleared tunnels. It would be tight but could work. I thought about the vehicles, how we would hide them, and exit routes. Perhaps our small crew could bunk in the gift shop cabin. It would keep us separated from the others and offer easy escape. On the other hand, if we were discovered, we’d be the first captured. I planned to keep Amelie, Mace, Turner, and myself as far away from the public eye as possible. There were four cavern exits, and we’d need to be stationed so that we could use one of them at a moment’s notice.

  Heading outside, we closed the solid door and gate and used rope and carabiners to secure them shut. We found Amelie and Mace in the basement of the gift shop, pouring fuel into the tank of a generator. Nine other generators lined the walls of the small room. Seeing a small window at the top of one wall, I crossed the room and opened it. If the motor didn’t blow up, I couldn’t imagine it to be run well after thirty plus years of sitting. As Mace flicked the ignition switch, the engine roared to life and lights above me flickered on.

  Checking the other generators, Amelie and Mace explained they’d found an additional six units in the other building that served as a restaurant. Sadie made a wish list of supplies to give the Utah crew. Meals—especially vegetables and fruits—fuel, solar panels, tech gear, and weapons topped the page.

  “And a hundred soldiers,” Turner noted.

  “That’s a pipe dream.” Mace flicked the switch for the last generator.

  I was surprised each one ran. There’d be plenty of power to run our computers and tracking systems and charge phones and radios. As we made our way to the restaurant building, the satellite phone rang. Opening the link, Turner held the phone out to Mace.

  “Artic Fox.” Mace spoke the code word into the mic.

  “We have a Jay here. Jay bird Ben, here.”

  “Copy.” Mace set the phone down and put it on speaker so we all could hear.

  Their camp had packed and readied the vehicles to travel to our location. Listing our needs for the compound, we heard him relaying them to the team. Last, we warned Ben about the national forest lands and instructed on the best route to take.

  “Copy that,” Ben replied. “Expect us at sundown tomorrow.”

  “Copy. Over and out.” Mace ended the connection.

  Walking back to the campsite a pit formed in my stomach. What if they discovered who Turner and I were? We’d lived with them for months, trained beside them day in and day out. An idea popped into my head.

  I grabbed Turner’s arm, but realizing Sadie’s presence, let go. “They worked with Butler.”

  “The Lovelock Crew, yes. Are you okay?” Turner spun to face me.

  “They planned the coup. Some of them must know the layout of the capitol building, how to use a small militia to take control of it. The Lovelock people are the key.”

  Turner stared at me with wide eyes. “You’re just realizing this?”

  “I was so focused on”—I cut my eyes to Sadie and back to Turner—“whether we could trust them, I forgot about them planning the initial coup. They’ll be able to help us devise a strategy for the takeover.”

  “Exactly.” Turner smiled for the first time in weeks.

  My hope for this working, us removing Cmdr. Butler and getting Nave and Mom back, burned anew as we packed our gear into the truck. We moved the vehicle near the visitor’s cabin, parking it under cover of a tall oak and trekked to the secondary entrances. Testing the ground and tree clearance to make sure we could get the vehicle through, we scouted for the best location to hide it. Choosing a spot, we wound back to the vehicle, and Sadie and I walked ahead of it as Turner maneuvered through the forest to where Amelie and Mace hacked at branches to hide it.

  With the truck at the correct location, we made a lean-to of thicker branches and covered it with smaller twigs, pine needles, and leaves. Sadie ventured fifty and then a hundred feet out, circling the vehicle to make sure it was hidden. Satisfied with the structure, we rested on a rock.

  “It’s getting dark. Are we eating the MREs, or are we hunting?” Sadie’s eyes panned the branches above.

  I stood and slung my quiver. “Hunting, always hunting. First rule, never use the MREs when you can hunt.”

  Amelie laid her hands on her knees and pushed to a stand. “I’ll help.”

  Sadie grabbed her gun. “I have to learn this sometime.”

  “Watch today, learn tomorrow. I’m too hungry right now.” I started off into the woods.

  Finding the pond, we followed a creek. Birds passed overhead. Squirrels and chipmunks darted away. I found I liked being in the forest. I imagined it would feel smothering, but it felt safe, except for the snake, bears, and alligators. Refocusing on the ground ahead, I realized I couldn’t watch my feet and be ready to launch an arrow at the same time. My fear of snakes seemed irrational. They’d sense us coming, should flee before we got close. But I’d already seen one and couldn’t shake the prospect of encountering another. We didn’t have anti-venom in our first-aid supplies.

  That was one of the first things we’d learned at Lovelock. Don’t get bitten by a snake. The anti-venom had a short shelf life and cost a lot, so it wasn’t feasible for remote, under-the-radar militias. Stopping, I motioned for Sadie to lead so I didn’t need to think about where my feet landed. We crouched to the height of the bushes, taking slow steps. Then I spotted them: a doe and a fawn. Surprised to see a small fawn with its spots in the winter, I dismissed either as a target. Sadie pointed in their direction, and I shook my head. We needed food, but not that bad yet.

  In another fifty feet, a buck jumped ahead of us. Again, I let him go. Male deer tended to be scarcer than the females, and Owen had taught me to leave them so there would be more deer for the future. Why did I have to think of my uncle so much? Because I was using all the skills he taught me. Ironic how he pull
ed the trigger on my fate.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder and followed Amelie’s gaze. A bobcat hunched beside the stream, lapping water. I dismissed the animal, knowing we’d only get a couple of pounds of meat tops. A single doe was what we needed. We were losing light, and I started to get frustrated, but I didn’t want to go back to the pond. The pond offered a great resource. We could soon have over sixty people to feed and overhunting one location would be a mistake.

  Motion caught my eye. A white tail popped up to my left and then another. Two doe munched on leaves of a low bush not twenty feet out. I signaled for Amelie to coordinate her shot with mine, hoping to get both at the same time. We had Sadie count to three on her fingers and let our arrows fly. My tip landed behind the front shoulder, a good shot if it pierced through to the lung. Amelie’s hit the butt. The doe took off, and with quick arms, we launched two more arrows and ran after the injured animals. My second tip landed in the back leg of my animal.

  Signaling that Sadie and Amelie should follow her doe, I sprinted in the direction mine had gone. I’d never killed an animal at close range. Still, I wouldn’t let our game end up easy prey for another predator. Watching the doe’s white tail slow ahead of me, I ducked down, taking slow quiet steps. Seeing the animal hobbling on her injured leg, I knew what had to be done. I aimed my arrow at her upper belly, hoping to finish the job.

  With the close range, the tip sank deep into her chest, and I saw her draw in a breath and freeze. A memory of the first time I saw Uncle Owen shoot an elk flashed through my brain. You’re not like him. But how was I different? Or better? I’m sure the coup included a couple of casualties so that made him a murderer too. We were the same, just on opposite sides of a conflict. No, I wouldn’t sacrifice my family and friends. That was my line.

  Refocusing on the animal ahead, I crept to it. I closed her eyes and roped the front and then back legs together. Squatting, I heaved it onto my back. I approximated its weight at eighty pounds, which meant forty pounds of meat. Forty pounds equaled one hundred twenty meals. With sixty people, it would feed us for a day. Still, an hour’s hike for a day’s worth of food for a whole camp seemed like a win.