“Rafe definitely did this,” Max said quietly. Then she gestured toward the trees ahead of them. “The cave is directly that way I believe. It’s cut into that rock wall, but it’s hidden by these trees from this vantage point.”
“Then let’s go and let our dear brother know that we aren’t attacking him,” Alex replied.
They carefully made their way through the trees. Alex was wondering why Rafe had the early warning system and yet he hadn’t shown up yet to find out who had set it off. Maybe he wasn’t at the cave just then and couldn’t hear it. Alex’s doubt was put to rest quickly. She wasn’t sure if she heard the shot first, or if the tree five feet to her left started to shower bark, but she quickly realized they were being shot at.
“Get down!” Alex called. Everyone in her group ducked behind a near tree or rock formation.
“Rafe, you moron! Don’t shoot us!” Max called out from her hiding place.
“I’m not Rafe,” a woman’s voice came back to them.
Max looked at Alex her eyes wide with surprise. Her sister then shrugged her shoulders and motioned for Alex to take over. Alex groaned inwardly, wondering when her sister would ever figure out how to handle people.
“So, then you must be Charlotte?” Alex said.
“Are you here to turn us in?”
“What? God no. We are here looking for our brother. Rafe Duncan. Where is he?” Alex said.
There was a long pause. Alex began to wonder if it was safe to show her face, or if she would look like Swiss cheese. She was just thinking about stepping out when Charlotte spoke out again.
“If you’re who you say you are, what’s the name of the plan? The plan your family has for the end of the world?”
“Sundown,” Alex and Max yelled back in unison.
“Alex and Max?” Charlotte’s voice held less malice now.
“Yes,” Alex answered, knowing it was safe to show herself now.
When she looked to where Charlotte was standing, the woman looked small and scared. But she held the shotgun with confidence. It made Alex wonder if Rafe had been teaching the woman since he began to protect her. To be sure, Alex showed her hands were empty as she walked toward the woman. Alex took in the sight of the small beautiful Charlotte and started to wonder for the millionth time, who was the woman that Rafe was protecting?
“Could you put the gun down? I think we’d all feel much safer?” Alex asked.
Charlotte looked at the gun and put it down quickly, looking slightly embarrassed.
“I’m sorry I shot at you. But just so you know, Rafe taught me to use this and I would have hit you if I was trying to,” Charlotte said, answering Alex’s unspoken question.
“Thanks for the info. So, you’re Charlotte Brewer? I’m Alex Duncan. It’s very nice to meet you,” Alex said.
She reached the woman and put her hand out to shake. Charlotte’s hands were dainty, but her grip was strong and confident. Alex immediately liked her. Mitch Duncan used to say you could judge a person by the way they shook your hand. Alex had seen his hypothesis proven accurate many times in her life. And she would bet on the strength in this woman now.
“It’s nice to meet you too. Please, call me Charlie. No one calls me Charlotte.”
“Sure. Charlie, I’m going to have everyone else come out. Cool?”
“Yes, yes of course. I’m sorry. I need to get Aiden. Please come up to the cave,” Charlie said as she turned away.
“Aiden?” Alex said to Charlie’s back.
“You’ll see,” Charlie said with a slight laugh.
Max came from her hiding spot as Charlie walked away. Alex stood still, wondering where her brother was and who this woman was. There were too many questions in her mind. Max and the men came to stand with Alex.
“Well, that wasn’t weird or anything,” Max said.
“She was scared by the alarm, I’m sure,” Alex replied.
She then motioned for them to follow and began the walk to the cave. It wasn’t more than three minutes to get to the opening of the cave. Here they found the tarp and net pulled open for light to wash in. It was there that Alex and Max got their biggest surprise. Inside the cave, the small Charlie was standing with a small boy in her arms. Alex judged him to not be more than three or four years old. The boy had been crying, from the fear, Alex assumed.
“This is Aiden,” Charlie said, turning so the group could see a small cherub face.
“Hold up one damn minute,” Max said. She looked at Alex in astonishment. “Did you know about this?”
“Know what?” Alex asked.
“That Rafe got a woman knocked up and had a kid without telling us?”
“Wait, what?” Charlie interrupted.
“Our brother has never told us about his life here, friends, or girlfriends,” Alex started to explain.
“Ok. I think we are having some misunderstandings here. First, I’m not Rafe’s girlfriend. I’ve only known him just over a month,” Charlie said before she started to laugh.
Max glared at her and Alex smothered the smile she wanted to show. Max wouldn’t take kindly to being laughed at. It took Alex a moment to even catch on to what Max was saying and now that she realized it, Alex wanted to laugh as well.
“And the boy? Aiden you said?” Alex asked.
“Yes. Aiden. Can you say hi, Aiden?” Charlie asked the boy.
He laid his head on Charlie’s shoulder for a moment before waving his hand at the group. Charlie turned and took Aiden to a corner of the cave. Now that Alex could focus on the entire structure, she realized Rafe and Charlie had set up quite the hideout. There was a laptop charging with a small solar battery. Stacks of canned foods and MRE’s laid against one wall. Three beds were carefully placed near the back of the cave, where Rafe would have felt safest to sleep. And Aiden had a corner of small toys to play with.
After Charlie convinced Aiden that all was safe, and he could play for a little while, she gestured for the group of adults to follow her out of the cave. And out of earshot of the little boy.
“We found Aiden hiding in his home. In the bathroom. He was sleeping in the tub and eating whatever food he could reach. He says his parents went to chase the bad things away. We are guessing infected came to the home and they tried to draw them away. We saw the mother as an infected before we came here. The father is probably out there somewhere too. If not, he would have come for Aiden,” Charlie explained.
“That’s terrible. It’s so good of you and Rafe to take him in,” Alex commented.
“We couldn’t leave him, not like the military did.”
“The military? They found him?” Max asked.
“Yes. Aiden said he saw men in black with masks. They just found him and left him there, probably too concerned to find me.”
“You? They are after you?” Alex asked.
“That’s a very long story. Who are these two?” Charlie asked, motioning toward the still silent Griffin and Marcus.
“This is Griffin, Max’s boyfriend. And this is Marcus, a friend I picked up along the way,” Alex said, pointing to each man in turn. Both nodded to acknowledge Charlie.
“Speaking of long stories. Where is our brother?” Max asked.
“He didn’t send you here? How did you figure out where we were?”
“This is one of the two places Rafe and I used to choose for our long camping trips. I knew he’d go somewhere he knew, that had fresh water and places to hunt,” Max replied.
“The three of you are quite connected, aren’t you?”
“I guess you could say that. So no, we haven’t seen Rafe. Where is he?” Alex asked.
“He went into town. He left two days ago.”
Charlie's face took on a slightly pale look as she said that. Worry crossed her features and Alex immediately saw that the woman cared more about her brother than she let on. She didn’t have time to evaluate the situation, but she planned on speaking with Rafe to get to the bottom of things as soon as they found him.
“You’re concerned. What is it?” Alex asked.
“Rafe and I have a deal. If he’s not back in four days, I am to take Aiden and go straight back to the compound. I don’t like when he goes into town. But he takes Storm. And I know the two of them are capable. I just worry about everything that can happen. Now you haven’t seen him, but he would have been in the woods the same direction you came from I think. What if something happened?”
“I know our brother. He’s smarter and tougher than anything he could face. He’s fine. He’ll be back just like always,” Alex said.
“We easily could have missed him coming in. There are a bunch of different paths to take. If he even took a path we know of. Who’s Storm?” Max added.
“My dog. Well, he’s my dog now. That’s another story. Are you hungry?” Charlie said after a moment.
The group sat around an early dinner of MREs, macaroni and cheese for Aiden, and canned fruits. Charlie chose to not delve into the story of how she and Rafe came together, saying she wanted to wait for Rafe, so they could all discuss what was happening. Alex studied her personality and how efficient she was with food preparation. She also was very good with Aiden, which was a surprise to Alex when she learned Charlie didn’t have any small children in her family. Aiden clearly was attached to Charlie, turning to her for comfort or for food.
As they sat making small talk, a bark sounded far off from the cave. Charlie froze and listened. More barking followed, and Charlie was on her feet and out of the cave without explanation. Alex pointed to Aiden and told Marcus to stay with him, before she, Max, and Griffin ran after Charlie. She was fast for a small woman and Alex pushed to catch up with her.
“Storm! Here, boy!” Charlie was calling.
“Storm? The dog?” Alex asked, huffing while running to catch up.
Charlie nodded as she slid to a stop right at the place the alarm was set. She waited, listening again. Max and Griffin ran to a stop next to them and Max looked wildly around, her 9mm in her hand. Out of nowhere, a white dog bounded toward Charlie. Alex stepped back for a moment, mistaking the animal for a wolf. However, when he stopped in front of Charlie, panting hard, Alex realized it was a dog, a husky if she wasn’t mistaken. She looked over at Max, who was staring at the dog in surprise.
Charlie knelt and rubbed the dog’s head as he pushed against her. When her hands ran over the dog’s side, it whimpered slightly and moved away. Charlie looked up, her eyes wild looking beyond the trees. She then moved closer to the dog again and tried to feel his side carefully. Storm whined, but he looked to Charlie with trust, a dog to his master.
“Where is he?” Charlie said quietly to Storm. The dog whimpered and put his head down.
“Why did the dog come back? Didn’t you say he was with Rafe?” Alex asked. The panic rolling off of Charlie was infectious and it was settling in Alex’s chest.
“He wouldn’t have...Storm wouldn’t have left Rafe. Unless Rafe made him. Or....”
“Or what?” Max demanded.
“Or he died. Storm wouldn’t have left him otherwise,” Charlie whispered.
As they spoke Storm seemed to become agitated. He pulled away from Charlie’s arms and started dancing around yelping and barking angrily. Charlie stood up and watching him in confusion.
“He’s acting strangely. He’s never done this before. Rafe has always talked about his training. How Storm is an intelligent animal, sometimes even surprises him,” Charlie said, talking to herself more than anything.
“Do you think he’s trying to get us back into the woods? Like he’s trying to take us somewhere?” Alex suggested.
Charlie looked at Alex hopefully, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
“That’s possible. He’s worked up about something. He wouldn’t be like that if Rafe was dead.”
“Then we need to go, now,” Max said.
“I need to go with you. Storm won’t automatically trust you. And I’m a doctor. If Rafe is hurt, I can help. We have a med pack. I’ll carry that,” Charlie said. She didn’t wait for an answer, just turned on her heel and headed toward the cave.
Storm barked after her and she whistled him to her. Alex could actually see the dog huff in annoyance but still, he followed Charlie to the cave. When they entered again, Marcus was sprawled on the ground with Aiden playing with blocks. The little boy squealed when he saw Storm. The dog went to the boy, sniffed his head and licked his face before going back to Charlie. It was such a domestic action, Alex paused to watch.
“Aiden can’t go. And he can’t be left here obviously,” Charlie said as she packed items into a black medical pack. “Can one of you take him home? Well to the compound? Would he be safe there?”
“Our kids are there. So yes, he’d be safe,” Alex started.
“But if Rafe is in danger, we can’t lose an adult right now,” Max cut in.
“You’re gaining one already. I might not be the fighter you are. But I’ve been learning, and I can help if anyone gets hurt,” Charlie argued.
“Ok, ok. Let’s discuss this,” Alex said, holding up her hands to stop Max from continuing to argue the point.
Alex looked around at the four adults in her group. Max would never be convinced to leave without getting Rafe. Alex knew this because she felt the same way. That left Griffin and Marcus. She looked at the men for a moment and knew that Griffin needed to be with Max. After what her sister had endured, Max needed that support in a fight. Marcus was the last option. Alex looked at him still playing with Aiden on the ground and knew that was the best choice they had.
“Marcus, can I talk to you please?” Alex said. She led the way to the entrance of the cave.
“You want me to take Aiden,” Marcus said before Alex could open her mouth.
“Yes.”
“Ok,” Marcus replied.
“Just like that? No arguing? Are you actually going to do it, or are you going to try and follow us anyway?” Alex asked. She was used to Marcus’s antics.
“I wouldn’t put that little boy at risk. If getting him home is a priority, that will be what I do.”
“Ok. So, go straight back to the compound. We’ll give you the directions. You might have to camp one night in the woods. Are you good with that?” Alex asked.
She realized a part of her was anxious about Aiden being with only one adult overnight in the woods. It wasn’t that she believed that Marcus wouldn’t do what was necessary to protect him should the need arise, but he was only one man. And he wasn’t a Duncan. Alex knew that she and her siblings were more equipped to handle tough situations than the normal person. Though Marcus had shown that he could shoot, build, and do a strange variety of things, he didn’t grow up a Duncan.
“I know how to build a shelter and keep a boy safe,” Marcus replied.
Alex gave him a nod of her head and they walked back into the cave. Charlie was busy packing up another bag and as she put toys in, Alex realized it was Aiden’s bag she was packing. Aiden stood next to her, his face full of questions. Alex felt her heart twist for the boy. He had been through so much upheaval that month. Losing his parents, being taken in by Rafe and Charlie, living in the cave. And now here they were moving him again. Charlie looked at Alex, who pointed to Marcus. Without speaking Charlie knew the decision had been made.
“Aiden, are you ready for an adventure?” Charlie asked the little boy.
“What kinda adventure?”
“You’re going to go on a hike with Marcus. Lots of fun things to find in the forest. Then you might get to camp under the trees. Wouldn’t that be fun?” Charlie asked.
“Marcus? He’s fun. Sure, that sounds like a good adventure,” Aiden answered. He looked around at the adults. Despite his words, his face looked unsure. He looked back to Charlie.
“What about you, Charlie? You coming too?”
“Not this time, buddy. I have to go get Rafe. And then we’ll meet you at home. Marcus is going to take you to our new home. There are more kids there. Wouldn’t
you like to play with some kids?” Charlie answered.
She knelt so she was level with Aiden. Alex watched the emotions pass across Charlie’s face. The woman was attached to the boy and Alex could see how much she struggled to leave him. Alex could understand the feeling of being a mother to a child that wasn’t yours. She had the same emotions when it came to Easton and Candace. A new level of respect was starting to form in Alex’s mind for Charlie.
Charlie put her hands on Aiden’s shoulders as she gave him instructions to behave and listen to Marcus the way he listened to Rafe. She reminded him how it was so important to do what he was told immediately because there was so much danger out there. Aiden then threw his arms around Charlie’s neck. Charlie squeezed him tightly to her and kissed his cheek before releasing him.
Marcus took the instructions he was given. Alex was appreciative when Charlie provided the topographical map and compass Rafe had left for her. Using that, Alex and Max were able to give Marcus a clear path straight back to the compound. They gave him the code to the door located on the back wall, which is what they were leading him to. If the military were watching the front gate, Marcus should be able to slide in with Aiden undetected.
Alex and Charlie watched as Marcus led Aiden away from the cave. The man wore his pack and carried the second with Aiden’s things. They stood watching until they could no longer hear the chattering of Aiden as he talked about every plant and tree they passed. Alex noticed Charlie’s hands gripped into her shirt by her sides as if she was holding herself still. She didn’t know the woman, but she could imagine the feelings she was having. Alex laid her hand on Charlie’s shoulder and squeezed. Charlie looked over at her.
Alive (Sundown Series Book 3) Page 25