by Alex Gunwick
He stood on shaky legs. One of his ankles screamed when he tried to put weight on it. Most likely a light sprain, it would probably swell up later.
“Dammit!”
Everything hurt, but nothing else seemed to stand out. He prodded the major areas of concern with an investigative finger or an exploratory squeeze. His elbow hurt where it had hit a rock somewhere along the way. Same for his right knee. His tailbone might have been bruised when he’d fallen back on it after his feet had caught at the bottom.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad outcome, considering his stupidity. He should have waited until morning to return. In his haste, he’d almost broken his damn neck. No one knew he was out here. If he had broken a leg or even an ankle, they probably wouldn’t have found his body before the spring thaw. Well, if there was a spring thaw.
“Don’t get stupid, you fool.” He berated himself for his recklessness with a shake of his head. Then he smiled and let out a chuckle and low whistle. “Boy, that could’ve been really bad.”
He shifted his weight onto his sore ankle and winced. It was already starting to stiffen, but he’d walked on far worse in the past. As long as he kept it limber, he could make it back to the cabin.
After checking to make sure nothing had fallen out of his pockets or his pack in the tumble, he glanced up the ravine’s walls. It had to be about a twenty-five-foot climb. He sighed.
Trying to climb up the slippery slope wouldn’t work. He’d have to find another way out. After taking several steps, he groaned. His ankle wouldn’t make it more than a few hundred yards, tops. It was worse than he’d thought it was.
He hobbled in a circle while assessing his options. In the distance, he spotted a small stack of stones near the base of the mountain, several hundred yards from the entrance to the shelter. A small overhang shielded the stones from the snow. His heart leapt as he limped closer.
A rock cairn. Usually, people used them to mark a trail or some other landmark, but there weren’t any trails near here. Who would want to pass through this isolated ravine anyway? And yet, here it was.
He peered under the overhang. It was shallow, barely deep enough to shield the small cairn from falling snow. Lucky, somebody had the foresight to build it under here, or else Derek might’ve missed it altogether.
Though he was convinced he was in the right place, he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary near the cairn. All he could see was solid rock. The setting sun made his search difficult. The entire ravine lay in shadows.
He felt his way down the wall. He knocked against it in a couple of places, only to be disappointed by the dull sound of knuckles cracking against unyielding stone.
About twenty paces from the cairn, his fingers brushed against something round set into the rock about three feet above the ground. His breath caught in his chest. He ran his fingers back over it to feel the metal outline.
He squinted at the darkening wall and found a rounded half-circle of rusted metal. He knocked against the rock and was thrilled by the semi-hollow sound. He marveled at the texture, which was nearly identical to the rock into which it was set.
He pried at the metal ring, but it wouldn’t budge under his cold fingers. His dexterity had already deteriorated in the plummeting temperature. His hands shook in anticipation. He unfolded his pocketknife and wedged the point under the ring’s edge to pry the rusty thing off the surface of the artificial rock.
He worked his fingers under the ring until it stuck out enough to where he could get a good grip on it. He wrapped both hands around the metal handle before jerking it back towards his body.
Nothing.
He repositioned himself and grabbed hold of the ring again. He pulled on it with every ounce of strength he could muster, straining his arm and back muscles to no avail.
Getting more frustrated by the second, he braced his foot against the rock and growled with exertion.
A loud grinding sound filled the air. He stumbled backward as something gave and a section of the wall swung open.
He had no time to celebrate. A soft gasp issued from above him. He whirled around to level his rifle at the intruder, clicking off the safety in one practiced motion.
“Oh.” When he realized the gasp had come from Sierra, he clicked the safety back on. He lowered the barrel in exasperation. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” After shimmying down the ravine, she sauntered towards him. She started at him through lowered lashes while curling her lips into a wry smile. She must have thought it would come off as mischievous and sexy, but instead she looked like she’d just eaten a sour lemon.
“Goddammit. Is it just you out here?” Derek scanned the lip of the ravine for movement.
“Yup. Just me. And you, of course.” As she smiled at him, her face contorted into a mask of seduction.
He wasn’t having any of it. The last thing he needed was a woman with a schoolgirl crush chasing after him. She could compromise everything. She couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, so there was no way in hell she’d keep this to herself.
He glanced from her to the open door and took a moment to weigh his options. She probably wouldn’t be able to locate this spot again. Hell, she probably couldn’t even make it back to her family’s cabin from here.
“How long have you been following me?”
“Since you left the cabin.”
“Why?”
“Why what?” she asked coyly.
“Why did you follow me?” His patience was wearing thin.
“I saw you sneaking away. It looked like you were up to something, so I followed you to see what you were doing. It’s so boring in the cabin.”
“Well, that was stupid. What if you’d lost track of me? It’s almost dark, and you have no supplies. Do you even know which way the cabin is? You would’ve ended up dead out here.”
“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing we’re together.” She twirled her hair around her finger and stared up at him with mock innocence. “I lost you for a second back there. You were standing around staring at the door. I looked away for a second because I thought I heard something, and you were gone.”
“I fell down the ravine.”
“Are you hurt?”
“A little.”
“Maybe we should head back to the cabin before it gets too dark.”
He glanced from her to the door and back.
“What’s behind that … thing … whatever that thing is. It’s a door, right?”
Derek groaned. He couldn’t leave now, not when he was this close to his objective.
“It’s a door. Come on, let’s go inside.”
He pulled out his flashlight and led her through the opening in the rock. Inside the false rock door was a small vestibule that led to a metal door with a wheel. Derek twisted the wheel several times and pulled. The heavy door opened with a hiss.
“What is this place?” she asked.
“It’s a fallout shelter from the ‘70s. They built it in case shit with Russia ever got less cold. Guess they were right to worry.” He was so awestruck that he’d found the shelter that he momentarily forgot his annoyance with Sierra. “A couple of guys had mentioned it to me when I was in the Marines. I was stationed at El Toro before they shut it down. I didn’t believe them until my dad confirmed it. Even then, I wasn’t sure if it was real or just a tale passed around from man to man.”
He took a few steps into the entryway and felt along the wall for a light switch. When his fingers brushed a plastic protrusion, he flicked it up. Overhead, a bare light bulb buzzed to life, casting a dull, yellow glow around the room. Crates were stacked against the walls. They were numbered but didn’t appear to have any additional identifying information. They could be filled with anything or nothing. He wouldn’t know until he could pry them open.
“Wow, I wonder if Dad has ever heard of it? He loves this kind of thing. He and Kyle are going to freak when they see this place.” She gazed around the
shelter.
Derek pulled a flashlight from his pack. He flipped it up and cast the beam into the dark corners. Farther into the shelter, he found shelves lined with dusty flashlights, radio units, and books that appeared to be at least thirty years old. He spotted several boxes marked MREs.
He’d hit paydirt. There was no way in hell he’d share this information right away. He had to think it through. Sierra was a huge fucking liability. Why couldn’t she have minded her own business? He couldn’t let her go back to the cabin. Not yet at least.
While Sierra was preoccupied with the newly lit room, Derek rummaged in his pack. He removed a length of thick rope. Since she couldn’t go back to the cabin, she’d have to stay here while he considered his options.
As he stepped close to her, confusion knitted her brow. Her gaze dropped to the rope. Her eyes went wide. Before she could move away, he lunged and grabbed her upper arm. He gripped it tightly.
“You’re going to have to stay here a while.”
“What? What are you doing?” She struggled to escape his grasp, but he was far too strong. He led her to a metal chair and wound the rope around her to secure her to it. He tied several knots before checking to make sure she couldn’t escape.
“I’m sorry about this,” he said.
“Let me go! What the hell is wrong with you?” Her eyes blazed with a mixture of betrayal and fear.
“I’m not going to hurt you, but I also can’t trust you. Any of you.”
“You can’t just leave me here!” she screamed.
“I’ll come back for you.”
“What? When? Derek, this isn’t funny!”
He chuckled as he walked farther into the compound. He’d deal with her later.
5
Three days earlier …
As Luke readied himself for his nightly perimeter check, Kyle paced back and forth like a caged tiger.
“Come on. Can I please come? I’m ready, I swear,” Kyle pleaded.
“I’m sorry, but it’s too dangerous out there.” Luke gave his son a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder. “We can’t take any chances with those nuts from the cult hanging around. They’re too unpredictable.”
“That’s exactly why you need me. I can watch your back. I can’t stay locked up in this cabin forever. Please, I’m so bored in here. I’ve already done that Starry Night puzzle six times.”
“I’m sorry, but you’re still a kid. Maybe after we take care of the cult, you can come out with me. But for now, I think it’s best you stay put. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you.”
“I’m not a kid. Not anymore. Not since all this happened. I’ve seen stuff. And I’m tired of standing by while everyone else does all the work. I can help. I want to help protect our family.” Kyle’s face was set with determination.
Luke’s eyes glittered with pride. His son was right. He wasn’t a boy anymore, but he wasn’t a man either.
He turned to Liz, who shrugged. “He does have a point, honey. We can’t keep him locked up in here forever. It’s a changed world out there. He helped defend this place before you came back. He wants to feel useful.”
Luke sighed. “All right. Grab your coat.”
“Really?” A huge grin spread across Kyle’s face as he jumped up out of his chair.
“Under one condition.” Luke held up a finger and looked down at his son gravely.
“Anything.” Kyle nodded, barely suppressing his giddy excitement.
“You do everything I say, without hesitation, right up until we’re back in this cabin. When we’re out there, I’m not only your father, I’m also your commanding officer. Understand?”
Kyle nodded in agreement.
“That means my word is law. So even if you don’t understand why I tell you to do something, you do it anyway. Immediately. You can ask me why after you’ve done it. Got it?”
Kyle nodded vigorously.
“All right, then. Let’s go patrol the perimeter.”
Outside, Kyle could see his breath in the cool night air. There was a thin, soft layer of snow over everything. It would be easy to spot footprints in it, easy to find the cult guys if they were around.
“First thing to remember is to close the door quietly.” His father gently pressed the door shut without a sound. “Seems obvious, maybe, but you don’t want anyone out there to know you’re coming.” Luke took a few steps off the porch and stopped to crouch down and motioned for Kyle to do the same.
He spoke in a low whisper. “Now, it’s dark out here. You might want to immediately turn on your flashlight, look around to make sure no one’s lurking out there. But that’s not what we do. What you need to do is take a minute and breathe.” Luke took a deep breath in slowly through his nose and blew it quietly out in a long stream through his mouth. Kyle mimicked his father.
“When you get out here in the dark, especially if you’re alone, your adrenaline will start to pump. Your heart will race, and your mind will follow. That’s not a good way to patrol. That’s a good way to get yourself killed. So the first thing we do is calm ourselves down. We sit here and breathe awhile, ease our minds, let our pulse settle a bit.”
Kyle crouched next to his father and matched his slow, steady breathing. He listened intently as a few snowflakes drifted down around them.
“Not only are we settling our nerves, but we’re also letting our eyes adjust to the darkness. Flashlights are great in a pinch. They make it easy to spot someone hiding in the woods, but they make it even easier for them to spot you.”
“Makes sense.” Kyle nodded as he committed everything his father said to memory.
“One of the keys to survival is patience. Strength, smarts, grit, determination, planning—these things are all important. But often patience is what separates those who make it from those who don’t. Sitting here, completely still, you might see something before it sees you. Movement draws attention more than anything else. So, to have the upper hand, sometimes we have to be still.”
“Patience. Got it.” Kyle nodded again, but he was antsy despite himself.
Finally, his father stood to walk slowly toward the tree line and motioned for him to follow. Luke stopped a few feet inside the woods and held up his hand for Kyle to do the same.
“We patrol a few feet inside the treeline because most people will observe a target from about here. Close enough to watch and listen effectively, but with little risk of being spotted.” His father’s voice was barely audible as it reached Kyle.
“You think people are watching us?” He tried to match his father’s low, gruff tone, but his voice came out squeaky and thin.
“I don’t know. That’s the trouble with crazy folk. You never know what they’re going to do. Best to expect the worst. Also, best to see them before they see you. That’s where silence comes in. What you want to do is tread very deliberately. Each step, you place your heel down first, real soft. Then you roll the outside of your foot down, slowly place the rest of your sole down, and finally your toes.” He exaggerated the movement to demonstrate the technique.
Kyle imitated him and placed his foot down silently on the snow. “Like this?”
Luke smiled. “Exactly like that. That’s good. Now we do that all around the tree line until we get back to where we started. Try to picture every step before you make it, but also keep your eyes and ears open for anything unusual around you. The key to patrolling effectively is to leave your mind absolutely open. You want to be completely available to perceive anything that happens.”
Kyle followed his father as they paced silently around the perimeter of their little cabin property. The whole time he was on edge, ready to find any bad guy who might be hiding in the woods, waiting to ambush them.
After doing a complete loop around the property, they returned to the cabin. They hadn’t encountered anything this time, but Kyle still appreciated the experience. He wished his dad would let him go out on patrol by himself. If he could get his dad to take him on
patrol more often, then he’d have a better shot at being allowed to go alone. It might take weeks, but what else did he have to do?
They shrugged out of their coats and wiped their boots on the mud mat. Kyle’s dad clapped him on the back and commended him for a job well done. Kyle grinned. See, it would only be a matter of time before his dad finally trusted him to be out by himself. He’d already done patrol before his dad had come home from Northern California, so there wasn’t any reason why he couldn’t do it again. He’d just have to convince his dad that he was capable of keeping his family safe.
“Let’s get some grub,” Luke said.
“Yuck! They’re so slimy.”
“I meant it figuratively. Grubs are disgusting, but it’s protein. We can’t be choosy when we don’t know what’s coming.”
“I swear they wiggle down my throat,” Kyle said with a shudder.
“Nah, your mom makes sure they’re mostly dead before they end up on the plate.”
“Mostly?” Kyle’s eyes went wide.
Luke laughed and continued teasing him as he ladled soup into two bowls. Kyle couldn’t stop grinning. His dad was so serious all the time. It was fun to laugh with him again. He didn’t realize how much he missed it.
The back door to the cabin opened. Kyle’s mom stepped inside. A concerned look knitted her brow. When she spoke to his father, her voice was shaky with worry.
“Sierra’s gone.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Luke asked.
“She’s no in her room, and she’s not out back. She’s gone.”
“Damn that girl. I swear I’m going to lock her in the closet when I get a hold of her,” Luke snapped.
Kyle cringed, but his dad had never actually locked them in a closet. It was just something he liked to threaten from time to time. And Sierra deserved it. She was a bigger brat than he was, and that was saying something.