“We’ve gotta go back and try to help,” said William.
“We can’t go back. They’ll kill us.”
“You just want to leave your friends? Do you think they’d leave you?”
“But we don’t even know where they are. William, let’s just go home. They can send people out to help them.”
“Even if we go all out and make good time, it might take us a week to get home, and then another week for them to get here. It’ll be two or three weeks before they could help. By then it’ll be too late. I’m going back. You want to come or not?”
Harry was on the verge of crying. “Okay, I’ll come, but … but just let me clean up.” He burst into tears. “I crapped my pants.”
William, a little softer now, said, “Go ahead. I’ll wait.”
Harry pulled some clean underwear and some toilet paper from his saddlebag and went into the woods. William tightened the cinch on his saddle and on his brother’s. He bent down to pick up his pistol, which had fallen out of his holster, when something huge landed on him, knocking him to the ground.
“Where are they?” came a deep voice from on top of him. The smell was enough to make William’s eyes water.
“There’s another horse,” came another voice. “Someone else is here.”
“You gonna tell me?” the man said, two inches from William’s ear.
“No one. No one but me.” William had never been so scared.
The man heaved William to his feet and punched him in the face. William went down hard, landing awkwardly on his arm. He screamed in pain.
“One last time. Who else is here? You don’t answer, I kill you. Simple.”
The pain was making him dizzy. He was sure he was going to pass out. Where was Harry?
His silent question was answered when he heard the second man yell out, “Found him. The kid shit his…”
An explosion ripped through the air and William heard the other man hit the ground with a thud.
“What the…” The man holding William let go and turned toward the woods where Harry had gone in. William looked up to see his brother emerge from the woods awkwardly, his pants down to his ankles. He was holding his pistol with both hands and it was pointed at the man next to William. Harry’s hands were shaking badly.
“Get away from my brother.”
The man took a step toward Harry and Harry pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the tree next to the man. He pulled the trigger again. This time the bullet hit the man in the chest. He went down soundlessly. Harry approached him and pointed his gun at the man on the ground, who was now groaning. He shot three more bullets into the man and then dropped the gun. He stood there silently.
“Harry, we’ve got to go.” The pain was tremendous. William looked down at his arm. There was no doubt it was broken. They had to get away from there.
“Harry!”
Harry looked up at him, his eyes vacant.
“Harry, you’ve got to help me get on my horse. Pull up your pants.”
Hi brother didn’t move.
“Now!”
Wordlessly, Harry pulled up his jeans, leaving his gun sitting in the dirt. He moved robotically to his brother and helped him into his saddle.
“Now pick up your gun and get on your horse. We’re going home.”
At the sound of those words, Harry mounted his horse, still leaving his gun in the dirt.
*****
They rode day and night. William tied himself to his saddle as best he could with one hand. His brother was lost in his own world and William was afraid that if he fell off the horse, Harry would never notice.
William led the way until they reached a familiar part of the trail and Harry knew where they were. Silently, he led the way, going as fast as they could and only resting when the horses were about to collapse. When they stopped for the night, they had jerky and water. William would take that time to readjust and tighten the splint he’d put on the broken arm. The pain was worse than anything he had ever experienced.
During one of the stops, he stumbled over a rock and landed on his arm. He passed out. When he woke up an hour later, he could see the bone. He covered it the best he could with a bandage and then resplinted it.
Almost a week after they started, they rode into the town of Rock Creek, William slumped in his saddle, delirious with pain and fever, and Harry still staring vacantly straight ahead, having not said a single word the whole trip back.
Chapter 19
Four weeks had passed and Ben and Lila were not coping as well as they hoped with Cat suddenly out of their life. They thought they had prepared themselves for her eventual departure, but in fact, they were finding it emotionally difficult. They were going through the motions in just about all of their chores.
They weren't alone. In her daily journeys to town, Lila ran across other parents having a similarly hard time. The general mood in Yellowstone was melancholy. Four weeks and things weren't any better. Even those without children were feeling the mood.
Ben and Lila had just wrapped up their chores for the day and were talking about getting away for a few days when they heard a horse gallop into the yard. They rushed to the door. It was Sean.
"Get into town," he called from the saddle. "Two of the boys have returned, and they are in bad shape. They're at the doc's now."
He waited while Ben and Lila saddled their horses.
"It's William and Harry. They were almost dead when they arrived. William has a severely broken arm and a broken collarbone and is in and out of consciousness, and Harry is out of his mind with fear. I couldn't get anything out of them. The other parents are all being told. Most will probably be there when we return."
A large crowd had gathered outside the doctor's office. The only people allowed in were William and Harry's parents. Ben knew all the other parents had the same thoughts he was having: what had happened to the rest of the group?
It was hours before they heard anything. It was well into the evening and the crowd had only grown larger. Brittany and Sean brought a large pot of stew and pitchers of water. Despite their worry, people were hungry and appreciated the food.
Finally, about five hours after arriving for the vigil, William and Harry's parents emerged from the office. As they came out, the doctor quietly called Morgan's parents into the office. William and Harry's parents were met with a million questions and the father held up his hand for silence.
"I know you are all worried about your kids, and I'm sorry it's taken so long, but Harry finally started talking just a little while ago."
"How are your boys?" asked Lila.
"Thanks for asking. I know you are all worried about your own. Harry is okay physically, but I think it will be a long road emotionally. William is still unconscious. The doctor says he will live, but it's touch and go as to whether he will lose his arm. The bone came through the skin and it is badly infected. The doc is doing all he can." His voice choked as he said it. "As for the rest of the group, Harry doesn't know where they are. They were attacked and they all scattered. Morgan got hit and Harry thinks he died."
A gasp went up in the group and tears began to flow. He then related the story Harry had told him about being followed and eventually attacked.
"Harry said the consensus of the group was that it was probably the same people who killed Clete. When they got attacked, the bullets were flying everywhere and the kids were all lucky to get out of there. He doesn't know where the rest of them are. He said it was hard going and they had all decided to turn eastward when they were attacked. He can show us on a map about where it all happened."
"How long ago? asked Aaron.
"At least a week."
"Holy shit," said someone in the crowd. "They could be anywhere by now."
"We've got to try," said Lila. "I suggest those of us who are going meet tomorrow and head out as quickly as we can. Those who are staying should be heavily armed, just in case. The whole community should be on constant alert.
“We
shouldn’t have let her go,” said Ben on the way home. “She’s too young.”
“Ben, how old were we when we were left on our own?”
“That was different. We didn’t have a choice.”
“We also didn’t have any skills. We survived as much out of luck as we did from the things we learned. Cat is so much more prepared than we were. She’s totally in tune with her surroundings, she’s an excellent shot with a rifle, a pistol, and a crossbow, and she can live off the land.”
“You’re right.”
“And here’s the other thing. The world we entered was explosive. People didn’t trust each other and there was violence everywhere we turned. Not anymore. It’s been seventeen years. Things have settled down. This one group is a throwback to the old days, unfortunately. We don’t know their motives or anything about them. I’m just as concerned as you are, but there is nothing we can do about what has happened. We can only find out if she’s okay. But if there are any two people who can take care of themselves, it’s Cat and Simon.”
“You’re right. It’ll do no good to worry. But if anything at all has happened to Cat, those people are going to feel my wrath.”
“Our wrath, and they won’t know what hit them.”
*****
They met the next morning at dawn in the center of town. Ben and Lila were joined by Aaron, Sean, Nick, Jason, and an assortment of the parents of the other kids, and a few others who just wanted to help. There were twenty grim-faced rescuers in all. Each carried a heavy load of weapons and ammunition. They also brought dried and smoked food, as they would have no time to stop and hunt. They wanted to reach the ambush spot in half the time it took their kids. They expected some hard riding and each trailed a second horse behind so that they always had a fresh mount.
There was no time for goodbyes. Harry had given them a general idea of the route, and they started the rescue mission at a full gallop. The first night they didn’t stop until well after dark, eating their dried food and building a small fire for coffee. They allowed themselves only a few hours of sleep and were on their way before daybreak, when there was just enough light to see by.
Their route took them through Jackson, and then west to Lava Hot Springs, where they turned south toward Salt Lake City. They had picked up the teens’ trail the first day and found it fairly easy to follow. Most of the parents in the group knew their own child’s horse’s hoofprints. With the long riding days and the ability to follow the kids’ trail, they were on the road to Salt Lake City in days, as opposed to the two weeks it took the teens.
They didn’t expect to run across the attackers until at least Salt Lake City, which is why they were surprised to hear gunfire as they were passing Logan.
Aaron heard it first.
“Firefight east of here.”
They were skirting the western edge of Logan. It meant the fighting was coming from the hills to the east of town.
The others stopped and listened. There was an intense battle going on.
“A lot of firepower,” said Sean, pulling out his M-16. “We’ll get close enough to try to get a feel for what’s going on, then we’ll make our plan from there.”
Serving as active-duty Marines when the event happened, most people listened to Sean and Aaron when it came to tactical matters.
They galloped through the dead town of Logan and into the hills beyond, getting closer to the gunfire. When he felt they were close enough, Sean put up his hand and they all jumped off their horses and tied them to low tree branches. They made their way through the trees to some rocks overlooking a wide canyon.
It only took a minute to grasp the situation. There was a group on the canyon floor hiding behind whatever cover they could find. Luckily for them, there were trees and a number of large rocks. It wasn’t their children. Doing a quick count, Ben figured there had to be a couple dozen people down there. Some of them were shooting, but most were just trying to stay hidden. Also hidden behind rocks were some vehicles. They looked like small tractors with extra-large wheels. There was a story there, he thought. When he looked into the hills overlooking the canyon, Ben knew they had found their quarry. He could see lots of men dressed in shabby clothes. Most of them had beards, and many of the beards were gray.
“They’re the ones who killed Clete and set the fire at Yellowstone. They’re the ones we’re looking for.”
“They are all scattered on the side of the hills. If we can get above them,” said Aaron, “we can shoot down on them and catch them totally exposed. Half of you come with me and we’ll take the hill on the right. The other half go with Sean to the left side. When we are all in position, we’ll take them out.”
With no objections, they all started on their way, Ben and Lila following Aaron to the right side of the canyon. It didn’t take long for them to reach their destination. As they ran along the crest of the hill, Aaron suddenly stopped and motioned for the others to drop down on the ground.
“There’s one on top. If we go any further, he’ll see us and warn the rest before we get into position.”
“Leave him to me,” said Ben. He left his rifle and crawled along the top with his crossbow. The man was shooting down into the canyon and hadn’t yet noticed Ben. Ben got to within thirty feet of the shooter before bringing up his crossbow, aiming, and shooting. The man went down silently as the arrow penetrated his brain.
“I still have trouble believing you are the same wimpy little brother I knew way back when,” said Aaron, when he caught up to Ben. He handed Ben his rifle, then said to them all, “let’s spread out. Pick your targets on the other hill, then when I tell you, start shooting.”
In five minutes everyone was in place. Aaron and Sean must have had their own signal, because suddenly Ben heard Aaron shout, “Let’s do it!”
Bullets rained down and the men on the hillside had little cover from above and scrambled to find any shelter from the attack. Seeing that help had arrived, the people in the valley came out from hiding and started firing into the hills, as well. Getting hit from every direction proved too much for the men on the hillside and the fighting was over in less than twenty minutes. Everyone on the hillside was either dead, wounded, or in the case of a very few individuals left standing, holding their hands up in surrender. When the fighting was over, those on the canyon floor came to greet the people who had saved their lives.
There were only four prisoners. Sean and some of the others took them and tied them up in a little grove of trees. Meanwhile, Ben, Lila, and the rest of the group went to greet those who had been under attack.
“Thank you for coming when you did,” said an older man with a strong Scottish accent. “I didn’t know how we were going to survive this.” At least that was what Ben thought he said. He had never heard such a thick accent before.
Another man approached. He was a little younger than the first man and spoke with an American accent.
“I wondered if I would ever see you again. The rumors were you were dead, but I didn’t believe them.”
“Holy crap,” said Ben, suddenly recognizing the man. “Dan!”
Chapter 20
The years fell away in Ben’s memory. Standing before him was an older version—maybe close to sixty now—of a man who had meant a lot to Ben and Lila on their trip south after the event.
He gave Dan a hug, and then got out of the way so that Lila could hug him as well.
Dan held Lila away from him and looked her over.
“My God, you turned into a beautiful woman. I like the eye patch. Are you going for the pirate look? Makes you look mysterious.”
Leave it to Dan, thought Ben, to approach the subject of Lila’s eye patch directly and not give her the opportunity to feel self-conscious about it around an old friend.
Ben turned to his brother. “Aaron, this is Dan. Dan, my brother, Aaron.”
“The brother in California you thought was dead?”
“Imagine my surprise.”
Ben addressed his group. �
��Lila and I met Dan not long into our trip south. He and his friend Gordon, and Gordon’s wife, ended up prisoners in the same camp with Lila, and then I saw them later when I was kidnapped to help rebuild DC.” He looked at Dan. “I heard about Gordon. I’m sorry.”
“God, I haven’t thought about Gordon in years. Yes, it was sad. He just never recovered from the death of his wife. I’m happy though to hear that the rumors of your deaths were greatly exaggerated. What are you doing out here?”
Ben gave Dan a condensed version of their life over the last sixteen years, ending with their current mission to find Cat and her friends.
“I would offer to help, but these people need me to guide them and I’m afraid we would just slow you down.”
“So what exactly are you doing here?” asked Lila.
“It’s a long story. It’s getting dark. Would you join us for the night and I can tell you all about it?”
With most of the attackers dead and the rest prisoners, they decided that the kids wouldn’t be in anymore harm if they stopped early for the night.
“What do we do about the prisoners?” one of the parents asked Aaron. “They are refusing to talk.”
“Keep them bound. Don’t feed them and don’t go near them. We’ll let them sweat it out for a while. They’ll eventually talk. I guarantee it.”
*****
Dinner was provided by Dan’s group, which numbered twenty-four, many with heavy accents. They had hunted the day before with great success, and were happy to share their bounty with their rescuers. As they ate, Dan gave his story.
“First of all, I’d like to introduce Angus McPherson. He and his group, as if you couldn’t tell, are from Scotland. I’ll get to their story in a minute.”
Angus took a moment to once more thank Ben and his group for coming in the nick of time. Again, Ben had trouble understanding him, so Angus really could have been saying anything.
“Things didn’t go well in DC,” began Dan. “They did at first, once Colonel Jeffries took over as president. He was determined to get the country going again. He was a good man and for the first year or so a lot of progress was made. We tried to get the word out that the government was still functioning and slowly people made their way to Washington. At one point we had almost a thousand residents, if you include the soldiers who had already been there. Jeffries liked me and made me a part of the administration.”
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