Dark Destruction (EMP Lodge Series Book 4)

by Grace Hamilton

  They needed a break and a whole lot of good luck. They were due something good to come their way.

  The sound of Caitlin squealing drew her attention to the lodge below. Megan sighed; she could only imagine what the goats were doing now that made her so happy.

  Whatever it was, she wanted to do everything she could to make sure there were plenty more squeals of joy in Caitlin's near future. They all deserved to be happy.

  11

  Megan walked back to the lodge and into chaos. There were people talking and what sounded like screaming, or maybe squawking? Through the din, she could hear Caitlin laughing and shrieking. Little Amy was jumping up and down, clapping her hands together.

  “What!” she yelled in total shock when she saw what Brenda was carrying. “Where in the world did you find a chicken?”

  Caitlin came running, carrying another chicken.

  “Not one, mom, three! We have three chickens!”

  Megan couldn't believe what she was seeing. Rosie was carefully holding another brown hen, softly talking to it to calm it down. The poor chickens were being bombarded by the kids all wanting to hold and pet them.

  Brenda beamed, holding out the chicken. “These ladies were holed up in an old barn that happened to be full of some old bricks. This one was sitting on a couple of eggs.” Brenda looked away. “The eggs didn't make the journey.”

  Megan looked down and could see the crusty yellow evidence of what happened on Brenda's boot. Poor Brenda. She looked embarrassed.

  “This is amazing!” Megan told her, hoping to appease her embarrassment. Brenda held herself to a high standard and if she had even a tiny failure, the woman took it very hard.

  Megan looked at the chickens and could suddenly taste fresh, scrambled eggs. It made her mouth water. They hadn't had eggs since the EMP. Powdered eggs were not the same. Fresh, fluffy eggs were a real treat.

  She imagined how much better the cakes Rosie baked on occasion would be with real eggs. They could even have pancakes and maybe a real potato salad. The possibilities were endless.

  Chase beamed as well. He was clearly thrilled with the prospect of eggs.

  “We need to build a place for the hens to nest. It shouldn't take long, but the sooner we give them somewhere to lay their eggs, the sooner we will have fresh eggs for breakfast,” he reasoned.

  Megan instantly thought of the dike. Now they needed to build a coop of some sort, which would mean fewer people working on the wall.

  “It's okay,” he said, looking at her. “It will only take a few hours. We don't need anything fancy. I want to make sure we have somewhere to lock them in at night so nothing can get to them. They are far too valuable to risk. They'll be okay in the pen with the goats but I don't trust them to stay put in that little shelter.”

  She nodded. “I know. You're right. They are worth a few hours.”

  She walked around to inspect the sleds they had each pulled in loaded with bricks.

  “Wow. That could not have been easy,” she said, imagining how tired they all had to be.

  Brenda shrugged. “It will be worth it.”

  Megan's hopes of getting started on the wall were slowly fading. It was already late afternoon and Garrett and his team weren't back yet.

  “You guys better get some water,” Rosie said, looking at each of them with concern. “We'll put the chickens in the goat pen for now. It isn't like they use it,” she added with a hint of sarcasm.

  The goats were not keen on spending their days in the pen, preferring the open space around the lodge. No matter what they did, the goats always found a way out.

  “We can make a better fence. It will need to be high enough to keep the goats from jumping over. I remember seeing something called wattle fencing. It was what the pioneers used for their own farms,” Chase explained.

  “Wattle?” Megan asked.

  “Yeah, it is easy enough to make using young trees and green limbs. There are plenty of those growing all through the forest. It will actually do the forest good if we can thin some of it out,” he explained. “Hopefully, they don't push too hard against it. We will need to make sure we push the sticks into the ground to keep them as sturdy as possible.”

  “Will it take long?” She knew it was important, but with every task they needed to complete at the lodge, the building of the dike was getting lower on the list of things to do when it needed to be at the top of the list.

  Chase shrugged. “Not weeks, but a few days. We can work on it off and on. We'll figure it out,” he assured her.

  Wyatt walked out of the trees and into the clearing. Megan assumed he must have been checking on Albert.

  “Chickens?”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Wow, you guys are good. We send you out for bricks and you come home with chickens,” he said with awe.

  “Wyatt,” Megan started. “You think we could put together a small coop real quick? Chase, go in and get some water and something to eat. I'll help Wyatt.”

  “Thanks, I will, but I'll be right back to help,” Chase said before strolling into the house.

  “I'll see what I can find for materials,” Wyatt said, walking towards her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the group. “We'll get started at first light,” he whispered.

  Her disappointment must have been evident on her face.

  “I know. Those guys have to be exhausted. Did you see how many bricks they brought back?”

  “I did and now I am more confident than ever that this will work. I'll meet you back there in a bit,” he said walking away.

  Megan helped the kids get the chickens into the goat pen. Rosie said she was going to get some scissors and would be right back.

  The kids were horrified, but Rosie assured them the scissors were to cut their wings and not to kill the valuable birds.

  When she came back, she asked Megan to hold one of the chickens.

  “Okay, now what?” Megan said having no idea what she was supposed to do.

  “Just hold her while I cut,” Rosie said, lifting the wing from the chicken and extending it. “We’re going to cut the lower layer of feathers,” Rosie said pointing to the area. She quickly made a quick cut and feathers flew to the ground.

  “What about the rest of the feathers?” Megan asked.

  “We don't cut those. Those will bleed. It’s the under layer that helps the chicken take flight. Technically, we only need to clip one side, but we are going to do both to make sure these young ladies don't get away from us,” Rosie explained.

  Once all three chickens were clipped, they were allowed to explore their new home.

  Wyatt returned with another wire shelf from the refrigerator and a couple of broken 5-gallon buckets. Megan stared at him.

  “What are you going to do with that?” she asked him.

  “The buckets are going to be the nesting boxes and the wire shelf will be the door. It isn't like they’re going to fight to get out. We'll put the shelf over the opening and put a rock in front of it.”

  “And the goats?” she asked knowing a flimsy door wasn't going to hold them in.

  “I'll hang a tarp from the side of the shed. They can sleep under there. They’re getting too big for this little shelter anyway. Add that to the list of things that we need to build,” he said, sounding a little overwhelmed.

  She was feeling the same way. The more animals they brought in, the more work they were making for themselves. It would be worth it, though. It better be at least.

  “Okay, so back to the buckets. Won't the chickens get stuck in there?” she asked.

  “No, if you can grab that hacksaw from the shed, we’re going to cut them down and cut off the front to create an opening. The chickens will crawl in, drop their egg and leave. They won't get stuck,” he promised. “The key is to make them feel safe. They need to feel comfortable to sit and lay an egg.”

  Megan understood his plan and quickly retrieved the saw and got to work on the buckets. They tucked the buckets int
o the shelter, hoping the chickens would figure out what to do with them.

  “Here,” Wyatt said handing her a round rock. “Put that into one of the buckets.”

  “Why?”

  He laughed. “Believe it or not, it gives the chickens an idea of what to do in those boxes. If we had a plastic egg or even a real one, we could leave that in there, but we don't have anything egg-shaped so a rock should do. It's temporary. Once they figure it out, we won't have to worry about looking for eggs around the property.”

  She laughed, “Whatever you say, chicken man. I’m going to go with it.”

  By the time dinner rolled around, the whole group was exhausted. They quickly ate dinner before Megan went over the plan for tomorrow. The kids were excited to get to help.

  With more people using HAM radios, Albert had built up a small network of people across the country that he often used as a sounding board. On more than one occasion, he brought interesting bits of news that they never would have known if it weren’t for his radio contacts.

  When Megan had first brought up building a dike, Albert had gotten on the radio hoping to find someone with dam or dike building experience. Unable to answer specific questions about pressure, flow velocity or momentum regarding the water flow at the dam; he was pleased when he could give them info on terrain surface roughness and distance and their resulting answers left Megan feeling more positive about her push to build the wall.

  That is, until an engineer who helped design dams gave the advice to run.

  That wasn't an option.

  Megan estimated the wall would take at least two weeks to build and another few days to harden. She cringed at the timeline. That was too long. What if they didn't have that kind of time? Wyatt squeezed her hand, calming her down.

  If there was any way they could speed up the process, she was going to make it happen. It would mean working all day, well into the night, but she didn't care. If the patch on the dam didn't hold, they could be in serious jeopardy.

  MEGAN WOKE EARLY the next morning and made a considerable amount of noise as she made coffee and got ready to go. She wanted everyone up and moving. The excitement and nerves were fueling her. It felt like the first day at a new job. She had to be impressive.

  By the time everyone headed up the hill to get started on the monumental task of building a wall, the sun was bright in the sky, but the air was still damp and chilly. The kids were grumbling about the cold, but she promised them they would get warm soon enough.

  Wyatt, Chase and Bryan were going to watch how to make the cob so they would be able to use it to patch the dam.

  Megan took her job as foreman seriously.

  “Each of you grab a corner of the tarp and stretch it out,” Megan instructed the kids.

  “Garrett, dump that bucket of mud on the tarp.”

  “Bryan, throw on the grass and pine needles.”

  “Now, you get to have some fun, kids! Jump in there with your bare feet and stomp it all together!”

  The kids threw off their shoes and got busy walking over the clay, grass and pine needles.

  “Squish your toes in it. Stomp on it. Really mix it well,” Megan instructed.

  Once she declared it was ready to use, it was time to get dirty.

  “Chase, you and Wyatt each grab a glob of the clay and form it into a rectangle. I want it about a foot long and about eight inches high. They need to be similar in size, but they don't have to be perfect,” she ordered.

  The two men used their hands to mold the shape and pat them flat on the sides.

  “Okay, Bryan and Garrett, you two grab the bricks and place them on the ground, side by side. They have to be touching.”

  Both men quickly did her bidding.

  She stood back, evaluated their job and declared it to be perfect.

  “There! See! We only need a couple hundred more and we will be good to go!” she said with a smile.

  There was a collective groan.

  “That was just to get us started. Now that we all know what to do, things will move much faster.”

  Garrett stared at the two bricks and then looked down toward the lodge. “Are you planning on building a straight wall, Megan?”

  “That was the goal. Why?” Garrett stepped back lost in thought and Megan grew impatient. They didn’t have time for this. “Garrett?”

  “Okay, hear me out before you tell me to be quiet. Have you ever been to a skateboard park or seen trick competitions?” He didn’t wait for anyone to answer before he continued. “All the ramps are curved in some way so that the skateboarders can build speed in a particular direction to complete some sort of trick. If the walls were straight, they would crash into the wall and not go anywhere. Do you get where I’m going with this?”

  Megan didn’t but Bryan and Chase did.

  “Based on what you’re thinking, when the water hits the straight wall, it will crash into it but if we curve it…” Chase started.

  “We can redirect the water,” Bryan finished suddenly excited as he clapped Garrett on the back. “He’s right, Megan. This isn’t like some sort of pinball game where we want the water to bounce off; we want it to keep moving but away from the lodge.”

  Megan laughed and hugged Garrett. “You are so right.” Stepping back, she looked at the proposed wall. Grabbing a large stick, she drew a curve on the ground on one side. “In that case, we want to build in the curve here and then have it go straight here to redirect the water that way. Does that seem right to everyone?”

  There was some discussion and they came up with a modified plan that everyone agreed on.

  “All right then. Let’s get to work. Wyatt, grab that bucket and fill it with the mud mixture.”

  “Yes, ma'am,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes at him.

  When he filled the bucket, he gave her a quick kiss goodbye.

  “Be careful up there,” she told him.

  “I will. We will have our ropes tied nice and tight in case we slip. You keep these guys all in line. I don't think it will take us too long. We'll be back to help this afternoon.”

  Megan watched the three men stride up the hill and disappear into the trees carrying supplies.

  She hoped the patch would work, but deep down, she knew it was like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. It was a temporary fix that might buy them the extra time to get the dike built.

  “What will we use all those bricks for?” Brenda asked while forming a brick. Evan was waiting patiently to carry it to where the wall would go.

  “I want to use those at the end of the dike, as well as the top layer to add an extra foot of height. We’ll need to mix up some of that chinking material we used on the cabin to hold them tight. I don't think the bricks will be strong enough to stand up against a heavy force of water, but they should work on the bend at the end,” Megan explained.

  “Do you really think this will work?” Brenda continued to work as she talked. Of all the people in the group, she seemed to understand the urgency.

  “We won’t have time to build a dike high enough to hold back the water. The goal is to detour the potential flood away from the lodge. We’ll still have a huge mess to clean up but hopefully the worst of the damage will be away from the buildings and root cellar,” Megan replied. Or so she hoped.

  “You guys got this for a few?” she asked Evan.

  “Yeah,” he replied.

  “I'll grab another tarp so the kids can mix while we are forming bricks. We have to pick up the pace,” Megan said, before turning and speed walking back towards the lodge to retrieve a tattered looking tarp from the tool shed.

  When she came out, she saw Willow and Rosie in the makeshift greenhouse. They had removed the plastic before winter to keep the snow from tearing it.

  “Hey,” she said by way of greeting. “What are you two up to?”

  Rosie held up a roll of duct tape. “We are going to put the plastic back up.”

  Megan felt guilty they were left at the
lodge to take care of the many little chores that should be split up between the members of the group.

  “I can have Wyatt come down and help once he is finished with the patch job,” she offered.

  “No. We can manage. He has more important things to do.”

  “Okay, well, I'm headed back up there.”

  Megan's legs were burning by the time she reached the work site.

  She had Frankie help her lay the tarp out and got right to work mixing more cob. Brenda and Tara were on one tarp forming bricks, while she worked on the other. Garrett and Evan were kept busy going back and forth to form the bottom layer of the dike.

  Megan started laughing out loud.

  “What?” Garrett said, stopping his stride.

  “You and Evan are not going to be able to move in the morning. We have you running back and forth like a couple of ants,” Megan giggled.

  “Well, those three better hurry up and get that patch on. I don't think we can keep up this pace for long,” Evan huffed out.

  Even though the weather was mild, he was breaking out in a sweat.

  “I hope so, too,” Megan replied. As she made more bricks, she couldn't get Wyatt off her mind. They were trying to pull off an impossible feat. One slip and he would fall into the rushing waters. She assured herself he was tied off and would be fine, but what if the rope didn't hold?

  “Stop it,” she said under her breath. There were plenty of other real problems to worry about without conjuring up more in her mind.

  “You good?” Garrett asked, looking at her with puzzlement.

  “Yep, just talking to myself.”

  He nodded, grabbed the next cob brick and hauled it into place. When Megan's tarp was empty, she called the kids to get busy mixing while she went to inspect the progress on the wall. The first row was almost complete but they still had a long way to go before they were finished. Megan estimated that they would need five rows of brick at a minimum if they had any hope of detouring the water flow away from the lodge. They needed to move faster.

  Evan stood next to her, “Once Wyatt and the guys finish patching the dam and come help us, this will move much faster. We'll be done in no time. Have some faith,” he said, touching her shoulder.