They all waited and watched while Brenda carefully examined the wound on Garrett's chest before she started looking around the area where Evan's hand was covering.
“He was hit twice?” she asked Evan.
Evan looked at her, but his eyes were glazed. “I don't know.”
Brenda made a sound that revealed her frustration over the lack of information.
Suddenly, Evan started saying Garrett's name over and over. It was a frantic keening.
“His heart. I can't feel his pulse anymore,” he squeaked out. “Brenda, you have to do something,” he pleaded.
Brenda quickly put her fingers to the other side of Garrett's neck. She waited several long seconds.
She bent her head. “I'm sorry. He's gone.”
Evan’s shoulders began to shake. “No, fix him. You're a surgeon. Start CPR!”
Brenda gently shook her head and covered Evan’s hand holding Garrett's neck.
“It won't help. He’s lost too much blood and it would only push out whatever blood remains.”
“But, he was alive,” Evan said.
Megan put her arm around Evan's shoulders and gently pulled him into her. He kept his arm extended and pressed into Garrett's neck.
Chase went to the other side of him and carefully removed the hand. When the wound was revealed, there was a collective intake of breath. A large hole in Garrett's neck revealed extensive damage. The wound was mortal. Not even the best surgeon in the best hospital could have saved him.
Brenda focused her attention on Evan. “I need to see where the blood is coming from. Do you feel pain anywhere?”
He blinked several times. Brenda didn't wait for him to answer and pulled up his shirt. She checked one arm and then moved to another.
“You were hit,” she said. “It doesn't look serious. I can take care of this back at the lodge.”
She went back to work checking his head, back and then each leg.
“I don't think this is your blood,” she said gesturing to his blood-soaked clothing.
Evan slowly shook his head back and forth. “No. That man came out of nowhere. He shot Garrett, but I didn't realize he had been shot. He must have had a silencer on the gun. Garrett shouted, I turned and saw the man. I raised my gun and he shot me. Then he shot Garrett again. There was so much blood,” he said, his voice trailing off.
Brenda nodded her head. “He hit a major artery. You did everything right, but his injuries were severe.” Evan looked out towards the trees, before focusing on Brenda again. “He's dead?”
She cocked her head to the side and stared at his eyes.
“Does he have a head injury?” Wyatt asked. “I don't think so. He’s in shock. We need to get him back to the lodge.”
Wyatt stood, looked at Albert who was standing over Garrett's body and asked if the man was okay.
Albert looked stricken. “Yes, I'm fine. He was so young. Just getting started on life. I wish we could kill that guy again.”
“Guys, we need to get moving. With that dam so seriously damaged, it could go at any time,” Wyatt said, turning his back on the carnage behind him.
Megan stood. Evan seemed to be getting better by the minute.
She looked at Garrett lying on the ground behind Wyatt. There was so much blood. Never in her life had she seen that much blood. It made her nauseated.
Wyatt stepped into her line of sight. “Not now,” he said quietly. “We will grieve and process all of this once we finish what we started. There is nothing more we can do for him.”
She fought back the lump in her throat. She wasn't close to Garrett, but she still cared for him. He was a good kid who certainly didn't deserve to die so violently.
“Okay, what do we do now?” Megan asked.
“We move. Chase, you take Megan to the east dam. Albert and I will head to the west. Bryan and Brenda, you two stay here with Evan. One shot into the air if it looks like that dam is going to give way,” Wyatt directed.
“I need to get him back to the lodge ASAP,” Brenda said again.
Wyatt nodded. “I know and you will but I need as much warning as you can give me if you see this thing crack open.”
“Yes, sir,” Brenda replied.
Wyatt looked at Evan. “Can you walk?”
Evan stood. He was pale and his legs looked weak, but he stood.
“I'll be okay. I'll be fine. Sorry, I just, well, it was,” Evan shifted to look over Wyatt’s shoulder where Garrett lay but he blocked his view.
Holding up his hand. “It's okay, man. This is something we will deal with. You did everything right. We need to take care of the dam so we can get back to our loved ones.”
Evan nodded. Megan knew he was thinking of Tara and Amy. Wyatt had purposely mentioned loved ones to give Evan the strength he needed to keep going. They had to finish the job.
They walked out of the trees. Megan felt horrible leaving Garrett there, but his death was not something they could change. They had to keep moving forward to prevent any more deaths.
“Here, take a seat,” Chase said, directing Evan to a large rock. “Brenda will keep guard.”
Megan saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was a pool of blood. She stared at it.
“That's where we were standing when he ambushed us,” Evan said, staring at the blood.
“I need you to stay focused, Evan. Can you do that?” Wyatt asked. He was firm, but not mean.
“I'll be fine,” Evan said, sounding much stronger.
“Good, sit and get ready. When we come back through here, it will be time to move. You need your strength to get down that hillside,” Chase ordered.
Evan nodded his head, clearly not up for arguing.
Megan looked around the small group. They were all shaken up, but Garrett's death had made them more determined than ever. They would not let anyone keep them down. They were fighters. They would survive.
24
Everyone pulled themselves together, ready to carry out the plan.
“When are we detonating our dams?” Chase asked.
Wyatt checked his watch synchronizing it with Chase. “Fifteen hundred hours.” “Got it.”
Megan was holding the C-4, trying not to panic at the thought of holding a deadly explosive in her hand. It was safer than the dynamite, she reminded herself. No matter how much she told herself that, she was still very nervous.
Wyatt gave Megan a quick kiss, promising to see her soon.
“Good luck!” Brenda shouted as they split off and went in opposite directions.
Megan didn't say anything. They were going to need more than good luck. There was a lot riding on them. She prayed everything went according to plan. In the back of her mind, she knew it was almost a given something would go wrong. It was Murphy's Law.
She followed Chase across the damaged dam, wasting no time getting across it. She was more than a little worried it would collapse at any second, leaving her caught up in a torrent of cement, water and mud.
Once she made it across, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now, she prayed it stayed up so she could make it back across, otherwise, her and Chase would be trapped on the wrong side of the flood. She had no idea how they would get across the raging waters to make it to the safety of the lodge. At least she hoped the lodge would be safe. It better be.
They made it to the east dam with very little time to spare. While Chase climbed down the small embankment to plant the C-4, Megan used the small pair of binoculars she was wearing around her neck to scan the area. She was looking for any other bad guys who may have been intending to blow this dam as well. Or maybe there were others in the area looking to take out anyone they saw.
That brought back the image of Garrett lying there, lifeless and covered in his own blood. She would shoot anyone she didn't know. She wasn't taking any chances.
She looked towards the main dam and when she didn't see rushing water flowing down the hillside, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She scanned the
area, looking downstream of the dam they were about to blow.
Megan gasped. “Oh no!”
A little girl was dancing in the stream, laughing and splashing about. She knew her! Megan knew the little girl that was facing certain death.
“What is it?” Chase called out.
“It's Emma! Emma, Linda and Harry are down there!” she shouted.
“What? What do you mean?” he asked scrambling up the embankment.
“Look!” she said, handing him the binoculars and pointing down the hill.
He took the binoculars, focused and then cursed.
“What do we do?” Megan asked frantically.
Chase exhaled a long breath, looked her in the eye and said, “We stick to the plan.”
“What? No! We can't do that! If we blow this dam, it’s going to send a wall of water crashing down. They'll drown!”
He held his ground maintaining eye contact. “Megan, if we don't blow this dam, the lodge and power station will be destroyed. You said so yourself, we have to save the power station.”
“Chase, don't you dare say that!”
He looked at the dam and then at his watch, before pointedly looking at her without saying anything.
Megan grabbed the binoculars and watched as Emma went into a small hut, which was within twenty feet of the small stream.
“Why would they live so close to the water? They have to know that’s dangerous, especially with normal spring runoff.”
“I don't know, Megan. You couldn't have known they would be there when you came up with this very good plan. We can't save everyone,” he told her in a quiet voice.
“I know that,” she snapped. “But, I promised them we would always be here to help them. Now you want me to destroy them to save us? Chase, it feels wrong. I don't think I can do it.”
Megan wished Wyatt were here. He would know what to do. He would tell her it was okay. They would come up with another plan.
She peered through the binoculars, studying the small hut.
“Megan,” Chase said, interrupting her thoughts. “It's 2:58. We have to blow this dam on time to ensure your plan works. If we don't Wyatt and Evan could be hit with the flood and they could drown. You have to get right with this. This has to happen.”
She dropped the binoculars and looked at him. “I hate this. I hate this so much.”
“We need to get out of here,” he told her.
Megan suddenly got an idea.
She started screaming, jumping up and down, and waving her arms. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, hoping to get Emma's attention.
“Run! Run!” she shouted over and over.
When she looked through the binoculars again, Emma was squatting next to the stream, filling up a container with water.
Her heart ached as she realized what was about to happen. Even though she had protested and thought about not blowing the dam, she knew she would do it. She had to. It was the only way to save her family and possibly the future of the area.
“Let's go,” she said quietly. Her shoulders slumped forward.
Chase didn't waste a second and quickly started back towards the south dam.
“Here,” Chase said, handing her the remote detonator. “It's time.”
Megan took the detonator. Emma and Caitlin playing in the lodge flashed through her mind. Tears welled and flowed down her cheeks as she pressed the button. The sound of the explosion was completely muted. She was lost in a sea of regret and pain.
She barely heard another explosion in the distance. Megan knew it wasn't an echo. Wyatt had blown his dam at the exact same moment. They had pulled off the impossible, but at what cost?
“I hope they survive,” she managed to squeak out past the massive lump in her throat.
“I'm sorry, Megan. I know how hard that was. They have a chance. We can only hope they get to higher ground or can hold onto a tree. Harry is resilient. I think he will find a way.”
Megan knew the words were meant to soothe, but it made it that much harder. She had likely killed all three. They had survived being held captive only to be killed by the very people who rescued them.
“Move, Megan. We have to get back to the lodge!”
Megan blinked away the tears and followed Chase who was jogging towards the south dam. They had to get on the other side of the dam before it gave way. If they didn't, they wouldn't be able to get across the rushing waters.
25
“Are you ready?” Wyatt yelled to Albert who was placing the blast cap into the putty substance.
“Yep, let me crawl out of here,” he said scrambling up.
“Let's get out of here!” Wyatt said, extending a hand to Albert to help him the last few feet. The blasts had to be synchronized for the plan to work.
They took off at a jog and picked up the pace as he pushed the button before dropping the detonator to the ground. They had to get away before the dam gave way. There was still a chance the rush of water could overfill the bank too fast. The water would not only flow to the west, but to the south, in the direction of the lodge.
The explosion made his ears ring. They were a little closer than he would have liked, but they were out of time.
They raced towards the south dam. Wyatt prayed Megan and Chase were close. He hated being separated from her, but knew she wouldn't trust anyone else to do this. It was her determination that brought this plan about. It was only right she would play a major role in making it happen.
Before they reached the large dam, a cracking sound filled the air. It sounded like a bunch of trees snapping in two. The sound sent chills down Wyatt's spine. It was a sound he hoped he would never hear or at the very least, not hear it until his family was tucked safely away.
“The dam?” Albert asked yelling in shock.
Wyatt couldn't talk. The south dam wasn't supposed to go yet. It was too soon! Megan couldn't possibly be across yet. He was already riding high on adrenaline, but the sound gave him a fresh boost.
“We gotta move! The dam caved too soon. The water is going to be pushed through the larger opening, straight down to the lodge and power station!” he pushed his body harder than he knew possible.
The two men ran as fast as they could through the thick trees and brush. It was treacherous. Wyatt did his best to stay upright while avoiding getting smacked in the face with limbs as he pushed through the treed area. He imagined what the south dam must look like. There was no way the two smaller dams could have depleted the lake enough to prevent a massive flood from flowing down the hillside directly towards the lodge.
The dike wasn't finished. It couldn't hold up to that much water. All their hard work would be destroyed along with everything they had worked so hard to build.
“We need to get to the lodge!” Albert shouted. “They have to evacuate.”
Wyatt considered trying to save the lodge, but it wasn't possible. They didn't have the tools or manpower to save the area. It was all going to be washed away.
“Let's go! We'll know what we’re dealing with when we get eyes on that dam!” Wyatt shouted.
He hoped the lake was draining with the explosions at the east and west dams, but if they were holding strong like the south dam, things could get ugly fast. Wyatt thought he could hear water rushing, but didn't know if it was his imagination or the real deal.
Wyatt was out of breath by the time they reached the clearing by the dam. He spotted Evan and Brenda. Both were staring down at the dam. The looks on their faces told him everything he needed to know.
“Did it break?” Wyatt shouted. He kept running towards them not waiting to hear the answer.
Evan was still in shock. He nodded his head.
“Evan, we need to get to the lodge. We have to get Tara and Amy to safety,” Wyatt said when they got within a few feet of them. He was hoping the mention of Tara and Amy would snap him out of the daze he had been in since Garrett's tragic death.
Evan looked at Wyatt for several long seconds.
&
nbsp; “Tara and Amy. We have to get to the lodge,” he said with no inflection in his voice.
Wyatt had seen soldiers on the field have similar responses after going into shock. It could last for five minutes or five days. He was hoping for the first. They couldn't afford to have Evan completely shut down.
“Yes, Evan,” Brenda said. She grabbed his hand. “Let's get Amy and Tara to safety. Okay?”
She started pulling him down the hill, slowly at first and then picking up the pace.
“Come on, Evan!” Albert said without the same patience or finesse Wyatt and Brenda had been using. “Snap out of it. You can freak out later. Now is the time to get your butt in gear.”
Wyatt was going to chastise Albert for being insensitive, but his scolding seemed to work. Evan started to move faster. Within seconds, they were racing down the hill again. He could hear the water running parallel to their own path down the mountain. It was picking up speed and the width of the river was widening. It wouldn't be long before the entire south dam gave way and the minor flooding would turn into something far more serious.
26
Albert felt a twinge of guilt at having been so callous with Evan, but he was panicking. He was terrified they weren't going to get back to the lodge in time. Would the ladies know to run? They would have no idea the mountainside was going to come tumbling into their backyard. He had seen mudslides before. They were violent and fast.
A cracking tree from above spurred him forward.
“Move!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.
His knee was killing him and he could hardly draw a breath, but he wasn't going to stop until he reached the lodge.
The other three were ahead of him and he was falling behind with each step. It didn't matter. The faster one of them got there, the more warning the ladies would get. He glanced at the dike on his left as he ran down the hill.
Would it hold? He hadn't closely inspected the wall, but it certainly didn't look all that solid. Megan's idea seemed to have merit, but it was about to be put to the test.
Dark Destruction (EMP Lodge Series Book 4) Page 16