The EMP Lodge Series: Books One to Three

by Grace Hamilton

  With her mind made up and a goal set, Megan felt a sense of relief. She was finally doing something to bring her daughter back. It gave her strength and a burst of energy. She was going to need both to make the hike.

  When she opened the door to go outside, she took in a long, deep breath. The air was slightly chilly and damp. She looked towards the forest. The mist gave the trees a sinister, yet beautiful look.

  “You ready?” she asked Duke who, for the first time, seemed a little apprehensive.

  Megan ruffled the fur on the back of his neck and started forward. The pack on her back was light, but she could already tell it was going to be difficult to maneuver. She thought about her decision and considered waiting. Then she thought about Caitlin and what she was probably going through. Megan resolved to deal with the discomfort if it meant saving her little girl.

  She knew Wyatt would be furious, scared and hurt at the same time but Megan was thinking about the group. Wyatt needed to be there to take care of them. She couldn't have him traipsing into what could be a dangerous situation. If Wyatt were to be hurt or captured, she wasn't sure the group would continue to thrive.

  It would destroy them if they lost Wyatt.

  Megan felt she was expendable. If she didn't make it back, the group would still go on. She wasn't stupid. She knew this was a dangerous mission and even a little foolish, but she couldn't let Wyatt put his life in jeopardy. She was the one who strayed too far and didn’t pay attention to the weather. She was the one who had lost Caitlin. This was her mess and she needed to clean it up.

  15

  Wyatt slammed his fist against the outside of the cabin in fury. When he returned to the lodge, he’d been told that Megan had left. He couldn't believe she actually thought she could make it to the other side of the mountain with her ankle in such bad shape. The woman drove him absolutely mad with her constant need to prove herself.

  Checking the nightstand drawer, he was relieved to see that the gun was missing along with some ammunition. At least she had the sense to realize the danger she was putting herself in.

  “Stupid!” he shouted to no one in particular.

  He should have known she would do this. She had made it quite clear she wasn't okay with waiting another week. He had thought she was coping. His mom had told him Megan had been staying very busy, putting together supplies and helping around the house.

  When Wyatt got home at night, she was perfectly normal. They talked, they laughed a little, and she seemed to be looking forward to the day when Wyatt and the other men would make the trip to Evan's camp.

  It was all a ploy. That’s what infuriated him the most. She should have trusted him. She could have talked to him and he could have forced the issue a bit more with Jack and Chase. The fact that she didn't think she could tell him what she was really thinking stung.

  They each had their own issues, but she had to learn to trust him. He would never do her wrong and would never do anything that would jeopardize Caitlin. After all this time, why was she so insistent that her way was best?

  The more he thought about it, the madder he got.

  “Dammit!”

  Rosie appeared at the door, “Sorry, dear. I didn't even hear her leave. I just assumed she was sleeping in. When I couldn't find Duke, I had a feeling something was up.”

  Wyatt shook his head, “It’s not your fault mom. I think we all know by now the woman is the most stubborn, hard-headed person on this planet!”

  His mom smiled, “And that is one of the main reasons why you love her. It’s why we all love her. She doesn't give up. She’s tenacious. She would walk through fire for any one of us, which is why I think she decided to do this on her own.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Rosie sat on the bed, patting the space next to her. He sat down.

  “I’m sure she thinks that we weren’t acting fast enough. I know if one of you boys had been missing for more than a week, I’d be going out of my mind with worry and you’re both adults.”

  “She understands we’re doing the best we can,” Wyatt interjected. “How could she not?”

  “If you were in her place, stuck in bed and forced to convalesce, would you be cooperative?” Rosie questioned.

  “Of course not, but I’m a—”

  “Don’t you dare say, “man”, son. It’s been a long time but I would be more than happy to take you over my knee and show you exactly how strong a woman can be when her children are in danger,” Rosie vowed.

  Wyatt rolled his eyes, “You are probably right, but it still ticks me off.”

  She laughed, “Maybe it wasn't the best decision to make, but it is her way. We all know that by now.”

  “I'm not going to let her do this alone.”

  “I think she probably knows that, too. She knows you will come save her.”

  Wyatt stood, “If I leave right now, I could catch her before she gets there.”

  “Dear, you could leave first thing in the morning and manage to catch up to her. She isn't exactly swift on her feet these days. Maybe that was her plan all along,” Rosie winked.

  That idea made sense. Megan wanted to go, but knew he would never let her. Now, she had sped up the timeline and got to go along. He smiled. Megan was full of surprises. He was secretly a little proud that she had managed to get out of the house without anyone noticing. He loved that she was so dedicated to saving her daughter.

  “I'm coming, Megan, and you are so gonna be in trouble!”

  Megan sensed the animals, even though she couldn't see them.

  Duke had been very uneasy for a while too. The closer it got to sundown, the more worried she got. They had heard wolves in the area these past few months, but had never been too concerned with them coming around the lodge.

  Now that she was out in the woods alone, she could easily be prey. Or worse, bears! They were preparing to hibernate and were busy fattening themselves up. What would happen if one came upon them while they were sleeping? There was no way they could defend themselves against more than one predator.

  There weren’t that many people living on the mountain and without some sort of refrigeration, they were careful only to hunt what they needed. So long as the animal population continued to grow, Megan was confident they would have a consistent food source as long as they didn't hunt in the same area every time or kill too many does.

  They had to make sure the deer could repopulate. Killing all the does would not only devastate the population, it would leave the fawns to fend for themselves and they would die too. It was the circle of life and if that delicate balance were upset, they would all starve.

  Realizing she was dead on her feet, she looked down at the dog. “You ready to call it a day, Duke?”

  The dog had his nose in the air.

  She was convinced they were more than halfway to the area she believed Evan's camp to be.

  “Okay, buddy. Let's make camp here. I need to get off my foot.”

  She found a place that provided some natural shelter under the trees. It didn't take long to find some small twigs and branches for a fire. She made sure to collect wood that wasn't directly on the ground. With all the rain, it would be soaked and difficult to burn.

  There were plenty of branches that were propped up against other trees and she hoped this meant the wood would be fairly dry between the wind and the sun drying it out.

  Once Megan got her fire going, she built a small nest to sleep on using pine needles and one of the Mylar blankets as a sheet to protect herself against the prickly makeshift bedding, which kept her off the ground. She added a few sticks to the fire before stretching out and pulling the second blanket over the top of her.

  It was cold. Duke seemed to know what to do and laid behind her with his back pressed into hers. The warmth of the dog's body helped take away the chill almost instantly. It was times like this she remembered how appreciative she was for her warm bed under a roof at night.

  Megan started to doze when she felt Duke
tense. Reaching her hand around to pet the dog, she felt tremors rolling through him. Sitting up cautiously, she tried to peer out into the dark but couldn’t see anything.

  Duke’s ears snapped up to attention and his hackles went up right before she heard it.

  Twigs snapped from somewhere on her far right.

  Reaching for her gun, she held it at the ready while she added some small twigs and branches to the fire being careful not to look directly into it.

  She didn’t hear anything else.

  “It’s okay, Duke, maybe it was just the wind,” she told him quietly.

  Duke growled quietly, which made her hands shake as she looked down at the tense dog who stared off into the night.

  Just then, she heard what sounded like chuffing followed by scratching but it was still at a distance.

  She knew that sound.

  Bear!

  Megan quickly extinguished the fire and backed up until her back hit the tree dragging the dog with her.

  Not good. Not good. Not good!

  Holding on to Duke’s collar, she stared into the dark praying she wouldn’t have to use her gun.

  She spent the rest of the night shivering and on high alert; tensing up every time she heard a noise or Duke shifted but thankfully, no predators entered their camp. Megan decided to get up and moving when it became obvious, she wasn't going to get any sleep. The sun was peeking through the trees, which gave her just enough light to see. She poured some water into the collapsible bowl she carried in her pack and Duke quickly lapped it up. She ate a piece of the jerky before giving some to Duke.

  Cleaning up her camp, she made sure to leave nothing behind and together, they headed out. When they walked past where they’d heard the noises last night, Duke stopped to sniff at one of the trees. Megan’s hand shook as she reached out a plucked a small tuft of hair from the heavily scratched tree trunk.

  It had been a bear!

  Grateful the bear never came any closer; Megan vowed that she would never again go out alone like this. It was just plain stupid; especially with her injury.

  Suddenly, Duke barked and bolted ahead of her wagging his tail as he sniffed at the bushes and then raising his leg. Megan took that to mean the predator was long gone as the dog happily marked his own territory while they walked.

  Megan did her best to keep up with the energetic dog but after yesterday's walking, her ankle was extremely sore.

  About midday, they stopped near a stream and Duke drank his fill while Megan munched on more jerky before giving the rest to the hungry dog.

  It was late afternoon when Megan came to a barbed wire fence that had been haphazardly strung around some trees. This had to be Evan's camp!

  “We found it, Duke! We found it.”

  Duke's tail began to wag and he looked ready to take off towards the camp.

  “We need to do some checking first. Shh,” she told the dog before putting her pack down.

  She carefully walked along the fence line. She could see a cabin in the distance. It was very small and there were tents positioned all over the area beyond the fence.

  Megan shook her head, “Those are not going to hold up this winter,” she told the dog who was sticking close to her side.

  She saw a woman building a fire outside one of the tents. A few men looked to be building a cabin with some logs. In total, she saw ten people. She had to assume there were more. The property looked to be completely fenced in with barbed wire.

  “This isn't going to stop much,” she said grabbing some of the barbed wire. “It’s spaced too far apart, a person can easily get through with very little damage.”

  Megan made her way back to where she had left her bag. She was debating her next move. Did she go in, playing dumb and needy or did she sneak in and try to go undetected while she looked for Caitlin? She watched the people working. They seemed normal doing things she and her own group of people did on a typical day.

  “What do you think? Should we go for it?”

  Duke appeared uneasy. Megan looked around; trying to see what had him nervous. She didn't see or hear anything.

  “Okay, let's play up the injured leg and poor woman all alone.”

  Duke didn't move. Megan instantly knew something was wrong. Someone was out here! She should have known they would have better security than a stupid line of barbed wire!

  Before she could move, a hand clamped over her mouth. An arm wrapped around her chest and pulled her backwards into the trees. Megan bit down on the hand.

  16

  “Ow, dammit, stop it, Megan!”

  “Wyatt?”

  Megan spun around and saw Rosie and Jack trying to hold back a laugh. Wyatt was standing there with his brow furrowed and looking at his hand where she had just bit him.

  “Why would you do that? You don't sneak up on a person and then do that,” she said frantically waving her hands at his injured hand. “How stupid. And why would you do that?” she asked again.

  Wyatt glared at her, “Because you were about to alert those two men holding very big guns to your presence. I didn't want you ending up being held captive as well.”

  Rosie and Jack pretended to be busy whispering, but Megan knew they could hear the exchange.

  Wyatt continued, “You want to talk stupid? Stupid is a one-legged woman walking twenty miles by herself to go into an enemy camp and demand they give back a little girl they may or may not have kidnapped.”

  Megan jerked back as if she had been slapped.

  He was mad. No, furious. She had known he would be upset, but she didn't count on him being this angry.

  “I am about sick of you thinking you’re Wonder Woman and running off on your own to save the world all the time. I am tired of having to worry about you and wondering what kind of danger you’re in.” Wyatt stepped close to her, grabbed her face between his hands, “STOP running away, dammit! Let us help.”

  Before she could say a word, he kissed her.

  Wyatt stepped away from Megan wondering if he should apologize but then decided he was still too mad. After they’d discovered that Megan had set off on her own, Jack and Rosie had decided to make the trek with Wyatt while the rest of the group stayed at the cabin. They didn't want to appear too threatening and hoped that with Rosie and Megan, it would help soften the approach. So long as Megan didn’t go off half-cocked; otherwise they were all in trouble.

  Fortunately, they made good time and managed to catch up with Megan before she did anything stupid. Well, more stupid than heading off into the forest all alone and already injured.

  Megan actually seemed relieved to see him as she jumped into his arms hugging him tightly. When he set her down, she smiled and waved at Jack and Rosie. Rosie grinned. Jack shook his head at her and waggled his finger. She shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

  “I don't want to get into it all now but believe me, Megan, this isn't over. We are going to have a long talk when we get home.”

  Megan met his eyes. He thought she was going to give some flippant response, but instead she said she was sorry. Her voice cracked as she spoke.

  “Fine. But still not over it,” he said grabbing her hand and gently pulling her back into the trees a bit more.

  “We brought along as much of the stuff to barter with that the three of us could carry,” he explained.

  Megan frowned staring at the straps straining against Wyatt’s shoulders. “I don’t recall seeing the kitchen sink on the list of things to barter.”

  Wyatt knew she was making an attempt at humor but he wasn’t in the mood for it. Leveling her with a stare, he adjusted the pack. “It would have been a much easier load if Chase had come along as we’d originally intended but as it is, we made do with our revised options.”

  He could tell from the way Megan visibly winced that she understood his meaning.

  “Our plan is to go to the front gates there,” Wyatt pointed to an area off to the left.

  “Oh, I was going to go under the fence there and sne
ak into the camp to take a look around. I figured if anyone caught me, I’d play the injured woman card.”

  Megan's declaration earned another glare from Wyatt. “Which is why you should have waited for us or let us do it like we had planned.”

  Wyatt's firm tone came across a little harsher than he had wanted based on the warning look his mom gave him.

  When he had discovered she had set off on her own, he had been scared to death and mad as hell. This morning, they had covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. When they came across what they assumed was her camp and saw the bear markings, his anger had turned to terror. She had put her life in serious jeopardy this time and it scared him to death.

  He didn't want to live without her. The idea of something happening to her made his nerves feel raw. Wyatt was convinced he couldn't possibly go on if she were to be seriously hurt or killed. He loved Megan and Caitlin and those feelings helped him to empathize but he still wasn’t happy with her choices. She had to learn to trust him and lean on him and on the rest of the group.

  “We need to approach like we are friends and not here to tear their camp apart,” Wyatt explained.

  “That works but what if they decide to shoot us?” Megan asked in all seriousness.

  Wyatt rolled his eyes, “I don't think they want to shoot us, Megan. They probably would have already done that if that were their plan. It isn't like they didn't know where to find us.”

  “Fine, let's go.” Megan was anxious to get inside and find Caitlin. She just knew her daughter was in there somewhere.

  The foursome slowly walked to what appeared to be the entrance into the camp. Several men carrying semiautomatic rifles stood in front of the makeshift gate. They raised their rifles when they saw them approach.

  Wyatt held up one of the backpacks, “We would like to make some trades if you are interested.”

  A short, stocky man looked Wyatt up and down before turning his gaze to Megan.

  “You're the ones that killed Kyle.” When he said that, the others shifted the barrels so they pointed directly at them.