26
Wyatt was hoping Brenda and Greg would be able to get the rifles in working order. He could see they were old and it was hard to say how long they had been sitting in that cabin; although judging from the amount of dust, definitely years. Brenda had proven her ability to dismantle, clean and fix firearms more than once. She was probably the closest thing to a firearms expert they had.
“Wyatt. Megan. I'm so glad you are both back in one piece,” Rosie greeted as they walked through the back door.
He stopped abruptly. The kitchen smelled amazing. He looked around and saw a huge spread of food.
“Mom, isn't this a bit…extravagant?”
She smiled, “Sometimes you need a good meal with good company to overcome hard times. We didn't get to enjoy our big barbecue feast. The group needs this,” she said the last part so only he could hear.
Taking a deep breath in, his mouth instantly began to water followed by the rumbling of his stomach at the smell of roasted turkey. While they had been eating turkey off and on for the last month, this was different.
Megan pushed him out of the way, “Oh my goodness, Rosie! When did you do all of this?”
The woman smiled, “We have had those pumpkins sitting out there, waiting to be canned. Willow and I got the idea to make some fresh pumpkin pies. Then Garrett returned with three fresh turkeys and the idea popped in our heads. Thanksgiving!”
Wyatt had forgotten about the holiday. It didn't seem all that important in the grand scheme of things. After the raid, he wasn't sure there was a lot to be thankful for.
“This is amazing, guys. You really outdid yourselves—I cannot wait to have some pumpkin pie,” Megan said eyeing the pies cooling on the counter.
“What do you have there,” Brenda asked walking towards them.
She was eyeing the rifles like a kid in a candy store.
Wyatt smiled, “I got you a little project, Brenda. You think you can check these out and see if they are functional?”
She reached for the rifles, fixated on them.
“Yes. Absolutely. Thank you.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow. The woman was a bit of a strange duck.
He figured he better clarify what he meant.
“I'm hoping they all work. There are a few more back at the cabin we found. If we can get them all functioning, there will be enough for every person here. With seventeen people armed, we stand a pretty good chance of defeating any army.”
Greg took one of the rifles and began inspecting it.
“Winchester model 94 .30/30s and some bolt action .30-06 and .270s. What do you think, Brenda? Can we handle the job?” Greg asked her.
She didn’t seem to hear him, as she turned and walked upstairs carrying the guns pressed against her chest.
Greg laughed, “I'm gonna take that as a yes.” Turning back to Wyatt and Megan, “I'll go put this upstairs and after dinner we will get to work.”
“Did anybody have any luck finding anything?” Wyatt asked the room in general.
Garrett answered, “We found a small dam upriver. Nothing else, though.”
Wyatt nodded. He had no idea there was a dam. It would certainly be a good idea to check it out once things settled down. Once the spring melt started, it wasn't unheard of for a dam to be breached. Things could get dicey.
Albert was sitting at the table, his leg propped up on a chair.
“Hey Al, I wanted to show you something. I need your expert opinion,” Wyatt carefully removed his backpack, being sure not to jar it.
He unzipped it and pulled out one of the sticks of dynamite he had taken from the crate.
“You think this is any good?”
Albert whistled low.
“Boy, what in the world are you doing with that?”
Wyatt smiled, “We found a crate full. Maybe it was used for blasting up here in the mountains. I don't know. You think it’s any good? Like, can we use it to blow some bad guys up?”
Albert nodded, “I'm guessing you can blow up anything, including us if you aren't careful. That stuff is old. Real old. There is no reason it wouldn't e d xplode.”
He carefully handed the red stick back to Wyatt, “You best put that away somewhere real safe. You found a whole crate of it you said?”
Wyatt nodded. He could see Albert formulating a plan.
“And you found the blasting caps?”
Wyatt nodded, pulling out the pieces that would be put on the top of the dynamite and lit.
Albert looked impressed. “Those are fuse caps, which means we can light them and run. I think that would be a great way to get the message across to leave us all alone. You plan to take it to them?”
Wyatt hadn't thought it out.
“I'm not sure yet. We'll have to do some planning. I'm not sure I want to carry sticks of dynamite across the mountain.”
“With this cold weather, it won't be too bad. How was the crate packed?
“Some sort of waxy cardboard,” Wyatt answered.
“Did you see any crystals on the outside of any of the sticks?”
“Nope. Everything looked clean. Just dusty.”
“It's a great find, Wyatt. You too, Megan. You all did good today,” the old man praised as he smiled broadly. “Now that everyone is back, Rosie, are we gonna eat? I'm starving!”
“Oh, relax. You’ve been sitting there for an hour. We told you it wasn't ready yet,” Rosie scolded, bringing plates to the table.
“Willow, will you round everyone up while I get everything set up. We'll just set it up as a buffet. Everyone will have to find a place to sit.”
“Who's on guard?” Wyatt asked. He didn't want to take any risks. The last time they thought they could enjoy some time together with the entire group, it had gone very bad.
“Jack insisted,” Willow grumbled. “His leg is not getting any better, but he said he could sit and watch.”
Wyatt looked around the room to see who else was missing.
“Tara?” he asked.
It was Chase who came in from out back and confirmed his guess.
“With Jack. She needed to do it,” Chase said with authority. “She has been feeling like a victim, understandably so. This will be good for her.”
Wyatt didn't say anything. He wasn't sure an injured Jack and a fragile Tara were the best security choices, but so long as they were safely up in the bird nests with the ability to sound the alarm, he would leave it be for now.
“Let's go wash up, Wyatt,” Megan said, grabbing his hand.
He followed her out the door. He knew she wanted to talk to him in private.
“What's up?”
“Is it safe to have Jack and Tara on watch?”
He grinned. They were on the same page.
“We need to make sure everyone feels valued. We'll let them do their part until after dinner, and then we will switch out the guard.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding in agreement.
The next hour was filled with a lot of laughter and banter. Brenda was joining in the conversation and appeared to be enjoying herself.
Bryan had asked Brenda about her time in the service. She started talking and everyone listened in awe.
Wyatt watched Megan as she made her way around the room, chatting with the lodge members she hadn’t gotten a chance to know yet. She spent some time with little Frankie. He could see she was naturally drawn to the little boy.
Wyatt stood against the wall, eating his pumpkin pie, watching the scene. It reminded him of Thanksgivings past. His mom would always prepare a huge meal and invite people from the neighborhood. His friends and any other strays she could find were always welcome.
This was a lot like those days.
Evan stood beside him, “It's nice, right?”
“What?”
“People talking and getting to know each other. Breaking down some of those walls. Megan seems to be opening up to the idea of us being here,” Evan stated.
Wyatt knew she had been standoffish
in the beginning. It was no secret to them or the newcomers that she wasn’t thrilled to have them at the lodge.
“She was worried. She doesn’t trust easily, especially if there’s any potential risk to her daughter. When she first got here, it took her a long time to warm up to us. Me, even,” he said with such incredulity it made Evan burst out laughing.
“You! You don't say. I would have thought she would have fallen at your feet.”
“You know what I mean. Give it time. She'll end up embracing you all—she's one of the warmest, kindest people I’ve ever met once you get to know her. I think once we take care of this other problem, everything will mellow out. We can get through winter and figure out how we are going to go about building a community.”
Evan slapped him on the shoulder, “We will succeed. All of us have already lived through some pretty rough stuff. We got this.”
The confidence in his voice was nice, but Wyatt wasn't all that convinced they would come out unscathed. He imagined there would be more losses before all of this was over.
He wasn't afraid to die during his two tours in Afghanistan or his time in SWAT; he knew death could come at any time. But now…now he wanted to live. He needed to live to keep his family safe and Megan and Caitlin were very much part of his family.
“You ready for bed?” Wyatt asked Megan.
She was standing against the wall next to him looking drained. Wyatt figured it was the socializing that wore her out more than the physical labor of walking to the hunting cabin. She didn't seem to be a social butterfly.
“I am. I'm beat. Are we heading back to that cabin tomorrow?”
“Yep. We'll take Evan and Chase with us. Bryan and Jack can keep an eye on things here. Albert is going to help Brenda and Greg get those guns cleaned up and in working order.”
“Good. I feel better knowing everyone will have guns and if a retreat has to happen, the people here will know where to go. We need to use the compass tomorrow to give everyone an exact direction so they all know how to get there,” she said.
He nodded, “Good plan. We'll try to track how far it is so they will know if they are close.”
“How?” she asked.
“Ranger beads are really the only option. Hold on,” he said opening the dresser drawer and pulling out a leather strap with a row of beads on it.
“What is that?”
“These are ranger beads, a tool used by the Army to help with land navigation. They’re very easy to use. They just aren't heard of much anymore since GPS was so much easier.”
She held the beads, rubbing them between her thumb and forefinger.
“So, all of the beads are at the top. When we start walking, we count how many steps we take. An average guy takes about sixty steps to travel one hundred meters. For every sixty steps, we pull a bead down. When we have pulled down twenty-seven beads, we have traveled about a mile.”
She looked at the strand. “There are only twenty beads.”
He nodded, “When you pull them all down, you start over, remembering how far you’ve already traveled. You can determine the distance you want each bead to stand for. We can use yards or miles, but it gets tricky remembering to count, especially when we travel through rough terrain. Our steps aren't going to be quite the same compared to traveling on flat ground.”
Megan marveled at the beads, “Well, at least it gives us an idea. We can have the kids make a set of these for every person here.”
Wyatt took the beads and put them on top of the dresser. It had been a long time since he used them. He had held on to them more for nostalgic purposes than anything else, but he was glad he had them now.
“Once they’re made, we will have everyone attach the strap to their pack or on their jacket. That's how we wore them in the field.”
Megan stood, kissed him and smiled, “You are full of surprises. Those are clever. I can't wait to try them tomorrow.”
He laughed, “Don't thank me yet. Counting to sixty over and over gets old fast. You have to stay focused or you will forget what you’re doing. When you are all alone, thirsty or hungry, the beads are great because they give you something to focus on other than your misery.”
“I can see that.”
“I just pray everyone will learn how to use them. Their lives may depend on it.”
27
“Watch your step,” Megan instructed Caitlin. They had decided to take Caitlin and Ryland to the cabin so the kids would know where they would be running to should things go south.
The cabin didn't appear to hold any other bounty, but at least they had a point B to bug out to.
They had spent some time at the cabin, searching the area and looking for any surprises. Megan was worried there may be traps like Brenda had set. She didn't ever want to deal with that mayhem again. It appeared to be completely deserted and uninhabited.
It was exactly what they needed. They collected the remaining items and started the journey back to the lodge. The men were carrying the rifles and the dynamite, while Megan carried a container of the sugar and the kids carried the beans. They figured they would leave some of the food items at the cabin.
Wyatt explained that he planned on dividing some of their food stores once all of this was behind them. He wasn't going to risk their main supply being raided again. He was convinced there would be others like McDaniels, but next time, they would be better prepared.
“Wyatt! Wyatt!” Rosie was shouting, as they approached.
She was waiting outside the lodge as the group came from the west.
He picked up his pace and passed Caitlin and Megan who had been in front.
“What's up, mom? Is everything okay?”
Rosie was wringing her hands.
When the rest of the group caught up, Wyatt looked ashen. Rosie looked extremely distressed.
“What's wrong?” Megan asked, looking around to see if there were any signs of a recent attack, but saw nothing.
“It's Greg,” Wyatt explained.
“What happened?” Evan asked.
“His heart. I guess he has been taking aspirin to head off a heart attack. He was on prescription meds before the EMP, but with no access, he’s been relying on aspirin. It was all taken in the raid.”
Evan looked shocked.
“I had no idea. I just assumed he had a lot of headaches. There isn't any other aspirin around here?” he asked.
“I have looked high and low. We have ibuprofen, but it isn't the same. He needs the aspirin. He was walking out to guard duty today and began to have chest pains. It scared me to death!” Rosie explained.
Wyatt looked grim. That is all they needed. They couldn't afford to have such a solid guy go down. They needed him.
“Does Brenda have any ideas?”
Rosie shook her head, “No. She says aspirin is really the best option under the circumstances. Bark from a willow tree would work, but I haven't seen any around this area. They require a great deal of water to grow. If we had time, we could have someone follow the stream to look for some.”
“We'll find some,” Megan said with intensity. “He will be fine. We can find a willow tree right, Wyatt?”
Wyatt nodded, but she could tell he wasn't convinced.
They all walked back to the lodge. Greg was at the table with a couple of the rifles laid out but he was moving slow. His pallor didn't look good to Megan. He seemed pale. She could see a fine sheen of sweat on his brow and he was breathing hard with very little effort expended.
“How you doing old man?” Evan asked.
Megan could see Evan was fond of the guy. They all were. He was one who had reached out to her early on and made her feel at ease. He was a good guy and she couldn't imagine him dying.
They had come so far. Greg was one of the few people she readily trusted. She just got that good vibe from him and had no reservations.
“Wyatt, can I talk to you for a minute?” she said gesturing towards the bedroom.
She shut the door behind him
.
“We have to go now. We can't wait a week, Greg may die!” she hissed. “If we go roaming through the woods looking for a willow tree, we may be attacked. We just need to go and get the aspirin we know they took.”
“Megan, we aren't ready,” he said in a voice meant to soothe her. “You don't even know if we will find aspirin in the middle of a camp of mercenaries. It seems like a lot to risk to find a few pills, don't you think?”
It incited her. How could he not be worried about Greg?
“You don't get to be ready. We are ready enough! If we wait a week, they may attack us, Greg may die or there may be a snowstorm. Why wait?”
She was surprised when he didn't immediately shoot down her demands.
“Okay. I'll talk to Evan, Bryan and Chase. If they think we are ready, we'll go tomorrow. That's the best we can do.”
Megan nodded, too shocked to say anything. She wasn't naive enough to think she had convinced him with a few words. He wanted to go. She just gave him a good reason.
Wyatt turned and left the room. She couldn't tell if he was mad or going into soldier mode. He did look incredibly determined.
Megan plopped down on the bed and Duke jumped up and sat next to her, waiting for an ear rub.
“Am I being too hasty?” she asked the dog. “Am I actually ready to do this?”
A million thoughts crossed her mind. What if they failed? What if she was injured or killed? What if Wyatt or any of the other men were hurt? Worse, what if they were all killed and the lodge and Caitlin were left vulnerable? They were risking a lot for someone who up until recently was an outsider to the group.
Her heart started to race and she found it difficult to take a breath. She sat on the bed, trying not to let a full-blown panic attack overtake her.
Her vision started to blur.
“Just take a deep breath, relax.”
Jack's voice reached her just as she felt herself spinning into a black hole. She concentrated on his smooth baritone voice, cutting through the blackness. Her mind latched onto the sound as if it were a lifeline.
She crawled her way back out, relying on Jack's steady voice to lead her.
The EMP Lodge Series: Books One to Three Page 54