“Well,” Mary said, “it ain’t the Ritz, but it looks damn good to me and I’m just grateful to have a roof and a bed.”
“Ditto,” Ann replied.
“I guess we should unload the ATVs,” Ed said.
“All we need is food, water, and weapons. The rest we can leave. I doubt anybody is around to steal anything.” Bud thought for a moment, then added, “let’s take the ignition fuses out of the ATVs as well. Just in case. We’ve come too far to lose them at this point.”
“Good idea,” Ed agreed.
As the men unloaded, Mary and Ann managed to find a bar of soap and two large buckets. They filled the pails with water from the well, and Ann said, “we’re going behind the cabin to clean up, so no peeking out the windows. The water is cold, but I don’t even care anymore. I just need to feel clean.”
“I already know what you look like naked,” Ed replied. “Nothing new there.”
“Any peeking and you’ll never see me naked again,” she replied in a mock threatening tone.
“Cross my heart,” Ed said. “No worries. We will get the MREs ready and have a picnic at the table when you are done.”
“No, the first thing you’re going to do, after we get done, is take a bath. You guys smell even worse than we do.”
“Okay,” Ed shrugged. He looked at Bud and said, “I think we smell like rose petals. Don’t you?”
“Absolutely. I have never smelled better than I do right now. It’s kinda manly.” The girls walked around the side of the cabin, ignoring their comments, with the soap and pails of water. They got undressed, splashed water all over themselves, and then lathered up with the soap. They then took turns dousing each other with the water left in the pails, dried off with their dirty clothes, and donned fresh clothing they had stashed on the back porch of the cabin.
“I don’t know about you, but I feel much better,” Mary said with a sigh.
“Me too. God, I was filthy.”
“When I rinsed you, it looked like a mudslide,” Mary said, giggling.
“You looked like a dirt avalanche,” Ann replied.
“All right. Let’s get the boys cleaned up and have some supper. I’m hungry enough to eat even MREs.”
“Me too,” Ann agreed. “Never thought I would say that. I must be starved.” They walked around the cabin as the men carried the bottled water and MREs into the small house. Mary and Ann handed the soap and buckets to them.
“Go right now,” Mary commanded, gesturing to the back of the cabin with her hand. The men complied, leaving the building with the buckets and soap. They stopped at the ATVs, got fresh clothing, and moved to the back of the cabin, where they stripped, bathed, dried off, and started to don fresh clothes. They both saw the girls staring out the back windows at them the whole time, pointing at them and giggling as they shared comments.
“I guess that’s what you call a double standard,” Ed said, laughing.
“Seems so, but who cares. They aren’t seeing anything they haven’t seen before.”
“True.”
“You ready to eat?”
“I suppose we should before it gets dark.”
“I do feel better after that bath,” Ed admitted.
“Me too, but don’t tell the gals.”
“Not in a million years.” They both laughed and started back to the front of the cabin.
“You want to do the honors?” Ed asked.
“Sure,” Bud said. “I got it. Why don’t you get the water and gals and sit at the picnic table while I get the MREs ready? It will take about five minutes.”
“Okay.” They entered the cabin, where Ed said, “come on you peeping Toms. Let’s go sit outside while Bud prepares the MREs.” The gals nodded agreement and the left the cabin.
Bud pulled four MREs out of the box, prepared the heating pouches, and stuffed the entrees in them. He put the heating pouches in the cardboard sleeve and waited four minutes for them to heat. After waiting a few minutes for them to cool down enough to be handled, he placed them on plates he found in the cupboard, grabbed some silverware from the kitchen drawer, and delivered the first two meals to Mary and Ann, who thanked him and eagerly tore into the food like cannibals. He returned with two more plates, took a seat, and began to eat. For the next five minutes, groans of satisfaction filled the air as they ate the beef brisket and rice. Dessert was cookies followed by instant coffee.
“Let’s save the snacks and peanut butter for breakfast,” Bud said. “And let’s not forget to leave two MREs for Cory. He will come looking for them here.”
“How many do we have left?” Mary asked.
“After we leave two for Cory, we will have four left. That is more than enough for tomorrow.”
“So, we have enough for breakfast tomorrow and lunch?” Ann asked.
“That, and the crackers. We’re in good shape,” Ed replied.
“It’s hard to believe this is almost over. We should be at the ranch by noon tomorrow,” Mary said.
“The last two days seem like a year,” Ann added. “I can’t believe we made it without any real problems.”
“We were pretty lucky,” admitted Bud. “I have to say that the run-in we had with those punks on the canal really spooked me. If they had been real bad guys, this could have turned out very differently. And, I felt like we were really in trouble when we couldn’t figure out how to traverse that first bad patch we hit back there. Good thing you guys stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. That was a hell of an idea to have.”
“Any time, my love,” said Mary. She walked around the table and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she hugged him from behind. “And,” she added, “you still look pretty good in your birthday suit for an old dude.” She winked at Ann, who laughed with real mirth for the first time in two days.
“I thought Ed looked like one of those male strippers without the thong,” Ann said between laughs. Mary joined in and everyone started laughing, as much from relief as anything.
“Get over yourselves,” Ed said, and then started laughing again. “It wasn’t anything you hadn’t seen before.”
“Allright,” Bud said. “Let’s get this cleaned up and get ready for bed while it is still light.” They moved into the cabin, and the gals arranged their blankets on the beds. Ed and Bud moved the small dinette table, clearing a space for their sleeping bags. Mary looked in the closet and got two pillows. She handed one to Ann and said, “we even have pillows.”
“We’re in heaven,” Ann replied.
“Are there any more pillows?” Ed asked.
“No, just the two. Sorry.” Mary replied.
“Not sorry enough to give us the pillows?”
“Not really,” she replied, after pretending to think it over for a few seconds. They all grabbed a bottle of water each and went back to the picnic table. The two couples sat, with their arms around each other, smiling contentedly and watching the sun begin to sink toward the horizon. All around them they heard the sound of the wind blowing softly through the surrounding pine trees. Aside from that, it was totally quiet and still. Although they knew the journey was not over, and what lay ahead would be difficult, for this one quiet moment, they felt a sense of contentment and relaxation.
“You know,” Mary said. “I have seen a hundred sunsets up here if I've seen one, and I am sure they were just like this one. But, for some reason, this one is even more beautiful than the others. It's kind of sad it takes something like what we just went through to make you really appreciate how beautiful it is.”
“Yes,” Ed said slowly. “You're right. I guess we really didn't appreciate how good we had it.”
“I know this is gonna sound crazy,” said Mary. “But I honestly feel more alive now than I have in years. I don't know why. In fact if anything, I guess I should feel afraid, and sad about everything that's happened to the world. But for some reason, in this particular moment, there's nowhere I'd rather be, and there's no one I'd rather be with than you guys.”
&n
bsp; Bud squeezed Mary even harder, saying, “that's how I felt the whole time we’ve been married. Are you saying you just got around to feeling the same?” He smiled at his joke and squeezed her even harder.
“You know what I mean.”
“Seriously,” Bud said, “I think I feel the same way. Maybe it's just fear of losing your life that sharpens your senses and makes you feel more alive. I don't really know, but I'm not going to question it right now. We've had a tough couple of days and I intend to enjoy whatever down time we have.”
“Look!” Mary said, pointing toward the sun as it descended until only a faint light blinked over the horizon. “That actually is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“Come on,” Bud said, “let’s go get the camp light set up in the cabin, and see if we can get some sleep. I'm kind of wired up. I guess I'm so excited about this whole trip almost being behind us, and getting to the ranch, I’ll probably have a tough time getting to sleep. I’ve always been like that. Heck, you guys already know that. Every time we go camping I'm always the last one to go to bed.”
“Same is true at home,” Mary said. “He always comes to bed after me.”
“If you want to stay up for a bit, that’s fine with me,” Ed replied. “But, you do need to get some sleep tonight.”
“Don’t worry,” Bud said. “I always get to sleep. It just takes a little longer for me to decompress from the day.”
The four walked to the cabin, where Bud set up the camp light next to his sleeping bag. He removed his holster and set it next to the lamp, then leaned his AR on the chair next to him. Ed did the same by his bag, and the gals both set their pistols on the side tables next to their beds. Bud locked the door, checking it by giving it a few yanks, nodded his satisfaction at the lock, and went back to his sleeping bag. A few minutes later, they were all asleep with the exception of Bud. The others were clearly exhausted and Ed began to snore softly.
“Oh great,” Bud sighed and rolled over. He was asleep in minutes.
CHAPTER NINE
Mary was the first one up and dressed for the day. She made coffee from the MREs, sipped hers, and left the rest in the heating pouches so they would stay warm until the others woke up. Ed was up next, pulling on his pants and shirt, and greeting Mary with a groggy, “did you sleep well?”
“Like a baby.”
“Me too.” He turned and walked out the cabin door, returning in a few minutes. Mary did the same when he got back. They both drained the coffee from the heating pouches and sat outside at the picnic table sipping the warm brew and watching the sun come up.
“I can smell the coffee,” Bud said as he approached. “Did you make some for me?”
“It’s in the kitchen,” Mary replied. “But, I don’t know if there are any more cups.” Bud turned and walked back in the cabin, then returned with a water glass full of coffee. “Ann’s awake,” he said. “But she told me she is never leaving that bed.” He laughed, and the others joined him.
“She is definitely not a morning person,” Ed replied. “It takes about a half pot of coffee to get her moving in the morning.” Ann emerged from the cabin and came over to the table, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, her own glass of coffee in the other hand, and sat down with a contented sigh.
“Sleep well honey?” Ed asked.
“I slept better on that cot than I do at home on the thousand dollar, space-age bed,” she sighed.
“Me too,” Mary agreed.
“I slept well too. Might have been better if somebody gave me a pillow,” said Ed, emitting a short laugh.
“Get over it,” Bud joked. “Hell, even I slept like a baby last night. I don’t think I woke up once.” Bud noted that everyone wore their pistols, and nodded approvingly. They sat in silence for another ten minutes. Bud and Ann got ready to leave while Ed and Mary finished their coffee.
“I suppose we should get ready to go,” Mary said.
“I suppose,” Bud replied.
“It’s so peaceful here. I almost hate the idea of leaving and getting back on the road.”
“We would be getting a little hungry by tomorrow,” Bud said jokingly.
“Well, let’s get moving,” she said, starting to rise from the picnic bench.
“Let’s have a meeting,” said Ed, as he emerged from the cabin. They all sat again at the table.
“Look,” Ed started. “Nobody elected me as leader or whatever you want to call it. But, I got a few things on my mind and I want to put them on the table so we can discuss them.” The others nodded their agreement. “I was thinking about last night, and how relaxed we were. It was a good feeling, but we need to get our game faces back on. We have come too far to screw up now.”
“Okay,” Bud said. “I agree with that.”
“I think we need to discuss a few things before we go.” He went to his pack and came back with the map in his hand, laying it on the table and ironing it smooth with his hands. “First thing is rally points. We need two of them.”
“How far are we from the forest road?” asked Mary.
Bud looked at the map and said, “looks to be about twenty miles. But, the uphill climb is only about five. After that, we are on the old cattle driveway until we get to the forest road. I’m guessing about two hours to the road. ”
“Let’s make the entrance to the cattle driveway the first rally point,” said Mary. She looked at the others, and they nodded their agreement.
“Let’s make the second one here. It’s about half way to the ranch,” Ed proposed, pointing to a campground marked on the map. Again, everyone agreed.
“Okay, last thing,” Ed said. “Let’s make sure we keep our spacing. We got lax about that yesterday. It’s as much my fault as yours. But, let’s clean it up today.” The group grew a bit more somber, but also a lot more focused on the task at hand.
An hour later, after packing and eating some crackers, they departed. Ed locked the cabin and Mary put the dishes and glasses in the cupboards after first washing them. Ed was in the lead, with Bud trailing at a distance. Bud had swapped his AR for Ed’s scoped Panther .308, and it rested between his seat and Mary’s. The climb was again quite steep, but they made it to the first rally point in two hours after ascending a final switchback. They stopped at the entrance to the forest road and shut down the vehicles.
“Water break,” Ann announced, as Bud parked his ATV next to Ed’s.
“Let’s get out and stretch too,” Mary replied. They stood next to the ATVs stretching and sipping the water. They looked up the forest road and saw that it was still well maintained and flat. The road was surrounded on both sides by thick stands of pine and low bushes between the trees. The forest was quite dense, much as they remembered, and little light managed to get between the trees, creating a great number of dark areas in the woods.
“I wonder if Don and Kate will be home when we get there?” Ann said.
“He said when it hit the fan, they were going to do one grocery run, and then hunker down until we arrived,” Bud replied.
“When we get there, let’s approach the gate slowly, and make sure he recognizes us. I don’t want to get shot at the ranch after going through this trip.” Ed was only half-joking.
“Good point,” Bud replied. “He might be a bit trigger happy after all this.”
“Okay, five minutes for the break and I say we get this over with and don’t stop until we get to the ranch,” Ed said. They all agreed and each took a turn, disappearing into the woods, and returning shortly. They again departed, with Ed leading.
An hour went by and the trip was uneventful. They were chewing up the miles much more quickly, and everyone was actually enjoying the scenery and the cool air. Ed rounded a corner and a shot rang out. A slug kicked up a puff of dust in front of his ATV. He jammed on the brakes, shut the vehicle off, grabbed his AR, and dismounted the ATV almost in one motion. “Get on my side,” he yelled at Ann, who was right behind him. They crouched behind the ATV. Two more shots er
upted, puffing dust up again in front of the ATV, and Ed could tell the shots were coming from the opposite side of the road, but he did not dare risking a look over the ATV.
Ed’s walkie talkie came to life. “Ed, can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can,” he replied shakily, after taking it off his belt clip.
“We’re in the tree line on our side of the road. I think I have an idea where the shooter is. He doesn’t seem to know we’re back here, so when I shoot, get up and hose down the tree line at your one o’clock. That’s where I think he is. He has concealment from me, but his only cover is the tree between you and him.” Bud’s voice was calm, given the situation.
“Got it. Just tell me when.”
“I’m firing now.” A louder boom erupted, followed by an AR firing steadily, then more loud booms. Ed and Ann both jumped up and sent bullets into the tree line until their magazines were empty. They quickly ducked down and inserted new ones in their ARs.
“I think he is down,” Bud said. “Let’s wait for five minutes to be sure, and then hit the tree line again.”
“Just say when,” Ed replied. Five minutes passed, and Bud gave the order to fire. Everyone again fired until dry, and waited. After another five minutes Ed asked, “do you think we can risk getting out of here?”
“I think so. I’ve seen no movement at all from the shooter. But, we’ll keep his head down if he pops up again. You can move the ATV up a hundred yards and take cover in the trees. We’ll then move past you, under your covering fire, until we are around the corner.”
“We’re moving now.” They got in the ATV on the driver’s side, with Ann lying in the back seat, and moved the ATV ahead and toward the tree line. Ed turned the vehicle off and they ran in a crouch into the trees, where they each laid behind trees that were ten feet apart. The aimed their ARs across the road to the spot where the shooter had been.
“Okay Bud, we’re in the trees. You can move ahead of us until you’re around the corner, give us cover, and we will move to you.”
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