“He’s not very good,” Brittany observed.
Ray put away the binoculars. “Time to get back.”
“We’re not going down?”
Ray shook his head. “They’re not a threat. We’ll find another way to introduce ourselves.”
* * *
Plan B. Karla and Caitlin skied in the moonlight, reaching the pond at daybreak. Karla set up a camp stove and heated vegetable soup fifty yards north of the lean-to. Their position was not visible from inside the shelter, but couldn’t be missed by anyone emerging.
Light spread to the east shore and Karla saw that the brush wasn’t a shelter, but served to hide the tents beneath. There appeared to be two, and they were possibly connected. The boy stepped out of the single entrance, spotted them, and quickly retreated. Seconds later, the woman appeared, an arrow held taut in the string of her bow.
“Hello.” Karla waved. Her rifle lay at her side.
“What do you want?” The woman shifted beside a tree. The boy stood near the doorway cradling a hunting rifle.
“Just to say hi.” Caitlin stood slowly, unarmed. “Would you like some soup?”
“I’ve got this place. Find your own.”
Karla stirred the soup. “Ma’am, we have shelter. We stopped by for a friendly visit. If we meant harm, we wouldn’t be cooking.”
“You’re from high meadow. Where’s your man?”
“Babysitting. Maybe planning dinner if we’re lucky.”
“He didn’t come with you?”
“Wasn’t interested in tea and cookies. Besides, he already has all the women he can handle.”
The woman took a step, then another. She let the bow hang loose. Caitlin moved to meet her. The boy and Karla hung back. Caitlin and the woman exchanged a few words, then Caitlin motioned Karla to join them.
* * *
The woman was Dana. Her sixteen-year-old son, Kyle. The four sat in front of the shelter as Caitlin spooned soup into plastic bowls. “We’re from Iowa. How ’bout you?”
“Truckee. California.” Dana was bundled in a grey down coat and blue insulated pants. Long brown hair leaked from a ski hat. Her eyes hid behind sunglasses.
Caitlin and Karla sampled the soup, then offered cornbread. Kyle dug in.
“What was it like, there?” Karla asked.
“How do you have food?” Dana responded.
“When there’s no corn in Iowa, it’s lights out.”
“Still?”
“If you know where to look.”
“Ours was trucked in. We had a resort. Even after the bombs, we still did okay for awhile. Then there were too many people, and the law couldn’t control them.”
“How long have you been here?” Caitlin asked.
“In the mountains, probably as long as you.”
“You keep a low profile.”
Dana fingered the bow. “We try not to announce our presence. We move if we’re spotted.”
“How many do you think are up here?”
“We’ve seen two groups, besides yours.”
“Any hostiles?” Karla asked.
“I don’t think the groups are. There have been a couple others.”
Caitlin nodded. “We met some folks like that last year.”
“Have you been down?”
Karla answered. “The valley to the east is dangerous. If you see a plane, I’d suggest you relocate in a hurry.”
“Beyond here, is there any hope?”
“I’ve not seen anything positive in a long time. If there’s a semblance of civilization somewhere, I don’t know where it is.”
“Do you know what happened? To all the people?”
Karla shook her head. “Some are holed up. Murder, starvation, and disease got the rest. I heard flu in particular, but it doesn’t seem possible.”
“I thought the same thing. People died who had no contact with the outside.”
Karla gave that some thought. “Insects, birds, even wind and water. No telling what’s been let loose and what carries it.”
“So you think it’s from a lab?”
“Might be. The only thing I know for sure is that it hasn’t found us, so far.”
Kyle picked up the bow and quiver and crossed to the makeshift range without ever speaking. Karla kept a careful eye as he began his practice.
Dana watched, too. “He doesn’t seem to have the knack, but he has to learn. How do you prepare your daughters for this world?”
“Brittany’s on the pill at twelve,” Caitlin said. “She’s been bringing home food for a year.”
“Jessie’s ten. She’s learning.”
The women finished the meal, and Karla packed the dishes. “Do you have meat?”
“We’re fine,” Dana answered.
“I’m guessing you won’t be here if we brought some over.”
Dana smiled.
“If you wanted to set up a tent near us, there’d be food, clothes, a chance to get warm.”
“Thanks, but we like the nomadic life.”
“There’s safety in numbers.”
Dana shrugged. “More, I think, if no one can find you.”
“See ya, then.”
They all stood. “Do you have bullets for that gun?” Karla asked.
“After yours stop working, I’ll still have the bow.”
“Hope it’s enough.”
* * *
Karla and Caitlin returned a week later. The camp had been dismantled. Dozens of tracks headed into the surrounding forest. They followed two trails, both of which eventually joined a path back to the pond. Karla smiled: Well done, Dana.
Chapter 75
Summer
“I’ve been thinking.” Karla paused. Ray sat on the loveseat, her only real furniture. Across the room, Jessie and Brittany lay on a throw rug, wearing headphones as they watched Hunger Games for the thousandth time. Caitlin returned from the bathroom and slipped in next to Ray.
“Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense,” Karla said.
Ray laughed. “That’s best applied when the flip side isn’t annihilation.”
“I should have taken care of those men when I had the chance.”
“I don’t think you were in any condition to do that.”
“I’ve lain awake replaying the whole day. I could have made myself easy to find and rid the world of a few more of them. Two or three survivors couldn’t terrorize anyone for long.”
“You said you’d never go back.”
“I’ve said a lot of things. I was thinking this time to check the airports. We need some idea what’s going on down there.”
“And the farm?” Ray asked.
“That, too.”
“You planning another solo?”
“I thought we all could go.”
“Nooo,” Caitlin shook her head. “We’ll fight if they come here, but I’m not taking Brittany into that.”
“I understand your reluctance. This is totally voluntary. How ’bout you, Ray?”
“You’re taking Jessie?”
“I need someone to cover my back. What I did last time was stupid.”
“Leave Jessie here and I’ll go,” Ray said.
“That violates the rules,” Caitlin replied.
“Those were my rules,” Karla said. “And I can change them.”
“I don’t get it. When Ray wanted you along, you refused. Now you think he should help you?”
“She had a good reason,” Ray said. “It still is. It should be my turn to go.”
“We’ve got things good, here,” Caitlin said. “Why is everyone so anxious to die?”
“I’m going day after tomorrow,” Karla answered. “I’ll see if anyone’s there.”
* * *
Karla woke and checked her camera feeds. No activity. She fast forwarded through the overnight recordings and froze it at 11:02. Her camera, set in the garden and pointed straight up showe
d an airplane. She backed up and played the video at normal speed. It passed overhead twice.
Ray knocked on her door. Karla let him in and showed him the replay.
“Think they saw us?” she asked.
“It wouldn’t be easy, but it’s the second pass I don’t like. We better figure something nearby caught their attention. A delay on the other venture would be a good idea.”
“How long till they come and have a look?”
Ray shrugged. “Tomorrow, next day. Depends on how many they think are here and what else they have lined up.”
Karla stood. “I’m pulling in the garden camera. Anyone does show up, I don’t want them following leads to the others.”
Karla stowed the equipment in the house. She started the pumps, filling the cisterns, then helped Ray trim the deer hanging in the meat house and pack full her mini refrigerator.
“Caitlin and Brittany will be down in a second,” Ray said. “They’ll clean out the garden while we batten the hatches.”
“Jessie and Brittany can double up. Haul in a mattress, and we’ll curtain off a piece of the main room. Not much privacy, but we’re better off together.”
Ray nodded and started for the door. Karla scanned the video monitor. On camera two, Caitlin reached the bottom of the trail. She made a partial turn then pitched backward into the rocks, a red bloom forming on her chest.
“Ray!”
He turned. Karla zoomed to camera five and stared in horror at Jessie, her expression serious as she dropped half runner beans into a white plastic bucket. She stood, tilting left from the load, then lurched forward and flopped to the ground like a discarded rag doll.
Karla screamed.
Ray, beside her now, picked up the walkie-talkie. “Brittany, lock the door and do not come out.”
Karla moved for the door clutching the M24. Ray blocked her.
“You can’t help her.”
“I can shoot the people who did it.”
“No you can’t. They’re across the meadow in cover. Caitlin didn’t see them. You won’t either.”
“Then get out of my way and find them.”
“You’re not going to do anything stupid?”
“I’ve got a rifle pit on the roof of the generator room.”
“You left that out of the tour.”
“Some things I keep to myself.”
“Let me check the cameras, make sure no one’s standing outside.”
“Be easier to kill them if they are.”
Ray picked up the laptop and dropped into a camp stool. “Holy shit.”
“What?”
“There’s an armored truck coming down the ridge.”
“A truck can’t hurt us.”
“There’s a machine gun on the back. No one manning it. I don’t . . .”
“Because it’s pretty useless against reinforced concrete.”
“No. They sent it out to harvest the bodies.”
“Hell they are!”
“That thing is armored. They’re hoping we’ll step out to stop them.”
“Then they’re in luck. I’m not letting them take Jessie for lunch.”
“You can’t stop it with a rifle.”
Karla ran to her bedroom and returned with boxed ammunition. “How about with these?”
Ray whistled. “Lapua Magnum API. Where’d you get them?”
“Will they work?”
“If the plate’s not heavy. Looks like the homemade stuff we used in Iraq.”
“Keep an eye on things.” Karla climbed onto the flat concrete roof of the generator room. Above her was a second, pitched roof, holding the solar array. The gun ports were formed into the low wall that separated the two roofs. Three ports faced the meadow, and two were on each side wall. The ports were fitted with recessed concrete plugs that pinned shut when not in use, preventing fire coming from all directions. Small spruce branches hung in a line across the upper roof, suspended out a foot beyond the gun ports. She could see out. At a distance, no one could see the ports.
The unidentifiable pickup came straight at her. It had metal louvers over the windshield, shortened side windows, and more metal tacked to the roof and doors. In the bed behind the four door cab, a heavy gun stuck from a slot in a wraparound metal shield. The vehicle moved slowly. It was left of Jessie and began a turn that would block her from view, and protect the crew while they worked.
“No you don’t,” Karla muttered. Her first two shots pierced the louver in front of the driver. The third did the same on the passenger side. She guessed where back seat occupants would hunker and shot left and right. She changed clips and put two more bullets into the front seat, then three into the engine.
“You’ve got them stopped,” Ray called out.
“I can’t see inside. Don’t know if I hit anyone.”
“They could be playing dead, waiting for you to come out. Most likely the others are trying to find you.”
“Find them first.”
“They’re good,” Ray said.
“But they make mistakes.”
A bullet smacked the wall in front of her, then three more. Karla slipped between ports. “Where are they?”
“Got one,” Ray cried out. “Northeast ridge, right of the path. Behind a fallen log.”
Bullets pounded the wall. They’d found her blind and were clearing the cover. Karla shifted to the far left port, sighted on the path and scanned right. She saw the scope and a head behind it. A bullet came through the middle port and imbedded in the pine inner wall behind her. She held still, the barrel resting on the concrete. She adjusted for the distance and fired. Dirt puffed inches from the man. He flipped to his right. The rifle lay askew on the ridge.
“Do they have more than the truck?”
“They seem military trained. I wouldn’t go on a mission without backup transportation.”
“So there’s one more out there. How many men to a vehicle?”
“If they were the same, probably four. Backup might be bigger. But not too much or it defeats the purpose of backup.”
“Okay. Eight men. Maybe four in the Truck. Maybe one down on the ridge. Where are the other three?”
“One’s on the ridge to your left. One’s near their other vehicle. The other one was on the ridge facing you. Probably moving left.”
“Can you see the left ridge?”
A bullet whined into a port at an angle and ricocheted through.
“Nothing.”
Bullets flew at Karla from two directions.
“Will they call for backup?” Karla asked.
“If the men in the truck are alive, the others will try to get them out. I’d say they need help.”
“Ten more. Twenty?”
“Not numbers, firepower. They need RPGs or light artillery. A mortar team would be handy.”
“These guys aren’t real army. What could they have?”
A burst of automatic fire tore into the walls. Karla curled up in a corner as at least four bullets whizzed through the open ports and splintered the pine board wall.
“A guy made it to the machine gun,” Ray said.
“Thanks for the warning.”
Bullets pounded the front wall. The spruce branches covering the ports shredded, and the snipers on the ridge zeroed in. The machine gunner raked the building, left to right. Karla rolled to a port he’d just swept, fired and fired again. The bullets made only deep dents in his shield. The gun swung her way. Bullets whined through the open port and caromed off the back wall. She waited an interminable second, fired just ahead of square, and ducked.
The machine gun went silent. The man behind it wiped blood from the left side of his face. Karla fired three times at the same spot in the shield. The last one pierced it and sent the man rolling off the back of the truck.
Sporadic fire kept up from the ridge. Karla’s port angles didn’t allow for a clean shot back. She slid down and returned to t
he house.
“We can’t stay here,” Ray said. “Even if we kill who’s out there. They know where we are. There will be more.”
“Three men. Two of us. Best odds I’ve had in a long while,” Karla said.
“Except they’ve got us pinned down.”
“There’s one more thing I didn’t show you.” Karla stepped to her room and upended the bed. She grabbed a wrench from the frame and undid two recessed bolts holding a small square of concrete in place. She screwed in eye bolts then attached them via a chain fall to a hook in the ceiling. She worked the chain and raised the block.”
“A trap door.”
“I couldn’t tell anyone. It’d be a liability if one of us was captured.”
“What else?”
Karla smiled. “I’d rather go while there’s daylight.”
“They may have thermal imaging.”
“You once said I was the coldest damn bitch you’d ever met. Let’s hope that’s true.”
“I said that?”
“Broke my heart. I was one step from taking you to meet Mama.”
“When you’re the last woman left on earth we’ll talk about your mother.”
“Way things are falling, you better take good care of Brittany.”
Ray looked at the tunnel. “Not very big.”
“It was sized for me and Jessie to get out. Not men to get in.”
“Where does it go?”
“A hundred feet southeast. It’s screened. But once the exit’s open, it’s pretty vulnerable.”
“You have a plan?”
“Take them by surprise. Then kill them before they kill me.”
“And my role?”
“You stay here and keep up the fire.”
A violent explosion shook the building. A second blast, much stronger. The stove pipe flew from the wall. Smoke and dust poured from the opening.
“Grenade down the flue!” Ray yelled.
Karla seized a piece of concrete, sitting in the corner. “Give me a hand.”
The wall shook, more smoke filled the room. They slid the eight inch thick plug into the flue hole. Karla pinned it in place with a steel bar through eye bolts.
“That won’t stop a grenade.”
“Trust me. They can’t get down the flue. Whoever’s throwing them is in more danger than we are.”
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