by Newman, AJ
He cozied up to her, and Kate said, “We need a drone killer.”
“Boy, that was a buzz kill. You’re right. I had the same idea. Who has the Taurus Judge?”
*
Chapter 25
Granny B’s cave.
While Tom’s intrepid band rode east, Jackie and Rick flew the second drone around the area, keeping a check on the two camps of intruders. They agreed to stay off the walkie-talkies unless there was an emergency or imminent attack. Rick was a bit surprised neither group was eager to get moving when the sun came up that morning.
The camp due south of the cave, had six men and no women. They were heavily armed, but in no hurry to venture away from their base. They had the best equipment available and had walkie-talkies. Jackie changed channels until she found the one they were using and cringed when as expected, the leader checked in with the gang in Ashland.
Jackie was shocked when the leader told the man on the other end of the conversation that he’d had patrols out all night and early that morning. “Hey, Rick! These thugs are dishonest!”
Rick listened in on the conversation. He laughed. “The dirty rats are lazy and crooked. This probably explains why they haven’t been too successful finding us or expanding their territory. We need to find a way to exploit this lack of loyalty and dedication among the troops.”
***
They had breakfast before dawn and rode quickly back to the ranch. Tom stopped at the old cabin. Tom and Kate were on a mission to get Jerry started on adapting the drones to handle a gun or drop bombs. Tom knew they didn’t stand a chance fighting Carlos’s superior force head to head. He needed a large edge for any fight to be successful. Tom also knew that killing a few of the gang who strayed too close would eventually help Carlos pin down their location through trial and error. He needed a decapitating strike. The drones might give him that edge he desperately needed.
Tom filled Jerry in on what he wanted Jerry to do to the drones, and Jerry was confident he could perform the work. “Tom, I can do the work with the hand drill, files, and grinder, but I’ll need some help. It doesn’t have to be skilled help, just someone to shape the metal with a file.”
Tom laughed. “Free help is the one thing we have plenty of. Can you do the work up at the old cabin? I want to keep the drones as confidential as possible. I don’t want anyone at the ranch besides you, Rick, Jackie, Kate, Jack, and me to know about the drones. Only Bill and Greta can know at the Community.”
“Boss, that’s not a problem, but can I add my two cents?”
“Of course! What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t know if I’d bring Lucy and Sam in to too much of the confidential stuff. Those redhead sightings kinda spooked me,” Jerry said.
Tom didn’t like what he heard, but kept a poker face. “I agree, but only because the fewer people who know, the less they can tell if interrogated.”
“Could you let Doris and my kids come up to the old cabin for a few days? I could use them to help and free up Jack. I’ll get my part drawings done and hide the drone in the shed. I can sneak back there to check for fit when we get that far.”
Tom replied, “Use your judgment. Kate and I’ll be using the drone first thing after you get your measurements. We’ll do some surveillance while you get started shaping and cutting. Give me notice when you need the drone back.”
Tom unloaded the drone from the packhorse, and Jerry took it and the support equipment to the shed. Tom and Kate wandered on down the hillside to the ranch.
***
“Hey, Doris! Thanks for doing a great job guarding the place. How is everything at the ranch?” Tom asked as Kate, and he rode up to her.
Doris frowned and looked concerned. “Sam went for a walk early this morning and hasn’t returned yet. We’re gearing up to send a search party out to find her skinny ass.”
Tom glanced at his wife, who only smiled. “What did she say before leaving?”
“She didn’t tell anyone besides her daughter. That’s what has everyone pissed at her. That’s a cardinal sin around here. Your rule says to always use the buddy system when leaving the camp.”
Tom clenched his fists. Jerry had just warned him about trusting a woman he’d trusted, and now she’d done something stupid. “When she returns, I’ll have a serious conversation with her.”
Doris asked, “Aren’t you and Jerry going to help look for her?”
Kate whispered in Tom’s ear. “I’ll launch the drone after Jerry gets a sketch and measurements from the drone. I’ll head up there now.”
He kissed his wife. “Be careful with your ribs. I’ll be up that way in an hour or so.”
Tom looked over to Doris. “Kate and Jerry will join the search. I’m checking in with Jack, and then I want to talk with Lucy.”
Jack had just finished gathering his backpack to get the search started. Tom took him off to the side. “Hey, Jack! What gives with Sam? I thought she was too weak to do any walking.”
Jack said, “She’s a dumb red-haired blonde. The idiot got lost when the sun went down and will stroll back after we all get upset looking for her.”
Tom knew Sam played dumb sometimes, but was very smart. “Let’s hope it’s something that simple. Has anything unusual happened while I was gone? Maybe something to do with her?”
Jack scratched his jaw and stared away for a minute. “Lucy mentioned her mom was different a couple of times. I didn’t think much about it at the time.”
Tom walked down the steps into the bunker and barely entered the common room when he ran into Lucy. She ran to Tom. “Tom, I’m glad you’re here. Mom went for a walk and wouldn’t take me along with her. She didn’t return last night, and Jack wouldn’t send out a search party.”
“I’m sorry your mom is missing, but Jack was right. More people would get hurt stumbling around in the dark. Besides, your mom is a trained survivor now, and evaded Carlo’s men for a couple of months. She probably got lost after dark and will return on her own. We’re sending people out now to find her. You need to stay with an adult.”
“But I’m …”
“You’re only thirteen, and will do what I say. Now, did your mom say where she might be going?”
Lucy thought for a minute. “She just said she was going for a walk. I wanted to go, but she said she needed the time alone.”
Tom probed a bit more. “I thought her wounds were keeping her in bed.”
“Me too. She overheard Jack and some others talking about whether her band of vigilantes should be allowed to join us, and it upset her,” Lucy said.
Tom asked, “Did she say anything odd before she left?”
Lucy glanced away from Tom. “Uh … I don’t remember anything odd.”
Later, Tom caught Kate in their room. “Don’t take this wrong or think I’m a pervert, but Lucy is supposed to be thirteen. She acts thirteen but her figure says she’s about twenty. Am I missing something?”
Kate said, “Crap! I’m jealous of Sam and now you bring up her teenaged daughter’s body.”
“Stop! You know that I mean there’s something fishy there. I only lust for your body.”
“Seriously Tom, Granny B mentioned the same thing the other day.”
“Hmmmmm.”
***
Tom and Kate left the ranch, and Tom told Jack that he would search the area southwest of the ranch with Jerry and Kate. He made a beeline for the old cabin. Jerry and his son, Jacob, were working in the shed. “Jerry, Kate needs the drone to search for Sam. She disappeared last night.”
“Sure, take it. I’m done with the bomb cradle measurements. I’ll work on that for now.”
He took the drone to Kate, who was sitting in an old Adirondack chair. She took the remote and performed a preflight check. All was okay, so she launched the drone.
A while later, she was looking into the remote control for the drone. Tom asked, “See anything yet?”
“I just checked on the closest group of campers we spotted last ni
ght. They don’t appear to be with the gang. There are women and kids in the group. The women and kids must have been hidden because I didn’t see them on the visual or IR last night,” Kate said.
“How far is that group from the ranch and the Community?”
Kate wrinkled her nose and scratched some figures on a map. “Oh, they’re about five miles from the ranch and three miles from the Community.”
Tom said, “Look for Sam in the direction where that group is located, to keep her from stumbling into them.”
Kate hesitated. “Tom, I hate to say it, but this smells fishy to me. Could Sam have gone to meet with the group?”
“Where is the drone now?”
“Over the group. I’ve done a body count and took pictures of everyone at the camp.”
Tom was amazed, but didn’t have time to ask how she’d made pictures. “Please move the drone over the ranch as fast as possible and then make for the group’s camp while searching for Sam. I think you might be right.”
A few minutes later, the drone was over the ranch and heading back toward where the group was camped. Kate said, “I’m turning the IR camera on so we don’t miss any people.”
They saw several deer, a couple of dogs, and something that looked like a cougar. Tom choked when he saw the last animal. “That was a big cat. Wait! Can you back up? I thought I saw something north of the cat.”
“I saw it too, and I turned the drone around. Look, it’s a person only about a half-mile from the ranch. Tom, that’s a straight line back to the other group’s camp.”
Tom watched for a few minutes when suddenly, the person veered north toward the old cabin. Kate saw the change in direction. “The person is now heading toward the old cabin. I’ll change to visible … Damn, the woman has red hair.”
Tom was disappointed. He’d trusted Sam and had almost fallen in love with her. “What the hell could she be up to?”
“Look, there are a couple of people heading her way,” Kate said.
Tom didn’t believe his own eyes. “Look, the bitch fell down in the grass where they can find her. She intentionally changed direction so we wouldn’t know she came from the camp. What kind of game is she playing?”
Kate held back on saying, ‘I told you so’. “It doesn’t look good, but let’s assume she had good intentions until we find otherwise.”
Tom’s face contorted into a weird grin. “I probably deserve your wrath concerning Sam. She was a trusted friend. However, everything she told us about herself turned out to be a lie when I look back. It took a while before she told the truth.”
Kate looked down at her feet. She said, “But was the truth she told you, just another lie to fit her agenda?”
“Oh! Crap!”
Tom watched Lucy and June stumble onto Sam lying in the grass. Sam acted as though she was dazed, but soon got to her feet. They kept the drone overhead until they were back to the ranch. Tom’s face turned red, and he slumped down on the cabin’s back porch. Kate watched the disappointment wash over Tom’s face. “Darling, all we know is that she’s hiding those people from us. I hope we find her motives to be good, but I’ll admit this doesn’t look good right now.”
Tom wrapped his arms around his wife. “Never think for one minute that I have thoughts about what life would have been with Sam. I found my true love.”
Kate changed the batteries and keyed the control board to fly the drone back to the group’s camp, and kept surveilling them until the time for a battery change. Tom took turns watching the screen for any unusual activity, but didn’t see anything odd or suspicious. They did see hunters coming back to camp with game, and a woman tending to two wounded people.
The group was armed with hunting rifles, semi-auto pistols, and a few revolvers. They had set numerous traps for the game around the area and had two hunters armed with compound bows. They brought a deer and two geese back to the camp while Tom watched.
Kate came back outside just as Jerry walked out of the shed. Jerry griped, “I need the drone for a few minutes to do a trial fitting. You’ve had it above those people for over four hours.”
Tom moaned. “And my eyes are just about glazed over. We haven’t seen anything but normal survivors trying to live in the woods.”
Kate looked at Jerry. “Let’s fill him in before we go down to the ranch to greet poor Sam and swoon over her exploits.”
Jerry grinned. “I guess my smile says all I have to say about Sam.”
Tom said, “We’re giving her the benefit of the doubt. We’re also giving her enough rope to hang herself. I think young Lucy knows a lot more about what her mother is up to than she’s told us.”
*
Chapter 26
The ranch
Tom and Kate saw Jack and June tending to the horses in the corral as they rode up to the ranch. They waved and joined their friends. Tom, cut to the chase. “I have some serious concerns about Sam’s excursion. Where did she say she’d been?”
Jack frowned, “She said that she tried to walk north to the swimming hole, but must have missed it and went too far north. She found herself lost and slept under a pile of leaves to stay warm.”
Kate asked, “Was her story believable?”
Jack thought for a minute, but June said, “No! Anyone with half a brain knows north is uphill, and south is downhill around the ranch. She avoided looking us in the eyes while telling her BS story. That girl is up to something.”
“Keep this to yourselves. Only Jerry knows what I’m about to tell you. When I heard about Sam being missing, we sent the drone up. We saw her coming from a camp full of strangers. Just before getting to the ranch, she walked north so it would throw us off where she’d come from.”
“That’s not good.”
Kate took Lucy to the barn to have her show Lucy’s rabbit breeding program. The two dozen rabbits now numbered in the hundreds, but the tame rabbits were far behind the wild hares but catching up. It was apparent the cages were taking up too much space in the barn, and then Kate slapped her forehead.
“Lucy, we have too many rabbits for the barn. We need to move the breeding program to other places. Anyone who found the barn would know someone is living here. I can’t imagine how that escaped our operational security meetings.”
Lucy asked, “Where would we move them to?”
Kate played dumb. “We’re thinking about starting a new location so we can add some of your mom’s vigilante group. They could also raise rabbits for food.”
“That’s a great idea, and sorry, I never thought about hiding the rabbits.”
“Could you help your mom start-up a rabbit breeding program when we choose a place for them to settle?”
Lucy was so proud of being asked to help that she let something slip. “Mom has already chosen a place for them to settle. They moved there the other day. It’s not far from here. They’ll be moving to the new place … err.”
Kate showed her open hands. “Go on. I’m interested in the location of their new place.”
Lucy’s face was beet red, and she stuttered, “I, uh, err … better, uh … let Mom tell you.”
Kate thanked Lucy and left the barn to join Tom in Sam’s room.
***
Tom knocked on the door to Sam’s room and heard a muffled, “Come in, the door’s unlocked.”
Tom saw Sam lying in bed looking worn out. Sam smiled. “Tom, it’s good to see you.”
Tom didn’t want to waste time, so he confronted her. “Sam, what in hell made you think you could leave the ranch by yourself? You know the rules about telling the person in charge about leaving your assigned location and our buddy system for traveling.”
Tom could see the fire in her eyes. The color rose from her neck to the top of her face. Tom almost laughed because he thought she might burst into flames. “I’ve been on my own for a month and don’t need a babysitter! I …!”
Tom’s face more than matched Sam's crimson color, his teeth were clenched, and his fists closed. “I’m trying
to be patient with you. You know the rules, and I expect you to obey them for your safety and the ranch’s security.”
Sam’s eyes watered. “I’m sorry. I was just tired of being cooped up and walked over to my friend’s camp to see how they’re doing.”
Tom’s head jerked upward, and his eyes flared. “You said they were staying just a short way east of Ashland. That would be an eight to ten-mile hike one way.”
Sam knew she’d trapped herself into telling the truth. “Don’t be mad at me. I gave them directions to a spot about five miles southwest of here before I left them, just in case I didn’t come back from my last operation. I knew you’d find them, and I hoped you’d take them into our group.”
Tom knew she’d lied, but didn’t know if she was still lying or not. He frowned and took her hand. “Sit up and act like a woman who can walk ten miles in a day and a half. I need some time to discuss this with the others. Until then, you will be confined to your room. I almost understand what you did before you came home, but I can’t guess why you didn’t trust us.”
Kate walked into the room and started to speak. Tom cut her short. “Babe, I’ll fill you in on what Sam just told me. She’s confined to her quarters until we meet with the others to discuss her situation.”
He took her hand and pulled Kate from the room. As soon as he shut the door, he whispered, “Don’t talk. She told me what she was doing.”
Kate scowled at her husband and wanted to rip into Sam, but backed down. “Sorry, but I learned that she moved her group to that camp in the past couple of days.”