Along with the SAW, the boys were also carrying hand grenades every time they went out now. Then, Lance had worked on two M4s with grenade launchers. Lance was carrying one today. When Jennifer saw the big bullet thing that the grenade launcher shot, she’d just looked from Lance to Ian, thinking they had gone insane.
Hearing a small muffled pop, Jennifer looked at up at the ridge. “Surprised he used the .22 pistol,” she mumbled.
“We’ve killed sixty-seven with bows since we left,” Ian said, glancing up the ridge to see Lance walking back with Dino. “I’m tired of pulling that bow back.”
“Yeah,” Jennifer sighed, remembering her first patrol this week. The boys had wanted to know why in the hell they were getting so many stinkers after the storm. They’d scoured the sweep area and didn’t find a body they had missed that could be pulling the stinkers in. It was during that first patrol that they had found the answer.
Three miles away just outside their perimeter, during the heavy rain storm, a tree had fallen across the main road coming out of Dewitt leading to the cabin. It had fallen where a ridge ran down to the road, forming a finger. The tree didn’t even block the entire road, it just made a turn. When they’d found the spot, after tracking all the footprints back from the cabin, they saw where most stinkers had gone up the finger and then walked along the ridge into their valley. Following the easiest path, one tree, three miles away, had tripled what they usually dealt with doing sweeps.
It was so bad, even the tigers weren’t killing all of the stinkers. The tigers had just moved to the west side of the cabin.
Walking back and cradling his M4 across his chest, “Just one,” Lance said, then climbed in. As he got situated, Lance turned to Jennifer. “How much further?”
Giving a soft groan, Jennifer reached to the dash for the map and compass. Orientating the map and compass, she looked around them and then moved her finger along the map. “Two miles to where you wanted to stop,” she finally said, but didn’t sound positive.
“Very good,” Lance said, not looking at her. “Keep going and follow the ridge.”
Behind Jennifer, Ian leaned forward and patted her shoulder. Putting the map and compass back, Jennifer let the brake go and headed up the slope. When the boys had started this routine, the one that went out with them had to read the map. Lilly was better than she was, but Jennifer felt she was getting better.
What bothered Jennifer was that neither Lance nor Ian ever looked at the map, forcing the one with them to be the guide. This scared Jennifer, but what she didn’t know was that Lance and Ian didn’t need the map when they were in their patrol area. The jaunt today was outside their area, but both had studied the map and route long before today. Both had already been in this area, but weren’t about to tell Jennifer or Lilly.
Reaching the ridge, Jennifer turned south and followed the ridge, with the boys keeping an eye out. “How many stinkers have we killed?” Jennifer asked.
“Almost two thousand,” Ian said behind her and Jennifer nodded impressed. Seeing Dino stop again, Jennifer took her foot off the accelerator. Grabbing his recurve bow, Lance stepped out as Jennifer looked around and saw a young male stinker below them, heading the same way they were.
Clipping his quiver to his waist, Lance pulled an arrow out while rounding the buggy and nocking it. From twenty yards away, Lance let the arrow fly and the stinker never turned before the arrow struck it in the back of the head, making it collapse. “That’s why I like moving slow with the hybrid on batteries,” Lance chuckled, walking over and yanking his arrow out.
When he climbed back in, Jennifer continued on. In the breaks in between the trees they could see the valley below, but it looked weird. Not stopping, Jennifer drove off the ridge to stop under the crest. “This should be close enough,” Jennifer said, setting the break.
“It is,” Lance said, getting out. “We have to move half a mile to the peak of the mountain, so we can see Pineville.”
Checking his gear after he had climbed out, Ian shook his head. “Boss sounded pissed that the ones outside the fort couldn’t draw off the stinkers,” he said.
“Let’s see why he’s pissed,” Lance said, holding his bow and letting his M4 hang under his arm.
Moving slowly and quietly, they soon found the spot Lance was looking for again. A clearing that was set on a small shelf below the peak of the mountain. Staying at the tree line, Lance dropped to his left knee. “Holy fuck,” he moaned, looking at the valley below.
Ian froze, looking at the valley below. “Those ass junkies are in serious shit,” he mumbled and Jennifer pulled him down beside her.
The small town of Pineville was surrounded by semi-trailers, with the Cumberland River flowing beside the highway. But stinkers filled the valley below them. The valley floor was narrow, not even a quarter of a mile across, and that included the river. Where the trailers formed the wall at Pineville, stinkers were packed over a mile back.
Pulling out his binoculars, Lance felt numb as he lifted them and sucked in a breath. The town of Pineville sat where three valleys met at the Cumberland River. ‘Town’ was stretching it because Pineville was barely three quarters of a mile across and a mile deep.
In the other two valleys, Lance saw more stinkers stacked up, pressing against the wall the Devil Lords had made. “That’s close to half a million, I’m betting,” Lance stated in awe, zooming in. In the town, he couldn’t see anyone. “Looks like they are doing like Boss said, hiding and hoping the stinkers will leave.”
“That’s going to take months,” Jennifer predicted, looking through the spotting scope.
“I don’t think their walls are going to hold,” Ian said, looking through his binoculars. “Where the bridge crosses the river you can see it failed, and they had to put a trailer on the bridge and park a dozer behind it.”
“Look at the south side wall, that one trailer is buckled,” Lance said.
Lifting her eye off the scope, Jennifer looked down into the valley. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys,” she grinned and then dropped back down, looking through the spotting scope.
“Wiener bandits,” Ian commented, looking around. “That’s what they get for making that much noise.”
“What would happen if a group that big showed up at the cabin?” Jennifer asked.
Giving a scoff, “We would be inside the cabin for like a year,” Lance said.
“I love that cabin,” Jennifer mumbled as Lance pulled out a camera and started taking pictures.
Getting to his knees, Lance took off his backpack and started taking stuff out. “Here,” Ian said, passing over a bundle that unfolded to reveal a collapsible solar panel when he opened it up. Casually glancing over Jennifer sighed, seeing Lance set up a tripod with the camera. Next to the tripod was a metal box that he was hooking the solar panel up to.
“I’m afraid to ask,” Jennifer mumbled.
“Monitoring station,” Lance told her.
Getting up, Ian looked over at Jennifer and Lance. “Let’s get our asses out of here, so they don’t follow us home,” Ian said and they got up, moving back into the trees. “Okay Jennifer, take us back to the buggy,” Ian instructed, gripping the SAW.
“Shit,” Jennifer muttered, putting the spotting scope back in its case. With Lance behind her with his bow ready, she moved through the woods, hoping she was heading the right way. Seeing movement ahead through the trees, she stopped as Lance moved around her.
Pulling the arrow back, Lance moved ahead with Dino beside him. When Judy tried to follow, Jennifer reached down to grab her fur and hissed, “No.”
Watching Lance creep up as the stinker walked through the trees, Ian moved up to Jennifer’s ear. “Head more toward your right,” he whispered. “See that large oak? Head there and go through the small gully.”
Glancing over her shoulder Jennifer smiled at Ian, but he had already pulled away watching behind them. Turning back around, she saw Lance yanking his arrow out of the stinker
. Patting Judy, Jennifer moved up to Lance and then turned where Ian had told her.
Ten minutes later, they were climbing into the buggy. Turning around, Jennifer pressed the accelerator moving along the ridge. Glancing down at the speedometer, Jennifer saw she was doing 5 MPH. “Fast walk,” she mumbled.
Each time she turned, Jennifer would look over at Lance, but he was just looking around the woods. After she had crossed two small valleys Jennifer started feeling better, remembering the lay of the land. “We are coming into zone four and Ian wanted to go to house four eighteen,” Lance told her.
Moving across a road and back into the trees, Jennifer was certain where they were but not the house. Each house in their three mile perimeter was numbered and photographed. Comparing photos, they could see if anything had been disturbed, and the numbers helped them keep track.
Coming to a stop, she grabbed the map and compass as Lance spat out the coordinates. “Those numbers sound like a tampon blower,” she sighed and Lance looked over at her, somewhat alarmed.
“Tampon blower?” Lance moaned, then rolled his eyes. “Women are weird.”
Chuckling as she ran her finger along the map, Jennifer moved the map over to Lance, “There?” she asked.
“You’re driving,” Lance answered, not looking at the map.
“Hey, bitch. I saw you help Allie and Carrie, so you look at the map before I shove a tampon up your ass,” Jennifer spat.
Giving a startle, “They are little girls,” Lance spat, looking where she was pointing. “Hundred meters east,” he said, turning to look back out at the forest.
Mumbling as she put the map and compass on the dash, Jennifer grabbed the steering wheel and drove on. Thirty minutes later, Jennifer pulled the buggy to a stop inside the trees and saw a nice house in a small draw. “Oh, come on,” she said, seeing the lone car in the driveway. “Ian, I know you’ve stripped like six of these already.”
Grabbing a small toolbox, Ian climbed out. “Need one more,” Ian said as Lance got out.
Checking her AR, Jennifer climbed out and patted her leg for Judy to follow as Ian set his toolbox beside a blue Prius. Pulling out a box, Ian tapped it and several seconds later they heard a thunk, as the doors unlocked and the lights flashed.
“Living with you two has opened my eyes to all that happened in the neighborhood,” Jennifer admitted as Ian opened the doors of the Prius. “Some of that shit that people thought were acts of nature and they were right. Nature, as in Ian and Lance.”
Keeping his eyes roaming around, Lance shook his head. “Yeah, whatever,” he said with indifference.
“Like Mr. Taskers’ brand new cedar fence rotting apart in two weeks?” Jennifer commented and Lance grinned. “Oh, what about Ms. Lambert waking up one morning, and finding every door in her house set up like dominoes in her front yard?”
Glancing over at Jennifer with a coy smile, “Mr. Taskers should’ve kept his mouth shut when someone rode their bike in their own yard,” Lance said. “Ms. Lambert tried to get two boys in trouble for beating up three boys that were in high school, picking on two little girls.”
“And Mr. Chambers? He painted his house over two days and came outside one morning and found that all the paint had run off and the metal siding on his house looked dissolved?” Jennifer snorted.
Looking off with a grin, “Can you believe he said he saw two boys messing with Mr. Oliver’s riding lawn mower when those boys were at kenpo practice and then had a scout meeting? He just wanted to be mean,” Lance offered.
Jennifer looked over at the car as Ian tossed out one backseat. “How in the hell can he do that so fast?”
“Ian can do shit to a car that even scares me,” Lance chuckled. “I watched him hack Mr. Oliver’s car, taking it over in minutes. Ian locked the doors and turned the radio to heavy metal with the volume at max. It was July, but the heater just came on. Mr. Oliver yanked his keys out, beating against the windows with the car running in his driveway. It’s a shame they let lemons like that off the lot.”
Ian backed out of the Prius carrying a long silver box. Setting it down, Ian gathered his tools and closed the door of the Prius after tossing the seat back in. Grabbing the stuff, Ian walked over with a smile and Jennifer looked at her watch.
“He had that out in ten minutes,” Jennifer said, shaking her head.
“Trust me, he was taking his time,” Lance said, moving over and helping Ian set the metal box in the back. “There are only two more hybrid cars in our perimeter and I’m sure Ian will yank the batteries out when we are close.”
“Want to check the house?” Ian asked with a grin and Lance looked at the house and nodded.
“Yeah, we’re here,” he said, adjusting his AR. “Jennifer, pull near the front door and keep an eye out.”
Before she could ask, Ian and Lance moved to the front door. The house was intact and seemed empty, but they never took anything for granted. Trying the door, Ian looked at Lance and Lance pulled out a small pouch to work on the lock. After a few minutes, Lance threw the door open and waved Dino inside. Watching the boys go in, Jennifer headed to the side by side. Getting in the ATV, Jennifer pulled to the front, putting the trailer in front of the door.
It wasn’t long before the boys were coming out carrying silverware, a silver platter, a silver teapot, and silver candlesticks. She just sighed as the boys headed back inside. Making a mental list to talk to Ian and Lance about it, Jennifer stood beside the ATV with Judy watching the area.
The boys continued making trips, bringing out jewelry boxes, piggy banks, and a five-gallon water bottle filled with change. It took both of them to put that on the trailer. Glancing back and watching the boys put stuff on the trailer, “They are telling me what the hell they need this shit for,” Jennifer mumbled, watching Lance put a kid’s hard plastic swimming pool on the trailer. “Yanking the hybrid batteries out of dozens of cars can’t be good.”
Twenty minutes later, they closed the door and walked to the side by side, climbing in. Looking at the trailer and shaking her head, “Looks like we are junk collectors,” Jennifer huffed, getting behind the steering wheel.
After glancing around, Lance turned to Jennifer, “Home, James,” he said with a grin.
Turning the steering wheel with a scowl, “Keep on and we will step outside tonight,” Jennifer said.
Since they were in the patrol area, Jennifer never looked at the map. No matter where she was in the three mile patrol area, Jennifer could always find home. It was 1520 when they pulled through the gate and stopped. When Lilly and Carrie climbed in, Jennifer drove around back. “How did Judy do?” Lilly asked, getting out with Carrie in her arms.
“She did great. She didn’t bark one time, but did growl like we wanted her to,” Jennifer replied, taking off her helmet.
Lilly turned with Jennifer to watch Ian and Lance carry the metal box into the shop. “Did you ask?” Lilly mumbled, putting Carrie down and looking at the trailer filled with seamless junk.
“Yeah, and they said the same thing, ‘we divert the masses with subtlety and kill on a massive scale’,” Jennifer answered. “You finish the logs they pulled in?”
“Almost,” Lilly said as Carrie ran inside.
Looking down at her vest, “Let me take this off and I’ll help finish it off,” Jennifer said and headed for the cabin.
Following Jennifer, Lilly sped up until she was beside her. “Did you know Ian is teaching the ladybugs chemistry?” Lilly whispered, cutting her eyes toward the shop.
Shrugging her shoulders, “So? Lance has started algebra with them. That’s what they teach them for their hour,” Jennifer said, opening the door. “You get biology and me, I get English.”
“Have you seen the level they are teaching the ladybugs?” Lilly cried out, following Jennifer inside.
“Yeah, and I’m thinking about sitting in on their lessons,” Jennifer admitted, heading to the bedroom.
Closing the door, Lilly looked over at Jennifer. “Jenn
ifer, it’s college level chemistry and math,” Lilly said.
Giving a laugh, “Yeah, they blew through basic math before you got here,” Jennifer said. “All I can teach them is ninth grade English.”
Shaking her head, Lilly went to check on the ladybugs at the command center. Letting them run to the bathroom, Lilly wondered what the boys were attempting but then just gave up. When the ladybugs ran back, Lilly was surprised as both hugged her before she stood up to leave.
“Ian is coming to start our lessons,” Allie said, grabbing her laptop and books off the desk.
Before they left, Lilly grabbed both of them from behind and squeezed them tight. “Study hard, ladybugs,” she said, nuzzling into their necks and making both girls squeal.
Letting them go, Lilly watched them run upstairs. “They are loveable,” she grinned, getting up. “When they really want to be,” she added, heading up the stairs to find Jennifer waiting.
“Ready to make some boards?” Jennifer asked, opening the door.
Looking over at Allie and Carrie sitting at their desks, watching a flat screen TV coming on and a lesson starting, Lilly nodded while walking out. “Late to bed, early to rise. This forsaken world is something to despise,” Lilly sighed.
Chapter Eleven
May 21
Glancing at her watch, Sandy sighed and then looked at the sun, still sitting over the mountain tops to the west. “You need to hurry up and go down,” she mumbled, lifting her binoculars up and tilting the bill of her cap back. They were camped in a ravine in Utah. They had stopped here because there were trees. Only four trees, but after going through eastern Nevada, that looked like a forest to Sandy.
Not seeing any movement and lowering her binoculars, Sandy adjusted her camouflaged ball cap and glanced over to watch the hobbled horses grazing. “I love those horses,” she sighed with a smile.
“I’m going to agree with you, honey,” Johnathan said, walking up beside her and handing her a cup of coffee.
Taking the cup, Sandy smiled, “Instant coffee sucks but when that’s all there is, you learn to make do,” she said, taking a sip and looked down at Dan and Ann. “Have to say, they are good dogs.”
Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage Page 12