A few minutes later, the boys joined her at the window. “Take your backpack off,” Lance whispered behind her.
Handing the pistol to Lance, Jennifer shrugged off the pack. Ian took her pack and Lance handed her an empty backpack. Pulling the empty one on, Jennifer felt like she was about to float away.
Leaving the cafeteria, Lance relocked the door and they moved to another building and crouched down at the door. “Wait here with Dino,” Ian breathed in her ear. “People are asleep inside.”
Feeling her heart rate skyrocket, Jennifer struggled to give a nod. The two slipped in like shadows, making her a little envious. Jennifer moved back to a dark shadowy spot along the wall, swearing if the Nazis were listening, they could’ve heard her heart beating hard against her chest. Seeing a man step out of a building a hundred yards away, Jennifer felt her heart flutter and mouth go instantly dry.
Watching the man smoke a cigarette, Jennifer prayed the boys had spotted the man before coming out. The man was wearing a t-shirt and camouflaged pants, standing under one of the low lumen lights. When the man turned to look up the ridge behind the building, Jennifer heard the door open and saw Ian and Lance slink out.
They moved over beside her, looking at the man still smoking. When they headed to another building with the man still outside, Jennifer almost fainted. At this building, only Ian went inside and Lance pulled Jennifer to the corner of the building, settling in a shadow.
Tossing the cigarette, the man went back inside the building he was standing at and Lance put his mouth on Jennifer’s ear. “That’s the security building. They monitor radios and the cameras there,” he breathed.
The fact that Lance knew that, added more to Jennifer’s list as she tried to get her heart rate down. Knowing what was inside the building could only mean one thing, the boys had been inside. That fact alone worried Jennifer; you just don’t go in a building you know is manned with someone on duty. When Ian came out, Lance moved over to a garbage can and set down a paper bag. When Lance came back, he tapped her and walked past. Jennifer followed Lance away from the group of buildings to a building beside rows of solar panels. Lance picked the lock and opened the door.
Jennifer slipped in, scanning around and then turned around to see Ian pulling something from his backpack. Setting it in front of the door outside, Ian pulled out a long metal stake. Unable to help it, Jennifer moved closer and saw it was a metal mat Ian had placed in front of the door and from the mat to the stake was a wire.
Using his hand, Ian shoved the stake into the ground beside the door. Lifting her eyes up, Jennifer saw Lance putting a cover over the handle. The cover fit snug and Jennifer had trouble seeing the edges with her eyes. Lance unwound wire connected to the cover over the door knob and everyone stepped in the building.
Jennifer knew what this building was, with rows of batteries and inverters hanging on the wall. “Jennifer, keep an eye out the window at the corner,” Lance said in an almost normal tone. Jennifer was happy to see even Dino gave a startle with her.
Moving to the window, Jennifer looked across the valley and saw neat rows of parked ATVs, UTVs, battery powered buggies, and several large trucks. Glancing back, she saw Ian connecting wires to an electrical panel.
Taking the wires from Ian, Lance connected them to the wires from the door knob. Dropping the wire, Lance shook off his backpack and dug in a side pocket, pulling out flash drives. Moving to the inverters on the wall, Lance plugged in one of the flash drives, then tapped buttons surrounding a small LED screen.
Done with one, Lance moved down to the next one, doing the same thing. With Lance working, Ian moved to another window and kept watch as Jennifer turned back, looking at the only door into the building. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the boys were doing. She was just wondering how they were going to get out.
“Done,” Lance called out, moving to his backpack. Jennifer stood up and saw Ian opening one of the windows, making Jennifer panic. The windows only pushed out, creating a gap like the windows at school.
“Dino,” Ian whispered, kneeling down on all fours under the window. “Out,” Ian said and
Dino used Ian as a stepping stool and slipped out the window. Lance moved over carrying his pack and dropped it outside, then laid on the bottom of the window and rolled out.
Before she could shrug off her pack, Ian pulled her to the window, “It won’t make much noise and we are behind schedule. I should’ve told you earlier,” he said, almost picking her up and tossing her out.
Dropping beside Lance, Jennifer saw him pulling out test tubes filled with metal filings and beads. When Ian dropped out, he reached in pushing the lever and then pushed a tube of clear liquid along the edge of the window, then pushed it closed.
Giving Ian two handfuls of test tubes, Lance set his down and put his backpack on. “Cover us from the trees past the parking lot,” Lance whispered and took off across the valley. Jennifer followed Lance toward the rows of parked vehicles.
Running through the rows, Jennifer pulled up, stopping in the trees and turned around, leaning next to a tree. Turning on her thermal, Jennifer scanned around. Up the slope across the valley, she saw a box that was bright white that was raised off the ground. Knowing that was another guard tower, Jennifer moved her scope. Scanning the rest of the valley she could see, Jennifer didn’t notice anything new and lowered her AR.
Glancing at the boys, she saw them doing something to the engine of the ATVs, pulling off the top of the test tube and pouring the tube in. “Oh, that’s cold,” Jennifer mumbled, realizing the boys were pulling out the small screen then pouring the metal filings in the oil spout.
Putting the empty test tubes in their pockets, they moved around and tried to stay with the UTVs. When they were done, they moved back to Jennifer. Lance just looked at her as he passed. Needing no encouragement, Jennifer followed him up the slope, heading for the ridge they’d entered on.
Twenty minutes later, they were climbing under the fence. As she grabbed her bow, Jennifer noticed Ian and Lance’s backpacks were empty. When Ian had the board back over the ditch, Lance headed down the draw.
Jennifer thought it would’ve been easier, but found out it wasn’t. But they did move faster down the steep slope, only moving slow enough to not make noise.
Running out on the road, Jennifer saw a stinker looking right at her, thirty feet away. The stinker raised its arms and Jennifer lifted her left hand up, flipping the stinker off as she followed Lance over the road.
Crossing the train tracks and entering the trees, Jennifer felt exhilaration.
Reaching the buggy, Jennifer helped take off the net and tossed her empty backpack in the back as Ian and Lance jumped in. Holding on, Jennifer looked over at Dino, sitting behind Lance and looking out. On the drive back, Jennifer said a prayer that they remembered where they’d put the deeds.
With the adrenaline rush gone, Jennifer fought to stay focused. It was almost 0300 when they pulled through the gate. Worn down, Jennifer saved her list for later and just dropped down on the sectional.
Chapter Thirty
June 5
Standing at the front loft door, Johnathan quietly observed the land. It was late afternoon and the dark clouds overhead slowly drifted northeast. The rain had stopped around dawn, much to the relief of everyone. All through the night and into the morning, they took turns taking naps.
Everyone was feeling much better and even the horses below seemed more energetic. “Not one stinker since we’ve been here,” Bill noted, coming to a stop beside Johnathan. “Something was wrong at that last barn.”
“It’s not even ten miles away,” Johnathan said.
Waving an arm out at the vast expanse, “No stinkers,” Bill repeated. “I’m sure if we look hard enough standing on the roof, we could see the barn from here. I hate flat land.”
“Maybe the storm had them stirred up?” Johnathan mumbled to himself. Hearing a soft whine at his side, Johnathan reached down and
patted Dan.
Not able to argue for or against the theory, Bill shrugged. “All I know is, it felt wrong there,” Bill declared. “After we settled in, it just felt off.”
“Well, if we get that feeling again, we take off,” Johnathan said as the wives walked up.
“We’re going to saddle the horses,” Sandy sighed, stopping next to Johnathan.
Pulling her close, Johnathan gave her a kiss. “We can do it. Why don’t you and Mary keep an eye out?” he told her.
Pulling Bill down, Mary gave him a kiss. “No, we need to get faster at saddling the horses,” Mary said, letting Bill go.
Stepping back from Johnathan, “The break was nice, but we want to leave tonight,” Sandy commented.
“Hey, I want out of the flat state,” Bill said, glancing back out of the loft. “I don’t like seeing that far unless I’m on a mountain.”
When the wives left, Bill looked over at Johnathan. “So, how do you think the storm stirred up the stinkers?” Bill asked.
“Have no idea,” Johnathan admitted. “It’s the only thing I could come up with.”
Just looking out over the land, the two pondered the events of yesterday. “How is Sandy coming with the EMP route?” Bill finally asked.
“Very well,” Johnathan said. “I think she’s learning it faster than I did.”
“So is Mary, but they do have extra motivation,” Bill chuckled, then sighed. “I wish Doug would’ve made it.”
Like a weight dropped on his shoulders, Johnathan slumped down. “If he were with the boys, we would be moving much slower,” Johnathan admitted. “That man comes up with different routes to take for different disasters, but who in the hell could’ve foreseen this one?”
“Not me,” Bill admitted and heard the wives grunting below as they saddled the horses. “Damn, if they are loading the pack horses already, they are getting faster than us.”
Not answering, Johnathan crept closer to the opening, sticking his head out and cocking it to the side. Seeing the disturbed expression on Johnathan’s face, Bill moved to the door. “You hear that?” Johnathan asked, slowly turning his head.
Holding the frame, Bill stuck his head out. Only hearing the gentle rustle of the wind, Bill was about to answer when he heard a far-off soft hum. “Yeah, what is it?”
Pulling back in, Johnathan trotted down the loft, with Dan following, to the back hayloft door and stuck his head out. Hearing the same noise but coming from a different direction, Johnathan looked to the southeast, but couldn’t see through the trees behind the barn.
Unable to even tell what it was, Johnathan moved back up to Bill. “I hear it at the back, but it’s coming from the southeast, I think,” Johnathan said, then noticed Ann sticking her head out of the loft beside Bill.
“That noise is coming from the north,” Bill said, glancing back and saw Johnathan pointing and looked down at Ann looking north. Getting a good hold on the frame, Bill leaned way out and looked north. “I can see a good six miles and don’t see shit.”
“Just means it’s out further than we can see,” Johnathan said and looked down and didn’t see Dan beside him. Turning around, he saw Dan at the back door, looking to the southeast. “Dan, heel.”
Bouncing around, Dan sprinted down the loft to stop beside him. “Sandy, are the horses saddled?” Johnathan called down.
“Yes, we just have to get our packs from up there,” she answered.
After looking south, Bill pulled his body back inside and turned to Johnathan. “We can’t leave until dark because we will be seen,” Bill declared. “With no cover around, a single person could wreak havoc on us with a good rifle. Our only chance is the cover of darkness.”
“Bill, that has to be engines of some kind,” Johnathan said and saw Ann looking south now. “If people are moving around or making noise, stinkers will start converging.”
Sandy and Mary came back up to the loft, “The horses are packed,” Sandy said, cradling her AR across her body.
Still looking at Johnathan, “Johnathan, I’ll agree that the noises are some kind of engines,” Bill said. “That just confirms that we need to wait until dark before leaving.”
Grabbing Johnathan’s wrist and looking at his watch, “Can we wait for five hours?” Sandy asked.
Taking his wristwatch off, Johnathan put it on Sandy’s wrist. “The question is, can we wait here?” Johnathan answered, glancing over at Bill.
“What are you going to do for a watch?” Sandy asked and Johnathan showed her a wristwatch on the sling of his AR. “Where did you get that?”
“Last house we were at,” Johnathan answered, staring at Bill.
Finally, Bill sighed. “They might find us here, but I am certain we would be seen moving now.”
“Okay,” Johnathan said, nodding. “I’ll take the back with Sandy, and you and Mary keep an eye out front.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Bill nodded as Johnathan and Sandy moved to the back of the loft.
Leaning out the back window, Johnathan listened hard for several minutes and didn’t hear the hum anymore from the back of the barn. Off to the north and south he could still hear the hum from each direction, but the noise didn’t seem any closer or louder.
“We aren’t hearing gunshots, so the stinkers aren’t in numbers yet,” Sandy said, sitting down on a bale of hay.
With Dan standing beside him, Johnathan stood back from the doorway and looked out to the back at the trees. “That’s what I don’t like,” Johnathan concurred. “We know stinkers love noise.”
“Honey, people around here may be killing them like we are, with bows. It wouldn’t take but a few times to realize if you kill them making noise, more will show up. Those engines are quiet, so they have learned,” Sandy said. “I’m sure without the trees around us, we would catch sight of them.”
Rolling that around in his mind for several seconds, Johnathan slowly nodded. “That is a good point,” he mumbled.
Seeing the tension leave Johnathan’s body, Sandy relaxed with a sigh. “I don’t like it when you’re nervous,” Sandy admitted. “Granted, none of us have relaxed since this started, but the last two days you’ve been very uneasy.”
“Sorry,” Johnathan said, moving over and sitting down beside her. “I just didn’t like how those stinkers were showing up yesterday. It was almost like they were converging near us, but there was no noise.”
With a slight shrug, “Maybe they smelled the others?” Sandy offered.
Keeping his gaze fixed outside, Johnathan shook his head. “I can’t see that anymore,” Johnathan said. “There are just too many of them now. Hell, I can smell them all the time. It’s faint, but I can still smell them. Only when they get closer do I really notice the stench increasing.”
“Okay, I can agree with that,” Sandy admitted as Dan moved over beside her and then turned, looking out the loft door. “So, what are you thinking?”
“I can’t come up with any reason,” Johnathan confessed.
For an hour, the two sat looking out and not speaking. Hearing footsteps, they turned and saw Mary walking toward them. “The hum has stopped to the north and south,” she told them.
“It was gone from the east when we got back here,” Johnathan said, turning back to the doorway.
Leaning back to look past Johnathan and Mary so she could see Bill, Sandy asked. “Why is Bill leaning back out of the loft?”
As Mary and Johnathan turned to look, Bill pulled back in and turned to face them. Even from this far away, they could see puzzlement on his face as he looked at the floor. Lifting his gaze from the floor to the others, Bill motioned them to come over.
Johnathan jumped up and almost ran to the front of the loft. When he stopped beside Bill, Bill held up his hand and Johnathan stopped the question he was about to ask. Cocking his head to the side, Johnathan stepped past Bill to the opening. “Is that music?” Johnathan asked, then looked to the north.
“That’s what I wanted to ask you,” Bill replied as
the wives joined them.
Twisting his head like a radar scanner, Johnathan looked to the south. “I hear different music to the south,” Johnathan said.
“Okay,” Bill grunted, getting apprehensive. “That’s what I was going to ask. I hear rock music from the north and rap from the south. How much closer do you think it is than the motors we heard?”
Turning back to the north, “Well, the music to the north can’t be over a mile away, but the trees on the north side block our view. It’s loud and I’m not sure but I want to say, it’s Motley Crew,” Johnathan said, stepping back from the door.
“So, it’s closer,” Bill clarified, not really asking.
Nodding as he turned to Bill. “Yes, much closer,” Johnathan said.
“Why in the hell would anyone play music loud?” Mary asked.
“To attract stinkers,” Bill said, patting his tool belt and checking his gear. “I think they are trying to clear the area, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Make the stinkers come to you and kill them off.”
“But why multiple areas?” Johnathan asked patting his gear. “That just splits your resources.”
Seeing Bill and Johnathan checking their gear, the wives started getting nervous. They weren’t wearing tool belts with gear stashed. Each was wearing clip-on magazine holsters and checked them like the husbands did. “What do we do?” Sandy asked.
“Stay here until dark,” Bill answered, looking back out. “If they are advertising to pull in stinkers to kill them off, we don’t want to move in the daylight.”
“If that’s what they are doing, why aren’t we hearing gunshots?” Mary asked, checking her AR.
“They may be killing them quietly,” Bill suggested. “Bullets may be getting hard to find.”
“That’s a lot of ‘maybe’s’,” Mary noted as Johnathan turned away, looking down at the floor.
“Something isn’t right,” Johnathan mumbled. “Yesterday, stinkers came from nowhere all through the day, passing near the barn we were holding up in. Today, we haven’t seen one.”
Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage Page 39