He drew a deep breath as he looked down at the gutted deer. Now came the hard part. He had to carry the buck back to the house. If it was a straight shot, it was about three quarters of a mile, but a wetland on this side of the island created a bog and he didn’t want to risk breaking an ankle on a slippery tuft of slough grass hidden beneath a crusty layer of snow. That meant he either had to go out onto the ice and circle around the way he had come, or head to the interior of the island. He looked at the antlers and envisioned those catching on every bush and sapling so he opted for the ice. It would be colder out there with the wind whipping down from the north and even though the ice looked flat, there were uneven patches hidden beneath the snow. With his dunking a few days ago still fresh in his mind, he swore at his choices. Spring could not arrive soon enough.
He readied the buck for the journey by creating a backpack of sorts of the carcass. It didn’t take long to cut partway through the knee joint in each foreleg, leaving a strip of skin and tendon, then slicing through the hind legs between the hamstring and bone just above the hocks. He then sat down, set his bow and arrows aside, and pulled the forelegs over his shoulders then tucked them into the slits he’d cut on the back legs. He turned the legs, locking the joints of front and back legs together. The front legs formed the straps like he’d have on a backpack. He grabbed his bow and arrows, tossed the strap for the quiver over one shoulder and carried his bow in his left hand. The hard part was standing and he grunted as he pushed up, steadied his load, and headed out to the ice.
At a gut level, the set-up made him nervous since he now basically looked like a two legged buck, with the deer’s head lolling back, but nobody was around and he’d let everyone know he had gone to check his traps.
He hiked the deer higher and headed for the ice. The buck was heavy, well over one-hundred and fifty pounds, but with the weight distributed over his shoulders, he knew he could get it back to the house even if it took him a little longer. The exertion helped ward off the cold and he worried about sweating through his layers of clothing. He paused when he reached the ice and uncapped his water bottle, taking a swig as he rested for a minute. There was no way he could have been able to do this a year ago. He didn’t have the stamina, not to mention he’d have probably been shot by some other hunter.
He couldn’t wait to show his dad the buck. The meat was always welcome, and he was proud he’d done it without wasting ammunition. While they still had plenty, it wasn’t like they could just run out to the local Dick’s Sporting Goods and buy more.
He wondered if Sean and his dad were still fishing. They had left an hour or so before he had set out. Since his fall through the ice, he’d stuck to his snares but felt guilty about it. Why should others take the risk instead of him? It made him work even harder to make his snares the best that he could. If only they had thought to get traps from some place. There had to have been a local store to get them from, but Joe had never trapped before and didn’t know any more than the rest of them.
At least the ice was solid once again. The brief thaw that had caused him to fall through had given way to a cold snap, but even so, he didn’t like being on the ice any longer than necessary so he stuck as close to the shore as possible. If he hit a thin patch and broke through, he’d be on his own.
The crunch of the snow and ice beneath his feet and his panting as he hiked with his burden filled his ears. The southern tip of the island was close on his left and a few steps more and he’d be within sight of the house and the beach. The thought of a warm stove, a hot drink, and something to eat spurred him on.
Just as he pivoted east, he heard a noise louder than his own breathing and footsteps. It took him a few seconds before he realized what the familiar sound was. He turned and looked north up the lake, scanning the air, not believing his ears at first. It wasn’t until he saw it, first a speck in the distance, and then growing larger, that he believed his eyes. A helicopter—and it was heading right towards the island.
It was a large helicopter, possibly military, and he started to wave, but then pulled his hand down. Better to watch and see what they did before bringing attention to himself. He dropped to a crouch and hoped he really did look like a deer as he hurried up the beach, yanking at the deer’s hind legs to separate them from the front hooves. When he came to the dry dock with the pontoon boat up on blocks, he dumped the deer and shoved it under the pontoon along with his bow and arrows. They were useless against anyone in a helicopter. What he needed was a rifle.
He was out of sight of the helicopter for now, but from the whump of the rotors, it would appear any second now. He raced for the cover of a stand of pines fifty feet from the house, torn between sounding a warning and staying to see where the helicopter went. As he debated, Piper and Sophie opened the door and stepped out on the deck.
Piper spotted him first. “Hunter? Do you hear that?”
“Yeah. I saw it coming from the north.” He started to say it looked like a military helicopter, but his words were drowned out by the helicopter as it flew low over the island. Hunter strained to see into the cockpit, but it was impossible from his angle. He waved to Piper and Sophie to return to the house. As he did, Jenna stuck her head out too. They were exposed on the deck.
“Get back!”
They retreated, but they still watched through the screen. As the helicopter moved out over the bay, he called out, “Where’s my dad and Sean?”
“Still out on the lake fishing!” Sophie pointed southeast.
The helicopter looked to be turning east. He didn’t know if it was returning, but he felt vulnerable and raced to the deck, took the three steps up in one bound and dashed into the house to get a rifle only to find both were gone. Damn. Well, maybe that was a good thing. That meant his dad or Sean probably had them. He still had the semi-automatic rifle. They didn’t use it for hunting but they had all been shown how to use the weapon. He grabbed it and the shotgun, along with ammo for each. The handguns were there too, but he couldn’t carry it all. Piper, Jake, and Joe could handle those. Jenna could handle the shotgun. He’d take the semi-automatic.
Luke and Zoë peered at him from the kitchen, their eyes huge. Hunter pointed at them. “I need for you guys to get your coats and boots on and hide in the closet by the backdoor. If you hear me yell for you to run, go out the back door and run up to hickory grove. Got it?”
Luke’s eye grew huge as he nodded and took Zoë’s hand.
Hunter put a hand on Luke’s head and dropped to one knee. “It’ll be okay. Just hide there until someone comes to get you.” He almost let it go at that, but what if something did happen? He added, “I don’t think it’ll come to this, but if nobody comes, head for the mainland and the little barn.” It would keep them warm and there was a little food there. It was the best Hunter could do.
Luke had been to the grove plenty of times and he didn’t ask questions, just took Zoë by the hand and helped her get her boots on.
As he handed Piper and Sophie a handgun and ammunition, he asked Jenna to go stay with the kids.
“I’m not going to hide, Hunter. I’m a good shot and I don’t want to leave Piper and Sean. Why doesn’t Sophie go with them?”
Hunter wanted nothing more than to have Sophie out of possible harm’s way, but she was starting to have trouble moving quickly. At about six months along, her balance in the snow was off. The kids needed someone who could get them quickly to safety.
Before Hunter could reply, Sophie did. “You’re way faster than me right now, Jenna. If the kids need to run, I’ll slow them down.”
Piper nodded. “She has a point, Mom.” She took a gun, loaded it like she’d been doing it her whole life. “I’m sure we’re over-reacting anyway.”
Hunter handed her the shotgun. “Take this too.” When it looked like she was going to protest, he shook his head. “We have our other weapons. You may need this.” He didn’t say she was the kids’ last line of defense, but when he met her eyes, he knew she’d already com
e to that realization as she took the shotgun from him.
Jenna had her own handgun but put it in her jacket pocket as she grabbed a few of their homemade granola bars from the pantry, shoving them in her other jacket pocket. It was good thinking. “Okay, we’ll be hiding in the hickory groves if we hear you holler, Hunter.” Jenna ushered the kids down the hallway as Luke grabbed his and Zoë’s jackets from the hooks.
Sophie stayed in the house, but she’d gathered more ammo than Hunter had been able to carry, and grabbed a spare backpack by the door and dumped it in, handing Hunter the bag.
Hunter heard the helicopter returning for another pass. It was possible they were friendly, but until he knew for sure, he wasn’t going to let his guard down.
He pointed to the pines and Piper nodded and followed him out. The helicopter looked to be hovering near where his dad and Sean would be fishing. “Where are the other men?”
“Remember they took the SUV to the mainland to search for grain for the animals?”
“Shit. Yeah. I hope they aren’t crossing back right now.”
“They only left about an hour ago. They should still be on shore. Joe’s smart. He’ll watch but not let anyone show themselves.” Piper bit her lip. “I should run inside and get the binoculars.”
“Good idea. They look like they’re turning so now’s your chance.” Hunter kept an anxious eye on the helicopter as it angled in a wide arc. Was it coming back or just heading east over the lake? Maybe they’re heading to Michigan?
Piper darted back, two pairs of binoculars in her hands. She gave one to Hunter.
He nodded. “I hate that our dads are out there.” Keeping beneath the cover of the broad pines, Hunter worked his way to where he could see past the changing rooms they’d converted into a stable. From there, he had a clear view of the ice southeast of the island. He scanned the ice, spotting what he thought was fishing gear out on the ice.
“Piper, do those dark things on the ice look like poles and gear? They aren’t near the ice huts though.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
The helicopter made a wide arc and headed back towards the island. “It’s coming back!”
“Shit! Hunter! What do we do?”
“I’m going down by the changing house. I can cover the ice with the shotgun.”
“And do what?”
“Try to keep anyone from coming up to the house. Why don’t you go back with your mom, Sophie, and the kids?”
“No. My mom and Sophie will be fine with them. I think we should stay in pairs.”
Hunter shrugged. “True. Okay, but can you stay here in case they get by me?” He didn’t wait for her to answer, but darted over to the converted stable. Buddy was in the house barking his head off and Hunter knew there was no way they’d be able to pretend that the island was deserted. The smell of wood smoke alone would give them away.
Cole paused when he reached the cover of a stand of birch trees along the rocky eastern shore of the island. The trees were bare and only the trunks hid him, but a dozen yards away, maples and pines offered better coverage. “Hurry, Sean!”
His brother had been at a fishing hole a stone’s throw farther out on the ice when Cole had spotted the helicopter well north of the island. Where had it come from and where was it going?
There was no reason to think anyone in the helicopter would be hostile—not yet, but he didn’t like be caught out on the open ice. Where would everyone else be? Hunter was checking his traps, and Joe, Jake, Steve, and Mike had gone into town. They were looking for grain, but they were also planning on seeing if Mike and Steve’s friends were still around.
He and Sean raced as fast as possible on the slippery ice. He thought they may have made it unseen as the helicopter had come up more on the western side of the island. There was a chance they’d been hidden as they angled in, but now the helicopter was past and if they looked north as they turned east, they might spot Sean as he closed the final distance to where Cole stood. He hoped the shadows would hide them. From here, it was only a short hike back to the house.
Cole extended a hand, helping Sean over a boulder slick with snow. They had left everything except their weapons back on the ice, including their catch. It had been a good one too. Damn it. Hopefully they could return and get it once the threat was over.
Catching his breath as he decided the best course of action, Cole listened as the copter neared. The pitch changed and he realized the helicopter was hovering nearby. “Come on, Sean. We have to get back to the house.” He didn’t like that they’d have to cut through a meadow but it was either that, or take the route along the edge of the beach. Either would leave them fully exposed but there was no help for it.
Sean nodded and darted across the meadow, Cole close on his heels as the helicopter hovered a hundred feet in the air just to his left. Maybe the low hover would keep Sean and him concealed by the top branches of the trees.
It was only a couple of hundred yards to the house, but wearing boots and slogging through thick, heavy snow made the distance seem twice as far. By the time they reached the first cabin, closest to them but farthest from the house, Cole was breathing in great, gulping gasps, drowning out the sound of the helicopter, but he could feel it nearby. The whump of the rotors created a deep, thumping vibration in his chest.
Sean turned and said something to him, but Cole couldn’t hear him and shook his head. Then Sean pointed up. The helicopter was landing where the beach would be, if it wasn’t covered in snow and ice.
The rotors didn’t stop, but a door on the helicopter slid open and two men dressed in military camouflage flight suits jumped out, assault weapons in their hands.
Cole’s heart stopped for a half-beat before it zoomed into high gear and adrenaline flooded his veins. His desire to rush forward, shooting the intruders where they stood, warred with his worry about the rest of his family. What if they were all within sight of the intruders?
Sean moved up to Cole’s side. “What do we do?”
Casting around for a plan, he spotted the large oil drum they’d turned into a barbecue grill. If he circled around the first three cabins, he could get them in his sights, and still be close enough to talk to them.
“You stay here if you can. Keep them in your line of sight. I’ll circle around to the barbecue. I want to see what they’re here for, but if they raise their weapons, fire. Got it?”
“Yeah.” Sean dropped to one knee, steadying his rifle through the crook of the tree they stood beside.
Cole circled back through the trees and around and behind the barbecue. He kicked himself for leaving the women alone. They were more than competent, but had the kids to think about too, and Sophie’s pregnancy wasn’t an easy one. She wasn’t going to be able to flee if she needed to.
He should have waited to fish until Hunter returned, or had Hunter wait until they returned. But, it wasn’t often that all of the men were away at one time and it hadn’t occurred to him. From now on, he’d set limits on how many people were away at one time.
After a lifetime lived in relative safety, he’d had to change his whole way of thinking in the last year. He had to get better at looking at situations that could arise—situations he’d never even imagined prior to the last year.
He had factored in the only survivors who were close at hand, but the only ones he knew of for sure were Steve’s friends. He hadn’t foreseen a damn helicopter.
Keeping a low profile, he watched as the invaders stood wary, their weapons ready. What the hell did they want? They couldn’t be looking for supplies. There was a whole world out there ready to be scavenged. Nobody needed the relatively little they had stored on the island.
The rotors slowed and another man disembarked. He wore a flight suit, but his was dark blue. He carried no weapon that Cole could see.
After a moment of looking around, his eyes lingering on the makeshift barn, he and the other men headed towards the house. They didn’t need a map to show them which building was
the main one—dingy, well-trodden paths led from the house before diverging to different areas. Before they got more than a dozen feet, Cole called out.
“Stop!”
The men halted, the armed invaders raising their guns slightly and Cole cringed, anticipating a shot from his brother. He let out a breath when his brother held his fire. For now.
The invader in dark blue stepped out in front of the other two. “We don’t mean anyone any harm.”
“What are you here for? State your business!”
Pinpointing Cole’s location, the man turned towards him, lifting his hands to show they were empty, not that it mattered because his companions were heavily armed. “I’m looking for a man named Cole Evans. Have you heard of him?”
9
Stunned, Cole didn’t reply for a minute. Who the hell would be looking for him? “What do you want with him?”
“It’s complicated. Do you know him? Can we talk about this instead of shouting across a hundred feet?”
“No! We never heard of this Cole-guy so you can hop your ass back onto that helicopter and take your buddies with you. Go on. Get out of here!” Whatever they wanted, Cole wasn’t interested in hearing it. The military hadn’t been around to help when things had become bad and he and his family didn’t need them now.
The man said something quietly to the armed men. There seemed to be some kind of argument before the armed men appeared to grudgingly retreat to the aircraft, but they remained armed and remained a threat.
The other man took a few more steps forward, something in the house catching his attention for a brief instance, before he looked in Cole’s direction again. “I understand your reluctance. These are scary times. I only want to talk. I can offer information on what the government is doing to help.”
“Government? You mean we still have one? Because we haven’t seen evidence of one in almost a year.” Cole’s finger twitched on the trigger as his anger about the lack of help surged through him.
Sympatico Syndrome Trilogy Box Set Page 61