Forsaken World (Book 1): Innocence Lost

by Watson, Thomas A.

“Let’s move off the tract into the woods,” Lance whispered.

  Ian followed Lance as they eased up the rise. The closer they got, they could make out a new word. When they were a hundred yards away, they heard a woman’s soft voice. “Do not approach structures; lethal countermeasures are in effect. Your warning has been given, and your fate is your choice. To be here without invitation is fatal.” A few seconds passed, and the voice repeated the warning.

  Ian crept closer, putting his mouth near Lance’s ear, whispering, “I swear I know that voice.”

  “Dude, that’s the Borg Queen,” Lance whispered.

  “If the Borg are here, we are truly fucked,” Ian mumbled.

  “You smell some weird shit?”

  Sniffing the air, Ian nodded. “It smells like burnt stinky.”

  “Someone shoots a phaser at us, I quit.”

  Ian nodded as Lance moved toward the cabin, and the burnt rotten egg smell got stronger. And the queen kept repeating the message. The cabin wasn’t in a true clearing but only had small trees around it with a cleared out area fifty yards around it.

  Approaching the cabin from the east, they stopped by a tree as Lance looked around, and Ian pointed at the front porch. “What the fuck is that?” Ian whispered.

  “A burnt statue?” Lance offered, seeing what looked like a statue that had been set on fire, and then he saw the head twitch. “No way,” Lance whispered in awe, moving forward, and Ian grabbed his arm.

  “Let’s turn the damn queen off before she calls for help.”

  Liking that idea, Lance nodded and moved to the side of the house, pulling the massive key out. He opened the plastic electrical box and stopped after removing the false fuse. Bending down, he brushed gravel back from the house to uncover metal. Finding the edges, Lance opened the box and pulled out a rubber lineman’s glove.

  Putting it on and pulling the end to his shoulder, Lance inserted the key and turned. The queen’s voice cut off in mid-warning. “She was getting on my nerves,” Lance said, pulling the glove off and putting it back in the box.

  Moving around to the front of the cabin, the statue was twitching more. “That’s how they did it,” Ian mumbled, and Lance looked at him. “The porch is concrete and is even with the ground. I couldn’t figure out how they could ground someone to shock them. I forgot about the metal grate along the porch for ‘wiping the mud off before coming in the cabin.’”

  “Shit, I never thought about it,” Lance said, moving closer, but stopped from getting on the porch because he would have to step on the metal mat. “Is it really off?”

  “Pussy,” Ian said, pushing him out of the way and walking over to the burnt stinky. “Fucker had a crowbar.”

  Lance looked at the door and saw a crowbar lying on the mat by crispy stinky. “Wonder who it is?”

  “Who cares? It can barely twitch, and even the eyes have been cooked out.”

  “That is scary shit,” Lance said as Ian moved to grab the body. “Let’s check the back then deal with crispy.”

  “Motherfucker, dead people are moving around. Be damned if I’m leaving one intact at my back.”

  Lance nodded, pulling out his Ruger and squeezing the trigger. Thankful for gloves, they dragged it off into the woods. Circling the cabin, they found everything locked and undisturbed. “You think he had friends?” Lance asked.

  They followed the tract away from the cabin to a heavy duty steel gate. They always laughed at it because there was no fence; you only had to walk or drive an ATV around the gate to get to the cabin. “I’m sure he does, but the question is, were they here when it happened, or are they waiting for crispy to come back?”

  “When we get in, we can review the security video,” Lance said as they strolled down the hill, and Lance pressed the transmit box on his radio. “This is Lance; the cabin is fine. We’re on the way down.”

  “Can you hurry? It’s spooky,” Jennifer whispered.

  “Told her it was spooky at night out in the woods,” Lance mumbled.

  Ian looked at his watch. “We should be able to get the stuff unloaded and get the meat in the freezer before dawn.”

  Lance looked at his watch. “Amigo, it’s almost five. It took us most of the day to pack it, and you want it done in two or so hours.”

  “We have to get the meat out and in the freezer. It’s in an ice chest, and after all the effort we put into getting it, I want to make sure the shit stays good so we can eat it.”

  “Let’s just pull it out and get the rest after a nap.”

  Chuckling, Ian said, “I guess you forgot what the trailer looked like after Jennifer packed it. We will have to unload it or half of it to get the ice chests.”

  Lance just sighed as they walked out of the trees but stayed on the farm road. “Miss us?” Lance asked as he got in.

  “Hurry, I have to poop,” Carrie groaned.

  Firing up the Hummer, Lance shifted to drive. “Well, that is an emergency.” As he pulled into the tree line, Lance felt relief.

  When they topped the rise, Jennifer shook her head. “You call that a cabin?”

  “Uh, yeah, what do you call it?” Ian asked, looking at the building.

  “A freaking house. I know it’s got logs on the side, but it’s big,” Jennifer said, looking at the roof with the two shuttered windows on the front. The porch ran the entire length of the house with chairs and a swing. A big door sat in the middle of the house. Shuttered windows lined the front, and as they drove around the east side of the house, Jennifer saw more shuttered windows.

  As Lance parked by the back porch, Jennifer saw it was only half the size of the other one but saw a hot tub next to the back door. She turned and noticed two massive, covered awnings on each side of the house that RVs could park under. On the rising slope behind the house, three buildings were built into the hillside. One looked like a regular building, and the one in the middle had a wide door and a normal door. The next on had double doors running down it. Making a quick count, Jennifer counted eight sets.

  “That’s the gym and rec center,” Ian said, pointing at the one she had thought was a regular building. “The one in the middle is the shop, and the last one is the ATV shed.”

  “And this is a hunting cabin?”

  “Well, I thought so, but little did I know my parents were making a safe area. I was always told to come home or go to Lance’s, and we would go to relatives if something went wrong.”

  “At least they had a plan,” Jennifer said, looking down. “We didn’t have a plan other than if we had a house fire then to meet at your house. If it wasn’t for you and Lance, Carrie and I would be dead.”

  “Well, you’re not, so let’s get moving,” Ian said, and Jennifer looked around and saw it was only the three of them in the Hummer. “They took off as soon as the Hummer stopped. Take your goggles off; they have a small LED bulb turned on at the back door.”

  Ripping her helmet off, Jennifer jumped out, seeing Dino trying to get under the Hummer. “Dino, unless you want to sleep outside, leave it,” she said and sniffed. “What the hell is that burnt smell? Did you two pour gas up a stinker’s ass and light it?”

  “No, the Borg Queen killed him,” Ian said, walking to the back door. Jennifer watched as Ian pulled out a big key and opened the door. “The door automatically locks. That’s why we wanted to always have someone inside.”

  Walking in, Jennifer stumbled to the side. The back door opened to a large table she was taking for the dining area. Tucked away in the far left back corner, Jennifer saw a desk with a computer monitor and a staircase leading down. Just to the right was a large kitchen area with a large, long island, with barstools around it.

  On the left side of the house, she saw four doors. Looking back on the right side, she saw very steep stairs going up halfway into the house with a pantry under them. From the kitchen out, the house was open. The area she was taking for the living area was massive. Two sectionals had been moved together, forming a massive U with a large coffee t
able in the middle.

  On the wall was a white screen that made the one at Ian’s house seem tiny. Looking at the stairs on the right wall, Jennifer realized the roof over her head was much higher now that she was out of the kitchen. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the edge of the loft. “I’ve got friends who don’t have houses this big.”

  “I said the same thing,” Ian laughed. “Dad just told me to shut it or I would sleep outside in a tent.”

  Hearing beeping, they looked over to see Lance dialing on his phone. Holding it to his ear, Lance sighed then hung up and dialed again. Inside with real light, they looked at Lance’s sweat-soaked clothes, and his hair was caked to his head. “He looks like I feel,” Ian mumbled. “I don’t think I could’ve driven us here. I would’ve panicked at the wrong time. It was easy for me to tell Lance what we should do sitting beside him. But he knew he had our fate in his hands and didn’t choke.”

  Lance groaned, hung up, and dialed again. “You did excellent, Ian. Lance couldn’t have done it without you or you without him. Do you think he will lay down and let us unload? He really needs to rest,” Jennifer said in a low voice.

  “Fat chance,” Ian said as the girls came out one of the two middle doors on the left side of the cabin. “We can start as he tries to call his dad. We can keep Dino outside and stay armed. Lance parked close enough; we can form a line with Allie and Carrie. We’ll just unload it here on the floor and put it up tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.” Jennifer smiled and headed toward the back door.

  The girls went with Ian as Lance lifted his phone to his ear and heard ringing. “Son,” his dad answered.

  “Look, Dad, I’m sorry about earli—”

  “Lance! You have nothing to apologize for, son. That was on me. Bill got us a laptop that can connect via satellite, a satellite phone and a small solar charger. We found out the cell tower close to us is solar and is working only in the afternoon. But enough of that.” His dad paused, and Lance could tell he was grinning. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Huh?”

  “We hooked up to the security system here. That’s how I knew to call you. The vehicle sensor at the bottom of the hill went off. I wanted to tell you someone tried to breach the front door.”

  “Yeah, we found the crispy critter.”

  “It was Donald Pierce’s son, the brother of Glen Pierce that lives down the valley. We let them cut hay in the field.”

  “Well, he was trying to jack our stuff.”

  “Yes, he has a side-by-side parked at the bottom of the hill near the power station.”

  “We’ll get it tomorrow. You know when he tried to get in?”

  “Six hours and nine minutes before you pulled up in the field.”

  “Uh, Dad, do the Pierces know what this place really is?”

  “No, son, the only people that know are the parents and Doug. Jason was told to get there because we could survive there, but Bill didn’t want to tell him what was there. Even the moms didn’t know how much we put there in different areas until we told them when this started. Don’t get me wrong; when we brought them in last year, they were very happy and added stuff we neglected. We just didn’t want them to know what we spent.”

  “Well, I’m glad you did,” Lance sighed, grinning and rolling his head back to lay it on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. “I wish you would’ve told me and Ian, but I understand.”

  “I’m sure Doug told you this was the year you two were going to find out. After the stuff you two have done and never cracked, we figured you two would keep the secret better than us.”

  “Dad, I’m really sorry for cussing you.”

  “Son, that was my fault. I tried to call before you left the vehicle but couldn’t get through. I wanted to warn you about Donald’s son. I didn’t know what would happen if you turned the juice off—if he could get up and come after you.”

  Lance laughed as he rubbed his face. “Shit, after what we’ve been through, one stinker is an easy kill.”

  Silence filled the phone for several seconds, and Lance thought he heard his mom crying in the background. “Son, I’m sorry you can even say that. We should’ve been there.”

  “Dad, I checked. They didn’t send out a memo that dead people were going to get up the first week of March. You always tell us hindsight is 20/20, but learn from it. Let me tell you, boy have we.”

  “I take it you had problems on the trip up?”

  “Sh— Well, you can say that. Stinkers charging us the entire way, people trying to kill us as we drive down the road, other people trying to chase us down and kill us, dodging wrecks, psycho cows blocking the road, and several of us found out when you shoot several magazines through your AR, it will burn the crap out of you.”

  “Did you have to kill breathing people?”

  “Fu— Oh yeah, I don’t know how many, but they tried to kill us first or make us stop, which Uncle Doug said was the same as killing us. We shot them so I’m thinking we killed them. Oh, and I ran over a few so I think we killed them as well but we didn’t stop to check if they were dead.”

  “Son, from now on and until we get there, if you even think or get a feeling that someone wants to hurt you, kill them. Don’t think or hesitate; just do it.”

  “On that you can be certain. Ian and Jennifer saw what a group of bikers were doing to people on the side of the road, and it wasn’t pretty.”

  “Other than that, how did you do?”

  “I hate driving. I thought it would be fun, but I feel like I gave birth, and I saw a show at school about that, and just the thought of that makes me sick.”

  “Did the Hummer hold up well?”

  “If it wasn’t for that Hummer, I wouldn’t be talking to you; that I know for a fact. I wish I could tell Uncle Doug thank you for that.”

  “He knows, son, and he also left that Hummer to you in his will.”

  A grin split Lance’s face. “I still wish I had Uncle Doug here instead of the Hummer, but I can still ride in the Hummer when my butt stops being numb. Did you know he was a SEAL?”

  “Yes, son. You look tired. Your mom says you need to go rest, and I agree with her.”

  “No, we have to unload that damn trailer and get that meat in the freezer.”

  “It can wait if you put the meat in the ice chests frozen. Each one of those ice chests cost as much as a small freezer, and they are supposed to hold ice for twenty days.”

  “Dad, not being a smartass, but as much effort as it took to load the stupid things, we aren’t taking a chance.”

  “Did anyone else drive?”

  Lance huffed. “No, Ian is still scared to drive after pulling Mr. Bill’s truck through the wall of the garage. I’ve never seen Jennifer drive, so I wasn’t taking a chance.”

  “Well, Ian’s dad will talk to him in a minute,” his dad chuckled. “Jesus, son, how much stuff did you pack in that trailer?”

  “Let me tell you, Jennifer can pack like no one I’ve ever heard of. That trailer is packed top to bottom and side to side as is the back of the Hummer and a few cases strapped to the top.”

  “Doug did tell you what was there, didn’t he?”

  “Not really, Dad, he… He didn’t have the time.”

  “I understand, son, and I’m proud of you. Your mom wants to talk, so I’m getting off. Just get the ice chests out, and shove them in the cooler then get some rest.”

  Lance suddenly jumped off the couch, looking around the room. “You can see us?”

  “I told you we hooked into the system. Until you go downstairs into the special room and turn on the house, we can stay connected to the system. You do that tomorrow, and open Doug’s folder first. It will tell you what needs to be done in what order,” his dad said as Lance looked around the room for the camera. “Son, the smoke detector on the wall beside the screen is the one I’m looking at you now on.”

  Lance walked over, looking at the smoke detector. “More Bond stuff.”

  “Love yo
u, son. Here’s your mom.”

  “Love you, Dad.”

  “How’s my baby boy?” his mother’s voice filled the phone on the verge of tears. Hearing it, tears filled Lance’s eyes. Normally, being referred to as “baby” made him feel like a little kid, and he would brush it off. But today, he felt like a little kid and wanted his mom.

  Looking up at the smoke detector, Lance forced a smile. “Your baby boy is doing good, Momma.”

  Behind him, the others were working hard to unload fast as Lance talked on the phone. Even Allie and Carrie could tell Lance was spent. His words were slightly slurred, and as he stood, he wobbled on his feet. The pile was rather large when Lance walked over and handed his phone to Allie.

  “Mommy!” she cried into it.

  Stepping over to the sink, Lance wiped his face so the others couldn’t tell he had cried. He had tried not to, but he just couldn’t stop. Turning on the water, Lance washed his face off then just stuck his face under the faucet.

  Ian walked up, panting, and shoved Lance aside and stuck his head under the faucet. Pulling his head out, Ian gasped for breath. “Need your help with the fucking ice chests.”

  Lance spun around and saw the pile that stretched from one side of the cabin to the other. “You unloaded it all?” he cried out.

  “Yeah, we want your ass to conk out in case we have to fight, run, or play chess, amigo, and you are ready to drop.”

  Lance turned around. “Dude, I was going to help.”

  Seeing that Lance thought he let them down, Ian turned off the water and shook his head, sending a shower around him. “We know you would’ve, brother. That’s why we worked hard and fast. Even Allie and Carrie are worried about how tired you are. So am I.”

  Dropping his shoulders and casting his eyes down, Lance leaned against the counter. “I miss Mom and Dad,” he said in a hushed voice. “I cried just hearing Momma’s voice. I didn’t want to, but I did. All I wanted to do was jump in her lap and let her hug me.”

  “Don’t think I’m not going to cry when I talk to Mom and Dad, brother. Let’s get the ice chest in so you can rest.”

  Lifting his chin, Lance nodded and headed for the back door, which was propped open. “Hold on for a sec,” he said, stopping by it. Moving to the side, looking at the door edge wise, Lance saw how thick it was.