EMP Lodge Series Box Set | Books 1-6

by Hamilton, Grace

  “I'm okay with that, but I won’t carry you if you hurt your knee and I’m definitely not telling Brenda if you do hurt yourself. You'll have to walk back,” Megan told him with sternness in her voice. She didn't need any more drama in her life.

  He guffawed. “I'll be fine. Maybe you should put some shoes on,” he said, looking at her feet. “I'll grab a couple guns.”

  “Maybe only one,” Wyatt said. “We’re short on weapons and we need to be able to protect the cabin if they happen to find us.”

  Megan nodded. “He's right. We only need one gun. Grab the rifle. I'll get dressed and we'll go. Hopefully we'll find a big, fat deer.”

  It only took ten minutes for them to get ready to go. Megan noticed Brenda and Albert having a heated discussion before they left.

  “Everything okay between you and Brenda?” she asked as they walked towards the meadow.

  “I don't know. That woman is infuriating!”

  Megan laughed. “Why? You guys seemed to be getting along pretty well.”

  Albert sighed. “We do most of the time. It's been a long time since I felt this way about a woman,” he confided. “I think you know I tend to keep most people at arm's length. Safer that way. Brenda, she managed to get close to me. Well, I got close to her, but I don't know if she feels the same. I thought she did, but she is real closed up.”

  Megan had to laugh at the irony. Albert wasn't exactly the kind of guy to welcome anyone with open arms. She herself was probably in the same boat as Brenda. In fact, Albert and Brenda had a lot more in common when it came to opening up to new people than he probably realized.

  “I know what you're thinking, but she isn't like that all the time. Sometimes, when we're alone, that woman won’t stop talking!” he said with surprise. “She’s told me a lot about her time in the Army, but it’s always from a distance; like a narrator telling her life story.”

  Megan knew exactly what she was talking about. Brenda had that way about her. She wasn't cold or mean-spirited, but she tended to be an observer, except when it came to medical emergencies. That's when the other side of Brenda came out.

  When she didn't say anything, Albert got very serious. “Do you think you could talk to her for me, Megan? See if she feels the same about me as I do her?”

  Megan shook her head. “No, Albert. That’s a conversation the two of you need to have. I can't fix your love life. That's all on you.”

  His shoulders dropped. “You're right. I guess if I want to know, I have to find the courage to ask her myself.”

  A movement in the trees caught Megan's eye. She held up a hand, stopping him from saying anything more. She pointed to where she saw something move. He raised the gun he was carrying up to his shoulder. Within seconds, a few wild turkeys wandered into the meadow.

  Megan waited for him to take the shot. She looked at him, hoping to prompt him to pull the damn trigger. He seemed oblivious to her demands.

  “Albert!” she hissed. “Shoot one!”

  “I'm waiting for a good shot,” he replied.

  Megan rolled her eyes. There were five turkeys standing in the meadow. The shot didn't get any better than that.

  “Give me the gun,” she whispered, not wanting to disturb their potential dinner.

  “I got it,” he said with all the confidence in the world.

  Megan wanted to scream and then slap the old man. He didn't have it. He didn't have anything but a case of the shakes. She was convinced he had to be the worst hunter in the world. If she were alone, she would’ve been able to take at least two by now. Damn Wyatt for insisting she bring someone along and damn Albert for being a horrible hunter.

  “Albert, take a shot or give me the gun,” she said, putting a slight threat in her voice.

  He pulled the trigger, his shot went wide and the turkeys ran into the trees.

  She groaned in frustration.

  “If you would’ve held your horses, I could have gotten one. You don't have to be so hasty, Megan,” he growled at her.

  She shook her head. “Whatever. Let's head in that direction. Hopefully, they'll come back out. It's my turn with the gun,” she said, holding her hand out. She was hungry and if she had to wrestle the gun from Albert to ensure she got a meal, she wouldn't hesitate.

  Thankfully, he handed it over without a fight. She could tell he was a little hurt and a lot angry by her demand for the gun, but he would have to get over it. They needed food. She didn't have time to tiptoe around his pride.

  “When we have more time, we'll work on it,” she said, hoping to soften the blow. “But right now, we’re all starving. I know I can do this and it’s best if I do this part on my own. No hard feelings, Albert.”

  He shook his head. “You're not alone. You may be doing the shooting, but I'm still here. Being all alone isn't all it's cracked up to be, Megan. Don't get too hasty and start pushing us all away again.”

  She looked at him. “I'm not.”

  “Yes, you are. You did this last time Caitlin went missing. You have to lean on us. We need each other, especially in times like this. You may feel like you’re all alone or only you can do this job or only you can save Caitlin, but you're wrong,” he said with sincerity.

  She took a moment to ponder what he said. He wasn't saying it to lecture her. It was coming from a place of love. She realized in that moment she was doing exactly what he said. He was repeating what Bryan had told her less than a week ago.

  “Thank you and you're right. It's hard to break old habits,” she said with a smile.

  He nodded. “As long as you understand we're all in this together.”

  She smiled. “Yes, but Albert?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I'm a better hunter than you. I'm going to hold onto the rifle because I really want some turkey.”

  He chuckled. “I'll give you that. Now, stop talking and get me some dinner!”

  15

  Megan proudly carried both of the turkeys she’d managed to shoot back to the cabin. Although it seemed like a lot of food, there were many mouths to feed. The two turkeys would be enough for today only. She would need to go out again tomorrow and hopefully score something bigger or get more turkeys. It was close to grouse season. Those birds were big and stupid. They stuck to the ground, making it easy to shoot them. If they could get ten or so, that would feed the whole group for at least one meal. Hunting every day did not appeal to her. They needed one big kill to sustain them for a few days so she could concentrate on the rescue mission.

  “Those look great!” Willow said, taking the birds from Megan. “I'll get some water boiling.”

  “You're going to boil them?” Megan asked, horrified. Boiled turkey meat didn’t sound appealing.

  Willow laughed. “No. I'm going to dunk the birds in the boiling water. It will make it a lot easier to pluck them. We can cook them on a spit over the fire or make kabobs.”

  Megan sighed in relief. “Okay.”

  She looked up and saw Wyatt on the roof, along with the twins. The day was humid, which meant there was a storm headed their way. They had to get the roof fixed or the rain was going to soak the inside. There were already signs of rot inside the cabin from the leaking roof. If they were going to make this place a home, they needed it to be dry.

  He looked down, noticed the turkeys and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled in return, before heading in to clean up with minimal water. That was her next chore. They needed to figure out how to get some water stored close to the cabin.

  She used the small cloth and wiped down her face and neck before cleaning her hands. She really wanted a bath. A week of traveling had left her feeling sticky and grimy. She had to put it out of her mind or it would make her crazy. Being as dirty as she was made it difficult to focus on other tasks. People never realized how mentally taxing it was to feel dirty but her bath would have to wait. Maybe tonight, she promised herself. She could make it a few more hours.

  Brenda was outside, building up the small fire ring. It was now
about three feet around. Thick logs were standing up around the edges, leaned into each other to form a triangle. Megan instantly recognized what she was making. A few wire hangers were lying on the ground nearby. Those would be unwound and used to form a series of hooks. They would hang the one heavy pot they had over the fire to purify water and cook meals.

  “Do you need any help?” Megan asked, mulling over whether she should broach the subject of her and Albert's relationship.

  “No, thank you. I’m almost done,” she replied in her typical no-nonsense way.

  Megan nodded. “Okay. How far is that creek you were using when you lived here?”

  “A couple hundred feet down, through those trees,” she pointed.

  “Do you happen to know how close we are to the water table here? This place is pretty low and with the mountain peaks all around, I am guessing it gets pretty wet here in the winter and spring,” Megan mused aloud.

  Brenda stopped what she was doing and looked around the property. “You want to dig?”

  Megan shrugged. “It looks like it’s going to rain. I was thinking of digging a pond, letting it fill with water. If the water table is low enough, the ground will be saturated and the hole will hold water.” She paused. “Maybe we'll even hit water and it will fill itself.”

  “Maybe. It's worth a try I suppose,” she replied, getting back to the deepening of the fire pit.

  Megan headed towards the old barn. The sight of it brought back horrible memories. The barn was in even worse shape than she remembered.

  Ryland and Duke walked out of the barn, nearly scaring her to death.

  “What are you doing?” she half-yelled at the boy.

  He shrugged. “Mom said to see if there was anything useful in here. All I found was a lot of spiders and some broken stuff.”

  Megan sighed in defeat. “Any tools? A shovel, pickax or anything?”

  “Come see for yourself,” he told her, going back into the dark barn.

  Megan sneezed as dust swarmed about the area. The place still had a horrible funk to it and she could feel the dirt clinging to her skin. The filtered light coming into the barn through the many cracks in the walls and holes in the ceiling was enough for her to see around the space.

  “There's a broken shovel,” Ryland pointed out. “That's not going to do us any good.”

  “Oh, yes it will,” she said, excitedly running towards the tool lying on the ground.

  Her plan was to use the shovel as-is. It would be better than digging with her hands or trying to use a rock. She spent a few more minutes looking around the barn before giving up. Sure, there was plenty of wood for a fire and someone with a more creative, genius side may find something useful in the barn, but she didn't. Her mind was focused on digging a hole for water.

  “Want to give me a hand?” she asked Ryland.

  “Sure. What are we doing?”

  Megan quickly explained her plan. He didn’t appear convinced.

  “Won't that water be gross? It will be muddy,” he said, looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.

  “We'll make a filter and purify it. It will be nice to have water close by. We don't have the big barrels we had at the lodge and the two buckets we have now won't hold enough for all of us. I don't want to have to go to the creek several times a day. We have other things to do,” she explained.

  He shrugged. “Okay. Where are we going to dig?”

  They walked towards the cabin. “I don’t know yet. We want to dig somewhere that looks green. Green means wet.”

  Ryland looked around, pointed to an area deep in the trees. “Good eye, but we need it to be somewhat exposed. When it rains, the trees will shield some of the rain. We want every drop. Plus, those tree roots are going to be tough to dig through.”

  Scanning the area, Megan pointed to a place that had a patch of green field grass with a stand of birch trees nearby. It was a little close to the tree line, but she figured it was their best bet at finding water close to the surface.

  “Okay, you ready for some hard labor?” she asked with a smile.

  Ryland wrinkled his nose. “I think so.”

  The two got to work digging a hole about five feet around. When they reached about two feet down, Megan hooted with glee.

  “Look!” she exclaimed. “It's getting muddy. A little more and it will be soupy, which is what we want.”

  Ryland wiped sweat from his brow and took the shovelhead from her to take his turn digging.

  Megan stepped out of the hole and looked up. The dark clouds were rolling in. The rain was coming. She hoped it was a downpour. Wyatt had come by earlier to say they’d fixed the holes in the roof and were ready for the rain.

  “I think this is good enough, Ryland. Great job!”

  Ryland climbed out of the hole, his feet were muddy, which made Megan very happy. They would hopefully have a nice pond by tomorrow morning.

  Together, with Duke beside them, they walked back to the cabin, both exhausted from their hole digging.

  Wyatt met them by the firepit where he was adding logs to the fire. “Judging by the amount of mud you’re both wearing, I would say your experiment was a success?”

  Megan laughed. “No idea, yet, but I hope so. If not, we have a ready-made trap.”

  Wyatt nodded. “That needs to be at the top of the list tomorrow. We need to start fortifying this place. There's a chance we can't take the lodge back. We may need to hole up here for a bit. With Neil and his men roaming about, we need to have a far better security system than we did at the hunting cabin.”

  Megan agreed. “I hope we can take back our home. I can’t believe how easy we had it up there. No wonder everyone wants to take it from us. We had it all. Water, food, shelter, tools and other resources. I will never take buckets, cookware or an outhouse for granted again.”

  Wyatt chuckled. “I don't think any of us will. We put in a full day's work and barely made a dent in what needs doing if we have to live here for any period of time.”

  “I'm going to check on JJ,” Ryland said, leaving the two of them alone at the fire.

  “It sucks. I mean, absolutely sucks to start over from nothing. I honestly don't know if we can do this, Wyatt,” she said, feeling the strain of the day. She was hot and standing near the fire wasn't helping. “I need a bath. Do you think you could go with me and keep watch? If I don't get this grime off me I think I’ll have a nervous breakdown.”

  He smiled. “You have to take care of yourself, mentally as well as physically. People always think survival is all about building fires and shelters. It’s mentally taxing as well. If your head isn't on straight, the smallest tasks are going to feel too hard. You struggle and eventually give up.”

  “I'm not there, yet, but you're right, I need some time to relax. I can't think straight. All the little things compounded with Caitlin and the lodge—it's a lot. I feel like I'm going to snap at any given moment,” she explained.

  “Got it. We don't have soap, but a good scrub with your t-shirt will get the dirt off and wash your shirt at the same time,” he said with a smile. “I haven't seen this creek, but if there is sand, you can use that to get the dirtiest parts, like your feet, arms and legs. It’s a little rough, but it’s invigorating and you will feel clean.”

  “I'll try anything. Let's go,” she said, more than ready.

  By the time they made their way back to camp, Megan felt like a new person. Wyatt had ended up getting in the creek as well, unable to pass up the refreshing water. When they arrived at camp, Willow was pulling sticks with chunks of turkey meat out of the fire. It smelled delicious and would be the first real bit of protein any of them had eaten in days.

  They all sat around the fire, eating in silence, all of them far too concerned with food to worry about conversation. Once finished, Aiden started to hum.

  “What’s that song?” Ryland asked. “I think I know it.”

  “Amazing Grace,” he replied. “My dad used to play the guitar by our campfires.
We sang a lot of hymns, but that one has always been my favorite.”

  Jayden nodded his head and started humming. It wasn't long before Albert joined in. Willow started to sing the words. Megan smiled and let the sounds of the impromptu concert wash over her. It was calming. She missed her daughter like crazy, but in this moment, she felt a renewed sense of strength of clarity. The simple act of bathing, eating and now enjoying some music had cut through all the stress and left her ready to tackle the world.

  After an hour of campfire songs, they decided to turn in. Tomorrow, Megan and Ryland were going hunting. The rest of the group would begin to work on the defenses as well as make weapons. They were ready to take back their lodge.

  16

  Aiden and Jayden had gone out with Brenda the day before and reset some of her traps she’d left behind when she moved to the lodge. Before they wasted ammunition, she and Ryland were going to check the traps first.

  They heard a noise coming from the area Brenda had said they put a trap.

  “Shh,” she told Ryland as they crept closer to the area.

  They peered through the trees. “Look!” Ryland said a little too loud. “We got a real bear!”

  “Shh,” Megan said, staring at the scene before them. There was a black bear and her cub, making some horrendous noises. Megan felt a twinge of guilt for the trap, but in this world, food was too important to feel guilty about it.

  Megan was thanking her lucky stars they’d decided to bring along the .338 Remington instead of the .22 they used the day before. She was anticipating getting something big and the smaller rifle wouldn't cut it. It proved to be a smart move, now that she was looking at the backside of a very angry bear caught in their trap.

  “Megan!” Ryland screamed a split second before she realized what scared him.

  The bear wasn't in the trap. The bear had been feasting on the deer caught in the trap. Ryland's scream drew the bear's attention. A hundred thoughts flashed through Megan's mind as she looked at the cub and back to the angry mother bear. Things were about to get very ugly.