Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Book 4): Walking In The Shadow Of Death

by Lundy, W. J.

  Joseph stepped forward with his tomahawk and with a quick swing he split the Alpha’s skull. “That thing ain’t nothing to worry about ... not anymore. Come on, I’ll meet you at the top of the hill,” he said, walking away with his brother following him.

  7.

  They followed Joseph up the hill and moved quickly across the top of it. According to Sean’s map, the cabin was located across a saddle from their current position. The men kept a quick pace. Even though exhausted, they had no intentions of spending another night outside. That and they wanted to separate themselves from the pursuing primals.

  They moved through unbroken brush now, avoiding trails, taking the path of most resistance. They found a small stream, and even though it caused them to soak their cold feet, they waded through the water as they followed it down the hill. The men were doing everything they could to become hard to follow. Walking the streambed paved with polished stones would help them avoid boot prints on the trail. The tradeoff was cold and miserable feet. They tracked the stream for over five hundred meters before moving back to the shore on the far side.

  Sean broke some pine boughs to try and brush away the tracks in the snow, concealing the spot where they exited the water. Farther from the stream they spotted the old gravel road that the map showed them would lead to the cabin. A burnt-out stone foundation near a plank bridge was the final landmark. A small drive would be located just past it; it would be covered. The team continued to move in line, meters from the road, trying to remain hidden while they searched for the drive.

  Hahn spotted it first, broken and rutted as if a heavy truck had used it often, probably in the spring or early fall when the ground was soft, using four wheel drive to battle its way up the muddy drive. The entrance was halfheartedly blocked by a long pole and two cut pine trees. Brad had seen similar things done around the hunting lodges in northern Michigan. These remote deer camps were often rustic and seldom used, so the owners would block or conceal the drives when they left them at the end of the season, hoping to deter thieves or vandals.

  The men approached the drive tactically, posting on the opposite side of the road and providing cover as they ran across it two at a time. Not knowing if there were still roaming primals about, they didn’t want to be exposed and in the open. They set back up in three groups of two, now just off the head of the driveway. Sean nodded to the Marines providing point; they stood slowly and began to patrol up the approach to the cabin.

  As they followed the drive it widened into a small, open field. The trees there had been cut back and the cabin sat in the middle of a snow-covered meadow. There was a pond behind it and a pair of out buildings. Brad recognized one as an outhouse; the other looked to be a tool shed. The cabin itself wasn’t the pioneer housing folks would expect when they heard “cabin.” It was a meager one-story structure sheathed in painted plywood and roofed with shabby cedar shingles. The door was made of heavy planks and the windows were covered with heavy shutters. There was a large stack of firewood under the covered front porch.

  The men grouped together in some high grass and observed the structure from a distance. They watched for several minutes without detecting any movement. Brad volunteered to check it out, and Hahn followed close behind him for support. The rest of the men covered the driveway and the field behind the building. Brad ran across the open ground and ducked behind the firewood on the porch.

  Looking at the front door, he could easily see a hasp and padlock on it. The shutters on the two front windows were also padlocked shut. Brad walked along the outside wall of the cabin, staying low to the ground with his body close to the building. Every window they passed had similar locks. He moved slowly with Hahn following until they had completely circumnavigated the building and returned to the front.

  “Unless the owner did some magic trick where he locked the door, then teleported himself inside, the cabin must be empty,” Brad whispered.

  “You want me to pop the door?” Hahn whispered, unfastening his tomahawk from his belt.

  “Okay, let’s do it, but try not to damage it, I’d like to be able to use it later.”

  “Piece of cake,” Hahn answered.

  The two of them left their position by the woodpile and quickly moved up on opposite sides of the plank door. Hahn inserted the spike of the hawk into the ring of the lock and applied pressure. The lever arm of the hawk worked flawlessly and with a small sound of splitting wood the hasp separated itself from the door. With the hasp removed, Hahn slid his hand down to the knob. He twisted and felt resistance. Hahn returned the hawk to his belt and drew his knife. Forcing the blade between the door and its frame, Hahn pushed the blade forward and the door popped.

  He let go of the handle and let the door swing open and into the structure. The door opened with a loud squeak, allowing daylight to bleed into the room. Brad slowly crept into the opening with Hahn beside him. They moved shoulder to shoulder, looking into the dark interior of the cabin. Brad clicked on the light at the end of his M4 and probed the interior of the structure. He swept the beam around the room quickly; finding nothing that looked threatening, they moved inside.

  The cabin was sparsely furnished with a set of commercial bunk beds against one wall, a wood stove in a corner with a cook plate on top. On the opposite side of the room was a small kitchen and a long counter top. Mounted above the counter were long rough cut board shelves stocked with canned goods. A small sofa and a kitchen table with four chairs around it sat in the center of the room.

  Brad moved in and stood near the table. He swept his hand across the surface and swiped a trail of dust. “This place is empty, has been for a while. Go ahead and signal for the rest of them to move in,” Brad said to Hahn.

  As Hahn moved outside, Brad walked over to the kitchen area. A small sink was cut out into the counter with a hand pump for water sitting over it. The pump looked rusted and unserviceable. Brad lifted the handle and forced it down; he heard the screech of the gear as it broke free of the rust. He pumped it again and again before he was rewarded by resistance followed by a gush of brown water. Brad let it rest there. He knew from experience that if he continued to pump the water would most likely clear. For now it wasn’t a priority with a foot of snow outside available for melting.

  He looked at the shelves and the canned goods. This place was obviously stocked by men, probably hunters. He found cans of roast beef, salmon, and corned beef hash. There were very few vegetables or fruits. Better than nothing, he thought as he walked to the far wall and dropped his pack on the floor. Brad moved to the small dining table and lit a candle that was sitting near the center of it. By now the rest of the men had entered the cabin and they shut the door, blocking off the sunlight.

  The cabin’s door was antique and had a wooden latch with a small length of 2x4 lumber to lock it shut. They put the board in place and locked themselves in. The men checked the windows; they were locked shut and the boards outside prevented them from seeing out. They dropped their gear and gathered around the table.

  “Fire or no?” Parker asked, pointing to the woodstove.

  “Let’s see if we can go without. We had a hard time breaking contact with those things. If they creep up on us in here we might not get another chance,” Sean said.

  Brad walked over to the bunk beds and found a pile of folded blankets stacked on the top rack. “Chief, why don’t you get some sleep? We can set up a watch rotation and get settled in. It may still be a while before the kid shows up.”

  Sean nodded in agreement as he walked across to the bunks. The Villegases agreed to take the first watch, but first they wanted to inspect the out buildings. After they went outside, Parker found a small ceiling access ladder leading to the attic. The attic wasn’t finished and the space was narrow with small vents in both gable ends that allowed them to see outside. These would make good watch positions if they elected to keep the windows shuttered.

  As Brad helped Parker leave the attic, Daniel came back into the doorway, excite
d. “Hey Sergeant, check out what we found in the shed.”

  Brad grabbed his M4 and followed Daniel out of the house and around back to the small out building. The shed door was slid open, and a small padlock lay on the ground. Joey was inside pulling a canvas cover off of a snow mobile; another sat right next to it. They were very sleek racing models.

  “Damn, someone had some sick toys!” Joey exclaimed.

  Brad moved in and looked closer at the sleds. One was a high end Polaris, the other was an older pull start Artic Cat. From outward appearances they looked to be very well maintained.

  “You see any fuel?” Brad asked.

  “Oh yeah, we got close to two five-gallon cans along the back wall. Might be stale. There’s a jug of stabilizer here also, I bet it will fire these up,” Joey said.

  “Nice find, anything else?”

  “Decent splitting axe and a chainsaw,” Joey answered.

  “Very good, bring them in the cabin. Might as well get these topped off with fuel, maybe we will have to use them in a hurry. You never know.”

  Brad stepped out of the shed and took a look at the far tree lines. He sat and observed while he listened to the Villegases fuel the snow mobiles. He scanned the area where they had come up the driveway. He could see the wind blowing some of the high grass that reached above the snow fall, but other than that, there was nothing to be seen. The sun had disappeared back behind the heavy gray clouds. Brad knew it would grow cold again tonight. He hoped they would be able to keep warm enough in the shade of the cabin without a fire.

  When the Villegases finished fueling the snow mobiles, Brad helped them secure the doors to the shed, then followed them to the small outhouse. Unlike the other building, this one was unlocked. They pulled the door open and found nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a rustic plank building with a shitter in the center. They closed the door and moved back to the cabin’s porch.

  “You think we should poke some view ports in these shutters?” Daniel asked.

  Brad looked out at the opposing tree lines and the far off area where the driveway disappeared into the tall pines. Even with the vents they’d found in the attic, their view would still be limited. “Yeah, let’s do it, but make them small, and let’s finish quick. We need to get back inside and button up before we’re seen.”

  “Understood,” Daniel said as he unsheathed his Ka-Bar and started working a hole into the wooden shutter.

  Brad left the brothers on the porch and moved back into the small cabin. Sean was already snoring away on the bottom bunk. Hahn and Parker were sorting through the various food stores that were in the cabin. Hahn pulled down a rusty old biscuit tin and smiled when he heard the metallic rattle. He popped the top off of the tin and poured the contents onto the table. A little over a half dozen loose rounds and a small paper box landed on the wooden surface.

  Brad walked over and picked up the box. “Looks like we’re in the home of a big game hunter. A bit over fifty rounds of .308.”

  “You think the gun is in here somewhere?” Hahn asked.

  “Maybe, but I know for a fact Sean will be happy to add these to his kit.”

  Brad took the box of ammo and piled the rounds close around it. He saw a flash of light enter the cabin where the Villegases outside had successfully carved a peek hole into the shutter. Brad walked across the room to the wood stove. An old mercury thermometer embedded into an old tin beer sign hung on the wall. The sign was advocating some unknown lager, but the thermometer was already twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, or negative two degrees Celsius.

  Brad stood staring at the thermometer as Parker walked up behind him. “Twenty-eight! Damn, Sergeant, you sure we can’t build a fire?”

  “Not tonight, we can’t risk detection again.”

  “How we gonna keep from freezing?” Hahn asked as he walked from across the room.

  Before Brad could answer, the Villegases came in and bolted the door shut. “We got small spy holes in the front and back, we can see the flanks from the attic. I think we should cover them from the inside so we don’t leak any light after dark,” Joseph said.

  “Sounds good,” Brad replied.

  “So what were ya all talking about?” Joseph asked.

  Parker turned towards the rest of them. “I was telling the sergeant we’re gonna need a fire in the stove. It’s already below freezing with the sun still up; we’re gonna freeze tonight.”

  Joseph smiled. “Damn Parker, you always belly aching. We’ll be okay, we can just double up in them bunks. The body heat will keep you cozy, you can rack with me if ya want.”

  “Man, fuck you,” Parker mumbled, shaking his head.

  “It’s actually a good idea,” Hahn said. “Four sleeping with two on watch.”

  “You all are stupid,” Parker protested.

  “Fine with me, you can have first watch,” Joseph said. “I get top bunk with Danny, you all can fight over who gets to sleep with the chief,” he said, laughing as he started stripping off his gear.

  8.

  The first night in the cabin went without incident. The men huddled together for warmth as the guards, bundled heavily with blankets and clothing, took shifts and watched though the peep holes. The night as predicted grew very cold. Brad was amazed to see the temperature drop far into the negative numbers. He knew it was cold the previous night, but actually watching the mercury drop made him realize just how lucky they had been to survive the arctic temperatures.

  They stuck to the rotation of two on watch while four rested. It had been decided that they would limit their activity while they holed up in the cabin. It wasn’t a tough decision. The men were exhausted from the day and night they had spent on the run through the forest. Snow fell hard through the day and all night. Soon there was no evidence of the road or the tracks they had left the day before. With four walls and a roof over their head, sleep came easy, and with their brothers on watch they slept soundly.

  On the third afternoon they reached a compromise; Parker was allowed to use some of the driest and smallest cuts of barkless wood on the porch to build a small fire in the stove. Dry wood tended to smoke less, and by feeding in the small pieces slowly they could build a hot, fast-burning fire with little to no visible smoke. It was still very cold outside so the smoke that was produced rose away from the cabin quickly. They hoped it would be enough so that their position was not given away.

  They used the stove to prepare meals from the canned goods. As always, they left the easy to carry MREs packed away and ate what was readily available first. As Brad had surmised, the water from the hand pump in the kitchen cleared after the rust buildup was flushed out. They had found a small can of coffee that they happily brewed and enjoyed while it lasted. The men were feeling good about their situation, even though they didn’t know about the rest of their party or the whereabouts of the boy that was supposed to come for them.

  They spent their time cleaning weapons, redistributing ammo, and repairing their equipment. When it was necessary they would leave the confines of the cabin to use the outhouse in pairs. They were careful to skirt the perimeter of the buildings and cross as little open ground as possible to avoid silhouetting themselves against the bright snow. They began to develop a routine, and with the routine came boredom. Cabin fever set in and they began to discuss their next move.

  Brad was sitting at the kitchen table using some heavy cord he had found to stitch together a heavy coat. Joseph had made the first one and the others were impressed with the design, so Brad had taken a turn working at the table. He made large, uneven stitches, but it would be enough to hold the coat together, and would help to keep them warm when the time came to travel again. He had just finished attaching the sleeves to the coat when Sean gave a warning call from the attic. Sean had been on watch, using his rifle’s scope to keep an eye on the snow-covered fields.

  “Movement in the west tree line, ten meters inside the trees,” Sean said in a low voice that could easily be heard below.


  Brad stopped what he was doing and ran to one of the windows in the side of the cabin. Over the past few days they had improved their peep holes to make them large enough to use their binoculars. Brad spotted them right away: two figures standing side by side inside the trees. They seemed to be observing the cabin.

  “Should we snuff the fire?” Hahn asked.

  “No, let it burn. If they haven’t already seen it, putting it out won’t help, it’ll just make a cloud of smoke,” Sean answered from the attic.

  Brad watched as the two figures began approaching the cabin. As they broke the tree line, Brad could see that both of them carried heavy packs. One held a walking stick and the other had a rifle slung over his shoulder. Brad let out an audible sigh of relief as he identified the man with the pack as Private Nelson. The other figure in front he didn’t recognize.

  “It’s Nelson plus one,” Brad said in a jovial voice as Sean dropped out of the attic entrance.

  “Holy shit, they finally came for us,” Daniel said with a laugh as he walked to unbolt the door.

  They met the men on the porch and quickly rushed them inside, locking the door behind them. They removed the men’s heavy packs and brought them close to the fire to warm up. They wore heavy coats and heavy boots; quickly they were stripped of the clothing and handed cups of warm water.

  “Sorry we don’t seem to have any tea or coffee, but the water will still help to warm you,” Parker said with a smile.

  “Most grateful for it, and by the way my name is Thomas,” the new man said as he happily took the cup, sipping while the others made introductions.

  Nelson stood by the stove warming himself and smiling. “Boy am I glad to see you all, we were really worried you might not have made it. Jeremiah said that was the first time they had seen so many of them so far from town.”

  “We’re sure it was the plane that drew them into the country,” Thomas added. “We have been lucky out in the high ground, they don’t never seem to venture this far out. Well at least they hadn’t.”