Despite her high level of fitness and endurance, Shauna was breathing hard before she’d covered even half a mile. The streambed route that was her only option began climbing immediately from where it intersected the main drainage and running up a grade at that already high elevation was grueling. Shauna could only hope it was harder on her pursuers than it was on her and that they would soon give up. But she soon encountered a new problem as she entered an area where the trees thinned out and the forest became more open. Here, the exposed ground was completely covered with a light layer of snow. There were patches of snow and ice along the main creek she’d just left too, especially in the deep shade, but there they weren’t so big they couldn’t be avoided. Up here, there was no way around it and no way around leaving tracks in it. She had no time to make an effort to hide them either. What was worse was that it went on like that for as far as she could see ahead. That gave another advantage to her pursuers, as they would be able to follow her even if they couldn’t keep up. Shauna doubted she would break free of the snow until she could work her way up and over the ridge to the warmer side that was exposed to the morning sun. She glanced back over her shoulder again after she’d crossed a hundred yards of the stuff and to her dismay, saw three of the camo-clad men loping relentlessly through the trees on her trail, like hungry wolves running down their prey. Maybe she’d underestimated them? Were these men not only soldiers, but perhaps members of some kind of highly-trained Special Forces unit like Eric had been in? If they were, they wouldn’t give up as easily as she’d hoped, and probably not at all. Shauna briefly reconsidered her options. Pausing to fire a round from the rifle might stop them for a moment, and cause them to seek cover, but then what? She couldn’t run and stay in concealment the entire time. One of them would eventually get a clear shot at her, and that would be the end of it. They might do that anyway, but since they hadn’t fired yet, she figured they must not want her dead.
Shauna dug in again and sprinted for all she was worth, determined to lose those three before they had a chance to close in further. But the terrain was working against her and the way led up an even steeper slope that reduced her pace to little more than a fast hike. Worse yet, she was caught out in the open with no cover or concealment. She gave it everything she had, but Shauna couldn’t reach the top of that exposed slope before the men behind her arrived at a place that gave them an unobstructed view. Shauna flinched and then stumbled as she heard the sudden staccato burst of automatic rifle fire behind her and saw the impact of bullets striking the powder just above her head. She had nowhere to go but down to the ground, where she tried to flatten herself as low as possible, knowing even as she did so that she was still an easy target. But when she stopped, the firing stopped too as suddenly as it had started. Shauna breathed out again, surprised she wasn’t hit. Unlike that day during the firefight offshore in the Gulf when she’d felt the searing pain of a bullet ripping through her hand and arm, she felt nothing but the adrenalin. She thought maybe another burst was coming, but when it didn’t, she risked a glance back at the men and saw that the one that had fired his weapon still had her in his sights, while two of his companions were spreading out and advancing in her direction. Behind those three, she could now see two more of their party that had just caught up to them. Shauna’s run was finished, and there was nothing she could do but wait and see what they were going to do now that they had her at their mercy. To do otherwise would be suicide, and she knew it. Shauna moved her hands to the top of her head where they could see them as she waited for the two that approached to close in. Both of them had their weapons trained on her as well, and she had no choice but to comply with their orders.
“KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE THEY ARE AND DON’T MOVE!” One of the men said as he circled to one side, while his companion moved to the other flank. Her rifle was in the snow beside her where she’d dropped it and the Glock was clearly visible on her belt, as she’d made no attempt to draw it.
“Don’t shoot! I’m not moving!”
“Roll over, face down! But keep your hands on top of your head where I can see them!”
Shauna did as she was ordered and a moment later the second man was on top of her, pinning her down in the snow with a knee in the small of her back as he yanked the Glock out of her holster and tossed the rifle out of reach. Then, moving to one side, he pulled her hands down behind her back and held them together as he reached for something in his pocket. Shauna struggled and tried to pull her hands free, but by then, the man’s companion was there beside him as well, and she heard more voices as the others closed in. Seconds later, she felt her wrists constricted as she heard the unmistakable clicking of a plastic zip tie cinched into place around them.
“What are you doing? Let me go!”
“You’re under arrest! Stop resisting or it will be harder than it has to be.”
“Under arrest for what? I haven’t done anything wrong! Who are you people? What right do you have to arrest anyone out here?”
“You’re under arrest for suspicion of terrorism and armed insurrection!”
“I’m not a terrorist! Are you insane? I’m an American citizen.”
“I’m not interested in your citizenship. You’re illegally in possession of weapons in an insurgent occupied zone. But more relevant, you just fired one of those weapons at authorized government contractors.”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t fired a weapon at anyone!”
“Other than the two rounds back there where you tried to ambush our patrol along that creek?”
“I wasn’t firing at any of you! I didn’t even know you were there. I was deer hunting in the area when I happened upon a big black bear at close range and surprised it. I screamed at it, hoping to scare it away, and when that didn’t work, I fired my rifle to make more noise! The bear stopped coming towards me, but I had to fire a second time before it ran off. When it did, I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. I had no idea anyone else was around until I heard someone yelling at me, and then I saw the bunch of you in camouflage running towards me with guns. I ran because I didn’t know who you were, and I was scared!”
“A bear?” The man chuckled and turned to his companion. “We haven’t seen any bears, have we Mullins?”
“No sir! That sounds like a bullshit story to me, Chief.”
“It’s not bullshit!” Shauna said. “These mountains are full of bears. Anyone should know that!”
“Maybe so but forget about the bear. I just want to know how many of you there are up here, and where your base of operations is located.”
“There’s no one up here with me and there is no ‘base’!” Shauna said. “I’m alone.”
“Do you really expect me to believe you’re alone way up here? A woman, in these mountains by yourself? It’s dropping below zero up here at night this time of year. Where are you staying and what are you eating? It doesn’t look like that deer rifle is doing you much good, but then you don’t look like you’re starving either. Now, one more time, how many are with you and where are they?”
Shauna was trying to read the man before she answered. He’d mentioned ‘government contractors’ and she knew all too well that could cover a lot of territory, but at least if it were true, they probably weren’t part of a rogue militia or band of insurgents themselves. They seemed professional and highly skilled, so it seemed likely that this man his companion had called “Chief” might be telling the truth, but that didn’t mean she was ready to trust them. They weren’t giving her the benefit of the doubt, running her down and restraining her as they had, and telling her she was under arrest for terrorism. She simply couldn’t risk bringing the same fate to Jonathan and Vicky, knowing as she did from hearing all of Eric’s stories that some of these contractors operated with completely different rules of engagement than regular military. That of course, was why they were often used in situations and places where rules were a serious hinderance to getting things done. And Eric should know, because he sp
ent years working for such outfits himself, although he’d avoided the dirtiest of them. Shauna knew she had to think of something to buy more time and divert their attention elsewhere, and the only place that came to mind was the ranch that had belonged to Vicky’s grandparents.
“I was staying with a friend of my daughter’s, at her grandfather’s ranch until a gang of looters came and stole their horses, and then murdered them and burned their house down,” Shauna said. “I was the only survivor, and only because I was out hunting that day like I am now. I heard the shooting and headed back there as fast as I could. But I saw the men that did it from the ridge overlooking the place and I knew there was nothing I could do, so I stayed up there until they were gone. When I finally went down there, I saw that my daughter’s friend and her grandparents were dead. It was terrible, but there was nothing I could have done. Look, I was there because I was looking for my daughter. I’d hoped to find her there with her friend, but she didn’t know where she was, and I was out of options.”
The men looked at her with little expression as she told her story, and Shauna could tell they didn’t find it very convincing. “A ranch house, huh? Where was this, exactly? We haven’t seen a ranch house anywhere nearby. This is all national forest wilderness land.”
“It’s to the south. Not all that far really. Less than a two-day hike down the Divide Trail, and then a short way west on the first gravel road you come to.”
“And you just struck out into the mountains by yourself after this happened, and that’s how you ended up here?”
“What else could I do? I couldn’t stay there. I didn’t know if those men were coming back or not.”
Before he could answer, the man questioning her was interrupted by one of his team members, who’d been standing guard off to one side, but was now walking quickly towards them, a handheld radio up to his ear. “They found something, Chief. About two klicks farther up that creek we were on. It’s a cabin. Way off the grid and pretty well hidden.”
“Is it occupied? Did they encounter any resistance?”
“No sir! Reece says they secured the perimeter first, and then cleared it. They didn’t find anyone inside, but there were lots of weapons and other supplies in there, and some horses outside. He said someone’s living there for sure. The wood stove inside was still hot.”
“Tell him to get an inventory of all the weapons and ammunition and keep the property secured until we get there. I want to see this place myself and I’ve got one of the occupants with me now.”
“Rodger. I’ll pass the word.”
When the “chief” turned back to her, Shauna was shaking her head. “I don’t know anything about a cabin like that.” She’d heard enough of the conversation to know that for whatever reason, the men who’d discovered the cabin didn’t have Jonathan and Vicky. It surprised her really, to hear that, because she thought surely they would either be inside or close enough by if outside that they would have been seen when those men found the place. But however the two of them managed to elude capture, Shauna was elated to hear it, and she wasn’t going to give these men any information that might compromise them or cause them to add more false accusations to the reasons they were detaining her.
“I don’t know anything about a cabin up that way, but I haven’t been all the way up there. I’ve been trying to keep out of the higher elevations because it’s so cold.”
“We’ll see about that. I’ll bet you’ll recognize the stash of weapons my men found when we get there, and I’m sure whoever’s with you will be back home soon. Now get up! Let’s go!”
Shauna got to her knees and then stood, unable to dust the snow off her jacket and pants with her hands secured behind her back. She stomped her feet to shake some of it off as one of the other men picked up her Glock and stashed it in his backpack.
“What do you want me to do with this, Chief?” The same man asked, holding up the 30.06.
“Break it and leave it here. We have no use for it.”
“You have no right to confiscate and destroy my guns!” Shauna said. “That rifle is my only means of getting food, and the pistol is for personal protection.”
“You’re not going to need either now. And yes, we do have the right and the orders to confiscate firearms from all civilians we encounter with them. It’s nothing personal, but I’m being paid to do a job.”
The man with the Remington emptied the chamber and magazine and then walked over to a large rock, against which he smashed the buttstock, breaking it off at the receiver. He then wedged the barrel into a crevice in the rock and leaned into it with all his weight, bending it enough to render it useless. Then Shauna was forced to start walking, flanked on either side by two of the five who’d ran her down while the other three pushed on ahead, anxious to see what their other teammates had found. Shauna had no idea what they planned to do when they got there, and she was out of ideas for plotting an escape.
At this point, she was mostly willing to believe the men were who they said they were—a team of private contractors. That didn’t necessarily mean they were really working for the U.S. government, but it seemed likely that they were, as they seemed highly disciplined and professional. It would make sense that most of them, like Eric, were probably former Special Forces operatives now working in the private sector for better pay and flexibility. Shauna noted that their weapons and equipment were top-tier, but though they were all more or less dressed in tactical camouflage, they weren’t wearing any cohesive or official-looking uniform.
What all of this would mean for her now, she wasn’t sure, but Shauna felt somewhat better that at least she hadn’t fallen into the hands of a band of insurrectionists or outright outlaws, which would be far worse. She would have been willing to divulge more of the truth about her presence here though if her captors were members of an actual military unit that operated through the normal chain of command. In that case, she might be able to use her recent interactions with Lieutenant Holton back east to her advantage. As it was though, Shauna decided to keep quiet for now and say as little as possible, at least until they arrived at the cabin and she knew the status of Jonathan and Vicky and what these men planned to do next. If it turned out that they had them and she couldn’t deny they’d been staying there, she hoped to convince them that she and her companions were in no way involved with any activities related to the troublemakers that roamed these mountains. But considering all the weapons that were indeed stashed at Bob Barham’s cabin, both his own and the ones they’d brought there with them, she wasn’t optimistic that story would go over very well.
The steep hike back up there was difficult with her hands behind her back, and the two men flanking her offered no help, other than urging her to move faster. When they finally emerged at the lower end of the meadow that extended down from the cabin, Shauna saw that the men had thrown almost everything that was inside out on the ground. She looked, but didn’t see Jonathan or Vicky among them, and wondered how they’d managed to escape capture. Then she glanced over at the horses that were all hitched together to the post outside the barn, no doubt secured there by the intruders. Tucker wasn’t among them! Shauna smiled inwardly, hoping for the best, but knowing that wherever Jonathan and Vicky may have gone, they may return at any moment, unaware that they were riding straight into a trap.
Four
JONATHAN’S HEART POUNDED AS he watched the armed strangers in disbelief. They had simply appeared out of nowhere and without warning at the lower edge of the meadow, and now they were spreading out on both sides, just inside the tree line, obviously intent on surrounding the cabin. He wasn’t sure if he’d seen them all or not, but he counted at least eight. How they’d found Bob’s place, he had no idea, but watching the cautious way they were moving into position around it, Jonathan was glad he and Vicky weren’t inside right now. These strangers were up to no good, Jonathan was certain, and from what he could see, they had come there to raid the place or remove the occupants.
He saw
the other horses down there in the meadow acting skittish because of the intruders, and Jonathan turned slowly and looked back to where Vicky was standing next to Tucker, soothing him with whispers as she gently patted him to keep him quiet. Vicky was wide-eyed with fear as she looked back at him. He knew she was wondering what was going on down there, and she needed to see this.
“Take Tucker a little farther back in the trees and tie him there,” he whispered. “And bring the rifle when you come back.”
He had Bob’s .44 Magnum revolver on his belt, but a handgun would do them little good if those men armed with rifles spotted them and started shooting. He’d also brought the .45-70 lever-action, carried in the scabbard attached to Tucker’s saddle. Vicky had it with her as she crept slowly back to his side.
“I counted eight of them! There may be more though. They’ve basically surrounded the cabin from within the edge of the woods.”
“What do you think they want?”
“Probably everything we’ve got! What else?”
Before Vicky could say anything, her response was cut short by a burst of automatic gunfire, somewhere far off in the distance in the direction from which they’d heard the two rifle shots earlier. “That sounds like it came from the same place Shauna was shooting!” Vicky said.
“If it was her that we heard the first time, yes! Either way, that is the direction she went this morning, down the creek, and she didn’t have one of the M4s or AKs with her. There must be even more of those jokers than I thought!”
“What are we going to do, Jonathan? Shauna could be in trouble!”
“I know she could! She probably is! We’ve got to figure out a way to get down there and find her if we can, but we can’t let these guys see us.”
“Look! They’re doing something down there right now!”
Jonathan turned his gaze back to the view of the cabin and saw two men running from the edge of the woods to the front porch, converging on it from opposite sides. When they flattened themselves against the log walls on either side of the door, he knew what was coming next. He saw some of the other men in the tree line ready their rifles as they covered their two buddies, and then one of the men on the porch backed up and drove a hard front kick into the door. It wouldn’t have given way so easily if anyone had been inside to drop the massive wooden bar that Bob Barham had fashioned into place, but that lock wasn’t designed to be used from outside, and the smaller latch Jonathan had secured gave way easily to the man’s vicious kick. As soon as it did, the two men entered the doorway with their weapons at ready while two more sprinted from the woods to provide close-in backup. Eric had told Jonathan stories of using similar tactics clearing buildings in the war zones where he’d fought, and when Jonathan didn’t hear any gunfire, he figured these men were trained professionals. Inexperienced amateurs would have sprayed rounds indiscriminately, out of fear, even before they determined if the structure was occupied or not.
Feral Nation - Convergence (Feral Nation Series Book 6) Page 3
