Better to use the opportunity to get himself more information.
One of the two men flanking him uncuffed his right wrist, and with his partner, quickly brought Bill’s arms behind his back, and re-cuffed him. Benton turned the beam of the flashlight away from him, and started to walk. As his escort followed, Bill understood exactly what Benton was up to. By not leaving either of the other two men with a light, nothing immediately around Bill was illuminated. There was just a glow on the floor ahead of Benton for the rest to follow, which gave them no detail about what they were passing. Bill at least counted the steps they were taking and committed the turns to memory.
They finally got to a place where Benton stopped. He shone the flashlight onto another pipe, which let Bill see that he was being shackled up in another place not unlike the last one he’d been in. He did his best to take in as many details as he could, and compare them where he’d been before. Same pipe with a bend up near the top, same cold, damp concrete floor with an expansion gap. At the edges of the light, he could see the body of one of the turbines.
Taking a quick look at his escort, he saw Army uniforms, MP brassards, sidearms, lights, batons. Trying to scrap it up while they uncuffed him to shackle him back to the pipe wouldn’t go in his favor all.
“By the way, I think I’ve been too generous up to now with you, Wild Bill,” Benton said. “Life was a bit too easy at the other place.”
The two MPs pressed down hard on Bill’s shoulders, and one kneed the back of his thigh, dropping him down to a kneeling position. They backed him up to the pipe and instead of uncuffing his wrists, one of the MPs pulled out another pair of handcuffs, and they cuffed his ankles together around the pipe. Then the other gave him a little shove to the back of his shoulder that dropped Bill right onto his face.
“I’ve got to get the workmen set up, so we don’t have much time to play today,” Benton said.
Bill turned his face to the side in time to see Benton dismiss the two MPs. The saluted smartly, did a sharp about-face, and turned on their own flashlights to guide themselves out.
As their light faded into the distance, Benton unleashed a good dozen vicious kicks to Bill’s thighs. Then he took a couple steps closer, and a moment later, Bill felt something warm splashing on his shoulders and head, and smelled urine. He struggled as much as he could to get out of the stream, but Benton managed to follow him. The last thing the Major did before picking up his flashlight and walking away was to reach into a cargo pocket, and drop an MRE.
Chapter 4
By ten o’clock the following morning, Steve and Danny Wilkerson, as well as Mark, Bonnie, and Ed Meier had converged on the Chandler cabin. Danny was upset enough at having been hauled in just for being on the road to get home that his help for trying to figure out a rescue was almost a given. Steve had always had a chip on his shoulder about federal overreach himself, and had always thought of the Chandlers as good neighbors, so he was onboard as well.
The Meiers were an unexpected surprise when they carefully announced their arrival to the Chandler property. They’d heard the gunshots on the property the night Sally had gotten home, and had seen her and the kids ditching the invaders’ truck in the lake. They’d been keeping an eye on the property from a distance, and had noticed that Cole and Jenny had been on their own for the first few days after the event. That bought the kids specifically, but also the whole family, a lot of respect from them. They said that Cole and Jenny not going into a panic, but instead setting up to defend the homestead and prepare for the long haul showed they were smart kids raised well.
“The kind we’re going to need to put this all back together again,” Mark Meier said. “So let’s go get Bill and get you all back together.”
Mark had never served in the military, being nearly blind in one eye, but his wife had done ten years in the Corps at about the same time Bill had been in. Their son was active in scouting and as much a hunter as the Chandler kids were.
“I wish I could say Marines had a school solution for how to escape imprisonment, but there isn’t one. At best, I can maybe guess how Bill would approach something if I see it,” Bonnie said, looking over the impromptu model of the Libby Dam and its environs.
“It’s something,” Sally said. “And we need anything we can get if we’re going to pull this off.”
There was one thing on the table that everybody gathered around could see, but nobody wanted to acknowledge. Danny’s best guess as to how many people were at the dam.
6 MPs
8 Other Soldiers
5 Civilian Guards
6 Dam Employees
70-80 Internees
Nineteen people guarding the facility, against eight. Fourteen of the nineteen guards known to have military training, against one of eight. The odds didn’t look good. Even with Danny’s estimation of three shifts, they were certain the ones off duty could be pulled into action quickly.
And then there was the other question. Should they actually use lethal force against fellow Americans to get Bill free? Sally and Jenny had both shot someone in the past few days, and everybody at the table could see that it wore on them. Bonnie had been in combat areas, but had never had to fire a shot in anger, so she had the training, but not the experience of actually having done it. Cole, Ed, Mark, and the Wilkersons had never taken a clear shot at a recognizable human being before. They knew they had to factor that into their planning. Whether they were planning on going in guns blazing or without firing a shot except out of most dire necessity, would they be able to do it?
It was uncomfortable math, but something they all had to confront.
Bonnie rifled through the cabin’s liquor supply and found a bottle of whiskey, and came back to the table with a handful of assorted glasses. She poured out a finger in each. “The only wisdom I can give you is this,” she said. “The body won’t go anywhere the mind hasn’t already gone. Between now and when we get to the dam, picture it in your head, what it will be like, what the circumstances are that would get you to raise your weapon and fire that shot. Feel what you feel when you imagine it, don’t dwell on it, but don’t dismiss it, either. Just acknowledge what that makes you feel in your gut, then swallow it, and picture the shot again. Keep playing it until you have it clear in your mind what you’ll do. When the time comes, it’ll be easier to get it done without hesitating.”
Everybody drank down the whiskey in their glasses, and looked down, all lost in their thoughts for a minute.
“But that’s not the thing we need to worry about yet,” Sally finally said. In her mind, she had been replaying the shots she’d fired nonstop. She had been surprised how automatically her body had done it, but she’d also spent a lot of time at the range teaching her body how to perform when the need came up. She and Bill had taken Cole and Jenny to the range as well, had them practice on silhouettes as well as simple bullseyes. Jenny had stepped up when the need was upon her, but it had cost her. She was confident that Cole could do it as well, but hoped he wouldn’t need to.
Sally shook her head to clear those thoughts away. They were a distraction she didn’t need right then. “The first thing we need to do is get down there and confirm the information we’ve gotten from Danny here,” she said. Once we know for sure what we’re dealing with, and if we think the power house is where Bill is, we can decide if we have to bust him out by force or if we might be able to do it by stealth.”
“Right,” Danny said. “I am going by memory, and wasn’t looking at anything with a mind that I’d need any details later. I could have any of this wrong, or they might have changed things up since the night me and them other guys busted out.”
“Exactly,” Steve said. “Let’s get more info first.”
The boxes were pushed to one side of the table, and a Gazetteer map of the area was laid out. Everybody in the cabin knew the general lay of the land and the roads around the lake, but all agreed it wouldn’t hurt to take a concentrated study of them. They picked the route they�
�d take to get out to the dam under cover of darkness, and a few places they could set up to get a good look at the situation. The biggest problem they could see was that the camp set up at the dam was on the downstream side, and the land sloped up steeply from the water there. It would make it difficult to find places where they could get a good look at the tent city and the traffic around the engineering building and power house. “The important thing is that we get a couple different vantage points, and that we keep ourselves hidden during the day. We don’t want to give them any reason to come out after us,” Bonnie said.
Sally realized that Cole was bouncing his leg, hard enough to slightly shake the table. She put a steadying hand on his shoulder.
“I just can’t stand the idea that if somebody’s got dad and is doing things to him, that we’re not going to be able to get down there until sometime tonight, then we’re going to watch for a whole day before we actually do anything,” he said.
“We don’t have the numbers or the skill to just charge in, Cole,” Sally said. “You know that.”
“I know,” Cole said. “Doesn’t make it any easier to just sit here and wait things out.”
“Your dad’s tough, Cole,” Bonnie said. “If he’s alive today, he’ll still be alive tomorrow. From what your mom’s told me of the guy she thinks we’re dealing with, he’s going to drag things out for fun. Your dad will have to suffer through another day of whatever this guy’s got in mind, but that day will set us up to have a realistic chance of actually getting him out.”
Cole picked up his empty glass, looking to see if there was even another drop of whiskey left in it.
“Cole,” Bonnie said. “Your dad’s a Marine that’s seen combat. He’s got what it takes to survive this. So let’s not get ourselves killed in the process of getting him, alright?”
“Yeah. I need to go for a walk.”
Everybody watched him leave, but all knew better than to try to follow him. They still had planning to do, and he needed to deal with the stress in his own way.
Another hour staring at the map and the dam mock-up, and they felt as ready as they were ever going to be. They made three copies of the route to the dam and their best guesses as to good vantage points, and also of Danny’s recollection of the layout of the encampment. They split up into three teams – the Chandlers, Wilkersons, and Meiers. Each team took their hand-drawn maps and notebooks, and set to laying out their weapons for a final inspection and cleaning.
Cole came back in about the time people started putting food together. They wanted a good lunch before heading out, and needed food for the next 48 hours. Fortunately, there were a few cases of MREs and other survival meals stored in a crawl space above the cabin’s ceiling, but there were also still fresh vegetables and other perishables to be had.
Cole didn’t say anything about what he’d been doing or where his head was at when he came in and pulled up a spot of countertop next to Jenny. He just slipped in next to her to start cutting up vegetables. After working side-by-side in silence for a little while, he finally leaned in close and spoke quietly.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever had to deal with,” he said.
“I know. It’s not easy on any of us.”
“Yeah. Especially not you. You’ve been through a lot more than me in the past few days. Some of it my fault.”
“We’re good on the mountain lion. I don’t hold it against you.”
“Well, I do. I mean, we were careful, but if we’d have just listened to mom and dad and stayed put. It was a risk we didn’t need to take.”
“Then why aren’t you listening to Mom now, and just taking the time to do things right instead of right now.”
“Because we both know it’s not in my nature,” Cole said. “I can’t do it. And because Dad’s in the spot he’s in because he wanted to protect us, to get Mom to us at least. I mean, you heard what Mom said he did for us, right? He’s terrified of water, but damn near drowned himself, dumped a kayak and ditched his life vest, just to buy Mom some time to get to us. You know, all my life, he’s swallowed his fear of water, put it all aside for me, so I could swim and kayak and do all this stuff I love. Never in my life have I ever had to wait on Dad when I’ve wanted to get in the water. He just stepped up and did it for me. And now, he’s waiting on us.”
“He’s in the spot he’s in because he wanted us to survive, Cole. He gave Mom the time she needed to get here, and she did, just in time. We can’t repay that by getting ourselves killed by doing something stupid or half-assed and rushed.”
Cole sighed and put his attention on the task at hand for a while.
“Look. We all owe Dad, big time. Especially Mom. If Danny did see this Benton dude, and if he really is all she says he is. I don’t even want to think of what he’d do to her. Do you?” Jenny asked.
Cole shook his head.
Jenny lightly checked Cole with her shoulder. “Mom’s making sure she survives to make his sacrifice worth it. Let’s back her up in that, alright?”
Chapter 5
After Benton left, Bill felt like he was almost all the way back at square one. His pants and boxers had been left behind when he’d been moved. He hoped that the MPs hadn’t found the stash of matches and coffee that he’d hidden. He wasn’t sure what they’d make of it. Honestly, he wasn’t sure why he’d been keeping those items himself. Off and on he thought that in a pinch, if he could get his hands free he’d have a chance to throw the instant coffee into somebody’s eyes to give him a momentary advantage.
In his new position, hands cuffed behind him, ankles cuffed around the pipe, he knew he’d have a hell of a time getting into the MRE Benton had left him. He’d be able to work the packets open, probably dump or squeeze the contents on the ground, then wriggle around to get his face into it, like an animal. Not to mention Benton had pissed all over Bill, so the floor around him was wet with it. The thought of eating food off that concrete turned his stomach almost as much as whatever Benton had been putting into his tainted meals. Bill was sure that soon enough, he’d be hungry enough to not care, but he hadn’t gotten to that point yet.
He still had the small piece of brass from the zipper pull on his jeans in his mouth. He spit it out, and by a series of creative twists that put his legs into a really uncomfortable position around the pipe, Bill was able to pick it up, then get his hands close to the gap in the concrete floor he’d been using to grind the metal down. He put all thoughts of everything but that zipper pull out of his mind. He just kept on grinding and grinding at it, narrowing and rounding it.
The pain in his fingers was excruciating as he worked. He’d done quite a number on his fingers just getting the pull off the tab. But the process of grinding it against the concrete while awkwardly twisted around on his side, his hands still cuffed back behind him all put a lot of stress on his arms, from fingers to shoulders. He was starting to seriously abrade his wrists when he saw the faint glow of distant light. He had to do something with the pick he was making. He set it on the floor and flopped around, trying to get to where he could get it back into his mouth quickly, but without accidentally rolling or sliding over it and knocking it completely out of reach.
By the time Benton arrived, as usual with an MP in tow, Bill had managed to get the pull tucked back into his cheek. Bill opted to remain silent again, for fear of either sounding odd or accidentally dropping the pick from his cheek, or swallowing it. Benton delivered his usual, beating, using the cuffs to wrench Bill’s arms into painful stress positions, threats, insults, kicks, burns with a cigar. Not much of it was worse than the pain Bill had inflicted on himself in the process of fashioning the little piece of metal in his mouth. But what made that session even more bearable than the other ones had was the simple fact that Bill had hope. He was taking control of his fate. He couldn’t wait for Benton to finish up, not because the torture was all that bad, but because he wanted to get on with his work.
At the end of the session, Benton said, “Let me tell
you, Wild Bill. My heart really wasn’t in this round. I’ve got the county records in my possession now, and have somebody looking through them. I’ll find your little summer love nest soon. Go out. Pick up the wifey and bring her here so you two can have a nice little reunion. Soon, Billy Boy. Soon.”
As was his habit, Benton left the little tea light still burning on the ground, well outside of Bill’s reach. Bill went through the contortions to be able to spit the zipper pull out where he could get his hands on it, and by the very little bit of light he had, got his first good look at it. The shape was very close to what he wanted. He’d just need to file it down a little bit more, and then find some way to bend a right angle into the tip. If his work on the pick was good enough, he hoped to have a very unpleasant surprise for Benton the next time he came down.
Chapter 6
As soon as they’d finished lunch, eight people made their way down the Chandlers’ driveway towards the road. Each person had a rifle or a shotgun, and at least half of them also carried a pistol of some sort. Cole was carrying his father’s piece in addition to one of the hunting rifles. Sally carried the other hunting rifle and her own pistol, leaving Jenny with the shotgun.
Jenny, Cole, and Ed Meier pushed their bicycles. The intention was that if things seriously went sideways, the three of them were to get back to the cabin as quick as possible and set up to defend it. Signals had been worked out – signs and countersigns – to keep from shooting each other in the dark or heavy underbrush.
Where Hope Remains : A Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller (One Family's Survival Book 3) Page 2
