The tension in the room amplified.
“I only recently set the larger traps. Those men are getting closer each time they come through. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone but trust me; those traps may help you out as well.”
“How could they possibly help us?” Megan asked, slightly irritated.
Brenda chuckled, “You guys live up there and have your nice little barbed wire fence around the property and think you are safe. There is a group of bad men, very bad men, who aren’t going to be stopped by a little fence.”
Now Megan was getting mad. “We’ve heard all about The Raiders or whatever you want to call them. So far, we’ve been left alone. We don't go looking for trouble or stealing from other people.”
The last was said with more vehemence than Megan intended, but she was offended by Brenda's remarks.
“We aren't trying to kill or maim anyone. We only want to establish a boundary. We know it isn't going to stop anyone from coming in if they really want to. In fact, we’ve already been down that road and guess what? We're all still here.”
Brenda shrugged, “You have your way and I have mine. There’s only one of me. I have to go on the offensive. I can't wait and see or wait for someone to rescue me. My traps could very well stop them from continuing on to your camp.”
Megan was a little surprised at how cold and calculating the woman was. She was so gentle when she was talking to Caitlin and tending her wound.
“Why are you so willing to jeopardize innocent people?” Megan asked.
Brenda sighed. At first, Megan didn't think she would answer. “Look, I am not trying to be mean or purposely hurt anyone. The goal is to survive. I am making sure that happens.”
She shrugged her shoulders as if it was such an obvious answer there was no reason to question it.
Megan just stared at her in amazement.
“I'm sorry,” Brenda started. “I am career Army. There isn't any gray area. When there is a mission, you do what it takes to fulfill the mission. I don't get hung up on what other people may or may not do. I can't control them. I can only control me.”
“But why not tell us? You said you have been watching us, why not talk to one of us?”
Brenda looked embarrassed. “I am not really a people person. Before all of this happened, I was completely dedicated to my job. I worked in an emergency department. People who landed in my ER needed my expertise, not conversation. They came in. I fixed them or they died. It was as basic as that.”
Megan shook her head, trying to understand how a person could be so cold. So unattached from humanity and yet, be a doctor.
“Well, I am not going to say I understand but I don't think you need to live alone, completely cut off from the world.”
“Isn’t that what you did?” Brenda asked her.
“What are you talking about? I don’t live alone.”
“Caitlin told me about leaving your home and heading for the mountains by yourselves. How after she woke up, you left again. Something about only being able to rely on yourself.” Brenda stared at her through her thick lenses making her feel as though she were under a microscope.
“That was different!” Why was Megan trying to defend herself with this woman? “Besides, I’ve learned the benefits of working with others.”
“You have your way, I have mine.” Again, Brenda’s comment was made with no emotion.
Megan didn't want to get into a big argument. The woman did have a point. In fact, Chase had been talking about doing more to be proactive against potential raiders in recent months. It must be a military thing. Chase wanted to set up more booby traps around the perimeter and not the kind that only alerted them to an intruder's presence. He wanted to step it up a notch and send a clear message. Just like Brenda.
She decided to back down a bit. She had no right to judge this woman. “Listen, thank you for taking care of Caitlin.”
“I really enjoyed having her. Maybe too much. I’ve been alone since the EMP. Like alone, alone. I haven't had a conversation with another person until Caitlin. When I found her, she was hurt and in and out of consciousness. I was focused on getting her better. It felt good to have a purpose again.”
Megan nodded. Despite their differences, they did have things in common. Megan had gone crazy those two weeks she was stuck at the lodge. She needed to do something. She had to have a purpose to get out of bed every morning. If she had been completely alone, with no one to take care of or nothing to do, she imagined it would be tough to keep going.
Megan also had to agree with Brenda's decision to take Caitlin to her home. Her little cabin was definitely closer to where the accident had happened. She imagined she would have done the same thing had the roles been reversed. Well, she would have made contact with the girl's family and that’s where they differed.
“I am truly sorry. I know I shouldn't have kept her here or hid her away from you all. That was stupid. I was being selfish. It was so nice having another person around. Someone to take care of. You don't realize how lonely life is until you are alone, day in and day out.”
Megan couldn't imagine what it would be like. Even though she had been lacking in adult friendship and conversation before she found Wyatt and his family, she had Caitlin at least. Having her daughter had given her purpose and the will to keep going during some of those really hard days but she would never in a million years have kept a child longer than absolutely necessary.
“I can't say I understand but I will say I know a little about being alone. You know, you could come back with us. I realize it isn’t easy relying on others. Believe me when I say it was a hard lesson for me to learn, but you’ve no idea how much easier it is when you’re working as a team. To know that someone has your back and you have theirs. And maybe, you could take a look at my friend, Wyatt?”
Brenda looked like she would say no, but then asked about Wyatt.
Without saying the words, Megan conveyed the severity of the injury. Brenda looked mortified.
“I will go with you two and see what I can do to help your friend, but no more. My home is here. I am a doctor or I was a doctor, I guess. Can you be a doctor if you don't have medicine?”
Megan laughed, “Oh yes. My friend, Rosie, has all the medicine in the world right in the backyard.”
When Brenda looked at her quizzically, she explained Rosie's knack for using herbs and plants to heal.
“That's amazing,” Brenda said. “I know very little about plants, but I do know a lot about field medicine. Meaning I can use a pen to do an emergency tracheotomy, but not a lot about natural medicine. My years in Iraq taught me far more than I ever wanted to know about practicing medicine in some of the worst conditions you can imagine.”
Megan realized how important it would be to the group if they could have an actual doctor in the house. Rosie's medicines were great but for serious injuries, a doctor could mean the difference between life and death. She knew she should have probably consulted the rest of the group before inviting the woman back to the lodge. She only hoped everyone would be okay with it. At the very least, she could help Wyatt before they sent her packing.
Brenda's field training and general knowledge of survival in enemy territory would be a huge help and given that she’s been on her own, clearly she wasn't adverse to hard work.
Megan knew Albert would be the toughest one to sell on the idea. That was just his way. If she could get Wyatt on board, the rest of the group would eventually agree with the decision to bring Brenda into their little community. Maybe she could visit from time to time.
With the decision made, Megan asked if Caitlin's boots and coat were around. She wanted to get going before it got any later. As it was, they were going to be walking home in the dark. It was then she realized how spartan the place was. It was also incredibly clean.
“How did you end up out here, anyway?” Megan asked as she got Caitlin dressed.
“I was stationed at Lewis-McChord. I happened to be in Spokane to get some
additional training when the EMP happened. I stuck around for a bit, before things got really bad. Originally, I was with a group of doctors and other military personnel, but things got ugly. We had some very different ideas about what we would do to survive.”
Brenda didn't have to say the words. Megan had been around the city when things started to get bad. She had seen good people turn into murderers and thieves. Good people who had probably never gotten a speeding ticket were suddenly willing to kill another human to take a can of corn. It was an ugly world.
As she tossed some things into her bag, Brenda continued her story. “I knew there was no way I could get back to base; to the people I knew and trusted. So, I headed for the hills. I wanted to get as far away from the city as possible. I wandered around for weeks before I found this little cabin. I decided it was my best chance at survival and claimed it as my own.”
Megan could imagine the chaos so many people felt the moment that EMP struck. She had been fortunate enough to be able to get home with her daughter. People like Brenda were stranded and completely alone. She thought about those who were visiting the area or just passing through and found themselves in a strange area with no supplies, no shelter and no friends.
She hoped they had the common sense to carry emergency bags in their vehicles. Megan had heard of keeping an emergency kit at home, at work and in the car but she had to admit, she wasn't one of those to buy into it. She always assumed she would go buy what she needed if there was ever some kind of emergency.
This was a situation where the entire world changed in an instant. There was no time to prepare and no time to run to the store. Megan had ventured out of her house on the second day, to try to get some food and batteries for their flashlights. What she saw had terrified her. Store windows were shattered. There were carts strewn about the streets where people had used them to get their goods home and then abandoned them.
She had witnessed people fighting over loaves of bread. A woman with a baby had been hit in the head with a rock. Megan had rushed to help her. The woman had been carrying diapers when she was beaten and robbed. The woman had nearly been killed over a pack of diapers.
That was when Megan decided to stay put. Going out in the streets was far too dangerous. It wasn't worth the risk and judging by the empty shelves of the stores she did see, it was a risk with little chance of reward.
It had been life altering. Every time she met someone new, that moment came rushing back. She had been so fortunate to have what she did at home and finding Wyatt had truly been a blessing. One she would always be grateful for, even if she found herself questioning her dependency on them.
Brenda and Megan heard the noise at the same time. They both froze. It was an engine. The sound of it completely shocked Megan. She hadn't heard an engine in months. The foreign noise had taken a second for her brain to register what it was.
It wasn't a car engine. It was much higher pitched. Megan realized it was an ATV. Not one ATV, but several!
“It's them!” Brenda shouted, dropping the bag of supplies she had been putting together. “Help me, Megan!”
25
Megan had no idea what she was expected to do. Brenda had sprung into action, moving with a speed that shocked Megan.
“Pull that cord,” Brenda indicated a rope hanging above the small window. “Tie the cord to the bolt below the window.”
Megan did as she was told. A piece of wood dropped over the window. She quickly tied the cord to the bolt screwed into the wall. The wood would help keep out trespassers but not for long.
“Do the other two windows in the living room while I barricade the door,” Brenda ordered.
Brenda raced for the front door. There was a long piece of wood propped up next to the door. She grabbed it and laid it across the door. Each side of the door had a bracket for the wood to slide into. Megan hoped it would be enough to keep bad people out.
Megan slammed the wood over the windows and asked what to do next. Brenda ordered her into the back bedroom with Caitlin again. Megan watched as Brenda placed another one of those horrible bear traps in front of the door. She was going to have to talk to her about those traps but right now, it could be the thing that saved their lives.
Brenda pushed the single chair in the tiny room in front of the door. Megan wasn't sure why until she saw her stand on top of the chair. Above the door was an old coffee can mounted to the wall. Brenda grabbed what appeared to be fishing line that was attached to the top of the can. She ran the fishing line to the doorknob and wrapped it around several times.
When she realized Megan was watching, she explained, “The can is attached to the wall with a screw. When the door opens, it will pull the can over and dump the old cooking oil on top of whoever came through the door.”
Megan was impressed. It was very medieval. If the oil would have been hot, it would have been far more effective, but they didn't have that kind of time.
When Brenda realized Megan was still standing there, she yelled at her, “The drawer in the kitchen. Grab that leather bag. Dump the marbles on the floor,” Brenda ordered, grabbing a knife that had been strapped to the underside of the chair.
Megan quickly dumped the marbles. What Brenda really needed was some Legos. Those were every parent's worst nightmare to step on. Of course, these guys wouldn't have bare feet but if they did, it would be the perfect deterrent.
“Get in the room and close the door,” Brenda instructed. “I will be in the loft. If they get to this point, I will take them out. Get to the farthest corner of the room and stay put. Pull the mattress over the two of you.”
Megan grabbed Caitlin's rifle, “I can shoot if need be.”
Brenda nodded, “Just stay away from the door. They have guns and they shoot, these flimsy wood doors are not going to hold up. Get into a position where you can see the doorway, but stay out of sight.” She climbed up the ladder, stopping at the top, “Take care of Caitlin.”
The words were unnecessary, but Megan was moved by them. Brenda had grown to care for her daughter. If they got out of this, she was definitely going to fight to get her accepted as one of their own.
“Be careful,” Megan said before closing the door.
Brenda crawled into the loft and looked out the tiny window. She could see four men wandering about outside. They found her cold boxes where she had been growing lettuce, spinach and radishes. She cringed as they ripped her vegetables out of the ground. That was her food for the winter!
The men were all dressed to intimidate with their leather vests and chaps. She could tell by looking at them that they were dangerous. They didn't need to wear leather to get that point across. The men varied in age and size. She watched as they walked around kicking at the stalks of corn she was hoping to harvest this week.
Her garden had been difficult to grow with no tools. All of the seeds had been looted from other camps around the area. Watching them destroy everything without even thinking about taking it for themselves was alarming. They weren't looters. They were menaces out to damage and destroy for the fun of it.
She had worked long and hard to build up this little cabin and make it into a home. Watching these men destroy all of it in a matter of minutes was hard to take. The thought of starting over was daunting. She couldn't dwell on that or the complete mess they were making. Right now, she needed to focus on getting them all through it.
She scooted back to the edge of the loft, “There are four men,” she said just above a whisper. She knew Megan would be able to hear her through the thin walls. “If they come through, I can take at least one, maybe two, but that means the other two will be yours.”
“Got it,” was the reply.
The sounds of the men talking and shattering glass made Megan's heart race. This situation was different from any other she had been in. She knew they would come into the cabin. The rifle was a single shot .22 LR. It was great for hunting but in this situation, the time it took to reload could be too long.
She
should have taken Wyatt's semi-automatic handgun. She knew better, but Wyatt's injury had erased most of her common sense apparently. Once again, she had gone off without thinking about how she would protect herself and her daughter. She vowed to carry a gun on her hip from this moment forward.
She thought about her daughter. Caitlin was on the floor, against the wall with the top mattress over her. It would do very little to actually protect her, but at least it was something. There wasn't anywhere to hide or shelter. Megan briefly thought about grabbing Caitlin and the two of them escaping through the bedroom window into the woods behind the cabin. With her daughter safe in the woods, she could circle around and come up behind the men potentially boxing them in. Assuming there wasn’t anyone else hiding in the woods waiting for exactly that.
There was a lot of shouting, cursing and more smashing of glass. Megan could hear Brenda groaning in frustration. They were destroying her home. If they lived through this, Brenda would have to figure out how to live through the winter. Megan hoped she would see the benefit of learning to rely on others for assistance.
A loud thud on the door nearly caused Megan to have a heart attack. Her hands were sweaty and she could feel the grip on the rifle slipping. She had to get her nerves under control. Another thud and more cursing. So far, Brenda's barricade was holding.
Just when Megan thought that maybe she should take Caitlin out the window, leaving Brenda behind, glass tinkled to the floor in the bedroom. One of them had broken the bedroom window. The wooden barrier was flimsy and it wouldn't be long before one or all of them came through.
“Johnny!” a deep voice from the front of the cabin could be heard.
“What?” shouted the man who was a few feet away from Megan and Caitlin. Megan could see the board bouncing as the man pushed against it. One good push and it would be off. Megan and Caitlin would be trapped. Running out the door would lead them to the men in front.
“Get up here and help me bust in this door!”
The EMP Lodge Series: Books One to Three Page 37
