Megan walked to the bed where Jack was laying. His face looked red. He had a fever. It was evident just by looking at him.
She put her hand on his forehead, “I'll let your mom know.”
“Don't bother. Willow woke her up hours ago. My mom gave me one of her magic teas. It was to be expected. My body has to fight the infection. Its not a big deal. Willow is just super sensitive after everything that has happened.”
Megan didn't blame her. She wasn't exactly chipper when Wyatt had been laid up. His injury was bad, but Jack's was already showing signs of an infection.
“What's up? When are we attacking?”
She laughed, “How'd you know?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Because I know you and your blood lust and I know you would have convinced Wyatt to exact some serious revenge.”
“Well, you know we have to do something.”
He nodded, “Yep and don't you dare think I am going to sit in this bed while you guys go off on a crusade. I will be right there, taking out as many as I can.”
“We'll just have to see about that.”
Megan quickly told him about their plan to attack within the next few days. She explained the self-defense training everyone was going to go through and the shooting lessons the kids would be getting.
“Ryland will do great. He is a good shot. So will Caitlin, of course. I hope Amy isn't too young.”
“I don't think her age matters at this point. We aren't going to have them packing, but if it gets desperate, it will be good to know they can fight back.”
Megan couldn't believe she was defending the very idea she had just argued against.
“Get some rest, Jack. I want you there by my side when we kill that vile man.”
“I will. Thanks for coming by.”
Megan headed out to find Wyatt. She wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing today. There was a nervous energy racing through her veins in anticipation of going to battle. This was probably not a big deal for Wyatt or Chase, but for her, this was huge.
Wyatt was talking with Tara and Willow. Both women were nodding their heads, looking nervous and excited at the same time.
“There you are,” he said when he spotted her walking towards them.
“What's up?”
He winked at her, “I need you to be my victim for out little self-defense class here.”
She laughed, “The chance to knock you on your butt, you bet! I wouldn't miss it!”
Megan and Wyatt worked together, setting up three different sessions to ensure everyone had a chance to learn the moves. When it was time for the kids to go through their lesson, Megan worked with Caitlin. She really wanted her daughter to feel comfortable with hurting another person if her life depended on it.
That night at dinner, the mood was very subdued. There was no dinner conversation. No kids teasing each other. Even Duke was very mellow. He chose to lay by the fire rather than his usual place at the table, where he waited for scraps to fall.
Everyone headed off to bed. The tension in the air was thick. Megan didn't trust each of the new members and she imagined they were feeling the same thing. Their fates were tied together. If they weren't on board with the plan to attack, it wouldn't work. They needed everyone working together.
She decided to talk to Wyatt about it once they were alone and the rest of the house was asleep.
“Do you think all of the new people are really okay with out plans?” she asked.
He shrugged, “If they're not, they need to leave. I think tomorrow we will need to talk with each person. Get an idea of where they stand. Jackson and Evan will probably have a better idea about each person, but I want to judge for myself as well. I don't want a bunch of lip service.”
Megan was relieved he was on the same page.
“So, do you think we're ready?”
He thought for a second, “I don't know that I would head out to take out a top terrorist, but I think we can get it done. We have surprise on our side, which is always going to be a good thing. They won't expect us to take the battle to them.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. If he was confident, she was confident. They could do this. They could fight back and they could win. She just prayed the cost wasn't too high.
Chapter Twenty Four
Megan shivered as she stood on the bank of the stream getting dressed. She had taken a quick spongebath the day before, but she hadn't been able to shake the feeling of being dirty. She wanted a bath. A cleansing bath.
It was far too much effort to fill the tub upstairs and with so many people in the house, it just felt weird. When she had complained to Wyatt, he suggested a dip in the stream. It would be ice cold, but she didn't care. Or at least she didn't think she would care, but after a few minutes, the icy water proved to be too much.
“You are going to freeze to death in there!” she scolded Wyatt who was lazily splashing around in the water.
“It gets your blood pumping. It's invigorating,” he yelled back.
“No, it freezes your blood. You are going to have hypothermia.”
She focused on putting on her clothes as fast as she could. The warmth of the sweater she had been wearing quickly took off the chill. The gun Wyatt had brought along with them was sitting on the top of his clothes.
They were close to the lodge, but he didn't want to risk being unarmed.
Splashing and heavy breathing behind her alerted her to Wyatt's trek out of the water.
She watched him striding towards her. He was freezing. He would never admit it, but his skin was bright red and the way he moved told her he was feeling that prickling sensation that happened when a person was overly cold.
“Hurry up. I want to go stand by the fire now.”
“You are the one who said you wanted a bath. I was just trying to accommodate.”
“Bath and plunging into a stream of ice are two different things.”
He laughed, “Well, now you know. You have to admit it really wakes you up.”
She nodded, “Yes it did. But now I really want a fire. And hot chocolate.”
“I can get you a fire, no can do on the cocoa.”
He picked up his gun once he finished dressing and they headed back towards the lodge.
Megan relished the feeling of clean hair. Pouring a cup of water over her head was not the same as really washing her hair. The cold water had left her scalp tingling, but it felt great.
“Shh,” Wyatt said, pulling her behind a large tree.
Megan's heart skipped a beat and then began pounding so hard it hurt.
“McDaniels?” she gurgled, barely able to form the word.
He shook his head. They both waited and watched.
Earl was skulking through the trees. He kept looking behind him. Wyatt gestured for Megan to stay put. They watched him for a few minutes before Wyatt decided he had enough.
“Earl, right? You're Earl? I don't think we have really gotten a chance to talk,” Wyatt said walking out from behind the tree.
Earl froze. The look on his face revealed how shocked he was.
“Um, yeah, I'm Earl. I came in with Evan and Jackson.”
Wyatt nodded his head, “Yep, I remember. You were injured and my mom took care of you.”
Guilt was written all over the man's face. It was what Wyatt had intended.
“So, where you headed?”
Earl looked around, as if he hoped to escape or fade away.
It was then Megan noticed the folded paper in his hand.
“What's that?” she said pointing to the paper in his hand.
Wyatt looked at it. He reached out and snatched it from the man's hands.
As soon as she saw it, she knew what it was. It was the map they had used to identify where McDaniels was.
Wyatt raised an eyebrow.
Earl looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him.
“I don't suppose you were planning on taking on the whole gang yourself?”
>
Earl slowly shook his head, “No.”
Wyatt nodded in understanding. Megan didn't get it. What was Earl going to do?
“You were hoping McDaniels would let you join his group? You provide them with information about our planned attack and maybe where are traps are and what not in exchange for him letting you join them?”
Earl looked embarrassed and ashamed.
“I hate to admit it, but I'm tired. I'm scared. I don't want to die. You have to know you can't beat them. If you can't beat them, join them. That is what my dad used to tell me. I'm just doing what I think is the smartest thing.”
Wyatt looked furious.
“So you thought selling out the people who took you in was a better choice? Evan and Jackson took you in. They trusted you enough to bring you here and I trusted them. Now you are going to get my family killed to save your own skin?”
Megan was furious. What kind of man betrayed the people who looked out for him. Sheltered him. Fed him.
Earl shrugged, “I don't know what to say man. I'll go back, but I am not going to help you fight McDaniels. That's a death sentence.”
Wyatt looked thoughtful. He looked at Megan and then back at Earl, “How about you just go on your merry way. I'll keep this map. I'll let you keep whatever food you stole.”
Megan looked at Wyatt with shock. He was just going to let the man go?
Earl nodded, “Thanks, man and uh, sorry about all this. It's nothing personal, I just need to look out for myself.”
“Yep, you sure do. Bye, Earl.”
Earl turned and hurriedly walked towards the perimeter. Megan watched with disbelief.
She was about to ask Wyatt what he was thinking when he pulled the gun out from his waistband. He didn't stop to think about what he was doing. He aimed and pulled the trigger.
Earl dropped.
Megan's mouth dropped open.
Wyatt looked at her, “He would have told McDaniels everything. It was him or us. Quite frankly, any man that would willingly put his life above women and children doesn't deserve to live.”
Megan stared at the dead man. He had fallen onto the ashes and bones leftover from the pyre where McDaniels' men had been burnt. The pyre was meant to deter anyone else from trying to come after them.
“Let's get back. We need to have a talk with Jackson and Evan. If there is any chance any of their other people want to leave, I want to know now.”
Megan didn't answer. She didn't know what to say. Wyatt had just shot a man. He didn't seem bothered by his actions at all. He was all business.
They walked back to the lodge without saying a word. Wyatt asked everyone he saw where Jackson and Evan were.
He found them building the long house that Jack had started. Megan saw trying to help as well.
She gave him a look.
“I'm fine. I'm not swinging an ax, I am just running the ax hatchet down the logs they have hewn. We can't afford to have anyone sitting on their butts right now.”
Wyatt told the three men what had just happened.
Megan imagined the look on Jack's face mimicked her own when it had happened.
“I'm sorry about that,” Jackson said. “Earl was one of the more recent additions. We hadn't really gotten a chance to know him all that well before we were attacked. The guy he showed up with was killed in the attack.”
Wyatt nodded in understanding.
Megan imagined Earl was probably scared out of his mind. He was so focused on saving himself, he couldn't see how much danger he was putting himself in, let alone the rest of them.
“Needless to say, is everyone else solid? Garrett?” Wyatt asked.
Both men vehemently nodded their head, “He is a good guy. Solid. Has always been willing to help out and when we were attacked, he saved lil Frankie. I will vouch for him,” Evan stated.
“Okay, then. Well, hopefully that was our last defector. Are we going to be ready to move in the next day or two?”
Jack looked down at his leg, “I'm going with you. If you can give me a day or two, I'll be good as new.”
Jackson and Evan both nodded in agreement.
“To be on the safe side, we'll give ourselves five days. We have five days to get our people armed and ready, just in case our attack is not a success. Every one of those men will be out for blood if they escape.”
Chase joined the group, “We'll be ready. We are making a wall of pikes right now. I have the boys working on sharpening some of those small downed trees into sharp points. We'll be using rope to tie them together to create a gate of sorts.”
“Won't they just go around them?” Megan asked a little confused on how that would be effective.
Chase smiled, “The gate will be under some branches and dirt. They won't know it is there until it springs up in front of them. It will be the only open entrance to the lodge. There will be pikes, barbed wire and various traps along the rest of the perimeter. They will naturally go for the area with the least resistance.”
Wyatt looked impressed.
“Good thinking. Very medieval, but smart. I like it.”
Wyatt gave him the rundown about the situation with Earl. Chase was equally disturbed by the idea the man would have betrayed them all if Wyatt and Megan hadn't happened on him in the woods. The outcome would have been disastrous.
“Alright, we are going to get busy. See you all tonight at dinner,”Wyatt said, grabbing Megan's hand and heading into the house.
Chapter Twenty Five
The day started out with a flurry of activity. Wyatt and Megan were going out to scout for a bug out retreat, just in case McDaniels' men managed to breach the perimeter and get close to the lodge. They weren't going to stay and fight. They needed an emergency escape plan.
Brenda insisted she go along. She had been all over the mountain and knew the area fairly well. She hadn't found anything around the area her cabin was at or towards Evan's camp, but there was still plenty of areas to explore.
“How about you and Chase go up the mountain a bit. Megan and I will go towards the west,” Wyatt decided.
Chase agreed, but felt they could do more.
“Why don't we send Garrett and Greg out?” he asked.
Megan agreed. The faster they found this secondary location, the better she would feel. She hated the idea of running blindly through the forest. She had been there done that and didn't want to do it ever again.
“Okay. Let's set a time to be back. Everyone sticks together. If a group doesn't come back by 3, we know something went wrong and can put everyone at the lodge on alert. Agreed?”
Everyone agreed.
“Alright, get your packs and let's get moving,” Wyatt said anxious to get started.
Everyone quickly checked the gear in their packs and headed out in their perspective directions.
Megan and Wyatt hadn't found anything and were ready to call it a day when they saw a trail of rocks.
“I think it's a path,” Megan said squatting down low.
She used her hand to brush away pine needles and some of the overgrowth.
“Look!” she said, pointing to the rocks that were in a neat little row. She brushed away more needles and brush and found what she was looking for. It was another trail of rocks.
“This is a path to somewhere,” she said in an excited voice.
Wyatt stood between the two lines of rocks and looked ahead. Wherever these rocks led was obscured by the trees.
He walked forward, kicking branches and thorny bushes as he went.
Megan rushed to get right behind him, literally on his heels. When he came to abrupt stop, her face hit him in the back.
“Megan, we found it. We found the bug out location!”
Megan pushed him out of the way so she could see. It was a small hunting cabin. It wasn't exactly big. In fact, she was pretty sure it was about the size of one of those tiny homes that had been so trendy before the EMP hit.
“Well, it's a cabin. I don't know how we are going to s
queeze 18 people in there, even if we all stood shoulder to shoulder,” she said not sharing his enthusiasm.
“It's better than nothing. We can always build on. The idea is something, somewhere to run to. Honestly, if we are sending anybody here, it is because our numbers have been depleted and we can't fight back. The survivors will fit just fine.”
The realization of what could happen over the next few days was sobering her. She could die. Wyatt could die. The time they had right now mattered. She wanted to make the most of every minute.
“Let's check it out,” she said pushing him forward.
There was a small stick threaded through a latch that was holding the wooden door shut. Not exactly the most secure place, but she pushed out the negative thoughts. If the other two groups hadn't found anything, this was their best and only option.
Wyatt opened the door and popped his head in.
“Holy crap!”
Megan didn't know whether to be scared or happy.
“Holy crap!” Wyatt said again.
“What? What is it? What's wrong?”
He grabbed her and pulled her in. “Look!”
Megan's eyes adjusted to the dark interior. She blinked several times before finally focusing on a glass gun cabinet in the corner of the room. It was filled with rifles. There were three crates stacked next to the gun cabinet, all labeled in block letter with the word “Explosives.”
Along with the guns and ammunition, there were several 5-gallon buckets along the edge of the wall.
“Do we dare open those?” Megan asked. “What if they are poop buckets?”
Wyatt chuckled, “Not every bucket is a poop bucket.”
She didn't look convinced.
“I don't know. Rustic cabin, no bathroom, you do the math.”
“I'll open one. If its poop, we know, but what if its ammunition or food?” Wyatt asked.
“I'll wait.”
Megan stood near the door. She had accidentally opened one of the poop buckets at the lodge not knowing what it was. She was scarred for life.
Wyatt pried up the lid on one of the buckets.
“Well, it isn't poop,” he said. “It's beans. A lot of beans.”
EMP Lodge Series (Book 3): Dark Defiance Page 12
