“Check the other two,” she ordered. She wasn't totally appeased.
“Ammo and,” there was a pause, “Sugar or salt. Hold on,” he said. “Sugar.”
“That's awesome. With our food store being raided, sugar will be a welcome addition. Should we take what we can carry and come back tomorrow to get the rest?”
He nodded, removing rifles from the cabinet and handing her a couple.
“We'll take these for now. Tomorrow when we come back we'll look around for any other supplies. We will need to have a small stockpile here, just in case.”
Megan felt a huge weight off her shoulders. At least they had an option if the lodge was compromised. It wasn't as nice or stocked, but it was better than sleeping under the trees.
As they walked back to the lodge, Wyatt talked about how ironic it was they were looking for a bug out location. The lodge had been their bug out location and now they were very possibly going to have to leave it behind.
“I'm so glad you know about all this stuff. I never would have thought to find a backup home. I guess I have always been in the mindset to take it as it comes. I have to start thinking like you. Always thinking about the future and playing out the various scenarios. You are very smart, Wyatt.”
He turned and kissed her.
“Thanks, but it isn't being smart. And really, it was all my dad. My dad was always telling us to plan for anything and everything. His motto was prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I have tried to keep that mind. I think I kind of forgot.”
Wyatt told her he knew not to get complacent. He knew survival situations were fluid. They were constantly evolving. They had been comfortable in the lodge, but if they had to move, that was fine. All he needed was his family. He could figure out the rest later.
Right now, he wanted their focus to be on getting through the coming week alive. Megan agreed that the coming week was certainly going to be a game changer.
Chapter Twenty Six
Wyatt was hoping Brenda and Greg would be able to get the rifles in working order. He could see they were old and it was hard to say how long they had been sitting in that cabin. Brenda had proven her ability to dismantle, clean and fix firearms more than once. She was probably the closest thing to an expert that he had ever seen.
“Wyatt, Megan,” I'm so glad you are both back in one piece, Rosie greeted as they walked through the back door.
He stopped abruptly. The kitchen smelled amazing. He looked around and saw a huge spread of food.
“Mom, isn't this extravagant?”
She smiled, “Sometimes you just have to kick up your heels. We didn't get to enjoy our big barbecue feast. The group needs this,” she said the last so only he could hear.
He could smell turkey. It made his stomach rumble and his mouth water. While they had been eating turkey off and on for the last month, this was different. He could smell some really strong spices.
Megan pushed him out of the way, “Oh my goodness, Rosie! When did you do all of this?”
The woman smiled, “We have had those pumpkins sitting out there, waiting to be canned. Willow and I got the idea to make some fresh pumpkin pies. Then Garrett returned with 3 fresh turkeys and the idea popped in our heads. Thanksgiving!”
Wyatt had actually forgotten about the holiday. It didn't seem all that important in the grand scheme of things. After the raid, he wasn't sure there was a lot to give thanks for.
“This is amazing, guys. You really outdid yourself. I cannot wait to have some pumpkin pie,” Megan said eyeing the pies cooling on the counter.
“What do you have there,” Brenda asked walking towards them.
She was eyeing the rifles like a kid eyed candy.
Wyatt smiled, “I got you a little project, Brenda. You think you can check these out and see if they are functional.”
She reached for the rifles, fixated on them.
“Yes. Absolutely. Thank you.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow. The woman was a bit of a strange duck.
He figured he better clarify what he meant.
“I'm hoping they all work. There are a few more back at the cabin we found. If we can get them all functioning, there will be enough for every person here. With 17 people armed, we stand a pretty good chance of defeating any army.”
Greg took one of the rifles and began inspecting it.
“What do you think, Brenda? Can we handle the job?” Greg asked her.
She ignored him and went upstairs carrying the guns.
Greg laughed, “I'm gonna take that as a yes. I'll just go put this upstairs and after dinner we will get to work on these.”
Albert was sitting at the table, his leg propped up on a chair.
“Hey Al, I wanted to show you something. I need your expert opinion,” Wyatt carefully removed his backpack, being sure not to jar it.
He unzipped it and pulled out one of the sticks of dynamite he had taken from the crate.
“You think this is any good?”
Albert whistled.
“Boy, what in the world are you doing with that?”
Wyatt smiled, “We found a crate of it. Maybe it was used for blasting up here. I don't know. You think it is any good? Like we can use it to blow some bad guys up?”
Albert nodded, “I'm guessing you can blow up anything, including us if you aren't careful. That stuff is old. Real old. There is no reason it wouldn't ignite and explode.”
He carefully handed the red stick back to Wyatt, “You best put that away somewhere real safe. You found a whole crate of it you said?”
Wyatt nodded. He could see Albert formulating a plan.
“I think that would be a great way to get the message across to leave us all alone. You planning on taking it to them or leaving it to blow up around here?”
Wyatt hadn't really thought it out.
“I'm not sure yet. We'll have to do some planning. I'm not sure I want to carry sticks of dynamite across the mountain.”
“It's a great find, Wyatt. You too, Megan. You all did real good today,” the old man praised. “Now that everyone is back, Rosie, are we gonna eat? I'm starving!”
“Oh, relax. You been sitting there for an hour. We told you it wasn't ready yet,” Rosie scolded, bringing plates to the table.
“Willow, will you round everyone up while I get everything set up. We'll just set it up as a buffet. Everyone will have to find a place to sit.”
“Who's on guard?” Wyatt asked. He didn't want to take any risks. The last time they thought they could enjoy some time together with the entire group, it had gone very bad.
“Jack insisted,” Willow grumbled. “His leg is not getting any better, but he said he could sit and watch.”
Wyatt looked around the room to see who else was missing.
“Tara?” he asked.
It was Chase who came in from out back and confirmed his guess.
“She needed to do it,” Chase said with authority. “She has been feeling like a victim, understandably so. This will be good for her.”
Wyatt didn't say anything. He wasn't sure an injured Jack and a fragile Tara were the best security choices, but he would leave it be for now.
“Let's go wash up, Wyatt,” Megan said, grabbing his hand.
He followed her out the door. He knew she wanted to talk to him in private.
“What's up?”
“Is it safe to have Jack and Tara on watch?”
He grinned. They were on the same page.
“We need to make sure everyone feels valued. We'll let them do their part and then we will switch out the guard.”
She nodded in agreement.
The next hour was filled with a lot of laughter and conversation. Wyatt watched Megan as she made her way around the room, chatting with the new people. She spent some time with little Frankie. He could see she was naturally drawn to the little boy.
Wyatt stood against the wall, eating his pumpkin pie, watching the scene. It reminded him of Thanksgivings past.
His mom would always prepare a huge meal and invite people from the neighborhood, his friends and any other strays she could find.
This was a lot like those days.
Evan stood beside him, “It's nice, right?”
“What?”
“People talking and getting to know each other. Breaking down some of those walls. Megan seems to be opening up to the idea of us being here,” Evan stated.
Wyatt knew she had been standoffish in the beginning. It was no secret to them or the newcomers that she was not thrilled to have them at the lodge.
“She was worried. The episode with Kyle really made her gun shy. And then Earl. It took her a long time to warm up to us. Me even,” he said with such incredulity it made Evan burst out laughing.
“You! You don't say. I would have thought she would have fallen at your feet.”
“You know what I mean. Give it time. She'll end up embracing you all. I think once we take care of this other problem, all will mellow out. We can get through winter and figure out how we are going to go about building a community.”
Evan slapped him on the shoulder, “We will succeed. All of us have already lived some pretty rough stuff. We got this.”
The confidence in his voice was nice, but Wyatt wasn't all that convinced they would come out unscathed. He imagined there would be more losses before all of this was over.
He wasn't afraid to die. He had served several tours and just accepted death was an option. Not anymore. He wanted to live. He needed to live to keep Megan and Caitlin safe.
“You ready for bed?” Wyatt asked Megan.
She was standing against the wall next to him. She looked drain. Wyatt figured it was the socializing that wore her out than the physical labor of walking to the hunting cabin. She didn't seem to be a social butterfly.
“I am. I'm beat. Are we heading back to that cabin tomorrow?”
“Yep. We'll take Evan and Chase with us. Jackson and Jack can keep an eye on things here. Albert is going to be helping Brenda and Greg get those guns cleaned up and in working order.”
“Good. I feel better knowing everyone will have guns and if a retreat has to happen, the people here will know where to go. We need to use the compass tomorrow to give everyone an exact direction so they all know how to get there,” she said.
He nodded, “Good plan. We'll try and track how far it is so they will know if they are close.”
“How?” she asked.
“Ranger beads is really the only option. Hold on,” he said opening the dresser drawer and pulling out a leather strap with a row of beads on it.
“What is that?”
“These are ranger beads, a tool used by the Army to help with land navigation. They are very easy to use. They just aren't heard of much anymore since GPS was so much easier.”
She held the beads, rubbing them with her thumb.
“So, all of the beads are at the top. When we start walking, we count how many steps we take. An average guy takes about 60 steps to travel 100 meters. For every 60 steps, we pull a bead down. When we have pulled down 27 beads, we have traveled about a mile.”
She looked at the strand. “There are only 20 beads.”
He nodded, “When you pull them all down, you start over, remembering how far you have already traveled. You can determine the distance you want each bead to stand for. We can use yards or miles, but it gets tricky remembering to count, especially when we travel through rough terrain. Our steps aren't going to be quite the same compared to traveling on flat ground.”
Megan marveled the beads, “Well, at least it gives us an idea. We can have the kids make a set of these for every person here.”
Wyatt took the beads and put them on top of the dresser. It had been a really long time since he used the things. He had held on to them more for nostalgic purposes than to actually use them. He was glad he had them now though.
“Once they have them made, we will have everyone attach the strap to their pack or on their jacket. That's how we wore them in the field.”
Megan stood, kissed him and smiled, “You are full of surprises. Those are pretty clever. I can't wait to try them tomorrow.”
He laughed, “Don't thank me yet. Counting to 100 over and over gets kind of old. You have to stay focused or you will forget what you are doing. When you are all alone, thirsty or hungry, the beads are great because they give you something to focus on other than your misery.”
“I could see that. Well, thanks for showing me. Let's get some sleep.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
“Watch your step,” Megan instructed Caitlin. They had decided to take Caitlin and Ryland to the cabin. They wanted the kids to get an idea of where they would be running to should things go south.
The cabin didn't appear to hold any other bounty, but at least they had a point B to bug out to. The men were carrying the rifles and the dynamite, while Megan carried a container of the sugar. They figured they would leave some of the sugar at the cabin.
Wyatt explained he planned on dividing some of their food stores once all of this was behind them. He wasn't going to risk their main supply being raided again. He was convinced there would be others like McDaniels, but this time, they would be better prepared.
“Wyatt! Wyatt!” Rosie was shouting.
She was waiting outside the lodge as the group came from the west.
He picked up his pace and passed Caitlin and Megan who had been in front.
“What's up, mom? Is everything okay?”
Rosie was wringing her hands.
When the rest of the group caught up, Wyatt looked ashen. Rosie looked extremely distressed.
“What's wrong?” Megan asked, looking around to see if there were any signs of a recent attack.
She saw nothing.
“It's Greg,”Wyatt explained.
“What happened?” Evan asked.
“His heart. I guess he has been taking aspirin to hopefully head off a heart attack. He was on prescription meds before the EMP, but with no access, he has been relying on aspirin. It was all taken in the raid.”
Evan looked shocked.
“I had no idea. I just assumed he had a lot of headaches. There isn't any other aspirin around here?” he asked.
“I have looked high and low. We have ibuprofen, but it isn't the same. He needs the aspirin. He was walking out to the guard post today and began to have chest pains. It scared me to death!” Rosie explained.
Wyatt looked grim. That is all they needed. They couldn't afford to have such a solid guy go down. They needed him.
“We'll find some,” Megan said with intensity. “He will be fine. We can find aspiring, right Wyatt?”
Wyatt nodded, but she could tell he wasn't convinced.
They all walked back to the lodge. Greg was at the table with a couple of the rifles laid out.
“How you doing old man?” Evan asked.
Megan could see Evan was fond of the guy. They all were. He was one that had reached out to her early on and made her feel at ease. He was a good guy and she couldn't imagine him dying.
“Wyatt, can I talk to you for a minute?” she said gesturing towards the bedroom.
She shut the door behind him.
“We have to go now. We can't wait a week, Greg may die!” she hissed.
“Megan, we aren't ready,” he said in a voice meant to soothe her.
It incited her.
“You don't get to be ready. We are ready enough! If we wait a week, they may attack us, Greg may die or there may be a snowstorm. Why wait?”
She was surprised when he didn't immediately shoot down her demands.
“Okay. I'll talk to Evan, Jackson and Chase. If they think we are ready, we'll go tomorrow. That's the best we can do.”
Megan nodded. Too shocked to say anything.
He turned and left the room. She couldn't tell if he was mad or going into soldier mode.
Megan plopped down on the bed.
Duke jumped up and sat next to he
r, waiting for an ear rub.
“Am I being too hasty?” she asked the dog. “Am I actually ready to do this?”
A million throughts crossed her mind. What if they failed? What if she was injured or killed? What if Wyatt or any of the other men were hurt?
Her heart started to race and she found it difficult to take a breath. She sat on the bed, trying not to let a full blown panic attack overtake her.
Her vision started to blur.
“Just take a deep breath, relax.”
Jack's voice reached her just as she felt herself spinning into a black hole.
“There you go. Slow it down.”
He was rubbing her back. The weight of his body was pressed into her side. She leaned into it and let him support her.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
She nodded, “Yeah. That was kind of silly.”
“No, it wasn't. Wyatt told me you want to move up the plan. You are having doubts. It's normal. What we are about to do isn't going to be easy. It is dangerous and I think it is good you have a healthy amount of fear and trepidation about it.”
She smiled, “I definitely have that.”
“Good. I don't want to go into battle with someone who thinks they are invincible. That will get us all killed.”
She looked at him, “Are you sure you should go? You aren't looking so hot, Jack.”
He leaned back and laughed, “Thanks. I'm fine. Just a little fever. My body is fighting the infection. I'll be okay. No way am I letting you all go into battle without me.”
Megan looked at him. He didn't look fine. There was sweat on his brow. He didn't have a small fever. She could feel the heat radiating off of him. He looked pale, but if he insisted on going, she wasn't going to be able to stop him.
They sat there in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts.
Wyatt appeared in the doorway. Megan met his eyes.
“We need to talk.”
Jack stood. Megan could see his leg shaking. She met Wyatt's eyes. He also noticed Jack's leg.
“It's fine. A little weak, but fine. I just need to stay moving or it gets a little stiff. I'll leave you two alone.”
“No. We all need to talk. Everyone is anxious about the attack. We need to come up with a plan for there and here.”
EMP Lodge Series (Book 3): Dark Defiance Page 13
