Lauren shook her head in refusal. “No. We can eat together when we find a place to sack out for the night.”
“But I’m hungry right now,” Austin said, rubbing his stomach through his jacket. “Can’t we just have a snack? Jerky or something?”
“We need to make our decisions for the long haul. We’ve only started the trip, and we have a long way to go. It’s imperative for both of us to conserve our energy and our food. If we snack while we walk, it’ll be gone before we know it. So the answer is no.”
“Okay, fine. Whatever, boss lady. You have all the food and all the guns, so I guess you’re in charge for now. All I wanted was something to munch on…I haven’t eaten anything all day. Guess that’s too much to ask.”
Lauren pushed her rifle to her side. She put a knee down and tugged on a short, leafy sapling with a trilobed leaf pattern. Uprooting it, she turned to Austin, handing it to him.
“What the hell is this?”
Lauren tilted her head. “Okay, Mr. Hunter. You’ve lived in the woods all your life, but you don’t know what this is?”
“I know it’s a bush or a baby tree…and the leaves look like a dinosaur’s foot.”
“Brilliant,” Lauren hissed. “That’s it. You figured it out. It’s a dinosaur tree.”
Austin squinted. “Really?”
Lauren blinked, grinning slightly. “No, jerkoff. It’s sassafras.”
“Okay, yeah. Sassafras. What do you want me to do with it?”
“You said you wanted a snack.” Lauren pointed to his mouth. “Eat it.”
Austin sneered at her. “You want me to eat a tree?”
“The roots are delicious, and the leaves aren’t bad either. You can eat them raw or just chew on them. They contain calories and can give you energy, but I’ve found them to have a sedating effect—I’m kind of hoping they’ll have the same effect on you, and maybe you’ll stop being such a chatty cathy.”
Austin brushed the dirt from the roots and sniffed them. “Smells really good. You sure you can eat it?”
Lauren pulled the plant away from Austin’s face, broke a piece of the root off, and popped it between her teeth. “I’m sure. Stick with the lighter shaded parts, though, they’re less bitter.” She turned her back to him and walked off, pointing to a patch of flowing grass with sporadically growing miniature yellow flowers. “There’s some wood sorrel, or sour grass, over there and a couple of patches of clover. They look a lot alike, but they’re equally edible, if you prefer something more…vegetarian.”
Austin reluctantly bit into the sassafras root after breaking off the plant’s leafy stem and soon found he admired the flavor. “This isn’t bad. Tastes like root beer, sort of.”
“They used to make root beer with it until the government banned it, saying the oil in it causes cancer, even though science proved otherwise,” Lauren said. “Yet another one of nature’s gifts rumored to be detrimental, when nothing could be further from the truth.” She pointed to a tree with shelves of orange fungus growing on its bark. “That’s sulphur shelf over there. Most people call it ‘chicken of the woods’ because of its taste. I see it everywhere this time of year, mostly on oak trees. We might come across lion’s mane or even honey mushrooms—if we do, I’ll grab them. They’re delicious and we can eat all of them—just have to cook them first. Mushrooms can be pretty hard on your stomach when eaten raw.”
The young man continued gnawing on the sassafras root with a contented look on his face. “You know a lot of stuff, don’t you? Guess you’re like a genius or something.”
“It didn’t happen overnight. I spent a lot of time walking around in the woods—long before I ever actually lived in them.” Lauren’s expression softened, showing her appreciation for the young man’s attempt at a compliment. “There’s plenty of food we can forage, and it’ll go a long way to supplement our rations, but don’t eat anything without letting me see it first. The right plants and mushrooms can keep us alive, but the wrong ones can kill you.”
Twilight having turned into nightfall, the time had come to find a suitable place to camp for the night. Lauren had mulled over continuing on in the dark, but decided against it. She had two Petzl Zipka LED headlamps in her pack, along with extra sets of batteries for each, but didn’t want to chance using them, figuring even the slightest illumination added to the darkness of the forest would be effortless to spot for anyone pursuing them.
She chose a site on high ground just below the peak of the mountain, in an area that could not only provide them with concealment, but with overwatch as well. Tomorrow, they would crest the peak and descend steeply into an area known as the Trough, a constricted valley where the South Branch Potomac River and a scenic railroad meandered through, paralleling each other without leaving much room for any other real estate. Once there, they would treat and refill their water supply, fish for food, and use the river and train tracks as a guide southward to what they hoped would be less varying terrain.
“It’s way colder up here than it was in the hollow,” Austin said, his breath condensing into a fog. “You sure you want to camp here?”
Lauren nodded, allowing her pack to slide from her sore shoulders to the ground. “I’m positive. We don’t have a choice right now. We need the high ground so we can see what’s coming.” She began pulling her cooking and sleeping gear from her pack, arranging them neatly on the ground adjacent to where she’d placed her rifle.
Austin turned and knelt to the ground and started to gather up twigs and sticks. “I guess we can get a fire going to stay warm, then.”
“Uh-uh. No fires.”
“What? How are we supposed to stay warm? Without a fire, the answer is we won’t. And we won’t be able to cook anything, either. Sometimes you seem like a smart person, but other times, I really don’t understand you.”
“You know what, Austin? The feeling is mutual—I don’t understand you. If we start a fire, we put ourselves on the radar. A fire can be seen from a long way out in the dark—and the smell of wood smoke travels for miles in cold air. If those men see a fire or smell smoke, they’ll know right where we are. So I’m sorry. No fires.”
Austin stomped off defiantly, finding even larger sticks to gather. “You know—last time I checked, I’m older than you and I’m bigger than you. So why do you get to make all the decisions?”
Lauren sighed loudly, her irritation building. “Because I’m the one trying desperately not to get us killed. Please put down the sticks.”
“Whatever. This is bullshit,” Austin griped. He began tossing each stick he’d gathered, one by one into the trees with increasing vigor.
“You’re right. It is. Because it’s almost like you want us to get caught. And that is bullshit,” Lauren scolded him.
“I don’t want us to get caught.”
“You behave like you do. Look at yourself now—this temper tantrum of yours—throwing sticks into the woods like some child who got his favorite toy taken away. Do you hear the racket it’s making? Because I do, and so would anyone else within earshot.” Lauren rose and put one hand to her hip while the other motioned passionately. “You’ve argued with me about everything, every step of the way, so far. You insist on taking breaks when all I want to do is gain distance from those assholes back there. When it’s far better to keep quiet and not be heard, you’re constantly and needlessly making a commotion—like you have diarrhea of the mouth. And if that affliction wasn’t bad enough, it’s those huge feet of yours swishing through the leaves like a damn snowplow. Seriously—were you absent the day they taught common sense in school?”
Austin Brady turned his head away. He hesitated, and his tone fell flat. “I never went to school. I mean, I never went to public school, anyway. Grandma Liz homeschooled us. Taught us all everything, even taught me how to read, barely. I’ve never been very smart, always struggled with a lot of stuff, and I guess that’s my fault. If I don’t have any common sense, I guess you can blame me or maybe blame my grandma for not
teaching me, if you want.”
Despite the level of hostility she’d reached, Lauren felt appalled for shooting her mouth off in the manner in which she had. “I guess that was kind of harsh. I’m sorry.”
“Harsh? You’ve been harsh to me ever since we left,” Austin barked. “And personally, I don’t think I’ve done anything to deserve any of it.”
“Austin, I said I was sorry, and I meant it. But I’m not going to spend the next several days with you, apologizing for everything that comes out of my mouth. I promise you, I’m really not trying to be a bitch; this is just me attempting to sort through everything that’s happened. This wasn’t supposed to happen today—we weren’t supposed to be in this predicament. I’m just stressing—and trying to make all the right moves, because one wrong move could mean those men finding us. And trust me when I say this—if that happens, it is over for you and for me.”
“All I’m trying to do is help you.”
“And ironically, all you’re accomplishing is the exact opposite,” Lauren quipped. “Look, if you want to be in charge, be in charge. If you want to take on the responsibility of getting us home, be my guest, lead the way. Only, I don’t think you’ll get us there. I think you’ll get us lost or possibly even killed. And I think you know it, too.”
Austin shrugged and fidgeted. “Whatever.”
Lauren sighed. “Look. I’m going to do this with or without your help. I’d much rather you help me than fight me tooth and nail. I don’t have enough energy to deal with that—along with everything else.”
The young man glanced over calmly from the corner of his eye. “Fine. What do you want me to do, then?”
Lauren sighed. “Well, first off—I need you to stop being such a child. You need to un-fuck yourself and take some responsibility for your actions. You have to start manning up.”
“What?”
“Your dad isn’t here to do things for you anymore. Just like mine,” Lauren said. “For most of my life, I had him standing beside me and protecting me, and then one day, he was gone—just like that. I had to learn how to live without him. Now you’re going to have to do the same.”
Austin appeared as though he would cry, but somehow managed to hold back his tears. “I guess you’re right—again,” he droned. “And I guess I’m sorry—for being a pain in the butt. It’s just that, it’s cold out here—really cold. And I don’t want to freeze to death tonight when the wind picks up. This time of year, it can get down in the twenties on a hill like this.”
Lauren thought for a moment, realizing her companion had a point. She looked to the cobalt-blue-colored bundle that made up her Marmot Ion down sleeping bag and the waterproof dry sack she had just removed it from. She stuffed it back into the bag indiscriminately and tossed it to Austin, where it landed near his feet. “You can use my sleeping bag tonight. I can guarantee it will keep you from freezing.”
Austin picked up the package and studied it like it was something he had never seen before. “You’re giving me your sleeping bag? Okay, you lost me again. I won’t freeze, but now you will.”
“I am not going to freeze.”
“How? Wait—are you and I going to use your sleeping bag…together?” he asked, grinning coyly.
Lauren snickered. “Not hardly. No, you’re going to use my sleeping bag, and I’m going to make a bed out of leaves.”
“Leaves?”
Lauren nodded. “They make a great insulator—not to mention a fluffy pillow.”
“How the hell are leaves going to keep you warm?”
“Fallen leaves are in a constant state of decomposition. Decaying organic matter equals heat. Ever put your hand near a compost?”
The young man nodded, his interest showing. “Yeah, I have. It gets pretty warm.”
“And that’s why I won’t freeze to death tonight.”
“See—I knew it. You are a genius or something,” said Austin, who had extricated Lauren’s sleeping bag and was now looking it over curiously. “But if you decide you want to sleep in this thing with me, I’m okay with it. Just—putting it out there.”
Lauren smiled and dismissed the boy’s attempts at flirting with her. She set up her camp stove by mating it with a canister of fuel, and then poured an ample amount of water into a pint-sized cook pot, placing it on top of the stove. She lit the stove and then slid her legs from underneath her, planting her backside on the ground, soon feeling its complete lack of warmth penetrate her clothes.
The two ate dinner together, comprised of two packets of freeze-dried backpacking meals from Lauren’s stock. Neither said much until after the meal, which their appetites made quick work of.
“We’re going to need to sleep in shifts tonight,” Lauren said.
“Shifts?”
“Yes. One of us can rest while the other stays up and keeps an eye on things.” Lauren looked Austin over. “How tired are you?”
“I’m not tired at all. I should be, but I’m not,” Austin said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I promise.”
“You want to take the first watch, then?”
Austin nodded. “I think I can handle that. Maybe it’ll help me ‘un-fuck’ myself,” he said, finishing with a grin.
Lauren reached for her rifle, stood and then approached him. “Maybe this will help, too. Do you know how to shoot one of these?”
Austin gazed over the suppressed M4. “I think so. I’ve fired one before a few times, but that one looks a little more complicated.”
“It’s not complicated. The can on the barrel suppresses the report—makes it shoot quieter. The biggest difference, though, is the action.” She pointed to the selector switch. “This isn’t just a safety—it also switches the rifle from semi to full auto. I assume you’re right-handed?”
Austin nodded.
“Okay. To take the safety off, you’ll use your thumb to snap the lever from the safe position downward to the semiauto position. To put it back on safe, use the top of your thumb to snap it up and to the rear, like this.” She paused, taking a moment to put her words into actions. “If you snap the lever twice and the handle points forward, you’ll be in full-auto mode, and we don’t want that.”
Austin scrunched his face. “Why? Why don’t we want that?”
“Seven hundred fifty to nine hundred rounds per minute is why,” explained Lauren. “At that rate of fire, you’ll empty the mag in a few seconds, and ammo is precious in our current situation. It has to last us a while.”
Lauren handed Austin her M4 and stood by as he ogled it. She watched how he handled the rifle, paying special attention to his trigger discipline. Once satisfied he wouldn’t shoot her or himself, either on purpose or inadvertently, she handed him the spare magazines from her pocket and walked off to gather leaves into a pile under the barely lit night sky.
After she’d dumped a layer of leaves onto the ground to insulate her body from it, Lauren stretched out on top of the makeshift sleeping pad and pushed together another pile to act as a pillow for her weary head. She scooped at another large mound behind her and covered her body uniformly, as a blanket would. It wasn’t long before she began to feel warm underneath.
“Wake me up in two hours, or as soon as you feel yourself getting tired,” Lauren said. “Don’t fall asleep unless I’m awake, got it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After several minutes of silence that Lauren thought too good to be true, she allowed herself to begin dozing off. Her companion, in true fashion, put an end to her devices.
“You know, I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”
Lauren sighed. She opened and then rolled her eyes. Here we go again.
Austin hesitated. “I’ve tried a couple of times with a couple of girls, but they just acted strange to me, so it never worked out. Dad told me that women can be a little crazy sometimes and that it really wasn’t that big a deal. So I decided that having a girlfriend just wasn’t for me. I’m young now and I figure I’ll worry ab
out that stuff when I’m older.” He paused for a long moment. “If I ever decided to change my mind, though, you know—and I actually wanted a girlfriend…I think I’d want her to be just like you.”
Lauren smiled at the tribute and was rewarded with several more minutes of blissful tranquility. But just as she started to doze off again, Austin posed an awkward question.
“So how serious is this thing between you and John?”
Lauren didn’t answer. She rolled her eyes again and did her best to tune out his droning on, which continued well into the night in spite of her lack of responses. At least it wasn’t nearly so loud as it had been earlier on.
Right before she fell asleep, Lauren thought that maybe, so long as he was talking, he would remain awake, possibly even alert. If awake and alert, he would be able to maintain some semblance of a watch. And that meant she might actually be able to sleep without keeping one of her eyes open tonight. Or for the next couple of hours, at the very least.
Chapter 24
Point Blank Weapons Training Center
Capon Bridge, West Virginia
Approximately two years before present day
Having no idea what she needed to bring along with her today, Lauren had brought everything. She lugged all her gear along, including her rifle, two sidearms, ammunition, a backpack full of clothing and gear, and a duffle bag of assorted supplies.
Lauren had been instructed by Dave Graham to hike over to a remote region of Point Blank, unofficially referred to as the ‘back forty’, an area mostly used for primitive camping and hunting when the season rolled around. Upon her arrival, she could see where vehicle tracks had pushed the tall grass down recently, and let her backpack fall to the ground behind her in disgust. “Well, isn’t that special. They got to drive in, and I had to walk a mile with all this crap on my back like a Sherpa.” She sighed. “Awesome.”
After taking a moment to rest and heal her wounds, she gathered up her things and continued. Once within visual range, she saw the muscular, yet short-statured Woo Tang standing in between two tables he had stood up next to his truck. There wasn’t much strewn about by way of gear that she could see, but the sun was reflecting off a number of shiny metallic objects organized on the tabletops.
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