“You did what?” Rosie asked in shock.
Megan shook her head, not wanting to get into the details of that very long story. She was reading the email over Brenda's shoulder. Neil was working with a much larger faction. She wasn't sure if he was the true leader. It appeared he was working for someone else.
Brenda was bobbing her head up and down. “I think we can do something. Let me do some digging.”
“We can stop it?” she asked, unsure if she was reading the email correctly. “There's a code to basically shut it off?” she asked again, wanting to clarify what she read.
Brenda nodded. “Looks to be that way. This computer is connected to a closed network. Only computers on this intranet can talk to one another.”
Rosie was shaking her head. “This is way beyond my understanding. I hated computers before, but I think I hate them more now.”
“We need to search this saferoom,” Megan said. “It's hard telling what other evil he was storing in here.”
Brenda stood, looked around the small area and barked out orders. “Rosie, you take the kitchen, Megan you take the living space and I'll search the desk. Remember, all the furniture in here will double as storage.”
The three women got busy. Rosie was opening cupboards and drawers while Megan pulled out the bed and searched inside the cushions. Brenda was on her hands and knees looking under the desk.
“I think I have something,” she said, pulling out one of the desk drawers.
Megan raised an eyebrow at her. She’d searched that drawer already. Brenda turned the drawer over and slammed it on the ground. The wood cracked. Brenda turned it over and a small cubby space at the back of the drawer was revealed. She pulled back the thin wood and pulled out a satellite phone.
Megan shook her head. “He was really paranoid.”
Brenda held the phone in her hand. “Now, who do we call?”
Rosie started to laugh. “I would start with 9-1-1.”
Brenda looked as if it was the dumbest idea in the world, but did it anyway. They all stared at her as she held the phone to her ear.
She shook her head. “Nothing's happening.”
It had been a long shot, they knew better.
“I want to go outside,” Caitlin said quietly.
Megan rushed to her side. “I bet you do. Come on, we'll wait—” she stopped when she saw the old hunting rifle leaning up against the wall. It was the gun she’d left with Wyatt in the cave.
“Brenda?”
“Hmm?”
“The gun. Where did you get that gun?” she asked, fighting back the anxiousness in her voice. She didn't want to alarm Rosie.
Brenda had gone back to the computer and was tapping on the keyboard. She turned to look at Megan and then the gun. She looked confused.
“The gun, Brenda! Where did you get that gun?” Megan screeched.
“Wyatt had it,” she said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
“You saw Wyatt?” she asked, no longer able to contain the excitement in her voice.
Brenda nodded. “Yes. I found him in pretty bad shape, crawling out of some cave. He was furious you left him behind, but that could have been the pain talking.”
“Is he alive?” Megan asked, not caring to hear a long story.
Rosie was holding her breath, her hands clasped together in a praying pose.
“Yes, of course. He's with the others. He wasn't exactly in any condition to go walking through the forest. He’d lost a lot of blood, but seemed to be recovering well when I left this morning,” she explained.
Megan couldn't contain the relief and joy she felt at hearing he was alive and recovering. She whooped with joy. Rosie had tears shimmering in her eyes. Megan quickly walked to her and gave her a hug.
Rosie looked at Brenda. “The others?” she questioned in a hopeful tone.
Brenda nodded, not giving any details. She looked at Megan for help.
Megan put an arm around Rosie's shoulders. “We should probably go outside and sit down. It's been a very busy couple weeks, Rosie.”
Megan watched the expression turn from one of hope and relief to one of pain. She knew they’d lost some of their friends. They slowly walked outside and Caitlin turned her face up to the morning sun.
“I'll clear the lodge,” Brenda said, grabbing a gun from one of the dead men, checking it for ammunition and heading inside. The woman knew her weapons and seemed to be very comfortable with the high-powered gun. Neil had taken a lot, but he was also leaving a lot. The guns were a huge bonus.
Megan knew that any of the men nearby wearing suits would be dead, but it was still necessary to check for any survivors. It was laughable that Neil had made their repossession of the lodge so easy by killing off his own army. His paranoia had made their lives a little easier.
She watched as Rosie and Caitlin wandered around the grounds, taking in all the new additions. She imagined they needed to stretch their legs, breathe in fresh air and enjoy the sun on their deprived skin. As she watched, she began to feel the effects of her fight with Neil. Standing felt like too much. Her legs were weak and shaking.
When Brenda came back out, she was dragging a body. Megan walked over to help her, praying for strength.
Brenda looked at her with that knowing eye. “There's a few more, but they aren't going to stink up the place yet. Go sit down, before you fall down. I'll drag the rest out and then we'll get you fixed up,” she said, heaving the body out the door.
Megan wanted to argue, but the last bit of adrenaline had left her body. She had nothing left. She walked inside the lodge, unsure of what to expect. It looked the same for the most part. There were various laptops on the kitchen counter and some new appliances, but the rest remained untouched. It surprised her how tidy the place was. She assumed bad guys would be slobs. Apparently, Neil ran a tight ship.
She slid into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and leaned forward, resting her head on the smooth surface. Caitlin and Rosie came in behind her. Rosie was making a clucking sound as she inspected her kitchen.
“Well, I suppose it could be worse,” she said, sighing heavily. “What is that noise?” she asked.
Megan strained her ears to listen, her mind on alert for any sounds of trouble. She started giggling when she realized what noise Rosie was hearing.
“Generators,” she answered.
Rosie was quiet for several minutes. Megan looked up to see her running her hand over the coffee maker that was plugged into the wall.
“They had electricity? We have electricity?” she mused.
Megan hadn't thought about it like that. She supposed they did. All of the upgrades Neil had made were now theirs. She thought about everything they’d been doing without. Neil hadn't been willing to rough it and had brought the lodge back into the twenty-first century. She tried to imagine how everything would be changed. It was too much for her brain to process in its currently muddled state. She'd deal with all of that later.
“I'm going to check my room,” Caitlin said, bounding up the stairs. Megan smiled as she watched her daughter do something she’d done countless times before. It felt as if the pieces of her life were falling back into place one at a time.
Brenda came back in, collected another body from Megan and Wyatt's room and began the arduous task of dragging him outside. Megan thought about going into her room, but not until she saw Wyatt walk through the door.
When Brenda came back in, Megan stopped her. “Where's the rest of the group? We need to let them know the coast is clear.”
“Jayden already knows. He was with me, but headed back once we saw you go into that steel box. He went back to the cove to get the rest,” she said nonchalantly.
Megan realized then, Brenda had counted on her killing Neil.
“How'd you know I would survive after I went in the saferoom with him?”
Brenda shrugged. “Because you don't give up.”
Megan eyed her. “Really? You weren't going to tr
y and get in to help me?”
Brenda leveled her gaze at her. “If he walked out of that door, I would’ve shot him dead, but I never once believed I’d have to do that. You're a strong, capable woman, Megan. I knew you’d kill him with your bare hands had it meant the difference between him living and your daughter's safety.”
Megan let the words sink in. She wanted to hug, Brenda, but knew the woman wouldn’t appreciate the show of affection. In her mind, it was black or white. There wasn't room for anything else.
“How are they going to get down here?” she asked.
“They'll walk. Slowly, but they'll make it,” Brenda said.
“Can they walk?” Megan asked in disbelief.
She shrugged. “Of course, they can. If there was another choice, then fine, but dragging them on stretchers doesn't make sense. Their injuries are relatively minor. I'll have a lot of patching up to do when they get here, but I'm not worried.”
Megan nodded her head. Brenda's very casual way of talking about men who’d been shot, walking down a mountainside seemed a little too laid back for her comfort, but she'd go with it. Brenda was the doctor after all.
Brenda glanced around the room. “I have one more and then we'll get to you.”
Megan had to fight back a laugh at how easy the woman spoke of disposing of dead bodies. She looked into the kitchen and watched her mother-in-law. It was comforting to see Rosie back in her environment.
She was opening cupboards and making sounds of awe and irritation. Rosie had left all the cupboard doors open. Each of the cupboards was stocked with various boxes, cans and bags of pasta. Megan was overwhelmed with how much food had been added to the typically bare cupboards.
“Wow,” she said, unsure what else to say. None of them had eaten properly in weeks and now, they were sitting in a house with electricity and stocked with food. It was such a completely different atmosphere it was hard to take in.
“You better believe I’m going to make a feast tonight! We’re going to celebrate our victory over evil once again with a meal fit for kings,” Rosie exclaimed. “I don't even know what I’ll do with electricity.”
Megan laughed. It was good to see Rosie happy. They’d all been through so much; it seemed surreal to be planning a feast. She gently put her head back on the table. Her head was throbbing and it hurt to hold it upright.
A noise drew her attention. She looked up to see Rosie walking towards her with a stack of towels and a bowl of what she presumed to be water. She pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, grabbing one of Megan's hands.
“Tell me, I need to know; how's JJ?” she whispered.
Megan smiled. “He’s well. The doctors at the NRU didn't get much time to give us a real diagnosis, but we do know it's a heart defect—a murmur, like Brenda suspected. Brenda is confident she can help manage it.”
Rosie breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank, God. I’ve been worried sick thinking about all of you. I was afraid to ask earlier. The last thing poor Caitlin needed was to hear more bad news.”
Megan looked away. Chase's death would be hard for Caitlin. He’d been like an uncle to her. She imagined Rosie would struggle as well.
“How are you, Rosie?” Megan asked with sincerity. “I have to thank you for keeping my little girl alive. I can't imagine what you two went through down there.”
Rosie smiled. “It was certainly challenging, but I can't think of anyone else I’d want to be trapped in a root cellar with.” She picked up one of the cloths, dipped it in the water and started to sponge away the blood from Megan's face. “Don't ask her to eat canned veggies ever again, though. She’ll probably vomit or throw them at you.”
Megan laughed. “I can only imagine. Canned veggies don’t make a meal.”
Rosie gently pulled the hair away from her face and clucked when she saw the injury.
“Don't tell me—I'm going to have a scar, right?”
Another laugh from Rosie. “I think so, but you can wear your hair down and it will cover it. So, tell me how this happened?” she asked, wiping away more blood.
Megan took a deep breath. “Oh, Rosie. It's a long story.”
“I have time, hon,” she replied.
Megan told her everything from the point of Wyatt getting shot until now. When she was finished, Rosie had tears streaming down her face.
“We're going to be okay, Rosie. The rest of the group will be here soon. Brenda will figure out a way to contact the government and this nightmare will be over. Who knows, maybe they'll even get the power restored and life will return to normal. At least a new normal,” Megan assured her.
Rosie was shaking her head. “It's all so much. I need to see my son and grandsons.”
“Soon, Rosie, soon,” Megan promised, determined to get them to the lodge tonight, even if she had to drag them down the mountainside herself.
27
Brenda put in the last stitch, closing the gaping wound on the side of Megan's head. She made her way into the bathroom to wash her face and to inspect the damage.
She peered at the mirror, looking at her reflection in the dim room. It was then she remembered they had electricity. She flipped the switch and flooded the room with light. She looked up, directly at the bulb before quickly looking away.
Once the spots cleared from her vision, she looked in the mirror again.
“Wow,” she breathed. She looked like hell. Her face was mottled with bruises, as were her arms and chest. The whites of her eyes were bloodshot. Brenda explained it wasn't the lack of sleep, but the choking at Neil's hands that had blown the blood vessels in her eyes. Her hair was sticky with blood. Her neck was a series of purple bruises. She shook her head, still not believing she’d managed to live through Neil's assault.
She did what she could to clean her face, realizing it would take more water to wash her hair. This would have to do for now. Caitlin had come down and was feasting on a variety of cookies and crackers that Rosie had found in the cupboards.
“I'm going outside,” she said, taking a plate full of goodies with her.
“Where's Brenda?” Megan asked, ready to go help the rest of the group down the mountain.
“She went back out to that saferoom. Said she had an idea,” Rosie said, wiping down the counters with a cleaning solution. “It may look clean, but those men, well, I don't want to eat anything off any surface they touched,” she said with disdain.
Megan smiled. Rosie's cleaning was the way she worked out her nervous anxiety.
“I'm going to see Brenda. You up to heading up the mountain to meet the others?” she asked.
Rosie dropped her sponge. “Oh! I thought you’d never ask. Yes! Let's go!”
Megan laughed at her enthusiasm. She felt the same way.
“I'll grab Caitlin and we'll see if Brenda wants to go,” Megan said, doing her best to walk out the door as if every step didn't cause her serious pain.
Brenda was walking towards her, satisfaction on her face. “I did it.”
“Did what?” Megan asked.
Brenda held up the phone. “I called General White.”
Megan shook her head in confusion. “You called who?”
Brenda grinned, the look taking Megan by surprise. “The general. One of the men I worked with many years ago. I saved his life in the field. We kept in touch. I used the phone to call his SAT phone and he actually answered.”
“Are you serious?” Megan exclaimed. “That’s incredible!”
Rosie joined them. “Did you tell him everything?”
Brenda shrugged. “No. Didn't have time. I gave him the code. Briefed him on Neil's plans and informed him there was a network of terrorists at work against the country. They're on it.”
“That’s amazing. I can’t believe there are people out there—with phones!” She laughed.
“They'll be sending an evac team at 0600 hours tomorrow,” Brenda said.
In unison, Rosie and Megan asked, “What?”
“We'll be picked up he
re tomorrow morning. Wyatt, Albert and Aiden will get the medical attention they need,” she explained.
“But, what about the lodge? Where do we go from here? This is our home,” Rosie protested.
Brenda looked at her as if she wasn't getting what she said. “It's over. The apocalypse is over,” she repeated.
Megan doubted that, but that was a problem for another day. Right now, she wanted to get to Wyatt. He needed to hear the good news.
“We'll talk on the way,” Megan said, gesturing Caitlin to join them.
“On the way?” Brenda asked.
“I'm going to get our family,” Megan said, heading up the hill. “Are they going to be coming down the normal path?” she asked, realizing they may have decided to take the long way around.
Brenda nodded. “Yes.”
With that, they all began the arduous climb. As they walked, Megan thought back to the many times she’d climbed this same path on the way to build the trench that saved the lodge. Rosie was peppering Brenda with questions about the future, but Megan had one focus. Get to Wyatt.
“Shh,” Megan ordered. “Take cover!” she hissed.
They all dashed off the beaten path into the thick trees. Megan's heart raced as she strained her ears. She’d heard men's voices. The belief their nightmare was over had been too good to be true. Snapping twigs and the thud of footsteps had her cursing herself for leaving the guns behind. It’d been stupid and naive!
“Well, they better not have eaten everything. I'm damn hungry,” a familiar voice cut through the quiet forest.
Megan's head dropped back as she looked to the sky, thanking her lucky stars. It was Albert. In typical Albert fashion, he was complaining.
Brenda had a small smile on her face as they all stood and headed towards the path.
“Hey! It's us!” Megan called out before adrenaline kicked in and gave her the burst of energy she needed to run up the hill.
There, in front of her was Wyatt, supported by Frankie. Jayden was supporting Aiden and between Tara and Amy, they were practically carrying Albert. Ryland stood out front, his rifle in his hands with Duke walking beside him while Willow followed in back, carrying JJ.
EMP Lodge Series Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 113
