There was no reason to think anyone in the helicopter was hostile—not yet, but he didn’t like be caught out on the open ice. Where would everyone else be? Hunter was checking his traps, and Joe, Jake, Steve and Mike had gone into town. They were looking for grain, but they were also planning on seeing if Mike and Steve’s friends were still around.
He and Sean raced as fast as possible on the slippery ice. He thought they may have made it unseen as the helicopter had come up more on the western side of the island. There was a chance they’d been hidden as they angled in, but now the helicopter was past and if they looked north as they turned east, they might spot Sean as he closed the final distance to where Cole stood. He hoped the shadows would hide them. From here, it was only a short hike back to the house.
Cole extended a hand, helping Sean over a boulder slick with snow. They had left everything except their weapons back on the ice, including their catch. It had been a good one too. Damn it. Hopefully they could return and get it once the threat was over.
Catching his breath as he decided the best course of action, Cole listened as the copter neared. The pitch changed and he realized the helicopter was hovering nearby. “Come on, Sean. We have to get back to the house.” He didn’t like that they’d have to cut through a meadow but it was either that, or take the route along the edge of the beach. Either would leave them fully exposed but there was no help for it.
Sean nodded darted across the meadow, Cole close on his heels as the helicopter hovered a hundred feet in the air just to his left. Maybe the low hover would keep Sean and him concealed by the top branches of the trees.
It was only a couple of hundred yards to the house, but wearing boots and slogging through thick, heavy snow made the distance seem twice as far. By the time they reached the first cabin, closest to them, but farthest from the house, Cole was breathing in great, gulping gasps, drowning out the sound of the helicopter, but he could feel it nearby. The whump of the rotors created a deep, thumping vibration in his chest.
Sean turned and said something to him, but Cole couldn’t hear him and shook his head. Then Sean pointed up. The helicopter was landing on the lake just west of their beach, if the beach wasn’t covered in ice and snow.
The rotors didn’t stop, but a door on the helicopter slid open and two men dressed in military camouflage flight suits jumped out, assault weapons in their hands.
Cole’s heart stopped for a half-beat before it zoomed into high gear and adrenaline flooded his veins. His desire to rush forward, shooting the intruders where they stood warred with his worry about the rest of his family. What if they were all within sight of the intruders?
Sean moved up to Cole’s side. “What do we do?”
Casting around for a plan, he spotted the large oil drum they’d turned into a barbecue grill. If he circled around the first three cabins, he could get them in his sights, and still be close enough to talk to them.
“You stay here if you can. Keep them in your line of sight. I’ll circle around to the barbecue. I want to see what they’re here for, but if they raise their weapons, fire. Got it?”
“Yeah.” Sean dropped to one knee, steadying his rifle through the crook of the tree they stood beside.
Cole circled back through the trees and around and behind the barbecue. He kicked himself for leaving the women alone. They were more than competent, but had the kids to think about too, and Sophie’s pregnancy wasn’t an easy one. She wasn’t going to be able to flee if she needed to.
He should have waited to fish until Hunter returned, or had Hunter wait until they returned. But, it wasn’t often, if ever, that all of the men were away at one time and it hadn’t occurred to him. From now on, he’d set limits on how many people were away at one time.
After a lifetime lived in relative safety, he’d had to change his whole way of thinking in the last year. He had to get better at looking at situations that could arise—situations he’d never even imagined prior to the last year.
He had factored in the only survivors who were close at hand, but had figured they were the ones the other men had gone to see so there could be no danger from them. He hadn’t foreseen a damn helicopter.
Keeping a low profile, he watched as the invaders stood wary, their weapons ready. What the hell did they want? They couldn’t be looking for supplies. There was a whole world out there ready to be scavenged. Nobody needed the relatively little they had stored on the island.
The rotors slowed and another man disembarked. He wore a flight suit, but his was dark blue. He carried no weapon that Cole could see.
After a moment of looking around, his eyes lingering on makeshift barn, he headed towards the house. He didn’t need a map to show him which building was the main one—dingy, well-trodden paths led from the house before diverging to different areas. Before he got more than a dozen feet, Cole called out.
“Stop!”
The men halted, the armed invaders raising their guns slightly and Cole cringed, anticipating a shot from his brother. He let out a breath when his brother held his fire. For now.
The invader in dark blue stepped out in front of the other two. “We don’t mean anyone any harm.”
“What are you here for? State your business!”
Pinpointing Cole’s location, the man turned towards him, lifting his hands to show they were empty, not that it mattered because his companions were heavily armed. “I’m looking for a man named Cole Evans. Have you heard of him?”
Chapter Nine
Stunned, Cole didn’t reply for a minute. Who they hell would be looking for him? “What do you want with him?”
“It’s complicated. Do you know him? Can we talk about this instead of shouting across a hundred feet?”
“No! We never heard of this Cole-guy so you can hop your ass back onto that helicopter and take your buddies with you. Go on. Get out of here!” Whatever they wanted, Cole wasn’t interested in hearing it. The military hadn’t been around to help when things had become bad and he and his family didn’t need them now.
The man said something quietly to the armed men. There seemed to be some kind of argument before the armed men appeared to grudgingly retreat to the aircraft, but they remained armed and remained a threat.
The other man took a few more steps forward, something in the house catching his attention for a brief instance, before he looked in Cole’s direction again. “I understand your reluctance. These are scary times. I only want to talk. I can offer information on what the government is doing to help.”
“Government? You mean we still have one? Because we haven’t seen evidence of one in almost a year.” Cole’s finger twitched on the trigger as his anger about the lack of help surged through him.
“Yes, we do, although you’re right, it has been hard hit by the virus, the same as everyone else.” He gestured to the house. “Can’t we talk inside? I really can’t leave until I talk to someone.”
“Can’t leave or won’t leave?” He didn’t care for the implied threat.
The man shook his head. “I’m afraid my orders are to find this Cole Evans.”
“He’s probably dead. Everyone else is.”
“You’re not.”
Cole froze at the comment. Did he know Cole’s identity? Or was he just pointing out that Cole, just some man he was talking to, wasn’t dead. His instincts were to get rid of this guy but curiosity about why they wanted him prodded him to respond, “What happens if you find this man?”
“I just want to ask him some questions. I’m not looking to hurt anyone. In fact, our goal is to help everyone.”
Cole didn’t buy the nice guy act, but if this government agent, or whatever he was, was looking for him, chances are, there was someone higher up who had given the order to find him. Putting this guy off wouldn’t put an end to a search. Only drastic measures might do that, and Cole wasn’t ready to kill someone in cold blood. But, if he talked to the man and found out what he wanted with him, without letting on that he was Co
le Evans, it might set his mind at ease.
He shifted, his legs cramping as he crouched behind the barbecue. Bringing the guy into the main house wasn’t a consideration. He glanced at the door of this cabin. It was the one Joe and Jake lived in but neither were on the island right now. The fire in the stove would probably be banked though, and the room would be warm.
Before Cole could do anything, he needed to make sure the others knew what was going on. To do that, he needed to get to the house. He could go behind the houses and in the back door, but he needed to make sure this guy wouldn’t pull anything while he updated Elly and the others.
“Give me five minutes. Don’t move a muscle.” Cole raced around to Sean, gave him the rundown.
“Do you want me out here? Or in with you?”
Cole shook his head. “I need you to keep an eye on those two. I wish we had the radios—”
“I can whistle if they try anything—just before I shoot.”
Sean had a good strong whistle he managed without using his hands. Cole had to use two fingers to achieve the same volume. He nodded. “Perfect. I’m going to run and tell Elly what’s going on so she doesn’t wonder.”
Keeping out of sight as much as he could, Cole made his way to the house, going to the back door, only to find it locked.
Before he could knock, Jenna shouted at him to get back or she’d shoot.
“Damn it, Jenna. Open up. It’s me!”
She peeked out of the small window before unlocking the door. “Well how was I supposed to know? I have the kids back here ready to escape.”
Cole nodded to Sophie, who held a child by each hand. All were bundled with backpacks. “Good thinking. Where’s Elly and Piper?”
“Elly’s guarding the front door, and Hunter and Piper are out there somewhere. I heard you talking, so I hope they heard too. They should have, if they stayed close.”
Cole thought for a second. It wasn’t ideal to have them out there, but then again, they were well hidden and having more eyes on the invaders, guarding from the outside, made him feel better. “Okay. I’m going to talk to the guy who seems to be their leader. I’ll bring him into Joe’s cabin. I’d send him away, but I think it would be good to know why they’re looking specifically for me.”
Elly shook her head. “I don’t like this, Cole. What if they want to kill you?”
“I thought of that, but why me, specifically? I’m no threat to anyone. They didn’t need to come all the way out here to kill me. No, they’re looking for me for some reason. They went to the trouble of finding out that I own this island. That information was only in a few records that I know of since I only got it the year before the virus hit.”
Elly bit her lip, glancing at the helicopter outside. “Yeah, I guess…but dammit, they’re scaring me.”
“I’m a bit scared too, but I’ll be fine and with Hunter, Sean, and Piper out there, and you and Jenna in here, armed and dangerous…” he smiled to try to lighten the mood, but Elly wasn’t having it, and he sobered quickly, and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, gently pulling her forehead to his lips. “It’ll be okay. You’ll hear if there’s any shooting. Do what you think is best.”
“Jenna will run with the kids to the hickory grove. If we have to flee, that’s where we’ll go first.”
“Good plan. The forest is thick there, and there’s enough undergrowth to build a shelter.”
She nodded. “Yeah. And we’ll do our best to cover our trail.”
He gave her another quick kiss, this time on the lips, then dashed out the back door, stopping only to grab a mask from the store of them they kept in the pantry. He grabbed an extra for the invader. He wasn’t sure why he thought of him with that name, but it’s what popped into his mind. Invader. Their sanctuary was now known, and who knew if the helicopter had been able to transmit by radio to let others know that the island was occupied.
Chapter Ten
Before he returned to the Joe’s cabin, he ran past it and around to Sean’s spot amongst the tree’s to let him know that Hunter and Piper out there somewhere. He didn’t want them getting shot accidentally.
By the time he made it back to Joe’s cabin, sweat traced a path down the back of his neck into his parka. He saw the leader, huddled and shivering near the helicopter and smiled. The guy would be thinking about the cold and getting warm for the first few minutes. It would give him a moment to study the other man up close.
Cole stepped out from behind the barbecue grill. He didn’t hide his rifle, but he did try to appear non-threatening. “Come on over. We’ll talk in here.”
The man looked surprised and glanced at the main house. Clearly, he’d thought that’s where they would go, but he shrugged and approached.
Donning a mask, Cole handed the man one when he arrived, but the man shook his head. “No thanks.”
Dumb-founded at the refusal, Cole stood with the mask dangling from his fingers for a few seconds before he shoved it at the man. “Wear it, or leave.”
Chuckling, the man shook his head, but took the mask, tying it around the back of his head. “Really, there’s no need.”
Ignoring his comment, Cole motioned to the porch rail. “Put your hands on it, and spread your legs.”
The man did as he was told, but fumed, “Really? You’re searching me for weapons? What about you? You’re carrying openly.”
“Yeah, well it’s my—”He was about to say ‘island’ but cut it short just in time. Or he thought he had until the other man finished for him, “…island?”
Not responding and finding the man free of weapons, Cole gestured to the door of the cabin. “After you.” He wasn’t about to turn his back on this guy to enter the house.
Cole directed the man to sit while he added more wood to the fire. As he’d expected, Joe had left it banked. Crossing his arms, he stood at the end of the table where he could see both his ‘guest’ and through the window, and out to the henchmen standing at attention by the helicopter, seemingly impervious to the cold.
“So, who are you and what are you doing here?” There was no need to beat around the bush and pretend to exchange niceties.
The man’s eyes widened briefly before he nodded. “Fine. I’ll get to the point. I’m Pete Holland. Several years ago, I was assigned to the bio lab at Aislado Island—maybe you remember me?”
Cole tried to school his face to show no reaction—obviously Pete wasn’t fooled by Cole’s claims to have never heard of Cole Evans, but he refused to admit anything to this man. Not yet. Pete studied his face, searching for signs of recognition from Cole and apparently not seeing any, shrugged and continued, “There’s no real reason you’d remember me although I do recall seeing you around. I also read your report about the work we were doing out there. You were right, you know. We should have destroyed the virus right then, but, anyway, we can’t go back in time.”
“What does any of this have to do with here and now?” Now wasn’t the time to gloat and say, ‘I told you so’.
“Bear with me. I am ashamed to admit that at the time of the outbreak, I realized what was going on a day or so before anyone else. My first instinct was to flee, and damn it, I tried like hell to get off the island, but there weren’t any seats available.” He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “That probably saved my life, now that I think about. Those flights would have been hot incubators of the virus and every passenger who got off a vector.” He waved a hand. “Whatever. I did the next best thing—I stocked up on food, water, and other supplies, and took off for the opposite side of the island.”
Cole remembered that hardly anyone lived on that side. It was arid with very little rainfall compared to the lush, tropical side of the island the base was on. A large, dormant volcano rose up from the middle of the island which disrupted the winds and causing the discrepancy in moisture. He’d driven around the volcano once, but the roads were narrow, and twisted with barely any shoulder. It had been a white-knuckle drive and he’d only done it the
one time. He supposed if, given a heads up, it would have been a suitable refuge. But that didn’t excuse that Pete had fled instead of trying to help stop the pandemic.
His disgust must have shown in his eyes, because Pete said, “I understand your revulsion. Believe me, it’s not my proudest moment, but there was nothing I could do by then. Too many people had already spread the virus beyond the island. I did what I could. I had a few other guys from the base, and we managed to survive on our supplies and turtles, crabs, and fish. It was tempting to stay there longer, but we had to know.”
“Had to know…?”
Pete rubbed his eyes with the thumb and fingers of his right hand and his voice caught as he went on, “We had to know if anyone else on the island survived.” He raised his gaze and shook his head, giving Cole the answer.
“That’s rough. We know how you feel, although we have found other survivors in the area. One group was…let’s just say, they were bizarre and a bit scary.”
Pete drew a deep breath. “Yeah, I found some crazies in D.C. too, when we finally made it there. But, when we came out, I went back to the lab and tried to find anything I could to help me understand what had happened. One of the records I came across listed you as having been ill the year or so before.”
Cole blinked. “And…?”
Pete leaned forward. “I think you were patient zero.”
Cole knew exactly what that meant. That he had been the first victim of the disease, but that couldn’t be because he was just fine and his symptoms when he’d been ill on the island hadn’t been the same as those who had Sympatico Syndrome. “I don’t buy it. I had a bad strep pneumonia.”
“That’s what they told you then. What were they going to say?” He made air quotes, adopting a falsetto as he said, “Whoops, we accidentally let our experimental virus escape the lab?”
Cole took a step back, his mind also retreating to that time. He’d been so sick he barely remembered anything about it. He seemed to recall them giving him clotting factor and had assumed he’d developed DIC, a bleeding disorder that sometimes occurred as a side effect of infections.
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