Dead Reckoning (40 page)

I thought about all the women in my life. The only ones who had escaped that fate, as far as I knew, were Brenda and her daughters.

“A fourth man was still inside the building,” Sean continued. “He came out after we took down the other three. We immediately snuffed him out and moved in. The girls were terrified at first, of course, and we found their mother inside—equally terrified. Once we calmed them down and explained the situation to them, they gladly came with us. They’ve been in camp ever since and are quite helpful.”

I thought about the women in the van back on state route 525 on Whidbey. I hoped they had fared as well, but I feared not. I reminded myself that I couldn’t save the world.

“That is not an isolated incident,” I said. “Trust me.”

Sean nodded. “I think we’re just the most sensitive to the plight of the women. Plenty of men are being killed and tortured too. Cannibalism is starting. It’s only going to get worse, I think.”

I rested my head in my hands. Sean put his hand on my shoulder.

“I think there are a fair amount of us out there too,” Sean consoled. “We’ve been in contact with some not too far from here. It’ll be ok, eventually.”

“So what’s the rest of your plan?” asked Josh. Even though he was still a little sore from the takedown, I could tell he was warming up to Sean and his men. They were just his sort of thing.

“Well, we’re starting over, right up there. Sean motioned back up the hill.”

“We’ve got food for years and water is never an issue in these parts. We have enough fuel to keep our generators running through the winter.”

It suddenly dawned on me that they had power, but I never heard any generators running at all.

“We’ve already got our engineers working on geothermal power for when the fuel runs out.”

“Geothermal?” I questioned.

“Yep. Remember the hot springs?” He said. “How long did it take us to learn not to go in there drunk?” Sean laughed. I felt like smiling, but didn’t.

“Anyway, it’s an unlimited source, and it doesn’t depend on anything else,” he continued.

“What about wind?” Josh asked.

“Too conspicuous,” countered Sean. “A wind turbine big enough for our needs would attract attention. It would be visible for miles.”

“How about hydro on the river?”

“It will be frozen solid this winter and may take years to thaw. We can’t count on running water for a while. We’ll work on that when it becomes available again. In the meantime, the spring will provide what we need. We are
already setting up another village closer to the spring. It will be a long winter, and our sources tell us that it will probably last a couple of years. But we plan to come out the other side, and then we are home free.”

“How about defenses?” asked
Josh.

“There is only one way into this valley and you found it. We could defend that entrance from the Red Army if we needed to. And you can help,” Sean said, pointing to Josh.

Josh sat up a little straighter in his seat.

“We monitor the canyon and the surrounding towns and countryside twenty-four seven. You’ve been introduced to our men. Nobody is going to breach our perimeter.”

Josh and I nodded.

“It looks like you’ve thought of everything,” I said.

“Surely not!” Sean countered. “But every person we bring on thinks of something new and we get that much closer.”

I asked Sean what had gone on around the world. I knew he would know better than anyone.

“It’s bad,” he said. “Everybody started shooting at everybody else and it just went downhill from there. We didn’t get nuked up here, but other parts of the country were hit hard: Cheyenne Mountain, DC, all the silos in Montana and the Dakotas. We’re out of business. It’s not just us either, the whole world is dark. We bombed ourselves back to the Stone Age. I’ll fill you in later, but whatever you’ve heard, it’s worse than that.”

We suddenly burst from the woods and squealed out onto highway 101, westbound.

A few quiet miles later, we came to a stop in front of the alcove.

The night was as dark as ever, and thick trees obscured the water. I stepped out of the Humvee and walked through the strip of woods to the water's edge. I gave the pre-arranged signal of three short whistles, two short whistles, and one long whistle. No reply.

The quiet night should have permitted them to hear the signal. Maybe they heard the vehicles approach and were scared. I signaled again, this time as loud as I could whistle. Still no response.

Sean crept up and stood next to me.

“I'll have to walk around the shore and get closer,” I told him. “They're anchored over there.” I pointed toward the left.

Sean and I walked along the shore, and I repeated the signal several more times.

“Damn!” I lamented under my breath.

“Maybe they moved to the other side,” I whispered to Sean.

Sean sighed.

“Hold on a sec.”

Sean spoke into his mic: “Team, need location on the boat in the bay. Over.”

“Sorry sir, can't see through the foliage,” came the reply.

“Shit.”

“I don't like to use any light when I'm out at night,” Sean said. “But we can briefly light up the bay to see where they are.”

We crept through the trees and knelt down behind a log near the water’s edge.

“Get down over there,” Sean whispered as he motioned to his left. “I doubt anyone is out here, but if someone is going to shoot, they'll shoot at the light. It's best not to be behind it.”

He crawled about ten feet to my right and set his light up on the log.

“I'll scan the bay, you look,” he said.

“Copy,” I said.

He switched on the light and started to scan the bay.

He swept back and forth across the several-hundred-yard-wide bay. Nothing. The RY was gone.

“It's not there,” I said.

“Are you sure this is the right one?” he asked. “There are dozens of these.”

“I'm sure,” I said, dejected.

“Secure the perimeter,” Sean said into his radio. “We need to have a look around.”

On cue, motors started, and vehicles rolled out.

In a minute, the reply came back: “perimeter secure.”

“Can you see the bay now?” he asked into the radio.

“Roger. Empty,” the soldier said, anticipating Sean's next question.

Sean flipped on his light and stood up. He began to scan the ground. He ordered two other men to do the same. Three lights pierced the darkness scanning the ground around the bay for clues.

It took less than five minutes for one of them to find something. Half a dozen of us closed in for a look.

Sean motioned to one of the men. “What do you think?”

“Two out, five in.”

“In or out first?”

“Look at these ones,” the man said, motioning to a particular set of tracks. “The inbounds overlay these outbounds. Outbound first.”

“They're all different,” Sean said. “Do you have seven individuals?”

“Affirmative.”

“All men, right?”

“Affirmative.”

“Three heavy, over 200, the rest lighter.”

“He can tell all that from these tracks?” I asked Sean.

“That's his specialty.”

“So what does this tell us?”

“Two men came out of the water first. Both men were under 200 pounds. They were walking. Seven men went back into the water later. Three ran, four walked in. We can't tell in what order. We know they were men from the gate and depth and style of the imprint. So, I would guess that two of your party
came out of the water from the boat, were sighted, and ran back in. They were followed by five others. That is presumably why they are not here now. We have to assume your people have been captured.”

“How do we even know these are our people?” Josh asked.

“The tracks were laid down after the rain and since the last tide change. This happened within the last 5 hours.”

My heart sank.

Sean nodded to two of the men, and they scampered back up to the Humvees. The two other men continued scanning the beach with flashlights.

A minute later, the two scanners returned and reported finding no other tracks.

A loud whistle came from a small ridge above the bay.

“Up here!”

When we arrived, the soldier extended his hand and showed us three shell casings. He then shined his light to the ground and illuminated two sets of tire tracks in the sod.

“Trucks?” asked Sean.

“Roger.”

“Any more footprints?”

“Negative. The sod is too solid. Looks like our five below weren't alone. They were just the boarding party. Two vehicles makes our adversary at least seven individuals.”

“Is it them?”

“Think so. Tracks are consistent with their vehicle.”

The radio crackled to life: “Lookouts reported movement on the water toward P.A.,” the voice on the other end reported. “An hour and forty five minutes ago. No direct visual. Too dark.”

“Copy. Roust VanDyke and give him a Sit Report. Tell him to scramble four combat units and meet us at point 14, a.s.a.p.”

“Copy.”

The radio went dead, and Sean hustled me back to his Humvee.

Speeding down the highway with no headlights in pitch black darkness is very disorienting. An eerie green glow emanated from the night vision goggles worn by the driver and front seat passenger. The other men, including Sean, checked and rechecked their equipment.

“What did he mean by no direct visual?” I asked.

“From our distant vantage point up on the bluffs over town, we can't directly see much in town in this darkness. With NVG, we can detect movement on the water and sometimes make out the type of vessel from that distance, but that's about it.”

“So we don't know where the boat went exactly? Or even if it was the RY?”

“No, but who else was it? We have a pretty good idea where it went though.”

“Where?”

“Pier 3. For the last two weeks, we've been monitoring a group set up there. About ten individuals. Until lately they'd just been the typical assholes—treasure hunters, we call them. You know, pillaging the town for its valuables. Opportunists, not violent. Real pussies. But they abducted two passers-by the day before last, and that’s usually the sign that they’ve turned the corner from being assholes to being pieces of shit. We've been planning to take them out, but on our terms. Tonight they get taken out on their terms.”

The radio barked: “Four to one, target located. Pier 3. Visuals on five hostiles. No visual on victims.”

“Copy,” Sean said. “Hang tight.”

“How did they see it?” I asked.

“They're already on site.”

“They came straight into town?”

“No. There is a way out to the west also. Much shorter. My men don't waste any time.”

“So how do you not give yourselves away riding into town in vehicles like this?”

“This is the first time we've been into town by vehicle. We've always gone in on foot.”

“Sorry to bring you into this,” I lamented.

“We would have neutralized this situation even if I didn't know you.”

“But you wouldn't have rolled right into town, guns blazing.”

“Probably not.”

“Thanks. I just hope none of your guys get hurt.”

“Any of these guys would lay down their life for any of us. That now includes you and your family. But don't worry about that. We won't be getting hurt. These fuckers will never know what hit them.”

“I imagine,” I said.

“McMasters, this is VanDyke,” the radio said. “In position and ready. No news.”

“Copy,” Sean said. “Use your judgment. We're within 20.”

“Use your judgment?” I questioned.

“Every one of these men is either fully capable of leading teams like this or already has. Each has my tacit approval to act if he deems it necessary to secure the objective. We act as a team, and I lead the team, but I trust every one of them with my life. These are the best soldiers in the world, and if anyone can get your family out safe and sound, they can.”

“How many are we looking for?” Sean asked.

Sean smiled and chuckled as I counted on my fingers.

“Thirteen,” I said.

“Thirteen?” Sean questioned. “Not including the three of you?”

I nodded.

“Adults versus children?”

I went to my fingers again.

“Six adults, seven children.”

Sean keyed his mic. “Be advised we are looking for thirteen individuals. Six adults, seven children.”

“Copy thirteen, six by seven,” came the reply from the voice I began to recognize as VanDyke.

Suddenly the soldier behind us stood up, opened a hatch in the roof, and with the wind suddenly whistling by, he manned a gun mounted on top. Darkened buildings started rolling by outside the windows.