“Austin, we need to load up as much of this as we can. This is too good to leave behind,” she said, already calculating the weight.

  He put his hands on his hips, staring at her and shaking his head. “I already know what you’re going to say, and the answer is no.”

  “Austin, we aren’t going to be any help if we’re dead. We need the food and water,” she insisted.

  “We take enough for a few days,” he said flatly. “I don’t want to walk, and I know you’re going to say that our weight and the weight of the goods will be too much for the horses. It’ll take too long to walk, though, and honestly, my leg is already sore,” he told her.

  She groaned, wishing she could find a way to argue—she didn’t want to leave any of this behind. What if it took longer than planned to get to his brother’s house? She felt pulled between taking too much and slowing them down, and not taking enough and moving fast, but possibly running out of food and water. She closed her eyes, knowing this was a compromise she had to make.

  “Fine. We use the shoestrings from their boots, tie the water bottles together, and wear them around our necks, and we can hang a few more off the back of the saddles. The saddlebags will hold a few MREs. I guess washing my hair isn’t a big deal, but I am taking one of those packs for myself,” she said firmly.

  He smiled, his blue eyes dancing. “I think that’s reasonable. Those little bottles don’t weigh much. Take a couple. We could use the plastic bags for something, I’m sure—maybe trade the toiletries for food.”

  “I think we should burn those flyers,” she added, feeling defiant.

  He shrugged, lifted the box out of the back end of the Humvee, and walked a few feet away from the stalled vehicles on the road. He ripped a few of the paper flyers before pulling the lighter out of his pocket and igniting the edges. Amanda came up behind him, both of them staring at the box as the flames slowly grew, engulfing the papers and eventually the box, sending up thick black smoke.

  “Let’s get loaded,” Austin said after a moment more passed. “I want to get out of here. I think we definitely need to stay off the roads. I don’t want to know what these guys are like when they’re alive and breathing. We’ll search the rig for anything else that might be usable and then we’re out of here,” he said, walking to the man lying dead on the road and going to work at removing the long laces from his boots.

  Amanda took the first shoestring and tied it around the top of a water bottle. They worked in silence, looting some gum from one of the men and searching for weapons.

  “Why don’t they have guns?” she asked, finding it strange.

  “Judging by that leg holster on the front passenger, I’d say they did have guns. Someone got here before us and took them,” Austin replied, removing the holster and putting it on his own thigh.

  She took a second to admire the holster—or, rather, the leg the holster was attached to. “I like it,” she said, grinning.

  He looked up from where he’d been testing the fit of his gun in the newly-attained holster. “You like what?”

  “The holster. You look very mercenary, commando-ish,” she said, for lack of a better word.

  He gave her a strange look. “Thanks. I think.”

  “I’m going to see if I can wear the one the other guy has on.”

  He nodded, going back to searching the man’s pockets. She grabbed the leather strap with the tips of her fingers, wishing it weren’t wet with his blood. For lack of other options, she wiped it against the cloth of the man’s pants. Sucking up her discomfort over looting a body, she put the strap on her right thigh, tightening it as far as it would go and neatly sliding her gun into place. She took a couple of steps then, testing the weight and feel before going back around the vehicle to help Austin load the horses up.

  He turned and pointedly looked at her leg, smiling when he saw her new accessory.

  “What? It will be a lot easier to grab in a hurry,” she said, shrugging a shoulder and feeling a little self-conscious.

  “You look like Lara Croft,” he said with a small laugh.

  She looked down at her leg. “Works for me. Lara Croft is a badass.”

  They each drank two bottles of water before heading out, wanting to hydrate as much as possible without having to carry extra water, and then they dug into the MREs and stuffed their faces before downing another bottle each.

  “That should be enough calories and water to keep us going for the rest of the day,” Austin commented with a satisfied sigh.

  She nodded. “I get it. You don’t want to stop and eat.”

  “No, I don’t,” he said.

  With as much as they could carry loaded onto the horses, they set off, heading away from the main roads. It was clear that they were dealing with a lot more than a loss of power. Someone was purposely stirring the pot and creating more drama, which Amanda feared would result in the country imploding from the inside. At the very least, she guessed that was the faceless group’s intention.

  29

  Savannah settled into her makeshift bed alongside a couple of the other revivalists. The ground was hard and a little damp, and her legs were aching after a long day of climbing uphill. She hadn’t known it was possible to keep climbing upward for so long. Malachi had assured her they were close to her uncle’s, but she worried that he only wanted to make her feel better. She was so exhausted, it seemed impossible they were actually going to reach her uncle’s house within the next day or two.

  Now, she closed her eyes, willing her brain to go to sleep. The aches in her body were distracting, drawing her attention to even the smallest discomforts, but she tried to picture her uncle’s face and think about the big house she remembered visiting in the past. There were extra rooms and beds. Real beds. She was looking forward to sleeping in a bed, away from bugs and dirt.

  Thankfully, everyone had been moving a lot faster in the last two days—it meant more progress, though it had left her sore. She wasn’t alone, though—not in her discomfort or in her fears. The tone of the group had been subdued after losing Jim, Bill, and Tim. She kept seeing their bodies in her mind every time she closed her eyes.

  Malachi had barely made a sound, only speaking to tell them all that they had to keep pushing on. They stayed far away from any towns and chose to forage for plants and some of the wild berries they came across. That was one good thing about going uphill into the mountains. There seemed to be a lot more food for them to pick at. Thinking of that, she felt herself begin to drift off, and renewed her resolve to fall asleep and stay asleep for as long as she could.

  When she was awoken some time later, the sky was darker, with only a few stars in the sky that she could see. She’d made her bed under some very tall pine trees, using the needles to keep her off the ground as much as possible. She lay perfectly still, wondering what had awakened her, her eyes open and trying to see through the inky blackness of night.

  She heard someone moving. “Malachi?” she whispered, wondering if he was taking watch.

  She knew he hadn’t been sleeping much and had been taking extra shifts, choosing to let the others sleep. There was another rustling sound from behind her. She quickly sat up, wondering if it was a bear or some other wild animal.

  “Malachi, is that you?” she hissed again.

  Her answer was a big, warm hand being clapped over her mouth, silencing any further questions. Definitely not Malachi. She squirmed, reaching her hands back to claw at her attacker’s face. Her actions didn’t make a difference, and suddenly she was yanked to her feet and dragged backwards. Savannah kicked and twisted and tried going completely slack like her dad had taught her, but her dead weight wasn’t enough to slow down her kidnapper. She judged it to be a man, his hard, muscular arm around her waist in a vise so tight that she could hardly breathe. Combined with the hand over her mouth, somewhat blocking her nose, she felt like she would pass out from a lack of oxygen.

  “Shh,” her captor whispered close to her ear.

  He continued dragging her across the rocky ground, away from the group. She began stomping her feet, slamming her heels into the ground, trying to wake someone up.

  Who was on watch? Why weren’t they trying to save her?

  An icy shiver of dread slid down her back. What if her kidnapper had killed Malachi or whoever was on watch? She began to scream behind the hand with all the strength she could muster, and bit down hard on the fleshy palm, earning her a brief reprieve.

  “Mal--!” she screamed, only to have the hand slap over her mouth again, quieting her scream.

  “Savannah?” she heard Malachi call out in the distance.

  Tears had filled her eyes and begun sliding down her cheeks when she saw the shadow of a horse. There was no way Malachi would be able to save her or stop this man from riding away with her, and she couldn’t even scream out to let him know where she was, or what direction she’d be taken in.

  With one hand fisted in her hair, the man released her mouth as he climbed into the saddle with one easy, quick move.

  “Malachi!” she screamed again, taking advantage of the release of her mouth.

  “Savannah!” Malachi shouted in response as she was pulled up onto the horse in front of the man.

  The horse was kicked into a fast trot, and then a canter, leaving Savannah to hold on for dear life. She could hear Malachi’s shouts mixed with the others in the group as she was carried away.

  “What do you want?” she choked out.

  “I want to talk to your daddy,” he said in a cool voice.

  “Dad? How… how do you know who I am or who my dad is?” she demanded, convinced the man had her confused with someone else.

  “I know. I’ve been following you since Kentucky. Your dad will come and save you, don’t worry,” he said, laughing suddenly into her ear.

  “My dad’s alive?” she asked.

  “You better hope he’s alive,” the man replied.

  “Why my dad? I don’t understand. What do you want?” she cried out, hating that she sounded so weak and whiny.

  He didn’t answer her for a long time as he navigated the horse back to one of the paved roads the group of revivalists had been working so hard to avoid. Eventually, the canter slowed to a trot, and then a walk, and then he finally spoke.

  “He has something of mine. I want it back. I expect he’s going to be on his way to find you. I beat him to you, so you’ll bring him to me. When he gives me what’s mine, he can have you back,” he replied casually, as if he were talking about a transaction instead of a hostage trade.

  Savannah tried to imagine what her father could have in his possession. She was elated to have someone telling her he was alive, but this man could be crazy. It didn’t make sense that her father would know someone who would kidnap young girls in the middle of the night.

  “I think you have my father and I confused with someone else,” she said, hoping to talk some sense into the man.

  He chuckled. “I don’t get confused. Your father is Austin Merryman and he’s a journalist. You’re his daughter, Savannah. I found your note, Savannah. I know you’re going to your uncle’s house outside of Denver, which happens to be very convenient for me, because that’s exactly where I’m headed.”

  If blood could have frozen and left her alive, hers just had. She felt cold, deadly cold, and it had nothing to do with the nighttime temperatures. This man knew who she was. He’d been to their trailer and he was after her father. The thought terrified her.

  “Please don’t hurt my dad,” she whispered.

  He laughed again. “I don’t care if your father lives or dies. I want what’s mine. He can hand it over and walk away or die. I don’t care either way, but I will get it back.”

  “What! What does he have?” she shrieked.

  “You don’t need to worry about that. You better say a prayer or chant or whatever it is your friends taught you to do. If your dad doesn’t show, you’re going to be meeting the big guy in the sky or whatever you believe,” he said in a low growl. “He’s got some time to come after you, but not forever Especially not when you’re being this much of a pain. You should learn to be quiet.”

  She had the sudden urge to vomit. “I’m going to be sick,” she muttered.

  “Don’t get it on my leg or my shoe,” he replied without slowing his horse down.

  With that casual answer, her situation slammed into her. This man wasn’t like the crazy people in the cave. He seemed far more dangerous. She could feel the evil rolling off of him in waves. Escaping him would not be easy, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. She was not a quitter, she reminded herself. The thought of her father being alive and on his way to her buoyed her hopes, too. She had to get away from the man to keep her father safe. She didn’t believe him when he said her dad would be able to walk away from this after agreeing to the trade. She wasn’t well-versed in bad guys, maybe, but she’d seen enough movies and read enough books. The chances of him letting her and her father walk away after he got whatever it was he wanted seemed very unlikely.

  30

  Nash hadn’t looked forward to hiking back to the mine, but now that he knew exactly where the house was located, he felt convinced he could be back by nightfall. When he’d headed away from the mine originally, he’d set off in the direction opposite Ennis’ house, to the campground and beyond it, before really deciding on what direction made most sense, and he’d gotten turned around at least once after that point. The way the crow flew, it should only be a half-day’s walk, and the maps Ennis had had stored in the house pretty much confirmed that. Nash was happy to be getting away from Wendell also, and glad Ennis had agreed to go along for the hike, claiming he needed to stretch his legs after being cooped up in the house for so long.

  “You’re sure you can get that wind turbine to work?” Ennis asked for at least the tenth time.

  Nash nodded as they walked along a narrow path through thick pine trees. “Yes. The wind is always blowing around here at least a little. With the way that turbine is positioned high up on the hill behind your house, we should get a steady breeze.”

  “It will work like the solar power system?” he asked.

  “Yes, but unlike the solar panels that can only run actively during the day, and then store power into a battery, the wind turbine will run all night. We’ll have power around the clock,” Nash replied.

  “Enough to run the refrigerator? I think we need to conserve as much propane as we can. If we can switch to electric instead of propane, that will help,” Ennis said.

  Nash mulled it over. “Do you really need a refrigerator?”

  “I do have a lot of meat in the freezer. We’re going to need that if this thing lasts a long time.”

  “Do you hunt?” Nash questioned.

  Ennis chuckled. “Let’s say that I’ve been hunting and I can shoot, but I’ve never actually gotten anything. I can’t say I’ve ever really wanted to, either. It was so much easier to go to the store to buy the meat I wanted.”

  Nash imagined that most folks had felt that way before, but things had changed. “We’ll need to hunt, but I have zero experience in that department.”

  “We have enough meat in the freezer to last us a while. That combined with the freeze-dried food in the pantry should be enough to last us a year; give us some time to learn to hunt if we need to. I have a hydroponics system set-up, too, but I’ve never actually bothered to get it up and working,” he confessed.

  That excited Nash. “Really? I’ve read about those. I think I could get it going.”

  “Then by all means, go for it. We’ll need the fresh veggies. That dehydrated stuff doesn’t have the same flavor,” he grumbled.

  Nash laughed. “I think there are a lot of people who would be more than happy to eat the dried stuff if they had it. Do you have seeds?”

  “I do. I bought a huge supply of heirloom seeds.”

  “Why would you buy them if you weren’t going to plant them?” Nash asked, the practical side of him unable to keep the question in.

  Ennis chuckled. “I liked to call myself a prepper. I went to all the shows and bought just about everything I could get my hands on, but I will admit, I don’t know much about the actual survival part of it. I read a lot, and keeping a supply of heirloom seeds was recommended. I bought more than I could ever possibly need because it seemed like a great deal.”

  Nash burst into laughter. “And the hydroponics?”

  The man looked a little embarrassed now. “Another thing I was told I should have.”

  Nash nodded in understanding, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

  “I have some books and stuff that should help,” Ennis added.

  “Good. I’m thinking we’ll need to grab some extra cables to rig a better pully system for that door, too. We have to be prepared for people trying to come and take the supplies. I want to be able to raise and lower it, and, quite frankly, I don’t trust those rocks we’ve got piled up not to slip.”

  “If you get consistent power running, the electronics might work again,” Ennis replied.

  Nash looked at him, raising one eyebrow. “Do you really want to count on that? I, for one, do not want to get trapped in that house, especially not with your buddy. I’m pretty sure he’d turn cannibal and eat me first.”

  Ennis laughed. “He’s an odd duck, but harmless.”

  “I’m sure that’s what everyone thought about Dahmer, too,” he quipped, though he was only half joking.

  They walked on in silence after that, weaving in and out of the trees and up the mountain towards the mine.

  “Is that it?” Ennis asked, pointing up ahead to a gravel road.

  “Yep!”

  They picked up the pace, following the road to the mine entrance. There were several pickups in the makeshift parking lot out front. The doors were all open now, as well, and there was trash strewn about, signifying the vehicles had already been looted.

 

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