“Sir, we’ve got a report,” one of his sergeants said from behind him.

  “Come inside,” Zander ordered, gesturing to one of the folding chairs set up inside the tent.

  “Sir, we’ve found them! I’m sure this time.”

  “Are you positive?” Zander asked, tired of the false leads they had been chasing.

  His man grimaced. “A group with a young girl and a man who match the Merrymans’ descriptions, and a few of the others, were spotted northwest of here. It’s about two-days’ ride, maybe three at most. They had taken over a hunting lodge, but according to some of the locals in the area, they were forced out.”

  “Forced out? Are they dead? Please, tell me they’re dead,” Zander answered.

  “No, sir. But there was a note found at the lodge, proving that it was them there. Our men found it stuck in a window,” the sergeant said.

  “And?” he prompted, gesturing with his arm and encouraging the man to keep talking.

  “It’s addressed to you,” the soldier said, producing a plain white envelope from his uniform’s pocket.

  He handed it to Zander, who snatched it from his hands. The word ‘Crane’ was scrawled across the front. Zander stared at the envelope, growing angrier by the second. Merryman was taunting him. He thought he was so funny because he’d escaped, though it hadn’t been clean. His men had found three graves when they’d returned to the house. Zander had hoped one of those graves had been Austin’s, and he’d ordered his men to dig up the bodies for identification. Unfortunately, they hadn’t held Austin or his brat daughter.

  Since then, they’d been scouring the area for weeks, trying to find some clue as to where Austin had gone. Zander had even feared—or, at times, hoped—that he’d take his little army into Denver once again and try to take out the headquarters. His men had been on high alert, prepared for an attack that, so far, had never come.

  “Are you going to open it?” the sergeant asked eagerly.

  Zander looked up and shot him a dirty look before running his finger under the seal and pulling out a small piece of paper. “I want to help you. Go west,” he read out the simple, cryptic message aloud.

  He flipped the paper over, next checking the envelope to try and find a clue about who had written the note, but he found nothing. It couldn’t be from Austin.

  “Is that from our guy? Why would he want us to catch him?” the sergeant asked.

  Zander shook his head, grinning suddenly. “No. I would say our guy has a traitor in his midst. Get the horses ready. We’re going to that lodge.”

  “Sir, the lodge has been searched. It’s empty. They cleared out several days ago.”

  Zander glared at him. “They’re on foot. We’ll find them. Get my horse and get the rest of the men ready. We leave now!” he ordered.

  His sergeant scrambled out of the tent and started barking orders. Zander looked at the note again. He couldn’t stop smiling. Austin was arrogant. He acted like he was above everyone else. It was satisfying to see he wasn’t so saintly that he inspired full loyalty. He’d made at least one member of his little band of misfits angry, and all it took was one. Zander had found his weakness, and he was going to capitalize on it until he put Austin six feet under.

  14

  Austin and Ennis led the group down the hillside, following a two-lane highway headed west. It was risky to walk along the road, but also the fastest method of travel and the easiest way for Malachi to find him when he brought Savannah back. And the open space would make it easier to leave trail markers if they changed paths or made camp somewhere off the main road.

  “He’ll get her,” Ennis said from beside him.

  “He better,” Austin grumbled.

  “If it takes him all day to find her, they’ll take shelter for the night and start moving first thing in the morning. It’s what you’d tell them to do,” Ennis pointed out.

  Austin grimaced, knowing his brother was right and at the same time hating the idea of his daughter being out in the forest alone all night. Or alone with Malachi all night, for that matter. He looked up at the sky and determined it to be late afternoon. There was no way to know how far they’d walked, but he already felt tired—in large part due to stress, no doubt.

  “Do you think we’ll be able to keep up this pace?” Austin asked in a low voice.

  Ennis shrugged. “Today, yes. Tomorrow, probably. The following day… doubtful.”

  “Then we push hard today and cover as much ground as possible.”

  “We’ll need to find water and real food tonight,” Ennis said. “We’re burning through calories walking at this pace. It’s a mild day today, too, but if it warms up tomorrow, it’s going to be brutal. I’m vaguely familiar with this area, but if I remember correctly, southern Idaho is mostly dry farmland with lots of sagebrush, and very hot.”

  “I agree. We’ll stay on the highway for now. There’s a few seasonal streams for water right now, at least, although I don’t like what I’m seeing ahead of us,” Austin added, looking at the bland landscape.

  Ennis laughed. “You’re too used to the trees and mountains.”

  “It’s so barren. What are we going to hunt out here?” Austin asked, looking at the flat terrain stretching on forever. The highway was lined with power lines, sage brush, and tall, dry grass.

  “Antelope is a possibility. I’m more focused on the plants at the moment. I never realized how much sagebrush stunk until this moment,” Ennis complained.

  Austin chuckled. “We’re practically walking in a sagebrush farm. There has to be animals hiding out in those bushes.”

  “None that I’m going to try and catch right now,” Ennis retorted.

  Austin wiped his brow. With no shade to be had, it was hot and uncomfortable. He turned to look behind him. Harlen and Wendell were walking side by side, Sarah right behind them. She wore one of the few backpacks they had with the laptop tucked inside. They’d used some duct tape to tape the solar charger to the outside of the pack in order to charge the laptop while they moved. With the direct sunlight, Austin guessed the thing would be fully charged in no time.

  “Hey, we’re back in Utah,” Ennis said with a laugh.

  “Why do I feel like we’re not getting anywhere?” Austin said.

  “At least we’re going downhill. Look over there.” He pointed to an area up ahead and to the west, which had signs of life in the way of trees.

  “Water?” Austin asked.

  “Or a pond. We could eat frogs for dinner. It wouldn’t be hard to fashion a few gigs,” Ennis said.

  “We’ll make camp over there. We should be able to keep an eye on the highway,” Austin said, still thinking about Malachi finding them.

  “This is all cattle land, so where are all the cows?” Ennis asked.

  Austin laughed. “I’m sure they’ve taken off, died, or already been butchered.” For a moment, he thought about the idea of butchering a cow and having a fresh steak or a juicy hamburger. A cow would be a great find, but not while they were on the road. No, they were stuck with small critters that were easy to get and more plentiful.

  “What about that farmhouse?” Sarah called out from behind them.

  Austin looked in the direction she pointed. He could barely make out the roof of a house in the middle of a vast pasture. He glanced at his brother, silently asking his opinion. Ennis shrugged in response.

  “It’s early, and we probably have two more hours of daylight,” Austin said aloud, reasoning with himself. He wanted to stop. His leg was throbbing, and he could see the exhaustion on the faces of the others. Just moments ago, he’d planned on them getting as far as they could… but they’d traveled close to twenty miles. He figured that was a good enough start on their journey. Part of him didn’t want to go much further, either, in order to give Malachi and Savannah a better chance at catching up to them.

  “How about we check it out,” Ennis suggested. “If it’s empty, it would be nice to have a roof over our heads and hopefully no bugs to sleep with. Maybe, we’ll get really lucky and find food.”

  “Alright, let’s cut across the pasture. There’s nowhere to hide out here. If that house is occupied, they may very well shoot first and ask questions later. Pay attention,” Austin reminded everyone.

  Once they’d left a red flag of fabric by the highway to signal Malachi, should it come to it, they spread out, forming a V shape with Austin at the point to lead the way. He knew he’d be the first person shot if there was someone in the house, but he refused to put that on anyone else in the group.

  The pasture that would normally have been mowed down by grazing cows had some green patches, but the rest of it appeared to be nothing more than dry grass. Far in the distance, he could see a tractor in a field. He imagined the EMP would have hit at a time when fields were being prepped for alfalfa growing to feed the cattle during the winter. He saw no signs of life, though, human or bovine.

  “Anything?” Harlen whispered.

  “Nothing. I don’t think anyone’s here,” Austin replied, keeping his voice low.

  “There’s an old truck in the driveway,” Ennis said.

  “Hello!” Austin called out in a loud voice as they got closer.

  “What are you doing?” Wendell hissed.

  “If someone is here, I want to know now before they think we mean harm and decide to shoot,” Austin shot back.

  “You’re announcing our approach! Seems stupid to me!”

  Austin ignored him and kept walking forward. The house was of an average size and looked to be at least a hundred years old, worn down and lacking updates. Whoever had lived in the house certainly hadn’t put any money into fixing up the place. There were run-down outbuildings scattered around the property, highlighting the fact.

  “We’ll clear the house first, and then we need to check every building,” Austin said before shouting out again to announce their presence.

  “Oh God, what is that smell,” Harlen moaned as they came up the drive.

  Austin’s lip curled and his stomach turned. He pulled his t-shirt up to cover his nose and mouth. The others quickly did the same.

  “That is the smell of death,” he grumbled, dreading what they’d find as he led them around the corner of the house.

  “There.” Ennis pointed to an area that would probably have been considered the home’s backyard. A rotting cow carcass lay on the ground with a swarm of flies hovering around it.

  “That is disgusting,” Wendell snarled.

  “I think that’s a good sign this place is empty. No one would purposely butcher a cow that close to the house,” Ennis said.

  “I’d bet that was an animal kill,” Austin said.

  “Animal?” Wendell asked, his voice high. “What kind of animal would take down a cow?”

  “Wolves, cougars… really hard to say. If this place is empty, those predators would be at the top of the food chain,” Ennis explained.

  “Let’s go in,” Austin said—not hopeful they’d find much in the way of food, but obligated to check anyway. Plus, getting inside would get them away from this smell, for what that was worth.

  15

  Amanda surveyed the freeway ahead of them, littered with cars and huge semi-trucks that had all been rendered useless at the moment the EMP hit. They’d been walking all day and encountered nothing but barren land. There weren’t any towns along I80. Not yet. That meant their group’s only option was to check as many vehicles as they could for food and other supplies, though they couldn’t afford to spend a lot of time doing it. It was a catch-22. They needed food and they also needed to keep moving. She’d made the executive decision not to check any more vehicles until it was closer to nightfall. That’s when they would make camp for the night, only to get started first thing in the morning.

  Her group was subdued, or maybe it was her own quiet attitude influencing the others. It felt strange to be apart from the rest of the group—from Austin, especially. They’d been through hell and back together the past couple months, spending almost every night together along with every meal. They’d seen death, they’d triumphed, and they had dealt with more setbacks in three months than the average person dealt with in a lifetime. She felt like she was missing her right arm.

  She told herself she was way too caught up in the man. She’d been lecturing Savannah about the appropriate time to think about romance, and yet she herself kept going there. Austin was her friend, probably her best friend in the whole world, and this was not the right time or the right place to think about anything more than a friendship. She didn’t want to get caught up in a love affair only to lose him or have him lose her. She knew what he’d lost already, and didn’t want to think about him having to grieve the loss of another woman he loved. The thought made her scoff even as it came to her. She was really getting ahead of herself. There had never yet been talk of love or anything else in that realm.

  “You okay?” Gretchen asked from beside her.

  Amanda offered her a smile. “Fine. I was thinking about our journey.”

  “It’s a lot of pressure, but I’m confident we’ll get there in time,” Gretchen replied in her usual serene way.

  “If we move an average of twenty miles a day, we’ll be there within twenty-two days. It’s day twenty-five when we try to put a stop to all this,” she said, still not sure it was a task they could complete. “I feel like I’m carrying the entire future in my pocket,” she commented more quietly, patting the zippered pocket of her cargo pants where the paper with the launch codes was sealed inside three Ziploc bags. They couldn’t risk it getting wet and blurring the ink they’d used to jot the codes down.

  “You’re like the President of the United States in this moment,” Gretchen said.

  “I don’t think I enjoy that. These codes feel like I’m actually carrying the missiles themselves,” she said with a grimace.

  “It’s going to be okay. I have faith,” Gretchen said.

  “So, do I,” Tonya added. “We all do. God wouldn’t have put this path in us if he didn’t think we were up for the task.”

  Amanda smirked. She wasn’t quite as sure about that as they seemed to be, but she’d go along with it.

  The fluffy clouds overhead did little to cast any real shade over them as they walked along the hard surface of the blacktop. She knew walking along the grassy edges of the highway would be cooler, but it would also slow them down, and they’d risk tripping over rocks or little bumps in the path. The smooth blacktop was easier. Not to mention that she was pretty sure they were in rattlesnake country. They couldn’t risk getting bit by an angry snake.

  “Listen,” Mike said, stopping and holding out his arm to halt the others beside him.

  Amanda stopped and cocked her head to the side. “What is that?” she whispered.

  “An engine?” Jordan replied with confusion. “Do I hear a car engine?”

  “That’s a diesel!” Mike exclaimed as the sound grew closer.

  Amanda looked up and down both sides of the divided highway. She couldn’t see anything, but the sound was definitely coming closer. “It has to be the NWO. They’re the only ones that would have an operational vehicle.”

  “It could be our military,” Gretchen suggested.

  “Either way, we need to get out of sight until we know what it is we’re dealing with,” Amanda said, already looking for somewhere to hide.

  There was nothing but flat land around them. There were hills far off in the distance, but they’d never make it there in time. Up ahead, though, she saw a semi with a trailer. The roll-up door was about halfway up. It would have to do; she just hoped there was nothing dead or hiding in the trailer.

  “I see something coming—they’re on our side,” Mike called out.

  “The trailer! Go!” Amanda shouted, already on the move.

  One by one, they scrambled into the back of the trailer. There were boxes strewn about, just waiting to be searched. She waited for her eyes to adjust before she tried to identify what it was the truck had been hauling. She broke into a smile when she recognized the big red target signs on the outside of the boxes.

  “No way,” Jordan exclaimed when he picked up one of the boxes.

  “Yes, way,” Amanda said with a smile. “But before we start digging through these Target boxes, we identify the risk,” she said, turning back to the truck’s back opening.

  Amanda flattened herself against the inside wall of the trailer, hoping she wasn’t visible to the coming vehicle.

  “Humvee,” Ezra said from the other side of the trailer.

  The large vehicle was traveling slowly—around thirty-miles per hour, Amanda guessed. They could see it weaving around the other vehicles on the road, driving in and out of the median as it moved closer. She couldn’t tell if it was military or NWO.

  “A vehicle would sure make our journey easier,” she whispered.

  “Rifle?” Jordan asked.

  She cringed. She hated the idea of shooting a true military person, even though the likelihood of the Humvee being military seemed nil. They’d traveled the country and not seen a single military vehicle.

  “We shoot,” she said, her decision made.

  “What are you going to do?” Tonya hissed from the back of the trailer.

  “I’m going to shoot the driver,” she said coolly.

  She expected arguing and pleading for the driver’s life, but it didn’t come. She had a feeling they were just as eager as she was to be in a vehicle again. They were only on the first day of their journey, and it was proving to be physically exhausting. Amanda dropped to her stomach, knowing the rifle wasn’t the best choice, but it was the only option she had.

  She lined up her shot, waiting until the Humvee was a little closer. The reflection of the sun made it difficult for her to actually see the driver, but she could make out the general outline. As soon as the Humvee came back onto the road and was about fifty feet away, she pulled the trigger. Her shot rang true, piercing the windshield.

 

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