But when Mueller reached into his pocket and saw the once-blank screen showing the background picture of him and his mother, the last one taken of her alive, Mueller started to cry. “Oh my God.”

  Mueller searched through his once-lost photographs of his mother, friends, and family at events over the past several years. The flood of memories washed over him, and he collapsed while he cried.

  It didn’t seem possible. It was a miracle, and the longer Mueller sat on the concrete floor and contemplated how any of this was possible, he realized that whatever was locked away in the sheriff’s gun safe had been responsible.

  And Mueller was determined to open it up.

  11

  Charlie’s departure from Beckett Island had been unceremonious. With everyone busy and working toward preparing the island for yet another potential fight, there was time for little else. But he had made time to say goodbye to his children, even though it had only been Harry and Maggie who looked sad to see him leave.

  Charlie’s biological children were still upset with him, but they begrudgingly muttered “I love you” before his departure.

  With the island well behind him, Charlie set aside thoughts of his family. The best thing to focus on was finding his contact and learning more about what Sir might have planned for contingencies.

  Charlie had forgone the use of horses, not wanting to attract attention to himself, and instead focused on finding his transportation when he arrived on the mainland. After a few miles of walking, he came across an old two-stroke motorbike abandoned on the side of the road. It had a flat tire and no gas, but Charlie was able to remedy both problems quickly.

  By siphoning fuel from another abandoned vehicle on the road, patching the tire, and inflating it with a bicycle pump he pilfered from a local sporting goods store, he was on the road.

  The motorbike was helpful along the clogged main roads. It was easy to maneuver around wrecks, allowing him to avoid roadblocks, and he was quickly able to evade any people he came across, which were few and far between.

  But Charlie knew that would change. Anyone who survived the initial onslaught of the EMP would be out looking for food and supplies. Eventually, communities were formed, either built from scratch or old ones repurposed with new tenants. People always congregated with one another. It was how they survived.

  Charlie ditched the bike when the road ended on his friend’s property. And he used the term “friend” very loosely. They hadn’t spoken in years, not since Charlie had left The Bunker to pursue a different life for himself and his family, one that he hoped would be safer than the one he’d left behind.

  With time against him, Charlie hurriedly hiked the rugged land that his friend owned. There were over one hundred acres to check, but Charlie was a skilled hunter and tracker, and after an hour of searching, he picked up on some footsteps along a creek. Charlie figured his friend would set his roots near fresh water, and the creek provided a steady stream of purified mountain water year-round. It was unspoiled by the chemicals and waste of humans this high up, and Charlie took a sip on his walk past and paused to catch his breath.

  It was quiet in the woods, but it was a different silence than on the island. The island always had the sound of water and wind rushing past, but in the middle of the woods, the trees stood as silent sentries to guard the land from which they grew.

  Charlie had always been drawn to the water, but there was something powerful about the earth. It had been around longer than any living thing that walked its surface and would be around after the last living thing was gone.

  Charlie put the stream behind him and continued following the tracks. His friend hadn’t tried to hide them, and why would he? The odds of anyone finding him out in the middle of nowhere were slim to none. But Charlie still walked carefully.

  His friend was paranoid, and if Charlie knew him as well as he thought he did, he would need to watch his step.

  Charlie crouched low in the brush and saw the thin line of fishing wire running along the ground. It was a trip wire. Any pressure applied to it would either detonate an explosive device or sound an alarm.

  Charlie carefully stepped over the trip wire and found several more in different locations along the path. Charlie was getting closer.

  In addition to the trip wires, there were other snares set along the path that Charlie was forced to evade. And with all of his concentration on the pitfalls, Charlie’s attention was pulled in every direction except behind him.

  “That’s far enough.”

  Charlie froze, feeling the familiar coldness of the end of a gun barrel pressed against his neck. He didn’t know how he’d been snuck up on so quickly, but his friend had always been a hard man to pin down.

  “You’re quieter than I remember,” Charlie said.

  “And you’re louder than I remember.”

  Charlie slowly turned around, staring down the shotgun barrel, grinning.

  “Tanner,” Charlie said. “It’s good to see you.”

  Tanner Booth didn’t share the same friendly smile, keeping the weapon aimed at Charlie’s head. “I take it you were smart enough to come alone.”

  “You already know the answer to that question,” Charlie said.

  Tanner finally lowered the weapon, but he still didn’t look happy. “What are you doing here, Charlie?”

  “I need your help,” Charlie answered.

  “Help with the EMP?” Tanner asked. “I’m afraid you’re on your own with that.” He stepped around Charlie and walked away. “Good luck.”

  “Tanner, this is serious,” Charlie said. “It’s about The Bunker.”

  “I don’t work for The Bunker anymore,” Tanner shouted back. “And last I heard, neither did you. So, whatever it is, just let it go—”

  “My family’s in danger,” Charlie said.

  Tanner stopped walking and turned around. “And why is that my problem?”

  “Because you once told me that leaving the Bunker was the best thing I could have done for my family,” Charlie said. “And you also told me I could come to you if I ever needed anything.”

  Tanner chewed the inside of his cheek and then shrugged. “Maybe I changed my mind.”

  Charlie walked up to his friend and didn’t stop until they were less than a foot apart. “This goes beyond my family, Tanner. I need your help to stop him.”

  Tanner knew whom Charlie referred to, but he was hesitant. “Why would I want to get involved with anything involving him or The Bunker? I walked away from that life a long time ago. I warned you about him and everyone who would listen, but my advice fell on deaf ears. I thought my words might have gotten through to you, but it seems I was wrong.”

  “He came after me,” Charlie said. “This wasn’t my fault.”

  “Then you didn’t do a good enough job of hiding,” Tanner said.

  “I had a family, children,” Charlie said. “I couldn’t whisk them away into the woods in the middle of nowhere. That wasn’t an option for me.”

  “We always have options, Charlie,” Tanner said. “They’re just not always easy.”

  “How long do you think it is before he comes after you?” Charlie asked, switching up his tactics. “Do you think he will allow anyone to walk away from him? He comes after everyone. He doesn’t leave any loose ends.”

  “I’m different,” Tanner said. “He’s afraid of me.”

  “No, he’s not,” Charlie said.

  Tanner’s face darkened, his patience running thin. “You’re trespassing on my property. If you don't leave, then I will shoot you. It’s within my right—”

  “Your right?” Charlie asked. “There are no more rules, Tanner. All of that went out the window the moment the EMP detonated.”

  Tanner raised the shotgun and aimed it once more at Charlie. “Then why don’t I just save myself some trouble and pull the trigger?”

  Charlie slowly raised his hand and revealed a small detonator in his hand. “Because I put an explosive in your pocket before you walked away, and this is the detonator.”

  Tanner frowned for a moment, and when he looked at the detonator, distracted by what Charlie had said, it was the opening Charlie was looking for. He quickly snatched the gun out of Tanner’s hand, flipped it around, and aimed it at his friend.

  For a moment, Charlie wasn’t sure how Tanner would respond, but when he slowly smiled, Charlie lowered the gun and then handed it back to Tanner.

  “You’re just as quick as I remember,” Tanner said. “Clever with the bomb trick.”

  “I need to stop him, Tanner,” Charlie said.

  Tanner shouldered the shotgun and hooked his thumbs on his belt. “Tell me why I should even consider helping you right now?”

  “Because helping me is helping yourself,” Charlie said. “So long as any remnant of The Bunker still exists, it represents a danger to the country and anyone who worked to protect it. He was behind all of it, Tanner. And he’s not going to stop. I need to know everything you know.”

  Tanner stepped closer. “Are you sure you want to travel down that rabbit hole, Charlie?” Tanner asked. “Because there are some things you can’t unlearn.”

  “I’m willing to take the risk,” Charlie said.

  “You might regret that,” Tanner said, taking a deep breath. “But I don’t think you’ll stop bothering me until you get what you want, so we better put on a pot of coffee. We’re both going to need it.”

  12

  Kayla restlessly paced the woods around the cabin. A dozen arrows were wedged in the trees around her, and she collected each of them and returned them to her quiver. She wanted to make a more significant impact on people in need. But her hands were tied.

  After Kayla removed the last arrow from the trunk, she leaned forward and rested her forehead against the rough bark. She shut her eyes, trying to remember her life before the EMP.

  How had things turned upside down so quickly? How had she been living a semi-normal life in the city and suddenly found herself fighting for her life?

  The longer Kayla pondered the question, the more she blamed her father. Every decision Kayla’s dad had made had led them here. He had never asked anyone how they felt about it, so why should she ask permission? If she wanted to enact change, she’d need to do it herself. And she knew exactly what kind of a difference she wanted to make.

  Kayla returned to the cabin and checked on Benji, Harry, and Maggie. She found them in the living room, playing a board game, and while the two younger kids were very excited about the game, Benji looked bored out of his mind.

  “Benji,” Kayla said. “I need your help.”

  Benji immediately smiled and then jumped to his feet.

  “Where are you going?” Harry asked.

  “Stay here,” Kayla answered, and then she shut the door and headed for the path through the woods with Benji jogging alongside.

  “Where are we going?” Benji asked.

  “To steal something,” Kayla answered.

  “Bullshit.”

  Mueller didn’t know how many different ways he could explain what had happened before it penetrated their thick skulls, but he was growing impatient.

  “I’m telling you they have something in the sheriff’s house!” Mueller exclaimed, and then he showed them his phone once more. “I swear to God it was working!”

  Mueller’s phone had died from a low battery before he could show it to anyone else. And since he was unable to charge it, he had no proof of what he’d found.

  “How is that even possible?” Ted Codfield asked, who was one of the three boat captains Mueller had brought together to discuss what had happened with his phone.

  “I don’t know,” Mueller said. “But it has something to do with whatever the sheriff has hidden in his safe in the basement. If you guys just come with me, I can show you.”

  “You want us to break into the sheriff’s house and steal something?” Billy Smith laughed and shook his head. “You’re crazy.”

  “I’m not crazy—” Mueller stopped, took a deep breath, and calmed himself. The more he shouted that he wasn’t crazy, the more it made him sound crazy. “Just come with me, and I can show you.”

  “Mueller, we’ve kept our mouth shut about a lot of the crazy shit you’re doing,” Ted said. “But we don’t want any trouble with the sheriff. He’s a good man.”

  “Yeah, he’s looking out for us,” Billy said, parroting Ted’s sentiment.

  “You think he’s looking out for us by working with those outsiders?” Mueller asked. “You all remember the last time we thought something good would come from outsiders, right? It nearly killed us all! Almost destroyed this island; no one knows that better than me.”

  Mueller didn’t enjoy talking about his past, but when he did choose to bring it up, he only did it to help him prove a point. He needed to make these men understand what was going on.

  “Please,” Mueller said. “I will show you, and I promise you it will all make sense when we get there. And if we get into trouble, I will take all the blame. I’ll say I forced you to come with, put a gun to your head, and threatened to pull the trigger. Once you see it, you’ll understand how important this is.”

  Ted and Billy glanced at one another, and then Ted finally took a deep breath and nodded. “All right, Jimmy. All right.”

  “Good,” Mueller said, and then he stood and waited for the others to join him. “And bring your phones!”

  Mueller walked with Ted and Billy through the neighborhood, keeping off the road and moving between the houses to avoid attracting too much attention. But there were more than a few nosy nellies on the island.

  “Where are you three fellas heading?” Mary Pills leaned up against the railing of her front porch, eying them with curiosity.

  “None of your business, Mary,” Mueller answered.

  “And what’s got a stick up your ass today, Jimmy Mueller?” Mary asked, and then she laughed. “I always thought you enjoyed that sort of foreplay.”

  Mueller blushed and avoided any more confrontation with Mary. The pair had a history together, and it wasn’t a history he wished to revisit.

  When they neared the sheriff’s house, Mueller paused to ensure the place was still abandoned. From the looks of it, Mueller didn’t think the sheriff had returned, which meant they could sneak in the same way they’d done before.

  “I don’t know,” Ted said. “This doesn’t feel right.”

  Mueller looked back to the pair of men who lingered in the garage. “If we hurry, he’ll never know we were here. Come on; we’ve gone too far to turn back.”

  Ted eventually nodded and then followed Mueller inside the house. Mueller’s heart was racing as he walked to the basement door, and they descended the stairs.

  “Both of you get your phones out,” Mueller said.

  “If this is some kind of a joke, Jimmy—”

  “It’s not a joke,” Mueller said, stopping halfway down the stairs as he looked back up at the others. “This is as real as it could get. Trust me.”

  Ted and Billy exchanged a glance and then descended the stairs. But when Mueller reached the basement floor first and turned toward the safe where his phone had miraculously started working again, he froze.

  “No,” Mueller said.

  Ted and Billy appeared behind him and frowned.

  “I thought you said it was locked?” Ted asked.

  The safe was open, and there were only rifles and ammunition inside.

  “I don’t understand—” Mueller rushed to the safe, searching for anything out of the ordinary. When he found nothing, he spun around. “Give me your phone!”

  Ted handed Muller his device, and Mueller placed the device into the safe. He stared at the blank screen, waiting for it to turn on, but it did nothing.

  “It must be gone,” Mueller said. “Whatever was inside it—”

  “Let’s get out of here, Ted,” Billy said. “He’s lost his mind.”

  “I didn’t lose my mind!” Mueller shouted. “Something was in here that made my phone work! I swear to God!”

  Ted walked over and then ripped his phone out of Mueller’s hand. “Don’t get us involved with any more of your crazy shit, Mueller. We don’t want any part of it.”

  Ted and Billy quickly left the basement and hurried up the stairs. Mueller remained below, staring at the open safe. But as the moment's shock wore off, anger slowly bubbled to the surface.

  Only one person, precisely one family, could have done something like this. And Mueller would make sure he knew exactly what was happening and how the Owens family was involved. And he would do it by any means necessary.

  13

  When they reached the small plot of cleared land in the forest, Charlie had a better look at Tanner’s setup. The cabin was built by hand, pieced together the way pioneers had done with their log cabins centuries before.

  There was a garden, a water collection system, and pelts tanning in the sun. The operation was completely self-sufficient, entirely off the grid. Tanner had lived without power for a very long time. The EMP had not affected him in the slightest.

  Tanner’s house was small but efficient. There were no decorations, no semblance of homey materials, but there was food, warmth, a desk, and a bed. The only luxuries Tanner afforded were books lining the shelves that covered most of the interior walls. There was a small table with one chair where Tanner took his meals, and he sat down after he entered, leaving Charlie to stand.

  “I’d offer you a seat, but this place wasn’t designed for hosting,” Tanner said.

  “It’s fine,” Charlie said.

  “So,” Tanner laid the shotgun across the table and leaned back in his chair, “what do you want to know?”

  “What do you know about him?” Charlie asked.

 

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