Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Book 4): Walking In The Shadow Of Death (7 page)

8.

The first night in the cabin went
without incident. The men huddled together for warmth as the guards, bundled heavily
with blankets and clothing, took shifts and watched though the peep holes. The
night as predicted grew very cold. Brad was amazed to see the temperature drop
far into the negative numbers. He knew it was cold the previous night, but
actually watching the mercury drop made him realize just how lucky they had
been to survive the arctic temperatures.

They stuck to the rotation of two
on watch while four rested. It had been decided that they would limit their
activity while they holed up in the cabin. It wasn’t a tough decision. The men
were exhausted from the day and night they had spent on the run through the
forest. Snow fell hard through the day and all night. Soon there was no
evidence of the road or the tracks they had left the day before. With four
walls and a roof over their head, sleep came easy, and with their brothers on
watch they slept soundly.

On the third afternoon they reached
a compromise; Parker was allowed to use some of the driest and smallest cuts of
barkless wood on the porch to build a small fire in the stove. Dry wood tended
to smoke less, and by feeding in the small pieces slowly they could build a
hot, fast-burning fire with little to no visible smoke. It was still very cold
outside so the smoke that was produced rose away from the cabin quickly. They
hoped it would be enough so that their position was not given away.

They used the stove to prepare
meals from the canned goods. As always, they left the easy to carry MREs packed
away and ate what was readily available first. As Brad had surmised, the water
from the hand pump in the kitchen cleared after the rust buildup was flushed
out. They had found a small can of coffee that they happily brewed and enjoyed
while it lasted. The men were feeling good about their situation, even though
they didn’t know about the rest of their party or the whereabouts of the boy
that was supposed to come for them.

They spent their time cleaning
weapons, redistributing ammo, and repairing their equipment. When it was
necessary they would leave the confines of the cabin to use the outhouse in
pairs. They were careful to skirt the perimeter of the buildings and cross as
little open ground as possible to avoid silhouetting themselves against the
bright snow. They began to develop a routine, and with the routine came
boredom. Cabin fever set in and they began to discuss their next move.

Brad was sitting at the kitchen
table using some heavy cord he had found to stitch together a heavy coat.
Joseph had made the first one and the others were impressed with the design, so
Brad had taken a turn working at the table. He made large, uneven stitches, but
it would be enough to hold the coat together, and would help to keep them warm
when the time came to travel again. He had just finished attaching the sleeves
to the coat when Sean gave a warning call from the attic. Sean had been on
watch, using his rifle’s scope to keep an eye on the snow-covered fields.

“Movement in the west tree line,
ten meters inside the trees,” Sean said in a low voice that could easily be
heard below.

Brad stopped what he was doing and
ran to one of the windows in the side of the cabin. Over the past few days they
had improved their peep holes to make them large enough to use their
binoculars. Brad spotted them right away: two figures standing side by side
inside the trees. They seemed to be observing the cabin.

“Should we snuff the fire?” Hahn
asked.

“No, let it burn. If they haven’t
already seen it, putting it out won’t help, it’ll just make a cloud of smoke,”
Sean answered from the attic.

Brad watched as the two figures
began approaching the cabin. As they broke the tree line, Brad could see that
both of them carried heavy packs. One held a walking stick and the other had a
rifle slung over his shoulder. Brad let out an audible sigh of relief as he
identified the man with the pack as Private Nelson. The other figure in front
he didn’t recognize.

“It’s Nelson plus one,” Brad said
in a jovial voice as Sean dropped out of the attic entrance.

“Holy shit, they finally came for
us,” Daniel said with a laugh as he walked to unbolt the door.

They met the men on the porch and
quickly rushed them inside, locking the door behind them. They removed the
men’s heavy packs and brought them close to the fire to warm up. They wore
heavy coats and heavy boots; quickly they were stripped of the clothing and
handed cups of warm water.

“Sorry we don’t seem to have any
tea or coffee, but the water will still help to warm you,” Parker said with a
smile.

“Most grateful for it, and by the
way my name is Thomas,” the new man said as he happily took the cup, sipping
while the others made introductions.

Nelson stood by the stove warming
himself and smiling. “Boy am I glad to see you all, we were really worried you
might not have made it. Jeremiah said that was the first time they had seen so
many of them so far from town.”

“We’re sure it was the plane that
drew them into the country,” Thomas added. “We have been lucky out in the high
ground, they don’t never seem to venture this far out. Well at least they
hadn’t.”

Sean moved from behind them and
leaned against the wall. “Shit, I apologize for stirring up the neighbors, and
I promise it wasn’t our intent.”

Thomas nodded. “Aye, we understand,
but still it complicates things … Mom packed you all some goods. There are a
couple loaves of bread and fresh butter in the packs. As well as some thermal
underwear, heavy socks and flannel shirts. I know it’s not a lot but it’s all
we got.”

Nelson opened a pack and started
handing out the goods. Brad took a heavy shirt, grinning. “No, this is all
great, we really do appreciate it. So how long before you will be ready to move
out? I think I speak for everyone when I say we are ready to get out of here,”
Brad said.

Thomas’s expression changed and he
broke eye contact and looked down and into the fire. “What … what is it?” Sean
asked.

Thomas looked up at Nelson. Nelson
stood silent for a moment before moving away from the stove and sitting in a
chair near Thomas. “Gosh, we drew straws on how to tell you all this. I won but
looks like Thomas ain’t got it in him to tell ya,” Nelson said in a low voice.

“Tell us what?” Brad asked.

“It’s Kelli, Sergeant.”

“What about her?” Brad asked.

“She ain’t doing so well … She is
really bad, Brooks says she needs antibiotics. He gave her everything we had, but
he says she needs the good stuff, and other things too. He made a list,” Nelson
said as he reached into his pocket and handed Brad a folded sheet of paper.

Brad unfolded the paper and read
down the long list of items and the names of drugs. He folded it back and
handed it off to Sean who studied the note.

“So is this stuff hidden away in
here somewhere?” Brad asked, already guessing at the answer.

Nelson turned towards Thomas
instead of answering. Thomas slowly looked up at Brad and shook his head.

“Okay, then where do we get it?”
Sean asked.

Thomas took a long sip from his cup
before finally speaking. “There’s a town … Well, more of a village really, but
they got a drug store and a clinic. Mom says this stuff should be there.”

“Mom says, huh?” Sean asked.

 “Mom was a nurse before she
had us boys. She used to work there.”

“Okay, and where is this town?”
Sean said.

“Ten kilometers up the road, north,
easy to find … The road will take you right to it.”

“Primals?” Brad asked.

“Yes sir, lots of ‘em.”

Sean moved away from the group and
went to sit at the kitchen table. Brad followed and joined him along with Hahn
and Joseph. Joseph had brought a loaf of bread and the butter with him. He
began to cut it into slices and stacked the pieces in a wooden bowl. The men
grabbed at the bread and ate hungrily. Hahn was the first to break the silence.

“How do we even know Kelli will
make it with the drugs?” Hahn said.

Sean wiped his mouth with his
sleeve and took a long drink of water before speaking. “Brooks wrote that if
she doesn’t get the meds she will die. And without Kelli we won’t be flying off
this rock.”

Joseph grunted. “Shit, Chief, you
saw Kelli, she was messed up. She won’t be flying anything anytime soon.”

Sean took another pull off his
bottle of water and grunted before speaking. “If I know Brooks, he is just
laying out the facts for us … He would expect us to make the tactical decision,
pilot or not, the choice is still ours.”

“You are all probably right, but
she is the best shot we got. I volunteer … I’ll go,” Brad said.

Sean shook his head. “Now hold on a
minute, you can’t go making this decision on your own. Every member of this
team is a critical component right now. What you do, Brad, will affect the rest
of us.”

“Are you suggesting we ignore the
note?” Brad asked, his frustration beginning to show.

Sean took the note and tossed it on
the table. “What I am suggesting is that pilot or no pilot, if we die filling
this wish list, she still dies. How many of us do we risk to save Kelli? What
do you think is acceptable … Are you willing to risk Parker or Danny to get
some drugs that may or may not save her?”

“So that’s it then? We just don’t
go?” Brad asked.

Sean gave Brad an impatient look.
“Will you just listen for a minute? I just want everyone to know the score
before we decide.”

Hahn reached across the table and
picked up the note. He read it slowly before asking, “And what is the score,
Chief?”

“It’s like this: We go after these
meds and we save Kelli, or we get the meds and she still dies. Or we fail to
get the meds altogether, or half of us die trying and she still dies, or maybe
she lives. Hell, maybe we say screw this shopping trip and go back to the farm,
then find us a fishing boat and finish our trip home,” Sean said.

“What the fuck, Chief!” Brad said,
getting up from the table. “Are you trying to talk us out of it?”

“I’m not going to tell you guys
what to do, I’m just putting it all out there, and it’s already too late in the
day to head out and do anything anyhow. So let’s decide first thing in the morning.
I hate to suggest it, but I think we should vote on it,” Sean said as he picked
up the paper and stuck it back in his pocket.

9.

Brad walked onto the porch to gather
more wood. He looked out at the far tree lines and watched the wind blow the
pines. They calmly swayed back and forth in the wind. It was easy for him to
imagine that they were not on the run.
This must have been a pleasant place
to be at one time. A small cabin on a pond in the middle of the forest,
Brad
thought, enjoying the view.
The owner must have been proud of this place.
Thomas said his uncle owned the house. 

I wonder what happened to him, I
wonder if he died trying to get to this place? Maybe he is out there right now,
watching me from the woods,
Brad said to himself. The door opened, jarring
Brad from his thoughts. Joseph walked out onto the porch.

“Here, let me grab some of that,
load me up,” Joseph said, holding out his arms.

Brad stacked Joseph’s arms full of
wood, then they moved back inside and dumped the load next to the stove. Thomas
and Nelson were still sitting next to the fire. Parker and Hahn were in the
kitchen opening canned goods and preparing the evening meal. The rest of the
men still sat around the table.  Brad opened the stove door and tossed in
pieces of wood. He moved to the wall and sat on the bottom bunk.

“So Thomas, your brother said you
escaped the city?” Brad asked.

“Yea, that’s true, but in the first
days, before everything shut down,” Thomas answered.

“What do you know about it? The
infection I mean?” Brad queried.

The other men, hearing the
question, moved the chairs from the kitchen and placed them around the stove.
Hahn carried a teapot of hot water and refilled Thomas’s cup. “I found some
sugar. I put it into the water, it’ll add calories … at least make it taste
better,” Hahn said as he poured.

“Thank you,” Thomas answered.

He took a sip, then looked at the
fire. The sun was beginning to set, but the fire still cast a dim light in the
cabin. “I was a student, I went to the University. We had heard tell of the
sickness on the radios and the newscasts. It was an attack, we were told. They
intended to hit the United States, but when the borders were closed, they hit
us instead. The biggest outbreak we had heard of was in Quebec. The government
shut most things down soon after, stopped travel, shut down airports and the
shipping.

“It wasn’t enough. A lot of the men
from here work out west on the mainland. Of course they wanted to come home.
Some boats began smuggling them back. Shady fisherman decided to cash in on the
need for smugglers. We guess that’s how the infection made it to the island. No
one knows for sure,” Thomas said.

“How fast did it spread?” Sean
asked.

“Fast. I was already preparing to
go back home. Dad had sent for me before the travel restrictions had started. I
hesitated only because school stayed in session. A number of the students are
from the mainland with nowhere to go, so they kept classes going. We all hoped
this would be over soon. Still, I kept a bag packed. I intended to finish out
the week, then I would leave.

“I woke up in my dorm to the sounds
of screaming and fighting. I went into the hallway, where a number of people
were fighting, and men I didn’t recognize were attacking my dorm mates … more
than fighting, they were mauling them, trying to get up the stairs and into the
hallway. My roommate was in the mix. He looked at me, then ran past me towards
the far end of the hall. He told me to run with him. I wasn’t dressed, so I
went back into my room and locked the door. I could hear them in the hall, the
screaming.