Grunting, Ian carefully grabbed the end circle of razor wire and jiggled it as he backed up, stretching out the fifty-foot section. “I think I did, but I’m so soaked I can’t tell.”
When Jennifer carried the packs back, the boys were already at the middle of the fence. Lance was riding on top of the buggy, shaking the spool of razor wire to spread it out on the top strand of barbwire. “Here, guys,” she said, passing the packs through the section ahead of where the boys were working.
“Thank you, Jen,” Ian said, passing her the empty tray.
Taking it, Jennifer stood and watched the two for a minute then went back inside and made sandwiches for Allie and Carrie. Leaving the food on the table, she went to the bunker and let them come upstairs to eat.
As the sun hit the horizon, Jennifer and the girls sat in mission control, watching Ian and Lance put coils of razor wire on the gate. One would hold it, and the other would tie it to the bars with wire. When the next row had to be done, Jennifer laughed, watching the boys pull off gloves and play rock, paper, scissors to see who had to hold the razor wire.
“Girls, I’m going to finish supper. When they come inside, come on upstairs,” Jennifer said as she left.
When Lance and Ian came inside, they were dragging their harnesses with their ARs over their shoulders. Stumbling to the table, they let go of their harnesses and hung their ARs on the back of their chairs. “Shower before you sit,” Jennifer said, carrying over plates. With both groaning, they trudged toward the bathrooms.
Allie and Carrie helped set the food out as Lance and Ian came back wearing shorts. Dropping down in chairs, they stared at the empty plates in front of them. When everyone was sitting, Allie and Carrie said a prayer.
“Smells good,” Ian said as Jennifer loaded his plate.
“Thank you.” Jennifer smiled, moving to Lance.
Watching the spoonfuls of food drop on his plate, Lance shook his head. “Yes it does, but as long as it doesn’t move, I don’t care.”
Allie and Carrie talked, but Ian and Lance were exhausted. After several plates, they stood, grabbing their plates. “Leave them; I’ll take care of them,” Jennifer said. They both looked at her with weak smiles and grabbed their ARs and tactical harnesses off the floor and moved over to the couch.
Jennifer watched them clean and check their gear and lay it on the coffee table. Both were asleep before they laid back against the sectional. The girls helped Jennifer clean up the kitchen. As Allie and Carrie climbed on the sectional with Ian and Lance, Jennifer went into the men’s room to clean it up.
Walking in, she stopped. She was expecting clothes and boots to be strewn everywhere, but the floor was clean. Towels were hung up neatly, and even the stuff in the shower and around the sinks were in neat order. “They must have thrown them in their room,” she reasoned out loud and left the bathroom and walked into the first room that Lance and Ian had claimed.
Inside the room, she saw a twin bed on each side with a hanging shelf and a clothes rod under it. The hanging clothes were neatly hung, and the only disorder she found were the packs still laying on the bed that were waiting for the stuff inside to be put up. Two clothes baskets were at the foot of each bed, and Jennifer saw the clothes the boys were wearing neatly laid out and their boots at the foot of the bed neatly sitting side by side.
“They make me feel like a slob,” Jennifer huffed. Closing the door as she left the room, Jennifer went to her bathroom and saw the towel she had used that morning hanging over the curtain rod. The towels Allie and Carrie used were on the floor. “Boys shouldn’t be that damn neat.”
Straightening up the bathroom, she went to the second bedroom she shared with Allie and Carrie and straightened it up as well. “Jennifer, the computer is beeping,” Allie said, running in the bedroom.
Smiling, Jennifer ran to the living room and clicked on the screen and saw the parents looking at her. Using the mouse, Jennifer clicked a window to let the parents see the cameras around the house. “They finished?” Mr. Bill gasped.
“Yes, sir,” Jennifer nodded. “They used words they shouldn’t have, but you can’t blame them. The leather stuff they were wearing is shredded.”
“Are they hurt?” Ms. Sandy asked, leaning over her husband, looking at Lance and Ian.
“No, Ms. Sandy. They are just worn out,” Jennifer said, watching Lance’s mom wipe tears off her cheek.
“I’m so proud of them,” she said with a quivering voice. “They really shouldn’t push themselves that hard though.”
Letting out a sigh, Jennifer nodded. “Ms. Sandy, I said the same thing, and I can’t tell you the words they said, but the gist was they wanted something up so someone couldn’t just walk up to the cabin.”
“Have all of you downloaded your e-mails?” Ms. Mary, Ian’s mom, asked.
“Yes, ma’am. It takes a while because Lance and Ian have a stack of downloads for books, programs, and music each morning.”
“What books?” Ian’s dad asked.
“Farming, electrical stuff, chemistry, vet books, and stuff like that, Mr. Bill.”
Mr. Bill laughed. “There is more than enough of that downstairs already. We have books and e-books on more stuff than you can imagine.”
“Lance said the internet wouldn’t be up long, and he wanted to download what they could. They know you have stuff, but he and Ian have never seen it and don’t know what it is. This way, he could be sure they had some stuff.”
Mr. Bill looked over at Johnathan. “We should’ve brought the boys in sooner.”
“Yes, but it’s a little late for that,” Johnathan sighed. “At least they have the sense to get books to learn.”
Lance’s mom stepped up to the webcam. “We didn’t have that much on Lance’s account.”
“Yes, Ms. Sandy. They used Doug’s credit cards he gave them,” Jennifer said.
“They see a problem, they fix it,” Johnathan said. “Do the boys know that cameras and motion detectors are next?”
Nodding, Jennifer glanced over at Ian, and Lance laid back on the couch, sound asleep. “Yes sir, Mr. Johnathan. I put the cameras and motion detectors by the back door today. I watched the way they were moving and realized they were going to finish today no matter what.”
“Good, girl,” Johnathan smiled at her. “Will you tell Lance his mother and I love him?”
“I will.”
Johnathan and Sandy moved out of the way as Bill and Mary started talking to Allie and Carrie. When they told the girls goodnight, Jennifer moved over to the computer and talked with all the parents again. Feeling better after just talking with them, Johnathan and Bill were on the screen. “Jennifer, look on Lance’s watch, and see when his alarm is set,” Mr. Johnathan asked her.
After pressing a bunch of buttons, she read, “Zero, five, zero, zero,” not understanding. Looking up at Lance’s dad, she grinned and said, “Hope you know because I don’t.”
“It’s military time for five a.m.”
“Oh,” Jennifer said, feeling stupid, and looked at Johnathan. “Ah, Mr. Johnathan, the window behind you, the land is bobbing up and down.”
“Yes, we are on a boat tied up at the pier on the property. Jennifer, leave the computer open, and we will talk to the boys tomorrow when they wake up. They will have to be outside the fence to put up the cameras and motion detectors. The wires are already run, so it won’t take them long, but it’s still outside the fence. We want to tell them to be careful, and you, Allie, and Carrie have to keep a sharp eye out for them,” Johnathan told her in a serious voice.
“We’ll watch out for them.”
“Good girl. Get some sleep, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Smiling, Jennifer nodded, and the window with the parents closed. She went to the bedrooms and brought back blankets to cover everyone up. As she laid her head down and covered up, Dino came over and lay down in front of the sectional, protecting his pack.
Chapter 19
March 18
Hearing his watch beep, Lance cracked his eyes open and found the top of Allie sprawled across his lap. Looking over, he saw Allie’s legs on Ian. “No wonder I feel beat up,” he yawned, pressing his watch to stop the beeping.
Easing out from under Allie, Lance stood up and stretched and heard a deeper beeping. He brought his wrist to his face and found it wasn’t his watch. Turning his head, following the beeping, Lance saw a box on the laptop flashing.
Grinning, he looked around at everyone asleep. Grabbing the laptop, he clicked the accept button and carried the laptop to the kitchen. “Hey, son,” his dad said in a low voice.
Setting the laptop on the kitchen table, Lance saw his dad’s face. “Hey, Dad.” Lance smiled.
“You and Ian did some outstanding work on that fence. Doug said it was going to take us three days to get up, but you two did it in two. I never would’ve thought of sitting on the buggy and using it as a moving scaffold.”
Shrugging, Lance sat down and said, “We got real tired of moving the ladders. You the only one up there?”
“Yes, I’m about to wake your mom. Just wanted to make sure you were up.”
“Hey, Dad, hold on a second,” Lance said, getting close to the laptop screen. “Are you sure everyone is asleep there?”
Glancing over his shoulder, his dad turned around, nodding with a confused look. “Yes, son, I can hear all of them snoring.”
“Dad, can I ask you a question and you promise not to laugh?”
A gentle smile spread across his dad’s face. “I won’t laugh, son.”
Glancing over at the couch, Lance confirmed the others were asleep. “Dad, what’s a tampon used for?” he whispered into the webcam.
Johnathan’s jaw fell open. That was truly the last question he expected. “Can I just ask what brought this up?”
“Well, it has to be bad because when we tell people we’re going to kill them with a tampon, they like freak out. Jennifer won’t tell us when we ask; she just runs off, so it must be really bad for women,” Lance whispered and glanced back toward the couch, making sure the others were still asleep.
His dad’s face contorted as he fought not to laugh. “Ah, well son, what makes you think it’s bad for women?”
“Dad, I watched that childbirth video at school, and that freaked me out. Mom said giving birth wasn’t that bad. If women call pushing a basketball out not bad, I have doubts about them saying a tampon is nothing.”
Taking a deep breath and keeping a straight face, his dad explained what a tampon was used for. Lance just stared at the screen in disbelief. “You understand, son?”
“That’s it? They don’t have to use the string to tie off something?”
“No, son,” his dad said, fighting not to laugh.
Lance covered his face with his hands. “I feel like a complete idiot.”
“Don’t know why, son, but you asked and found out. Anything else?”
“Ah, no, and if you wouldn’t mind, don’t ever tell anyone,” Lance said, glancing over his shoulder.
“I won’t.” His dad grinned. “Are you and Ian setting up the cameras and motion detectors today?”
“Yeah, since the wire is already laid down, we should be done with the first ring closest to us this evening,” Lance said, stretching his arms over his head.
“Oh, it is laid out. Bill and Doug finished it last year. Now, before you leave the house, disarm the powerhouse, and don’t rearm it until you are well away from it.”
Lance shook his head. “On that, you have no worries. Dad, is there like a master list of books and e-books?”
His dad nodded. “Yes, son, but it will take you days to just go over them,” he said, standing up. “I’m going to get your mom.”
Lance ran over to the counter and turned on the coffee pot and grabbed a bottle of water. As he dropped back in his chair, he saw his mom running toward the webcam. “Hey, baby boy,” she said, smiling, and sat down.
“Hi, Momma.” Lance smiled, not caring about being called a baby.
“Did you sleep good?”
“Yes, ma’am. Allie beat the hell out of me, and I’m sure Ian is going to be limping today.” Lance grinned and saw his dad walking up behind his mom. “Mom, are y’all on a boat?”
“Yes, sweetie. We got on yesterday morning,” she said, just staring at him like she was burning his face into her mind.
“Ah, Dad, you aren’t thinking about leaving, are you?”
As Lance watched his dad sit down, his dad nodded. “Yes, son, our boy is there. We’re waiting for you and Ian to get the cabin in lockdown so you can start going over what Doug set up to learn.”
“Dad, you and Mom can’t. You don’t have guns or ammo. You can’t drive, and you haven’t sailed a boat since I was six.”
Johnathan put his arm around Sandy. “Son, we are coming to you. We have planned our route, and we have guns.”
“Well, you don’t have suppressors. Stinkers come from everywhere when they hear noise. You need bows and arrows. Dad, you and Mom are safe. Please don’t,” Lance begged with his eyes watering.
“Son, it doesn’t matter. Our son isn’t here. I don’t care if I have to crawl through the gates of Hell, and your mother agrees. We are coming for our son.”
Lance wiped his eyes. “But Dad, I know you and Momma are safe.”
“You will understand one day, son,” his dad said with a forced grin.
“Baby,” his mom sighed. “It doesn’t matter what’s here; you’re not. We are coming to you.”
Trying not to cry, Lance looked away for a minute. “You will have to travel over six thousand miles. We only had to go three hundred and almost didn’t make it.”
“Momma’s not going to let her baby boy live in a cabin with a beautiful girl without being around,” his mother said with a smile.
“Mom,” Lance sighed with grin. “Ian’s the one that’s been in love with Jennifer since we were kids, not me.”
Johnathan and Sandy laughed. “She has always been a good girl, and I’m glad you two were able to help her,” his mom said.
“Son, you know where the GPS is to use it to set up for the locations of the cameras and motion detectors?” his dad asked.
Sandy popped Johnathan in the chest. “I was talking with my baby,” she snapped.
“Yes, sir; it’s on the master control desk.”
His dad nodded with a smile. “That’s right, son. Now, you two have to stay alert. When we leave—” he stopped as Lance held up his hand.
On the verge of tears, Lance took a breath. “The only feasible way for you to get here would be a forty to fifty-foot trawler. You and Mr. Bill can’t handle anything bigger. The best speed you’ll manage will be seven knots. If you’re lucky and have good seas, you should make the mainland in twenty days.”
The both stared at their son as he wiped his eyes and continued. “Depending on where you land, you may have to fight your way ashore. I don’t think cars will be able to travel now. When we came here, stinkers moved to the road, but there wasn’t as many then as there is now. Whole cites are gone according to the internet.”
“Lance, have you been studying this?” his dad asked.
Not answering, Lance just stared at his mom and dad. “Your best bet would be bicycle, but the lower western half of the US is a desert. You could do it, but you’re going to spend a lot of time looking for water. You will have to stop every other day just to secure food. The best case scenario once you hit land… It will take you nine months to a year to get here.”
“Yes, son, that’s what we figured,” his dad said softly.
“Please wait,” Lance begged with tears. “It might get better. I don’t want my mom and dad hurt.”
With tears in her eyes, Sandy reached out, touching the screen. “Momma needs her baby boy.”
“Momma, please,” Lance pleaded.
“If I have to crawl on my hands and knees, Momma is coming to her baby boy.”
Johnathan cleared his throat. “Son, we are coming. Now after the cameras, you two keep on, but I really don’t want you two taking a look around.”
Dragging the back of his hand across his face Lance wiped his eyes. “How else will we know if trouble is coming, Dad?”
Johnathan sighed. “Okay, it is your discretion, but don’t you get hurt before we get there.”
“I won’t, Daddy,” Lance said softly, looking down. “We’ll stay close.”
“Have you listened to the messages on the flash drive yet?” Johnathan asked as he pulled Sandy in tighter.
He shook his head. “No, Dad,” Lance said in a low voice.
“Lance baby,” Sandy said, laying her head on Johnathan’s shoulder. “I have a message on there for you as well. I know you’ve been busy, but you need to listen to them.”
“I will,” Lance said, forcing a smile on his face and just talked to his mom and dad.
It was after six when Johnathan looked behind Lance. “Well, your twin is awake.”
“Yeah, I heard him trip over Dino.” Lance grinned and turned to see Ian walk over to the table.
“Hi, Ms. Sandy and Mr. Johnathan,” Ian said, sitting down.
“Good morning, Ian,” Sandy said with a smile. “You look like you got beat up.”
Ian covered his mouth as he yawned. “Yes, ma’am. Allie put a beat down on me,” Ian said, ending his yawn in a stretch.
“Lance, we love you. Why don’t you eat so we can let Ian talk to his mom and dad?” Sandy said with a smile.
“Love you guys,” Lance said, getting up. Getting a cup of coffee, Lance headed down to the mission control desk. He found the GPS unit as he sat down and started clicking through files. Seeing a file labeled “Security” with a map of cabin security, he clicked it open and found a map of the cabin with the locations of cameras and motion detectors. Lance sipped his coffee as he studied the map.
The ridge behind the cabin was half a mile away and elevated two hundred feet above them, and there was a small logging road on the other side where Doug had a spot for a camera. Another logging road from a draw to the west was further down the small valley, and the draw the cabin sat in emptied into it. Lance looked at the two ridges that formed the draw the cabin sat in, and it was just over half a mile wide, and they owned it and the land on the other side of both ridges. The main draw they owned had smaller draws that fed into it, and the cabin sat in one on the south-facing slope.
Seeing a file for a topo map of the cabin, Lance clicked it open and was surprised to see a scale drawing of the cabin, outbuildings behind the house, powerhouse, all security features, and three small squares that weren’t labeled. “Thought they said Doug didn’t make a recording of his hidden container,” Lance grinned, taking a sip of coffee. He grabbed the radio. “Hey, Ian, can you hear me?”
It was a few seconds later, but Ian called back. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“Hey, ask your dad what safeguards there are on the master control computer. I found a file that has the locations of hidden caches.”
A few seconds later, Ian said, “Dad says you only have three chances to get the password right before the computer locks up. You have to do a hard reboot and get one chance at the password before it wipes the system.”
“Shit,” Lance said and pressed the button on the mic. “The computer only asks for the password when we log off, right?”
“No, Dad says if we start going into sensitive files, it will start asking for passwords,” Ian said, and Lance was about to object to that. “Before you say anything, the computer won’t start that for thirty days because we need in those files now.”
“Okay, thanks, Ian and Mr. Bill.”
Lance studied the cameras that Doug wanted placed, and some seemed like they were just in the woods. “Lance, Dad said if you found Uncle Doug’s container, we aren’t to go near it.”
“Okay, but I’m just looking at some of the camera locations. They are just sitting out in the woods,” Lance called back. Studying the map closer, Lance noticed the cameras were along flat areas running with the ridge. “Those are easy routes of travel,” Lance grinned.
The creek that started at the head of the draw was going to get several cameras along it, and the powerhouse was going to get several more. Taking a sip of coffee, Lance started counting the cameras that were marked in blue. Cameras already up around the cabin were red along with the three motion detectors. The first one was in the valley where they entered, and the other two were on the road up.
“Forty-two cameras,” Lance said, nodding. “Glad we didn’t have to run the damn wire.” Motion detectors were going to surround the cabin outside the fence. Then, they were going to be placed forward and near all cameras. Lance stopped counting at a hundred.
Going back to the desktop, Lance opened Doug’s instruction file. Opening another video file, Lance hit play. When Doug told him to click on the security file, Lance chuckled. “Yeah, Uncle Doug, I found that.”
When Doug finished, he said to open the “Over Map” program. Moving back to the security file, Lance found the program and clicked it. As the program loaded, he drained his coffee. A screen on the left went white then showed a map of the land with numbers where the cameras and motion detectors were.
“That is going to be helpful,” Lance said, clicking a symbol for a camera on the map. “No Image” sprang up. “We can click where we want to see and where motion is detected.”