Forsaking Home (The Survivalist Series) (6 page)

“You haven’t even asked me anything yet! Why are you doing this? You don’t know I won’t cooperate.”

Niigata turned and laid the scissors on the table, much to Shane’s obvious relief.

“Good point, but you can’t fault me for thinking you would be resistant to answering my questions.”

 • • • 

Calvin laid on the floor of his cell. He knew they had taken Shane away, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He was in so much pain. His sides were on fire. With much effort he was able to get himself up into a sitting position. The effort required to do so was intense, and he sat panting against the wall. Once he caught his breath, he called out.

“Hello?” His voice was weak, and he wasn’t sure anyone was even around to hear it. He called out again. “Is there anyone here?”

Fred and Jess both heard him and moved toward their doors. Fred answered him in a loud whisper, “Yes, we’re still here.”

Calvin looked around, unable to see anything in the blackness. “Where’d they take my son?”

“We don’t know,” Fred answered.

Jess sat at her door wringing her hands. Whatever was happening surely wasn’t a good thing.

“Will they bring him back?” Calvin asked.

“I hope so,” Jess whispered, to herself more than to Calvin.

Fred leaned against the door. “I’m sure they will,” she said unconvincingly.

Calvin’s chin dropped to his chest as tears started to roll down his cheeks. How could it be that one day ago, they were free, and now his son was going through God knows what?

 • • • 

Shane was tense, waiting for Niigata to start questioning him. But the man was in no hurry. He leaned against the table and stared Shane in the eye. After a moment, Shane noticed the small stand behind him. Turning, Niigata gripped the stand and pulled it around the table. The small stand was covered with a cloth. Niigata positioned it in front of Shane, pulling off the cloth to reveal an assortment of medical instruments and tools.

Shane stared at the implements lying before him. He started to feel light-headed and his ears began to ring. Niigata looked over the items on the tray, inspecting the occasional piece.

“It’s time to begin, Shane.” Niigata paused and looked at him. “How we proceed is entirely up to you at this point.”

Shane’s eyes moved back and forth from Niigata to the tray. His chest was heaving, as he was nearly hyperventilating.

“Let’s start with the obvious: why was your group on Highway 40?”

Shane’s mind was racing as fear crept in. “I didn’t know driving down the road was illegal. You guys just started shooting. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Niigata inspected the tray, then picked up another pair of scissors. Without looking up, he said, “You didn’t answer my question.” He looked at Shane. “I do not like to repeat myself, so please do not make me.”

Shane licked his lips, looking at the instrument, but said nothing.

Niigata smiled and stepped toward him. “Remember how you said interrogation was
mostly
a mental exercise?” Niigata leaned over and swiftly cut the band from one side of Shane’s underwear, causing him to jump.

“What the fuck, man?”

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Niigata said as he snipped the other side, leaving the front of Shane’s drawers lying limp in his lap.

Shane was entirely off-balance now. His mind was running away, the fear of the unknown taking over.

“We were just out for a ride. We met some people and were headed home!” Shane shouted.

Niigata leaned back against the table and crossed his arms. “Very good. Who did you meet?”

“Uh, just some people. I didn’t know them.”

Niigata smiled again. “You have a pretty good poker face, Shane. It’s a shame your eyes betray you.”

“Huh?”

“You looked left, which tells me you made that up.” Niigata stood up and turned to the tray. “It’s not your fault: it’s involuntary.”

“No, no, it’s the truth, I didn’t know them.” It was technically correct, but Shane didn’t know how to convey that.

When Niigata turned to face Shane, he was pulling a pair of latex gloves on his hands. “Let’s say that’s true, you did not know them. Then your father, Calvin, he must know them?” He let the glove snap against his wrist.

“No, he didn’t know them either!”

“How many people did you meet?”

“Only two that I saw?”

“So you think there were more?”

Shane shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, maybe.”

Niigata stepped forward quickly, leaning over so his mouth was beside Shane’s ear. “It only gets worse from here.” He snatched the remnants of Shane’s underwear out from under him.

Shane yelped as a cruel smile spread across Niigata’s face.

T
had and I were sitting in camp chairs by the fire. He was stirring the pot of slurry. After the wood ash soaked in water, the lye was leached out. Now it had to be reduced.

“How do you know when it’s done?” I asked.

“There’s a test for it we can do in a few minutes,” Thad replied.

Jeff and Danny walked up carrying fishing rods. “We’re going fishing while you Girl Scouts make your soap,” Danny said. Jeff started to laugh.

Thad looked up and shook his head. Rolling my eyes, I said, “Go ahead, yuk it up. But when we’re done, I’ll know how to make soap
and
I can catch fish.”

“Good, then there will be twice as many people around here who can make soap,” Jeff replied, laughing.

I looked at the pot bubbling on the fire. “Thad, would that stuff burn your skin?”

He lifted the stick he was stirring with, the thick slurry sloughed off in thick strings. “It might”—he raised it back as if to swing it—“let’s see.”

Danny and Jeff looked like two of the three stooges as they pushed and shoved one another and ran away.

Thad looked up, laughing. “Serves ’em right.”

“Damn straight! Shoulda slung it at them. I would have,” I said with a chuckle.

Taylor and Lee Ann walked over.

“Dad, can we take a walk in the woods?” Taylor asked.

Without looking up, I replied, “Not right now. You guys need to hang out around here. I’ll go with you later.”

“Come on, Dad, we’ve got our guns. There’s no one around here,” Taylor protested. Lee Ann shifted her weight from foot to foot.

“You don’t know that,” Thad said.

I nodded at him and stood up. “I know you guys are bored, but we can’t chance it. Just because you have guns doesn’t mean you’re protected, as we have already seen.” I felt kind of bad adding that last line, but it was true, and I hoped they took it for how it was meant. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to get shot again. “Look, why don’t you two go work on the garden plot over there? We’ve got to get those plants in the ground soon.”

The girls looked at one another. It was obvious they weren’t impressed by the suggestion.

“A little hard work never hurt anyone,” Thad said with a grin.

“If we do that, will you
promise
to take us for a walk later?” Lee Ann asked. The past few weeks, she had been staying inside the cabin, sleeping late into the afternoon. A little bit of fresh air would do her good.

With a smile, I replied, “Sure.”

They turned and headed for the small plot. We watched as they took up the rake and hoe and set about chopping at the ground. I looked at Thad. “Why is it you can get them to do chores with a little suggestion, but I can’t pay them to do it for me?”

“It’s that third-party thing. You know, other people can get kids to do things they won’t do for their parents. I read about it somewhere.”

“Well, third party, I hope you stick around for about ten years.”

Thad’s head rocked back as he started to laugh.

Little Bit came over and wanted to help the girls, but it was quickly obvious that none of them were very interested in what they were doing.

“I’m bored,” Little Bit said.

Taylor leaned against the hoe she was using. “Yeah, this sucks.”

My head popped up. “It
what
?”

She gave me an innocent smile. “Can we do this later?”

I sighed. “Yeah, go see if your mom needs anything first, though.”

I looked at Thad. “So much for that.”

He laughed. “Yeah, didn’t last long, did it?”

The sound of a motor at the river snapped us back to reality. Instinctively I reached for my rifle, which was leaned against the picnic table. We both looked downriver for the source of the sound. It wasn’t long before Danny’s boat came into view. We walked down to the river as it eased into the mud.

“Back so soon?” I crowed.

I shook Mike’s and Ted’s hands as they got out of the boat, followed by three others I didn’t know.

“Morgan, Thad, this is Ian, Jamie, and Perez,” Mike said, introducing them.

Thad and I both shook hands with them as Doc got out of the boat.

“Well, to what do we owe the pleasure of this little visit?” I asked. Looking at the boat and the load it was carrying, I added, “Looks like you guys are about to stir some shit somewhere.” I pointed at the pile of packs, ammo cans, and other gear. “Y’all bring enough party favors?”

“Yeah, we got a little sneaking around to do,” Ted said.

Mike smiled. “What’s a party without some noisemakers?”

“Better not be any noise, that is not the point of this mission, peckerwood. You better keep your noisemaker in its holster,” Ted said.

Mike rocked his boonie hat forward on his head, put his hands on his hips, and leaned back at the waist, pushing his hips out, “You mean my noisemaker, or my
noisemaker
?” He was smiling and bouncing his eyebrows up and down, looking at Jamie.

Jamie cracked her knuckles. “I see your
noisemaker
and I’ll fieldstrip it.” Her statement got a round of laughter.

Thad looked at Doc. “You gonna take care of these guys?”

“Nah, I’m not going. I just delivered ’em here.” He looked at Ted. “If they do this right, they won’t need my skills. They’re just supposed to do some surveillance on the camp so we don’t go in there blind.”

“Holy crap, they’re going out without adult supervision?” I asked, with a laugh.

“That’s what she’s here for,” Ian said, nodding over to Jamie.

Jamie snorted. “If you’re counting on me to be the positive influence, you’re in trouble.”

Perez snorted. “There’s an understatement.” We all started to chuckle. It was clear that Jamie was a rough-and-tumble girl.

“Hey, Morg, I need some pipe. I know you guys brought a bunch. Do you have any to spare?” Doc said.

“Yeah, Danny’s piled it up somewhere.”

“Where is he?”

“He and Jeff went off fishing somewhere. What sort of plumbing you doing?”

Doc rolled his eyes. “You don’t want to know, really.” He looked down the river. “I’ll go find them as soon as we get the boat unloaded.”

“I’ll go get the war wagon,” Mike said and headed off toward where they were parked.

We all pitched in and started to unload the boat. There was a mountain of ammo and supplies piled up in it: some for us and some for their mission.

Mike soon rolled up in Sarge’s wagon and started setting it out it so it could be organized with the supplies. Once the boat was emptied, Doc got in and started it up.

“Which way did they go?” Doc asked.

I pointed upriver. “Last I saw them, that way.”

Doc nodded and eased the boat out into the river. “I’ll be back,” he said.

Mike was bent over at the side of the buggy pinning a SAW to the hard mount. I kicked the back of his knee, buckling it. “When are you guys heading out?”

He looked back with an expression that said
asshole
. “After dark. And actually, we need your help. We want to go over the drawing of the camp with you. You know this location way better than any of us. We need all the details you can remember about the landscape.”

“Sure thing. Let me see the drawing. When you guys are done sorting out your crap, come over to the picnic table.”

Ted handed me the drawing and Thad and I walked over to the table. I sat down while Thad took a seat in the camp chair and went back to stirring his slurry. The crew came over to the table and sat down. Mike looked over in the pot. “I was going to ask what’s for dinner, but I’m afraid to ask now. That looks like shit”—he sniffed the air—“and smells worse. What the hell is that?”

Thad chuckled. “It’s soap, or it will be.”

“Damn, you wash with that, and you’ll smell worse than before you started,” Mike said, scrunching his nose. Thad and I both laughed.

“Hey, Thad, we got a couple of hours before dark, and it looks like this soap project isn’t going anywhere fast. You think we could grill up a piece of that hog for these guys?”

“Sounds good to me. Let me get some more wood and some meat,” Thad said as he stood up.

“Great. And if you don’t mind, tell Mel we’re going to have company for supper.”

He nodded and headed for the woodpile.

“You guys have fresh pork?” Perez asked.

“Yeah, we’ve got a few hogs. Butchered one recently.”

“Damn, fresh pig meat! I haven’t had that in forever.”

“Thad’s great on the grill too,” I said with a smile. Mike and Ted both nodded their agreement.

Ted tapped the drawing. “So, what can you tell us about this place?”

I spun the drawing around and started making some marks. I indicated where the antenna where we had met Calvin was, then marked the approximate location of the rear gate. I drew in the roads to the best of my memory. As we were discussing the access to the camp, the boat came back into view with Danny and Jeff on board. They climbed off and Danny and Doc headed for Danny’s cabin. Jeff came up and flopped onto the bench beside Jamie, looking at her with a big grin. “Hello, I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting,” he said with a wink.

Jamie cut her eyes at him, then scooted away. Ted rolled his eyes and smiled. “Jeff, this is Jamie, Perez, and Ian.”

Still smiling, Jeff grabbed Jamie’s hand. “Really nice to meet you.” He looked back and gave the others a curt nod.

Ian couldn’t help himself and started to laugh. Jamie couldn’t take it anymore. She was a redneck girl, and so she was used to speaking her mind.

“Fuck you, Ian!” she shouted across the table and kicked at his knees under it.

Still laughing, Ian jumped. “What’d I do?”

Jeff was resting his head on one hand, the elbow propped up on the table, still grinning like a mule eating briars. Being a single man, Jeff enjoyed the company of beautiful women, and we all knew from tales of his conquests that one in uniform with weapons was a real turn-on for him. This was classic Jeff flirtation style—embarrass the girl a bit, hoping that his charm would win her over.

For her part, Jamie wouldn’t turn her head in his direction. The look on her face told everyone she wasn’t happy. Ian was enjoying it more than Jeff—you couldn’t have smacked the smile off his face if you’d tried. While all this was going on, I was still trying to make notes on the map. Once I had given them all I could remember, I dropped the pen and stood up just as Mel and Bobbie walked over with the two older girls.

As they were introducing themselves I checked on Thad and the soap, which he was tending to in between getting the cooking prepared. The pot of lye had cooked down considerably.

“How much longer till we can get clean?” I asked.

Thad lifted the stick he’d been stirring with, looking at the liquid as it ran off. “Might be there,” he said.

“How will you know?”

He smiled and plucked a chicken feather from the cupholder in the arm of the chair he was sitting in. Dropping it into the pot, he explained, “This is a little test you can do to see if the lye is strong enough.”

The feather hit the lye and the fine edges of it dissolved nearly immediately, then the quill slowly dissolved. After less than a minute there was nothing left of it.

“Holy shit! It just dissolved the entire thing!” I exclaimed.

Thad smiled. “Yeah, it’s some rough stuff, ain’t nothing to play with. But now we know it’s ready.”

“What do we do next?” The process was fascinating to me, way more than I’d expected.

“Now we add the fat and mix it up.”

“I’ll go get it,” I said and headed for the cabin. We had rendered a bunch of it and kept it in a five-gallon bucket with a lid hammered down on it.

As I headed for the cabin I looked around. Everyone was down at the picnic table talking. The older girls had made their way over to where Thad was. He was showing them the feather trick again.
Little Bit would like that
, I thought and looked for her. She wasn’t in the cabin either. I looked around the grounds for her as I carried the bucket back over to Thad.

“Hey, have you two seen your little sister?”

“Earlier. She was playing with the dogs,” Taylor said as she watched the feather melt. “That’s cool,” she said, looking up at Thad.

“Hey, Mel, where’s Ashley?” I called to her.

She and Bobbie both turned around. “Lee Ann, you were supposed to be watching her. Where is she?” she said as she looked around.

“I don’t know, she was running around with the dogs and I didn’t feel like following her,” Lee Ann said.

“Well, I don’t see her, and I don’t see the dogs either,” I said as I walked out toward the dirt road in front of the cabins. I looked back at Lee Ann. “You shouldn’t have left her alone.”

Quickly everyone was up and looking for her. With so many people in our group, we covered the area around the cabins in just a few minutes. She wasn’t anywhere, and neither were the dogs. Panic was quickly beginning to overtake me as my heart began to race.

“Where could she have gone?” Mel shouted as she ran from cabin to cabin.

“It’s not my fault!” Lee Ann cried.

“We’ll go check the road, you stay right here,” Ted said as he and Mike passed me.

I nodded at them and headed for the woods on the east side of the cabins, behind the chicken coop. The chickens were back there browsing through the scrub, but no Ashley. Hearing my name being called, I ran out of the woods.

“Go out to the road,” Mike said, pointing.

I turned and headed for the road as he ran past me. Ted was knelt down, looking at the dirt track.

“What is it?”

He was holding a small stick and began to describe what he saw, “Here’s her print, and the dogs’, of course.” Pointing with the stick, he rose up and moved in a crouch. “Then there is this,” he said, pointing to a much larger track from what appeared to be a full-grown man.

My heart sank.

Mike came wheeling up in the buggy with Jamie, Perez, and Mel. Danny was right behind them on his Polaris with Doc.

Ted looked at me. “Notice how it’s only this track that leaves, plus the dogs’?”

I nodded and said barely above a whisper, “He must have carried her off.”