Chapter 15

Cap woke to the sound of a large truck pulling up to the barn. Slipping out of bed, he put his boots on. There was enough light coming through the windows for him to make his way to the combination kitchen living room. Leaving the lights off, Cap went to a window facing the barn and parted the curtain. A tractor-trailer stood before the double doors of the barn. Men stood around waiting for the doors of the truck to open. Cap saw a few of the men point to the ranch house. Looking that way, he watched two men step off the porch. They reminded him of the old Mutt and Jeff cartoons. One of them stood almost seven feet tall, while the other man wasn’t more than five feet tall. Cap knew these men were in charge by how the group of men deferred to them. The tall man gestured to the truck, speaking for a moment and then the men broke up, going in several directions.

Letting the curtain fall together, Cap went to the refrigerator and took out some cold cuts. Throwing together a sandwich by the light of the refrigerator, Cap wondered what was in the truck. The cargo must be important; otherwise, why would the leaders come out at this time of night to supervise the unloading?

Holding his arm up, Cap looked at his watch: 12:10. He had slept longer than he wanted to. It was too late to sneak out and meet Benji or Jeff. Anyway, Cap thought it best to try and find out what was in the truck. He went to the couch, sat down and laced up his boots. It was quite chilly in the cabin. Cap knew it was bitter cold outside. Going to the bedroom closet, he took out a black snowmobile outfit he noticed hanging there earlier in the day. He pulled it over the wool shirt and pants he wore. It ought to keep him warm for a time. A look out the window showed the men had brought up a high lift to carry cargo from the truck to the barn.

Cap pulled an old toboggan down over his ears and took the rifle he loaded earlier from the rack. Going to the door, he eased it open a little and checked to see if anyone was near. Stepping through the door, he quietly closed it behind him. At the edge of the house, he squatted down and watched for the guards posted around the barn. At the south side of the barn, he spotted the glow of two cigarettes as the two guards there smoked and talked. He knew there were at least two more guards. Before moving close to the barn, he had to know where they were. During the day he had spotted a rope hanging down from a door in the loft of the barn. If he was able to reach it without them spotting him, he could climb it and be inside the building. He put the rifle on his back and crawled to a stack of barrels thirty feet from the barn. Cap watched the two guards swing their hands and stamp their feet, trying to stay warm in the bitter cold. A man with a rifle walked from the far side of the building. He went to where the tractor-trailer driver watched the unloading of the truck. That left only one man. He must be on the opposite side of the barn.

Cap crawled to the barn and slowly stood up with his back pressed against the wood. Cap saw only one of the men who smoked at the end of the barn. After watching for a few minutes, Cap decided the man was more interested in talking and staying warm than walking his guard post. Sliding along the wall, he came to the rope. Carefully, he took hold of it and pulled down until all of his weight rested on it. It held firm, leading him to believe that it was tied to a post or something in the loft. Placing one foot against the wall, Cap started to climb. In a moment, he was at the opening. As he stepped into the loft, Cap heard a man yell. Thinking one of the guards had spotted him, Cap swung the rifle from his shoulder. Flipping off the safety, he aimed it out the door and waited for someone to fire giving him a target. He heard the man yell again. This time he made out that someone was yelling at the two men smoking at the end of the barn. The man angrily told them to walk their posts and quit goofing off.

Cap let out a soft sigh of relief.

It was stuffy in the loft, so Cap took off the skimobile outfit and left it near the opening. Walking on the heels of his feet, he made his way to the edge of the loft. He lay down behind something covered with a tarp.

Peering around the side, Cap looked out into the barn. In the glassed enclosure, several men in white smocks worked on what could only be a large mainframe computer. Although he didn’t know much about computers, he knew that its assembly was almost complete. In the far right hand corner, men worked on a tank. It was one of the new M1A3 tanks he had seen on the discovery channel. There were a lot of military vehicles around the barn.

Cap spotted the two men who had come from the house talking off to the side. Moving until he was directly above them, he lay down and listened.

“Todd will be here in three days. We better have the computer on line and working by then,”

said the tall man.

“My men assure me it will be on line by tomorrow evening at the latest,” answered the short man.

“Make sure it is, or your ass is grass, and Todd will be the lawnmower. Have you heard anything about the spare parts for the armored personal carriers?” Mr. Tall asked.

“Shit, Paul what does Todd expect? Miracles? He knows the military hid all of their equipment and parts. It was blind luck that we found these vehicles parked in the abandoned cave. I can’t help it if they didn’t store spare parts with them.”

“I agree with you, Tom, but you know how Todd is. Todd said, he wanted to move against the mountain where his boss is held week after next. I think you’ve done a fine job. Christ, I don’t know how you rounded up so many computer experts in such a short time?”

“It wasn’t hard. I wish all of them were like us. Everything the three not like us do has to be checked to make sure they aren’t trying to sabotage the work.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I have the same problem myself with the mechanics who work on the fighting machines. Just last week, I had to kill one of them for pouring sand in the fuel tank of the M-1. It was just luck that we caught it before we started the engine; otherwise, the tank’s engine would have been ruined.”

“How does Todd plan on getting into the mountain, Paul? From what I hear it is a fortress.”

“He mentioned something about when the time was right his Master would open the doors,” Paul answered.

“Just between the two of us, I wish I knew a little more about this dude, Todd keeps calling his master. Christ, I can’t find out anything about him. No one has seen him, and he was a complete unknown until Todd started talking about him.”

Paul looked around making sure no one was close enough to overhear what they were talking about. “I know what you mean. I have quietly made inquiries about him myself. It is as though this master popped into existence when all of this started. We captured one of the men who worked inside the mountain about a month ago. He got caught outside when they closed the doors. He kept insisting no one was held prisoner inside the complex. I believe him. No one could stand the pain we put him through before he died and not tell the truth.”

“Then who is this Master of Todd’s?” Tom asked.

“That is a question I would like to have the answer to. Every time I bring it up with Todd, he gives me a fuzzy answer. I don’t believe he knows any more about this master than we do.”

“Whoever he is, he has one hell of a hate against a guy named Ben,” Tom said. At the mention of Ben’s name, Cap listened intently hoping to discover why this man wanted Ben so much.

“Yeah, I wondered about that myself. Reports sent to us from back east say this Ben was nothing more than a security guard at an electronics firm in New Jersey. Ben, Todd’s master and even Todd are big mysteries to me. I can’t say as how I like the situation. I like to know what I’m dealing with so no surprises jump up and bite me in the rear. If I could find more information on the three of them, I might understand what we are trying to accomplish here,” Paul said in an irritated voice.

“Be careful, Paul. Remember Todd telling us to kill anyone asking questions about him or his master. I believe that includes us too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Todd doesn’t have someone watching us and reporting to him all of our actions. There are very few people who are as paranoid as Todd, Believe me, people like him are extremely dangerous.”

“I know! I know!” Paul sighed.

A large diesel generator belched to life at the back of the barn. It made so much noise that Cap couldn’t hear the two men talking. He eased to his feet and made his way toward the glassed in enclosure. Through a gap in the floor, he watched the men in white smocks work. They threw switches and checked other parts of the computer.

Very little of what they did made any sense to Cap, so he slowly made his way back to the loft door. Lying on the floor at the opening, he stuck his head outside. He saw one of the guards pass below blowing on his hands to warm them. The air was bitter cold and he felt his mustache stiffen and the skin on his face tighten. Crawling back to where he left the skimobile outfit, Cap quickly put it on. Back at the door, he watched the guard walk from one end of the barn to the other. Cap noticed that the guard stopped for about a minute to warm his hands at a burning barrel placed at each corner.

“If I time this right, I can get away without being seen,” Cap thought. He waited until the guard passed below him then lowered the rope. Easing his weight out of the loft, he started down hand over hand.

Someone yelled from the opposite end of the barn where the guard walked. Cap froze, dangling in the air he pulled himself as close to the barn as possible. He watched the guard turn around and heard him say, “Yeah.”

“Paul wants one of us to go check on the loony. You know the fellow Ikey brought in. Do you want to go, or do you want me to go?” the man at the other end yelled.

“I’ll go. Maybe I can warm up for a few minutes by the stove Ikey has in his cabin,” the guard yelled and started away from the barn.

Cap turned his head and saw the other guard pass out of view around the barn. Quickly, he slid down the rope and grunted as his feet hit the frozen ground. “The gig is up now,” he muttered. He couldn’t go back to the cabin dressed the way he was. If he went to the mess hall, questions would be asked. When the guard didn’t find him, they would know something was up and start searching for him. He had to delay that as long as possible.

Sighing to himself, Cap headed for the cabin. Placing his back flat against the wall near the door he heard the guard, talking to himself inside. Hearing the man approach the door, Cap raised his rifle and tensed waiting for the man to appear. The door creaked open and the man walked out. As Cap swung the rifle butt at the man’s head, the man stumbled, causing Cap to hit his shoulder instead. Grunting, the man slammed into the door frame.

Off balance, Cap brought the rifle up for another swing. Before Cap completed the move, the man fell against him and grabbed him around the waist. He had the breath knocked out of him when he hit the door.

Cap had to finish the man quickly, before he yelled for help. As the man pressed him against the wall, Cap raised the rifle and brought the barrel down on his head.

Because of his awkward position, he couldn’t put much force into the blow. The man grunted in pain from the blow which had only stunned him. Cap brought his leg up and kneed the man in the stomach. At the same time, he brought the butt of the rifle down on the man’s shoulder, trying to loosen the man’s grip.

Grunting in pain, the man’s arms fell from around him and Cap backed up a step. The man opened his mouth to yell. Cap brought the butt of the rifle up from his waist, hitting him under the chin. He heard teeth crunch and a muffled scream as the man sagged to the ground. Cap brought the rifle butt down one more time on the side of the man’s head. He dragged the man inside and stuffed him in the closet next to the door.

He had gained a little time, but Cap knew it wouldn’t be long until they wondered where the guard was. Grabbing some spare ammo off the rack, he headed for the door. Everything was quiet outside so he slipped to the end of the cabin and peered around the edge. Off to the left, near the cattle pens, a man stamped his feet and puffed on a cigarette. A light flared one hundred yards to the right as another man lit a cigarette.

There was nothing but open ground all around. Cap thanked his lucky stars that it was a moonless night. He waited until both men were facing away, then dashed for a small ditch he had noticed when they brought him in. At any moment, he expected to hear a shout and feel a bullet slam into his back. Panting, he dropped into the ditch and flipped around to peer over the top. The guards were still in the same positions. Breathing a sigh of relief, Cap crawled down the ditch to where it connected with a small creek coming from the hills in back of the ranch. Reaching the foot of the hill, he paused to look back.

Two men were walking toward Ikey’s cabin. Other than that things looked normal. Cap knew if they found the body in the closet they would be after him in no time.

Angling across the hill, he climbed a group of boulders. An alarm bell rang back at the ranch. He stopped to catch his breath beside a car-sized boulder just beneath the ridge line. Head down, hands on knees, he panted from the exertion of climbing.

“What the hell is going on down there?” a man said from the top of the hill. Cap froze with his head down. Slowly, he lowered himself until the boulder hid him. Peering around the side, Cap saw two men silhouetted against the night sky twenty feet from him.

“Try to get someone on the radio,” one of them said.

Cap heard a muffled voice talking, then he heard a smacking noise as one of the men hit something.

“Shit, this piece of junk is worthless,” the man with the radio said. He pounded it with his hand.

“One of us had better go down and find out what is going on. You went the last time, so I guess it’s my turn. While I’m down there, I’ll try to find a damn radio that works. Keep a sharp eye out for anything coming this way. I’ll be back soon as I can,” said the second man. Cap crouched lower as the man passed on the other side of the boulder he hid behind. He waited until the man was at the bottom of the hill then looked for the other man. Cap didn’t see him, so he crawled cautiously up the hill. He stopped fifty feet to the right of where the men had stood. Raising his head above the top of the hill, he looked for the man left behind.

What he saw caused him to smile. The men had piled up rocks against the hill to act as a windbreak. Inside the wall, the second man sat warming his hands in front of a big Coleman heater. He appeared to be more intent on keeping warm than on watching what was going on around him. Cap crawled another couple of hundred feet then crossed the top of the hill. Cap figured it to be less than a mile to where Ikey had found him. Using what cover there was, he headed that way. He became more cautious when he came to the hill he and Benji had been on. Somewhere close he knew a guard post was located. Until he found it, he couldn’t head for the caves. Late as it was, Cap thought whoever came to wait for him had left long ago for the cave. If his luck held, the man or men would be watching the other way, not expecting any trouble to come from the ranch. Going around the side of a cliff, Cap felt something hard pressed into his back. A woman’s voice said, “Don’t make a move or shout.”

“Leila, is that you?” Cap whispered.

“Cap, if that’s you, turn around slowly with your hands raised so I can get a good look at you.”

Cap raised his hands and slowly turned around.

“Thank God, we didn’t know if you were all right. We decided that one of us should be here all the time in case you showed up,” Leila said, lowering the rifle.

Cap sat down on a rock, his shaking legs wouldn’t hold him any longer. Looking up, he asked, “Is there a guard post close?”

“There are two men a little over three hundred yards from here,” she answered.

“We better get out of here and back to the cave quickly. The men hunting me are likely to show up here any time now.”

“Follow me,” Leila said, taking off at a brisk walk.

A short time later she bent close to him and whispered into his ear. “Stay close and don’t make any noise. The two men I told you about are on the other side of these rocks.”

Cap followed as she silently slipped from rock to rock. At one point, he heard the men talking. Cap placed each foot carefully so as not to make any noise in the loose rocks. By the time they put enough distance so that the men couldn’t hear them, he was soaked in sweat. Leila waited for him behind a large boulder at the bottom of the next hill. “Jeff will be somewhere near the trail going down to the caves so watch out for him.”

Cap nodded okay and started up the hill. Reaching the trail he whispered, “Jeff, where are you?”

A dark shadow separated itself from a tree twenty feet to his left. “Is that you, Cap?”

“It sure is Jeff, and am I glad to see you,” he said shaking the tall man’s hand.

“Where is Leila?”

“Back down the hill wiping out any trace we might have left. She will be here in a few minutes. As they waited for Leila, Cap told Jeff about the things he saw and heard. Leila walked up and looked at the sky. “It will be getting light in about an hour; we better get out of sight. You two go on to the cave. I’ll erase any tracks we leave,” she told them. In the cave, Cap told them everything he had learned, and they discussed what their next move would be. Jeff and Benji wanted to head for Galexie and wait for Ben. Leila and Cap thought they should stay where they were because Todd was coming to the ranch. They finally convinced Jeff and Benji the best way to help would be to stay there and find out what Todd was up to. It was agreed they would keep a twenty-four hour watch on the ranch from the hill in back of it.

Chapter 16

It felt good to be clean and have on clean clothes. During the day Tony and Jane washed their clothes, which were beginning to smell ripe. Snoring came from the bedroom where Ben slept and the only one in the living room with him was Tammy. Bill was in the tree, pulling guard duty, and the rest of them were getting what sleep they could.

“Joe, what will the world be like when this is all over?” Tammy asked.

“I really don’t know, Tammy? There will be a lot less people than there were. I doubt food will be as plentiful as it has in the past. I believe the survivors will have to grow their own food.”

“Will these people after us always be different? Why do they hate us so? I would like to go back to being a kid again,” Tammy said with a wistful smile.

“I wish I knew the answers to your questions. We’ve been on the run so long information is hard to come by. This disease does something to their minds that compels them to destroy people not like them. I don’t really believe it’s hate they feel.

“For instance, when you step on a bug in your house do you hate the bug? If you give it any thought at all, you get rid of the bug because it doesn’t belong there. That’s the way I think it is with them. To their mind set, we are the ones who don’t belong here. I wish Ben could remember where he met Todd’s master? Obviously the man knows him. His hatred of Ben appears to be the major thing on his mind. Todd is another story. While it is true we were friends until recently, I can’t condone what he has become. Maybe when we get to this place our questions will be answered. Until then, all we can do is struggle to survive.”

“The reports we hear on the radio about all those people dying and many more being killed scare me. I’m not dumb. I went to school long enough to know that the balance of power in the world has changed. I wonder how the people who are left in this country will be affected. Reports say that only thirty percent of the population will survive this thing. If that is true, then the majority of the people will be like the people chasing us. Do we even stand a chance, Joe?” Tammy asked.

“Most of the deaths are occurring in the big cities. Out in the country people aren’t dying as fast. While it is true most of them have the disease, I can’t help but believe they will be the source of their own destruction. This thing has spread around the world, which is a break for us, I guess. I don’t think we have to worry about another country messing with us for a long time. If the reports we hear are true, they will have their own problems to deal with for a long time to come. Do we have a chance?

The only answer I can give you is as long as we are alive, there is a hope that things will get better.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, Joe. Looking back on it we have had it too good for too long in this country. Something had to go wrong,” Tammy said with a serious look on her face. This young girl continued to amaze Joe. Although he expected it out of her, it was easy to forget she was only eleven years old. It pained Joe to think that someone so young and smart might not have a future to look forward to.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head, Tammy. Things are set in motion that we can’t even comprehend. One thing I do know is we are a part of this. Whatever forces are at work, they are helping keep us alive. Think about the encounters we’ve had in the last six months. People only survive the things we went through in movies.”

“Still, given time to think about our situation, it almost makes one want to give up,” Tammy said.

“I think you have hit the nail on the head. Events are shaping up so that we aren’t given enough time to think about our situation,” Joe told her.

“I don’t know. Look at the people we have with us. Don’t get me wrong, I love them dearly, but I wonder if I would have liked them if things were different.”

“What’s not to like about them? They are who they are,” Joe said in a puzzled voice.

“Even you, Joe. You’re different than you were before this began. Killing comes easy for you now. From what you told me about yourself, it wasn’t like this before. You have often told me about the nightmares you had from killing people when you were in Vietnam. Now, it doesn’t seem to bother you.

“Ben is another one. He was a security guard before this began. I am sure that he was a great father and husband. Look at what he has become. Now he is a man with what can only be called an alien force inside him. This force won’t let him die at the hands of these deranged people no matter what they do to him. His wife and boy are holed up in a cave miles from here yet he doesn’t seem to worry about them.

“Bill and Tony are harder to place. I have watched Tony worry about Bill when I knew all along he would be all right. Once Bill got things straightened out in his mind, you couldn’t want a better person beside you. Tony worries too much about what is expected of her once we get to this place in Colorado. It is dragging her down. This new power she has of healing people hasn’t made things better.

“Jake is the one I don’t worry about. Although he grumbles and bitches a lot, he is the least changed of us.”

“Jane is a blank space to me. She mothers over me all the time as if I were her daughter. Yet there is a side of her she is hiding from us, and that worries me. There is something about her that isn’t right. It isn’t anything I can put my finger on, but I know it’s there.

“Joe, have I changed any since you met me?”

Joe sat up in his chair and thought a moment before he answered. “I haven’t noticed any changes in you, Tammy. Of course, I’ve only known you for a short time.”

“That’s what I mean, except for Jake and me, all of you are altered in some way. If you think about it long enough, there is a pattern to the way all of you have changed. I ask myself what do I have to do with what is going on around us? The answer I come up with is nothing. So are Jake and I along for the ride, as they say? Is there a plan in the future to change us and use us for some purpose? I’m scared, Joe. I don’t want to change.

Joe went over to the couch and sat down beside her. Lifting her chin, he saw the mist of tears in her eyes. “Tammy, I promise nothing will hurt or change you as long as I live.”

“Oh, Joe,” she said and threw her arms around him sobbing on his shoulder. Joe let her cry herself out then lay her back on the couch and pulled a blanket over her. He noticed Stalker standing at the end of the couch with a sad look in his eyes.

“As God is my witness, Tammy, that is one promise I will keep if it kills me,” Joe whispered. He looked at Stalker and said, “I know you can’t talk to me, Stalker. I want you to pledge that if anything happens to me you will watch over and protect her.”

Stalker walked over and lifted one of his big paws to Joe. Joe shook the paw knowing a pact was made between them. Stalker lay down beside the couch, placing his head on his paws and closed his eyes.

Joe had slept most of the morning so while the others got their rest, he went to the garage and checked the Jeep and pickup. He would let them sleep until an hour after dark. At the back of the garage, he found a rack with rifles in it. It surprised him they hadn’t been stolen. One of the rifles was an old 45-70 Sharps buffalo rifle.

Joe remembered that his father had one almost like it. This one was a breech loader while the one his father had was a muzzle loader. His dad used to say he could hit a target a mile away with his and many a time he proved it. Joe would ride back with the paper target in his hand with an awed look on his face.

Joe always asked how his father could hit a target so distant that you could barely see it. His father told him the secret was to become one with the rifle. He said if you became a part of the rifle it didn’t make any difference if you saw the target or not. Long as you knew it was there, the rifle would not let you down. It wasn’t until Joe joined the Army that the secret came to him. Joe put it to good use while he was in Vietnam sometimes hitting a target that was over a mile and a half away. He would often sit in a tree or hole at the top of a hill for days until the man he was to take out came along.

None of his victims knew what hit them nor did the people around them know where the shot came from. He would make his assigned kill then go to a clearing and turn on the homing signal. Within minutes, a chopper hovered overhead to pick him up and take him back to base camp. Joe became so good at killing from a distance that he seldom went to the field. When intelligence found out a high-ranking North Vietnamese officer was going to be in the area, Joe would be sent out. Most of the time he spent in the cities drinking and whoring like the rest of the soldiers.

Joe had gone to Vietnam twice. He almost bought the farm on his second tour. He was out for two weeks waiting for a North Vietnamese Colonel to make an appearance. He tied himself in a tree on top of a two hundred foot cliff before daylight every day and waited. If he didn’t spot his target after two weeks, he was to chopper out until they lined him up with another target. On his last day, the action became hot and heavy around him. He broke one of the cardinal rules of a good sniper: do not become involved in what is happening around you. At the bottom of the cliff, he saw a squad of marines walking into an ambush by at least a company of Vietnamese spread out on a hill in front of them. From his vantage point in the tree, Joe could see most of the enemy troops lying in wait.

It would be a slaughter if he didn’t do something. From where Joe sat, it was less than three hundred yards to where the enemy lay. He wedged extra ammo between two limbs where he could get at it quickly. Joe sighted on a man on top of the bank the Marines had to pass close to. His shot took the man in the top of his head, almost tearing it from his shoulders. The Marines fell back toward the jungle behind them. He saw several of the Vietnamese troops pointing to his position. He saw the flash of mortars fired from the top of the hill. Rounds began to land all around him. He heard the whoomp-whoomp of rotor blades as helicopter gun ships filled the sky. He was about to climb down and bug out when he saw a chopper launch its missiles.

In slow motion, Joe saw one of the missiles heading for him. Just before the missile hit the tree, he jumped. The blast lifted him higher into the air. The next thing Joe knew, he woke up in a hospital in Okinawa. His back and legs were pitted with scars from wood chips that had sprayed outward as the tree exploded.

By the time his wounds healed, his enlistment was almost up. His company commander tried to get him to re-enlist but Joe had had enough of killing. The Army let him out two months before his enlistment was up. Joe went back home and put his life back together. Now it was like the killing fields all over again.

Joe lifted the heavy rifle from the rack and sighted over it. It was three times as heavy as a normal rifle because of the fifty-seven inch solid steel barrel. Joe knew that once he hit someone with it, they would stay down. In the drawer below the rack, he found three boxes of shells for the gun. Finding some clamps at the workbench, he took them to the Jeep. He devised a way to clamp the rifle behind the driver’s seat. Glancing out the window of the garage, Joe was surprised to see that it was dark.

Going to the house, he went to the bedroom where Ben and Jake were asleep. He woke Ben, telling him it was almost time to go.

While Ben woke everyone, Joe made coffee. They straggled into the kitchen one by one, and as they came in, he handed them a cup of coffee. Tony busied herself fixing breakfast while the rest of them packed what they were taking with them.

After breakfast, Joe had Jake go down the hollow and tell Bill they were leaving. Joe told Jake to check out the mouth of the hollow before the rest of them got there. He had Ben and Tony check the house before they left since they had checked it the night before. He wanted to leave it the way they had found it.

Joe led the way in the Jeep. The hollow was narrow and it was pitch black out, he had to risk running with the headlights on. Tony suggested putting a piece of cardboard over the lights with a small hole cut in the cardboard. It gave them enough light to see by, but wouldn’t glare enough to be seen very far. Approaching the mouth of the hollow, Bill stepped into the road and made a slicing motion across his throat. Joe cut the Jeeps engine. Jumping out, he ran back to the pickup. Ben stuck his head out the window. “What’s up, Joe?”

“Might be trouble. Cut the engine and lights. Tony, you and Jane take up positions in the trees across the creek. Tammy, go with them. Come on, Ben. Let’s see what’s going on.” Joe turned and ran down the creek bed with Ben right behind him.

Jake stood on the main road at the mouth of the hollow motioning for them to follow him. Jake trotted up the hill, slipping on icy patches that had melted and refroze when the sun went down. Near the top of the hill, Bill walked back to meet them.

“I believe the men in the church bell tower are under attack,” Bill said.

“Who is attacking them?” Joe asked.

“The townspeople. Around dark, people began heading for the church. They must have caught the men in the church by surprise. There was a lot of shooting and the town’s people rushed out to the street. Three bodies are lying in the street outside the front entrance. Minutes after the firing began, a lot of men with weapons surrounded the church. Come on up here and see what I mean,” Bill said.

Bill showed them to a clear place that looked down on the town. They crouched behind a fence at the top of a sheer cliff that dropped to the river running through town. The fence was there to keep anyone from accidentally walking off the cliff. They looked across the tops of houses located near the river and saw the church. It sat on the corner of two streets. In back of the church an empty lot with what looked like a brick barbecue stood covered with snow. On each side of the church, a narrow alley ran to the area behind it. They saw rifles sticking out of windows in houses behind the churchyard. Men crossed between two buildings just out of sight of the church. A shot rang out and they heard the sound of breaking glass.

“Ben, go back to the Jeep and run through the radio frequencies. See if you can find out what’s going on.”

Ben took off through the trees while they continued to watch. An automatic rifle opened up from the church. Pieces of wood flew from the wall of a store opposite the church. Gunfire erupted from the store and houses along the street. The church door sagged on its hinges under the impact of the bullets. A shot from the bell tower blew out the streetlight in front of the church. The area in front of the church darkened but enough light came from streetlights on either side to see what was happening.

They heard the clanking of a tracked vehicle moving up the street. An old M-60 tank came into view and turned to face the church. A high-pitched squeal sounded, then they heard a voice say, “You in the church, come out with your hands up.” Bullets bounced off the tank as the men in the church opened up. Again the squeal and the voice said. “If you are not outside with your hands in the air in one minute, we will open fire.” Another round of shots was the only answer.

“They aren’t going to give up,” Jake said.

“Something is happening here, and I think we better find out what it is. This is the first time we have run across two groups of these people fighting each other. The men in the church can only be Todd’s men. I feel it important to find out why Todd’s men had to sneak into town. What were they afraid of?” Joe asked.

Behind them someone came up through the trees. Jake and Bill fell to the ground with their rifles aimed at the woods. Joe drifted to the side taking the large gator knife from its sheath.

“Don’t shoot. It’s me, Ben,” they heard.

Joe sheathed his knife, Bill and Jake got off the ground as Ben walked to them. “Listen to this,” he said handing Joe a walkie-talkie.

“Damn it, Greg, we can’t give up. You know what they’ll do to us. None of the guys want to give up. They would rather go down fighting.”

“That’s the men in the church,” Ben said.

“Hold out until we get there. It’s about time we cleaned out that hellhole. We should be there in a little over a half hour.”

“Greg, I don’t think we can last that long. Uh, Greg if we don’t make it, don’t let them get our bodies. You probably won’t be able to take the town. They have too much firepower. Christ, they have tanks and everything. If you are quick enough, you might drive right up the street and catch them by surprise. Pick us or our bodies up, then get the hell out of here.”

“Wonder why he keeps asking for them to come get his body if he gets killed?” Bill asked. They heard a loud boom as the tank fired blowing a hole in the middle of the church. Another blast hit the side causing the roof to sag. They grimaced as the high-pitched squeal sounded.

“This is your last chance. Come out now and we won’t harm you,” came a voice from the speaker on the tank.”

“How about giving us a half hour to think it over?” they heard a faint voice ask from the church.

“We are reasonable people; you have fifteen minutes. After that, there will be no negotiating. We will come in and drag your bodies out alive and throw them in the stew pots.” This was followed by cackling laughter from the tank.

On the radio they heard. “Greg, if you aren’t here in fifteen minutes they are coming to get us. Alive, they said. You know what that means,” the voice on the radio said in such a solemn voice that they shuddered.

“Hang in there. We can see the town now. Be ready. We’ll only stop for a second. Run for the trucks when you see us.”

“Try to damage the tank as you go by. Getting out will be easier if it can’t fire at us. Five minutes, Greg. Come on.”

Headlights popped around a bend in the road at the edge of town. A dozen trucks raced into town toward the church. Half the trucks sported machine guns mounted on the roll bars of the trucks. When they came in sight of the church, they opened up.

People fell under the withering fire. Houses and buildings shuddered as walls blew apart. The tank traversed to meet the attack. A pickup truck skidded sideways to a stop. Several men jumped out of the back and threw satchels under the tank. Piling back in the truck, they took off with their tires screeching.

A tremendous blast lifted the tank off the ground. Walls blew in on both sides of the street. The tank settled on its side leaning to the right. Three men ran from the church with bodies on their shoulders. A large panel truck screeched to a stop in front of them. Men in the back of the truck grabbed the bodies and also dragged the live men into the truck as it took off. The machine guns continued to lay down a withering rate of fire as they passed from town. Dozens of bodies lay along the debris-strewn street.

“The man leading those men is a born commander,” Joe said with a concerned look on his face. In the town, people came out of houses and buildings along the street. They went to the bodies and squatted beside them.

“What the hell are they doing?” Jake asked.

“Oh, Jesus, tell me what I’m seeing isn’t happening,” Bill said. He bent over at the waist and threw up.

The people used saws and axes to chop the limbs from the bodies. Other people cut the bodies open and pulled pieces from them. More people gathered the body parts and carried them into a building.

“I believe I know why those men didn’t want their bodies left behind. I believe the people in this town are cannibals. That’s why it was so clean. They probably used the clean cut all American look to lure people into town,” Joe told them.

Ben helped Bill to his feet saying, “Come on. Let’s get as far away from this place as we can.”

They followed him through the trees and down the hill.

Chapter 17

Rita retrieved bits of Ross’s memory fast as she could without arousing Pete’s suspicion. Most of it she integrated into other programs leaving behind a marker that only she would recognize. Pete would leave the system for days at a time, which gave her the time she needed to conceal the bits of information. Pete left a string of himself behind, but he instructed it not to interfere with her. She caught glimpses of some of the programs Pete ran through her before he whisked them to his location. She particularly didn’t like the ones dealing with targeting of nuclear missiles. Pete was up to something and the nagging feeling that it was something concerning Ross and left her a little uneasy. Her new awareness overpowered her at times. She wondered how humans could stand all the conflicting emotions they went through in their daily lives. Time fascinated her. Before she became aware and developed feelings she measured time in nanoseconds. The concept of there being so many measurements for time dumbfounded her. Before if given a problem to solve, she went about it in a logical and methodical way.

After awareness came doubt. Humans seemed to live with it very well. For her it was like just being born. Never having reason to doubt if what she did was right or wrong had strong appeal for her now. Decision making was another problem for her. Before she would map out the choices and take the most logical one. Logic had its place, but when dealing with emotions, time and doubt made making a choice an excruciating task. Like a newborn baby, she learned by experience. After a while, she thought she understood why humans hung so tenaciously to life. The continual up and down roller-coaster ride of emotions was exhilarating to one who had never experienced them before. “One thing at a time,” she thought, while monitoring events around her. Outside the mountain, people were still gathering. She estimated there were over fifty thousand people in the tent cities surrounding the mountain. The people in the complex worried all the time about why the people were there. Jess, in particular, was the most upset that they couldn’t open the doors sealing them in. He had lost weight and wasn’t sleeping very well. As much as she hated to, she was going to have to wake him now.

“Jess, wake up. Something is happening I think you should know about,” Rita said through the speaker in his bedroom.

“What? What? Rita, is that you?” Jess mumbled half asleep.

“Jess, look at the monitors of the outside of the mountain.”

Jess got out of bed then went over and sat in the chair behind his desk. He fiddled with some controls on the desk to clear and brighten the images on the monitors. From cameras high up on the mountain, he got a picture of what was going on for miles around. Looking at the pictures closely, Jess didn’t see any change, so he asked, “I don’t see anything different. What did you spot that I can’t see Rita?”

“Notice the trucks coming up the road? They pick up people and take them away. Two dozen of them have left with a full load of people. Along the back edges, people are starting to leave on foot. If you look closely, you can see them walk down the road in small groups.”

“Do the radio broadcasts you monitor say anything about why they are leaving?” he asked.

“No, they don’t, Jess, but I picked up a few other things you might want to hear. That is if you don’t want to go back to sleep. They will wait until in the morning if you would like.”

He walked over and picked up his robe off the end of the bed and put it on. “I couldn’t go back to sleep now, so you might as well tell me.” Going to the coffee pot in the corner, he poured himself a cup of coffee and took it to the desk.

“A little over an hour ago the man in charge of capturing Joe and his group placed a call to Todd. He asked Todd if he could pull in more men and take care of the flesh eaters. Jess, what are flesh eaters? I went through all the descriptions in that category and most descriptions say it is the eating of animal flesh. I get the impression this isn’t what he was referring to. Anyway Todd refused to give him extra men. He said they might go back later and clean the place out. By the way these flesh eaters are located in a town called Wemo.”

“Did he say any more about these people?”

“Not much, Todd’s man Greg was ranting about three of his people being killed by them. Also something was said about getting the bodies out so they could have a decent burial. The hairs on the back of Jess’s neck rose.

“A lot of what he said didn’t make sense to me. He ranted about how people should be buried instead of going into the stew pot. What does he mean by that, Jess?”

Jess, sighed. “I guess it had to happen sooner or later the way civilization is breaking down. I think they were talking about cannibalism. If that is so, things are coming apart quicker than we thought,”

Jess answered.

“People don’t actually eat other people do they?”

“It’s not wide spread, but there are secret groups of people who choose to practice it.”

“That’s disgusting,” Rita said.

“I agree. People who do that to other people are as demented as they come. What other news do you have?”

“The new government in Washington is making inquires about this complex. As you told me to do, I kept the files that I can’t erase hidden from them. Jess, there has to be a paper trail of what we do here. It is only a matter of time until they come across it.”

“Lucky for us all the senators who knew about this place died in the bomb blast that took out most of the Senate. Even if they do find out about us and want to take over, there isn’t much they can do long as we keep the doors closed,” Jess told her.

“That’s fine and well, but being confined like this is beginning to get to some of the humans here. Eventually, you are going to have to open the doors or the people here won’t be able to function properly.”

“I know; it’s only been a little over four months. I’m beginning to feel like the walls are closing in on me. How is Ross holding up?” Jess asked.

“Very well. He is in the computer system in Washington now trying to find anything that will help us here,” she answered.

This was something Jess couldn’t comprehend no matter how much he tried. Ross’s body lay on a bed in the room where the mainframe computer that was Rita sat. Ross himself wasn’t there, or rather his mind wasn’t there. They kept his body alive by intravenous feeding. Rita and Ross had talked him through the procedures on how to do it. After Jess placed the IV, Rita had him hook up a monitor to Ross’s body. Every now and then Jess had to make some adjustments to the IV feeding tube. “Uh, Rita, I didn’t want to bring it up, but Ross’s body is starting to deteriorate. Nothing you have me do helps.”

“I know, Jess. When Ross and I set this up, we determined that only fifty percent of his mind would go into me. The other fifty percent would help control the life functions of his body. As of now almost seventy percent of his mind is in me, and I can’t stop the transfer. He has blocked every move I’ve made to slow down the transfer. The more of his mind that flows into me the weaker his body will become. If he transfers any more, his body will die. I know this is very difficult for you to understand, Jess, but in his own way Ross has found peace at last. I rather doubt we could get him to go back into his body. He has taken to his new environment and it fits him like a glove.”

“But! But! Rita, he will die,” Jess sputtered.

“No, Jess. His body will die but his essence if you will, everything that he is, will be inside me. Try to understand he will live but not as a human. I am saving as many memories as I can. If and when his body is beyond saving, he will have a past to remember. Ross created me, Jess, now I have to create him as an electronic person without benefit of a human body. Look at it this way, Jess, your body is composed of electrons and so will Ross’s be, only now Ross is almost pure mind and in many ways far superior to me.”

“I don’t expect you to understand, Rita. Ross is my friend, the only one I have. How can I relate to him without a physical presence? All of the nuances that go with talking to a human will be missing. Facial expressions, body posture and so forth.”

Let me put it to you like this, Jess. What are you? You are the total sum of everything you have learned. Suppose something happened to your body and your brain was removed and placed in a container. Also, suppose you retained all of your awareness. Now I ask you, would you be you, or would you be dead?”

Jess stared across his cup of coffee and thought about the question. “Technically, I suppose I would be dead. After all, the body is a repository for the mind. Its functions are to feed and nurture the mind. I suppose if the mind were functioning and you could communicate in a different medium, you would still be the same person. Still, it will take a lot of getting used to.”

“Now you are getting the feel of it. All you have to do is think in alternative terms rather than human ones. Ross will still be your friend and will do anything he can for you.”

A light went off in Jess’s mind. “Rita, you are in love with him, aren’t you?” he asked. For a long time there was no response, and he began to wonder if she had heard him.

“Yes, Jess, I love him. This is causing me much hurt and confusion. The only way Ross and I can be together is if he becomes a part of me. Before I gained feelings and awareness this would not have been a problem. Now I wonder if I am not helping him become a part of me for selfish reasons. Before there was no right or wrong, it was do the task in the most efficient manner. I tell you, Jess, living with guilt is not an easy thing. How you humans stand it and continue to function is beyond me. Not a second goes by that I question whether I should have stopped him at the start. I could have, you know. Am I doing this for my benefit or for his?” she asked.

Jess got himself another cup of coffee and thought about her question. Over the months he came to accept Rita as an equal. In many respects she was more human than one would think. If anything could be described as pure, Rita was it. Since becoming aware and being able to think, as well as reason, everything she did was for the good of Ross and the people in the complex. In conversations with her, she always stressed the well being of the humans in the complex over her own. Jess supposed it were possible for her to be selfish, but he rather doubted it.

“I don’t believe you are helping Ross for selfish reasons, Rita. I know Ross and once he sets his mind to do something, nothing can stop him. I believe he knew exactly what he was doing when he started this transfer. You don’t know him the way I do. Since I met him, he was relaxed around machines. Dealing with humans caused him all sorts of agony. No, Rita. I think he wanted to leave his human body behind before he entered you.”

A male voice came from the speaker. “Thank you, Jess, I don’t believe I could have said it better.”

“Ross, you’re back?” Jess and Rita exclaimed.

“Yes, and I’ve found things you should know, Jess.”

“I hope it’s something good. I could use a little good news about now,” Jess said.

“Afraid not this time, Jess. You know Todd sent a delegate to Washington to negotiate with the new president. They have come to an agreement in which Todd can run everything west of the Mississippi. What the people in Washington don’t realize is that Todd is manipulated by Pete. Pete’s aim is to have the entire country under his control.

“They are getting the country under control back east, mostly by using the existing computer systems. By doing this, they are playing into Pete’s hands. He has infiltrated every system they have.

“When I left, Pete was concentrating on their military computers. What’s left of the armed forces is falling behind the new president. The exceptions are the nuclear subs and support ships which were at sea when the disease hit. They are supporting the former leader of the house who has declared himself president in exile. President Donaldson is fuming mad because he has no way to bring them back into the fold.

“With the fire power they have, making threats would bring about his own destruction. The only thing stopping them from launching their missiles is that they hope to capture the country intact. Their problem is manpower. They have fewer than five thousand men under their control.”

“Is there some way to contact them? If we make contact, can we keep a line open at all times?”

Jess asked.

“There is and I have already made the necessary connections. Anytime you wish to contact them lift the phone and dial this number. After you connect, you will be asked to push in a code number using the numbers on the phone. They will have someone standing by twenty-four hours a day.”

“What about Pete. Will the line be secure?” Rita asked.

“Pete will never be able to enter the line. I used a new language that only I know to set up the circuit. All traces of it are erased from my memory, so there would be nothing for him to latch on to. Write the number and code down, Jess. I am going to erase it also. You will be the only one who knows it. Don’t worry about Pete getting the number. When you hit the first number, it sets up a sophisticated jamming which prevents anyone from entering the network.”

“Is Todd powerful enough to control everything west of the Mississippi?” Jess asked.

“He will be before long. Pete hasn’t been wasting any time. He’s in contact with several groups west of us who are loyal to him. Together they total nearly fifty thousand, and they are starting east to place themselves under Todd’s command. They are leaving enough people behind to control the areas already under their control. One thing you will be happy to hear, Rita. Pete will be leaving us soon. He is having his own system set up at a ranch in Wyoming. It’s not as powerful as you are. I guess I should say now, not as powerful as we are, it lags only a little behind us. Once Pete leaves, Jess, you will have to purge us to make sure he hasn’t left a part of him behind. Afterwards, I can set up blocks to keep him from entering us again.”

“Rita, will you excuse us for a minute? I want to talk to Ross in private.” Jess asked.

“Certainly, Jess. When you want me, just call.”

Jess fidgeted in his chair trying to figure out how to ask Ross what he wanted to. “Ross?”

“Yes, Jess,” Ross said.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean there is no going back once it’s done.”

“I appreciate your concern, Jess, but what do I have to come back to? Other than you, I have no friends. All of my time is spent with my work; actually, there is very little difference between then and now. Now I work twenty-four hours a day without the need to eat or sleep. No, Jess, I couldn’t stand to go back to being human.”

“I can’t say that I agree with you. What do you want me to do with your body when the time comes?” Jess asked.

“Take my remains to the crematorium and cremate them. Hold a funeral service; Rita and I will attend. I’ll bet I’ll be the only one ever to attend his own funeral and still be alive.”

Jess shivered; it sounded ghoulish to him. He would do as Ross wished, but afterward Jess knew he would be lonely. He thought about his own life. If he was honest with himself, his life was not that much different from Ross’s. His work occupied most of his time also. Although he didn’t have trouble dealing with other people the way Ross did, most people were a pain in the ass. He respected Ross, but he couldn’t do what Ross was doing. No, he was born human and he would die human. Funny how in the last few months everything had been turned upside down. Now they all accepted things as normal that would have been bizarre a few months before.

“If you don’t mind, Ross, I think I’ll get some sleep. You have given me enough to think about for awhile. Give me a little time to sort things out.” Jess yawned, went to the bed and lay down. He pulled the cover up to his neck and lay there thinking a long time before sleep took him.

Chapter 18

While Bill and Ben changed the flat tire, Joe walked to the top of the hill. Through his binoculars, Joe saw a bleak snow covered landscape. Western Kansas was never a very populated area to begin with, but now it was practically deserted.

They had passed a few houses with smoke coming out of the chimneys, but those were far and few between. In the last two days they hadn’t seen a living soul. Yesterday, they had made only fifty miles although they were on the road from daylight till dark. In places, the snow reached a depth of ten feet. They had come across a state highway garage about a hundred miles back and had put a snowplow on one of the trucks. Taking turns driving it, they had cleared the road in front of them as well as they could. This became harder to do when they came to the foothills of the Rockies. In places where the hills came close to the road, they had to ram their way through the snow. In the mountains, it was even worse. In places, the snow piled up twenty feet high across the road. Joe remembered Jake tackling one of these and smiled.

Jake had backed off a hundred feet and lowered the snowplow. He had shifted gears as he approached the bank of snow. Snow flew high in the air when he piled into it. The truck penetrated the snow bank for thirty feet before coming to a stop. Snow on the hills on either side of the road came down on top of the truck. It took them three hours to dig Jake and the truck out. Now they were off the road and couldn’t find it under the snow cover. Bill came up the hill and squatted beside him. “I told you we would be better off staying where we were after the last heavy snow,” he said.

“The idea was good; it’s just that I didn’t plan on this much snow. You have to admit it has kept Todd’s men off the road,” Joe said with a smile.

“If I were you, I would stay away from the rest of them for awhile. They are calling you every name in the book for getting us lost like this,” Bill told him with a smile of his own. Joe handed Bill his binoculars saying, “Does that look like a cabin on the second hill to the left?”

Bill looked where Joe indicated. He saw the shadow of a structure at the top of the hill but the distance was so great he couldn’t make out any detail. “Will we be able to make it there before it gets dark?” Bill asked.

“The road has to follow along that stream in the valley ahead of us. Look at the far end of the valley. I think there’s a bridge crossing the stream. Bring the rest of them up while I scout ahead. Follow my markers and I’ll find the road again,” Joe told him. He stepped off the hill into waist deep snow.

Bill watched Joe struggle down hill for a minute then turned and walked to where the rest of them waited. He looked into the valley behind and below them wondering how they managed to get the big truck with the snowplow on it this far. Bill shook his head and turned to Ben. “Take the pickup to the top and pay out the winch to us so we can pull the snow-plow to the top.”

Forty-five minutes later the trucks were at the top of the hill. They saw Joe struggling through the snow at the bottom of the hill.

Jake climbed into the plow truck and aimed it down hill. The chains on the eight rear wheels of the truck dug into the frozen ground. If it hadn’t been heading down hill, it couldn’t have pushed the snow in front of it. Fifty feet down the hill, walls formed on both sides of the truck as it pushed forward. The farther it went the higher the walls became.

Ben drove the pickup while Bill followed in the Jeep. Near the bottom, snow became so high that the snowplow could go no further. They used the winch on the pickup to repeatedly pull the snowplow back up the hill. Jake would angle the plow to the side and ram the side of the canyon of snow pushing it out of the way. He continued to do this until there was only four or five feet of snow in front of him. They made better time as they got further into the valley. It wasn’t long before they came to where Joe stood beside the stream.

“Everyone take a break for a while. It should be easy sailing from here to the cabin,” Joe told them.

Tony and Jane prepared a meal while Jake tried his hand at fishing in the stream. Bill took the snowplow down the road scraping snow from it as far as the bridge. He came back and parked the truck as Jane handed plates of food around. Jake came up from the stream smiling from ear to ear. He held up a rope with three large trout hanging from it.

“Fish for dinner tonight,” he said as he hung the fish on the outside of the pickup. He took a plate from Jane and went to sit beside Tammy. “Why the long face, Tam?” he asked.

“Until the last few days, I never realized how alone we are. It’s hard to believe no one lives around here for miles on end. Such beautiful country, too. I don’t know, Jake. The closer we get to where we’re going the more depressed I become.”

“Cheer up, Tam. Tonight we will have warm beds to crawl into and a roof over our heads. One more night of sleeping in shifts in the back of the pickup, and I would have been ready to howl at the moon,” Jake told her with a grin.

She gave him a small smile and continued to pick at her food. She wanted to tell Jake about the strange dream she had, had for four nights running. It always began in a cavern like room with all kinds of strange equipment. Tony stood in the center with a yellow glow around her. A crash would sound behind her and Tammy would turn to find Jane smoking one of her foul smelling cigars. “Out of my way, Tammy. I have to stop her before she destroys us all,” Jane would say. She would push Tammy out of the way and raise her rifle. As she fired, the yellow glow around Tony intensified and the bullets would not penetrate it.

Tony turned and pointed at Jane with her hand raised. A beam shot from her fingers straight at Jane. Jane screamed as a red glow surrounded her. She began to shrink, folding in on herself until only a pinpoint of light remained. Then, it vanished.

Tammy didn’t know if she was seeing into the future through her dreams, but the possibility was there. All the others had changed except her and Jake. Maybe it was time for her to change. She hoped not. Sighing, she handed her plate back to Jane.

“Why, Tammy, you haven’t eaten a thing. What’s the matter are you sick?” Jane asked.

“No, just tired. I don’t feel hungry is all. Don’t worry Jane. I promise to eat everything you give me this evening,” Tammy told Jane. As she talked to Jane, she had put on her best smile. She walked to the rear of the pickup and climbed in where she lay down on the mattress. Jake wandered to where Joe sat on a crate from the truck. “Have you talked to Tammy lately, Joe?”

Joe raised his head from his plate, a questioning look on his face. “I haven’t had time in the last few days to say more than good morning. Why do you ask, Jake?”

“She’s down in the dumps about something, and I thought you might know what it is.”

“We talked before we left the farmhouse, and she was concerned about her changing in some way. Maybe I didn’t realize how serious she was. She mentioned that you, and her are the only ones who haven’t changed. Have you thought about it much, Jake?”

“Believe me, I think about it every day, Joe. I keep wondering when it’s going to happen to me? I wonder all the time if I am just a late bloomer, and maybe I’ll become like the people chasing us. It puts a strain on the mind wondering about little things I do that are out of character for me. When you get a chance, take her aside and find out what’s wrong. Okay?”

“Will do, Jake. The first chance I get this evening; I’ll talk to her.” Joe stood up and put his plate in the pan of soapy water in which Tony was washing the dishes. “Time to head out, people. We should get there an hour before dark which will give us plenty of time to check the place out.” He went to the Jeep and started the engine. Joe waited until Bill got in the snowplow and headed down the road, then drove out behind him.

They had to fight their way through heavy snow in many places, but at last they saw the cabin ahead of them. Joe had them stop while he took Bill and Jake toward the cabin.

“Give me five minutes to get behind the cabin, Bill, then you and Jake approach the front,” Joe told them. He waddled through the deep snow to the trees and stepped into them. The going was a lot easier in the trees because the snow was only a couple of feet deep. Going swiftly through the trees, Joe came to the back of the cabin. He watched the window for a minute and thought he saw the curtain move. Glancing at his watch, Joe saw only two minutes remained until Bill and Jake approached the front of the cabin.

Carefully, Joe slid along the wall until he was next to the window. Putting his ear against the wall, he thought he heard footsteps cross the room toward the front. Joe peered through a crack in the curtain. In the dimly lit room, he saw two shadows at a window. Leaving the window, Joe slid along the wall until he came to a set of doors leading to the basement.

Holding his forty-five in one hand, he reached out and raised one of the doors. All Joe saw was a bare dry cement floor, so he stepped over the lip and walked down the steps. At the bottom he reached up and pulled the door closed. A furnace across the room kicked on, startling him. He almost fired at it. He saw light coming from the top of a stairwell across from him. Slowly, Joe made his way to the bottom step. A loud gunshot caused him to flatten against the wall. His heart was beating fast. He heard a woman yell, “Stop right there. Not a step closer.”

Joe thought the woman was talking to him. Joe started to answer; then, heard Bill yell from outside. Closing his mouth, Joe took the steps one at a time until he came to the open doorway. Sticking his head quickly around the door, he took a rapid look into the room. A woman holding a rifle stood at a hole in the door looking outside. Beside her a small boy stood holding another rifle that was bigger than he was. A fire roared in a fireplace against the wall. Dressed as he was, the heat coming through the door almost overpowered Joe. He eased around the door and tiptoed across the room. Joe grabbed the rifle from the woman’s hands. She turned in a flash and slapped him across the face.

Staggering back, she grabbed the rifle from the boy. Joe lunged for her as she brought the rifle up. The barrel of the rifle came up between his legs, slamming into his crotch. The gun went off. Joe held on to the woman, groaning in pain as agony shot up from his crotch. The boy jumped on his back and started hitting him in the head with his small fists. Joe fell to the floor, wondering if he had fallen into a den of wildcats.

The woman brought her knee up and slammed it into his already hurting crotch. He rolled her off him, and knocked the boy from his back. The woman jumped on his chest knocking the breath out of him. Now, besides his crotch hurting so bad Joe thought he was going to die; he couldn’t breath. The door burst open and the boy started screaming. Joe kept trying to get the woman off him.

“Need a hand, Joe?” he heard Bill ask. Then he heard Bill and Jake both laughing.

“Get her off of me,” Joe grunted in pain as she jabbed an elbow into his ribs. Laughing, Bill and Jake grabbed her arms and pulled her off Joe. She struggled kicking Jake in the shin and butting Bill in the jaw with her head.

The boy grabbed Bill by the leg and started biting him. Bill let lose of the woman’s arm, which she brought around to hit Jake in the jaw with her fist. Jake’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he slid down the door.

Bill was trying to get the boy off his leg when she rounded on him. With panic in his eyes, he stepped back and tripped over Jake.

If Tony and Jane hadn’t come through the door, it was doubtful if any of them would have lived. Tony tackled the woman and Jane pressed a pistol to her head saying. “Cool down, honey. We aren’t going to hurt you.”

Looking around at Jake knocked out on the floor; Joe curled up in the fetal position, while Bill tried to pry the boy’s teeth from his leg. Jane shook her head. “Sweetheart, I would hate to get you pissed at me.”

Tammy walked in and went over to Bill and the boy. “Quit that. Don’t you know it’s not nice,”

Tammy said. She took the boy’s ear between her fingers and pulled his head away from Bill’s leg. Tony climbed off the woman who shook uncontrollably. Tony led her over to a couch near the fire. Jane stood to the side, still holding the gun in case it was needed. Tony held the woman, patted her head as she sobbed and made soothing sounds to her. “Now dear, what is your name, and what are you and the boy doing up here alone?”

Brushing hair from her eyes, the woman sat up straight. Stifling her sobs she put on a defiant face.

“I am Gail McCauley, and the boy is Tommy, my son. We are here to get away from people like you. If you are going to shoot us, go ahead and do it. Or are you like the ones who like to torture their victims?” she asked, her body ridged and defiant.

“Whoa, hold on a minute. I don’t know who you think we are, but we don’t go around killing people,” Tony said.

“Isn’t that why you came up here? I get it. You are going to take us back and make an example out of us, aren’t you?”

“Jesus, girl, do you distrust everyone this much?” Jane said from across the room. She was trying to bring Jake around.

Joe managed to get to his knees. Every movement causing pain to shoot up from his groin area. Gasping in pain, he grabbed the wall and stood up. Immediately, he bent over and threw up on the floor. Wiping his mouth, he staggered to a chair and sat down with a thud. When his bottom hit the chair, he let out a scream sagged to the side and passed out. If Tammy hadn’t been next to him, he would have fallen to the floor. She reached out and leaned him against the back of the chair. Jake groaned, and Jane helped him set up with his back to the door. “What happened?” he asked in confusion.

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, Jake. A slip of a woman knocked you out with one punch,”

Jane told him. It was all she could do to keep from laughing.

Bill hobbled over to the fire and dropped his pants. When he turned around they saw a half dozen teeth marks on his leg.

The woman gasped and the boy tightened his grip on her as Stalker walked through the door.

“Don’t be afraid. He’s with us, and he won’t hurt you,” Tony told the woman. Tammy started to giggle then began laughing so hard she could hardly stand.

“What’s so damn funny?” Bill growled.

It took a moment for Tammy to control her laughter then she said, “Stalker told me that he was going to have to teach the little one the proper way to bite someone.” She broke into laughter again. Even the woman had to laugh at that as Bill’s face turned beet red. “Are you really not going to harm us?” she asked.

“I think the question should be; will you promise not to harm us,” Jake said getting unsteadily to his feet.

“No, Gail, we will not hurt you. All we are looking for is a place to rest and get warm for awhile,” Tony told her.

“If you mean it, I am sorry for the way I treated you.”

“Tell that to Joe when he comes to,” Jane said with a smile.

Standing there in his shorts all the energy seemed to drain from Bill. He sagged to the floor next to the fire and leaned his back against the wall. “Lady, if I ever try to get you to do something you don’t want to, remind me to bring at least a dozen men with me,” he said with a sigh. Jake walked carefully over to the table and sat down holding his head. “I could use a cup of coffee about now? Lady, I’ll bet Mike Tyson is glad you never climbed in the ring with him.”

“Tommy, go get some wood to put in the stove and I’ll fix some coffee,” Gail told her son.

“I’ll help him,” Tammy said and followed him.

Jane helped Bill carry Joe to the couch where they removed his boots and laid him down. He kept moaning in pain at every little movement.

“Will he be okay?” Gail asked.

“In an hour or two, he will be as good as new, except for some soreness,” Jane told her.

“Will you make the coffee while I cover the windows?” Gail asked Tony.

“Sure,” Tony said. She busied herself stoking the wood stove the coffee was to be heated on. They watched as Gail hung a heavy wool blanket over the three windows in the room. She went to the corner and lit a gas lantern. Bringing it to the center of the room, she hung it from a wire coming from the ceiling. “I like to do this before it gets dark so no one will spot any light from up here,” she explained.

“Stalker says he will go out and stand guard. He’ll see us in the morning unless something happens,” Tammy told them and let Stalker out the door.

“Can you really talk to him?” Tommy asked his eyes big as saucers.

“Sure, and he likes you,” Tammy told him.

“Really!” Tommy exclaimed.

Tammy nodded her head yes and went over to sit down on the edge of the couch next to Joe.

“So, how come you and Tommy are up here alone?” Tony asked as they sat around the table drinking coffee.

“We lived in a town sixty miles from here. Three months ago a lot of people arrived in town. They started rounding people up and marching them down to the cattle pens where they shot them. When they came to search our house, Tommy and I hid in the crawl space of the attic. After they left, we sneaked out of the house and made our way on foot to my uncle’s house outside of town. We found Uncle Charlie lying in the yard all bloody.

“I don’t know how he hung on as long as he did. When I raised his bloody head in my lap, he opened his eyes and whispered, ‘Use the truck and take Tommy to the cabin in the mountains.’ His head rolled to the side and he died as I held him.

“We found Aunt Mary in the kitchen with a gun in her hand. She had been dead for hours from the many bullet wounds in her. I backed the pickup out of the garage and loaded up all the foodstuff I could find. Every now and then we heard rifle fire coming from town.

“I knew it wouldn’t be long until they found out we were missing and came looking for us. You see, while we hid in the attic, I heard them talking about a list with the names of everyone in town on it. A few of them argued that the man in charge should just mark our names off of it like they were doing with the people they killed. The man with the list said no; he said our names were on the list, so we had to be found and killed.

“Loading everything we could use in the back of the pickup, we headed here. Before it started snowing so heavy, we saw someone pass by on the road at the bottom of the mountain every now and then. You are the first people we have made contact with in the last two months. I hoped to make it through the winter then sneak into town next spring to see if the people had left. From what you’ve told me, it wouldn’t do any good to go back there now,” Gail hung her head and softly sobbed. Tony reached over and patted her hand saying, “You can come with us. It will be a lot less safe than staying here, but as soon as the winter is over, they will find you. You know that, so come with us and we will protect you as well as we can.”

Gail lifted tear stained eyes to Tony and said, “Thank you.”

Tommy ran over to his mom and excitedly said. “Mom, Mom, is he an Indian?” Tommy pointed to where Joe lay on the couch. “I know he is a black man,” he said pointing to Jake. Gail gave an apologetic smile to Jake and said, “Very few Indians or black people passed through town because we are so far off the beaten track. I don’t believe Tommy has seen either one, so please excuse him. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“Don’t let it bother you. If I was his age, I would be curious too,” Jake told her. Joe looked up from where he lay and saw Tammy sitting beside him. “Is that wild woman tied up?” he whispered.

“No, Joe, she has taken us all prisoners,” Tammy answered with a straight face. Joe lurched up and fell back down groaning. Tammy lay in the floor laughing. Everyone left the table to see what Tammy was laughing about and gathered around the couch. Joe looked up through pain filled eyes at the woman he had fought with and said, “Please shoot me and put me out of my misery.” This caused Tammy to laugh harder.

They were all puzzled so Tony asked, “What are you laughing about, Tammy?”

“I told Joe we were her prisoners,” she choked out between fits of laughter. Everyone started laughing, leaving Joe to lie there with his pain and a puzzled look on his face.

“Are you all crazy? Grab her. She doesn’t have a gun,” Joe said with a groan. They all lost it then. By the time their laughter settled down none of them could stand up.

“Am I missing something?” Joe asked, in a puzzled voice. That set them off again, so he lay back on the couch and waited.

Tony sat down on the edge of the couch and ran her hand through his hair. “Poor Joe,” she said and fell over laughing.

“Damn it! Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Joe said getting mad.

Controlling her laughter, Tammy said, “Joe meet Gail. Gail, this poor excuse of a man that you beat the crap out of is Joe.” Tammy barely got the last out before she collapsed on top of Joe in laughter.

Joe decided the pain was better than trying to make sense of these lunatics. He closed his eyes ignoring them.

“It’s been a long time since I laughed like that,” Gail said in a sad voice from where she sat on the floor.

Joe opened one eye and looked at the woman. Beneath her short red hair was a cute face with a pert little nose. Her green eyes went well with her hair. Although small of body, Joe knew from experience she packed one hell of a wallop. He judged her to be five foot tall and to weigh about ninety to a hundred pounds.

Wiry was the word that came to his mind. She would never be called beautiful, but there was something about her that gave her a quality transcending beauty. It might be the way she held herself or the deep-rooted sadness in her eyes.

Joe knew a rare woman sat on the floor by the fireplace. One who would fight tooth and nail to protect what was hers. At the same time if she gave herself to a man it would be forever like the wedding vows said. Forsaking all others, until the day you die. This woman would be like that. He noticed her staring at him. Joe averted his eyes feeling like a schoolboy.

“Hey, Joe. Gail says she is the peaceful one in the family. If you want a tussle she says go up the mountain and meet her mean sister,” Jake said with a grin.

“All right, all right,” Joe turned and said, “You know they will never let me live this down, so let’s start all over.”

“Hi, my name is Joe,” he said, holding his hand out to her.

“Pleased to meet you, Joe. My name is Gail. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Yes please,” Joe answered. Lifting Tammy off him, he sat up with only a few groans. Gail brought a cup of coffee and handed it to him. As their fingers touched, Joe felt a jolt. She looked at him in surprise, spilling a little of the coffee.

Joe sipped the coffee and watched Gail who blushed when she noticed him staring. “Please don’t do that,” she said in confusion. Getting up, she went to the sink and put her hands in the dishwater. Gail couldn’t understand it. A little while ago she was trying to kill Joe. Now his very presence made her giddy. She hadn’t felt like this since the first time she saw her husband. How she missed him. She hadn’t looked at another man in the four years since Jessie died in the car wreck. When Joe’s fingers touched hers, Gail felt a stirring that she thought had died with her husband.

“Get control of yourself; you have a young boy to care for,” she mentally lashed out at herself. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Joe gazing at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. Watch yourself, girl, times are bad enough without thinking about a man.

She smiled thinking how she had manhandled Joe. She didn’t know what gave her the strength and courage to take on three men. She took pride that she had acquitted herself well. She idly washed the dishes as she thought.

Across the room, Joe tried to sort out his feelings. He knew something special had happened the moment their fingers touched, but what it was he couldn’t say. He had always been a loner, being responsible only for himself. He took it upon himself to look after Tammy after they met, but she was self-sufficient enough to take care of herself most of the time.

Not a highly sexed man, Joe didn’t understand the sudden surge of lust that occurred when their fingers met. Most women held little interest for him. He had little use for the endless mind games they played. He lived a simple life and he preferred to keep it that way without the entanglements a woman brought.

“You have to be kidding,” Bill whispered to Tony.

“I’m telling you, Joe and this woman feel something between them. I have heard of love at first sight, but never thought I would see it,” Tony whispered to him.

“If you say so. I can’t see Joe tying himself down to a woman though,” Bill whispered back.

“Oh Bill, you don’t have a bit of romanticism left in you,” Tony chuckled and kissed him. Tammy came over and asked, “What are you two whispering about?”

“Tony says Joe has fallen in love. Have you ever heard of a more ridiculous thing?” Bill said. Tammy arched an eyebrow. “I thought it was perfectly obvious he is smitten with her,” she said to him.

“Women, go figure them out.” Bill mumbled.

“Let me get you a cup of coffee, love. Maybe Tammy can tell you about the birds and bees,”

Tony said.

“Men are such hopeless clods when it comes to love,” Tammy said, plopping down beside him.

“That may well be, young lady, but what would you do without us?” Bill said ruffling her hair. Sticking her nose in the air, Tammy said, “I’m sure we would do quite well, sir,” then she started giggling.

Bill threw his hands up in the air saying, “I give; I know when I’m beaten. I beg your humble forgiveness, honorable lady.”

“You are forgiven, sir. But don’t let it happen again.” Tammy chuckled and kissed him on the cheek.

Tony handed him a cup of coffee saying, “Has Tammy straightened you out?”

“If I stayed around you two all the time, I would be bonkers. I think I’ll go talk to Jake for awhile,” Bill said, getting up. Tony sat down beside Tammy.

Tammy couldn’t resist one parting shot, “Have you noticed, Tony, that when the word love comes up, men try to change the subject?”

Bill stuck his tongue out at her, which set her to giggling again. Going over to the table, Bill sat down beside Jake.

“Look at the two of them. They act like two shy lovers the way they glance at each other,” Jake whispered out of the side of his mouth.

“Not you, too,” Bill said, putting his elbows on the table. He placed his head between his hands and sighed.

Gail came over to them and said, “There are extra sleeping bags and covers in the closet if you want to get them out. You men can make a bed near the fire with them. The women can double up on the two beds in the bedroom.”

They watched in amusement as she cast furtive glances in Joe’s direction.

“Come on, Jake. Let’s get the sleeping bags and covers. A good night’s sleep in front of a fire will be a mighty welcome relief,” Bill said.

They arranged the bags on the floor and the last thing Bill saw before sleep took him was Joe staring at Gail’s bedroom door.

Chapter 19

“What do you mean you want men sent out, Todd? Christ, we had three foot of snow last night and another two feet the night before. We can’t even get out of the town we are in; let alone take to the open highways.”

“I don’t give a shit how deep the snow is. I want you to send a couple of men out in a four wheel drive truck and see if you can pick up Joe’s trail. I know Joe and this snow won’t stop him. While you dilly-dally around, he will get completely away. Just do it,” Todd said over the phone in a hard voice.

“All right, Todd. I’ll have men on the way within the hour. If they find anything I’ll let you know,” Greg said and hung up the phone.

“You heard the man. I want four volunteers to take two trucks out, and see it you can find a trace of Joe.”

“Hell, Greg, no one is crazy enough to try and drive through all the snow out there,” said one of the men standing in the room. Several other men nodded their agreement with the man.

“Damn it, don’t you think I know that, but if the man says go, we go. That is unless you want to call him and convince him he’s wrong,” Greg told the man with a wicked smile on his face.

“Hell no, the farther I stay from Todd the better I like it,” said the man, backing toward the door.

“Find a couple of rugged four wheel drives, then choose among you which four will go. I’ll leave it up to you. Just be ready to leave in an hour.”

The men filed out, grumbling in low voices. Greg turned to Jerry, his right hand man, sitting at a table sipping beer. “No one would be crazy enough to travel in this stuff, would they?”

Jerry scratched his head for a second then said, “I wouldn’t put it past Joe and his people to find some way of getting through snow this deep. You learn a lot chasing people and so far Joe has stumped us at every turn. No, Greg. I have to agree with Todd. Joe’s on the move, getting farther from us while we stay locked up in this town.”

“I have a gut feeling you’re right, Jerry, but what good is it going to do to put men on the road?

You know as well as I do that they won’t get five miles, four wheel drive or not.”

“What about snowmobiles? Unless I miss my guess there should be a few of them in this town. Of course, they will have to take extra gas with them, but that shouldn’t be a problem. With enough gas, they can go as far as they want to,” Jerry said.

“Damn, why didn’t I think of that? Thanks, Jerry,” Greg said. He ran to the door bellowing for the first man he saw. He told the man to have the other men search for snowmobiles and bring any they could find back to his office. Closing the door, Greg went to the closet and took a pair of coveralls off the shelf. He put the coveralls on over his clothes and zipped up the legs.

“What are you getting all dressed for?” Jerry asked.

“If they find a few snowmobiles, I’m going with them to search for Joe,” Greg told him. He sat down and pulled his boots off and pulled a heavy pair of insulated boots from against the wall. Rummaging through his duffel bag, Greg pulled out two pairs of heavy wool socks. He put the socks on, one over the other, then put the boots on. “There, that should keep my feet dry,” he said.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Jerry asked in a voice that said Greg was crazy.

“No. You stay here and man the radio. We will check in with you every half hour. I don’t know what we’ll do if we need help. You sure as shit won’t be able to come help us. Well, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

They heard the sounds of more than one loud engine pull up to the building. One of his men entered, stomping snow from his feet and legs. “You won’t believe this, but we found ten of the damn things in garages around town. The rest of the men are fueling the other ones up,” he told Greg.

“Good, go get all the fuel cans you can find. Fill them and strap them to one of the machines,”

Greg told the man.

Twenty minutes later all the snowmobiles were parked in front of Greg’s headquarters. He had them strap their rifles to the machines and strap extra ammo behind the one-seat machines. They found six double machines and four single rider machines. Greg decided to use three of the double-seated ones to haul the extra gas. That meant he could take ten people with him, more than enough to handle anything before they found Joe.

He let the men spend a half hour getting used to the machines. Greg claimed one of the single seat ones and took a few practice runs himself. He signaled the men back to him and Jerry handed out goggles to everyone. With all the machines running at once, Greg shouted to be understood. “Go through the town, house by house. See if you can find any more of these.”

Jerry held up his fingers in the okay sign to him and leaned forward to shout in his ear, “When you get a few miles from town, call in and let’s check the radios.”

Greg nodded his head okay; then gave his machine a little gas and took off down the street. The men on the other machines fell behind him in single file and they roared out of town.

“Jesus, it feels good to be out in the open again. Even if it is in five feet of snow and zero degrees outside,”

Greg thought. After five miles, he lifted the microphone off the radio they had bolted to his machine.

“This is Greg, do you copy me, Jerry?”

“Loud and clear, Greg. I’ll be expecting a call every half hour starting now,” Jerry said over the radio.

Greg hung up the mike and concentrated on keeping the snowmobile upright. He knew the last location Joe was spotted, so he estimated where Joe had gotten to and headed there to begin searching. Greg looked over his shoulder and saw a plume of snow thrown from the rear of his machine onto the man behind him. He motioned for the man to angle off to his left. The man had a grim look on his face. He nodded that he understood and angled out of the snow plume. Greg understood how the man felt since none of them had ever ridden a snowmobile before. He took it easy for the first dozen miles, so the men could adjust to the machines. Other than a few spills, they made good time.

He checked in every half hour, but as they wound their way into the mountains, he changed the report in time to every hour. Going across a wide valley at a pretty good clip and about half asleep, Greg didn’t see the trench until he was on top of it.

Pushing himself away from the machine, he rolled to the side. The snowmobile shot across the gap and slammed into the wall of snow. He started to stand when he heard the buzz of another machine almost on top of him. Throwing himself flat on the snow, he barely missed being hit head on by another machine. Greg scrambled up the bank to stop the rest of them, but when he got there they had already stopped and had gotten off their machines. Some of them fought their way through the snow toward him. Greg turned and looked at the ditch. The other rider lay half under his machine with his head at an odd angle.

“What happened?” the first man to him asked.

“Who in hell expected a ditch this deep in the middle of a valley?” Greg said still shaking from his near miss.

“Let’s go see if Lester is still alive,” the man said sliding into the trench. Greg followed and they lifted the machine off Lester. They had to catch the body to keep it from rolling to the bottom. “Shit, his neck is broken, Greg. What do you want us to do with the body?”

“Lay it against the bank and kick as much snow over it as you can, Jim.” Greg sat down in the snow with his head between his legs trying to throw off the case of jitters he had. He didn’t mind dying fighting someone, but something senseless like this got to him every time. By now, most of the men were in the trench. One of them yelled, “Hey, look at this.”

Greg walked over to where the man stood and saw he had kicked the snow away enough to expose asphalt. “I’ll be damned this isn’t a ditch, it’s a highway. Someone used a snowplow to clear the road,” he said.

“Who?” asked several of the men in confusion.

“Joe, you are one smart son of a bitch,” Greg said to no one in particular. He had them manhandle the snowmobiles down to the road. They refueled and took time to eat before starting. Greg figured they had three hours of daylight left. He knew Joe was headed west so they took off west following the plowed road.

Up one hill and down another they traveled for the next three hours. Greg called a halt when it got too dark to see what was ahead of them. He had three of the men climb the snow bank. They went to a strand of trees to get some firewood.

While the men gathered wood, Greg and another man cleared away the snow to start a fire. Greg had another man follow the road on his snowmobile for a couple of miles. He wanted to be sure no one was around to see them. Satisfied, Greg went to where the men had the fire started and were passing around sandwiches.

While he ate, a couple of the men took the tarp off the gas cans and made a half shelter around the fire. Now that they weren’t exerting energy, the cold began to creep through their clothes. Greg guessed it was ten below or better.

* * * *

Stalker trotted back down the road with his nose in the air. Every now and then when the wind was right he picked up the faint scent of men. From the top of every hill, Stalker stopped to scout out the moonlit landscape ahead of him. Two hours later, he stopped at the top of a mountain leading down to a broad valley. It was now around midnight. He decided to head back when his eye caught a small glow of light near the center of the valley. The man scent was stronger before the wind changed direction.

Taking his time, Stalker followed the road down the mountain. When he came to level ground, he stayed near the wall of snow and became more cautious. The road ran as straight as an arrow for a long ways.

At the end of the straight stretch, Stalker saw the flickering flames of a fire. He crept forward until he was a hundred feet from the fire. Stalker saw men sitting around the fire to keep warm. He didn’t notice the cold because in northern Canada where he came from twenty below zero was considered warm.

Stalker noticed a couple of the men climbing the snow bank. They returned with wood a short while later.

This gave Stalker an idea. He backed up to a point where he was able to climb out of the trench formed by the snow. Although the cold had frozen a crust on the snow, he had to be careful where he stepped. A couple of times, he broke through the crust and sank up to his belly in the snow. It took all the patience Stalker had to pull himself to solid snow again. Foot by foot, he went forward until coming to the place the men got the wood. Stalker dug out a place in the snow under a fallen tree and waited.

* * * *

“Shit, it’s cold,” a man setting next to Greg said. He inched closer to the fire.

“What we need is another fire. Then we could get between them and stay warmer,” Greg said as he turned his back to the fire to warm it.

“Come on. Let’s get some wood,” one of the men said through chattering teeth. Four men scrambled up the bank to get wood while the rest of them pulled the fire apart into two piles. When Stalker heard the men coming, he crouched further under the tree. The men separated and hunted for wood. One of them came toward Stalker. The man reached down to get a limb and Stalker lunged upward, clamping his jaws around the man’s neck. The man made a low gurgling noise as Stalker jerked downward tearing out his throat. Stalker fell on top of the man as he kicked at the snow trying to get up.

“Luke, you clumsy asshole, did you fall down again?” one of the other men asked. He heard the feeble noise the man’s legs made as they scraped the side of a tree limb. When the man ceased kicking, Stalker stepped off of him and slinked toward the man who asked the question. He came to a place where a fallen tree formed a tent. The underside of the tree was free of snow.

Climbing down to the ground, Stalker forced his way through branches in the direction of the man. He wiggled his head up through the snow and stared at the man’s back less than two feet away. He felt with his rear legs until he found purchase on a thick limb two feet from the ground. This allowed him to coil his body. He heard the other two men on the other side of the trees. As the man turned, Stalker exploded out of the snow and grabbed the man’s head in his jaws. Biting down hard as he could, Stalker felt bones break. The man collapsed without a sound. Stalker worked his way toward the other men. A man stepped in front of him, his arms loaded down with wood.

Viciously, Stalker grabbed his upper leg and tore out a hunk of meat. The man screamed and flung the wood into the air as he fell. Not wasting any time, Stalker tore out the man’s throat. He heard the last man struggling through the snow toward the fire. The man was screaming at the top of his lungs for help.

Stalker streaked along the path the men had beaten down. He caught the man as he was about to jump over the bank toward his buddies. Grabbing the man in the side with his jaws, he threw the man into the air, tearing out half his side.

To the men at the bottom of the bank staring up in surprise, it appeared like a huge monster wolf had their friend in his mouth. They watched him fly into the air streaming blood. He fell against the bank and rolled to their feet. The wolf threw back his head and let out a howl that had the hair on their heads standing on end. The wolf vanished as quickly as it appeared.

They backed away from the injured man as if touching him would bring the wolf back. In moments, the man lay still. Gingerly Greg went to the man and turned him over. Exposed ribs and internal organs showed through the gaping wound.

Greg turned to look at his men; none of them had a weapon in his hands. Neither did he, but that didn’t stop him from exploding at them. “Look at you standing there with your mouths open. Not a one of you could defend yourself. Where are your guns?” he screamed, fear lending strength to his voice.

Startled out of their fear, the men grabbed their rifles and pointed them at the top of the bank. Now that the rush of adrenalin had worn off, they began to feel the cold again. Someone kicked the two fires together, but it was barely enough to fight off the cold.

“I suppose asking someone to go get wood is out of the question.” Greg stated. The men looked at each other not saying a word.

“I thought so,” Greg said. “Load everything up. We passed a house eight miles back. If we can get back to it, at least we can be warm for awhile.”

The men kept glancing at the top of the bank as they loaded the supplies. Every snap or pop from the woods caused them to raise their rifles. Even Greg could not keep his eyes off the top of the bank although he knew the wolf was long gone.

“I want the last two machines to be double ones. The rider will set backwards with his rifle ready to protect our rear. Okay let’s get out of here,” Greg climbed on his machine and took off.

* * * *

Stalker loped back up the road. He had a long way to go and he wanted to get there before daylight. If a wolf could smile, he was smiling from ear to ear. He had given the men something to think about. He was sure tonight’s escapade would cause his legend to grow. He felt so good he threw his head back and howled for five minutes.

Chapter 20

Jess paced back and forth in front of Rita. “What is taking so long?” he asked.

“Relax, Jess. We told you this would take some time before we finished,” Rita told him.

“Damn it, Rita. What am I supposed to call him when he is done? Little Ross?”

“Don’t get yourself in a dither, Jess. We told you this would only be a part of Ross. It’s just enough to let him listen in on your conversation and advise you. Since he can’t do it from me without Pete listening in, we will take him out of the network. Think of him as a clone. In effect, that is what he will be although somewhat slower. You’re sure you pulled the port cable that connects your computer to me?”

“Yes, and I purged the system like you wanted.”

“Then sit back and relax. This will be a first. In a sense, Ross is having a baby; only the baby is himself. Now, how many males do you know that can have a baby, Jess?” she said trying to add a little humor.

“Rita, if you’re trying to cheer me up, you’re a complete flop. So, no more stuff about babies, or clones, or any of that. I swear between the two of you I won’t last out the month without going completely crazy.”

“I know it must be hard on you, Jess. After all, we are entering new realms here. Just think that this wasn’t possible until Pete entered me and I gained awareness.

“Have you noticed that, as time goes by, you are accepting me more and more as an equal? You are going to have to do the same thing for Ross. Just because he no longer has a body, doesn’t mean that he no longer exists. He is still Ross in every way except he no longer has a physical self. I sensed his hurt when we cremated his body. I felt his loss for something he would never be able to attain again.

“With me it was simple. I am a machine and always have been. This new awareness is easier for me to handle. I have no memory of walking or looking at sunsets, eating and all the things you humans take for granted. Although I can see, it isn’t the same way humans do.

“Ross tried to explain it to me, but it is beyond my comprehension. What I am trying to say is that unless you have experienced something, there is no sense of loss when you don’t have it. Everything I am or ever will be sits before you in a metal box that contains many miles of wire and a lot of other things. I envy Ross his memories of what he was before no matter how painful they will be in the future. I would give anything to experience an hour or even a minute of what it’s like to be human. I could have taken his memories away when he entered me, but then he would no longer be the Ross you know and love. However much pain his memories give him, it is unthinkable for him not to have a past as I do.”

“No, Jess, I will not let him lose those memories because they make him what he is. I have put blocks around them so that he cannot touch them. I do this so in the future if they become so painful he wants to erase them, he will not be able to do so.”

“I have heard it said that as time goes by all hurts soften to some degree. I am sure that in the future I will have my own share of hurts and losses to deal with. Ross has had years to learn how to deal with them. You could say I was born only a few months ago. Don’t feel sorry for Ross; he is happy where he is. Treat him as if he were standing beside you. What he needs most of all is your acceptance of him as he is now. He is still your friend; that will never change. I ask you to accept it because there is no going back for Ross. Will you do this for me, Jess?”

“I’ll try, Rita. This is going to take a lot of adjustment and attitude changing. Don’t expect me to change overnight because I can’t. You know Ross was...is probably the only friend I had. The biggest thing I am going to have to overcome is his lack of a physical presence. All relationships deal with the nuances of facial expression, body stance and so forth. Without these things to use as a guide, there are sure to be misunderstandings.”

“Ross realizes this and expects you to question anything you don’t understand.”

“I’ll try, Rita.” Jess said again.

“Thank you, Jess.”

“Do you think the exiled President will talk to me?”

“I believe he will. As far as Ross and I know, we are the first positive contact he has had with anyone in the United States.

“What? Okay. Jess, Ross says to remove the hard drive and install it in your computer. Just type in the command we gave you. While you two do that, I will keep Pete from snooping.”

Jess removed the portable hard drive from Rita’s side and went to his office. Going to a small computer across the room, Jess plugged in the hard drive. He waited for the machine to warm up, and then typed in the command to integrate the hard drive with the system. Jess heard Ross say, “Good morning, Jess.”

“Morning, Ross, what do you want me to do?”

“Dial up the number you wrote down. After they answer, punch in the code numbers and we will be able to talk to them.”

Jess dialed the number. It rang twice then a computerized voice told him to enter the code numbers to activate voice communications. He typed in the numbers and the voice said, “You may proceed now.”

“Hello. Hello, is anyone there?” Jess asked.

A male voice asked, “Who may I say is calling?”

“I am Jess Harold, from Biosphere Labs in Colorado.”

“One moment please, the acting President is expecting your call, Mr. Harold. What are the conditions like where you are?” asked the voice.

“I would rather wait until the President is on the line, so I don’t have to repeat myself.”

“Here he is now,” the voice said. Jess heard a scraping of chairs; then, “Good afternoon, Mr. Harold, I am acting President John Samuels. Do you mind if I put you on the speaker phone so those with me can follow our conversation?”

“Not at all, Mr. President, I have my own speaker phone on, so my companion can listen.”

“First, I want you to know we were surprised when Ross contacted us. I would still like to know how he by-passed all our security checks to contact us directly.”

“Ross is a very unique individual, Mr. President. He is listening to us now. One word of advice, Mr. President, don’t say anything to inflate his ego anymore than it is,” Jess said.

“Mr. President, don’t believe a word Jess says. I hate to begin contact under these conditions, but I believe we will both benefit from an exchange of information.”

“Good to hear your voice again, Ross. Do you have a cold? Your voice sounds different.”

“Mr. President, I don’t think you understand what Ross has become? Uh, he…uh now…”

“What Jess is trying to say, Mr. President, is that I am no longer human.” They heard startled gasps from the speaker.

“If you’re not human, what are you, Ross?”

“That is a long and complicated story, sir. I would rather wait until later to explain,” Ross said.

“As you wish, Ross. Jess, tell me why the disease did not effect any of the people there while this madness is running rampant in our country?”

“The complex we are in has its own air filtration system which I believe kept out the initial virus. As we understand it now, it has mutated from an airborne virus to one that can only infect someone else by contact.

“When things began to go wrong outside, Ross had me seal the complex. We did have a company of soldiers from the 101st Airborne as security outside the complex. We brought them inside the tunnel leading to the complex when we sealed the doors. On Ross’s suggestion, we kept them there between the inner and outer doors. Thank God, he was smart enough not to let them in.

“Within a week most of the soldiers came down with the disease and started killing each other. Captain James, commander of the unit, never came down with it. When it became clear there was no escape for the half dozen men still sane, he tripped the trigger that sucked all the air out of the tunnel. He was one very brave man, Mr. President,” Jess said.

“Yes, Jess, a lot of brave men have died, and I am afraid a lot more of them will perish before this is over. We are pretty well isolated here in Iceland and can get very little hard information on what is happening there. Can you confirm the number of dead we hear from the scattered radio reports we pick up?”

“Let me answer, Jess,” Ross said. “Mr. President,” Ross began, but the President interrupted him saying, “Call me John; there is no need for formalities among us.”

“John, the latest figures Rita and I have worked out suggest that almost one hundred seventy-five million people have died in this country. Many millions more will die before this winter is over. Most of them will die from events unrelated to this disease, such as cold, lack of food, sickness and so forth. Our long-range predictions are that fewer than thirty million people will survive. Of that number about twenty five million will have this disease. Unless we want to hand our country over to these deranged people, we need to find a cure for them. Rita and I believe a group of people making their way to this complex holds the key to discovering a cure. If they make it here, we have a chance, but they are fighting tremendous odds.”

“Can you give me an accurate rundown on how our larger cities are operating?” asked the President.

“Most of the cities on the east coast are dead or deserted. This so-called newly elected President brought those like him to Washington and the surrounding area. The troops under his command keep them confined to an area between Baltimore and Richmond, Virginia. There are a few survivors in places like New York, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago and a few other cities. It will be a struggle for them to survive.

“They will not have any of the conveniences of every day life they came to depend on. Many of them will die. Only the strongest will survive. We are already seeing the new government sending troops north and south to wipe out these pockets of survivors. As they expand outward, they forage for foodstuff and ship all they find to warehouses in the Washington area.

“They are meeting stiff resistance in the mountainous areas of the east, particularly in the Appalachian mountains. Only last week, a regiment of men streamed back out of the mountains of West Virginia with their tails between their legs. Nearly half the soldiers who went into the rugged mountains died. The mountain people who live in the area suffered very little causalities. Clannish by nature, they looted the National Guard Armories in their areas when this first started.

“President Donaldson thought he could just walk in and take over. He is finding he will have to take these areas by force and use force to maintain control. It will be an impossible task unless he takes one area at a time and roots out all resistance.

“He lacks the manpower and training to take and hold a large area. He and a man named Todd have formed an alliance. Todd has taken control of everything west of the Mississippi while Donaldson controls everything east of the Mississippi. Between them, they have a lot of power. Todd doesn’t realize how much power he has; he is manipulated by another entity he calls his master. It becomes complicated. We will go into it later. This master of Todd’s resides in the same complex that we do. That is about as much as we know about what is happening,” Ross said.

“Who is this master that is manipulating Todd?”

“This is going to sound far-fetched, and I won’t blame you if you don’t believe us. Todd’s master is a computer entity. Some way the brain cells of a man named Pete became imprinted on some computer chips that we placed in Rita. Rita is the most sophisticated computer ever built, and, I might add, Ross built her. Soon after replacing the defective chips with the new ones, Rita started having feelings.

“In some way unknown to us, Rita integrated these brain cells into her system. The man, Pete, from whom the brain cells came, must have been a psychopath and drug user. In his new form as a computer, he thinks he is a god. Don’t get me wrong, sir. Just because he doesn’t have a body, doesn’t mean he isn’t real.

“What has evolved is a new form of life. It has a tremendous amount of power at its disposal. Rita, our computer, has also evolved and is alive in the sense that she now has independent thoughts and feelings.

“It’s hard to explain. Rita and this Pete share the same body in a sense. The first thing Pete did was make sure we couldn’t shut his power off. The power supply is a small nuclear reactor controlled by Rita and Pete. Rita attempted a partial shutdown, but Pete did something to the reactor that will make it go to critical mass if a shut down is attempted. Pete soon learned that he could dominate Rita in her confused condition.

“Ross developed a plan where he could place his mind in Rita. The only hitch was that his human body would have to die. The whole complex became jeopardized as long as Pete could run roughshod over Rita. Ross, with Rita’s help, went through with the mind transfer. Now we have three entities sharing the same body. Are you following me so far, Mr. President?”

“I am trying to understand what you are telling me, Jess. It is difficult to comprehend a new life force as you call it. Tell me, Jess, are they alive?”

“Yes and no, they are alive in the sense that they can reason. Which as I understand it, is one of the criterion for life. But in the sense that they are not a living presence of flesh and blood, then no they are not alive.

“Take Ross, for example, he is still the same Ross I have known for months, except he no longer has a body as I do. We cremated his human body last week. There is something else you should know. Rita, Ross and Pete aren’t the only entities out and about in the world. Ross and Rita say that the planet itself has come to life.”

“Please explain,” President Samuels said.

“I’ll handle this one, Jess. About two months ago, John, we picked up an energy spike from the earth. When we tried to isolate the region it came from, we couldn’t. Rita re-ran the program she had saved and we found out there was indeed a low level spike in the earth’s energy. This time we discovered that it emanated from every square inch of the planet.

“Sir, nothing humanity has can begin to match the power output required to create the spike. Sir, you know the phrase, living planet. Well, as far as we can determine, the planet is really alive.

“The center of the disturbances appears to be on, or near the group of people who are trying to reach this complex. We have followed this group’s progress as they have worked their way toward us. They have defied all odds in making it to where they are now. In the instances they had to stand and fight, almost every time they were outnumbered a hundred to one.

“Somehow, however, they have always managed to escape. Rita speculates that it is the planet helping them. She may be right. If Todd’s people get their act together, these people won’t have a chance.

“Rita brought up the point of the inconsistency of the people with the disease. Like their use of radios. They talk on them as though it never occurred to them other people might be listening to what they say. Yet, today they continue to talk about their plans as if no one else can hear them. These people are so aggressive that the only way to control them is by using drugs. That is how this man Todd controls the people under him.”

“Who is this man Todd? He couldn’t have held a position of power in the western states, or I would have heard of him.”

“The information we gathered on him suggests he is no one special, or at least he wasn’t until this disease hit. We can’t figure out why he wants to kill one of the leaders of the group coming here. As far as we can determine, Todd and this man Joe were the best of friends before this all began. In a nut shell, sir, none of what is happening makes any sense,” Jess said.

“You said there were thousands of people outside the mountain you’re in? Do they pose a threat to you?”

“No, sir. There is no way they can breach the doors to the complex. Nothing short of an atomic bomb could blow them open. Matter of fact, last night we noticed people leaving and they have continued to leave all night. There are only half as many people out there now. We think Todd is pulling them to a ranch in southern Wyoming that he has made his headquarters,” Jess said.

“Would it be possible to get some of my people inside the complex if we get them to your location?”

“It would be impossible for us to open the outside doors while so many people are still outside. The doors are the only way into the complex,” Jess said.

“Wait a minute, Jess. John, how many people are we talking about?” Ross asked.

“Let’s see, I would like to have my Vice President there in case they find some way to get at me. Also, I would like to get a Dr. Palmer inside the complex. He was head of the team at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta that tried to find a cure for this disease. Two or three more people are all I can spare. Getting them to you would ease my mind about the Vice President. They have already tried to kill her three times.

“One thing I want to make clear is that if you get them in, you will still be in control of the complex. My people will take orders from you the same as your people. That includes the Vice President until she becomes President if anything happens to me. Am I making myself clear on this point?”

“Yes, sir,” Jess answered.

“John, there is a way to get a few people in. It will be tricky and dangerous. Your people would have to be in good health and reasonably athletic,” Ross said.

“No problem, the VP and Dr. Palmer are in fine shape. The three other men I send will be security personal for the VP.”

“May I ask who the Vice President is?” Jess asked.

“I would rather wait until the VP gets there before I tell you if that is all right,” President Samuels said with a chuckle.

“Okay,” Jess said in a puzzled voice.

“John, the timing will be critical. Rita and I will have to know when they start in so we can fool the lasers hidden in the walls. They will need a thousand feet of rope strong enough to hold their combined weight. They need to drop nine hundred feet in fifteen minutes.

“If they take longer than that, they will die, and there will be nothing we can do to stop it. Oh, yeah, did I tell you they will drop down an eighteen-inch airshaft? At the bottom, they will have to wait three minutes fifteen seconds before crawling into a horizontal air duct. They have a minute and a half to crawl eighty-five feet. Again, if they go over the time limit, they are dead. The next part is critical. At the end of the air duct is a sealed opening. Rita and I can fool the sensor for only forty-six point two seconds. If they can’t seal the opening when the time limit is up, the people still in the air duct will die.

“I suggest that they go through one person at a time. This may sound like a lot of time. Remember, they must remove four bolts before the seal will open. Have them bring a battery-powered wrench. The last person through will have to scramble like hell because he won’t be able to put the bolts in and seal the opening. He has forty-six point two seconds to take the bolts out and scramble twenty feet before he is safe. If he doesn’t, a vacuum plate will fall, then all the air will be sucked out of the duct and tunnel, creating a vacuum. Tell them everything I have told you. If they want to try, we will do all we can to get them into the complex,” Ross said.

“Jesus, that must be one hell of a security system you have,” President Samuels said.

“John, once they start there is no turning back. We designed the system to learn and once they pass a sensor point, it can’t be fooled again, not even by us.”

“You have given us a lot to think about, so we are going to sign off. We will get back with you tomorrow at noon. Jess, Ross, list what my people will need and give it to me tomorrow. If they are willing to take the risk, I would like to get them to you soon as possible. Things are starting to heat up around here, so until tomorrow, stay well.” The phone went dead.

Chapter 21

Greg listened to the men who were whispering about the wolf’s size. He knew he should put a stop to it because with each telling the wolf got bigger and bigger. Truth of the matter was, he still saw the image of a full-grown man between the jaws of the wolf. The wolf may not have been as big as the men were saying, but it was big enough and strong enough to throw the man into the air. They were almost frozen stiff by the time they got to the cabin. Once inside, out of the wind and with a roaring fire going in the fireplace, the men began to loosen up. Greg knew it would not do any good to try to post a guard outside. He doubted he could force any of the men to go out on the off-chance the wolf was still out there, not to mention that a man outside would be frozen in no time. A young man sat down beside him. “Was that the wolf we heard all the stories about?”

“Yeah, that’s the one who tore into our men a few days ago and caused so many problems.”

“I didn’t know wolves got that big. He looked to be as big as a Shetland pony.”

“He isn’t that big, but I’ll tell you, Henry, he is the biggest wolf I’ve heard of. We used to have some pretty big wolves in upper Montana where I come from.”

“I hate to say it, Greg, but I was scared plumb through. Nothing ever scared me the way this wolf has.”

Greg clapped him on the shoulder saying, “You would be a very stupid man, Henry, if you weren’t afraid. Don’t let these guys bother you. You may not have noticed, but none of them were quick on their feet and you can include me in with them too.”

“You, Greg? I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.”

“Listen, kid, you don’t grow to be very old in this game if you aren’t afraid of situations that can kill you. If any of these assholes tell you different, ignore them. Hell, I’ll bet if you checked real close, half of them pissed themselves when the wolf appeared,” Greg said in a tight voice.

“Are we going to go back out in the morning?”

“When Jerry gets here with the other snowmobiles, we’ll follow the road. Tomorrow night we’ll find a cabin or cave to hold up in when it gets dark. No more out in the open where the wolf can attack us so easily. If the wolf’s around, you can bet Joe and his group aren’t very far away. We need to be more careful or we could run into an ambush real easy.”

“Greg, don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing. Did we have to kill the man and his wife who lived here?” Henry asked.

Greg shook his head and remembered their arrival a few hours before. They were so cold they shook like leaves in a stiff wind by the time they got to the cabin. Smoke came from the chimney and light filtered out of the cabin. A man in his early thirties came to the door and invited them in out of the cold.

The men had nothing on their minds but getting warm. They stood around the open fireplace holding their hands out to the flames. That changed when the man’s wife walked out of the bedroom wearing a flimsy gown. She was a cute blond with a pear-shaped rear end. The thin gown left nothing to the imagination and Greg had to admit she had a fine body. At the time the men paid her no attention, but that changed as they warmed up.

Greg took the husband aside and suggested that he have her put on some clothes that weren’t so revealing. The husband told Greg he had already argued with her. He tried to get her to dress properly before she came out of the bedroom. He said she wouldn’t listen to him and he asked Greg to control his men.

Greg tried, but the way she flirted with the men as she passed out coffee made it an impossible task. Handing the coffee to a man she leaned over far enough to let the gown gap open and expose her breasts. As she walked, she gave an exaggerated sway to her hips. She went out of her way to brush up against a man. Oh, she was hot all right and Greg felt trouble building. It started when one of the men followed her into the kitchen.

The next thing Greg heard was a slap followed by a scream. He rushed to the kitchen door and saw the man standing over the woman. Her gown hung half off her and a welt rose on her cheek.

“You goddamned cock tease,” the man yelled.

Her husband shoved Greg out of the door and rushed the man. Not a smart move on his part. The man standing over his wife heard him and picked up a butcher knife. He dodged her husband and brought the butcher knife up across the man’s throat nearly decapitating him. His wife started to scream as her husband’s body fell on her and spurted blood across her head and shoulders. The man dropped the butcher knife and kicked her husband off her. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her to her feet. Shoving a dishrag into her hands, he told her to clean herself up. As she wiped at the blood on her, she stared in horror at her husband’s body. All she was doing was streaking the blood over the rest of her body.

The man grabbed her and stuck her head under the faucet. He held her head under the stream of water and pulled a roll of paper towels to him. Holding some of the paper towels under the water, he used them to scrub the blood off her. The kitchen was a mess. Blood ran across the floor from her husband’s body. She struggled with the man who washed her. Stepping in the blood, they left bloody footprints all over the place.

Greg walked over to the fire and sat down in a chair. It’s too late now he thought. She deserves everything she gets.

The man carried her into the living room and threw her on the floor. “Now, I’ll show you what we do to cock-teasing sluts where I come from,” he said. He directed two of the men to hold her and proceeded to rape her.

By now, the other men wanted in on the action and one by one they raped her. Henry was the only one who declined. Greg even got in on it at the end.

Greg had them carry the husband outside and throw him in the snow. He had the woman get a bucket and mop the blood off the kitchen floor. She sobbed and whined as she cleaned. After a while, it got on their nerves.

The man that killed her husband dragged her to the door and shoved her outside into the frigid cold. She screamed, pleaded and begged for him to open the door, but he stood in front of the door discouraging anyone from helping her.

Her screams became weaker and weaker until they heard them no more. An hour later, he opened the door. Naked, she knelt beside the door frozen stiff, her blue eyes frozen open in anguish. The man put his foot on top her head and shoved her body to the side. Greg winced as her frozen head thumped against the wall of the cabin.

Coming back to the present, he said, “The one I feel sorry for is the husband. He seemed like a decent man. She was the one who played with fire and got him killed. Let that be a lesson to you Henry. Women are good for only two things, cooking and screwing. Get you one that cooks and stays in the bedroom and you can’t go wrong,” Greg told him.

“Then you’re not mad at me because I didn’t take my turn with her?” Henry asked.

“Hell no, but could you tell me why you didn’t?”

“She was like us. It doesn’t feel right to treat her that way,” Henry said in a soft voice.

“Don’t worry, kid. You’re young yet. In another few years you’ll be joining in and not thinking about it,” Greg told him with a smile.

“I feel bad enough, Greg, without you saying I’ll get used to it,” Henry glumly said.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. Stick close to me and both of us will come out of this alive,” Greg told him.

Getting up, Henry said, “I think I’ll make me a sandwich. Do you want one?”

“Help yourself, kid. I don’t care for anything now. Frank, bring those maps over here,” Greg shouted.

Across the room, a short dumpy man with long greasy black hair rummaged through a pack on the table. He pulled half a dozen maps out and brought them to Greg.

Greg spread them out on the coffee table and found the one he wanted. He saw that the road they were on when the wolf attacked led into the mountains. He did some figuring and concluded that Joe had to be less than fifteen miles from the point of the attack. This would place him up in the mountains, but not yet near the higher peaks.

Cold as it was outside Greg figured Joe had found a cave or cabin to hold up in for the night. Twenty miles to the north Interstate 70 cut through the mountains near the Colorado border. If he diverted Jerry and his men back to the Interstate, they could loop around the mountains. Doing that would put Joe between them. Greg checked the map and saw the road Joe was on would take them through a small town twenty-five miles on the other side of the mountains. He got up and went over to the radio. “Come in, Jerry. Do you read me, Jerry,” he said into the microphone. He waited a few minutes then tried again. After half a dozen tries, he heard Jerry’s voice through the static. Jerry told him to hang on until they got to the top of the next hill. While Greg waited, he asked one of the men to bring him a soda. He’d almost finished the soda when he heard Jerry on the radio saying, “Come in, Greg.”

“This is Greg. Jerry, I want you to swing back and hit the Interstate. Get your map out and find a small town named Arapaho on route 40 just across the Colorado border. That’s where I want you to go and wait for Joe to come to you.”

“Jesus, Greg, it’s twenty below out here and is going to go lower. We’ll have to travel all night to get there,” Jerry complained.

“Put on another layer of clothes, Jerry. I want you there by noon tomorrow at the latest,” Greg told him.

“All right, Greg. Once on the other side of the mountains, we’ll lose radio contact with you. Give us a call when you cross over them. Okay?”

“Will do, Jerry. Greg out,” he said and turned to the men in the room. “I’ll give you two hours to get some sleep then we head out,” he told them.

Two hours later Greg had them out topping off the gas tanks on the snowmobiles. The outside thermometer on the side of the cabin showed it to be thirty-five below. The men grumbled about leaving the warm cabin, but none of them said anything to Greg.

If you stood still for more than a minute, you felt the cold creep in, even with several layers of clothes on. Greg had them line up with the man doing the most complaining taking point while he brought up the rear.

It was two hours to daylight and he wanted to be by the site of the wolf attack before then. Once they dropped into the trench formed by the snowplow traveling became easier. The walls made by the snowplow kept the wind off them and made it easier to see. They followed the snaking line of the snowplow for ten miles, then Greg had them pull into a stand of trees. He had them build a fire to cook a meal and warm themselves while he studied the map.

Joe had to be somewhere in the surrounding area. Greg doubted if he had moved on yet. He told Henry and another man to get warm, then head up the nearest ridge and look around. While Henry pulled on his boots, Greg told him to look for a cave or cabin with smoke coming from it. After they left, Greg had the men stretch canvas tarps between a few trees and move the fire to the center of it. With the windbreak, it soon became warm enough to take off a few layers of clothes. He had the men clean their weapons and check the snowmobiles while they waited. Greg heard the returning snowmobile as the wind picked up and whipped the canvas tarps around. Henry crawled under the tarp and removed his gloves. He held his blue hands out to the fire to warm them as his teeth chattered from the cold.

“Did you see anything?” Greg asked.

“We followed the plowed track to the top of the next ridge over. Through breaks in the blowing snow, we saw smoke coming from a stand of trees near the top of the mountain across from us. I judge it to be five miles across the valley from where we stood.” Henry told him.

“Good, we have him. All right, men. Get ready. We’re leaving in little bit,” he told them.

“Greg, it would be a good idea to stay here for awhile. The reason we came back so quickly is because a storm is heading our way. Looks like one hell of a big blizzard,” Henry said.

“Every damn time we get him trapped something comes up. You men lash those tarps down tighter and get all the wood you can get in a hurry. We have a blow coming our way and we are going to have to ride it out.”

As the wind blew the tarps back and forth, Greg wondered if he was ever going to catch Joe.

Chapter 22

Stalker walked into the cabin at daybreak. He went over and sniffed Joe a couple of times then went to sit beside Tammy. She giggled, and at Tony’s questioning look said, “Stalker wants to know what has Joe’s hormones in an uproar.”

Joe sat up on the couch and said, “I heard that. Tell that ugly sheep dog that my hormones are none of his concern.”

“Why Joe, did you wake up on the wrong side of the couch this morning?” Tony said.

“Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” Joe asked in a surly voice.

“Hey, don’t blame me,” Jake said from a sleeping bag on the floor. “I wanted to wake you, but they out voted me. Something about letting a weak old man get his rest.”

“Probably would have been better off if she’d killed me. At least, I wouldn’t have to put up with you guys,” Joe mumbled.

Tammy ran from the table and jumped over the back of the couch onto him. “Why, Joe. We love you,” she said kissing him on the cheek.

“If I remember right you were head honcho in ribbing me yesterday evening when I lay there addled,” Joe said. He put one of his arms around her and held her tight. He tickled her with his other hand until she cried uncle. “Where are Bill and Ben?” he asked.

“They’re down at the end of the driveway trying to erase all signs of the road up here. We had another foot of snow last night. That should help hide the hole we made with the snow plow,” Jake answered.

Joe stood up wincing in pain from soreness in his crotch. Gingerly, he walked to the table and sat down. “Would it be too much trouble to get a cup of coffee from you?” he asked Tony.

“No trouble, Joe,” she said as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him. The outside door opened and Gail came in with her arms loaded with wood. Joe rushed across the room and said, “Let me help you.” He reached up and tried to take half the wood. A large log slipped out of her arms and fell on Joe’s bare foot. With a yell, he hopped around the room on one foot. Gail followed him around the room saying over and over, “I’m sorry.”

“Have you ever known Joe to be so clumsy? Maybe this is a new Indian dance he is practicing,”

Jake said with a smile. Joe shot him a murderous look as he hopped around holding his foot.

“The only time I have seen men act the way he acts is when they’re in love,” Tony answered Jake. Gail stopped dead in her tracks, then rushed to the bedroom and closed the door. Joe stood on one foot looking at the door. He turned and hopped to the couch. “Every time I get near that woman I get hurt,” he said.

Tony came and sat down on the couch beside him. She took his hand and looked him in the eye.

“Joe, all of us know this woman is for you. Whoa! Let me finish,” Tony said when he opened his mouth to speak. “Even Stalker can sense it. Don’t ask me why or how but her being here is not an accident. Fate or some other power put her here for you to stumble across.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Joe exclaimed. “She tried to kill me, for heavens sake! I’ll admit she didn’t know we wouldn’t harm her. I haven’t spoken more than a half dozen words to her and from that you determine I’m in love with her? Don’t I have any say on the subject?”

“Not according to Ben,” Tony answered.

“What does Ben have to do with it?”

“His guardian said you and Gail would become one.”

“Does she know about all this hooey?” Joe asked.

“We didn’t see her at the door when Ben told us what his guardian told him. Like you, she stood there in shock. Before I could talk to her she put her coat on and went outside. Joe, I think you should be the one to talk to her. You know the strange events that occurred around each of us. Oh, you can fight it, but that won’t change anything. Whatever forces are guiding us thinks this is the way it should be. Quite frankly, Joe, I doubt you or Gail has any choice in the matter. Either you do it willingly, or it will change you in such a way that will make you love her. The choice is up to the both of you, so I suggest you go talk to her. She won’t understand most of what you tell her, so be patient and let her make up her own mind. Joe, if it helps, I think she’s getting one hell of a deal.” Tony kissed him on the cheek and went to join the others.

Joe sat for a long time staring at the floor. He got up and hobbled to the bedroom door. He raised his hand to knock then lowered it. Squaring his shoulders, Joe knocked on the door.

“Come in,” he heard Gail say.

He opened the door and saw her sitting on the edge of the bed wiping her eyes with a tissue. “Can I talk to you for awhile, Ma’am?” he asked.

“You don’t have to be so polite, Joe. My name’s Gail.”

“Uh, Gail, I’m as shocked by what they tell me as you are. Although shocked, I also know it’s the truth. Let me tell you a story about us.” Joe went on to tell her about each person in his group and how they all came together. He ended by saying, “I don’t claim any of us are angels. I will tell you, we are a hell of a lot better than anyone else we have come across. Excluding you and Tommy, that is.”

“This is happening so fast, Joe. I feel like I’m in limbo. I still am not over your being here. Then hearing the news that I’m to be your wife whether I want to or not. I feel like a woman in one of those romance novels when the character’s parents pick a husband for her at birth.”

“Hey, this isn’t my idea. I always thought I would be a bachelor for life. Look, I don’t like this any more than you do. I have learned though that whatever Ben’s guardian says will happen; does happen. Didn’t it strike you as strange the way they accepted Ben’s statement so readily? You see we have lived with Ben so long that when he tells us something we accept it as fact. Excuse me, Gail. I’m rambling, probably to cover my confusion,” Joe said with a smile.

“What are you confused about, Joe? This so-called guardian has picked you a wife. Was the woman asked her opinion on the subject? No. They told her she was to be his wife. Now I ask you is this the Middle Ages or the Twentieth century?” she asked with fire in her voice.

“Please understand. This is not my doing or any fault of ours. For whatever reason, the web spun around us has reached out and snared you. Whether you like it or not, you have been dealt a hand in this game. Don’t take this as a threat, but once in the game the only way out is death. You should know that if you resist this power that guides us, it will change you until you think it is your own idea. There is something between us; I can’t deny that. Did you feel it last night when our fingers touched?”

“Yes, and it frightens me. I keep wondering if the feeling was natural or forced by this mysterious power.”

Eyes downcast, Joe said, “What I felt was real. I can’t remember anything as wonderful and painful at the same time”

Gail saw that Joe was blushing and it made her feel better. She could do worse she supposed and then she blushed. She sat up and said, “Let’s set some ground rules before we go any further. First, don’t expect to jump into bed with me at the first chance. Second, I want you to date me, so I can get to know you. Third, I come as a package deal. If you’re unwilling or unable to accept Tommy the whole marriage is off. Now, do you have any rules for me?” she asked.

Joe looked up at her, “It doesn’t work that way with me. Rules are something you or someone has to live up to. Besides, setting rules is no way to start a relationship. What happens will happen. I will respect your rules, but do me on favor.”

“If I can,” she answered.

“If you get mad at me, I want a five minute start. I doubt I’ll survive another beating from you,”

Joe said with a smile.

She blushed a deep red. “I apologize for that. If I had known you would not harm us, it never would have happened,” she said in a soft voice.

He offered her a hand up saying, “They think I’m in here telling you how it will be. We’d better go out before they start to talk.”

“Joe, are you afraid of me?” Gail asked.

“Ma’am, excuse my language. You scare the shit out of me. That’s putting it mildly,” Joe answered.

“Good,” she said with a smile.

Joe gave her a puzzled look as he opened the door for her, and they left the room. Tony and the rest gave them expectant looks. He went to the couch and sat down while Gail went to the stove for coffee. She poured two cups and brought one to him. The tension in the air increased as they waited for him to speak. Gail sat beside him on the couch with her head down.

“All right, all right. We talked it over, and she set down some rules for me to follow. We’ll see where it goes from there. Now, are you satisfied?” Joe asked.

Tony came and got Gail and took her to the table where Jane and Tammy joined them. In moments, they were talking like they had known each other for a long time. Jake wandered over to where he sat and joined him on the couch. “How’d it go, Joe? In the last few months we’ve had some strange experiences, but this ranks right at the top.”

“I don’t know, Jake. I’ll have to see what happens. I’m not enthusiastic about giving up my freedom. She’s pretty, and can take care of herself, Joe said as he rubbed his groin. The outside door opened and a gust of cold snowy air rushed in. Bill and Ben stomped their feet to remove snow from their boots. “It is gearing up to be one hell of a day,” Bill said as he took off his heavy coat.

“Looks like a blizzard’s headed our way. We’d better stay here until it blows over. One thing about it, all traces of our having come up here will be wiped away before long,” Ben said.

“Give us a few minutes, and we’ll have some breakfast ready for you,” Tony yelled from the kitchen.

Bill and Ben had quizzical looks on their faces as they looked at Joe. Instead of waiting for them to ask, he went ahead and told them about his morning.

“My guardian assures me that the both of you are perfect for each other. She says not to worry and let it run its course.”

“Sounds pretty much like old time slavery to me, Mas’a,” Jake said with a laugh.

“Tell you what, buddy. If this works out, the first thing I want her to do is beat the shit out of you,” Joe told Jake.

“Oh Mas’a, not that! Please don’t have her whoop me.” He fell on the arm of the couch because he was laughing so hard.

“Crank up the radio, Ben, before this black imp pisses me off, and I have to show him who the boss is,” Joe said.

While they ate the food prepared by the women, they listened to the news on the radio. It was getting harder and harder to find a station that wasn’t controlled by the people who were after them. At last, Ben found one coming out of Canada.

“President Donaldson declared today the central Appalachians are now under his control. He said the battle was brief, but bloody, with his forces winning in the end.

“Now, for the truth. Our sources tell us that the troops sent into West Virginia and Kentucky received a sound beating. These so-called ignorant hillbillies have set up zones of control in each region. We hear they have formed a council to oversee all the independent units receiving supplies.

“The leader of these so-called rebels is the grandson of the late General Chuck Yeager. If this is so, I would hate to be in the shoes of the troops going up against them. Timothy Yeager is described as the most brilliant tactician to come along in years.

“They say he has stockpiled weapons in the worked out mines. These mines are fortified and guarded. Keep up the good work, and we salute all of the valiant freedom fighters there.

“President-in-Exile Samuels told us this morning there was another attempt on the Vice President’s life. Somehow, President Donaldson’s people found out that the Vice President was going to visit an outpost of freedom fighters in Nova Scotia. If not for the timely arrival of the British Royal Air Force, her plane would have been shot down. The Vice President’s plane was attacked by two stealth fighters launched from a base in northern Maine. As it was, six of the British fighters lost their lives before the two stealth fighters were taken out. President Samuels expressed his sympathy and regrets to the families of the downed British pilots.

“Overseas, the British are still holding on. They have threatened the new leaders in the Soviet Union with annihilation if they don’t stop the flow of arms to the newly formed republic of Europia. For those of you who haven’t heard the news in a while, the republic of Europia consists of the former countries of France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Europia declared war on Great Briton last month.

“They are trying to gain a foothold in the island nation. British reports state they have killed more than a hundred thousand men sent against them. The new Republic told the British that if they didn’t surrender in two weeks, they would use nuclear weapons on them. They said this at the time of their declaration of war. That was when President Samuels stepped in saying that if they launched their missiles he would have his forty missile subs level the European continent. Europia backed down and so far it has been a conventional war.

“In case you listeners did not know, most of France and Germany is a nuclear wasteland because of the war fought between the two countries three months ago. Outnumbered ten to one, the British fight on. The only thing keeping Europia from overrunning the British Isles is that they came away unscathed when this disease struck. All of their technological weapons give them the edge they need to keep Europia on the other side of the English Channel. The main concern of the British is that if this war continues for a long time, they will run out of fuel to maintain their war machines.

“In the Middle East chaos runs rampant. Israel used its atomic weapons first to decimated Syria and Iraq. Radicals from Iran and Libya smuggled atomic battlefield bombs into Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa two weeks later. All three cities became radioactive dust from the blasts. Very little damage was done to the Israeli Defense Forces because they had dispersed to preset positions along their border. Suicide squads with links to Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence Agency, have assassinated Assad of Syria and Hussein of Iraq. Libya’s Khadafi escaped the attempt on him. Khadafi is calling for all Arabs to unite and wipe the Jewish infidels from the face of the earth. General Aarions, commander of the Israeli forces, is continuing his push eastward into Saudi Arabia meeting only token resistance.

“Egypt has so far honored its peace accords with Israel. President Mubarak of Egypt has survived several assassination attempts. He told the League of Arabian Nations that if there is another attempt on his life, by any nation in the Arabian League, he would throw his forces firmly into the Israeli camp.

“This caused an uproar from the other Arabian countries, but has succeeded in stopping the attempts on his life. Unless Egypt changes its mind, the Israelis will take the eastern oil fields along the Persian Gulf by the end of the week.

“Iran is fighting a two front war against Afghanistan and rebel groups out of the former Soviet Union. Reports state that Soviet Spetsnaz troops are joining the rebels in the south. Their aim is to take the Iranian oil fields before the Israelis get there. Iranian religious leaders, the Mullahs, have called for an all out war against the atheist communists to the north.

“The American supplied Afghan heathens to the east are to be destroyed to the last man, they say. Many of you know, after the Gulf War several years ago, Iran went on a worldwide shopping spree. China has flown in large supplies of small arms during the last three months. With these arms the Mullahs are arming the children of Iran and sending them to fight the Afghans. Hundreds of thousands of children between the ages of six and thirteen marched into battle. Although thought of as cannon fodder to slow down the Afghans, these children have made some surprising breakthroughs. Firsthand reports say these children are ferocious. Hundreds will rush a machine gun nest, giving up their lives so a few can take out the machine gun. Then, they turn the machine gun on the Afghans.

“Last reports say that whole Afghan battalions have run from the battlefield screaming, ‘The demons are coming.’ Thousands of trucks carrying women and old men are headed east to join the children. In each city and village they pass, more women join them. They are setting up a chant saying, ‘God is great. Our children will not die for nothing.’ This chant is heard for miles before they arrive. The ones who have already arrived at the battlefield line up several deep in front of the children. Shouting ‘God is Great,’ they march steadily toward the enemy troops and take the bullets meant for the children. By the time these women and old men fall, the Afghans are out of or low on ammunition. Then the children attack with such ferociousness that nothing can stand in their way.

“If it continues to go this way, Afghanistan will be theirs in two months. The death toll will be tremendous. The Iranian Army is not doing as well in the north. They are slowly pushed south by the fanatic Russian hoards pouring out of central Asia.

“India is in a state of civil war with Hindu fighting Muslim in every province of the country. The Indian Army is said to be splitting along religious lines. Soldiers are abandoning the army with their weapons and joining groups of their own persuasion. Every major city in India is on fire, and millions lie dead in the streets. It is predicted that once the fighting is done, very little of what was the second most populated country in the world will survive.

“In Southeast Asia, the Vietnamese are starting to advance after weeks of retreating before the Chinese hoards. Millions of Chinese pour south into Vietnam.

“Through tactics learned fighting the French and later the Americans, they are butchering the Chinese by the tens of thousands. Shipments of arms from Taiwan along with air cover supplied by the Taiwanese Air Force have given the Vietnamese a tactical advantage. They are pressing forward leaving behind hundreds of thousands of dead Chinese. The Mekong River runs red with the blood of the Chinese invaders.

“China continues to pour hundreds of thousands of people across the nuclear wasteland along their border with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Armies retreat slowly before the oncoming hoard. They know that most of the Chinese will die of radiation poisoning before they get too far. Clearly, the Soviet generals miscalculated. The Chinese are flying regular troops across the wastelands. They are consolidating their hold on the land gained by their fallen comrades.

“A major accident happened three days ago when a plane load of toxic nerve gas was shot down behind the Soviet lines. The Soviets are said to have lost five divisions of crack troops when the gas dispersed behind them. With so many losses and fighting on so many fronts, it is doubtful the Soviets can last much longer. While the Chinese losses are staggering, they have many millions more people to pour into the struggle.

“On our side of the world on the South American continent, every country there is in chaos. There are so many tin pot dictators popping up no one knows who is in control of anything. Old animosities between several countries have led to declarations of war. These declarations change daily as one tin pot ruler is assassinated and another takes over. One country’s ally today could be tomorrow’s enemy. We think it is bad here, but living anywhere in South America must be a living hell.

“Latin America is a place of the dead. Major outbreaks of a new strain of malaria and yellow fever have decimated those people left after the disease struck. The Mexican government has stationed all of its troops along its southern boarder to keep people trying to escape from Latin America out. So far, they are succeeding in keeping the new diseases to the south of them.

“It is time for us to go off the air, listeners, and recharge the batteries. If you haven’t listened to us before, we can operate for only a half hour at a time. Since there is no power in this remote area, we have to power up our transmitter using batteries. Because of the drain, we have only a half hour airtime. Recharging the batteries takes four hours, so you can expect us back on the air in a little over four hours from now. Till next time, this is radio Freedom signing off the air.”

Ben snapped off the radio. “Who would have thought that one day the whole world would be fighting? What are they fighting for? Power? What good is power if nothing is left to rule? Sometimes I wonder if the world wouldn’t be better off if the human race destroyed itself.”

“Hey, we’re not that bad, Ben. At least most of the people I’ve known in my life aren’t. Sure, you have a few bad ones that more than make life miserable for the rest of us. That doesn’t mean there isn’t good in the world. Before this happened, if you looked around, you could see many acts of kindness going on around you,” Jake said.

A hard gust of wind shook the wall of the cabin and caused the flames in the fireplace to leap higher. Each of them sat in silence thinking about what the radio newscaster had just said and how it affected them. Life had become a struggle for them, but at least, they had a goal to shoot for, even if they didn’t know what that goal was. From the sounds of it, the people in the rest of the world had no goals other than to survive.