Forsaken World (Book 1): Innocence Lost (28 page)

Closing the file, Lance left the program running so Jennifer could tell them if the damn cameras worked. Making a shortcut on the desktop so he wouldn’t have to search for it again, Lance printed a map of the locations of the hidden caches.

He ran back upstairs and found everyone around the laptop. Joining them, he found all the parents staring at them. “Boys, I’m not kidding; don’t go near Doug’s container. The shit he has is deadly,” Mr. Bill said with a grave face.

“Mr. Bill, we have enough stuff to do,” Lance said then walked over to refill his coffee cup. “I’m glad we don’t have to lay the wire for the cameras and motion detectors because if we did, we wouldn’t be putting out that many.”

“Hey, you should’ve tried using the trencher in that rocky ass soil,” Mr. Bill said, grinning. “Doug was threatening to blast us some trenches.”

“I don’t think we’ll get done today,” Lance said, coming back to the table. “If we didn’t have to worry about stinkers and people shooting at us, we probably could, but Ian and I will be moving real slow. We’ll use the electric buggy to haul the stuff close and move to the site on foot.”

“That’s right, son. You take your time, and stay safe,” Johnathan said with a worried smile.

“Well, Ian and I will talk to you tonight,” Lance said, smiling.

“We have some things here we need to gather as well, but one of us will always be here on the boat. Call if you need us,” Johnathan said. After goodbyes, everyone helped fix breakfast, never knowing that was the last live transmission they would ever get from their parents.

Ian and Lance went to the computer in the corner and made a list to download. When they were done with breakfast, Lance and Ian dressed then rechecked their gear. Hugging everyone goodbye, they carried the boxes outside, and Dino trotted past them. Pulling the buggy over with the trailer, they loaded the boxes in it then grabbed the drills and screws.

“Hold on a second,” Lance said, pulling his key from around his neck and opened the back door. Passing Jennifer and the girls in the kitchen, he ran downstairs, and they followed. Lance sat down and disarmed the powerhouse as they came in. “Don’t turn it back on till we’re inside,” he said, getting up.

“I could’ve done it,” Jennifer told him.

“Yeah, but I wanted to see with my own eyes the damn thing was turned off,” Lance said as he walked out. Walking through the basement, he saw the recurve bow and a quiver of arrows. “Light bulb,” he grinned, grabbing the quiver.

Running back upstairs, he went to the loft and pulled his real recurve bow down and grabbed the quiver of arrows hanging on the rack below his compound bow. Glancing at Ian’s bow, Lance left it and ran back outside.

Sitting behind the steering wheel, Ian shook his head. “You went back for a bow and arrows?”

Climbing in, Lance huffed, “No, I made sure the damn powerhouse was turned off. I saw the practice bow and realized if we see single stinkers, we don’t need to make noise.”

Flipping the power switch, Ian nodded. “Why didn’t you get mine?”

“We can swap off with mine, but one of us will always be on a gun,” Lance said as Ian headed around the house.

Stopping at the gate, they found Dino waiting on them. Ian looked at Lance. “I think Dino knows more about what we’re doing than we do.”

“I wish he would put the damn cameras and stuff up then,” Lance said, getting out. Carefully opening the gate, Lance let Ian through and realized he couldn’t lock it from the outside. Grabbing his radio, he called, “Jennifer, you’re going to have to lock the gate. The damn razor wire will shred my hand if I have to reach in and lock it.”

“I’m on my way,” she said.

Waiting on Jennifer, Lance looked over his shoulder and saw Ian looking at the handheld GPS as he moved the buggy off the dirt road. When the buggy stopped, Ian climbed out and walked over to a tree twenty yards from the fence, kicking around the base of the tree with his foot. Watching Ian bend over and unwind a coil of wire, Lance grinned. Heading back to the buggy, Ian grabbed a motion detector and mounted it on the tree over a hundred yards from the fence and a few feet off the ground.

Hearing running feet, Lance turned to see Jennifer running toward him. “Sorry, had to find some pants,” she huffed, locking the gate.

“Jennifer, you could’ve run out in your sleeping shorts. It’s not like we have neighbors.”

“True,” she said, dropping the lock. “But it’s a bit nippy.”

“We’ll call to get you to open for us,” Lance said, walking off.

“Please be careful,” Jennifer said and took off back to the house.

Walking down the rise, Lance found Ian kicking around the next tree. “This might go faster than I thought.”

“Hey, we are beside the house, and they can watch our ass,” Ian said, bending over and pulling out a coil of wire. Unraveling it, Ian pulled a motion detector out and mounted it on the tree. “I don’t even want to think about the problems they had keeping the wires labeled as they ran them to the cabin.”

“That’s why we wouldn’t be putting in this many,” Lance said, grabbing a motion detector. “The motion detectors are staggered; and they are about fifty feet apart. Unless someone can fly, they can’t get near us.”

“Anything can be broken into,” Ian said, climbing in the buggy and pulling it forward. “We’ve played enough video games and broken into school and other places too many times and know that.”

“Hey, let me have a little peace of mind,” Lance said as he attached the detector to a tree and plugged it in.

They moved along in silence, mounting cameras and detectors until they made the turn, working in front of the east fence. Ian watched Lance attach a detector and grab another. “They are leaving in a boat soon,” Ian huffed, grabbing another detector.

“I know. I tried to talk them out of it, but they won’t listen,” Lance said, finding the next tree and passing the GPS to Ian as he walked by. “I tried telling them we’re okay and they need to stay safe, but do they listen? No, of course not.”

“Parents,” Ian huffed, kicking the dirt around the tree. He held out the GPS to Lance as he walked past. “We aren’t babies. We can hold here till it’s safer for them to come.”

Pulling the wire out of the ground at the next tree, Lance nodded. “I know, Ian. I tried for the better part of an hour to make them stay. I really wanted to tell them they were grounded.”

Looking back toward the cabin, Ian couldn’t even make out the fence through the trees. Taking the GPS, Ian headed to the next tree. “I just don’t want them to get hurt,” Ian mumbled.

Grabbing his cordless drill off the ground, Lance jumped in the buggy and pulled it forward. Getting out and grabbing several detectors and a camera, Lance took the GPS as Ian held it out. “Ian, don’t laugh, but I cried like a girl trying to get my momma to understand.”

“Lance, I cried so hard I had snot dripping in my lap! How do you think the others woke up?”

“You cried in front of Jennifer?” Lance asked, shocked, as he kicked around the bottom of the next tree to find the buried wire.

“I didn’t mean to,” Ian said, taking the GPS. “I just don’t want them getting hurt. If they’re okay in Hawaii, then I’m fine. I want to know my mom and dad aren’t hurt and are there when I need them.”

Moving to the next tree, Lance started kicking the dirt. “Yeah, Dad kept saying that’s why they were coming,” he said. “Something about I would understand when I became a parent.”

Drilling the detector to the tree, Ian stood up. “Yeah, my dad kept saying the same damn thing. I just wanted to slap him.”

“Oh, my dad told me what a tampon is for,” Lance said, grabbing more detectors from the trailer.

“What?” Ian asked, excited.

Moving to the next tree, Lance started reciting what his dad had told him. They were on the north fence line when he finished. “I felt like a dumbass,” Lance said, pulling the buggy forward.

Ian stopped and replayed what Lance told him. “That’s it? It’s used to plug a hole?”

Kicking the dirt around the tree, Lance nodded. “Basically yeah.”

“Hell, I thought it was some painful device to stop childbirth. You pulled the string to let the baby out.”

“Shit, I still liked the idea you could use the string to pull out your pecker when it got cold and sucked up inside you,” Lance said, moving past Ian. Climbing up on the buggy’s roof, he mounted another camera up in the tree and plugged it in.

Ian screwed his detector in. “Well, I owe you, Lance. Thank you for asking. I tried looking it up on the internet when we got here and saw some really messed up videos,” he said as a shiver ran down his spine. “Anyone that watches dirty videos like that needs their dick taken away for abuse.”

Jumping down and moving to the next tree, Lance shook his head. “I don’t want to know, so please don’t tell me,” Lance said, drilling in his detector.

“If women bleed that much on their period…” Ian stopped as he kicked around in the dirt. “I find it hard to trust the opposite sex when they can bleed like that for a week and live.”

“Ian, I really don’t want to know what those videos showed,” Lance said, kneeling down. “We have good dirty movies. That’s what I want to think about when I think of the ‘furry taco.’”

“In the one we watched, none of the women had ‘furry tacos.’ They were more like soft-shelled tacos.”

Moving past Ian as he screwed in the next detector, Lance grabbed the GPS. “You know what I mean.”

Getting off his knees, Ian grabbed his drill and moved past Lance. “I wonder what those guys get paid to make those movies?”

“You think they get paid?” Lance huffed. “I bet they have to pay to be in those movies.”

As Lance connected the next detector, Ian grabbed the GPS. “I wonder what they have to pay? We can get a part-time job this summer.”

Shaking his head, Lance moved over to the buggy and pulled it forward. “We couldn’t make that much to pay to be in a skin flick. We would have to ask our dads for a loan.”

Grabbing a handful of detectors, Ian sked, “Think we could convince them it was for something else?”

“Ian, the world we knew is gone. They aren’t making pornos anymore,” Lance said, moving to the next tree. “Even if it comes back, we can’t go to Hollywood until we’re eighteen.”

“They make pornos in Nashville,” Ian said, screwing in another detector.

Lance kicked around the base of a tree. “How do you know that?” he asked, bending over to grab the buried wire.

“Tim Wells told me,” Ian said, moving past Lance. “His brother was security on a set.”

Lance grabbed more supplies and admitted, “Shit, I’d be happy just to watch it live.”

When they were back at the front gate, Lance smiled, looking at his watch. “Just past ten.”

“Like I said, only one will be working now. The other will be watching,” Ian said, pulling the buggy down the road then turned off, guiding it between trees. Dino trotted out in front of them and led them to the powerhouse.

“Work or guard?” Lance asked, getting out and pulling the bow and a quiver of arrows out.

“I’ll work, but you put that damn bow in the buggy. Shit comes out, I want you throwing lead, not arrows.” Leaving the bow and arrows, Lance followed Ian to the powerhouse. Glancing around, Ian pointed at the four-seat UTV buggy. “There’s crispy critter’s ride.”

“We will tow that thing back,” Lance said, looking at the UTV. “I’m sure it’s loud.”

Set in the hillside, they walked up to a cinderblock wall with a heavy steel door. Quickly, Ian slapped the door and exhaled, pulling out his key. Unlocking the door, he walked inside, leaving Lance outside to guard.

The door opened into a small room with another steel door. After slapping it, Ian opened it, and the whine of micro-hydro turbines greeted him in a nice-sized room. Turning on the light, Ian saw the ten turbines sitting in the middle of the room. In the back left corner were several DC to AC converters, transformers, and a distribution board. Moving over to the right front corner, Ian pulled out a camera and connected it to wire hanging down from the roof then grabbed his drill and screwed it into the wall.

Locking the inner door, Ian walked outside then locked the outer door behind him. Climbing the hill above the door, Ian pulled out the GPS and located the next spot for a camera. Connecting the camera, Ian screwed it to a tree and turned around.

The camera would show anyone approaching the powerhouse. Moving around, Ian put up several motion detectors and two more cameras. Finished, they climbed in the buggy and headed up the draw, coming to the small creek.

“Wonder if we could go fishing in our spot?” Ian asked, getting out.

“Shit, I want fish to eat, I’m breaking out a net,” Lance said, looking around. “I want to get what I have to do done so I can get back to the cabin.”

“Point taken,” Ian said, moving over to a tree to pull wire out of the ground.

***

Back at the cabin, Jennifer and the girls watched the map Lance had left open on one of the monitors. When they connected a motion detector or camera, the symbol would change colors and say “Active” for a second. Jennifer would click on the cameras when they came online to help watch over the two.

When they left an area, Jennifer could tell where they were as more symbols became active. Leaving Allie and Carrie at master control, Jennifer fixed lunch and came back down to see symbols behind the cabin popping up. Seeing a camera on the other side of the north ridge behind the cabin come online, Jennifer reached over the girls and clicked it. She saw Lance looking down a narrow logging road as Ian mounted motion detectors further down the road with Dino standing beside him.