Forsaken World (Book 1): Innocence Lost (29 page)

She grabbed the radio. “Lunch is ready.” On the screen, Ian dove to the ground as Dino jumped up, looking around and Lance gave a startle, pulling his AR to his shoulder but kept the barrel pointed down. “Sorry guys, but lunch is ready,” she called back.

“I pissed my fucking pants!” Ian snapped back.

Not sure how to respond, Jennifer watched as the two dug stuff from under their tactical harnesses. They plugged something in their radios and put something in their ears. Jennifer smiled, understanding. “Not my fault you didn’t have your earpiece in.”

“Meet us at the gate; we’re eating on the move,” Lance said, walking past the camera.

Ian stormed over with Dino behind him. “That radio scared the holy shit out of me,” Ian snapped, jumping in the buggy.

“Our fault we didn’t put the earbuds in,” Lance said as Ian drove back over the ridge. “We can’t make that mistake again.”

“Lucky I’m soaked in sweat so I don’t have to see my pissy pants.”

Jennifer watched the monitor as the boys drove back. Motion detectors lit up as they passed, and she could tell the path they were taking and what camera she would see them on. Reaching over, Jennifer clicked the camera on the map, and it filled another screen.

Watching the motion detectors go off as they got closer, Jennifer looked at the camera at the back northwest corner. She saw the buggy weaving between the trees as it moved down the draw toward the cabin. “I love this new shit,” Jennifer said and looked down at the girls. “I’m taking them food; I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I want to eat when you get back,” Allie said, and Carrie nodded.

“You will,” Jennifer said, walking out. Grabbing the tray of food, Jennifer headed to the front door. Fighting it open, she carried the food to the front gate and saw the boys rounding the southwest corner. She put the food down and opened the gate.

Ian stomped the brakes in front of the gate. “You…” he trailed off and climbed out. “It was our fault,” Ian said as she handed over the tray.

“I really am sorry if I scared you,” Jennifer said, reaching over to pet Dino. She pulled a chunk of meat off the tray and gave it to him. “The system works great. I was able to follow you all the way back.”

Lance grabbed a sandwich. “Glad because this shit is spooky.”

“You see anything?” Jennifer asked.

“Had a deer jump out, and I almost shot his ass,” Lance mumbled with a mouthful.

“Dino wanted to fight a rabbit,” Ian said, draining a glass of tea.

“Surprised he could get close to one,” Jennifer laughed, petting Dino’s back.

Ian shook his head. “Cornered it in a hole, but the rabbit wouldn’t come out.”

Looking around as they stood outside the gate, Jennifer felt uneasy. “Did you see any stinkers?”

“No and haven’t smelled any either,” Ian said, shoving a sandwich in his mouth.

“Heard gunfire to the north,” Lance said, throwing Dino part of his sandwich and grabbing another. “Sixteen shots kind of far off.”

“Any idea where from?”

“No, there is a house in that direction on the other side of the ridge a mile away, but the shots sounded further,” Lance said, eating half his sandwich in one bite and giving Dino the rest.

“Think you’ll be done today?” Jennifer asked, hopeful.

Brushing his hands off, Lance put his gloves back on and shook his head. “Not a chance in Hell.”

Ian finished his last sandwich, throwing Dino the rest. “We haven’t even got half the shit up. For every camera we put up, there are three motion detectors.”

Climbing in the buggy, Lance adjusted the AR across his chest. “We will be stopping long before dusk,” he said as Ian climbed in. “Be damned if we’re staying out after dark—or dusk for that matter.”

“Be careful,” Jennifer said as they drove off down the draw with Dino trotting beside them.

Closing the gate, she pulled out her key and opened the door. She grabbed the laptop off the table and let the girls go eat. Jennifer sat down and looked at the laptop and saw most of the downloads the boys had started were done.

She started clicking on books and songs, starting her own lists of downloads. Glancing at the monitors, she saw a motion detector come online. Turning back to the laptop, Jennifer started downloading some books and stuff for Allie and Carrie. They would get to choose some later, but Jennifer was sure they would like the ones she chose.

As Ian and Lance worked their way down the main draw, they moved slower and slower the closer they got to the valley the draw led into. Their land stopped in the valley, but Doug had several cameras and motion detector wires buried well past their land.

Ian pulled the buggy down the next draw before the cabin after they put the cameras and motion detectors up. Weaving around trees to try to find the most level areas to drive on, Ian noticed Dino was leading them. Taking his foot off the accelerator, Ian watched Dino slow his walk as his massive head looked down the main draw.

“Yeah, he’s been studying something that way since we left the ridge,” Lance said softly, glancing around.

“Dino didn’t act this way with the deer,” Ian whispered.

Lance climbed out of the buggy. “The hair is standing up on his back.”

“Let’s get back to the cabin.”

“What’s next?” Lance said, easing up to Dino.

Ian glanced down at the GPS. “Camera on the road a hundred and six yards ahead; then, we move to the tip of the valley into the field.”

“I can see the road,” Lance said, patting Dino, and felt Dino’s body was rock hard. Ian climbed out of the buggy and moved up beside Lance. Looking through the trees down into the main draw, Ian saw the dirt tract they called the road.

“You see anything?”

“No, but Dino doesn’t like something.” 

Ian glanced at his watch. “It’s three o’clock. It’s Miller Time.”

“I really don’t want what’s down there to follow us back if we can help it.”

“I really don’t want to see what’s down there unless it follows us back,” Ian said.

“Get in the buggy, and pull it up here. I’m going to ease forward till we’re at the spot for the camera,” Lance said, easing off, and Dino stayed beside him.

Ian moved back to the buggy, bitching. “You get the massive fucking dog, and I get an electric buggy I can outrun on my bike.”

Lance eased down next to the road but didn’t get on it until he was certain nothing was there. The trees were thick and all over their property, so they didn’t have long lines of sight. Behind him, Lance heard the electric buggy stop a few feet behind him. Until the buggy was almost next to you, you couldn’t hear it, and Lance loved that.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Lance leaned his head back but kept his eyes down the road. “The tree is just off the road right here. I’m putting the camera up,” Ian whispered in his ear. Lance just nodded and glanced around, making sure Ian would be okay.

Hearing the cordless drill spin up and break the silence, Lance almost took off running. Seeing that even Dino jumped did make Lance feel better. Ian eased up beside Lance, holding the bow and the quiver of arrows clipped to his waist. Lance glanced over and saw Ian’s AR hanging on his side from its sling. “The valley is two hundred yards ahead; let’s ease up,” Ian whispered, pulling out an arrow and nocking it.

Nodding, Lance eased to the side of the road back into the woods. Dino stayed with him but slowly moved in front of Lance. They were halfway when Lance stopped and shook his head as Ian moved up beside him. “Stinker,” Lance whispered as Dino stopped but didn’t look back.

“Yeah, I smell it, but it doesn’t smell like more than one or two.”

Agreeing, Lance nodded and moved back behind Dino. Dino wouldn’t let Lance pass him, so Lance just stayed behind him. Seeing the clearing ahead of the field they owned at the head of the valley, Lance slowed his pace and stopped just inside the tree line. “That is bullshit,” he mumbled as Ian moved to his side.

“Lance, isn’t that where we parked the Hummer when you and I went to check on the cabin?”

Lance nodded and saw the bodies of the stinkers they had pulled off the trailer on the ground. “Yeah, and they haven’t moved forward because they can’t see where the Hummer went,” he said, looking at the three stinkers standing in the spot the Hummer was parked in. “How far you think? I’m saying forty-five to fifty yards.”

“I’m thinking forty.”

“Move up till you feel comfortable,” Lance whispered.

“Let’s just cap them.”

“If any are near, they will hear the suppressed shots.”

“I want a fucking laser,” Ian huffed and moved back into the trees. Lance followed as Ian stayed in the trees, moving quietly, getting closer to the stinkers. Lance was starting to think Ian wanted to pull out his knife and take the stinkers down as close as he was moving to them.

When he stopped halfway, Lance breathed a sigh of relief and brought up his AR in case the stinkers charged them. Two of the stinkers were men wearing jeans and t-shirts, and the other was a woman wearing a flowery summer dress. They were all looking down at the spot where the Hummer had parked.

Ian pulled the bow back, aiming at the woman. Lance watched the arrow speed across the distance, hitting the woman in the base of the skull. She fell forward with a thud. One of the men turned to look at the twitching woman; the other man turned toward them.

With his bow already pulled back, Ian released the next arrow, and Lance prayed it was for the one that was looking at them with its arms raised. The arrow sunk in the stinker that was looking at them, hitting it in the nose.

They watched the stinker fall sideways, crashing on its shoulder, and Lance saw some of the arrow sticking out the back of its head.
Twack
sounded as Ian released the next arrow, hitting the last stinker that was looking down at the other two. The arrow sunk in his ear and stopped when the tip came out the other side.

Like the others, the stinker didn’t waver on its feet; it dropped instantly. They sat for a few seconds, and Lance looked at Dino. Dino looked more relaxed but was still looking down the valley. “Where do we put shit?” Lance asked.

“A camera somewhere close, motion detectors further out,” Ian said, following Lance out into the field.

“Why didn’t Jennifer call us about the motion detector?” Lance asked, looking around.

“It’s buried and only goes off when a vehicle passes over it,” Ian said, following him. Ian dropped the bow and pulled off his pack, pulling out a camera and his cordless drill. “We set up two motion detectors here that will pick up movement.”

“Just hurry. Dino is still looking down the valley.”

Using the GPS, Ian moved off just inside the tree line, pulling wire out of the ground. Lance cringed upon hearing the drill. He turned to the three stinkers and noticed the woman was still twitching. “Hey, you’re not supposed to do that when we stick something in your brain.” Seeing Ian moving up to the group of stinkers, Lance moved in front of him. “She’s still moving.”

“She’s not getting up, so I don’t give a shit. It’s past four thirty,” Ian said, walking past the three, and Dino trotted off with him. Stopping beside a small tree just inside the fence, Ian mounted a motion detector.

Moving over to the woman, Lance pulled out his switchblade. Looking close, he saw the arrow had hit the woman in the spine at the base of her skull. “Sucks to be you,” he said, pressing the button to make the blade pop out. Placing the tip on the back of her skull, Lance hit it with the palm of his hand.

When the blade sunk in, the twitching stopped. Yanking his blade out, Lance wiped it on the woman’s dress and pulled out the arrows. Standing, he turned to see Ian mounting the other motion detector.

“You found and killed stinkers and didn’t think about letting us know,” Jennifer snapped in his ear.

Lance saw Ian drop to the ground, but Dino just stood in the opening in the fence they used for the gate, staring down the valley. Grabbing his transmit pad, he hissed into his throat mic, “Jennifer, it’s really fucking spooky out here right now, so please shut the fuck up.”

Getting back to his knees, Ian screwed the motion detector in and trotted over to Lance. “I smelled something as the wind blew up the valley.”

“We are getting the fuck out of Dodge,” Lance said, patting his leg. Dino turned and saw them leaving and trotted after them. Ian picked his bow up as he ran past.

When they were back in the trees, they slowed to a fast walk. Seeing Dino only looking behind them, they picked up the pace. Jumping in the buggy, Ian threw up dirt, heading back to the cabin.

Lance pressed the transmit button on his radio. “Jennifer, have the front gate open when we get there. You should be able to see us coming.”

“She’s already outside,” Carrie called back in a tiny voice.

Ian drove up the draw, reaching the flat area the cabin sat on. Jennifer was holding the gate open, and Ian pulled through and stopped. When the gate was locked, Jennifer jumped in, and Ian stomped on the accelerator. “What the hell were they doing just standing there?”

“Shit, I don’t know. Maybe the woman told those two guys she was kinky,” Lance said as Ian pulled in the ATV shed.