Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Book 4): Walking In The Shadow Of Death (15 page)

18.

Brad reversed the truck back onto
the road and headed to the cabin. As the road twisted and changed directions,
some of the drifts lessened and he found the going easier. He relaxed his grip
on the wheel and actually began to enjoy his drift-busting experience.

“You are pretty good at this,
driving in the snow I mean,” Sean said.

“Yeah, grew up in it. There were
days Mom would have to go through worse than this just to get me to school.”

“Back in Michigan?”

“Yeah, up north we could easily get
four foot a year. I grew up in the middle of nowhere so we couldn’t count on
the snow plows. Mom had a big ol’ Blazer. Dad lifted it and put some big knobby
tires on it. My mom wasn’t one for station wagons and minivans.” Brad laughed.

“Shit, glad I have you behind the
wheel then. Your folks sound like resourceful people. I’m sure they’ll be
okay.”

Brad drove quietly for a moment,
allowing the last comment to digest. “I try not to think about it. I mean …
yeah, Dad’s as tough as nails, but stubborn as hell too. I worry that if they
found him … the primals … Yeah, he wouldn’t be one to leave. I could see Mom in
the kitchen fixing up venison burgers while Dad is out chasing primals off the
lawn.”

Sean grunted with laughter.
“Definitely sounds like people I want to meet.”

“What about you Sean? You have
people back home? Been with you for a couple months and still don’t know shit
about you,” Brad asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Yeah, home and family aren’t the
same uplifting conversation pieces they used to be, are they? Makes it hard to
keep your head in the game when you’re thinking about everything that could be
going wrong at home.”

“I guess you’re right … Damn, there
you go again, dodging the question!” Brad said, laughing.

“Truth is, Brad, I don’t have shit.
I did once, but I chose to make the Navy my family, everything else faded away.
My folks passed away years ago. I have a few ladies in a few ports but nothing
special. Closest thing to home is a shitty apartment back in San Diego.”

“Damn Chief, that’s some sad shit.
End of the world is probably the best thing to ever happen to you!” Brad said,
continuing to laugh.

“And you wonder why I don’t talk to
you!” Sean said, laughing with him. “Hey, take that little side road,” he said,
pointing at a heavily snowed-over road that branched off the highway.

“That thing, you serious? Shit,
I’ll get stuck for sure.”

“That’s the point. You didn’t think
we were going to drive this right back to the front door of that cabin, did
you?”

“I hear ya,” Brad said as he slowed
before heaving the truck into a wide turn and onto the narrow side road. 

As Brad had warned, the truck made
it barely fifty feet before they collided with a drift that reached over the
hood of the truck. Brad spun the tires before dropping the truck into park.

“Hmm, that’s that,” he said,
dropping his hands.

Sean reached into the rear cab of
his truck and pulled his assault pack forward. “Well it’s only a mile or so
through those woods. Hopefully this is still far enough to keep them from
tracking us back. The way that snow is blowing we should be covered up pretty
quick.”

Brad grabbed the duffel bag from
the back, opened it and stuffed in the remaining bottles of water. He started
to zip the bag shut before pausing, then grabbed the peanut butter jar from the
console and placed it in the bag, zipping it tight.

“What was that for?” Sean asked.

Brad gave him a puzzled look.
“What, the jar? Oh, figured I could use it to keep stuff in.”

Sean shrugged then, using his
shoulder, forced his passenger door open, pushing back the heavy snow. As soon
as the door was opened Brad was hit in the face with the brisk air and blowing
snow. He reached down and lifted the handle on his side and shoved but the door
refused to move. Brad scowled and tossed the bags out of Sean’s door, then
climbed over the seats.  

“A shame to leave such a fine
vehicle,” Brad said, shutting the truck door.

Sean had already waded through the
snow towards the shoulder of the road. He looked back at the truck and nodded.
“I’m sure we will find more if need be. Come on, we need to stay ahead of the
party.”

Once Brad had backed away from the
truck he used the duffle bag to cover their tracks, making long, sweeping
motions to try and blend the cut in the snow with the rest of the drift. He did
that until they were well within the trees. Sean led off on point, setting a
fast pace. Soon they were in the thick cover of the forest again; the thicker
the trees got the lighter they found the snow.

They continued in a straight line
forty-five degrees away from the cabin. They couldn’t risk being followed, even
though they had confidence in the snow covering their path. Double redundancy
was always good in their line of work. Sean moved on, taking them away from the
cabin until he found a spot in the forest thick with tall pines. He used this
place to jump from one bed of needles to another, breaking any remnant of a
trail. Then they turned and headed directly towards the cabin.  

Sean led them onto a
heavily-traveled game trail where he knelt down, examining the earth and
tracks. “Looks clear, mostly small game, a deer or two. Pretty fresh, I’d say
we don’t have any crazies out here,” he said in a low voice.

Brad nodded his approval and they
continued moving, now making better time as they stuck to the well-traveled
trail. “Did you hear from the brothers at all, after we separated I mean?” Brad
asked as he walked.

Sean grunted, “Haven’t seen them
since they rode through town. If they stuck to the plan they will be fine.”

“I stuck to the plan, look what
happened to me,” Brad said.

“Yeah, but you’re always looking
for attention,” Sean laughed.

“Screw you. You know I couldn’t
just leave the clinic empty-handed, I had to try.”

“I know, but it was stupid …
hopefully it all works out and these meds are enough to save her.”

“Hopefully we’re on time. How long
has it been since we got that note?”

“Three days I think, yeah, she
could have really taken a turn for the worse in three days, or she is all
healed by now,” Sean said, putting his head down.

They walked quietly for several
minutes, moving though long sections of heavy brush before climbing a tall
hill. Here the pines broke though the canopy and stretched towards the clear
sky. Everything on the hill was covered in feet of pristine white snow. Sean
moved along the trail and found a large, fallen oak tree, its roots exposed and
covered with frozen dirt. Sean moved in close to the tree and dropped his pack.

Brad came up behind him, cautiously
watching their back trail. “Something wrong, Sean?”

“No, not particularly. From my
notes I figure the cabin should be on the far side of this ridge, just thought
now would be a good time for a rest,” Sean said as he strapped his MP5 to the
top of his rucksack. He removed the long rifle and checked the magazine and
slide. Brad saw what Sean was doing so he prepared his own kit and weapons for
a fight.

“We expecting trouble Sean?” he
asked.

“I’m always expecting trouble,
that’s how I stay alive.”

Brad nodded as he unstrapped the
shotgun from his pack and removed all of the rounds, getting a solid count
before reloading it. He filled the six-round tube and slid one round into the
chamber. That left him one extra 12-gauge round on the stock. He cut a length
of cord and fashioned himself a hasty sling. He liked the feel of the shotgun;
if he could find more shells it would be worth keeping.

“Nice 870, where’d you pick it up?”
Sean asked, watching what Brad had been doing.

“Dead cop inside the pharmacy. Must
have been a hell of a battle at that place. His sidearm was empty and his
jacket torn up pretty good. He probably saved those civilians, getting them
locked inside … before he turned on them.”

“I’m sure there are a lot of
stories like his that will never be told,” Sean said. “You ready to move out?”

“Yeah, let’s do this.” Brad got to
his feet and threw his pack over his shoulders. He let the shotgun hang from
its new sling as he carried his M4 cradled in his arms. Sean stood and moved
ahead with his rifle held at the low ready.

“Just over the ridge and through
the trees,” Sean whispered as he went back to a tactical stance.

The duo crept forward at a slow
pace, stopping often to listen for danger. As Sean had said, once they cleared
the top of the ridge they could just make out the clearing of the cabin. They
were approaching directly from the back. Brad could identify the pond’s flat
icy surface. The wind was blowing in their face and he could just barely pick
up the scent of wood smoke. “The fire smoldering,” he whispered.

“I smell it too,” Sean answered.

As they drew closer the shapes of
the structures slowly came into focus, their rough outlines standing stark
against the snow. Sean paused and knelt close to the ground; Brad pulled up
just behind him and to the left. Sean had the scope to his eye sweeping left to
right. “Something’s off,” he said.

Brad raised his own rifle. Looking,
he saw nothing. “What is it?”

“The barn door is open, why would
they do that?” Sean asked.

“I don’t know, maybe they forgot,
maybe the latch failed?”

“Yeah, maybe, stay close,” Sean
said with a grunt.

They continue their slow patrol
towards the buildings, Sean stopping often to glass the structures. He spotted
something in the snow in front of them and asked Brad to hold back while he
moved ahead. Brad watched Sean move close to the buildings then stop to kneel
in the snow. He looked in all directions before calling Brad forward. 

Brad ran forward to join Sean who
was looking at tracks in the snow. “This isn’t good, look,” Sean said,
pointing.

“What, did they already leave?
Without us?” Brad asked.

“Look closer, these tracks here,
all wearing boots … then these scattered around, they’re in soft shoes, and
this one maybe even barefooted.”

“Holy shit, they’re on the run!”
Brad gasped.

“Yeah, looks like they took off
from the cabin in a straight line, headed east. These others must have been
trailing, far behind I’d imagine or we’d see battle signs.”

“Do we follow them?” Brad asked.

“Yeah, but I want to check out the
cabin first. Spread out, give me some distance,” Sean said as he slung the
rifle over his shoulder and drew his pistol.

Sean kept a direct line headed
towards the cabin, and Brad moved off far to his right. They walked straight
until Sean was within fifty meters of the cabin’s wall. Then Brad pin wheeled,
allowing himself to cut the corner of the building far off while Sean stayed
concealed. As Brad moved forward and to the right, he began to see the right
side of the cabin. One of the shutters had been cut away and removed. The
inside window glass was broken and the curtain blew in the breeze.

Brad stopped and pointed it out to
Sean, who nodded in reply before ordering Brad forward. Brad kept his rifle at
the low ready and continued moving towards the front of the building. Once in
position, he paused and watched as Sean now got close to the edge of the cabin,
stooped low under the window and proceeded to the front corner. Then, Sean
waited for Brad to move back online with him before he stepped off, and once
again moved out and away from the cabin, allowing Brad to see around the corner
at a distance while keeping Sean concealed.

The first thing that caught Brad’s
attention was the snowmobile, the one the brothers had ridden into town. It was
no more than twenty meters in front of the cabin. As Brad focused on the sled,
he looked to the left and saw them – scattered bodies in the snow and all along
the front of the cabin. Instantly he brought the rifle up to his eye and took a
knee. Sean recognized his change in posture and took a step back while bringing
up his own weapon.

Brad took a deep breath and,
keeping the rifle at eye level, approached the cabin. He moved a few feet at a
time, stopping to sweep everything in front of him for movement. As he got
closer he could see that the dead were piled up against the cabin’s doors. He
could see where the snowmobile had entered the yard, the wide deep track coming
from the road. The primals’ footprints were embedded in the sled’s tracks. The
brothers had been followed home.

When Brad got back online with Sean
at the cabin’s corner he stopped. Sean nodded before stepping out from the
blind spot and moved to where he was almost shoulder to shoulder again with
Brad. Then the two men stepped off together. The cabin’s door was still secured
even though several of the planks had been broken. Brad stepped over the
bodies, cautiously probing them with his rifle’s barrel as he passed them.

Sean slid close to the door and
tugged on it. It was still bolted from the inside. They moved past the door,
seeing that the front window was shattered, its shutter removed. Brad stepped
out away from the building, training his rifle at the opening while Sean peeked
inside. He looked in, then quickly pulled his head back. “Yeah, they got in,”
Sean said.

“Our guys?”

“I couldn’t tell. It’s a mess.”

Suddenly there was a loud crash
from inside, and the men jumped back as they brought up their weapons. Sean
stepped back to join Brad away from the cabin. They held their sights high on
the window as they heard the clattering of objects and furniture being knocked
over. There was a thump at the door. The two men pivoted, focusing on the
entrance. Brad prepared to fire when he heard the latch click. Sean brought his
hand up and put it on Brad’s shoulder.

The door opened and Hahn tumbled
out onto the porch. Brad ran to him and went to lift him up. He stopped when he
saw blood on his shirt. Hahn rolled to the side and looked Brad in the eyes.
“It’s not my blood, I’m not infected,” Hahn said in a weak voice.