The Jared Chronicles | Book 4 | The Devil's Bastion, page 24
part #4 of The Jared Chronicles Series
Everyone agreed, and soon, Jared, John, and Stephani were on their way, opting to leave the horses behind and go it on foot. They moved carefully, reaching the bridge without incident. Gazing across the hundred yards of bridge, Jared had an idea. Motioning the other two off the side of the road, Jared slid on his butt down the steep embankment to the bottom, where the Valle Arroyo creek connected to Del Valle reservoir. Rather than walk across what was tantamount to a fatal funnel, Jared led the trio underneath the inherent hazard.
They crossed the creek easily, turned south, and came across a trail that, based on the map Jared held, would lead them straight into the heart of the campsite with the cabins. Five minutes after coming off the road and into the creek, the three sat quietly staring at the short row of cabins. There were five cabins in total and a small store, which had been torn to shreds by the look of the outside.
Taking the lead, Jared pushed forward, clearing the closest cabin to them. The interior was a single room with two beds. The next four cabins were similarly built and equipped. Cautiously the three moved to the front of the store, where they could see from the outside the interior had been stripped clean. The store had most likely fallen victim to the couple of campers who were still enjoying the outdoors in September, or the regional park staff themselves, although Jared doubted the park staff would have felt compelled to destroy the little market the way he saw it today.
Either way, the store offered them nothing, but the cabins were an entirely different case. They would provide shelter from the wind, cold, and even rain should they get any spring showers. For good measure, the three swept through the entire campground, including all the tent camping sites and public restroom buildings. They found three sites with tents erected, but no people. There was a Toyota Tacoma with a two-person tent, then there was a Subaru with another two-person tent, and lastly a red minivan with a Coleman six-person tent.
A search of these campsites yielded little in the way of useful items. Whoever had been camping at the time of the solar flare had obviously hung out for a short time before trying to walk home. Jared surmised most campers in this area were relatively local, so walking home might have seemed doable at the time. Jared thought back to his experience in coming to terms with the new normal or, more accurately put, the sudden disappearance of his former life.
Jared experienced a melancholy feeling wash over him at the thought of these people having to leave everything, including their vehicles, behind in order to walk out in search of answers, only to find a world tearing itself to pieces. Most were likely dead, Jared thought sadly to himself.
“Let’s get back to Shannon,” Jared said, trying to rid himself of the thoughts he held concerning all these campers’ fates. He had enough bad shit to occupy his mind without wondering about people he never knew, would never know, and quite frankly was trying like hell not to care about at the moment.
John turned and strode off in the direction they’d come, with Stephani in tow. Jared gave the minivan one last look, then followed his two friends.
Stephani must have read his mind as they walked. “They were lucky to be out here away from the cities. I bet some of them are still alive,” she predicted without a shred of evidence to back up her claim.
“Were they?” Jared snorted.
“Maybe,” Stephani answered with a heft of her shoulders.
Two hours later, the entire group was standing in front of or walking through the cabins, inspecting the cupboards, beds, and other sparse amenities the small structures offered. The moment Essie exited the VW, she slung her rifle onto her shoulder and stood next to Jared, watching the others as if all their curiosity was beneath her.
“Where are we setting up a lookout?” Essie probed.
Jared looked down and chuckled at Essie’s serious face staring up at his. “I’m guessing the bridge will be one place since it’s a natural choke point,” Jared mused.
Although the bridge was not visible from where she stood, Essie glanced in that direction, nodding her head. “What’s a choke point?” she queried ambiguously.
“It means in order for anyone to come from the other side, they’d either have to cross the lake over there, or they’d need to use the bridge. The easiest way over to this side is the bridge, so it becomes a choke point, like a group of people can’t spread out and get over here,” Jared explained, unsure if he was getting his point across.
Essie mulled this over for a few seconds before responding, “Would you keep ’em off the bridge or let them all get on it and then shoot all of them?”
Jared coughed out a short laugh, wagging his head from side to side. “I hope we don’t have to do any shooting, Ess, but I would say if it came to that, we let whoever is trying to get over here walk to the middle of the bridge before we do anything.”
At hearing this, Essie smiled widely. “Then you have them trapped.”
“Yeah, then we have ’em trapped,” Jared assured her.
“Can we shoot today?” Essie remarked, changing gears on Jared.
“Ah, I don’t know about today. We have a ton of work to do getting moved in and finding Calvin and the cows, but after that, I will take you back up this road, and we can shoot,” Jared promised. “Now go help Shannon unload your things from the car.”
Essie scampered off, the rifle banging against her back but not appearing to bother the girl. Left alone, Jared took in the surrounding landscape, wondering how they were going to secure this place with so few people in their group. Carnegie had really turned their lives upside down with all his hate for John and his need to control the local populace. Jared and his friends had recently enjoyed a sedentary life not so unlike the one they’d all had ripped away after the solar flare, and now Carnegie’s actions left them on the road, living as hunter-gatherers again.
Jared wondered how long they would be able to maintain the herd of cattle taken from the Thackers’ ranch. One thing was for sure, until Carnegie was eliminated, no one could relax if they intended living in this general area. According to John, the colonel had to have added men and women to his army’s ranks, since John never remembered Carnegie having more than twenty-five or thirty soldiers assigned to his command.
Jared knew this meant the colonel was recruiting and training men and women to serve under him. Jared had to marvel at Carnegie’s capability to sway the local men and women to join his ranks after all he’d done in the region. Jared always thought of Americans as people who wouldn’t stand for being controlled, but it seemed when folks were scared and hungry, they were more easily controlled.
Jared was no political science major, but he’d seen enough of the world to know how many governments controlled their people, and it was through these and many other measures. Carnegie even controlled the narrative, thought Jared. The man could roll out in his Humvee and tell the local farmers and ranchers whatever he felt would further his agenda, and with no way to refute Carnegie’s information, it became fact. There was probably more the colonel was doing, but Jared couldn’t imagine what it would be. His mind didn’t work like that; he was a man who strove to solve problems through diplomacy, communication, and fairness for all the people involved, not through force or fear.
John finished his inspection of the campground and returned to stand next to Jared. “Thoughts?” John asked, petitioning Jared for his input.
“The bridge, we have to cover the bridge,” Jared responded without hesitation.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same. It will take two people to do it, one on the high ground just to the left and someone on the road behind the guardrail,” John added.
Both men stood silently watching the rest of the group moving about, some actually unpacking while others explored the immediate area they would soon be calling their newest home. The birds chirped along with the babble the creek made, and for a moment it seemed like nothing devastating had wrapped the earth in its destructive tentacles, stripping away much of the world’s human population and leaving the planet to heal itself from one hundred and fifty years of abuse at the hands of mankind.
“Sure is nice here,” Jared observed.
“Sure is,” John agreed.
Stephani approached the two men, a quizzical look etched on her pretty features. “You two having a moment?” she prodded.
“Something like that,” John answered, his voice lacking its usual tougher edge.
Stephani’s look darkened as if she’d stumbled onto something and misdiagnosed what it was. “You guys alright?”
Jared laughed softly. “Steph, are you alright, is any of this alright? We were just talking about what needs to get done and then how nice it is here—really, everything is fine.”
Stephani straightened, looking back and forth between the two men. “It is nice here,” she agreed. Stephani turned and surveyed the land around the cabins, taking a moment to listen to the birds and hear the creek’s constant rhythms as it moved untold amounts of water into the reservoir.
“I have to kill Josh,” John imparted out of nowhere.
“Why not Carnegie?” Jared asked, a perplexed look on his face.
“Because Carnegie is nothing without his top guy. He’s getting older and can’t be out in the field like Josh can. I can assure you, Josh is doing all the training of any new people Carnegie recruits, and without him, the whole thing implodes on itself,” John revealed.
“How?” Stephani implored, her face showing concern at the mention of John going out and taking on the devil himself.
“Later, I can’t worry about it right now. We have to set up security, get Calvin and Cody located, and then I want to head over to the marina on the other side of this lake and see about two things. Getting us some fishing gear, and seeing if any of those pull-start-style boats work. If any of the boats work, we bring all of them to this side of the lake so no one can use them against us as a sort of Marine landing party like in the South Pacific.” Ending, John stared hard at both Jared and Stephani, daring one of them to admit they didn’t know what he was talking about. Neither took the bait.
It was decided the four cabins furthest from the bridge would be occupied for the time being with Jared, Essie, and Shannon sharing one, John and Stephani another, Carlos and Raul along with Salvador, and lastly Margie and Cody when he returned. Calvin would take up residency with the Thackers since their cabin had a larger bed along with a single. John and Stephani’s sleeping arrangement just happened, and no one made a comment, including Stephani.
Once the sleeping arrangements were worked out, John assigned both Raul and Carlos to watch the bridge while he, Jared, and Stephani went out to find Calvin and Cody. It was determined they would split up after assigning areas to search. They would search for three hours and then return to a rendezvous position, where they could reorientate their search efforts or find out if another party member had located the missing herd of cattle along with its two ranch hands.
Jared finished up stowing all his gear in his cabin, and when Shannon came in with her last load, Jared took her by the arm. “Hey, stay alert. I don’t know how on the ball Carlos and Raul will be when it comes to things other than hard work. Keep Ess close and your rifle closer. Be ready to run if you have to,” Jared urged.
“Run where?” Shannon asked, her hands resting on her hips after dropping her load on the bed.
“Back to our old place and wait. If something happens, I will come for you two. I swear to you I will come,” Jared proclaimed earnestly.
Shannon’s shoulders slumped slightly. “I’ll take care of her, Jared.”
Jared stood for a moment, amazed how even in times when everything was on the line, a man and woman could be so far apart in their styles of thinking, perceptions, and overall view of a snapshot in time.
“If Essie was gone somehow and it was you waiting at the old place, I’d come just as hard, Shannon, just as fucking hard,” Jared contended. He wished greatly for Shannon to realize how important she was to him. Just a few nights prior the woman had shown him something he never knew could exist between two people. Shannon and Essie were both important, but without Shannon, Essie would grow up half as influenced as if Shannon were there to teach her the softer side of life. Without Shannon, Essie and Jared would flounder like a rudderless ship, two people neither of whom were completely prepared to live life to its fullest.
“Jesus, Shannon, you’re our foundation. Essie needs you now—like I do, but one day she’ll have her own life and, hun, it’s gonna be just you and me, and believe me when I say this, I look forward to those days.”
Jared stepped forward and took Shannon in his embrace, holding her tight. After a few seconds, she pulled back. “I know, sorry, it’s just sometimes I want to hear it.”
Jared grabbed her, and again they embraced, Shannon crying a little as her emotions got the best of her. Jared held her strong in his arms, praying his presence would give a sense of comfort to her before he had to leave again. He wanted so badly for just a few months of peace so he and Shannon could actually enjoy courting one another. So far what had happened had, in Jared’s opinion, taken far too long.
Had the solar flare never happened and Jared met Shannon under different circumstances, he would have fallen behind in his work, he was sure of this. Before the world went to pieces, a man could put a great many things on hold to satisfy his desires, but not anymore. Every day was a grind just to find food and avoid becoming a victim. Jared wished hard to have just a few quiet months to establish a beachhead in his relationship with Shannon, but that would all have to wait or at least move at a snail’s pace for the time being.
As was the norm, they were interrupted when Essie came dragging her bedding through the cabin door. Seeing Jared and Shannon locked in one another’s arms stopped Essie in her tracks. As Jared and Shannon’s relationship had grown in the past, it had all done so far above Essie’s head. The night she’d spent sleeping in Salvador’s room so the two could savor a bit of privacy hadn’t even registered as a blip on the little girl’s radar.
Now, seeing them holding on to each other, Shannon’s eyes still moist with emotion, gave Essie pause. “What’s wrong?” she blurted, dropping everything she’d being carrying except for the rifle.
Shannon and Jared separated, both smiling warmly at Essie. “Nothing’s wrong, Ess,” Jared reassured her.
Essie stood rigid, first studying Jared before diverting her eyes to Shannon, seeking confirmation. Shannon gave Essie a gentle smile before sitting on the edge of the nearest bed and patting the mattress next to her. Essie stood her ground.
Shannon acquiesced, placing her hands in her lap. “Okay, Ess, Jared and I take care of you, right?”
Essie’s chin moved only slightly, indicating she’d heard and understood what Shannon was saying.
“Well, we like looking after you. I think of you as my daughter, and Jared feels the same. On top of that, we happen to care deeply about each other,” Shannon explained.
“Do you love her?” Essie demanded, turning to Jared.
Jared’s mouth dropped a fraction of an inch, not enough for a fly to make its way in, but Shannon was sure she could have slipped five sheets of printer paper between his lips at that moment. After the bomb was dropped, Essie stood waiting for an answer while Shannon also swiveled her head in Jared’s direction.
“That’s a good question, Ess, so, Jared?” Shannon pursued, a pleasant smile creasing the corners of her mouth.
Jared almost spoke, but stopped himself for fear of croaking instead of forming actual words. The L word hadn’t been brought up in all this. He cared strongly for Shannon, and they’d flirted, even been physically intimate, but no one ever mentioned love. He’d never told a woman he loved her. There had been girls and even women in his life, but none that stirred enough inside him to elicit an I love you from one Jared Culp.
Now the two most important people in his life were holding his feet to the fire over whether or not he loved Shannon. He did love her, but telling her should be organic, not forced or coerced. On the other hand, Essie seemed very interested in Jared’s intentions toward Shannon. Jared was sure Essie didn’t fully understand the dynamics of grown-up relationships, but kids always were affected by the subconscious things they took in, weren’t able to process, stored, and were molded by over time.
If Jared were selfish in this case, Essie might think it was okay for a man to be disrespectful of a woman. In her own relationships, Essie could wind up accepting this treatment from a man, which would then cause Jared and most likely John to have to kill someone.
“I love her with all my heart, Ess,” Jared said softly. “All my heart and as much as I love you, only in a different way.”
Essie seemed to relax as she stole a glance in Shannon’s direction. “Are you guys getting married?”
Both Shannon and Jared burst out laughing. “Things aren’t like they were before, Ess,” Jared admonished. “We could do something like that, but now things are more about the actual ways you feel about someone and how you treat that person, not some paper that says you’re married or not.”
Shannon patted the bed again. “Come here.”
This time, Essie padded over to the bed, unslung the rifle, and crawled up next to Shannon. Jared dropped onto the mattress on the other side of Essie, and together the three held each other for several seconds.
“This is our family, Ess,” Jared stated. “The three of us.”
When the group hug ended, Essie seemed to have processed in her head whatever she’d needed to work through, and set about getting all her bedding situated on the smaller of the two beds in the cabin. When she was finished, Essie exited to get the rest of her clothing.
Shannon turned to Jared, her lips pouting in exaggerated unhappiness. “Do you really love me, Jared Culp? I mean, it took an eight-year-old to call you on it, and even then, you hesitated,” she finished in feigned disappointment.
“I’ve never told any woman I loved her until today, Shannon,” Jared clarified seriously. “No one.”
