From just inside the entrance, someone called Robin’s name, then Kat’s. The women turned to join their friends, but before she left, Kat said, “Why don’t you two come for dinner this Wednesday.”
Lissa raised an eyebrow toward Cam, who nodded. “Six?”
“Perfect,” said Kat. “Ryan will be excited. I’m glad you told us about the connection. I can’t wait to tell him. See you on Wednesday.”
Cam and his brothers continued to talk for another half hour. Lissa’s mind wandered, but they seemed to be having a pleasant visit. Cam had missed his brothers, so she didn’t interfere, even when she grew tired.
She stifled a yawn. Then one escaped.
Cam smiled as he stood. “We should be going. It’s been a long couple of weeks. Would it be okay if I stay in contact?”
Both brothers nodded, and they exchanged hugs before the group broke up. Cam helped her thread her sore arm through the arm of her sweater as they made their way back towardhis bunker. Lissa was quiet as they walked back in the cooling twilight.
She stopped when they reached the entrance. “xTerra isn’t what I expected. If we had to live here, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen.” Cam had family, she might make friends, and sharing her knowledge might be satisfying.
Cam pulled her to him and kissed her, leaving her insides mushy. He made her feel loved. “Wherever we are together can be home.”
Chapter 24: Cam
The icy wind blew, not springlike, as the rain slanted down. Cam trudged through the thick, sloppy mud outside xTerra’s walls, grateful for the wind-breaking qualities of his knee-length rain slicker and waterproof boots. He shivered, adjusting his hood. Even with decent protective gear, after hours out here, he needed a hot drink, or he might never be warm again. He’d left Lissa sleeping in his perfectly toasty bed, but he needed to find out what had happened to his brother.
The Watch patrol had left at dawn to search where his brother had initially disappeared. Kory led the expedition, and Cam brought up the rear of the eight-man troop. With no difficulty, they located their previous campsite and headed into the wilderness away from the walls. While this was within the circle he’d drawn on his map, this was unfamiliar territory for him.
Even with proper outwear, he was drenched, his pants and boots soaked through from hours in inclement weather. They’d been walking for hours when he stumbled across an old overgrown road, which he never would have spotted from a distance. The surface had never been paved, and most of the gravel had crumbled into sand. Young trees grew along the center, but hidden among last year’s dead grass, he found indented remains of pitted tire tracks running perpendicular totheir path. This road was old, probably out of use for decades, until recently.
“Kory, hold up.” Cam pivoted left and walked beside the depressed ruts, headed northwest, away from xTerra. “There’s an old road here, and it keeps going.”
“Looks like a lead to me,” said Kory, squelching through the mud to join him. “Nothing’s been here since before the rain, but those aren’t our tracks. Let’s check it out.”
The patrol turned, following the ruts in the uneven ground. After twenty minutes, the faint tire tracks stopped near a cliff face where the foothills descended to the rolling plains and patches of forest. Cam walked along the rough stone face for fifty yards and around the corner. There, a wooden door, painted to camouflage with the rock, had been fitted into a recessed opening. Without a vehicle nearby, it was unlikely to be occupied. He twisted the knob, trying to stay quiet on the off chance he was wrong. Locked.
He unclipped his pack, preparing to pick the lock, when Kory said, “I got it.” The big man kicked the door, which splintered and collapsed on impact. With his gloved hand, he tossed several broken boards to the side, creating a person-sized opening into the dark space inside.
“That’s one way to do it.” Cam lit a lantern and stepped over the remains of the door. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a barbarian?”
“My wife might have mentioned it a time or two,” said Kory with a toothy grin. “I’m in a hurry to get back to her and out of this fucking rain. I didn’t feel like messing around with locks.” He turned to Dave. “Wait here. Shoot anyone who shows up to investigate unless you recognize them.”
Dave nodded, stationing himself several feet in front of the door in a ready stance, his rifle in hand.
Kory lit a second lantern and followed Cam, with the other five men on their heels. Inside was dimly lit from the opening, while the air was stale, smelling of mold. He moved forward, spreading light for a better look. They stood inside an old tunnel with rough-hewn stone walls. Man-made for sure. Maybe part of an old mine. The only sounds were their breathing and their footsteps crunching the grit beneath their boots. In the quiet, came a faint backdrop of dripping water. While out of the wind, the tunnel was frigid.
The trail stopped a hundred yards in where a cavern opened up, this part looking natural, with stalactites dangling from the ceiling in several places. Kory pushed forward, holding his light aloft. “There’s a bunch of crates back here. Maybe fifty.”
Cam followed. In the lantern light, the mountain of wooden crates were clearly stamped in red,Property of xTerra.
“Shit,” said Kory. “How’d our supplies end up here? This isn’t our storage. Maybe the tunnel connects to something inside the walls, and someone’s been pilfering for their own private stash.”
Cam walked deeper into the shadows, searching for another exit as he did a circuit of the cavern. Dead end. He shook his head. “It ends here. I think someone inside stole them and cached them here.”
“Who the hell would do a lame thing like that?” said one man at the back. “We outfit anyone leaving. Maybe these crates are old. Like decades old.”
Kory examined several crates more closely and shook his head. “They’re stamped 2025 and later.”
Cam’s stomach turned, a massive lump forming in his throat. He cleared it with a short cough. “Just a guess, but the former mayor? She may have been paying the Slains or their allies to leave us alone or something for her own agenda.” He sighed. “My brother was probably sent to make a payment or show themsomething. Whatever he left camp with that night was never found.”
“Go on,” said Kory. “You’re on to something.”
Cam remembered the scrap of paper in his brother’s hand. “But they upped the price. That’s why he was killed. He could have been running errands for Mayor Montgomery, and someone didn’t like what he’d brought.” His stomach churned.
