EMP Lodge Series (Book 1): Dark Retreat Read online

  Kyle ran his hands along Caitlin’s throat and bent his ear close to her chest. He tapped on her stomach and then sat and stared at the little girl. Wyatt could see Megan watching the man examine her daughter. She didn’t say a word, but the way she stood, ready to spring, revealed how nervous she was. Wyatt knew she was desperate for answers. Any answers.

  He finally turned to Megan, letting out a big breath, “I’m sorry, but I just don’t know. I have no medical equipment and no way to run tests. We can go over her symptoms, but I would suspect it’s probably the flu that maybe hit her hard due to the conditions. I think a wait and see approach is really the best and only option. She doesn’t feel overly hot and doesn’t appear to be in any pain.”

  Wyatt watched as Megan’s shoulders dropped. She looked down at her feet for several seconds. He saw the moment she pulled herself together. She took a visibly deep breath, met Kyle’s eyes and extended her hand to thank him for taking the time to look at her daughter.

  Rosie had come to check on the group and heard what Kyle said. She put her arm around Megan’s shoulder and quietly escorted her from the room.

  Wyatt could hear his mom talking in a low voice and Megan nodded every so often. He knew his mom was reassuring her and promising to get the little girl well with her various herbal medicines. At this point, his mom was Caitlin’s best hope.

  Kyle volunteered to stay with Caitlin, to see if he noticed any symptoms that would help give him a clue as to what was happening. Wyatt figured it was the best place. They could keep an eye on him and there was still the possibility of him actually knowing what to do to help her. Duke had returned to his spot on the bed and made it clear he didn’t like Kyle being so close to his person.

  “I’ll see if this big guy will let me take a look at him as well. Sometimes you just need to wait them out and let them get accustomed to you,” Kyle explained with authority.

  Wyatt offered to bring Kyle some lunch. He wanted to keep the man in one place while he talked with Chase about how best to handle their new addition. He already knew Chase would have reservations and unlike their concerns about bringing in Megan, this time he was going to take his friend’s advice.

  Megan stopped him when he came back out of the room.

  “Did you still want to go to the school with me?”

  Wyatt had forgotten about the school. He looked at his watch and then out the window. “I think we should wait until tomorrow. It’s late and it’s starting to rain.”

  Megan was not pleased. Her eyes revealed her anger and frustration. “I’ll just go myself, then.”

  “No. That isn’t a good idea. It will be dark by the time you start to make your way back. Stumbling around in the dark on a rainy night is not smart. It isn’t going to help your daughter.” He didn’t say it, but he was also worried Kyle may have actually been traveling with others. They could be out there now, watching and waiting.

  She groaned, “What am I supposed to do? He can’t help her! She isn’t getting better, Wyatt. I have to get her some real medicine.” She immediately winced when she heard the words come out of her mouth. She turned to Rosie who was busy setting the table, “I’m sorry, Rosie. Truly, I know you are trying and she did improve a little.”

  Rosie smiled and nodded, “Don’t you worry, hon. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I am going to keep trying and will keep researching. ”

  Wyatt reached out to put his hand on her forearm, “Megan, I know this is hard. You have to realize how dangerous it could be. We need to stick together. Roaming about in unfamiliar terrain could get you hurt or lost for good. Please, trust me,” he pleaded. “You have to stay healthy yourself. Getting injured or coming down with pneumonia isn’t going to do anyone any good, least of all Caitlin.”

  16

  Megan was frustrated by the situation and needed to stay busy. When she was younger, if she needed to work through something in her head, she would swim laps in the pool but that wasn’t an option here. She needed to do some physical labor to work out her irritation. On the way back to the cabin, she had so hoped Kyle would look at Caitlin and have the answer.

  She had this vision of him diagnosing Caitlin, providing the cure and her daughter would wake up and be ready to play. It didn’t happen. They were no closer to finding out what was wrong with her or how to fix her than they had been a couple days ago.

  She walked outside and saw Jack and Chase standing over a pile of lumber. They were both staring at the pile, not saying a word. The rain wasn’t bad. She thought about telling Wyatt it was only a light rain and would likely soon pass but she knew he wouldn’t change his mind. Especially now with Kyle there.

  “What’s up guys? Anything I can do to help?”

  The men looked at her. “Have you ever built a greenhouse?” Jack asked.

  Megan was a little surprised, “Um, no, can’t say that I have. Is that what you have going on here?” she asked waving her arm over the pile of boards in varying sizes.

  Chase nodded, “That’s the idea but we only have wood scraps to work with and they’re all different sizes. We’re hoping to scavenge some glass, but we need to get something going now.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just going to take a little ingenuity. Albert told us the basics, but well, it isn’t quite as easy as he said with what we have here.”

  Megan joined them in staring at the pile for a few minutes. She remembered the greenhouse her dad had on his property. It had been built right against the side of the house. She looked around; trying to determine which way was south. With the clouds, she couldn’t be sure.

  She asked the guys, who in unison pointed in the direction. She walked to the side of the cabin and discovered there was an area that would get plenty of sunlight. The trees would probably block it a bit in the morning, but it would work.

  Excited, she explained her idea to them. “Maybe we can get the structure up today and when I head into town tomorrow, I will look for old windows.”

  Megan was thrilled to be doing something productive instead of hovering over her daughter and was proud of herself for coming up with the idea of using one side of the cabin. Megan loved how everyone here valued her opinion. She felt like she really had something to offer. With Derick, she always felt like a silent partner. Not even a partner. Just the person who was supposed to look pretty, take care of the house, and take care of the kid. Her opinion was not wanted or asked.

  “That sounds like a plan,” Jack told her. “Let’s get some lunch and then we’ll get started.”

  They were eager to get started, so ate lunch in a hurry getting right to work using the cabin as the back wall and nailing two-by-fours to frame walls on either side. They didn’t have any pieces of lumber that were long enough to create a ceiling high enough for a person to walk into the greenhouse so they used a variety of short pieces to connect longer pieces until they reached a ceiling height that would work.

  It wasn’t pretty, but the structure was sound. Megan realized how important it was to use what they had and to improvise. Her dad had been a Marine and had always repeated the phrase, “Improvise, adapt and overcome.” That is exactly what this new world was all about.

  The guys explained that the lumber was left over from when the cabin was built. Wyatt’s dad had been the kind of man who knew there was always a use for everything, even if it looked unusable for its original purpose. That was the way things were now. It was all about repurposing and recycling. Nothing was thrown out. Megan realized the nails she had used to build the dehydrator were the product of repurposing.

  Wyatt came out to see what was going on. The frame of the greenhouse was almost complete. Megan explained they needed to add windows to their list of things to collect tomorrow. Wyatt looked thoughtful.

  “Actually, we have some rolls of plastic in the pantry. We bought it in case we needed to seal up the windows and doors.” Megan looked at him in question, “We were prepared for anything, including a chemical attack,” he explained.
“We can use the plastic to close in the greenhouse for now. It isn’t a permanent solution, but it will work for this season, which means we’re that much closer to growing out own food.”

  That got everyone excited. The four of them worked for the next hour finishing the construction of the greenhouse. It was a crude building, but they were thrilled to see it finished. The roof was made from a couple of old pallets. The guys had pulled off a few of the slats and used it to create a frame for the plastic to stretch across and the door was actually an old door leftover from the construction of the cabin.

  Megan stood back and looked at what they had built. Together, they had put together a usable structure in one afternoon. They made a great team.

  All of the men treated her with respect and valued her opinion. It felt good to be a part of a successful team who all had the same goal in mind—to survive and thrive. The possibilities were endless she realized. Her daughter could grow up in a safe environment and would always have a roof over her head and food on the table.

  With them working together, no one would be forced to carry all of the weight. They could do more and be better because they each had strengths to contribute to the team. Despite her instinct to be alone and rely only on herself, this was tempting. This made life much easier and even enjoyable.

  Willow and Rosie were delighted to see the new greenhouse and made plans for shelves inside to give them more room to grow. Talk quickly changed to getting the garden beds ready and starting some seeds right away. They had to get a jump on growing food. They only had a short growing season and every day they weren’t growing food, was one less day of food they would have come winter.

  Megan was surprised to realize how much time had passed and that it was already close to dinnertime. Now she understood why Wyatt had wanted to wait. Staying busy gave her no time to stress about getting to the school. While Caitlin was constantly on her mind, she was comforted by Rosie’s knowledge and the fact there was a pseudo-doctor in the house.

  “Can I help with anything in the kitchen?” Megan asked when she realized the women had gone to the root cellar and were carrying supplies for dinner.

  Wyatt put his hand on her arm, “Actually, I wanted to show you something.”

  Rosie grinned, “You two go ahead and do whatever you need to do. Dinner will be ready in an hour.” She turned back, “Caitlin is doing fine. That doctor guy is keeping a close watch on her and Duke is keeping a watchful eye on him,” she assured Megan.

  Megan thanked her and looked at Wyatt, “What’s up?”

  He started walking through the trees behind the house. She followed as they headed up a small path that climbed the hill. It was steep and by the time they reached the top, she was out of breath. Wyatt was standing in the middle of several trees that had dying flowers on them and little tiny buds. She recognized they were fruit trees.

  “This is our orchard, well kind of. We planted about thirty fruit trees almost five years ago on one of my trips home. About half have died over the years, but we are hoping these will thrive. We need the food,” he said in a solemn voice. “Jack is convinced he can get them to produce with a little natural fertilizer. He has already started a compost heap. It won’t do much for this year, but it will be great in the garden.”

  Megan had bought compost in the past, but had never tried to make her own. It was a little on the stinky side, but she knew it was excellent for the soil. She would have to check out the compost heap and ask Jack more about it she decided.

  She imagined biting into a juicy apple. She could feel her mouthwatering. “What are they?”

  Wyatt pointed out each of the trees, “Pear, Granny Smith. My mom insisted on the apples for baking. Unfortunately, only three survived. Over here we have some cherry trees.”

  Megan saw there was already a ton of little green fruit covering the trees.

  “Wow! You were definitely thinking ahead. I wish we were better prepared,” she confessed as she walked toward the cherry trees to sniff the blossoms.

  “I can’t take credit for this. This was my dad’s brainchild. He wanted to make sure we could live completely off the land should anything happen.”

  “Even so, what you’ve managed to build for your family is fantastic. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t stumbled across your cabin and your hospitality. Thank you, Wyatt.”

  Wyatt seemed about to say something and then thought better of it. Instead, “That’s not what I wanted to show you.” Walking towards a pipe in the ground. “This is what I wanted to show you.”

  She looked at the pipe sticking out of the ground. “Okay,” she said slowly, not sure what he wanted her to say. Was she supposed to be excited?

  He laughed, “This is what’s going to give us running water in the cabin. The gravity of the water flowing downhill will give us a couple gallons of water per minute. It does have an electric pump, which we can possibly use again if Albert can find us a solar panel to run it. It needs some repairs, but we are standing on a cistern that holds about five hundred gallons of water. The rain and snow will keep the cistern filled, hopefully. Right now it is either dry or the pipes that lead from the cistern to the house are broken or clogged.”

  She looked around the area. “We have it buried,” he explained, gesturing to a spot in the ground. “This keeps it out of sight, just in case someone happens upon it. Water is like gold. We can’t afford to have anyone stealing it.”

  “That would be amazing,” she told him with sincere excitement. “I am envious, truly.” The thought of plumbing and running water gave the world they were living in a bit of normalcy. And what she wouldn’t give for the ability to take a shower; even if the days of long, hot showers were gone. She knew he was showing her this to help convince her to stay. It was working.

  He got very serious, “You don’t have to be envious, Megan. Stay.” He stepped closer. When she broke eye contact and looked down at the ground, he used his thumb to lift her chin gently. “I don’t want to push, but I really want you to stay.” He held her gaze, “Please.” The word was said in a whisper.

  She held his gaze, her heart pounding in her chest. His whispered plea nearly brought her to her knees. Hearing the pleading in this man’s voice and seeing the sincerity in his eyes gave her butterflies in the pit of her stomach. The idea of a romantic relationship made her nervous and excited.

  Megan took a step back, swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat, “Wyatt, I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you would invite me in. I want to, but, well, I don’t know,” she put her back to him. “I can’t allow myself to be let down, again, and what if I let you down or you get annoyed with me. Living with someone is a lot different than just being friends that see each other on occasion.”

  Wyatt’s hand on her shoulder sent an electric shock running through her body.

  “I get it,” he told her.

  She wanted to try to explain, but she knew how silly it sounded. Her ex screwed her over. Her entire life had been filled with letdowns and people dying or leaving her. Why would now be any different? Especially, now?

  They walked back down the hill. It was almost dark, but Wyatt told her he wanted to show her something else. She was expecting something grand. These guys didn’t miss a beat when it came to preparing to live without what she would consider luxuries today.

  “This is where we will grow food,” he told her standing in a cleared area. The ground was free of trees and she could tell the soil had been worked quite a bit. There were still some trees on one side, which he explained was more to help conceal the garden.

  This portion of the garden would get some shade, but Rosie and Jack had already decided that was where they would grow plants like spinach, peas and lettuce. When Wyatt explained how he and Jack had taken the time to map the sun over a period of several weeks, she was really impressed.

  “Again, I can’t take the credit for it. It was my mom’s idea. Because the area is so remote, my dad was reluct
ant to have us simply plug the coordinates into a smart phone app because he didn’t want any sort of digital record. Jack still had one of his Boy Scout handbooks that he’d been planning to give to Ryland and we were able to do it from that.”

  As Wyatt explained, they were then able to create a map of where the sun hit throughout the day to help ensure the success of the garden. Once they were home, Wyatt had entered the data into a computer program and had been able to come up with a relatively accurate map of the sun over the course of a full year. Now, with Jack’s understanding of permaculture, they would be able to capitalize on the different plants based on what they needed from the soil, as well as the amount of space. Those plants that required more water or more sun would be placed appropriately to take advantage of inclines and tree lines. They had really put some thought into this garden.

  She thought about the thing he seemed to keep repeating—hiding. Everything was hidden or concealed. “Can I ask why all the secrecy? Everything you’ve shown me is hidden or concealed in some way.”

  Wyatt looked serious, “Megan, one of the most important things to remember in a survival situation is to protect your resources. You have to protect what you have. Desperate people will behave in ways atypical of their normal behavior often resulting to violence to get what they want. What would you do to feed your own daughter?”

  Megan didn’t have to think twice about that. She would do just about anything if it meant keeping her little girl alive and healthy.

  “But, you guys are so far up here. Seriously, I only stumbled upon this place because, well, I was incredibly lost. Do you think others will just be roaming about?”

  He nodded, “Yes, I do. As the resources in town and then in the rural areas are depleted, people will spread out looking for anything.”