She curled her lip like she had something to hide. “You’ll see. Come on, it’s just this way.”
She led them down another slope then through a large thicket, slowing them before pointing down at the ground. “Watch your step.” Just a foot off the forest floor was a tightly strung strand of barbed wire.
Jacob stopped to follow the wire’s path; it seemed to go on forever, wrapped around the base of the trees. Just yards past the wire, the thick brush opened up into a clearing. The ground was covered with dried leaves and sparse spots of long grass. There was no road or driveway, and there were no vehicles. At the end of the clearing, was a modest one-room cabin with the door shut and heavy shutters in place. Beyond that, alone in the forest clearing, was a rustic red barn that seemed out of place. Jacob looked at it and turned to Jesse. “Not much here,” Jacob whispered.
She led them to the small front porch of the cabin and opened the door, allowing them to enter. It was dimly lit by a glass skylight and smelled of wood smoke. It seemed even smaller inside. Pine planks covered every surface. A cold woodstove was in the corner with a pile of pine boards next to it. There was also a set of bunk beds and, in the peaked ceiling, a loft—no kitchen or bathroom in sight. A small rustic dining set filled a corner with a set of wooden chairs pressed against a wall. Eve moved in past them and paused at a corner, waiting for them all to come inside before she opened a closet door that revealed a set of plank stairs that led down to a cellar.
She turned and disappeared below. James followed her, staying close behind. What Jacob thought was a cellar opened up into a long rectangle with another doorway in the back. The room was over twenty feet wide and thirty feet long with cinderblock walls. Looking up, the high ceiling appeared to be poured concrete. LED lights were draped across steel I-beams, lighting the room.
They moved down and gathered at the bottom of the stairs. Looking around the space, Jacob spotted what appeared to be two of every kind of weapon known to man. On another wall was a long, steel shelf loaded with boxes of ammunition. Near the front was a small utilitarian kitchen, stainless steel counters, and appliances. A small dining area was just across from it.
“Who is this woman?” Jacob whispered.
Eve minced along a wall, stopping beside a bed, where a large, gray-haired, bearded man was asleep; she sat in a chair beside the bed, pulling a thick blanket back from his chest and coaxed the old man awake. He woke coughing profusely before suddenly spotting the men in the room. “Dammit Eve—” His coughing caused him to turn to his side. She handed him a glass of water, which he sipped down. “Get me a cigarette,” he said.
Eve shook her head no and helped him sit up. “Eve, who the hell are they? What did I tell you about bringing back strangers?”
A red door at the back of the room opened. Probably drawn by the voices and the old man’s hacking, a young girl, less than ten years old, peeked out. She looked at the new faces then back to the woman. “Is Grandpa okay?” she asked.
Eve nodded her head. “He’s fine, and I’ll be back in a minute to see you.”
The little girl turned to look at the strangers before pulling back into the room and closing the door. The old man coughed again then pushed himself upright. He shoved the blanket away from his chest and turned in the bed so that he looked like he was about to stand. “So what the hell are they doing here?” he asked her.
“Dad, we need help; you’re sick and the kids can’t stay here in this shelter forever. If these guys have a way out, we should go with them. It’s been over three months—we’ve had enough, Dad.” She turned and moved toward the red door. “I’m going to check on Mom and the others.”
The old man laughed and coughed again. “Three months—I built this place to last three years, and already they're wanting to hang it up. I got a mutiny on my hands.” The man lifted himself to his feet after putting on a pair of slippers. Ignoring the watching men, he shuffled across the floor to a kitchen counter where he poured hot water into a cup and added tea bags. He turned and faced the men.
“Don’t listen to my daughter. I ain’t sick; it’s just a cold, and she ain’t going nowhere.” The man moved closer to the group. As he stood, they all noticed a 1911 stuffed into a paddle holster on his waistband. He waved them to a far end of the shelter where a long wooden table with chairs around it was positioned. The old man found his way and sat down. “Go on, drop your packs and have a seat.”
Eve re-entered the room from the back, quietly closing the door behind her. The old man watched her walk toward them and looked up at her. “Eve, get these fellas something to eat,” he ordered, causing displeasure to cross her face. She shook her head then moved along the wall, leaned against it, and ignored her father’s request.
Marks dropped his pack near the wall and took a seat, smiling. “Sir, it’s quite all right, she's already done plenty.” He scooted in the chair so that he was just across from the old man. He stretched his arm across the table. “I’m Lieutenant Jeffrey Marks, United States Air Force.”
The man took another sip of his tea. “Yeah, I assumed you were military by the uniforms. You can call me Stone. I’m retired Army and this is… well, was my best-kept secret. Now, I’m not sure what you men are doing here, or
