Stepping back outside, he immediately noticed that it was getting lighter out. The moonlight had given way to a magenta sky, and along with the stars, he could now also see the outline of a distant mountain that must have been to his east. Glancing at his watch, he confirmed the impending sunrise. He wanted to get to the old man’s place before it was too light out; he wanted every possible advantage.
Ben was also growing concerned about their gear. He hadn’t seen any of it in the containers they’d searched so far. There was nowhere left for their stuff to be but in the old guy’s house, which was large enough to hold it all. Ben used the increasing light and the scope on his M24 to take a good look at the place.
Was the old man so greedy and controlling that he had kept everything for himself? How did he have this level of control over the other moonshiners? The ramshackle places Ben had seen were just a step above living in squalor. None of that really mattered, though. What mattered was finding their gear.
Ben’s heart sank as the thought of the moonshiners having already traded away their things crossed his mind. That food and gear was their ticket home. Without it, he wasn’t sure how they’d make it back to Colorado. He’d know for sure soon enough.
Chapter Seventeen
When Ben caught up with Joel and the others, they had located a water source, thanks to Rita. She showed them where the moonshiners got their water: a spring located inside the compound. Ben took a minute to hydrate while he filled them all in on his plans and hopes about finding their gear in the big place on the hill.
Joel was more than happy to volunteer and help clear the last house, which came as no surprise, but Bradley offering to help out with his shotgun was something Ben wasn’t prepared for. Luckily, Sandy jumped in and asked if Bradley would stay with them because they needed him there. Ben was trying to think of an easy way to let his youngest down and was thankful for the rescue. They’d been through a lot, and the last thing he wanted was to squash his son’s enthusiasm. It was good to see him willing to fight, though, and it made Ben proud.
They had also managed to scrounge up a few things to eat from the smaller container houses. None of it looked familiar, and Ben grew even more concerned about being too late to save their supplies. What would they do if their supplies weren’t here at all? Should they cut their losses and forge ahead with nothing but the vehicles in hopes of reaching Cloverdale? Or would they have to go after the other moonshiners to reclaim what was theirs?
Ben stopped himself before his imagination went any further down that path and took another drink from the water bottle Sandy had given him. It was time to find out for sure.
Ben turned to Joel. “You ready?”
Joel nodded and took another swig of water before handing his bottle to Allie. “Ready when you are.”
“Be careful,” Allie said as they were heading out.
“We’ll be back soon,” Ben assured them and winked at Emma.
He and Joel went out of their way to swing by the front gate and check in on Martin, who was half asleep when they got there. Ben couldn’t blame the guy or be mad at him, but that didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping an eye out for moonshiners or any survivors left from the truck that crashed down the trail.
“Here, we brought you something.” Joel shouldered his AR and handed Martin an old grocery bag containing a pack of crackers, an apple, and a plastic two-liter soda bottle filled with water. It wasn’t much, but it was all they could scrape together right now. Ben hoped the meager provisions would breathe some life into Martin and at least keep him upright until after they could sort out the old man’s place.
“Thanks, guys.” Martin barely had the words out before he was guzzling water faster than he could swallow it.
“Easy there. Go slow,” Ben warned. Martin wouldn’t be able to keep an eye out for trouble if he was puking in the bushes.
“We’re heading up to the big place. We’ll come back and let you know what we find.” Joel let Martin know what they were doing, but he hardly paid them any mind; he was too busy trying to get the crackers open and eat the apple at the same time.
“Just make sure you get on that horn if you see or hear anything… Martin.” Ben had to call his name to get his attention.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve had anything like this.” He held up the apple before taking another oversized bite. The man was starving, and although Ben felt good about giving him a little something to eat, he wondered how much he could be trusted to stand guard right now.
Unfortunately, they had no other options at the moment. Ben thought about having Joel stay behind but decided against it. Besides, they had the gate locked. If anyone wanted to get inside the compound, they would have to either build up enough speed to ram their way through the fence or shoot the lock off, both of which they would hear even if Martin failed them.
Ben, Joel, and Gunner made their way back through the camp and past the smaller homes until they
