Shaking their heads, Allie and her mother stood over the coolers that were once loaded with venison from Jack’s. The other two dogs spotted Ben and Joel first and ran to greet Gunner. Bradley and Emma weren’t far behind.
“We were getting worried about you guys,” Sandy said.
“They ate all the deer meat. Completely empty.” Allie kicked at one of the coolers with a disgusted expression on her face.
“It doesn’t matter. We found all of our stuff and more,” Ben answered.
“Yes!” Allie cheered.
Joel held up the backpack. “There’s enough MREs for everyone and lots more where they came from.” He unzipped the bag and dumped its contents onto the Blazer’s tailgate, turning around just in time to intercept a hug from Allie.
Ben and Sandy looked knowingly at each other and smiled. It was good to see Joel and Allie growing close and provided a bright spot in an otherwise bleak world.
“Has anyone checked on Martin lately?” Ben set his bag full of ammunition on the tailgate as well. He was worried about the guy—or, to be more precise, his ability to remain vigilant with the task they’d given him. The last time they left him, he was more interested in the apple he was eating than in looking out for bad guys.
Sandy shrugged. “No, we’ve been busy going through the houses. We didn’t find a whole lot.”
“That’s fine. We don’t need it now.” Bradley could barely speak due to the mouthful of peanut butter he’d squeezed out of his MRE packet.
As much as Ben wanted to sit down with his kids and eat something, he needed to check on Martin and take him an MRE while he was at it.
“All right then, I want everybody to get some food in them and then reload your weapons from this bag. There’s ammo in there for all the guns we have. When your weapon is full, fill your pockets. I’m gonna go check on Martin.” Ben grabbed a single pouch off the tailgate and started for the front gate but stopped when he was close to Sandy. He turned to watch the kids tear into the MREs. Allie was quick to take two of the meals to Rita and Carlos while Joel helped his brother and sister with theirs.
“The last twenty-four hours feels like a dream. A bad one.” Sandy shook her head while keeping her eyes trained on the kids.
“It’s been a wild ride, that’s for sure,” Ben agreed.
“But we made it through, thanks to you…and Joel,” she continued.
“We’re all doing our part, but we’re not out of this yet,” Ben reminded her. Now that the kids were occupied with feeding themselves and the dogs, Ben took the opportunity to ask about the lack of bodies. It wasn’t just the old man who was gone, but the other moonshiners as well. He was careful to keep his voice down. “Where did the bodies go?”
“Allie and I dragged them out of sight, back behind that container.” Sandy tilted her head toward the container she was talking about.
“Thanks.” Ben smiled at her. It was nice of her and Allie to do that for the kids’ sake, but he also knew it was a lot of work, and at the time, they didn’t have the calories to spare. “We can’t shelter them from everything. I really do appreciate it, though.”
“I feel bad for them. I mean, I feel bad for Joel and Allie, too, but this is supposed to be Bradley and Emma’s childhood, and look where we are. Look at what we’ve been through.” Sandy began to tear up and cleared her throat in an effort to fight off her emotions.
“I know what you mean. I probably would have done the same thing with the bodies. I keep trying to convince myself that it’s better not to try and insulate them from everything, but I think that’s mostly because I know I can’t.”
Sandy huffed and rolled her eyes. “I know what you mean. Some days I wonder if any of it matters anymore. Like it or not, this is the world they’ve inherited. What’s left of it, anyway. The sooner they come to terms with that, the better off they’ll be, right? That’s the logic I try to use to help me sleep at night anyway.”
“Things will change when we get home. Durango will be different. And I hope you know that I’m insisting on you and Allie staying with us up at the house. I won’t take no for an answer. You have no idea how big of a help you’ve been with the kids. I really can’t thank you enough and couldn’t do this without you, Sandy.” Ben meant every word. Having another adult to share the burden of responsibility was huge.
Sandy smiled and gave Ben a hug. He held her for a moment before letting go.
“It’s going to be all right,” she said. They separated quickly and both looked over at the kids. Ben hoped they hadn’t noticed the embrace, although he wasn’t sure why; he had no reason to feel guilty.
“Well, get something to eat. It’s going to be a long one.” Ben looked out at the forest beyond the camp. The mountain peaks to the west were already awash in the sun’s golden glow.
“I’ll have your breakfast ready when you get back,” Sandy said.
Ben smiled. “Coffee, too?”
She winked. “Coffee, too.”
With that, he headed off to find Martin, stopping first to grab one of the extra AR-15s and a few boxes of ammunition on his way. Hopefully the guy was right where he and Joel had left him. Ben held the MRE under his arm and carried the AR with one hand and the KSG with the other.
