Ben headed back to the others, full of newfound confidence after his talk with Martin. At least he knew he could trust him. And he didn’t blame Martin for wanting revenge. He couldn’t imagine the mental state the poor guy was in right now. Nobody deserved to lose his wife and then be trapped in a place like this. Hopefully his determination to exact justice on the moonshiners didn’t turn into a liability for Ben and the others, but for now, he’d take the win and welcomed Martin standing watch for as long as he wanted to.
Ben really hoped he’d take him up on his offer to join them on their way to Cloverdale. It would solve two problems: getting the surplus guns and ammunition to Vince and alleviating Ben’s guilt about leaving Martin to fend for himself.
Martin told Ben he was a pencil pusher and worked for an accounting firm in Pittsburgh. He commuted into the city every day and was your typical nine-to-fiver. When it came to survival, the guy was clueless; that much he admitted. But the more Ben got to know him, the more he liked him. He had a decent outlook on things, considering what he’d been through. And he was pleasant to talk to when he wasn’t locked up in a cage, something Ben no longer held against him.
If Martin played his cards right and listened to Ben, he could roll into Cloverdale as a hero. Loaded with ammunition and weapons, he would be welcomed by Vince and the others with open arms. Not that they wouldn’t otherwise, but bringing all that to the table would ensure him a place in their community if he desired one.
But there’d be time to think about that later. Right now, Ben needed to eat and start the process of bringing supplies up from the mine. Ben thought it best not to take a break after eating and get right to it, mostly because he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to force himself to start moving again.
Through some miracle, the other moonshiners hadn’t heard the explosion or the gunshots. Maybe they were located far enough away to be insulated from the noise. Whatever the reason, Ben was grateful for it but not foolish enough to think their window of opportunity to load up and get out of here wasn’t closing fast. With full daylight only hours away, it was just a matter of time before someone showed up looking for the former occupants of this camp.
“So how’s Martin doing?” Sandy handed Ben a steaming cup of coffee when he arrived. He didn’t answer right away and instead took a big sip, inhaling the aroma. He closed his eyes for a second and enjoyed the moment he’d thought would never come. Sandy had a hot pouch of food for him as well, and she set it on the tailgate along with a brown plastic spoon. Ben sat down and unloaded all that he was carrying. It felt good to sit, and he knew then it would be hard to get back up until the coffee kicked in.
“Martin’s good. He’s willing to stand watch while we get our stuff back.”
“Joel told us all about it. That’s crazy.”
“This is a big coal mining area. It makes sense,” Allie added.
“Environmental science with Mrs. Brewer?” Joel said.
“Yep.” Allie laughed.
“Well, I’m just glad it has a functional cart. It shouldn’t take us long if we work together. Two at the bottom and the rest of us at the top to carry it out to the trucks.” Ben shoved another spoonful of food into his mouth and washed it down with more coffee.
“You want us to move the trucks closer?” Joel stood up and emptied the rest of his MRE into Gunner’s bowl. Allie did the same for Sam. Ben assumed the dogs had already eaten, based on the open bag of dog food nearby, but they shot up from their spots near the fire to lick at the meager leftovers regardless. Bajer seemed content to stay at Emma’s side and take her chances begging for some of what the kids were eating.
Ben’s mouth was full, but he nodded his approval to Joel. He was glad to see that both Joel and Allie were as eager as he was to keep things moving. He envisioned having to coax everyone into action after eating a big meal, but that wasn’t going to be the case. Even Rita was on her feet and willing to chip in. Carlos wasn’t quite up to physical activity but was walking on his own and promised to make his way up to the front gate and help Martin keep a lookout. It was more than Ben expected out of the group, but freedom was a good motivator.
He started to get a second wind as he downed his third cup of coffee and squeezed the last little bit of peanut butter from the pouch. The main house was only a couple hundred yards away, but everyone loaded into the Jeep and the Blazer for the ride anyway. Ben stayed on the tailgate and leaned to the side as Emma encouraged all three dogs to join her in the back of the truck.
Joel drove slowly as the Blazer bounced and swayed over the rough terrain, while Allie and her mother followed in the Jeep. It only took a couple of minutes to get there and back the trucks into position.
Joel volunteered himself and Allie to ride down in the cart and send the gear back up. Ben didn’t like the idea, but it was the lesser of two evils. By the trucks, he’d at least be able to hear Martin’s signal if they were attacked and in
