The Burning Fields (Surviving the Fall 5)

Jason joined her a moment later, fumbling with the rubber cover on his red dot optic. “What is it you’re planning on doing here?” Jason whispered in Dianne’s ear. She waved him off, cocking her head to listen to the voices she could hear down near the house.

“Come on. Let’s get closer and see what they’re doing.” Dianne crept through the grass, heading for a line of trees that followed the Carson’s driveway. She and Jason used the trees as cover as they moved toward the house before they finally stopped a few dozen feet away.

The driver’s side front and back doors of the SUV were open as was the trunk. One person was sitting in the passenger’s seat though Dianne couldn’t make out any details about them. The voices were coming from behind the remains of the Carson’s house, near the barn, and Dianne listened intently as they slowly came back towards the SUV.

“…all your fault we have to deal with this, asshole.”

“If you say that one more time I swear I’ll put another hole in your head!”

“Not like he’ll notice it.”

“Ha! Nice one.”

Three men and two women walked slowly around the edge of the house, all dressed in loose-fitting pants and light jackets. Dianne didn’t recognize the women and the three men had hoodies pulled over their heads making them impossible to identify. The two women and one of the men carried pistols while the other two men had AR-style rifles slung casually on their shoulders. The figure in the SUV turned out to be a large man with a deep voice. He stepped out of the vehicle upon seeing the figures and began speaking with a confident tone that indicated he was the leader of the group.

“Anything?” The man from the car spoke, but it was hard to tell precisely who of the rest of the group was replying to him.

“Not a flipping thing.”

“They told us something was here.” The large man spoke again.

“Yeah well maybe they lied.”

“Hmph.” The large man grunted and shook his head. “Not possible that she could have lied to him. No, there’s something here. If it’s not in the barn then it’s in the house. It would have made it through the fire. That’s what they said.”

“Maybe if Tim here hadn’t burned the place to the—”

“I told you to shut up!” The one called ‘Tim’ raised his rifle and threatened the man holding the other rifle. “Do you want another hole in your head?”

“Gentlemen.” The deep-voiced man raised his hands and the rest of the group turned to look at him. “Let’s not assign blame for who fucked up and burned this place down. The old bitch said that her safe is here so we’re going to keep looking till we find it.”

The man with the pistol shook his hand. “We scoured the barn. If it’s here then it’s in the house and we need tools to get this debris moved.”

The large man remained quiet for a few moments before waving his hand. “Fine. Load up. We’ll come back when we have time to let you idiots dig around. We need to finish our rounds and get back to the boss before it gets too much later. Maybe he can talk the old bat into giving up some more specifics about her little stash in the house. Ha!”

Two of the men threw back their hoodies as they walked to the SUV and Dianne gave Jason a wide-eyed look. The group crammed themselves into the SUV, talking quietly about something neither Dianne nor Jason could hear. The vehicle’s frame sagged low to the ground under the weight of so many people and it slowly turned around in the drive before heading back out to the road. Dianne and Jason pressed their bodies to the ground, keeping out of sight as the vehicle headed down the driveway. It paused at the end of the road before turning off and heading away from Ellisville and farther out into the country.

Dianne let out a rush of air, her spinning head making her realize that she had been holding her breath for the last few minutes. She looked at Jason as they slowly stood up, not wanting to run out to the road until they were sure the vehicle was gone.

“Who were they?” Jason leaned around the tree, watching as the back of the SUV vanished behind a row of trees.

“Two of them I recognize. They tried to steal the truck back when this all started.” Dianne started walking slowly down towards the road, keeping her eyes peeled. She stopped at the edge of the road, watching the trail of dust from the SUV disappear from sight. “I think we know who burned down the Carson’s house.”

Jason stroked his beard as he stood next to Dianne. “What do you want to do now?”

Dianne nodded in the direction of the collapsed barn and the truck hidden behind it. “Let’s get these supplies home. We have a lot to figure out.”

Chapter 17

Four days after the Event

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

Dr. Michael Evans steps onto the back of the small electric vehicle. He adjusts his satchel on his shoulder as he looks up at the ceiling of the mile-long tunnel that leads from the outside of the mountain into its very heart. With Dr. Evans being the last person who can fit on the vehicle it takes off abruptly, nearly throwing him off. He sits down in his seat and adjusts his satchel on his lap. He looks to his left at the two people sitting next to him, both of whom are wearing suits that look like they’ve been through hell.

The tunnel is well-lit and there is a constant flow of air blowing through it. A small nuclear reactor buried deep beneath the underground complex keeps the lights on and the exhaust fans running as well as providing enough excess electricity to run half of the nearby military base. Built in in the 1960’s, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex took five years to complete—at least the portion known to the public. The other, secret portions of the complex took an additional seven years to complete though some construction never really stopped.

It takes several minutes for the electric vehicle to pass through the tunnel as it has to stop periodically to make room for other, more urgent transports. Several trucks zoom by, turning off into side tunnels and small parking areas as they load and unload supplies and personnel. The chaos in the underground tunnel is strangely ordered and though Dr. Evans feels overwhelmed by what is going on he never feels like it’s out of control.