Page 73 of Mia Amata

“Just passing through,” he replied as they ordered some drinks. He was leaning back in his chair, “What’s your name?”

“Mya,” she said. “You?”

“Jacob,” he said.

“Where ya headed?” she asked.

“Twin Cities. Visit a buddy up there.” The waitress brought them their drinks.

“Do you always have drinks with complete strangers?” he asked.

She blushed, “No.”

He looked at her, then pointedly looked at her breasts. It was obvious she had no bra on. He looked back at her eyes. She had watched his eyes roam, blushing even more. He slid around the booth to sit next to her. They were pretty much hidden from the rest of the bar. “Yeah?” he said. “Must be my lucky night.”

He put his hand on her waist, running it up under her T-shirt to her breasts. He was watching her face. She closed her eyes, her breathing catching in her throat. He fondled her like that and then slid his hand down to her thigh and up under her short skirt. He slid his fingers into her panties and then inside of her. She groaned, putting her hand over his.

“Let’s get out of here.” He stood up, threw some money on the table, and headed to the door. He knew she was following him. They always did. They climbed into his car. He started the car and said, “Take your panties off.”

She did; he slid his hand back up her skirt. She moaned, straining against his hand. When they parked at the hotel, he got out of the car leaving her behind. She got out, following him to his room. He locked the door behind her, came up behind her, pushed her over the side of the bed, and took her like that.

She spent the night with him. He got up early, leaving before she woke up. He felt better, having worked out some frustrations with the waitress. He had gotten a little rough with her, but not enough that he worried she would go to the cops. It was obvious that she enjoyed herself.

He made his stop in the Twin Cities, picking up the rest of the things he needed. He continued traveling north, stopping in Harris, Minnesota at a gas station to fill up. He knew he was about an hour away from Moose Lake. By the time he got there, it would be dark; it would be perfect to start the next leg of his journey. When he got close, he slowed down, looking for the turnoff to the boat ramp.

He found it easily, turning onto the gravel road from the highway. He shut his lights off, the moon was almost full, so he thought he could see the road without them. Pretty soon, he came up to the boat ramp. Continuing past it, he found the campground, closed at this time of the year, just as he had figured. Just past the campground, around the curve of the lake, the road was chained off with a no entrance sign on it.

Climbing out of his car, he unhooked the chain, drove in, then hooked the chain back up. A close look around showed that there was nothing around him. He drove slowly along the road that was turning into a two-lane path. The weeds were overgrown, showing that no one had traveled on this road for a long time, probably years. He found that he was able to follow it around to where he actually wanted to end up.

At the end, there was an old cabin. This was getting better and better. He pulled the car around the back of the cabin to hide it from view. He got out of the car and walked around to the trunk. Grabbing the night vision goggles and a flashlight, even though he didn’t think he would need them, he walked around the side of the cabin to the front. He was in a heavily wooded area, but with the moonlight, he didn’t need either the goggles or the flashlight.

The front door has an old, rusted padlock on the door. This was yet another huge break for him. He figured he would be using the tent he had packed, but if this cabin was in any shape at all it would offer a better shelter, especially since it could snow any day now. He went back to the car, grabbing a pry bar. He used it to pry the lock off the door, which wasn’t too difficult.

The rust was just more evidence that no one had been here for years. Opening the cabin door slowly, he turned the flashlight on to make sure there were no wild animals in there. Not seeing or hearing any, he went inside. It was a one-room cabin, with a small fireplace on one end. Amazingly enough, there was little evidence that any animals, besides maybe a few mice, had been inside the cabin.

There was a small table with a stool which made up the only furniture in the room. On the wall opposite the fireplace was a platform built into the wall. He looked at it closer and realized it was a sleeping berth.

He tested it, but it still seemed pretty solid. This must have been a hunter’s cabin years ago, exactly what he was going to use it for. He made a few trips out to the car to carry in his supplies. Placing his sleeping bag on the berth and his camping cookware on the shelf above the fireplace. He put his MREs up there also, along with his case holding the matches.

He took the flashlight, got down on his knees, looking up at the fireplace chimney. It looked like there was a nest of sorts up there. He went out and found a long skinny tree limb. This he put up the chimney until he was able to knock the old nest down. He checked the chimney again, satisfied it was clear, he went back outside to scrounge for enough wood to keep him warm for the night. Tomorrow during daylight, he would get some better firewood.

He built a fire using the old nest as tinder, soon he had a small blaze going. He took some old rags from the car, taping them over the windows to hide any light, even though the windows were small and wouldn’t show much. After an MRE for supper, he took his phone and lay on the bed. He reviewed the email with the blueprints for Megan’s house until he was positive, he could walk through there blindfolded.

He shut his phone off to save battery although he could charge it in his car when it got low. He didn’t think he would need it much though.

Surveying the interior of the cabin, he couldn’t believe his luck at finding it. This would serve him quite nicely, better than the tent he brought, even though he had a small propane heater that would have kept him warm in the tent. He could use the heater during the day in the cabin when he wanted to be careful of smoke from the fireplace. He changed his clothes and climbed into his sleeping bag.

Tomorrow, he would work on preparations for keeping himself alive this winter, if he had time, he would walk to the lake to start some reconnaissance. He fell asleep in no time, sleeping soundly once again, only waking up a couple of times to check on the fire in the fireplace.

Chapter 24

Allen woke up at dawn out of habit. The fire was out in the fireplace, the cabin still seemed warm. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t have a fire in the daytime, as the smoke might attract attention to the cabin. All the dirt and dust lying around was even more proof that no one had been here for years.

After he dressed, he grabbed his axe and then headed out for firewood. He found several downed trees; he worked on one that he was able to cut up into firewood. He was glad that he had more he could chop up if he needed it this winter. He stacked some firewood inside the cabin next to the fireplace, and some more outside the cabin, near the front door. He gathered a lot of tinder, stacking that next to the firewood inside the cabin.

Satisfied with the work he had accomplished so far that morning, he took his water system along with his binoculars, deciding to make his way to the lake. The road into the cabin had turned west at some point, away from the lake. When he stepped outside the cabin, he took a good look around, deciding that he was completely hidden, no one would be able to see him there. The only thing he really had to worry about would be smoke from the fireplace since there were no other cabins or homes on this side of the lake. It would be an obvious sign that someone was over here, someone would be sure to come look for the source.

Heading east to the lake, he examined the forest until he found what he thought was an overgrown path, so he decided to follow that. It was a bit of a hike through overgrown brush, but soon enough he found himself at the lake. There was quite a bit of brush at the shoreline, but he found a spot where he could build a sort of blind. Below that was an area where he could draw some water when needed. It was a place where the shore went out a little, if he cleared enough brush, he should be able to stay hidden as he filled his water jug. He would grab his machete later to clear the path a little to make it easier to travel back and forth, plus work on the blind.

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