Page 24 of Force of Nature

Zeb and Martin were arguing over who was going to make the climb. The fruitless search had obviously taken its toll; they were turning on each other, which could only be a good thing. My mind raced to come up with a plan of attack. We had to take them by surprise, just like I’d managed to do back at the campsite.

I helped Willow slide silently onto the floor and then whispered, “I’m going to take these guys out, but I need your help.”

“What can I do?”

“We’re going to sneak out onto the platform. They won’t be able to see us from the base or the stairs unless we lean over, so we should be covered.” I pointed to the old radio equipment on the table. “I want you to take that radio receiver, the big boxy piece, and throw it off the tower, into the woods, as hard as you can.”

“Okay.” She squinted. “Wait, why?”

“Because we need to draw at least one of them away before I try to sneak down. We’re about a hundred feet up, so it should make enough noise to get their attention.”

“But there’ll still be at least one of them down there,” she said. “Won’t it be dangerous?”

“No more dangerous than waiting for them to find us.”

Willow paled at that scenario, then nodded.

“That’s my brave girl,” I said. Without thinking, I kissed her quickly on the lips. She smiled warmly at me and then flinched at the sound of the creaking stairs.

Someone was coming up.

“Let’s go,” I said.

I opened the door and let her slip out first. She padded around the platform to the other side of the cabin, farthest from the hatch that led to the stairs. I went in the opposite direction, then paused, waiting for Willow to perform the task I’d given her.

Time seemed to slow. I was on edge as the creaks grew louder. I adjusted my hold on the dowel rod in my hands, the weight of it strengthening my sense of purpose. I wasn’t much of a match against a guy with a gun. My only hope was to catch him off guard. I should be able to knock him on his back, I thought, and hopefully get him to drop the gun before he knew what hit him.

I heard a crash somewhere far below, on the eastern side of the tower. The boom was louder than I anticipated, and I wondered if the radio receiver had exploded upon impact with the ground.

Good girl… Now just stay out of sight.

“What the fuck was that?” Zeb barked. Based on the volume of his voice, I determined that he was at least halfway up the tower stairs.

“It came from over there,” Martin yelled, sounding farther away.

“I’ll go check it out,” Duke said from far below. “You two check the tower, then come find me.”

I spotted Duke’s silhouette making its way across the clearing, gun in hand. I held my breath, praying he wouldn’t turn around and see Willow on the platform. He disappeared into the trees. Exhaling, I returned my attention to the creaking stairs.

“You really think we should keep pursuing these two?” Martin asked.

“Are you really asking me if I think we should keep looking for the people who can identify us? Fuck, man, we gave them our first names. Do you want to go to prison? Or worse?”

“Does Wyoming even have the death penalty?”

“It’s Wyoming. They probably just feed you to a bear.” Zeb was close now.

I flattened myself against the cabin’s exterior, holding my weapon with both hands like a bat.

“Just shut the hell up and get your head in the game—” Zeb flung open the hatch at the top of the stairs.

I didn’t hesitate to swing.

The blow sent him flying back down the steps. I was sure I’d done some serious damage, but there was no room for error; I had to be sure. I jogged after him, powered by a foreign, bloodthirsty feeling. Zeb tumbled down three flights of stairs, nearly crashing into Martin’s legs as he finally came to a stop.

“Holy shit,” Martin said as I came charging toward him with my weapon raised.

I took advantage of his shock, swinging the rod at his face.

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