“Me?” Joel protested. “You’re the one doing donuts.”

  “Training,” Ben joked.

  “Don’t you think we should practice a little more for tonight?” Joel glanced at Brad, then back at his dad.

  Ben smiled. “I think we’re good. By the way, I’m familiarizing myself with the vehicle. You’re just having fun.”

  “You never know, Dad. I might have to drive at some point.”

  “God help us. Either way, we should head back. Besides, I want to see how your sister is doing.”

  “Fine.” Joel sighed and stopped himself short of an eye roll before dropping his goggles and pulling away, toward the house.

  “Hey!” Ben called out.

  Joel’s Blue RZR came to a sliding stop in the loose dirt.

  “Race you.” Ben didn’t wait to finish calling out the challenge before pushing his foot down on the gas pedal. He only glanced at Joel long enough to see the beginnings of a smile on his face as he passed the boys and left them in a cloud of dust. Joel and Brad never did catch up to him but managed to stay on his tail all the way back. It wasn’t Ben’s plan to have Joel do any of the driving tonight, but if it came down to that, he knew he was up to it.

  When Ben pulled into the open door of the outbuilding, Ed was tinkering at his workbench along the wall. Joel pulled the second RZR inside the building right after Ben and parked. Ben wasn’t sure who wore the bigger smile, Joel or Ed.

  “Well, what’d you think?” Ed shouted from across the building.

  Joel climbed out and peeled the dirty goggles from his face. “Amazing. Thank you so much.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Brad added. “That was sick!”

  “Sick, huh? That’s a new one.” Ed laughed. “I’m surprised you guys came back so early.”

  “Didn’t want to burn up all your gas,” Ben explained quickly, sensing Joel might push for more time in the RZR.

  “Oh, that’s fine. I have two big agricultural tanks out back: one diesel and one gasoline. Not supposed to use the fuel for anything but equipment, but I don’t think the Indiana Department of Transportation is going to be giving me too much grief about that these days,” Ed joked.

  “No, I suppose not,” Ben agreed. “Any word from your wife on Emma?”

  “As a matter of fact, I just did talk to her. She’s feeling better. Ate a little more not long ago, and now she’s sleeping again.”

  “Well, that’s good news.” Ben’s concerns about his daughter were placated for the time being. Emma was in good hands, and there wasn’t really anything additional he could do for her, at least not until tonight.

  “Hey, Dad, do you mind if me and Brad go back inside?” Joel asked.

  “No, go ahead.” Ben didn’t blame them. They were sweaty and covered in a thin film of dirt, just like him. Zipping around the woods in Ed’s RZR was a lot of fun, but he’d worked up quite a thirst in the process. Ben would have liked to join them, but he wanted a chance to talk to Ed alone. Maybe the guy was holding back information because the kids were around, or maybe he really didn’t know much more than they did, but Ben found that hard to believe. A man as prepared for the end of the world as Ed didn’t get that way by luck.

  “Thanks again. That was pretty awesome,” Joel called out from halfway across the building as he and Brad headed for the door.

  “Thanks,” Brad parroted his brother.

  Ben watched the boys leave, anxious to see if they would exercise caution before crossing from the building to the house. To his satisfaction, they did. They were being safe, just like he’d taught them, although the fact that they had to be ever circumspect was a testament to all they had been through. How would the kids ever function again without holding a little fear for their lives in reserve? Would his kids ever feel safe enough to go anywhere without a weapon on them again? It was hard to think about, but the short answer was probably not for a long time to come, maybe never.

  “You look like you could use a drink.” Ed must have read his mind. Of course, he was sweating through his shirt where the four-point harness contacted with his body, and the back of him was soaked from sitting in the vinyl-covered racing seat.

  Ben nodded. “That’d be great.”

  “Follow me.” Ed led him past his workbench, which easily ran twenty feet in both directions from the corner of the building. The walls above were meticulously covered in pegboard and custom shelving that housed a collection of every tool you would ever need, regardless of the project. Continuing toward the enclosed office, they passed a wall full of various climbing stands and ground blinds, along with too much other hunting gear to take in.

  “You’ve got quite the setup here, Ed. I’ve got to admit, I’m a little jealous.”

  “Thanks. It didn’t start this way. It’s been a lot of hard work. Julia and I used to live in this building when we first moved out here to the property. It was all we could afford at the time.”

  “Well, it looks like it paid off,” Ben said.

  Ed opened the office door and paused. “Man, I remember sleeping in here like it was yesterday. Come on in.” He held the door open.

  Once inside, Ed was quick to produce two cold beers from a refrigerator in the corner of the room. It wasn’t what Ben had in mind, but he wasn’t going to complain.

  “Julia wants the power on for now, while you guys are here, anyway. We don’t usually run it all the time, just at night for a while and a little during the day as needed. I’ve got it set up on a timer.” Ed cracked the top on his beer and held it up. “Cheers.”

  “Cheers.” Ben took a sip and instantly thought of Jack and how much he would have enjoyed meeting Ed. The cold liquid was a refreshing change from the crunchy grit that had found its way between his teeth during the morning’s fun.

  “You must have a pretty decent solar panel setup to run all this.” Ben took another drink and tried not to think about what happened in Maryland.

  “We do. It’s off-site, on the south side of the property. Probably didn’t see them because of the grass, but we have enough panels out there to generate over forty kilowatt hours per day. That’s more than we can use, really, even running the fence twenty-four-seven. So we store the rest in a battery backup system. I used to sell power back to the utility company, but now we bank it all, obviously.” Ed rolled a ball across the pool table.

  “That’s pretty impressive. We have a small array of panels back home, but nothing like that. Then again, I think our house in Durango might fit inside here.” Ben looked out through the windows facing the garage bay.

  “The solar panel system saved our butts—and everybody else who had one,” Ed stated.

  “Yeah, that’s been a common factor in the places we’ve seen that are still standing.” Ben strolled around the room, looking at pictures on the wall, most of them presumably of houses Ed had built for clients over the years. At the end of the wall was a large, built-in gun safe.

  “I bet you’re wondering why I keep my safe outside the house.” Ed got up from the rail of the pool table and headed over to the entrance door of the outbuilding. He locked it and returned to the office quickly. “Let me show you something really cool.”

  Ben was sure he had an impressive collection of high-dollar weapons, but based on everything else he’d seen, the safe didn’t look big enough. Unless it opened to a room, but that didn’t make sense, either, because the door was only a few feet away from the outside wall of the building.

  Ed punched a code into the lock and spun the large five-spoke handle. Ben was surprised to see a dark void where there should have been a rack full of guns. Ed reached inside the door and flipped a switch, dimly illuminating a set of concrete stairs that descended downward. Ben didn’t know what to say.

  “Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.” He motioned for Ben to go first. Halfway down the steps, Ed joined him inside the small space and closed the safe door behind them, making sure to lock it with a keypad on the inside. Shimmying past Ben on the narrow stairs, Ed continued on to a rough concrete tunnel that was just tall enough for them to stand in as they walked. A string of LEDs connected by conduit ran along the ceiling, lighting the way.

  “My guys thought I was crazy when I built this feature in, but I did it while we were putting in the basement foundation for the house. See that? The sidewalk from the house is over our heads.” Ed pointed up at the ceiling. Ben followed him the twenty feet or so through the noticeably cooler tunnel to a forty-five-degree turn. At the end was another door, this time a simple steel door, heavy but with no lock. Ed opened the door inward, and they stepped through, into a bunker-style room that lit up automatically, revealing a cache of weapons and gear that made what they had found at the moonshiners’ compound look like a joke.

  Ben couldn’t move his eyes fast enough to take inventory of all the space held. It wasn’t just rifles, shotguns, and pistols. There was tactical gear, stacks of loaded magazines, and can upon can of ammunition. There was enough gear efficiently packed inside the roughly ten-by-twenty-foot room to defend a small country.

  “Wow, Ed… I mean, ‘wow’ is really all I can say at the moment.” Ben spun around a couple of times, trying to take it all in.

  “Yeah. Julia used to give me a hard time about this habit. Not so much anymore.”

  “And we’re…” Ben paused and looked up at the ceiling, then back at the door they had just come through from the tunnel.

  “Yep. We’re under the house now. Well, inside the house, technically.” Ed pointed to another safe door on the far side of the room. “The basement to the house is on the other side of that door.”

  “Just when I thought I’d seen it all.” Ben chuckled and suddenly felt ridiculous about the tiny bathroom he’d been struggling to remodel in the basement back home.

  “As you can see, we have plenty of options for tonight.” Ed scanned the wall of rifles closest to where he was standing, all of them neatly lined up and organized on individual hangers. “I noticed you’ve got your own collection going in the back of the Scout. Hope you don’t mind, but I took a quick peek while you guys were out riding.” Ed pulled a SCAR clone off the wall and inspected it.

  “Yeah, well, that’s courtesy of the moonshiners. They were a generous bunch,” Ben said sarcastically as he pulled one of two ballistic helmets down from a shelf and looked it over. The dark green helmet sported a gen-three NVG (night-vision goggle) attachment, the likes of which he recognized from his time in the Army. This was top-of-the-line gear, and Ben was no longer just a little jealous.

  “Those are pretty cool. I figure we can use those tonight and run without lights.” Ed smiled, proud of his collection.

  “Absolutely.” Maybe Ben had underestimated the man. He’d find out soon enough; that much was certain. All the gear in the world couldn’t compensate for the inability to operate under pressure. And from Ed and Julia’s description of town, there would be plenty of that.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  After ogling Ed’s impressive collection of firearms and picking the man’s brain for any new information, the only thing Ben learned was that Ed and Julia knew as much as they did about the EMPs and their origin, maybe less. Eventually, they decided to join the others. Ben was anxious to check in on Emma again. He wouldn’t wake her if she was sleeping, but he’d feel better putting his own eyes on her. Rather than leave back through the tunnel to the outbuilding, they’d exit into the basement. Leaning into the thick steel door, Ed moved it open slowly, revealing a large, finished basement.

  Ben stepped out, onto the plush carpeting, and looked around. Another pool table, a small bar with stools, and an impressive home theater set up barely filled the cavernous room. He was even more surprised to see the kids down there playing video games, Emma included. Cy and Brad were at the controllers, with Allie watching. Emma was curled up in a blanket at the far end of the couch, but she was awake.

  “Hey, Em, how are you feeling?” Ben asked.

  “Okay, I guess. Still feel a little out of it.” Emma quickly turned her attention back to the speeding race cars on the oversized television screen.

  “Where did you guys come from?” Brad didn’t look away from the game while he spoke.

  “There’s a tunnel that connects the outbuilding to the house,” Ed answered.

  “Cool.” Brad was only half paying attention. He was more interested in trying to beat his brother at the game.

  “At least it’s nice and cool down here.” Ed made his way over to the refrigerator behind the bar and held up his bottle. “Another one?”

  “No thanks.” Ben already felt lazy from the one he had. He wanted to organize the Blazer today, among other things, and another beer might lead to a nap, although he wondered if that would be such a bad thing. They had been pushing themselves so hard for so long now he’d forgotten what it was like to stand still. It was comforting to know the kids were doing something that took their minds off the daily stressors they’d all become accustomed to. It was also a relief to see Emma rejoin the group, even if her improved condition was only temporary without the rest of the medicine she needed.

  “Well, I’m going to go see if Julia needs help with anything, maybe get lunch going soon. I’ll leave the keys to the outbuilding by the back door if you want to get to your vehicles.” Ed headed up the stairs to the main floor but paused. “Make yourself at home. Relax. We can get ready for the run into town later and go over the details then.”

  “Thanks.” Ben watched as Ed disappeared upstairs. The coolness of the basement was inviting, and although he did want to make it back out to the vehicles soon and straighten them out a little, a supple leather club chair and ottoman in the corner of the room was calling his name; his knee was begging him to listen. He felt guilty. After all, he’d slept like a rock last night and had a solid breakfast this morning. There was no reason why he shouldn’t have plenty of energy, but he didn’t.

  He slid all the way back, letting the soft leather envelop him, and put his legs up on the ottoman, careful to make sure his boots hung over the edge. After removing his Glock from the small of his back, he placed it on a side table next to the chair. It felt good to relax and not sweat and not feel like he had to keep one eye open at all times. This was the most comfortable he’d felt since leaving Durango at the start of this crazy adventure.

  No, the word “adventure” was too kind to describe what they were being put through out there on the road. But that seemed distant from down here in the basement. The sounds of the game and bright colors flashing across the television screen were surreal and felt like they were from a time longer ago than three weeks.

  But it wasn’t just the comfortable chair or the fact that he wasn’t out baking in the sun that had him feeling content. It was the sound of the kids’ voices, not so much what they were saying but how they were speaking. The tone of their conversation was upbeat and carefree, a stark contrast to the usual seriousness their lives required. They sounded like kids for a change, and that made Ben want to stay right here in this chair for as long as this lasted.

  Even with the sounds of the television and the kids’ good-natured taunting of one another over the game, Ben had no problem falling asleep. When he woke up, the basement was dark, and he found himself all alone. The silence of the room and the dim light made him forget where he was for a second. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and checked his watch. It was almost two in the afternoon. He wasn’t exactly sure what time it was when he passed out, but he hadn’t meant to sleep that long—or at all, really.

  He stood up slowly, bracing for the expected pain in his knee, but it wasn’t as bad as he was anticipating. Either he was getting used to it or it was actually healing. Then he noticed something different; it wasn’t just the lights and television that were off. There was no hum from the refrigerator, no fresh air blowing from the vents in the ceiling. Now that he was thinking of it, the air was a little stale. Reattaching his holstered Glock to his belt at the small of his back, he made his way toward the stairs.

  Ascending the steps quickly and quietly, he soon discovered the rest of the house was in a similar state of hibernation. He fought the urge to think the worst, but he was starting to worry. Surely, if something had happened, someone would have woken him up. Making his way through the house, he listened carefully. There were voices coming from outside. Ben looked out the kitchen window and was relieved to see everyone gathered around the pool, although he found what he saw next hard to believe. Brad took a running start and launched himself into a cannonball, hitting the greenish-blue water with a shout.

  Ben made his way outside and stood on the upper patio for a minute, watching the boys take turns doing cannonballs into the pool. Gunner, Sam, and Max were all soaking wet as well, having a blast jumping into the water alongside the boys. Bajer wanted nothing to do with the pool, though, and took a position under the table in the shade near Emma’s feet.

  Ed noticed him watching. “I hope you don’t mind. I told them it was all right.”

  “I don’t mind if you don’t.” Ben shrugged.

  “It looks gross, but it’s not that bad.” Brad hauled himself out of the water and over to the pool’s edge, pushing Sam out of his way. He and Joel were the only ones swimming, other than the dogs. The rest of the group seemed content to watch. Allie was brave enough to risk getting splashed and sat at the edge, dangling her feet in the cloudy water.

  Ben looked at Emma sitting at the table. It was the first time in a while he’d seen her without a blanket wrapped around her body. She noticed him watching her.

  “I can’t go in because of this.” She held her leg above the table and showed Ben her bandaged foot.

  Julia smiled. “She’s a real trooper.”

  “Dr. Julia had to clean out the wound, and then she put an antibiotic on it and wrapped it.” Emma lowered her leg after she was done showing off her bandage. Ben found it hard to believe that this was the same girl he carried inside last night.