Ben could tell by the tone of Allie’s voice that she was eager to get involved. Sandy was probably chomping at the bit as well. The fact that they were willing to risk their safety and get involved was commendable, but Ben knew it would only complicate things.

  He looked at Joel. “No, tell them to stay put.”

  “Negative. Stay put for now. Over,” Joel said into the radio. There was no answer at first, and Ben was sure both Allie and Sandy were upset about his insistence they stay hidden. They probably thought he was worried they’d get hurt, and that was partly true. But his biggest reason for wanting them to stay clear was Brad and Emma.

  Ben acknowledged the fact that he couldn’t shelter his younger two from everything, but this was different. He had a choice this time, and he was choosing to keep them isolated from this encounter for as long as he could.

  “Roger that. Over.” Allie sounded less than enthusiastic, and although she’d already signed off, Ben could almost hear her sigh in frustration.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Joel shifted to his other knee and put his eye up to the Trijicon.

  Ben thought for a while before answering. He wanted to rush the barn and take them out, but the smart move was to sit tight and wait. The two men would come back outside at some point, and when that happened, it was just a matter of pulling the trigger.

  There were two big problems with that plan, though. Ben wasn’t sure how long he and Joel could last out here in the open. It was midday, and there was no shade available to find relief from the searing rays of the sun. But more concerning than that was the unknown. They had no idea if these seven were the entire gang or if Martin had been wrong about his guess of five or six. There could very well be more. And if so, when would they arrive?

  Ben didn’t want to make a bad decision because he was hot and thirsty, but the prospect of being stuck out here for another shootout was daunting. He had no idea if more of the gang would show up or not, but he had no intention of waiting around here any longer to find out.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Come on, we’re going back.” Ben moved the M24 to his back and took his AR-15 from Joel.

  “Back to the girls?” Joel’s brow wrinkled.

  “No, back to the barn.” Ben slapped Joel’s shoulder and rolled his eyes as he began retracing their path to the barn. This time, they’d stay on their feet, crouching down enough to stay low but not enough to keep them from jogging at a quick pace. There were no windows on this side of the building, so Ben felt confident about a quick approach.

  The plan was to make their way back to the rear door of the barn. The abandoned vehicles behind the big outbuilding would provide good cover and get them in close without being spotted. There was no telling what the two remaining thieves were planning at this point. They’d obviously had time to search the barn and discover their friends and Martin’s body.

  There was no way the gunmen would think Martin had taken out their friends on his own. Ben half expected to see the men exit the building while they were making their way back. And that would have been fine with him, too. He just didn’t want to waste any more time or energy than necessary. He was already starting to think this encounter would end up costing them another day on the road. He resented these people for the lost travel time almost as much as he resented them for what they were doing here.

  Even after eliminating the remaining vermin inside the barn, their duties here wouldn’t be done. Loading the stolen gear from the Scout would be a chore, not one he wanted to spend much time doing. They wouldn’t even be able to take everything with them, and that bothered him, too, but they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. The sooner they put this place behind them, the better.

  Ben and Joel sprinted to the first row of cars and took a position alongside a rusty brown VW van. The van was missing most of its windows. The ones that remained showed evidence of gunfire. The large sliding door was left open, and as they passed, Ben noticed a small stuffed giraffe on the floor. The toy had seen better days, much like the van’s former occupants. He imagined the child it belonged to and wondered if the bodies that filled these cars and trucks at one time were buried close by.

  The thought of innocent people—and especially children—lying dead in a shallow grave nearby enraged him. The heat wasn’t helping his current outlook on things, either. The flat black AR-15 in his hands was almost too hot to hold in the same place for too long. They just needed to keep it together a little longer.

  He glanced back at Joel, who was busy wiping the sweat from his face with the lower part of his shirt. Joel was struggling with the heat as well, although he’d pass out before admitting it. They had to make a move before they lost their edge.

  “Cover me. I’m moving to the door. I’ll wave you up when it’s clear.” Ben waited until he got a nod from Joel, watched the rear door of the barn for a second, and ran. He didn’t stop until he was a couple of feet to the left of the opening. Tucked up tight against the wood-sided building, Ben felt the rough splinters poke through his shirt and into his back. He was about to peek inside through the glass-topped door when the handle turned.

  He pushed back against the wall and froze, his rifle pointed at the door. The man in the tactical vest stepped outside slowly and looked around, but he didn’t see Ben crouched behind the open door. If Ben had hidden on the other side, the man would have spotted him right away for sure.

  Ben looked for Joel, but he was no longer squatting alongside the van, where Ben had left him.

  “Nothing out here.” The man eyed the rows of vehicles suspiciously.

  A second voice came from inside the barn. “Better check the cars, just in case. There’s no way this guy did all this damage by himself. He had to have some help.”

  The first man took a few steps toward the disabled vehicles with his weapon at the ready.

  Ben studied the man’s plate carrier but decided he wasn’t currently using armor in the vest. Just to be safe, though, he’d make sure to place his shots in the unprotected areas. At this range, that wouldn’t be a problem.

  “They’re probably long gone, whoever they were.” The man stopped and pulled a tin of tobacco from his pocket, turning to face the barn and his friend. It took the guy a second to see Ben crouched by the door, but when he did, he froze. Ben was hoping the other guy would follow him outside, but there was no time to wait for that.

  Crack, crack, crack.

  Ben leveled the guy in the vest with three shots from his rifle and turned his weapon on the open doorway. But before he could find his target, the KSG barked from somewhere not too far away. Ben heard the rifled slug zip through the air before striking the dark outline of a person standing just inside the doorway.

  Joel’s shot hit the man in the center of his chest and sent him reeling backward into a support column. Ben kept his sights on the man and was prepared to follow up Joel’s effort with a couple shots of his own, but the guy bounced violently off the big square timber and dropped his AR-15 before ending up face-first in the dirt and loose hay.

  Joel ran forward from his hiding place among the vehicles, kicking the first man’s gun out of his hands. It was over. Ben kept his rifle at the high-ready position for a while longer as he made his way into the barn and searched the building for more threats. There weren’t any. Joel joined him inside and helped him sweep the place one more time, just to be sure, stepping over bodies as they went.

  “Tell the others to get up here, and tell them to hurry.” Ben began rooting through the pile of stolen gear, pulling ammunition cans and boxes of MREs from the heap first. He wasn’t sure if having Sandy and Allie bring the trucks was the best idea, but it would be the quickest way to load up and get out of here.

  Neither he nor Joel had the energy to lug anything back to where they were hiding. And on top of being thirsty, his head was starting to pound. What started as a slight twinge above his left eye was now a full-blown headache. Wasn’t that one of the symptoms of heat stroke? He couldn’t remember, and at that moment, he realized how foggy his mind felt. They’d been out in the sun too long, and the lack of water had only exacerbated the situation. If he and Joel weren’t careful, they might need rescuing themselves.

  “Come in, Allie. It’s all clear. Meet us at the barn as soon as you can. Over.” Joel reached out to the others while Ben continued rummaging through the pile that had once been neatly organized in the back of the Scout. It was good to have their stuff back, but he still hadn’t found the most important thing. Where was the road atlas?

  The girls must have jumped into action when Joel gave them the all-clear. Ben heard the familiar rumble of the Blazer growing closer already.

  “Let’s get these doors open. Might as well make it easy on ourselves.” Ben temporarily abandoned his search for the atlas and began pulling at one of the large sliding barn doors. Joel jumped in behind him, and together, they moved the door along its track and out of the way. The rush of air created by the sudden opening felt good against Ben’s sweat-soaked skin, but it didn’t last long.

  “We don’t have much room in the Scrambler. We’re already riding a little heavy.” Joel sounded worried as he eyed the pile of gear.

  “We can’t take it all, just the food and whatever ammo we can squeeze in.” Ben unslung both guns from his body and leaned them against the wall. Joel did the same, and the two of them started carrying the things he’d pulled aside from the pile out to the parking area.

  The Blazer pulled up seconds later, with Allie trailing right behind in the Jeep.

  Sandy left the engine running and jumped out. “Sam, Bajer, stay. Don’t let them out, Em.” Sandy closed the door, blocking Sam’s attempt to join her outside the Blazer. The dog yelped in protest before reluctantly settling into the driver’s seat.

  Ben didn’t have to say a word, and except for Brad and Emma, who were busy making sure the dogs stayed put, everyone chipped in and began loading up what they could. Ben shoved a box of MREs into the back of the Jeep. There was no time to be neat; they could organize later. He turned to go back into the barn for more and saw a plume of smoke rising from the roof.

  “Dad!” Brad stood up in the back of the Jeep.

  “I see it.” By the time Ben was able to get back inside the barn, there were flames in the hay loft.

  “How did that start?” Allie ran past him with a handful of loose MREs.

  “I don’t know, but I still need to find the map. Finish grabbing what you can.” Ben started searching the bodies one by one, but none were holding the map. What if the guy in the loft had the atlas on him?

  Ben stopped moving and stared up at the second floor of the barn. The entire loft was engulfed in flames. The dry wood and scattered hay couldn’t have made for a more combustible combination, and the fire was spreading unbelievably fast.

  “I found it!” Sandy shouted from outside.

  Ben ran to the door and saw her climbing down from the Suburban with the atlas in hand. She jogged toward the barn, holding up the prize.

  “Oh, thank God.” Ben sighed. “Come on, everybody out. That’s enough.”

  They probably could have made room for a little more gear, but the fire had spread from the loft and was working its way across the ceiling and down the walls at a rapid pace. The whole building would be on fire in no time. And there was nothing in the barn worth the risk, especially now that they had the atlas.

  They all stood back by the trucks for a moment, watching the fire build. The big white plume of smoke rising from the building stood out as plain as day in the clear sky above them. All the more reason to get out of here—now.

  Ben could feel the heat of the blaze all the way back by the trucks. “Come on, let’s get out of here while we can.”

  “Martin?” Sandy handed the atlas to Ben.

  He shook his head. In the chaos, he’d all but forgotten about the man. Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. It was a callous thought, but it was true. And as hard and dry as the ground was here, they couldn’t have buried him if they wanted to. At least not without expending more energy and time than Ben was willing to spare. It was just as well that he was in the barn; that would eliminate any further discussion about it. At least he hoped that was the case.

  Ben thought about disabling the flatbed and the Suburban in some permanent way before they pulled away but settled for taking out several tires instead. Besides being too exhausted to do more, he figured the fire would spread outward through the dry grass and most likely reach the two vehicles, eventually. As for the remaining ammunition and random weapons from the moonshiners’ compound, there’d be nothing left of any value after the fire.

  Their job was done here. The bad guys had been eliminated, as far as he was concerned. They would never terrorize anyone again. If there were more of the gang, their little operation here was crippled, if not destroyed entirely.

  Ben was as satisfied with the outcome as he could be, given the scope of the situation. Things could have turned out a lot worse for them. They all could have ended up like Martin or the countless others who’d fallen victim to the gang of road bandits.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Ben was exhausted and grateful that Sandy and Allie were able to drive for now. He was sure Joel was just as spent. He sucked down the first half of his Nalgene in a few gulps without even realizing it. His head still hurt, but the water was helping. It wasn’t cold anymore, but that wasn’t surprising, given the incredible heat they were experiencing today.

  Every day seemed hotter than the last, and today was no exception. Ben wasn’t sure of the temperature, but he was willing to bet records were being broken today. It was probably a good thing they didn’t know exactly how hot it was. Even Emma, who usually allowed the dogs to snuggle with her on the seat, wasn’t in the mood. She looked as sweaty and miserable as he felt.

  It was going to be a long day, and if they hadn’t just wasted most of the morning retrieving the atlas and other gear, he would have suggested they pull over somewhere and wait out the midday heat. But they couldn’t afford to do that right now. If there were other members of the gang, they’d be on the hunt for whoever burned down their barn and destroyed their stolen loot.

  Ben could have closed his eyes for a while and tried to pretend the breeze coming in the window was refreshing, but he was on the edge of his seat. They weren’t out of harm’s way yet, and until he could no longer see the barn or the column of white smoke rising into the pale blue sky, he wasn’t going to assume otherwise.

  The boxes of MREs and extra cans of ammunition made it difficult to see out the back of the Blazer, and Ben hoped it wasn’t a mistake trying to carry more than they should have. Sam didn’t approve of her dog bed being covered with boxes, as she was forced to share the remainder of Emma’s seat with Bajer.

  Ben stuck his head out the window and looked back down the long dirt road as Sandy pulled out onto the blacktop and headed toward I-70. He heard a few cracks and pops as the ammunition they’d left behind reached flash point and began detonating inside the barn. It was music to his ears, and it meant without question there would be nothing useful left for the bandits to use.

  Ben wondered how long the barn would burn and how far the fire would spread. He’d never seen anything go up in flames so fast in his life. If the rows of dead soybeans caught fire, there was no telling how far it would go. But that wasn’t their problem.

  He sat back in his seat and focused on the road ahead. All in all, they’d been successful in recouping their things. Ben thumbed through the pages of the road atlas in his lap and thought about how close they were to losing it and more. He was disappointed about the jerry cans, but at least they salvaged one of them. The other was worthless, shot full of holes by the bandits. But they were a two-vehicle caravan, and carrying extra fuel wasn’t as necessary now that the Scout was gone.

  Sandy wanted to ask about Martin; Ben could tell something was on her mind, and he assumed that was it. There wasn’t that much to talk about, as far as he was concerned. To no one’s surprise, the man had met his end. Martin wasn’t equipped to survive in a world like this, and his mistakes and ignorance had finally caught up with him.

  Ben was thankful Martin’s end had only involved them to the degree it had. When he thought about all the close calls they’d had because of Martin’s incompetence, Ben considered them lucky to have escaped a much worse outcome. And now that it was over, he felt relieved. Not having to watch the Scout swerve around in front of them was like having a weight lifted from his shoulders. It was a cold-hearted thought, but Ben couldn’t help it. Life was easier without the lazy little man bogging them down.

  “Ahhh.” Ben winced and pulled his arm back from the open window. He’d forgotten and laid his forearm on the hot metal of the door.

  “Today’s the worst it’s been, I think.” Sandy broke the relative silence. It was easy not to talk for long periods of time when it was this hot and miserable. Even after a life-and-death situation like the one they’d all just been through, the heat had a way of putting everyone in a trance. Even the dogs looked like they could barely manage the effort to pant.

  “Yeah. For sure. The EMPs did something to the atmosphere. I know it’s summer, but this can’t be the norm for these parts, judging by the dead trees. Everything’s brown here.” Ben watched another field of withered corn pass outside the window. He held his hand up to the ceiling of the truck and shook his head. They were driving down the road in an oven.

  “Truck’s running a little hot, too. I wasn’t going to say anything because I thought maybe it was from sitting still back there while we loaded up, but it’s not dropping.” Sandy gave him a concerned look.

  Ben leaned over the center console and eyeballed the gauges. The temperature wasn’t in the red, but it was well above normal for the Blazer.

  “Perfect.” Ben laughed, but there was nothing funny about it. “Come in, Joel. How’s the Jeep running? Over.”