Rain poured off of the eaves onto the dilapidated wooden staircase in front of us as winds caused the torrential downpour to move in waves. The lights of the lumber mill served well to cover the majority of the yard. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky. The vantage point was easily high enough to afford a view of the entire yard.
The fallen tree that had been a way into the compound was far off to the left. A couple of low cold decks of timber were situated near the entrance in such a way that they could be used as cover during an assault on the compound. Aside from a large loader and some haphazardly placed stacks of timber, there wasn’t much between us and the main gate.
“I know they’re amateurs but it can’t be that easy, can it?” Alison pulled the door closed enough that it wouldn’t be noticeable from outside.
“They’re moving in patrols that rotate every two minutes.” I peeked through the gap out at the yard. There had to be a catch. The staircase descended along the side of the mill and looked like it ended in a few ragged steps before it reached the ground.
“There’s the catch.” Alison pointed through the gap toward the main gate. A number of men were stationed throughout the area but the large crane was holding up a small structure. It looked like a box with rectangles cut into the sides. The crane held it out over the main gate at least fifty or sixty feet up. The placement meant one thing. It was a guard post.
“Most likely, he’s focused on the road,” I said with a touch of optimism.
“We won’t make it very far if he’s up there and we do get past those gates,” she muttered. The main gates were actually two large chain-link panels on rollers and topped with more razor-wire. A flash of lightning lit the sky.
“One problem at a time.” I tried to visualize our path through the yard to the main gates. We couldn’t go straight there with all of the guards. They were already on alert thanks to the missing outpost.
“If we could make our way to the cab of that crane…” Alison trailed off in thought. She was right. We could solve two problems at once if we could reach the crane without alerting anyone.
“It’s a start,” I admitted. At the bottom of the stairs there were a collection of pallets and barrels that could serve as cover. Once there we could make our way between the stacks of timber through a bit of winding and over to crane. It was a serviceable plan.
“You see it?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I pulled back from the door. Veronica sat on the floor holding the flashlight tight with both hands. “I think we’ve got a plan.” She looked up at me and slowly stood up.
“Or at least an idea,” Alison corrected.
“It’s something.” I leaned on the wall next to Veronica. “So, when we get out there, things are going happen pretty quickly.” She gave a little nod of understanding and let out a halting breath.
“We go on three,” I said. The looks the girls were giving me were a cross between fear and determination. I clenched the doorknob tight. “One…two…three…” At the next flash of lightning, I forced the door open. I was hit with a strong blast of rain and wind that made me do a stutter-step. I fought the impulse and started down the stairs. The wood was so soft and slick that I almost fell several times. As I reached the final ragged stairs, the boards weren’t even connected to the building. The last stair twisted and dropped me.
I landed on the ground on my side with a gasp. I coughed a couple of times and heard someone else land next to me in a similar manner. I started to sit up when someone landed on me, knocking the wind out of me again. I coughed as my lungs tried to recover too quickly. I could hear several boards fall onto the ground around us.
“Off,” I groaned. They slipped off onto the ground behind me. I rolled onto my back and started to sit up. Alison shoved me down.
“Down,” she breathed. A light swept across the side of the mill, only lingering on where the stairs had dislodged. A flash of lightning lit up the area. The light panned down and out of sight. I rolled over to crawl toward the stack of barrels and crates.
Through the small gap between the barrels and a leaning pallet, I could see one of the patrols walk between a pair of cold decks. We were clear for the moment. Alison appeared next to me.
“That was luck.” She wiped the rain from her face. I tilted my head at her and spun back to where the stairs fell. Veronica was hiding in the shadows between a pair of barrels. I crept over to her. Was she back in her catatonic state?
“V?” I asked. She leaned out of the shadows. Her hair was soaked into stringy tangles, but it was still bright. She gave me a thumbs-up. I took her hand and moved with her back over to the barrels.
Alison gave me a disgruntled look, but otherwise didn’t say anything. She slicked her hair back out of the way. I strained to look through the gap in either direction. There didn’t appear to be any goons. I spared Alison a look.
“Move,” I commanded.
Wind assailed us as I stepped into the open behind Alison. We crossed the open ground to the nearest cold deck. Veronica released my hand when we rounded the end of the timber. The stacks of old logs towered overhead on either side of us. If one of the patrols happened to pass the end of the aisle, bad wouldn’t begin to cover it. We moved down the stack in silence until we walked into another aisle. I hadn’t seen the stack when we were planning.
“Uh…” Alison straightened up.
“Hold up.”
“What’s wrong?” Veronica questioned.
“This wasn’t here.” Alison spun, searching the wall of timber. “I didn’t see this. Did you see this?” I shook my head at her.
“We’ll find our way around,” I offered.
“Could this night suck more?”
“Check that way.” I nodded off to my left. Alison continued sputtering as she walked away. I turned back to see fear in Veronica’s eyes. “It’ll be alright. Just give me a sec.”
Lightning flashed overhead. I came to the end of the cold deck and found yet another wall. Weathered pallets were stacked high enough to compete with the stacks of timber. The only direction to go was away from the main gate and back toward the garage. I started to head back around the corner when Alison appeared to startle me.
“I thought I said…” I stopped mid-sentence when Veronica stepped around the corner behind her. “Right.” I turned on my heel and followed the wall of pallets back toward the mill.
Our fast exit was becoming a miserably slow process. The path led us to an open area near a logging truck, some barrels and militia goons. Three men with assault weapons lingered around a rusted barrel. All three of them had their backs to us as they chatted about something that was too low to be heard. We could skirt them without the group knowing, but the fact that they were standing in the open under the bright lights of the building made me stop. I gestured for the girls to back away from the corner.
“Think we can make it?” Alison’s voice wavered enough with the question that I could tell she doubted it was possible. I couldn’t really blame her, given our luck lately.
“Maybe.” I wiped the rain from my face and took a deep breath. Maybe there was something we were missing. I crouched and leaned around the corner down low. I recoiled almost immediately when I spotted a pair of bare legs only a few inches from my face. My heart-rate raced as I leaned back around the corner.
The legs seemed closer than before, but they still led to the same annoying person leaning against the timber. I looked up at Jess. She gave me the sly look that said she had intended on startling me. I opened my mouth to say something when she quickly dropped down to eye level with me and placed her hand over my mouth. I watched her eyes for any sign that she wasn’t real, but I still couldn’t find one. She looked over her shoulder at the goons. I nodded. She leaned closer and kissed the back of her hand she was using to cover my mouth. I wanted to grumble but kept it to myself. Jess released me and stood so that she could keep an eye on me and the men.
“Wha…?” I started.
Jess held up a finger and pointed at the men. From here, I could see where our path was heading to next. Just past the logging truck was another gap in the stacks of timber that looked like it headed back toward the crane and main gate. If we were careful, we could easily make it. I started to move when Jess made a sound to stop me. I hesitated.
A flash of lightning split the sky. I was ready to retreat when I heard something heavy crash on the other side of the compound. The goons fell silent and looked toward the noise. The militia guys took off running toward the disturbance while readying their weapons.
I was set to get moving when Jess held up a finger. I stared at her. Thunder rumbled overhead and something heavy shook the ground. The lights of the entire compound winked out. Jess gave me a smug look.
“What was that?” Veronica asked from behind me. I looked back at the open area, and Jess was gone.
“Good question,” I agreed. “Alison?” It was difficult to see anything now. Even with the girls so close, they were little more than shadows if they weren’t in the open.
“Here.” She moved closer to crouch beside me. She started fussing with something, and a static sound erupted from her hands. Veronica gave a little start at the sudden noise.
“Is that a radio?”
“Brilliant, Sunshine, now shush.” The static raised in volume.
“You have a radio?” Veronica asked. The radio crackled out a flat even silence over the sound of the rain.
“Nothing.” Alison lowered the radio. “Either it’s encrypted or it’s busted.”
“Or no one has radioed about it?” I offered.
“Wait a minute.” Veronica raised her voice at Alison. “You had a radio, this whole time?”
“Yeah?”
“And you didn’t think to call for help? Are you stupid?”
“The radios are secure, short-range two-ways. They have a limited range of only three to five miles, and only on the designated frequencies. So, unless you have another one of these, then all you’re going to hear is static.” Alison’s irritation quickly turned to sarcasm. “And last time I checked, we had about fifty redneck militia on the receiving end of any transmission from this. But if you want to call your date on the party-line, then by all means.” She tossed her the radio.
“Oh.”
“We’ll just be grateful for the distraction.” I straightened up a bit. “Now, come on, before there’s another patrol.”
“Yeah.” Alison stepped past me and around the corner.
“It’s alright, she’s just a little burned out.” I took Veronica’s hands to help her up. Her hands were freezing, but eyes were focused and bright. It gave me hope. She may end up with hypothermia or pneumonia, but she was going to recover. Maybe it would be worth the risk. I spotted the familiar form standing just behind her. “Come on.” I escorted her around the corner where we watched Alison cross the open area back into the shadows. She waved for us to follow.
“Me, then you?” Veronica asked lightly. I glanced back at Jess. Part of me wanted to ask her, but lights started coming on throughout the area.
“Stick close.” I practically dragged her across the open space and back into the shadows just as the lights illuminated the yard. It looked like the main power was still down, but the militia was making do with the lights on the miscellaneous logging equipment. When I looked back at the yard, Jess had disappeared again.
“What is it?” Veronica asked. There was a whistle that drew our attention back into the shadows. Alison was trying to get us moving.
“Nothing, come on.” I put my arm behind Veronica and forced her to walk in front of me. We followed Alison through the shadows between the stacks of timber. She crouched down at the end of the stack and waved at me to come over. Lightning flashed again.
“What is it?” I dropped down to a knee alongside her.
“I’m not sure which is faster.” She moved back so that I could lean around her to see what she was talking about. It was possible to see the crane from here but it was on the other side of another cold deck of timber and we were equal distance from either end of the stack. The lights of the crane were directed at the yard back behind us. The faster we got to the cab of the crane, the faster we could get out of this mess.
“Both?” I asked.
“We could.” She remained a little too close.
“You go left and I’ll take Veronica right.” Either way, one of us would reach the cab of the crane and get the job done. Alison made a disgruntled sound and shoved me away from her. She slipped around the stack and started for the left. I spared Veronica a confused expression, but all she did was shake her head.
I crouched low and sprinted for the far end of the cold deck of timber. Lightning flashed as I hit the end and dropped low. A glimpse around the end of the timber showed me that there were a couple of stacks of pallets and a pile of machinery but not much else. I could actually see the tires of the crane. Veronica took a seat next to me. One last deep breath and I slipped around the corner.
The logging crane was larger than it had seemed. At this end was the tractor-trailer styled truck and several large deployed outrigger ‘legs’ for the thing to stabilize itself. The remainder of the vehicle was taken up by the slewing platform, an oversized engine and multi-jointed boom arm that extended up and out to hold the makeshift guard shack. A controller’s cab was visible on the far side of the massive engine toward the back of the monster. I stopped us next to the first massive tire below the cab.
“No guards,” I breathed. It was something. I spotted movement at the far end of the crane that stopped under the overhanging slewing platform. Alison. Large vehicles like this required two power sources, two different engines to move all of the necessary machinery. The boom arm was like a giant hydraulic arm rather than a traditional crane with cables. The style of crane arm meant it wouldn’t be possible to operate remotely. There would need to be an operator to lower the guard shack. “Alison.”
Thunder rumbled again. I changed direction and moved around the front of the crane. If the operator was near the control cab, then he would surprise Alison, but he wouldn’t see us coming. I stopped at the far side of the front bumper and peeked around the side. Fear froze me in place.