Free Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Book 4): Walking In The Shadow Of Death by W.J. Lundy

water. Brad let it rest there. He knew
from experience that if he continued to pump the water would most likely clear.
For now it wasn’t a priority with a foot of snow outside available for melting.
    He looked at the shelves and the
canned goods. This place was obviously stocked by men, probably hunters. He
found cans of roast beef, salmon, and corned beef hash. There were very few
vegetables or fruits. Better than nothing , he thought as he walked to
the far wall and dropped his pack on the floor. Brad moved to the small dining
table and lit a candle that was sitting near the center of it. By now the rest
of the men had entered the cabin and they shut the door, blocking off the
sunlight.
    The cabin’s door was antique and
had a wooden latch with a small length of 2x4 lumber to lock it shut. They put
the board in place and locked themselves in. The men checked the windows; they
were locked shut and the boards outside prevented them from seeing out. They
dropped their gear and gathered around the table.
    “Fire or no?” Parker asked,
pointing to the woodstove.
    “Let’s see if we can go without. We
had a hard time breaking contact with those things. If they creep up on us in
here we might not get another chance,” Sean said.
    Brad walked over to the bunk beds
and found a pile of folded blankets stacked on the top rack. “Chief, why don’t
you get some sleep? We can set up a watch rotation and get settled in. It may
still be a while before the kid shows up.”
    Sean nodded in agreement as he
walked across to the bunks. The Villegases agreed to take the first watch, but
first they wanted to inspect the out buildings. After they went outside, Parker
found a small ceiling access ladder leading to the attic. The attic wasn’t
finished and the space was narrow with small vents in both gable ends that
allowed them to see outside. These would make good watch positions if they
elected to keep the windows shuttered.
    As Brad helped Parker leave the
attic, Daniel came back into the doorway, excited. “Hey Sergeant, check out
what we found in the shed.”
    Brad grabbed his M4 and followed
Daniel out of the house and around back to the small out building. The shed
door was slid open, and a small padlock lay on the ground. Joey was inside
pulling a canvas cover off of a snow mobile; another sat right next to it. They
were very sleek racing models.
    “Damn, someone had some sick toys!”
Joey exclaimed.
    Brad moved in and looked closer at
the sleds. One was a high end Polaris, the other was an older pull start Artic
Cat. From outward appearances they looked to be very well maintained.
    “You see any fuel?” Brad asked.
    “Oh yeah, we got close to two
five-gallon cans along the back wall. Might be stale. There’s a jug of
stabilizer here also, I bet it will fire these up,” Joey said.
    “Nice find, anything else?”
    “Decent splitting axe and a
chainsaw,” Joey answered.
    “Very good, bring them in the
cabin. Might as well get these topped off with fuel, maybe we will have to use them
in a hurry. You never know.”
    Brad stepped out of the shed and
took a look at the far tree lines. He sat and observed while he listened to the
Villegases fuel the snow mobiles. He scanned the area where they had come up
the driveway. He could see the wind blowing some of the high grass that reached
above the snow fall, but other than that, there was nothing to be seen. The sun
had disappeared back behind the heavy gray clouds. Brad knew it would grow cold
again tonight. He hoped they would be able to keep warm enough in the shade of
the cabin without a fire.
    When the Villegases finished
fueling the snow mobiles, Brad helped them secure the doors to the shed, then
followed them to the small outhouse. Unlike the other building, this one was
unlocked. They pulled the door open and found nothing out of the ordinary. It
was just a rustic plank building with a shitter in the center. They closed the
door and moved back to the cabin’s