Feral Nation - Convergence (Feral Nation Series Book 6) Read online

  FERAL NATION

  Convergence

  Feral Nation Series

  Book 6

  Scott B. Williams

  www.scottbwilliams.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and events are all products of the author’s imagination and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Scott B. Williams

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  Cover design © Scott B. Williams

  Editor: Michelle Cleveland

  08.20.19

  This series is an ongoing serial. Each book is an immediate continuation of the earlier story, so for the best reading experience the books should be read in order, starting with Book 1.

  Here are the links to the current books in the series:

  Feral Nation - Infiltration: Book 1

  Feral Nation - Insurrection: Book 2

  Feral Nation - Tribulation: Book 3

  Feral Nation - The Divide: Book 4

  Feral Nation - Perseverance: Book 5

  Feral Nation - Convergence: Book 6

  These links will be updated as new books are added to the series. Be the first to know what’s coming next in this series as well as my other books by signing up for my New Release Updates

  One

  THE MOVEMENT THAT CAUGHT her eye was slow and deliberate, and Shauna Hartfield would have missed it completely if she hadn’t been carefully scanning the banks of the creek below her as she sat motionless among the boulders of the rocky slope above. Hunting wasn’t really a necessity yet, and she didn’t plan to be here long enough for it to become one, but it was a good excuse to get out of the confinement of the cabin, and it gave her the feeling of doing something—anything other than waiting. She’d been out since shortly after daylight and had hiked a couple of miles down the heavily-wooded drainage below the cabin with one of Bob Barham’s scoped deer rifles, a bolt-action Remington 30.06.

  The outcrop from which she watched seemed like a good place to spot a mule deer or perhaps even an elk visiting the little swift-water stream, and at the very least, the view was nice and was far enough away from Jonathan and Vicky for her to get lost in her thoughts for a while. Shauna would take the shot if game presented itself, even though packing the meat back would be quite a chore and would require her to go back for one of the horses. Jonathan would be little help with his mobility still limited, and she and Vicky would have to do the bulk of the work. Still, fresh venison would be a welcome change in their diet and would enable them to conserve more of the considerable stash of supplies Bob had stored there at the cabin.

  Shauna carefully raised the rifle and brought it up to her shoulder so that she could use the scope to identify whatever it was that she’d seen moving. It had been a long time since she’d hunted, but she remembered that even the subtlest of movements that might be mistaken for a bird or other small animal could sometimes indicate the presence of big game: perhaps in reality the flick of an ear or tail, or ripple of light on hide or antler… The magnification of the 3x9 variable scope would reveal the truth, but even before Shauna could bring the telescopic sight into line with what she’d seen, she saw something else take a step in the same area, and it definitely wasn’t a deer or elk, because it appeared to walk on two legs!

  Shauna felt her heart race as she eased the scope over to this new movement to get a better look and make sure she wasn’t imagining things. If someone was really there, they weren’t moving now, and she couldn’t pick out the outline of a body. It was only when her crosshairs moved over the man’s bearded face that she could be sure he was real. The rest of his body from his boonie hat down was covered in camouflaged clothing, and even the weapon he carried at ready, as if expecting an ambush, had a muted camo finish. When the man took another step, Shauna saw more movement back where she’d first thought she’d seen an animal and knew that he was not alone. This one was making some kind of signal with slow motions of his hand, and it was then that Shauna saw to her chagrin that there were several of them, maybe a dozen in all, spread out over a wide area along the creek banks. All were heavily armed and similarly camouflaged, most carrying camo packs on their backs as well. They looked and moved like soldiers, but that didn’t mean they were the good guys, and it certainly didn’t make her feel any better about the fact that these men were headed straight up the creek, which would take them directly to Bob Barham’s property.

  The only positive thing about this unexpected development was that she had seen them first and she was quite certain they had no idea she was there. Whether they already knew about the existence of the cabin or not, she had no idea, but if they continued on the path they were taking, following the stream up, it would be impossible to miss. Shauna was careful not to move or make a sound, other than the slightest adjustments of the rifle so that she could view the men through the scope. Their movements were careful and studied, indicating that they were trained and experienced at this sort of thing. If she’d been at the cabin with the others, they would have all been caught off guard with no warning of their approach.

  Shauna needed to warn Jonathan and Vicky, but how? Even though she had seen these men first without being observed, she was already too late. There was no way she could get ahead of them now, as the route up the drainage was a natural funnel that would force her to climb down and work her way along the stream bed because of the impossibly steep slopes between her position and the cabin. She couldn’t make it in time, because the point man was already well into the choke point and there was no reasonable way around it that wouldn’t get her spotted by those following him. Shauna was stuck, helplessly watching from where she sat hiding until the last of the men passed by on the way up. By then, her only option would be to follow, and what could she do if she did? Once these men discovered the cabin, Jonathan and Vicky would be trapped inside. Shauna was effectively cut off from her companions, and unable to help them unless she could think of something fast.

  Seeing these men here today confirmed Shauna’s fears that the cabin was not as secluded or safe as Eric Branson may have thought. She was still mad as hell at him for what he’d done, cutting out alone in the middle of the night when they’d all been planning to ride south on Megan’s trail together. Eric had left Shauna a letter, detailing his reasoning and trying to explain his decision, but nothing he could have said would have convinced her he was right or mitigated her rage. Shauna had crumpled it up and thrown it in the fireplace in disgust. Eric knew damned well she wouldn’t have agreed with splitting up again, especially now that they knew Megan had been with Vicky and Vicky had told them exactly where she was headed with her friend, Aaron. Eric had tried to bring up the idea of going by himself at first, but she’d made it clear to him that such a plan was off the table, and so the bastard went ahead and did it anyway, sneaking out into the night after all the effort the rest of them had put into preparations for the journey.

  Eric may have had good reasons for leaving Jonathan and Vicky behind, but not Shauna. She wouldn’t slow him down, and after all she’d been through to get here, she felt she should be there when and if he finally caught up to their daughter. Eric had robbed her of that moment though, saying in the letter that his chances of getting through the dangers along the way would be improved if he only had himself to look out for. He had suggested to Vicky when they first
got to the cabin that she might be better off to stay behind with Jonathan while he was still recovering from his broken leg, but Megan’s former roommate didn’t like that idea at all. Eric could have insisted, Shauna now realized, and she could have backed him up on it and maybe then he wouldn’t have left her too, but the way he did it, she had no chance to try and change his mind, and that was what irked Shauna the most. She’d dealt with that side of Eric so much during their marriage that it led to their divorce, and now he was pulling the same old stunts. Shauna had stormed out of the cabin that morning after reading the letter, and it had taken an hour of pacing in the early morning chill before she even began to cool off. She’d briefly considered taking off after him, but doing so would require traveling alone, because she wouldn’t have a chance of catching up with Jonathan and Vicky in tow. She finally thought better of that idea, and still fuming, made her way back down there to talk to the two of them and figure out how they were going to deal with the prospect of the long and boring wait they were facing. Eric had assured her in his letter that he would be back as soon as possible, but not without Megan. Shauna knew better than to count on such a thing considering all they’d seen though. Anything could happen out there, even to Eric, and maybe even long before he caught up to Megan. And if he did find her, the two of them would be facing the same dangerous journey returning all the way here from northern New Mexico.

  No matter how she looked at it, Shauna didn’t like any of this, even though she knew deep down that Eric was doing this because he thought it was the best way, and not simply to spite her. His priority really was to catch up to Megan before something bad happened to her, but he had no right to leave Shauna out to do it all himself, putting her in such a terrible and unbearable state of limbo and not knowing once again. There was no telling how long it would take Eric to get to that reservation where Megan was supposed to be, and no guarantee that she was there in the first place. What if she wasn’t? What then? Eric had no way of getting a message back to the cabin to let them know. Just how long was she supposed to wait if Eric and Megan didn’t show up in a couple of weeks? Two more weeks? Another month? By then the winter snows in the high country would make leaving the cabin extremely difficult and dangerous, if not impossible. The prospect of being trapped there was too much to think about, and every time she did, Shauna wished Eric was standing in front of her so that she could slap the hell out of him.

  But the reality was that Eric had been gone more than a week now and it was up to her to figure out how to deal with these armed strangers that would soon be upon the cabin. Shauna couldn’t stop them from advancing up that creek bed, not by force, anyway. Even though she’d just had a couple of them in her sights and they had no idea she was there, there were far too many to take out on her own, even if she had more suitable weapons than just a bolt-action hunting rifle and her sidearm. Aside from that, they hadn’t proven they were the enemy and for all she knew, they could be legitimate soldiers working to restore order. It was hard to tell the difference these days between the good and the bad and the last thing she wanted to do was fire on them without provocation. Even if she knew for sure they were on the right side though, she wasn’t going to walk up and introduce herself and invite them back to the cabin. If they were sweeping the area for possible insurgents, they might open fire first, and even if they didn’t, they might force them out of the area due to the problems that had been going on.

  Shauna was thinking fast about her limited options as she watched the last of the group slowly work their way through the vegetation surrounding the creek. The best idea she could come up with was to create some kind of diversion to draw their attention away from the cabin before they found it. There was no way to know if it would work or not though, and once committed, she wouldn’t be able to second-guess herself if it didn’t. It would be up to her to evade and escape if the men took the bait and pursued. If she failed, Jonathan and Vicky were on their own, but they were anyway if she didn’t try.

  Shauna mentally retraced the route she’d taken down the drainage, thinking about the best place to execute her quickly formulated plan. It wouldn’t do to try it now, as the slopes on either side of the creek here were far too steep to allow a quick escape. But there was a smaller intersecting tributary a quarter mile farther up, where she knew the terrain might lend itself to a fast getaway to the north. If she could simply divert their attention to that other natural route, it was possible they’d forget about continuing up the main creek altogether.

  Shauna quietly picked her way down among the boulders as she watched the last two men in the party melt into the underbrush upstream and disappear. She had to move quickly enough to keep up with them, but with great caution too. It wouldn’t do for them to discover her here, where she’d have no chance of getting away. She paced herself to match their careful, combat-ready advance as she shadowed them, staying far enough back that she only caught occasional glimpses of the last two bringing up the rear of the team as they worked their way upstream. She didn’t like that they were spread out so far that she couldn’t see all of them, and she hoped her diversion wouldn’t result in only some splitting off to follow her, but it was all she could think of given that she was quickly running out of time the nearer they got to the cabin.

  As she followed, Shauna ran several scenarios through her head, trying to predict how each would play out. Ideally, she could draw the entire group into pursuit, and if so, she was counting on being able to outdistance them due to her experience and fitness as a runner and her advantage of knowing something of the surrounding area. She was also carrying only a rifle, while they were loaded down with their weapons, spare mags and other supplies in those backpacks. She would be prepared to run as soon as she got their attention, while they were still trying to figure out what was happening, hopefully giving her a good head start. In the best case, the entire team would come after her and she would lose them along the way and then circle back and warn Jonathan and Vicky. The men might still find the cabin eventually, even if she eluded them, but her hope was that it would buy her and her friends enough time to get out of the area and disappear.

  Twenty minutes after she began trailing them, Shauna came to the small confluence she remembered, the only easy exit from the main drainage the men were following. The time to act was upon her, and though she was nervous about it, Shauna couldn’t afford to hesitate. The options she’d considered for getting the strangers’ attention ranged from a simple scream to firing her rifle once or several times to both screaming and firing. The last thing she wanted, of course, was to draw return fire from multiple automatic weapons, so she decided that the option of just firing off gunshots alone wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t want the men thinking they were under attack. Instead, she wanted to draw their curiosity and encourage them to follow up. Shauna took several deep breaths, checked that her boot laces and the Glock on her side were secure, and then let out the loudest frightened scream she could muster. Ten seconds later, she followed the scream with a shot into the air from the 30.06, the heavy report echoing through the forest and certain to get the attention of everyone in the area. Shauna didn’t wait to see the effects of these sounds, however. She turned and jogged a short distance up her escape route, and then paused momentarily to fire off a second round. Then she turned and ran farther.

  Whatever the party of men thought of all this, they didn’t answer with reactive gunfire, indicating they were indeed disciplined and trained. She doubted they were ignoring it completely however, and when she had created a reasonable distance from where she first began running and had gained higher ground, Shauna stopped one more time, crouching at the base of a large spruce tree to watch and listen. When nothing happened for several minutes, she began to wonder if her tactics had failed completely, but then she saw movement—at least four of the men—slipping rapidly, but cautiously among the trees in her direction, their weapons at ready. Shauna waited just long enough for them to get close enough to catch a
glimpse of her when she took off again, sprinting for all she was worth. She knew they had spotted her when she heard a sharp order:

  “HEY YOU! STOP RIGHT THERE!” Shauna ignored it and didn’t slack up.

  “I SAID STOP!” The voice rang out again. She expected to hear bullets ripping through the brush around her at any second, but the shots didn’t come, and Shauna put her entire focus into running as fast and far as she could.

  Two

  JONATHAN COLEMAN STOPPED SUDDENLY at the sound of the first rifle shot, almost losing his balance, but Vicky was right beside him, providing support on the side of his bad leg, and steadying him as he turned in the direction from which it came, far below in the forested drainage, where they knew Shauna was hunting.

  “Maybe she got one!” Vicky said. Before he could answer, a second shot came from the same direction. “Or maybe two?”

  “Nah, she wouldn’t shoot two at one time. She either missed the first shot or wounded him and followed up. We should go see.”

  “That sounded like it came from a long way off to me, Jonathan. You’re doing good to hobble around this far. You don’t need to push it. That trail is steep down there, and if you fall again and break your other leg or something, you’re going to be totally out of luck.”

  “We’ve got Tucker. He can haul me back if I do.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t get you up on his back with two broken legs.”

  Jonathan knew she was right, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to go anyway. He was out here now because he was determined to keep his strength up, and the way he figured it, he needed to start putting a little weight on his leg and using it as much as he dared so it would heal. With Vicky’s help, it was feasible to do so. He’d spent all the time he could stand laid up in that cabin. They had made it across the meadow where Bob Barham now lay in the solitary grave they’d dug for him in his favorite spot and were now on the slope above with a nice view back down to the cabin. Jonathan had walked farther this morning than he had since his accident. His leg was getting better, and he expected to make a full recovery just as Bob had said he would when he set and wrapped it.