Sabotage (Powerless Nation Book 3) (2 page)

Mason took Dee’s hand and led her across the kitchen. He opened the door to the enclosed patio and she braced herself for a blast of cold air. The patio wasn’t weatherproofed, so it was freezing in the winter.
 

Surprisingly, the room was warm, and she heard an engine running. She tilted her head to try to figure out the sound and Mason said, “No peeking!”

Dee’s curiosity was piqued, but she kept her eyes closed as Mason gently tugged her toward one end of the small room.

“Okay, sit down now.”
 

Dee sat, and recognized the creaking of Grandpa’s old wicker loveseat.

“Can I look yet?”

“Not yet,” he said, settling next to her.

The next sound was something Dee was completely unprepared for. The roar of a lion scared her practically out of her skin.

Dee gasped and her eyes flew open, looking around for the threat. Jasper, the dog, had been attacked by a mountain lion the month before. Were they in danger again?

The sight that met her eyes was so unexpected, Dee’s mouth hung open in shock. In front of her, a small television set showed a lion roaring, and then played the opening credits to a movie.

“How—? What…?” Dee trailed off, confusion and shock leaving her speechless.

She turned to look at Mason, and the blue light shining from the TV cast his face in electric shadows. His grin was so contagious she couldn’t help smiling back at him.

“Is the power on?” she asked.

“No, nothing like that. You know how I’ve been doing some work up at the Baker place? Well, they had this old generator up there and since they couldn’t spare any food to pay me I bartered for a night with the generator. It doesn’t produce much power, but it’s enough to run the TV, DVD player, and a space heater.”

The two five-year-olds, Sammy and Katy, came out onto the patio. They both wore red shirts and bright smiles.

“Popcorn!” yelled Sammy.
 

“Candy!” Katy chimed in.

Mason pulled his wallet out and gave the two small children some money and they handed him a brown paper sack of popcorn and a small box of candy.

The children ran out of the room, giggling.

“What is all this?” asked Dee.

“It’s a date, of course,” said Mason. “I’ve never had the chance to take you on a normal date. I figured it was about time.”

Dee thought her heart would melt. Mason might be calling it a normal date, but it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her. She snuggled next to him on the loveseat and said, “What’s showing?”

“Your grandpa didn’t really have any movies, so I asked Hyrum if he could run back to his house and find something for us. He made a special trip while you were cooking the chili.”

“You let Hyrum pick the movie?” Dee laughed. Hyrum was notoriously obsessed with movies, especially 80’s movies. “Let me guess. It’s going to be
Back to the Future
or
The Princess Bride
.”

“My money’s on
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
,” said Mason. He pushed a button on the remote and the sound of church bells and trumpets playing “Deck the Halls” filled the cozy patio. A snowy street scene set in the 1940’s faded into view.

They were both wrong. Hyrum had picked
A Christmas Story
.

“Nice,” said Mason. “I love this movie.”

He made an exaggerated show of pretending to yawn and stretch and then put an arm around Dee. She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Mason grinned. “Sorry, it’s been a while since I was on a date. My moves are a little rusty.”

“Your moves seem okay to me,” said Dee, resting her head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him. He’d somehow managed to find time for a bath. He smelled clean, like deodorant and mint. She made a note to ask where he was hiding the toothpaste, because she’d been brushing her teeth with baking soda for weeks.

They were about twenty minutes into the show when Hyrum poked his head onto the patio. “You guys need anything? How did I do on the movie?”

He glanced longingly at the TV and Mason sighed. “Come on in, I know you want to.”

“I don’t want to interrupt you guys,” said Hyrum, walking in and perching on the edge of a nearby chair. “Are you to the part yet where the dad wins the leg lamp? That’s the best.”

Dee passed Hyrum the popcorn and he took a handful, eyes never leaving the TV.

“How come Hyrum gets to watch?” said Sammy, popping his head in from the kitchen. “Can I watch too? You got any popcorn left?”

Before long, Sammy, Kade, Sena, and all of the Searle kids were gathered around the TV, squeezing in on the couch next to Dee and Mason or sitting on the floor.

Mason gave Dee a look that asked if it was okay.
 

Dee whispered, “It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
 

About an hour into the show, a blast of cold air rushed into the room as the outside door of the patio opened and a man hustled inside. He gave the TV a quick glance and then looked around at the kids. “Is Doc Kerns here? We need him in town. There are people hurt.”

“What happened?” asked Mason, rising to his feet and moving toward the kitchen door.

“A raid,” said the man. “The town’s been attacked.”

CHAPTER TWO

E
VERYONE
HURRIED
INSIDE
,
AND
when the man unwound his muffler, Dee recognized Max, the former fire chief of Lookout Falls, who now also served as mayor of the small town.

“What’s going on?” asked Grandpa, shuffling into the room, pulling the suspenders of his work pants over the long underwear he always slept in.

“A raid in town. We’ve got people hurt and need your help. Not sure who it was yet,” said Max, “They showed up after dark with guns and knives, demanding food. It was a small group, but they were well armed.”

“There will be gunshot wounds then, I expect,” said Grandpa evenly. He moved to his doctor’s bag and checked the contents.

“Some are shot, a couple knifed,” said Max. “It’s pretty bad.”

“We’d better get going then,” said Grandpa.

“Give us a minute to grab our things and we’ll join you,” said Dee’s dad, Ted. “Claire and I and the girls were planning to move into town with Milton first thing tomorrow. It might as well be now. I’m sure they need help at the clinic.”

“I’ll get the bags,” said Jeremiah, running for the stairs.

Grandpa looked around the room at the family gathered there. His eyes settled on Hyrum’s mom, Angela. “You sure you’ll be okay out here alone?”

Angela nodded. “I’ve got my boys and Kade and Mason. We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about us or the farm. We’ll take good care of it until you get back.”

Mason took Dee’s hand and led her outside. He closed the front door behind them and looked down at her.

“I’m sorry about our date,” he said, smoothing a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I wanted it to be perfect.”

“It
was
perfect,” said Dee.

“I don’t know. I think it could have ended better,” said Mason, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He leaned down and kissed her softly. “
Now
it’s perfect,” he said.

The clouds of their breath mingled in the cold air and Dee felt a tug at her heart. “I can’t imagine not seeing you every day,” she whispered. “I’m not ready to leave you.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be back soon.”
 

“Do you promise you’ll be safe and not doing anything stupid?”

“Promise,” said Mason, and his tone turned mischievous. “I’m already planning our second date. I
do
get a second date, right?”

“I don’t know,” said Dee. “Kissing on the first date is pretty forward.”

“I’ll show you forward,” he said, and kissed her again.

They broke apart at the sound of footsteps.

“Come on,” he said. “I’ll walk you to the truck. Do you think your folks will let you drive?”

“Ha ha,” said Dee without humor. “Fat chance. My dad keeps reminding me I only have a learner’s permit.”

Light spilled onto the patio as her family and friends opened the door to the house and loaded up the truck.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be for long,” Mason promised.
 

Too quickly, it was time to leave. Dee couldn’t help looking over her shoulder while they drove away. She could still see the blue glow of the TV shining from the patio.

When they pulled into town, Dee was surprised to see so many people on the street. They were gathered in small groups, or supporting injured people on their way to the clinic. There were guards now too, and one hurried over to them.

“Max!” he said. “We found a few of them holed up at the Taylor Store. We’ve got them surrounded. Folks are pretty upset and some of the guys want to burn them out.”

The fire chief jumped out of the car. “We need to find out who they are and where they’re from.” He turned to Grandpa and said, “I’ll be by the clinic soon.” Then he followed the man into the night.

“I’ll take care of the bags,” Ted told Claire. “You get your dad and the girls over to the clinic.”

Dee and her family had spent the past few weekends cleaning up the health clinic and getting it ready for patients again. It had been trashed and looted the previous fall, but Grandpa said it would be the best place to set up his practice in town. There weren’t any drugs left in the pharmacy area, but there were surgical tools and a few medical supplies buried in the overall mess.

Grandpa insisted they clean everything with bleach and get it in perfect order. The sliding glass doors no longer worked, but a side door was propped slightly open, and lanterns shone in the windows. When they walked inside, a woman named Linda was behind the front desk admitting patients and doing triage. A nurse and two EMTs were helping patients in the back.

Grandpa went to prep for surgery. Dee watched him go, worry squeezing at her heart.

He had been partially dependent on a pacemaker before the EMP had ruined its circuitry and it quit working. Not knowing it had stopped, he pushed himself too hard and suffered a minor heart attack the following day. Dee had used CPR to bring him back, but he hadn’t ever fully recovered, and he was still at risk. Since then, although he had overseen the farm work, he avoided most of the physical labor required to run the farm.
 

Dee was afraid he would overdo it again, and she knew performing surgery would be a strain. She and her mom had talked to the nurse that would be assisting Grandpa, and she promised she would keep a close eye on him. Dee wished they were back at the farm and Grandpa was relaxing in his chair.

She stood in the middle of the waiting room, wondering what to do. She looked to her mom for guidance, and saw her kneeling next to an older couple. The man was hurt, and the woman held a cloth to his head to staunch the flow of blood. Claire touched the woman gently on the shoulder and indicated she would help.

Claire took over for the older woman, applying pressure to the man’s wound. The woman’s arms dropped limply to her sides. She sighed a heavy exhalation of relief.
 

Dee wondered how her mom knew just what to do.

Sena appeared to know what to do too. She spoke quietly with Linda for a few minutes and then started organizing files.
 

Dee was lost until a middle-aged man staggered into the clinic, bright red blood staining the front of his oversized flannel shirt. She rushed to help him inside but he pushed her away, “Not me, I’m fine. Help
her
.”

He opened his shirt and Dee saw that he carried a golden retriever in his arms. Her liquid brown eyes looked steadily at her owner. Anywhere else the man would have been sent away, but Linda had worked with her grandpa in his veterinarian practice.

She came out from behind the desk and touched the dog gently on the head. “Oh no, not Mabel.”

The man nodded.

“Bring her in,” Linda said. “Doc Kerns is in surgery right now, but if we can stabilize her, he might be able to take a look at her in a bit. What happened?”

“At about seven she whined to go out. She’d already been out for the night, but I figured maybe she still had some business to take care of. When I opened the door, she ran out into the yard and a man screamed. He wasn’t alone. Another guy got her with a knife and then they took off together, but I’d know him if I saw him. Mabel took a big chunk out of him.”

“She’s a brave girl,” said Linda, gently removing the dog’s collar and feeling for vital signs. “Sometimes it’s the small things that make the most difference.”

“Can you help her?” he pleaded, his voice raw with pain. “She’s all I’ve got now that Maria and the kids are gone.”

Linda handed the collar to Dee. “Take them into room five and set her up on the exam table. I’ll send Doc Kerns in when he’s free.”

The man moved towards the back of the room, and Linda gave Dee a sad look and slight shake of her head. Dee followed the man, her heart breaking for him.

“It’s going to be okay, sir,” she said. “Let’s see if we can make her comfortable until the doctor can see her.

“She saved me,” said the man, his voice cracking. “I don’t even own a gun. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Dee helped him lay Mabel gently on the table. She licked her owner’s hand in an affectionate gesture, keeping her intelligent eyes on him the entire time.

“She knows she ain’t gonna make it,” said the man, tears silently streaming down his face.

Dee closed the door behind her to give him some privacy with his companion. She wiped her eyes and looked around the room before walking to Linda. “Who’s next?”

*

The night didn’t get any easier. Dee tried to help out. She realized a lot of kids were being brought in, their injured parents afraid to leave them at home alone, so she distracted the children until their parents could be treated.

Grandpa came out of Mabel’s exam room, shaking his head. About fifteen minutes later, the owner came out, empty-handed.

“She’s gone,” he said simply and made his way out of the clinic.

“Poor man,” said Linda. “I remember when he got Mabel as a puppy. She was such a good dog with his kids. He must be devastated.”