Page 124 of Axe-ing for Trouble
Jude killed the engine and stared. In front of us was a road. An honest-to-goodness road. Wide, graded, and packed tight with gravel.
“This is not supposed to be here,” he said, scanning the forest around us. “Are we in the right place?”
From our position on higher ground, we could see that the road extended far into the distance.
“And is that a roof?” he asked, digging out the binoculars.
He pointed at a piece of what had to be metal glinting in the sunlight.
“Fuck,” he said, holding the binoculars out to me. “It’s definitely metal.”
I grabbed them and adjusted until I could clearly see the building ahead.
“Our outbuildings don’t look like that,” he explained. “We mostly build pole barns. For other structures, we use corrugated metal for roofing. Noisy but sturdy. Lightweight and easy to replace when necessary.”
“Can we get closer?”
He nodded and adjusted his hat. He’d just put his hands on the handlebars, ready to fire the ATV up, when he straightened and once again scanned our surroundings. “Do you hear that?”
I froze, head tilted, straining to pick up what he’d heard. Within seconds the sounds got louder. Engines.
Jude pulled the ATV off the road, and we crouched behind a copse of trees, looking down the hill.
Pickup trucks. Four of them.
“What the fuck?” Jude hissed beside me.
I grabbed the binoculars I’d looped around my neck and focused on the vehicles as the last one passed.
“The license plate is blue and white.”
“Quebec,” he said under his breath.
“And the bed is packed and covered with a green tarp that’s tied town tightly.”
He nodded.
“Let’s follow them.” I popped up.
Jude stood more slowly. “How the hell are they driving trucks through here? This doesn’t make sense. Did you recognize anyone?”
I shook my head. “Just random men. They had hats on.” It was freezing, after all.
He turned the engine over and straddled the ATV. “Stay here. I want to see where this road leads.”
“No.” I stomped up to the vehicle. “In together and out together.”
“Fine.” He dipped his chin. “Hop on. We’ll go down the road and then turn into the woods if we hear or see anything. Just hold on and be ready to take photos.”
I wrapped my arms around him, the adrenaline coursing through me blocking out any pain in my bad shoulder. We were so close.
Jude drove slowly down the hill toward the damn near immaculate road. The parade of trucks had barely kicked up any dust. The forest was thick and untouched here, which was far different from many of the other areas we’d explored. But straight through the middle was this pristine road. And I knew exactly where it led.
About half a mile down, the road widened, revealing scrub and small, skinny trees scattered throughout the landscape. This must be where the fire had burned. It made sense that plant life was still growing back.
It made even more sense when we came around a rocky ledge and found a massive warehouse-style building smack-dab in the middle of it.
A dozen or so vehicles were parked around the large brown structure, and a massive garage bay was open. I couldn’t make out the details of anything inside, but people were moving in and out. On one side, several motorcycles were lined up.
