Page 66 of Survive the Night
“Turtle?” It took Otto a second to remember. “Oh, right. Windmill cat. Thank you for taking care of the pups.”
“Of course,” Dee said in a tone too serious for her age. “No one gets left behind. Tio even brought his drone.”
“Airplane,” Ty corrected quickly, giving his little sister a look.
Dee eyed him right back. “Just because you say it’s not a drone doesn’t make it true.”
“Okay, y’all,” Jules interrupted the brewing argument. “You can discuss this later when things stop blowing up.”
That brought Otto’s mind back to the current situation. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to check on residents and bring them here, right after we make a run to the station armory,” the lieutenant said. “When the second pass was shut down and we lost all communication, we evacuated. Grady suggested we come here to regroup.”
Otto winced. “The station was hit.”
“Hit?” Blessard repeated.
“Gone. They bombed it.” The lieutenant took a breath, his face reddening, and Otto knew that a cursing streak was coming. “Kids here.”
Blessard clamped his lips together, his face turning almost purple, but he managed to hold in his swearing. “Okay. Good thing we evacuated. Wish the armory wasn’t gone.”
“Is there any way to call for help?” Jules asked.
“Landline and cell phones are dead,” Cleo said. “They blocked our digital radio communication, too. Internet’s down—it was at the station, at least.” She gave Gordon a questioning look.
“Don’t have it. Just another way for the government to watch us.” Gordon crossed his arms over his chest.
Otto studied him. “What about a CB or ham radio?” As soon as Gordon looked down, Otto knew he’d guessed right.
Scowling, Gordon was silent for several moments before he said, “Don’t have one.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Hugh said. “Take Cleo to the radio. We don’t care that you’re unlicensed. Right now, we just need help taking down the guys who are blowing up the town.”
“Told you.” Gordon still looked sullen. “Don’t have one.”
“He doesn’t,” the lieutenant confirmed. “I searched this place when we first arrived.” Gordon gave Blessard a surprised glance, as if he hadn’t thought a cop would vouch for his honesty.
“I do,” Cleo said. “At my house, two miles past the blocked east pass. As soon as the snow stops, I can try to hike there.”
“Help won’t be able to get here until the snow stops anyway,” Theo said, standing next to Jules.
“Nothing getting through the west pass.” Otto pulled up the photos on his phone and handed it to Theo. “I didn’t see the east pass, but I’m assuming it was hit the same way.”
“They’ll need to fly in, then,” Jules said, leaning in to look at the pictures. “Whoa. What a mess.”
“Most helicopter pilots won’t fly in this,” Hugh said, and Jules gave him a look. “I said ‘most.’ Those guys dropping the bombs… They don’t strike me as being too concerned about standard safety procedures.”
“How many helicopters are out there?” Otto asked. If Nan, who lived five miles outside of town, had reported a low-flying helicopter at the same time as Grady, who’d been sitting in his car in the middle of Monroe, then that meant there was probably more than one.
“Two, we think,” Theo said absently, studying the photos closely before handing the phone to Jules.
“Two.” A jagged stab of fear ripped through Otto. “One hit the passes and the station. The other one flew over Nan’s place. It was heading toward my house. The animals.” He turned abruptly and headed toward the door.
Hugh caught his arm. “Hang on. How are you going to get there? You don’t have any vehicle that isn’t stuck in the snow, and you couldn’t drive through the pass anyway. The town’s exploding, and people are stuck in their homes. We need your help here.”
Otto paused reluctantly, hating that Hugh’s words made sense. He could hike around the rockslide and follow the back trails to his place, but it would take hours on foot, especially without snowshoes. It was more important to help the town’s residents get to safety before the next bomb went off.
“He’s right,” Theo added, echoing Otto’s thoughts. “We should split into teams. Who all are planning to search?”
