The Malefic Nation (Graham's Resolution Book 4) by A R Shaw Read Free Book Online Page A

Graham and Tala cleaned up the dishes and then wandered into their own room, clean sheets and all.
    Chapter 9 A Surprise
     
    Graham tried to be quiet as he snuck out of the bedroom at two o’clock. Tala slept so peacefully he didn’t want to wake her, yet the door creaked as he pulled it open.
    “Graham?” Tala murmured.
    “It’s okay. Go back to sleep. I’ve got watch duty,” he said. She rolled over and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. Graham closed the door and stepped out into the living room, put his boots on, and headed for the door as McCann snored loudly on the couch. He put his hand on the doorknob and suddenly McCann was upright with his rifle aimed at the front door—and Graham by extension. His eyes were glazed over, his sleep-tousled hair was a wild nest, and he had the look of a pissed-off and armed madman.
    Graham’s hands shot into the air. “McCann! It’s just me! I’m on watch. See you later.” McCann fell back into the couch. Two things came to Graham’s mind: Do not screw with McCann in sleep mode, and thank God he’s a hostile sleeper.
    Once out in the night Graham wasn’t surprised to see his own breath on the wind. It was cold; the night’s low must have hit freezing. He quietly walked up the boardwalk to the dock, where Rick was stationed by the barge.
    “Mornin’,” Graham said, nodding.
    “Not for me . . . yet,” Rick said, wiping his tired eyes.
    “Anything to report?” Graham asked while Rick handed him the radio and night vision goggles.
    “No, not really. There was some shuffling in the woods earlier, but I figured it was deer. It’s hard to hear well over the rippling water, and sounds travel differently on a lake. I tried not to walk around too much on the pier to keep the noise level down so everyone could sleep. Keep watch on the highway as much as you can”—he pointed across the lake—“but I didn’t see a thing. Watch out for the moonlight’s reflection with the goggles, they blind you if you hit it just right. Sam is taking over for Clarisse right now at the back of the cabins; I just saw her head in. That’s it, I think. I’m toast. Good night.”
    “’Night Rick. Sleep well.”
    “I plan to,” he said, yawning as he headed back down the pier to his own temporary sanctuary and softly sheeted bed.
    Graham raised the NVGs and checked the perimeter from his current position. He had two hours of watch, and somehow he doubted he’d get back to sleep.
    They were pretty isolated here, with steep mountains on all sides. Farther up, at the north end of the lake, a lone road would lead the way out of the United States. In the morning they would again begin the process again, loading the vehicles one by one onto the barge and heading up the lake to that road. Then, hopefully, by tomorrow night they might find another place to sleep—or “tent it,” as Dalton would say.
    The lake ripples splashing against the pillars of the dock seemed a hypnotic cadence, and Graham decided it was time for a walk. He kept his steps light and began traversing the boardwalk, heading first one way and then the other. Midway, he caught a glimpse of Sam’s headlamp at the back through the breezeway of the cabins. Graham nodded his own headlamp in salute, Sam nodded back, and the two of them resumed their watch.
    It wasn’t until the solitude erupted into utter chaos that they talked again. One minute Graham was lost in thought, and the next thing he knew, all of the lights within each cabin, in every room, flashed on. Every cabin radio switched on to blare static noise at its highest volume, there was a cacophony of dogs barking, and everyone began spilling out of the cabins frightened, armed, and confused.
    “What the hell is going on?” Rick yelled after it was clear no bullets were flying.
    “It’s got to be a diversion,” Sam yelled back. “Let’s get everyone back in the cabins!”
    “Go back inside, and turn everything off!” Graham yelled over the chaos.