6. CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 6
Both Kelce and Weston knew better than to speak as they made their way down the mountain. Their truck may have been seen as they’d crested the mountain, and hunters might already be heading up to check them out. The only good news was because they ran on solar power, they made zero noise, well, except for the tires crunching over debris in the road. Still, he had hope they hadn’t been noticed, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Using hand signals as they were about a half mile from the town, they split up, hobbled the horses, and made their way on foot the rest of the way into town. Based on the emptiness of the streets, it was safe to assume if there were people living there it wasn’t a whole town’s worth.
That didn’t mean if there was someone living there, they weren’t as ruthless as most alphas they’d encountered living out west. As if they’d been working together for years, Weston already knew Kelce was at the far west end of the town, while he entered the eastern side.
Methodically, they would check out every building one by one, until they were certain there would be no surprises. It was something that had already concerned them both when they’d been making their way down the mountain. It was too…well, intact.
There had been few places that had so many buildings standing. Even Sanctuary had a lot of repairs that had been done to make it somewhat livable. They still didn’t have enough housing because too many of the structures were unsafe. It was one of their top priorities, but they just didn’t have enough manpower or materials to make too many changes too quickly. Yet, the town of Sandpoint had more than half of its buildings looking almost brand new. Sure, there were a few loose boards on some porches, and paint jobs were warranted, although finding paint would be a stretch this far west.
It screamed that someone had been living there. The question was, were they still there? Keeping as close to the shadows as possible, Weston made his way west, doing his best to not miss any of the buildings.
The good news was he’d gone into three veterinarian offices that were still completely stocked. This meant that if there were people around, there either weren’t many, or they did not know animal medical supplies could treat themselves. Or, and he had to admit, he really hoped it wasn’t the case. Whoever was staying in Sandpoint didn’t give a shit about keeping anyone healthy.
He had just reached the buildings surrounding the center of town when he heard it. The click of a gun cocking. It wasn’t from behind him and it was faint enough that he didn’t believe it was aimed at him. That didn’t mean Kelce wasn’t the target.
They had both cleared their side of the town and made the center at the same time. But somehow, Kelce had been seen or heard. That wasn’t good.
Keeping behind a slightly overgrown hedge, he did his best to get the lay of the land. If he could figure out where Kelce was, or whoever held the gun, there was a chance he could help. Otherwise, he feared Kelce, at the very least, would get injured.
First, he checked to the west, where Kelce would have been coming from, but he saw nothing, not even a shadow. Slowly, his gaze moved southeast until he saw it, a door slightly ajar. That had to be where one of them was holed up.
Still trying to find where the other one was positioned, he sat very still, keeping his breath soft and even. His heart slowed, and each movement was incremental so as not to draw attention to himself. His eyes moved the most of all his body to keep any other shifting to a minimum.
He had no idea how long he sat there, but he would guess it was at least ten minutes when he heard it. A slight scuff of a shoe and creak of a board on the inside of the house he was partially shielded by.
The question? Was it one person in there, or more?
Barely moving, he slowly made his way inch by inch until he was plastered to the side of the building. Then, as quickly as possible, he made his way down the side of the house, staying low so as not to be seen by the first-floor windows. He went toward the back of the house.
Peering quickly to the back, he felt himself sigh in relief when he didn’t see anyone standing guard. Not that it would mean someone wasn’t watching, but if they’d been in the tree line, they most likely would have seen him behind the hedges. That left the possibility of someone at one or more of the ten windows that lined the back of the enormous house.
Once more, he crouched low and made his way to what looked like a utility door of some kind. Popping up quickly, he scanned the room in a second before squatting back down. Inside was what appeared to be a mud room. Considering some of the mountains heading into town appeared to have been old ski slopes, it would have made sense for the door to open into a place to take off one’s wet and possibly muddy gear.
The good news, he had seen no one inside. The bad news, there was no way to know if the door was booby-trapped. Not willing to risk it, he kept going along the back until he got to the last window, where he found what used to be a laundry room.
He’d often seen washers and dryers since no one bothered taking them as they didn’t work without some type of electricity, which wasn’t exactly something many of them had in the West. Even Sanctuary had tried to get none of the ones still around working, as it tended to use too much power. Ford may have gotten the hydroelectric mostly up and running, but they still had a long way to go to get the entire town with power.
Using his knife, he slid the old-fashioned lock open and slowly, so as not to cause any undo noise, opened it. If only it were as easy as it sounded. With each inch he managed to raise, there was at least one creak or squeak.
There was no way whoever was inside would not hear him coming. Sure enough, he heard a floorboard creak as someone made their way toward him.
Deciding to change tactics, he bent down and raced back to the backdoor. Trying the knob, just as he heard a shout from the cracked window, he found it locked. Not that it would stop him from getting in, but it didn’t leave him much time as he heard the pounding footsteps headed his way.
Just when he was about ready to pop the lock with his knife, Kelce ran from the side of the house and shouted. “Hurry. There are more.”
Spinning on his heel, Weston didn’t waste a second to race to where he’d left his horse, while Kelce did the same. Raised voices followed them, but the moment they were riding up the mountain, they quickly outdistanced them. The problem? Now that someone knew they were there, would they manage to not only avoid them but find the supplies they so desperately needed?