Page 61 of Amaros

“Are the cambions in trouble?”Camriel asked, turning to peer up at the mountain.

“Not yet,” Amaros replied as he headed to the door to the office.“But I get the feeling they’ll need us soon.”He’d never had a premonition this strong before.

Camriel hurried after his commander, just as eager to get home.A body was slumped on the chair behind the desk to the right of the door.Dried blood and brains were splattered on the filing cabinet against the wall.The bullet hole in the filing cabinet and gun on the floor told the story of what had happened.

“Suicide is going to be common,” Camriel figured in a detached tone.Everyone who’d been left behind was either evil, or had moral issues.Few would deserve his pity.

Amaros tried the door to the office of the lumberyard to find it was locked.Made of metal, it was sturdier than average.The door opened towards them and a normal human wouldn’t have been able to break it open easily.

Taking a step back, Amaros kicked the door.The lock and hinges broke with tortured squeals as the metal bent in the middle.Another kick sent the door flying.It landed on the bare concrete floor and skidded several yards.

“I’ll open that big door,” Camriel offered and loped over to the gigantic metal door.He figured out how to get it open manually while his leader searched for wood.

Long, sturdy metal shelves were lined up in the front half of the building.They contained various types and sizes of wood.Some were in sheets.Others had been cut into planks.There was enough to build an entire new base if they wanted to.The back half of the lumberyard was where the workers cut the wood.Customers weren’t supposed to be in this area, but there was no one left to tell them to leave.

Amaros found sheets of wood that would fit into the back of his truck.He pulled them off the shelf and stacked them on the floor.“Bring the tank in,” he requested, then tossed the keys to Camriel.

“Yes!I get to drive the beast,” his second crowed happily.He loped off and backed the truck up until it was inside the building.The two men loaded the wood into the truck and tied a tarp over the back to keep everything secure.

“We should load your truck up as well,” Amaros said reluctantly.They would need to cover the empty windows and doorways to try to keep the weather out.

“Let’s do this fast,” Camriel said.They stacked more sheets on top of the containers of fuel, then tied them down with rope they’d found in the hardware store.

“We’ve got to get back to our base,” Amaros said.His sense of unease had increased to an insistent need to get home.“I hope Zoe and Grace are okay,” he added, unable to hide his concern.

“They’re smart and resourceful,” Camriel said, but he was also worried about them.

They closed the huge metal door to the lumberyard with the intention of coming back when they needed to, then climbed into their trucks and sped off.

Chapter Thirty-One

––––––––

ONE OF THE MEN WHO’Dbeen creeping up on the girls stepped into view.“Hey there, ladies,” he called out.He was clean-shaven and had at least brushed his hair, unlike the others.His three friends moved into view as well, still in a flanking formation.

“What do you want?”Zoe called out, holding her pistol where they could see it.