She heard Matt Hamilton’s distinctive limp coming down the hall behind her. “Any luck?” he asked as he reached them.
A man from the search party said, “We didn’t see him, but there was—”
“You still have people out there looking for him, right?” Josie asked Matt.
“Of course,” Matt said. “We’re searching around the clock now. I told you we would.” He focused back on the man he’d been talking to. “There was what?”
“Tracks,” the man said. “Out on the highway.”
“Brandon’s?” Josie asked.
“Hard to say.”
“Maybe we should go down to my office,” Matt suggested.
Josie instantly knew he was trying to cut her out of the conversation. “No!” she told him. “I want to hear what he has to say.”
Matt looked as though he were going to fight her on it, but then he sighed in resignation. “Okay, okay. But don’t interrupt him again.”
“I won’t.” She looked at the searcher. “Go ahead. What about the tracks?”
The man looked at Matt, who nodded. “There were several of them. Some big. Boots, probably men. One set smaller. Could be a woman.” He inclined his head toward Josie. “Could be your brother. They were on the highway a good thirty miles from here. Whoever made the smaller tracks looked like they’d been traveling alone for a while. The larger arrived by helicopter.”
“Helicopter?” Matt said, concerned.
Josie was worried, too. Helicopters had attacked the Ranch.
“Two skid prints,” the man said. “Looked like they all got on and flew away.”
“How long ago, do you think?” Matt asked.
“Had to have been within twenty-four hours, between that last snowstorm and this morning.”
Matt pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Christina?”
Static. “Go for Christina.”
“Check the local radar archives, and see if you can find a helicopter that landed on the highway about thirty miles southeast of here in the last…” He paused. “Let’s say thirty-six hours.”
“On it.”
As he put the radio away, Josie said, “Do you think they have Brandon? It’s them, isn’t it?”
“We don’t know anything yet,” Matt said. “Let’s see if we can ID the helicopter first.” He looked over at the search team. “You all get some rest. I need you back out there in six hours.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the team left for their quarters, Josie matched Matt stride for stride as he headed toward the communications room.
“If they took him, what are we going to do?” she asked.
“We’ll deal with that when we know more. There’s a very good chance those prints aren’t even Brandon’s.”
“They could be. I mean, don’t you need to have a plan just in case?”
They turned onto a new hallway.
“Josie, I promised you that we’ll find him. I don’t plan on breaking that.”
“I didn’t say anything about breaking your promise. I just want to know if there’s a plan for what to do if he was on that helicopter.”
Stopping in the middle of the corridor, he turned to her. “No, there’s no plan. Not yet. But if we think he was on that helicopter, we’ll come up with one based on what we learn.”
Logically, she could understand it, but it wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. “You will go after him, right? No matter where he is.”
“Yes. We will. Now, please, let me go help them figure this out. I’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.”
She studied him for a moment, wanting to stay with him so she could be there the moment new information came in, but realizing she’d probably pushed her luck as far as she could for now. “The second you know something.”
“I give you my word.”
There was a knock on Josie’s door.
She opened it to find Chloe standing on the other side.
“Matt sent me to get you,” the woman said.
Josie immediately stepped into the hallway and closed the door. “They found him, didn’t they? Was he on that helicopter?”
“Matt’s got the details.”
“Just tell me. Was he on it?”
Chloe hesitated, then nodded. “We think so.”
Together they walked quickly through the Bunker to the communications room, where they found Matt leaning over the shoulder of another man sitting at a computer terminal. There was a map of a small city on the screen.
“Is that where he is?” Josie asked.
“We think it’s possible,” Matt said.
“Where is that?”
“Great Falls, Montana. It’s southeast of us.” He pointed at an airport at the east end of town. “Malmstrom Air Force Base. This is where the helicopter landed after it left the highway.”
“And you’re sure Brandon was on it?”
Matt nodded. “I had the search team out there right now follow the set of smaller footprints back as far as they could. They discovered the person had built a shelter to hide from the storm the previous night. Inside was a wrapper from a granola bar, same brand we stock in our emergency dumps. So, the same kind Brandon would have had with him. It’s not definite proof, but it seems pretty likely.”
“I want to go,” she said.
“Hold on.”
“You’re sending people out, right? I want to be one of them.”
“You’re not going anywhere. Your dad would never allow that.”
“My dad’s still recovering from surgery. Until he gets better, I represent our family, and one of us has to go. I’m the only choice.”
“No. That’s not going to happen.”
Josie glared at him. “Then I’ll go on my own.”
“No, you won’t. You couldn’t get out without someone stopping you.”
“I’ll keep trying. I will get out. I promise you.”
Matt scoffed and shook his head. Before he could say anything else, Chloe said, “I’ll be responsible for her.”
He spun around. “What?”
“She can ride with me.”
“No one even said you’re going.”
“I’m saying it, and I’m saying Josie can come along. I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“This isn’t the same world anymore,” Chloe said. “You know that as well as any of us. You’ve been preparing us for it.” She paused. “Kids can’t afford to be kids now. She’s going. If you want to send anyone with us, I suggest you pick them out now because we’re leaving.”
One of the motorbikes was out with the search party, meaning there were only two available to the rescue team. Since they would need seat space for Brandon, there was only room for one other on their expedition. Miller, the man who’d been with Josie’s father when he was hurt in the explosion, was the first to volunteer.
As soon as the bikes were gassed up, and Josie and her two companions were outfitted for the trip, they took off.
The ride over the snow-covered roads was cold and treacherous, but Josie barely noticed. She hugged tight to Chloe’s back and peered over the woman’s shoulder at the road ahead, sure that they would find her brother.
When they reached the spot where the helicopter had landed, they stopped only long enough for a quick look before continuing south. After a while, the road veered to the east and met the interstate. Though it also had been covered with snow, they were able to increase their speed as they drove down the wider and better maintained I-15.
About five miles before they reached Great Falls, Chloe signaled for Miller to follow her off the road.
“Where are we going?” Josie asked.
Chloe turned her head a few inches and yelled, “When I came through before, there was a roadblock not far from here. Would rather go around it this time.”