Deviant (Blendling Trilogy #1)

Chapter Nineteen

We got to their camp in two minutes and dispatched the others in another two minutes. Cameron and I walked round the camp gathering their supplies. We took four sleeping bags and four bedrolls with pillows, four military style blankets, all the food which was mainly coffee and canned foods, we also took their cooking equipment. We took all their money and a few usable clothes, the ones that didn't look like they belonged to cultists. We took all the rifles, swords and daggers we found. We found a large tarpaulin inside one of their jeep and wrapped our spoils in it, trying it with a long rope we found with the tarp.

Cam floated our spoils to the lodge. The girls were already panicking when they saw us and rushed to hug us. Cam lost focus on the load when Sherry kissed him and he dropped it. The girls shrieked when it dropped with a loud clang and I chuckled, squeezing Belle closer and sniffing her hair. She let me hold her for a bit before shrugging out of my arms.
"We got supplies" Cam said proudly, his arms around Sherry.
"We just need a few more things" I say "Some clothes and all."
"We can fly into town now, scout from the air" Cameron says
"No one ever looks up. But in case someone does, they wouldn't mistake you for a large bird" Sherry says playfully.
"We'll fly the distance in the woods towards town. We'll hike the rest of the way and fly after we're done." Belle suggests and we nod.

***
We split up to find different things and promised to meet up at the edge of the woods we emerged from. We found decent shops to buy from and Sherry insisted on picking out the clothes. Belle volunteered to get the groceries. Cameron and I went in search of nails and hammers, and other building tools. As I paid for our supplies, I looked out the shop and saw a magnificent mountain.
"Ah, I see you're enamored with Roca de Muerte." The man behind the counter says. "Tourists" he smiled, shaking his head.

I wonder if the mountain it habitable. If it is, I muse, we can fly there instead of staying in the broken lodge which will be the first place our enemies will look when searching for us. If we find a good cave, we can easily defend it from the sky with the ammunition we'd picked up. Plus, the only way they can attack us is if they fly up to us. We can shoot them out of the sky. And if they try to blow up the mountain, we can simply fly away. I became convinced it was a solid plan the more I thought about it. The only downside I saw was that the girls couldn't fly. They could however teleport short distances so flying wasn't a real problem to them. I continue to dwell on this as we wait for the others.

They arrive in a cab and it seems like they have bought the entire shop. I had to fly both girls so Cameron could float our supplies to our lodge. When we get there, the twins want to start cleaning but I tell them to hold on. I urge Cameron to join me to scout the mountain, it would be a better hiding place. We fly round the mountain and discovered a large cave. Cameron is very excited about this but we scout further. To the right of the first cave, there's another cave. It's smaller but branches off to other small caves within it. In front of it, stretching a fair bit inland is a large pond. We concede that this cave will be easier to defend, plus there's a steady flow of water running down the side of one of the smaller rooms in the cave.

The girls refused to be cave women but after much cajoling, they agreed. Again I carry the girls and Cameron floats our supplies, he has to take two trips and on the second trip, I follow him and scavenge for supplies in the lodge. There isn't much to pick so I put our bags inside a serviceable cupboard. I lift it above my head and fly back while Cam floats the other stuff up. The girls had already started cleaning when we arrive back. They've managed to sweep out the dust and they were opening bags and separating the things they bought.

We spent the rest of the day arranging the cave. There are two big openings inside the large cave. The one with water is divided into kitchen and bathroom. Behind the rooms, we can hear the water fall feeding water into the room. Cameron just punched holes in the wall for drainage and I nailed together a makeshift cabinet, using the cupboard I scavenged from the lodge, in the kitchen to store our food. We didn't have plumbing instruments so we agreed to use the bathroom as a bath only, other business will be done in the woods.

We used the tarp and nails, including some bamboo that Cameron brought, to divide the rooms. We use part of the tarp to cover the large opening in a way we can roll over to let in ventilation. We set the sleeping bags in the other room. Belle had picked up four thick duvets and we use them to augment the bed rolls.

Luckily for us, Sherry remembered to pick up a 5kg camp gas. The girls prepared a delicious meal and we ate to our hearts content. We sat together to listen to the news after our meal on a small battery powered radio I picked up. The incident in our house was not mentioned but the one at the motel was. The night clerk, during her interview, claimed the armed men didn't steal anything from her. She also claimed that the room they destroyed wasn't occupied at that moment. I briefly wondered why she was covering up for us.

Bone weary, I went out to relieve myself and took a quick shower before changing into a pair of silk boxers that Sherry felt like buying. Shaking my head at her antics, I crawl into my open sleeping bag. I briefly think of my mum and the others. I say a quick prayer for their safety and fall asleep. I had a dream...