Page 31 of Undone By The Mountain Daddies

He returns my glare and goes back to eating.

We eat in silence, listening to the roaring flames. It’s late and Henry— Eli’s nephew— is asleep in bed after having his dinner earlier. The kid is one lucky bastard for getting to finish off the rest of the venison. Guess I’ll be busy tomorrow on the hunt for more deer. That is if the black bears haven’t eaten them all.

I fork more rabbit into my mouth and spend way too long trying to swallow it.

I glance out the window, seeing nothing but snow and darkness. A lump develops in my throat.

My appetite fades as I stare longer out of the window.

“Are you sure it’s safe for us to be here, sergeant?”

“Yes. We’re homeland defense. We cannot afford to take a day off.”

The soldier stares out of the window apprehensively. He needs to get his nerves under control, or else he’s out.

I do not have time for nerves.

I flew to Alaska with a squadron of men, not scared little lambs.

Trouble is, most of these men have never faced hardship before. They have their families back home cheering them on. They think they know what they’re up against. They think they’re strong enough because their families say so.

Until they take a helicopter ride to Alaska in the middle of winter.

Snow this deep would swallow most men whole.

Which is why I chose my squadron wisely for this post.

Or so I thought.

So far, I’m nothing but disappointed that they all want to pack up and jump back into the helicopters.

Wind howls, shaking the tent. Snow flies through the expanse. It slams into the nylon walls with a loud thud.

“Snow is drifting further east,” informs my second-in-command. “According to the weather forecast, we’re looking at gusts of up to one hundred and fifteen miles per hour. We should get out while we still can.”

“We have work to do.”

“Russia won’t be sending any planes our way in the middle of a blizzard.”

Things happen when you least expect them to.

I stay staring out the window, my decision unchanged.

I drop my flatware with a clang and shoot up from my chair.

“Where are you going?”

“For a walk to see if I can find any deer.”

I throw on a shirt and don’t bother with the buttons, heading out into the cold.

I pace toward Sienna’s cabin.

The stabbing pain in my gut tells me something is off.

Wind screams into my ears.

I can only just hear my second-in-command, but that’s because he’s right beside me and yelling at the top of his lungs.