Joshua (Book 2): Traveler Read Free Page B

holding his urine until the sun came up.
    That next day they waited for their team to return but still had many things to do. McCain, Peavey, and Rudd went out to observe a nearby road. Many of their best leads would come from refugees they caught wandering the highways.
    The rest stayed in camp as there was work here too. Checking their traps and regular maintenance on the weapons, cooking, even their guest found he had some chores of his own as it was only his first meal that was free.
    James spent most of the day boiling water he had to haul from a nearby stream. Making thirty gallons of sanitized water was quite a job when he could only carry five gallons at a time.
    By dark the men started returning; Martinelli was cooking and had them all a hot meal ready as McCain and his guys walked into camp. McCain said, “The pickings were thin today.” About ten minutes behind him Alton and his men came wandering in. After they were all fed, Alton pulled a tablet out and everyone encircled him there by the fire.
    “Okay, Boss, this is how it looks. First, James’s intel was right on the money.”
    James found himself the recipient of a few more friendly pats on the back.
    Alton began pointing out features on the handmade maps on his pad, “It took us to nearly daylight to find some good observation spots, but we did find some. I hid in an old flower shop, right here,” he pointed it out with his pen, “on the other side of Main, about twenty-five meters north and east of the drugstore. It’s probably the best observation spot near the building. I had D’Cruz set up down the street on the west side. I sent Cornwell the other way, one block south and east so he could watch the back of the building.”
    Alton continued to point landmarks out on his map and then Rob interrupted as he handed him a fresh cup of freeze dried coffee. “Were you able to confirm what James told us, it’s only the two of them?”
    “I would have to agree with that. We were there thirteen hours and the two of them were all we heard or saw. If there’s anyone else they must be in a coma because we didn’t hear one other peep.”
    “Okay, tell us about the layout.”
    “It’s just like James said. They’re in that old brick three story on the corner and they’re dug in real good.”
    “How many ways in?”
    “There’s two windows each facing north and west. As far as I could determine they are the only way in ... or out. The south and east sides of the building have no windows at all. That east side has another building next door and a narrow alley between them.”
    “Could we climb to the windows from the roof of that building?”
    “No, it’s only one story tall and it just can’t be done.”
    “What about coming at them from underneath?”
    “I thought of that too, late in the day I snuck in through the back door to confirm what I already thought.”
    “Which is?”
    “That you can’t get at them that way either, there’s just too much junk to get through. There is a door where the top of the staircase was but it’s nearly impossible to get to. It might be conceivable to get at them that way ... but there’s no way to do it quickly, or quietly.”
    “We’ve still got some bug bombs, think they might work?”
    “I thought of that too, I don’t think they would work either. You would have to throw them close from the street into a third-story window. Trying to put one through a small window from fifteen ... twenty meters away, and probably with someone shooting back at you, not much chance of success. Just going to waste them ... and get one of our guys killed.”
    “How about throwing them into the drugstore underneath?”
    “Again, not much chance of success, I doubt the fumes would even get to the third floor.”
    “Okay, so what’s your opinion, how would you do it?”
    “Well, Boss, there’s only two ways as far as I can see. Like I said, they’re dug in pretty good. So we’re either going to have to wait them