"So much loss of life, and we have downed fences, deaders wandering around in that area. The critters are getting out." He shrugged. "It seems like such a waste of life."
"We'll repair the fences and be safer here than we were in Atlas."
He shook his head. "With as many people as we've lost and who are injured, it's going to take us a long time to recover. Until then, we're not safe here."
"Do you want to go back to Atlas?"
"No. I want to know why it was worth killing all of these people to get this land. It had to be about more than just a safe place."
She raised an eyebrow and jabbed a red-nailed fingertip in his chest. "Are you questioning my leadership? Are you saying you're a better leader?"
"No. I'm asking you why we needed this place."
"Because Reginald betrayed us and was living here with no consequences whatsoever."
"He betrayed us because he wanted to bring his family here? No. He just wanted to leave. We shouldn't have tried to keep him and his wife. Now, he's not only lost his son, but his wife, the woman you said he forced out, is lying over there dead because she was fighting on her husband's side. Tell me how any of this makes sense? It was a case of simple revenge and nothing more."
Chapter 24
Randi slumped down in the seat as Bryan drove toward the ranger's station. All energy seeped out of her body making her arms and legs too heavy to move. She swallowed over the thickness in her throat as she replayed the battle in her head. Why didn't she insist they run? What made any of them think they could stand against Vixen? The woman wielded Hitleresque power over her people.
Bryan grimaced. "If I'd found a way to kill Vixen long ago your family would be alive."
"They killed one of their own. Sarah. Did you know her?"
He shook his head.
"A teenager scared out of her mind. She asked me for help, but I was too slow to get her into the ATV barn to hide." The second teenager she couldn't save. Now, eyes the color of fine whiskey would join the bayou moss ones to haunt her dreams. Why wasn't she ever good enough to keep people alive? They would all be better off if she'd died instead of her mother and brother.
"Vixen will use anyone and anything." He turned to Randi. "If I get the chance, I'm taking her out while we're here. It's time to put an end to her madness. Had I been smart, we would've all hidden in the hills and picked them off one by one."
"I should've insisted they all leave a long time ago. They could've headed somewhere. Georgia to the CDC or Maryland to USMARIID, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Maybe someone is still at one of those places who could help them."
"Let's go. When Ethan's stable enough to move, let's head to the coast, hop on a yacht and get out of here. If we try to drive, no telling what we'll encounter, but we could take a yacht and sail there."
"Do you know anything about piloting a yacht?"
"No, but we can learn."
She waved him off. "Mark. He knows everything. If he doesn't know, all we have to do is find something that will explain all of the instrumentation, and he'll be good to go. If he's ever read a book on it, he'll know how already. The man's a genius."
Bryan took a deep breath and little more color came into his face as he turned the corner.
Nia's Broncho blocked the road. The air whooshed out of her. "They found us."
Randi drew her Kimber as she climbed out of the truck.
A man climbed out of the Broncho with his hands in the air.
"What do you want, Alton?" Bryan asked.
"I'm done. Vixen sent me to watch your group, but I had an idea where you were." He shrugged. "I came to talk to you."
Bryan let out a string of curses enough to make a sailor blush. "Why can't you leave us alone? We did nothing to you or Vixen except defend ourselves. Can't you just go away?"
"If it were up to me, yes. In fact, we wouldn't have bothered you in the first place. If you're planning to kill Vixen, do it. I'll even draw her into the open for you. We cannot continue with her plans for revenge. Many of our people are dead, and the rest are injured. I refuse to be a part of it any longer. If she dies, they'll turn to me."
"He's right." Bryan lifted his chin. "How do we know you won't seek revenge for her death?"
"Because I'm sick of death and destruction. I tried to tell her how many people'd die, but she didn't care. She convinced me that with our numbers, we could take the place without much of a fight. If you take her out, I'll convince the rest of the group to go back to Atlas. You can have your place back."
"No." Randi shook her head. "We don't want to go back there. Not with all of the souls who died on that battlefield to haunt our dreams. Do you think we liked killing your people? Why didn't you stop her?"
Alton let out a harsh laugh. "Stop Vixen? That's like trying to stop a freight train barreling toward a stalled car. I barely stopped her from using that rocket launcher and killing all of us. It doesn't happen. She has a way of convincing people to do hideous things they would never dream of under normal circumstances. If they disagree, they have a way of turning up dead. You have my word no one will come after you. The rest of us want to figure out how to survive without any more killing."
"Why did you attack in the first place?" Randi despised the catch in her voice, but talking to this man sent the video clips of first Miguel, then of her mother dying to her tired brain.
He shrugged. "She fed everyone a line about Reginald forcing Mary Anne and the girls to leave Atlas against their will. That, and she said she tried to broker a deal where we could join your group and live in the outer area, but you threatened to kill her if she didn't get off your property." He motioned toward Randi. "She called you 'Reginald's hired thug'."
Randi shook her head. "The woman is flat out delusional. She never approached us. Of course, after the way she beat Belle with a whip, I seriously doubt any of us would've allowed her inside."
Alton's eyes went wide. "She what?"
"She beat her. Used a leather whip across the child's back because Belle told her making some teen boy cut grass one blade at a time with a pair of child's scissors was lame punishment."
Alton's mouth gaped open. "That woman never ceases to amaze me. Never in a good way, sadly."
Randi kept her weapon trained on him because she still didn't trust him, but his shock seemed genuine. He had none of the tells of a liar. "What are you going to do?"
"When you're in position, I'll call her, tell her I found your group, and act like she's breaking up. I'm hoping she'll move from the porch or house into the yard."
"Where are you going?"
"Back to Atlas. The original Atlas. We left the kids there with just a couple of teens and two older women to watch them. I have a bad feeling about leaving them much longer."
"What if Vixen finds out you're there before we have a chance to get rid of her?"
"I'll stick to the area outside the fence. No one'll see me, but I can make sure they're safe."
They allowed him to leave and Randi turned to Bryan. "Is he legit?"
"Maybe. I know when Vixen was planning this he seemed a little put out, but I think he's also been her lover for a while."
"Should we go ahead with hiding and trying to get rid of her?"
"I didn't tell him where we'd be. Although, he can probably figure out somewhere on the backside of the camp."
"It's worth a shot. The worst that can happen is she'll have us killed, then we won't have to worry about it anymore. Josh knows to get everyone away from Garner as soon as Ethan's safe to travel, so I'm game if you are."
"I'm on it." He pulled onto the highway and drove a few miles. Cars were parked crossways on the road bumper to bumper blocking any forward progress. Men with long guns pointing toward them stood on the other side of the cars.
Josh woke to a quiet house. He stood and winced as his hip throbbed. How did Randi continue to fight through the pain of two gunshot wounds when her brother-in-law was killed? Miguel had told him ab
out her heading back out to hunt for meds. The woman must run on adrenaline twenty-four seven. He rubbed his chest. Miguel. Why him, God? How much loss could Randi endure before she gave up on life?
He eased open the door to Ethan's room. If not for his pale, ashy skin color, he could've been taking a nap. His face was smooth with no signs of pain or distress. Maybe he'd turned the corner. Josh could still hear Ethan's screams while Gabriele had worked on him. He shuddered and walked to her bedside. She was lying on the other bed in the room with her leg propped up.
"You okay?" he whispered.
"I'm alive. My leg's not so hot. Shattered the bone."
"How did you take care of Ethan in that shape?"
"Reginald brought me a chair and gave me some pain pills. He's since given me some IV pain meds."
"Nice to see you've dropped the French accent." He smiled. "Where are you really from?"
"Ponchatoula, Louisiana. It's about an hour from Nola and known for the Strawberry Festival." She sighed. "My daddy spoke a little French, and I was fascinated with it. After high school I went to France for a year. Learned the language and thought about staying for college, but daddy said he wasn't paying for it. It would've been much more expensive, and he had three others to put through college after me."
Her pale face and strained voice told him just how much pain she was in. "What can we do for your leg?"
"Short of surgery to repair the shattered bone?" She shrugged. "Chop it off."
His eyes went wide. "We don't have a way to cauterize it if we did that, and how could you move?"
She patted his hand. "How will I move now? We can find crutches. Reginald's getting a fire going so we can do the deed."
"What's he going to use? We don't have power tools. It can't be that easy to slice a leg off."
"He's going to chop it above the macerated bone and tissue. Then he found a frying pan in the cabinet, he's going to keep it in the fire until it's hot enough to seal the wound. Best we can do under the circumstances."
Bile crawled up Josh's throat. This woman talked about the abuse of her body like she was talking about something as simple as gutting a fish. "Infection?"
She pointed at the IV. "We already have antibiotics running. This is the best we can do. "Reginald will need help, though. He can't put me out because we don't have the equipment."
Josh swiped at the sweat beading on his forehead. "You need someone to hold you down?"
"Yes. It'll take more than you alone. Can you ask Bryan to help you?"
"Let me find him."
Josh walked out onto the porch and gulped in fresh air. Mark and Adriana leaned against one of the cars talking. He walked toward them. "Have you seen Bryan?"
Adriana paled. "Uh. He left."
"What?" Was the guy heading back to tell Vixen where they were now?
"He and Randi went to scope out how hard Vixen's group was hit. They said we need to leave here as soon as we can because she'll come after us, but if her crew's down, she'll need to gather replacements before she strikes. It might buy us time."
"You've got to be kidding me." He jammed his hand through his hair. "What a hair-brained scheme. They should know better. What if Vixen catches them? Do they want to get killed?"
Adriana pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I know you're worried about Randi. I am, too, but she has a point. The longer we can wait to run, the better off Ethan and Gabriele will be. She fought through what had to be excruciating pain to take care of Ethan. If we leave before he's stable enough, all of her pain and work was for nothing."
She was right, but the thought of Randi getting caught or worse sent his nerves skittering into overdrive. "Fine. I need to find someone to help me restrain Gabriele while Reginald removes her leg."
"I'll help." She pointed at Mark. "He's in no shape to try to hold anyone down. Let's get Dad. He needs a purpose right now, otherwise he'll sit in there" she pointed to motor home "and sink deeper into depression."
"I'll find him, but Randi and Bryan need to get back here. What good does it do to go look at the aftermath?"
Adriana scuffed her foot against the ground and refused to make eye contact. He frowned. "What do you know?"
"Nothing. Honest, it's just a feeling I have. One of them will try to take that woman out."
Josh stomped away from her muttering. Those two were going to get killed. Randi was bad enough on her own, but add Bryan to the mix and the situation turned into TNT.
He climbed into the RV. The kids were in the living area. Some were playing a board game and the littler ones were playing with cars. "Y'all seen Xever?"
Belle had red puffy eyes, but wasn't crying. She and Katie had curled up on the sofa. "In there." She pointed toward the bedroom. "He needs someone to talk to, Josh. He's lost his son and wife in the same day."
Josh patted her on the back. "I know sweetie. It's a hard day for all of us."
Toni tugged on his hand. "Where's Momma?"
Josh frowned. "Momma?" What was the child talking about?
"It's what she calls Randi." Izzy took Toni by the hand. "Come on. Let's play."
"Wait. I want to know where my mommy is." She stamped her little foot. "If she died, tell me." Tears dripped down her little face.
"No, honey. Randi's fine. She had to make a run with Bryan. That's all."
"You promise?"
He kissed her on the head. "Yes, I promise." All of these children had lost so much, and he had no clue how to comfort them. Or anyone else for that matter. How did he comfort people who'd lost everything? He closed his eyes. Aunt Mary Anne. How would Uncle Reg handle losing his wife? He shook his head. No, he couldn't dwell on those he'd lost. Not now. God, help me get through this.
We can't fight it out." Randi rubbed her arms. "We're both good shots, but we don't have the advantage here."
"Nope. Nothing left but to surrender. Looks like Alton set us up."
"I'm not so sure." Alton seemed sincere. He may be an accomplished liar, but he had the attitude of someone who was fed up. She shrugged. "Not sure why, but I think he was telling the truth."
"Maybe." He pointed toward the group. "See the guy on the end with the pot belly and greasy hair? That's Phil Harrison. Vixen doesn't trust him or like him, but she'll use him any way she can."
Randi rubbed her gritty eyes. Much more of this insanity, and she'd go crazy. "Might as well get out. If we try to run, they'll probably follow us and shoot." She put her hand on the door handle. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" After all she'd been through, death might be a sweet release. No more haunted nights.
"Torture."
"So be it. Come on." She pushed the door open and held her arms up showing that she wasn't going for her gun. Several long seconds passed. No shots rang out. She climbed out of the truck with her hands still in the air. "What do you want?"
"Take those guns out of your waistbands, and put them on the truck." The man Bryan had called Phil motioned with his rifle for them dump their guns. "Easy now. Use two fingers, nothing more."
She took a deep breath. How could they get their weapons out of the holster with two fingers? "We have them in holsters. It's going to take more than two fingers to release them. Either I grasp the butt of the .45 or you come relieve me of it."
Phil sauntered around the cars they had blocking the road. "Don't get any dumb ideas. If you try to shoot me, they'll cut you down like the dogs you are." He plucked Randi's their weapons from hood of the car.
"We weren't the ones who attacked. Y'all were." Bryan pointed to Randi. "These people have done nothing to anyone except help. They took in a family when Vixen turned them away all because they were black. She's a racist liar. If you continue to follow her, she'll lead you down a path of destruction."
Phil motioned with his gun for them walk toward one of the cars. They walked to it, and another man opened the door and shoved them into the back seat.
Randi closed her eyes. Ethan kept telling her to pray, but it was ha
rd. How did she even initiate a conversation with God? Did she even want to talk to him? She'd watched Miguel and her mother slaughtered. The images of the Miguel dying flooded her mind. Why him? Why Mom? They were good and loved God. Even Ethan lay on his deathbed.
She swallowed over the lump in her throat. Okay, God. Let's talk. You've allowed so much loss in my life. Why? Why couldn't you save at least Miguel or Mom? She hadn't shed anyone's blood like the rest of us. Now Ethan, a man who has a heart like Yours, is dying. If You allow all of the good ones to die, that just leaves me. Someone who's worthless. Without me and Bryan, what's left of our family is vulnerable. We're about the only ones who aren't injured. Please help us do something. Anything.
The car slowed, and she opened her eyes. They were pulling into the perimeter area. These people hadn't even tried to pull the fire engine from in front of the moat. The fences weren't patched, and they left the drawbridge at the ATV garage down. Didn't' they realize the infecteds could overrun them to the point they might not make it out alive? She sighed and shook her head. The first thing they needed to do was secure the compound. Once they accomplished safety, then move on to kidnapping. Idiots. Infecteds wandered around inside the inner fence.
The car rolled to a stop, and the driver turned to them. "Out." He motioned to the drawbridge with his revolver. Looked like a small .38. They all climbed out of the car, but he left the keys dangling in the ignition. Randi filed that tidbit away in case they escaped.
He nudged her in the back. "Move it. Y'all are going into the house. Vixen is waiting for you."
Randi glanced at Bryan. A muscle worked in his jaw, and his eye twitched.
The silence of the compound creeped her out. Her gut clenched. Where was everyone, and why were they all so quiet? Alton had said the children were still at their previous home, so if he wasn't lying, that explained why she didn't hear kids playing, but the adults were eerily quiet, too. The only sounds came from the crunch of their feet on the dry ground. She rubbed the back of her neck and tried to catch Bryan's attention without alerting their captor, but he continued to stare straight ahead. He held his body so rigid she was afraid his muscles would all start cramping at once.
Dark Days (Book 2): Inquisition Page 23