As the boat drew nearer, Riley noticed something odd: Freya wasn’t aboard. In the middle of the boat, Dakota’s cowboy hat distinguished her, while in the back sat Brunt paddling. As they neared the dock, Lauren called out and waved them to the rocks, carefully picking her way down them to help out.
Cameron scrambled up with ease, leaving Brunt and Dakota behind to struggle along with Lauren. She reached the top and immediately swept her twin into a bear hug, no words needing to pass between them. As Riley tried not to cry on her shoulder, she realized that soon it would be much easier for everyone to tell them apart, even if she cut her hair to look like Cameron’s.
By the time the embrace ended, Dakota, Brunt, and Lauren had all joined them. Hope and Dakota passed a few whispered words, Hope’s face trying to maintain a tough appearance. Riley caught only a few words as Dakota placed her hat on Hope’s head, saying it was for luck. Looking at Brunt, he merely nodded in greeting, under strict orders no doubt from Cameron not to ask questions.
“So where’s Freya?” Lauren asked.
“She was asked if she could help out with something back at the container yard,” Brunt told her. When he saw Riley looking at him, he quickly added, “Nothing important, Boyle just wants some fresh eyes,” in an attempt to keep her from worrying.
They walked back to the Black Box, Riley holding hands with Cameron and Hope, no one saying a word.
Down in the medical centre, the doctors were ready and the surgical suite was prepped.
“Give me a hug,” Riley held out her arms to Hope.
Hope hesitated, and Riley knew what she was thinking, that if she hugged her mom now, it might be for the last time.
“I’m going to be sore afterward; it’ll be a few days before I’ll be able to hug anyone again,” Riley told her, convincing herself that she didn’t have the same thoughts.
Her ribs were nearly crushed by her daughter, but Riley relished the feeling. She stroked Hope’s hair and back, then leaned beneath Dakota’s hat to kiss her cheek.
“I love you, sweet pea.”
“I love you, Mom.”
Carrying those words with her, Riley entered the surgical suite, taking one last look at Hope, who was holding Dakota’s hand. Cameron stood protectively behind them both, managing a smile that didn’t look too worried. Abby was clearly the most concerned, her fingers fidgeting with the cross around her neck.
“You ready?” Robin asked as Riley entered. It was weird to think she’d be the one on the table this time.
Riley nodded, and began taking off her shirt and bra, overly conscious of Josh and Dr. Lewis’s presence. They had no patient surgical gowns; after the surgery, Riley would only be covered by a blanket. Maybe they could have covered her with a sheet while she was still conscious, but Riley thought to hell with that, they were going to see her breasts anyway. They’d be the last ones to see them as they were.
“So the anaesthetic is going to hurt a bit going in,” Haily explained as Riley lay on the table. She was quick to start the IV, her ability to find a vein swiftly and painlessly still top notch.
“How are you feeling?” Dr. Lewis asked, the only one of the day much to Riley’s relief.
“Hungry,” she replied, refusing to admit to her fear.
Dr. Lewis chuckled. “We’ll make sure to have something good for you when you wake up.”
Riley nodded.
“Count backward from one hundred,” Haily instructed.
There was a burning in her arm as she counted, the anaesthetic flooding her system, mixing with her blood. Riley counted, knowing she wouldn’t get far, having seen others pass out before reaching ninety.
As a darkness swept over her, she tried not to think about it being the last thing Mathias saw and thought of it anyway.
15
Evans Is Thinking
Although Evans walked at the head of the column, he no longer considered himself the leader of his party as they moved through the storm-soaked streets. He continued to play the figurehead, making sure his authority remained intact after whatever happened, but he wasn’t making decisions like he once was. His party had become a kind of mob, an angry rabble. Evans still wasn’t sure what had happened to Wycheck, but the discovery of his boots amongst the strangers’ gear was more than enough to persuade the others. Now, they were following a map to a container yard that, based on the way the map was marked up, was their home base. Evans wasn’t entirely sure what would happen when they got there and would rather not think about it. He thought the strangers were innocent, maybe not of killing Wycheck, but of the other murders pinned on them. A bullet was very different from a knife, and none of the other killed party members’ gear was with their supply wagons. Of course, to everyone who was looking for someone to blame, this just meant that there was more than one group of people from the container yard who had attacked them.
Evans glanced over his shoulder at the party behind him. Even with the addition of the strangers’ wagons, the line was shorter, more clumped together. The searchers who had been off scouring the surrounding area were now back with the party, tightly flanking its sides. At the very back, their prisoners were restrained. Evans wondered what would happen to them when they reached the container yard. He was glad that the others hadn’t decided they were worthless, and that killing them was the best course of action. Unfortunately, that might not always remain true.
The party continued forward for several more minutes until a commotion brought them to a halt.
“What’s going on?” Evans asked, as Ki-nam came riding up alongside him.
“It’s one of the horses we managed to keep ahold of from the furniture store. It’s acting up, being stubborn and nippy.”
“Let’s go see.”
Evans followed Ki-nam and his horse to the middle of the party where the strangers’ carts were being pulled. One of the horses pulling the second cart had stopped walking, refusing to move. When anyone came near it, it threw its head with its teeth snapping like a zombie’s and attempted to rear. Their own horse, the one they had paired with the newcomer, had also stopped obeying orders, its head twisted away from its pulling mate in an attempt to avoid getting nipped.
Evans looked to Leo, who had been driving the cart. The man just shook his head. Nathan was also nearby, having climbed down from the seat of the other strange cart, the one whose horses were behaving, but even he wasn’t approaching the horse. Everyone kept their distance, wondering how to handle the situation. Evans was concerned about the strange horse hurting their own and knew that soon someone would suggest shooting it. It wouldn’t be the first night they ate horsemeat.
“Give me a moment,” Evans told those within hearing. He headed for the back of the party where their captors were restrained. As he came into view, all three watched him warily; the one he thought was the youngest, Bryce, was stiffening. Although Evans hadn’t personally beaten him, he hadn’t done much to stop it either. He studied the three of them, while they studied him.
“That one,” he pointed to Danny.
Arman, who had chosen to watch the prisoners personally, released Danny’s restraints.
“Come with me,” Evans told him. “Just remember that we still have your friends.”
“I understand,” Danny nodded as he climbed down off the back of the cart. A worried look passed between him and Bryce, while Lenny never took his eyes off Evans. Lenny had proven to be a talker, attempting to negotiate even during the assault, but now he remained quiet. Talking hadn’t worked for him, so now he was studying.
Evans led Danny forward, toward the troublesome horse. Every time he glanced over his shoulder at the captive, Danny’s eyes were darting here and there, glancing at all the glaring faces around him. His hands were tight at this sides, and shoulders hunched, ready to fight or flee should the situation arise.
“Your horse is causing some trouble. Do something about it,” Evans instructed as they reached the front of the cart.
“That’s Th
umper,” Danny commented, a small note of surprise in his voice. “He doesn’t like to pull carts, not unless he’s paired with Potato.”
“We have only one other of your horses. That grey one with the next cart up.” Evans pointed to where he could make out its head and ears.
Danny shifted around a bit until he could see for himself, but then shook his head. “That’s Soot.”
“So your horse is worthless to us.”
“No, no! I can get him to walk. Just give me a chance.”
Evans noticed that the slight panic in Danny’s voice pleased those around them.
“I’ll need someone to get Soot and bring him here.”
“Nathan? Would you mind?”
Nathan shook his head and went to get the horse. Danny began approaching the annoyed beast, Thumper. He kept his eyes averted, moving toward the horse sideways, as Evans had seen Leo and Nathan do before with skittish horses. Thumper kept snorting loudly. He tossed his head less, seeming to focus on Danny’s approach.
“It’s okay, boy,” Danny whispered as he inched closer. “It’s okay, Thumper, I’m right here. You’re okay.”
Evans watched as Thumper’s ears perked up at the sound of Danny’s voice. When their captive got close enough, Thumper lowered his head, allowing his muzzle to be gently stroked while he snuffed up Danny’s scent.
Between whispered soothings, Danny asked if someone could unharness the other horse, the one standing next to Thumper. Leo seemed eager to do it, but also moved in a slow, deliberate way. Thumper snorted at the newcomer, but Danny continued to pet him and whisper to him, attempting to guide his head to face the other way. It helped when Nathan returned with the grey horse, Soot. The wild horse seemed to recognize his companion and whickered at it; the grey horse replied with a soft whinny. Once the other horse was free of the harness, Nathan knew to walk the grey one over to take its place without being asked.
“I thought you said it would only pull carts next to some other horse?” Evans inquired.
“Yeah, Potato,” Danny continued to speak as if still talking to the horse, “but he won’t bite Soot. If you let me walk beside Thumper, he’ll follow.”
His words were greeted by a lot of uncomfortable murmuring. Several people didn’t like the idea of Danny walking along, free of their makeshift ‘prison’ at the back. Some found the idea so unappealing, that they were back to demanding the horse be shot.
Evans mulled it over, weighing the pros and cons. It wasn’t easy to find a well-trained horse, but there was more to it than that. By giving the prisoner a little bit of slack, he could better observe how he behaved. Evans didn’t believe that Danny was the murderer he was being called, and perhaps letting him show that to the others might sway the other party members a little. Or it might turn them against Evans. He had to find a happy middle.
“Ki-nam, you got any rope with you?”
The former North Korean had been hovering around the periphery of the goings-on, his horse so perfectly obedient to him, that there was no risk of it walking into the gathered cluster of people and hurting one of them. Ki-nam took a climber’s rope off the back of his saddle and tossed it over to Evans. People were still muttering their disapproval as he carried it over to Danny, the troublesome horse now relatively calm.
“Hold out your wrists together,” Evans ordered.
Danny did so, obeying the command immediately. Maybe he realized that Evans was helping him in some small way.
After using one end of the rope to bind his wrists, Evans wrapped a few coils around Danny’s waist, with enough slack between them so that the captive could move his arms around. The rest of the rope was then tied to Thumper’s harness, effectively binding the two captives together. That was another reason Evans wanted to save the horse: it had become a prisoner just as the humans had, a potential bargaining chip depending on what happened when they reached the shipping container yard.
“Can you tell my friends I’m tied here?” Danny asked in a low whisper so that only Evans could hear him. Evans gave him no response, just tested his knots and stepped away.
“Show’s over, everyone,” he barked to those assembled. “Let’s keep moving.”
Instead of moving to the front of the line, Evans walked on the other side of the grey horse, keeping an eye on Danny. The young man was doing as instructed, keeping the irritated horse calm and moving forward. Although he could reach the knots that bound him to the horse, he didn’t touch them or try to pull them loose in any way. Evans couldn’t quite make out what Danny was looking at, not past the horseflesh and harnesses, but the young man seemed to focus mostly on Thumper. Evans guessed his eyes darted around to those near him from time to time, tracking their movements and the extent of their glares. Evans would’ve done the same.
Once he determined that Danny wasn’t going to do something stupid, and that no one else was going to assault him, Evans dropped back to the rear of the line. The eyes of the remaining two captives, Bryce and Lenny, locked onto him the moment he was within sight.
“Your friend is fine, at least for now,” Evans told them. “As long as he keeps doing his job, nothing will happen to him.”
He got no response from the two still bound to their chairs. Deciding he wasn’t going to get one, Evans began heading back to the front of the line.
“Wait,” Lenny spoke up before he got very far.
Evans dropped back again, looking up at the black man.
“None of us have eaten in a long time, especially Danny. May we have some food, or at least water?”
“Shut up, prisoner!” Arman shouted, causing Bryce to flinch.
“It’s alright, Arman, it’s a reasonable request. How long has it been since Danny ate?”
“He missed dinner the night you took us, so whenever he ate lunch I suppose.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Evans left the prisoners and slowly made his way forward along the line. He barely got past the cart holding them when Arman’s horse trotted up alongside.
“Are you actually going to feed them?” he sneered.
“I’m not going to deny them water. Can you see to it that they get some? Preferably without spit in it.”
Arman sneered. “I don’t understand why you’re being so accommodating.”
“Do you know what we’ll find at that container yard? Because I sure don’t. Three of these people got away, so the odds are they’ll know we’re coming. I’d rather have as many bargaining chips as possible, and they’re worth more if they’re unhurt. Can you get them a bit of water? Maybe just give them a bottle each, and leave it up to them to decide how much they drink during the journey.”
The wheels in Arman’s mind were spinning behind his eyes. He was probably doing the math about how far they still had to go, and how a bottle wasn’t much for that length of time. In the end, he seemed satisfied and consented to give the prisoners water.
Evans crossed in front of the rear cart so that he could come up behind Danny. Before reaching him, he swung his pack to his front and dug out a small container. Inside, was a literal trail mix of edibles Evans had picked up along the way: various nuts and seeds, along with dried berries and fruit that he had traded for at the last friendly settlement. Once his pack was settled again, Evans stepped up beside Danny, who startled slightly at his reappearance.
“Your friends tell me you haven’t eaten in some time. Here.” He held out the container to Danny.
Danny hesitated, eyeing the contents suspiciously. Evans pretended he wasn’t watching the young man out of the corner of his eye as he reached into the container, plucked out some of the contents, and ate them himself. Danny still hesitated a moment longer, but his stomach won out, and he pinched some food between his fingers, then stuffed it in his mouth. Evans knew Danny couldn’t hold the container and eat from it at the same time, not with his bound wrists, so he kept pace, monitoring just how much he ate. He also knew that if he left Danny alone with the food, someone would in
evitably smack it out of his hands and that was just wasteful. No one would dare smack food out of Evans’ hands.
***
After travelling all day, everyone was weary, no longer caring about Danny walking alongside the horse. Throughout their journey, Evans would drop from the front of the line to the back, checking on both party members and prisoners, and then walk back up along the opposite side, asking the people there if they were all right. As the sun began setting, casting the sky in a vivid orange, the black and white cat trotted alongside Evans again, only to disappear when Ki-nam came near on his horse.
“Elijah checked out that space marked on their map. It looks like somewhere we can spend the night; it’s big enough.”
“Good, everyone could use the rest.”
From mouth to mouth, word was passed down the line that they would be stopping for the night soon. The news lifted the spirits of the party members, all of them eager to take a break. Having memorized the map, which Ki-nam carried, Evans led the party to the marked location. It was a recreational centre and Elijah stood outside, waiting by a pair of double doors that led into a gymnasium. The band of teenagers he had brought with him for the reconnaissance mission were already set up inside, their lanterns glowing in a corner they had claimed for themselves.
At first, Evans was unsure if the gym would fit everyone plus the horses and carts, not comfortably, but when he got inside, he saw that a pair of doors in one wall led to a second gymnasium.
“Have you searched the rest of the building?” he asked Elijah as people began streaming in behind them; some party members found spaces for themselves, while others didn’t settle in yet, waiting for Evans to give the okay.
“No, but see these fold-up bleachers? With a bunch of us, we can easily move them to barricade the doors that lead into the rest of the facility. Unless you want to see what else is here? There might be more rooms we can spread out in.”
“No,” Evans shook his head. “We’re only staying here the one night, so we’re going to stay close together. Gather some volunteers to move those bleachers.”
Defensive Instinct (Survival Instinct Book 4) Page 22