“Do you think we’ll have to shoot them, Cole?” Travis leaned over the front seat, peering out the windshield.
Cole didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the matter of fact question. Laughter was his first inclination, but he stifled it, saddened that Travis at only eleven years old or so, already had learned the law of the wild, so to speak. Kill or be killed.
“I don’t think it’ll come to that.” He prayed it wouldn’t—especially now that he’d met Amanda. He wasn’t eager to pull the trigger on her, or anyone in her family. Of course, if he had to, he’d defend his own, but it would be senseless killing.
It seemed like hours had passed, but when he glanced at the dashboard clock, it had been only fifteen minutes since Amanda had retreated to discuss matters. Now, she emerged, arms outstretched.
“Okay, Travis, hunker down back there again.”
The boy groaned. “I could go out there and watch your back.”
“You can do that just fine from in here.” Cole drew a deep breath and opened his door, showing his empty hands before he stepped out.
Amanda walked towards him, apparently comfortable that she wouldn’t be shot as she didn’t even glance at the other vehicles. She seemed deep in thought.
Cole only went as far as a few feet in front of his SUV. Let her come to him. He waited, his stance wide, arms crossed.
She stopped a few feet away. “Okay, so here’s the deal…we’ll let you all out…and even lead you to a good place to stay tonight if you’ll do something for us.”
23
Hunter glanced at Sophie, who bit her lip, her brow furrowed. “Are you okay, Soph?”
She grimaced, one hand on her belly. “This is embarrassing, but I really have to pee.”
“Oh, shit. I forgot. Um…okay, well you have to go, you have to go.”
“I’m not peeing my pants, Hunter.”
“No, I wasn’t saying that you should. I’ll just step out; tell them what we’re doing so nobody shoots.”
“You’re just going to announce to everyone that I have to go to the bathroom?”
Exasperated, Hunter shrugged. “You got a better idea?”
Practically panting now, her legs clenched together, she shook her head. “I guess not—but I don’t want you getting shot!”
“I won’t. They didn’t shoot my dad and look, they’re talking now. Just hang on a few more seconds.” Hunter set his gun down and opened his door, mimicking his father as he showed his hands.
“Hello? We have a little situation here.” A glint of metal in one of opposing vehicles made him freeze. ”Don’t shoot!”
His dad turned to look at him. “What the hell are you doing, Hunter?”
“Sophie’s gotta pee, Dad. Really bad.”
The woman talking to his dad smirked as his father gave his head a little shake. Hunter defended Sophie. “She’s pregnant, okay? Her bladder is about the size of an acorn these days. And right now, the baby is tap dancing on it.”
The smirk disappeared and the woman took a few steps closer, her eyes wide as a genuine smile stretched across her face. “She’s going to have a baby?”
“Yeah.” He let the smart remark about how pregnancy generally meant someone was going to have a baby die on his lips as she moved to within dozen yards.
“Okay, let me tell my group to give her a few minutes.” She turned and motioned to her group.
“Thanks!” He ducked back into the truck. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”
“Where am I going to go?”
Hunter glanced around. “Behind Sean’s truck.” He jumped out and ran around to Sophie’s side, helping her get out of the vehicle. Even just a few weeks ago when they’d started out, she hadn’t had trouble getting in and out of the raised truck, but now, Hunter felt the need to help her. Since they’d left the island, her stomach had really grown. She was so thin everywhere else, he worried about her.
She tried to wave him away. “I don’t need help.”
He took her hand anyway. “Humor me.” They retreated to behind Sean’s truck, after explaining to his uncle and aunt what was going on. His uncle chuckled and Jenna asked if Sophie was okay.
“I’m fine, Jenna. Just embarrassed.” Sophie broke from Hunter’s grasp and practically ran, or her version of running while nearly eight months pregnant. By the time Hunter got to the corner of the truck to stand guard, Sophie was sighing in relief behind him.
“You know what really sucks, Hunter? I’ll have to go again before I even pull my pants up.”
He laughed, but didn’t turn to look at her. She was sensitive about this stuff even though while traveling they’d all had to relax their privacy standards. When she was finished, she walked back to the truck, her head held high even as her cheeks turned pink.
Hunter waited until Sophie was back in the vehicle, then approached his dad and the woman. He put his hand out. “I’m Hunter.”
“Amanda. A pleasure to meet you.” She nodded, her smile appearing genuine.
Hunter glanced at his dad and raised his eyebrows in question. “So…what’s going on, Dad? We’re going to have to find a place to spend the night before long.”
“I was just telling your father that I had an idea. We have a small ranch a few miles from here. You could stay there tonight, if you want.”
His dad drew a deep breath. “What do you want in return?”
Hunter bit back an apology to Amanda at his dad’s hard tone, but Amanda didn’t seem to notice. She said, “I’ll be honest. We need help getting my father back. Then, I want the ranch back. We have a different place we’re staying at now. There’s a barn the men can stay in, and the women and any kids, can stay in the guest house. There should be room.”
“Why can’t you get back in,” Hunter asked.
“A group of men came along a few days ago and forced us out. We weren’t ready—we hadn’t seen anyone out by our farm. We knew there were some survivors because of the Dam, but most stay up in Las Vegas where the lights are still on at a lot of the casinos.”
Hunter recalled a couple of detours they had taken due to power lines across the road. It was almost certain the lines they encountered weren’t live, but he filed away that lines around here could very well be live.
Amanda shrugged. “I don’t know why they want to go there. I went once and it’s horrible. Bodies, bones, rats, roaches.” She shuddered. “I guess there are supplies if you want to wade through all that mess, but no thanks. I doubt there’s much food anyway. Tourists cleaned out most of it before they died.”
With the sun almost set, the desert was turning cool and Amanda rubbed her hands up her arms. “We tried to get around behind them, but they shot my dad.” She stopped and looked away, blinking hard. “They forced us off the farm at gunpoint. I thought you were with them until I saw your license plates. We were going to drive them away, if we could. But, the guys who stole our farm had Arizona plates.”
“What makes you think we won’t take your ranch from you once we make the other men leave?”
Shocked at his dad’s question, he opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it closed. His dad would never do something like that. He must have a reason for asking such a crazy question.
Amanda looked taken aback, retreating a step but when she glanced at Hunter’s face, she saw something on it that must have reassured her. Maybe he hadn’t hid his shock as well as he’d thought he had.
With a defiant chin jut, she said, “You can try, Cheesehead.”
Expecting a retort, Hunter was dumbfounded when his dad snorted in response, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
With a wave of her hand, Amanda dismissed Hunter’s shock. “It’s an inside joke.”
Inside joke? His dad had known this woman for all of twenty minutes. When he glanced over, his father just shrugged agreement with her.
She beamed.
Her posture elicited a slow smile from his dad. “Yes, I suppose we could try to drive you away too, but then we wou
ldn’t have you as an ally. I’d much rather have you and your family with us than against us.”
Hunter reached out and caught his dad’s sleeve, tugging him back several feet. “Can I talk to you a second?”
“Sure. Excuse us, Amanda.”
It was as if they were at a backyard barbecue instead of discussing life and death. “What the hell is going on, Dad? Do you two know each other somehow?”
“No, we’ve never met before, but I just have a feeling about her. She’s out here representing her family. That takes a lot of guts. I’d like to help her, but I’m not sure if we can.”
He took a few steps back to Amanda, with Hunter trailing a pace behind, digesting what his dad had said. He was right. If Amanda had the courage to stand out here facing two men, alone, she was probably someone who would be good to have as friends, not enemies.
“Here’s the thing. I want to help, but…” His dad paused, staring over Amanda’s shoulder, but Hunter knew that look. He was thinking through a plan.
After a glance at him that must have shown something on his face, his dad seemed to come to a decision. “We have a couple of pregnant women. They and the kids are my first priority, but, tomorrow, I promise to consider helping. ”
Hunter nodded. “Me too.”
“You promised to help them?” Elly stood beside Cole as they waited for the other group of cars to circle around the gas station and head back down the road so they could follow.
“I promised I’d consider it. There’s a difference. I won’t do anything to jeopardize our own group, but Amanda is local. Her family is local. We need people on our side who know the area.”
“Our side? Since when did we have a side? What is our side?”
“You know what I mean. Good people. These guys who took over their farm shot her dad.”
Elly swore. “That’s terrible. Did he die?” She felt bad for the other group but that didn’t mean they should fight for them.
Cole blinked. “I’m not actually sure. She didn’t say. I guess I can ask her later. We can all stay with them tonight. They are on a little farm not too far from here.”
“I thought they lost the farm?” She was so confused.
“They lost their own farm, but managed to find another one, but it’s smaller and not as good.”
Sean’s door slammed shut and he sauntered over to their group. Cole had given everyone a quick rundown on the radio, but talking face to face was better.
“I’m confused, Cole. We’re following these guys back to their farm? Why would they let us do that?”
“He says they need our help and in return, we can stay there tonight.”
“Whoa. I didn’t agree to help anyone.”
“Like I said, I told them I’d consider helping. I didn’t volunteer anyone else. Just me. And then Hunter also volunteered. They have water.” Cole swept a hand out. “Water is all important out here. Granted, we can find a lake on the map, but we won’t know if other survivors are there already.”
Elly pulled back, barely hearing the part about the water. Her mind had caught on that he had volunteered himself. “You’re going to risk your life for complete strangers? What if something happens to you? You have a new baby on the way.” She threw an uneasy glance in Sean’s direction, uncomfortable voicing her fears in front of him, but she was too scared for Cole to hold back.
Cole’s jaw clenched and she knew she’d hit a nerve. She realized the last thing he wanted to do was fight in front of Sean, but what did he expect of her? If the shoe had been on the other foot, he’d have put that foot down on the idea and squashed it like a roach under his heel.
“We’ll talk later, okay? We have to get going before we lose Amanda’s group.”
“What? In all the traffic?” Sean laughed at his own joke before returning to the truck.
Cole climbed in his SUV and sat staring forward. She reached in through the open window and stroked a hand down his cheek. “Listen, Cole. I want to help too. I can’t help it I’m a little scared, okay? But we’ll talk it over after we settle in and see what’s up.”
His expression softened and he caught her hand, pressing it to his lips for a brief kiss. “I would never risk you or the baby. Not if I can help it.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” She returned to her car, worry still lingering but she had decided for herself that if Cole felt these new people warranted their help, then she would do whatever he asked. He had earned her complete trust over the last year.
Following Amanda’s group over a highway that looked to have been cleared enough to get through at a reasonable speed, Elly explained the situation to Joe. “I trust Cole’s judgement, but damn it, I wish he didn’t feel like it was his responsibility to save everyone on the planet.”
Joe chuckled. “He does seem to have a hero complex. But he has a point about needing locals. They know this area while we mostly only know about Las Vegas or the Hoover Dam, and what we know of that is just surface stuff. What we really need to know is how to grow anything in this desert.”
The statement was the longest speech Elly had ever heard from Joe. “That’s true. Jenna’s a great gardener but I don’t think she’s ever tried to make a garden thrive in a desert environment.”
Elly alternately fumed and worried as she unpacked just the items she’d need for one night, setting the bag on the ground, grabbing her go-bag too. She wasn’t about to leave it, not trusting their safety here.
Zoë and Luke came around the back of the SUV. “Kids, get your go-bags.”
Joe ambled around to the back, scanning their surroundings. A light on the barn flooded the farmyard. He gave his head a shake. “I don’t know if it’s smart to have the light on or not, but it sure is nice to not have to stumble around in the dark.”
Elly glanced at the flood light. “Doesn’t seem smart to me. It’ll pinpoint this place as being a place with people.” She shook out the mask she’d stashed in her pocket They were running low on masks and this stop forced them to use up precious stock. Making sure the kids had theirs secured once they returned with their packs, she headed towards Cole and Travis, glad to see that Cole had at least worn his mask and had made Travis do the same.
Car doors slammed as the others in their group exited their vehicles. The local group had already parked, circling around so all of the cars faced out, they stood near them, but appeared to be unarmed. She knew they had weapons, but they had the grace to not carry them openly while meeting with them.
Elly looked at them. She picked out the one Cole had spoken to, Amanda. The woman was gathering her people close, talking to the group, presumably about them.
She took the moment to study the locals. What struck her was that other than a few much older women, and an older gentleman wearing gray coveralls like a mechanic would wear, the rest were very young. The woman speaking to them wasn’t old by any definition, but she looked to be the oldest of the younger group.
Elly counted six other young women who ranged in age from about fifteen to twenty-two or so. A couple of teenage boys stood glowering at Elly’s group, their stares directed at someone behind her. She turned to see who they were focusing on, and saw it was Jake.
Surprised, it took her a second to realize that Piper stood near Jake and he had his hand on the small of her back. That was a new behavior. She knew the two had a thing for each other, but she had never seen Jake tense. If the stakes hadn’t been so high, it might have been amusing to watch the interaction. Hiding her amusement, she stepped up to Cole. “So now what?”
“Amanda is just briefing her family on what’s going on.”
“Her family? All of those people are her family?”
Cole shrugged and she could tell he was still a bit miffed about her outburst at the standoff. Well, she wasn’t going to apologize. She caught a sidewise look from him, his gaze roving her face. Then he extended his left hand to her. She accepted his peace offering, giving his hand a light squeeze.
As the rest of their
group gathered around them, Cole stepped forward, still holding Elly’s hand, so she moved with him.
With Elly’s hand folded into his own, Cole felt a surge of protectiveness. He hoped he’d read Amanda correctly and that her group wasn’t so different from theirs. He rubbed his thumb on Elly’s palm, not sure if he was trying to soothe her or himself.
What if he was wrong? Amanda could have an ambush set-up. The fact that there were only three men in the group facing them should have put him at ease, but it made him even more apprehensive. Where were the other men?
He cast a look around, but in the now full dark, it was impossible to see beyond the perimeter of the floodlight attached to the barn. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. There could be snipers up in the hayloft aiming at them right now.
Only the proximity of Amanda’s group gave him a sense of safety. Anyone firing from a distance would have to worry about hitting one of their own since the barn was to their right and slightly behind them. In fact, at this angle, Amanda’s family would be in even greater danger since at least Cole’s group had their vehicles between themselves and the barn.
Amanda turned from her group. “Sorry, I was just clarifying some things with my family.” She didn’t smile, but she nodded at Elly and held her arms wide in a welcoming gesture. “As you may know, Cole and I agreed to have you all as our guests tonight, and in the morning, we’ll talk about a situation we—my family—find ourselves in. We’ve only just moved onto this ranch a few days ago, so we haven’t checked it all out, but we did clean out remains and wipe up the place. Luckily, whoever lived here before seems to have not been home when they were overtaken by the virus. The only bodies we found belonged to a poor dog trapped in the house, and a few chickens that seemed to have been killed in the henhouse. All that was left of the chickens were a handful of feathers, so I’m guessing a fox or something got to them.”
Sympatico Syndrome Trilogy Box Set Page 74