"The lucky and the too d.a.m.n stubborn to die," Nerit said with a laugh.
"I know which category I"m in."
"Me, too. Me, too..." Nerit said.
"d.a.m.n lucky?"
"Absolutely," Nerit laughed.
"Me, too."
"If I had still been living in Houston, I would be eating someone"s nose right now," Nerit decided.
"Weird how it worked, huh? If you made it through the first day, it got easier somehow."
"The initial shock of it all wears off and the survival instinct kicks in."
Katarina ran a hand over her hair, then sighed. "It almost feels like this is normal. Ya know? Like this is just how life is."
"This is how life just is now. The old way is just that...old. Gone. Lost."
"And now people are hitching up and having babies..."
Nerit bobbed her head. "And expanding our home...planting gardens..."
"Falling in love..."
With a tilt of her head, Nerit regarded Katarina. "You like Bill."
"He"s nice," Katarina said after a moment. "I did like...I do like...he is just nice."
"Nice is good. Ralph was nice." Nerit suddenly stiffened, looking ahead.
"The next turn pull over!"
The Hummer came to a slow stop just after a curve on the country road. A few cows were walking down the road. Deer were strolling casually across the meadow and, somewhere in the distance, a bird was calling out. The mist was now just wisps along the ground.
Ralph"s truck was smashed firmly into a fence post. Its deer guard took most of the damage and Nerit was fairly certain it would drive. But both doors were wide open and it was obvious the truck was empty.
"s.h.i.t," Curtis said sleepily, straightening up. "This isn"t good."
Dale woke up in mid-snore and sputtered a few incoherent words before saying, "Hey, cows."
"They must have got out when the truck took the fence down," Katarina said.
Nerit ignored the cows and stared at the truck thoughtfully. "Get out slowly. Cover all sides. I doubt there is any activity out here, but be on guard. Let me examine the area around the truck."
"You got it," Dale said, stuffing the rest of a stale, cold donut he had fished out of his pocket into his mouth.
Katarina slid out of the truck, holding her gun easily in her hands. Curtis stumbled out and worked a crick out of his leg as Dale strode in a slow circle keeping his eye on the cows.
"Them"s good eating," he said finally.
"Keep to the objective," Nerit responded.
Moving toward the truck, she squinted a little, focusing her gaze. With a little groan, she squatted down to look at some shoe prints in the mud.
Curtis joined her, looking perplexed.
"Jenni was in cowboy boots. So was Bill."
"Roger was in sneakers," Curtis added to Nerit"s comment. "So was Felix."
"What do these look like to you?" Nerit motioned to the footprints.
"Honestly? Combat boots."
"Exactly." Nerit stood up slowly, feeling her hips and back protesting, and moved to the truck. Gazing inside, she saw the dried blood, sticky in the humidity of the morning, smeared along the pa.s.senger side.
"Someone was hurt."
"s.h.i.t," Katarina whispered.
Curtis was instantly at Nerit"s side. "Think they got bitten and went at each other?"
Pulling what looked like a wadded up sheet to her, Nerit looked it over.
"No. This is full of surgical tools. See that neat slice in the fabric. I think someone got stabbed by one of the instruments." She fumbled with the makeshift bag a bit more. "My guess is Jenni."
"You can tell that by the blood?" Dale asked in surprise.
"No, sweetheart, by her wadded up, bloodied leather jacket," Nerit answered pointing to where the article of clothing lay on the floor of the truck.
"Oh."
"There are drag marks through the gra.s.s." Katarina pointed.
"And along the side of the truck," Curtis observed.
"And a helicopter settled down in the pasture," Nerit added.
"What? How?"
"Look at the gra.s.s, Curtis. Flattened in a circle. And it was not one of Roger"s crop circles." Nerit sighed and moved around the truck slowly.
"Only two bodies," Curtis said from behind her as he studied the drag marks.
"Yes," Nerit answered. "Just two."
"So they got Jenni and one other person," Katarina said in a soft, low voice.
Nerit"s intense eyes looked toward her. "Yes."
"Who?" Katarina asked.
"I can"t tell that." Nerit sighed and climbed into the truck. Turning the key, she furrowed her brow, listening to the engine try to turnover. Then it suddenly roared to life and she sat in silence in the cab.
Katarina was stoic, but Nerit knew she was in pain. Curtis just looked a little lost. Dale was still staring at the cows like they were walking hamburgers.
"What do we do now?" Curtis finally asked.
"We go back. We tell everyone we are not alone. We tell them the military is still functioning somewhere out there and they have Jenni and one other survivor."
Curtis shook his head. "f.u.c.king s.h.i.t! If Lenore hadn"t tried to save Ken and kept with the mission--"
"She did what I would have done, f.u.c.ktard," Dale growled. "You don"t let your friends die in front of your eyes."
Flinching from the harshness in Dale"s voice, Curtis drew back. "Okay, okay."
"We do what comes instinctively. Lenore saved her friend. But we lost two others. That is the nature of this world," Nerit said firmly. "There are no second guesses, Curtis. We just do our best."
"Yeah, but Bill, Jenni, Roger and Felix...they"re f.u.c.king gone now," Curtis said in a low, tight voice.
"Yes, they are," Nerit answered in her calm tones. "Now, let"s go home."
Wordlessly, Katarina returned to the Hummer and climbed in.
"Can I have a cow?" Dale asked.
"No."
"s.h.i.t," Dale sighed, but obeyed Nerit. He climbed into the truck with her not minding the drying blood one bit.
Curtis moved back to the Hummer. The young police officer was tense.
When he slid into the other SUV, he hunched down and looked away from Katarina.
Nerit slammed the door shut and backed the truck up slowly.
"She did what I would have done," Dale repeated.
"I know," Nerit said.
"It"s not fair that doing something like that can get others killed or kidnapped," Dale said gruffly.
"Yes, but life is not fair."
"So the f.u.c.king military is out there, huh?"
"Yes," Nerit answered, following the Hummer, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Great. f.u.c.king great. And who do you think controls them?"
Nerit shrugged her shoulders. "People of power."
"Dammit," Dale cussed. "I was kinda hoping Congress got ate."
3. Only Questions Katie ran across the lobby avoiding some of the old timers taking up their morning bingo spots. Her blond curls were pulled up into a ponytail and she was clad in one of Travis" shirts. Her swelling belly was beginning to pop out the bottom of her tops. Though she felt sheepish to admit it, she loved it. Instinctively, she placed a hand against her stomach as she ran, almost as if she could protect the baby from whatever news had returned with Nerit and the others.
Travis had never returned to bed and she had woken up groggy and disoriented. She had called down to the front desk to find Peggy grumpy and cursing about Travis making her nuts. It was then she found out the two groups Travis had sent out earlier were in route to the fort. After changing her clothes, she had rushed downstairs.
Catching sight of Nerit talking with Travis, she knew instantly the news was not good. Travis" expression was grim as he rubbed his brow. Nerit looked calm, but her gaze fierce.
"What happened?" Katie asked as she reached them, her voice raw. She feared the worst and the tension in her face clearly revealed that.
"We found the truck and they weren"t in it," Nerit answered simply.
Katie blinked at the bluntness of that statement. "Were they...was there..."
"They were taken," Nerit answered. "Apparently by the military. At least Jenni and one other man. We don"t know which of the men it was though."
"So we lost two people at the hospital," Katie said softly.
Travis nodded, his mouth pressed into a grim line.
"And the military is out there," Katie continued.
"That is likely," Nerit answered.
"How do we know they have Jenni, but we"re not sure about which of the guys they took?" Travis asked.
"Jenni was injured by a piece of surgical equipment she was holding,"
Nerit, explaining quickly what she had observed. "I gave the surgical equipment to Charlotte already so she can try to save Juan."
Katie felt a little dizzy at the thought of Jenni being hurt, then carted off by some unknown military force. She leaned against Travis for comfort.
His arm snaked around her and he held her tightly, his lips briefly brushing over her forehead.
Ed and Linda walked toward them briskly. Both looked grim and Katie wondered if they were the ones that checked on Blanche.
"What did you find?" Travis looked nervous.
"A Mercedes packed to the gills with supplies on the side of the road. Ray busted the axle trying to off road it. Maybe he was trying to avoid being seen by Curtis and Katarina yesterday," Ed answered.
"And what looked like maybe the remains of Ray on the doorstep of the mansion. Gunshot wound to what was left of his head." Linda shivered.
"There were a few zombies milling around still. Front door was open.