She watched Kyle roll around desperately on the dirt; apparently the breath had been knocked out of him and she wanted with all that was in her to be at his side. She stood still.
From out of the woods a man came in the gray camouflage that matched the winter-killed woods. He was a big man, his rifle cradled in his arms hunter-style. His face was bearded and he wore sunglasses. It wasn't bright enough to require them, but they were intimidating. Mary guessed he'd put them on for that purpose.
'Well, well,' he said in a deep and pleasant voice, accented with the South. 'A medic. That's somethin' that's always on our wish list, darlin'.'
She looked at him. Then she swallowed, hard, and asked, 'Can I see to the boy?'
'The boy? That what you call him at home? Boy?' He walked toward her a few paces and stopped. It looked, from the tilt of his head, as though he might be studying the woods around them.
'If he's no relation to you, I'm just gonna go ahead and shoot him.' The gun was in his hands and aimed as if by magic.
'No!' she shouted, stepping in his way. 'Don't!'
He spat, then stared at her. Mary knew that she'd never been as frightened in her life as she was this moment—not when the bombs came down, not when that first Hunter-Killer came out of the woods, not the first time Dennis had come home wounded.
This was a whole new level of terror. And this man knew it, and he knew how to use it.
'Sure,' he said now. 'You go ahead.'
She turned, and a bullet hit the dirt at her feet. Mary spun back toward him, the shock on her face.
'Only a fool turns their back on the enemy, darlin'.'
She backed away, glancing over her shoulder so she knew where to go. She was looking at the man when a bullet hit the ground just behind her heels, surprising a cry from her.
''Course, you're at a disadvantage, bein' surrounded. Jeff, get that boy on his feet.'
Mary looked over her shoulder to see the man who'd frightened the mule go over to Kyle and lift him by one arm. Her son fell to his knees, clutching his ribs, and the man cuffed him and dragged him up by his collar. 'Stop,' she said, reaching toward him.
The big man cuffed her himself, sending her sprawling. Mary was startled as much as hurt; she'd had no idea he was so close to her.
'Get up,' he growled, and she scrambled to her feet. He stepped close to her. 'From now on, everything in the world comes from me. To you, I am now God, and honey, you'd better become a religious fanatic 'cause I've got my eye on you and my eye never closes. The water you drink, the food you eat, even the air you breathe comes from me. You understand?' She nodded, eyes down. 'You don't say 'stop,' you don't say 'don't,' you don't say 'no.' You can say 'please,' but don't overdo it. Do you understand?'
She nodded, shaking. 'Yes,' she whispered.
'You have to say, 'yes,
'Yes, sir.'
'If I tell you to eat a handful of shit, you will do it or the next sound you hear will be Jeff putting a bullet through that kid's head. Do you understand?'
She looked up at him, her eyes large with fear. 'Yes, sir.'
'If you try to escape I will kill the boy, slowly, and I will hamstring you. Do you understand?'
She nodded vigorously. 'Yes, sir.'
'If I ask you a question and you do not answer honestly, I will cut him. Now. Where did you get these supplies?'
'I stole them from the hospital I worked at,' she said. 'Most of them. Some I got in trade.' The medicines she had were fresh, but for this duty they were put into old containers, many with expiration dates long past.
'Where did they get their medicine?' he asked.
'I don't know,' she said. 'Other hospitals or pharmacies, I guess. Sometimes that's where I get mine, old pharmacies.
There's a lot of good stuff left if you know what it's for.'
'Cut him,' the man said.
''No! Please!' Mary cried. The big man hit her. She heard Kyle scream, and when she looked up he was bleeding from a cut on his chin. Blood was pouring through his fingers and he was crying. 'Why?' she asked.
He kicked her in the stomach and she went down, gasping. He stepped close to her and put his foot on her hip, forcing her onto her back, then he put his foot on her stomach.
'I don't answer 'why?'' he said. 'And you don't ask it. You also don't give me more information than I ask for, and most especially, you don't
'I didn't,' she said, weeping. 'I swear!'
He looked down at her, then applied pressure with his foot until she gasped. She resisted the urge to grab his foot and after a moment he smiled.
'You learn fast. That's good. Now, where did you come from?'
'Another camp of scavengers like these,' she said.
'Can you take us to 'em?'
'I can show you where they were,' Mary said. 'But these people move around, they might not be there.'
'Do you want me to have Jeff cut that boy again?' he asked.
'What did I tell you about givin' me more information than I asked for?'
'I'm's-sorry, sir.' He raised his hand and she flinched. There was no way to know how much he would choose to consider too much. She knew that it was a technique. That he was breaking her down and would continue to bark unreasonable demands and deliver arbitrary punishment as long as he thought necessary. There was nothing personal in it; he genuinely didn't care. It was just the way these things were done. Knowing this didn't seem to make it less effective.
'You told the kid to go home,' he said. 'Where's home?'
They'd prepared for this, an old farmhouse, ramshackle but livable, was the default location for home base. It was designed to look abandoned, but not totally so. She described it and gave its location.
'I know that place,' the big man answered. 'It's deserted.
Nobody lives there.' When she made no comment he kicked her, hard enough to hurt without causing injury. 'Well?'
'We couldn't stay, not permanently. When the snow killed our garden, I knew we had to go look for food. So we travel a circle and come home once a year.'
He looked at Kyle. 'And that little sprat knows the way?'
'I guess so; we've been doing it almost as long as he's been alive. He's never had to go alone, though.'
Apparently he decided to believe her. Or maybe he was just too lazy to kick her again. 'How do you get paid?'
'Food, mostly. Sometimes goods. Once they gave us two mules.'
He snorted. 'Musta done somethin' pretty good that time.'
'An epidemic,' she said.
'Stupid bitch,' he said mildly. 'That mighta been some of our work you undone.' He looked at her. 'Get up. Go lengthen those stirrups for me and one of my men.'
She did so, walking by Kyle with but a glance, not daring to chance more. He was crying as if his heart was broken and Mary hated the fact that the only thing she could do to help was to ignore him.
'Hey! Sam! Whadda we do about this one?' a woman called.
Mary glanced up; a tall, gangling woman was standing by the horse litter that held the sleeping Charley. She'd thrown the cover open and he lay snoring in plain sight. The woman tipped him out onto the ground and he lay in an ungraceful heap, the fresh plaster of his cast standing out against the brown dirt.
'Please,' Mary called out. She finished buckling the strap and took a few steps in that direction.
'Please what?' the big man, Sam, asked. 'Please don't kill the fucker?' He pushed at the unconscious man with his foot. 'Why the hell not?'
'Because—' Mary's voice broke on a sob. 'I just fixed his foot!'
