Raven frowned but was reluctant to scream at her brother in front of strangers. Save it for later, she thought.
“Hello,” the older woman spoke, walking forward and smiling hesitantly. “My name it Barbara Jean but everyone calls me Bee.”
She held out her hand and Raven took it. Bee had a firm handshake and Raven felt her fury ebb.
“Hi,” she responded. “I’m Raven and this is my brother, Henry.” She gestured to him with a forceful jut of her hand.
“Ma’am,” the man spoke, wiping his palm on his jeans and clasping Raven’s hand. “My name is Rodney and I’d like to thank you for saving our bacon back there.” He gesticulated vaguely toward the body of the undead.
Raven smiled. “You’re very welcome,” she responded.
The door of the truck opened and Monique flounced out, making her way toward them. She walked wide around the undead, glancing at it in disgust.
Raven suppressed a groan. “That’s Monique,” she spoke. “And my dog Rocky.” She pointed to the truck.
“What’s the cat’s name?” Bee asked. Her voice was steady. She’d recovered quickly from the shock.
Raven approved. “Neptune,” she answered. “Henry found her wandering in the woods.”
Bee opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Monique sashaying their way. She walked right past Raven and Bee and up to Rodney like she thought any man was worth paying attention to.
“That one’s a piece of work, huh?” Bee spoke.
Raven laughed. “Oh, yeah,” she said. “She’s got my brother by the balls.”
Bee chortled.
Monique and Rodney were talking, her in soft murmurs and he with short answers. Bee frowned and strode toward them. She took Rodney’s hand possessively and he looked grateful for it. They backed up a couple of steps. Monique frowned and that made Raven smile.
“So,” Henry said loudly, taking Monique by the elbow. He didn’t appear to care about her attempt at flirtation with Rodney. “Where are you headed?” he asked.
Bee and Rodney glanced at each other and Raven watched some silent communication flash between them.
“We heard a radio broadcast that mentioned a meeting place near here,” Rodney said. “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not actually but we don’t want to be out here by ourselves anymore.”
Bee nodded and glanced at their van. Her expression was sad. A shiny-coated golden retriever sat by the woman’s side, panting peacefully.
“That’s Louise and my dog Scout,” Rodney supplied.
Raven saw the woman inside hadn’t moved. “Is she all right?” Raven asked.
“For the moment, I believe so,” Bee answered, running her hand through her multicolored hair. “Long term, I have no idea.” She explained Louise’s condition to them.
“That’s too bad,” Henry said. His arm was around Monique’s waist and she cuddled into his side.
Raven closed her eyes and counted to ten. It wasn’t enough.
“Have you seen a little girl about twelve years old?” Raven asked. She pictured Liz’s face and her stomach lurched. The more time that went by the more hope Raven lost. “She’d got curly brown hair and she’s very shy.” Her throat closed and tears stung the back of her eyes. Not wanting to cry in front of Monique, Raven fell silent.
“She was taken from us a few weeks ago,” Henry supplied, voice gruff.
“I’m so sorry,” Bee said, reaching toward Raven as if to comfort her then let her hand fall back to her side.
Monique’s face lit up. “Maybe these people on the radio have seen her.”
Raven ignored her. They’d discussed that already; that was the main reason they were heading that way. Monique’s an idiot, she thought.
“Is the meeting point off of that highway and Raccoon Road?” Henry asked, pointing to the Highway 7 sign.
Rodney nodded. “It is son. Did you hear the broadcast?”
“We did,” Henry answered, smiling slightly.
They were all silent for a moment, regarding each other. Thunder rumbled in the distance, a storm was rolling in. The clouds blowing in from the north were dark and ominous and Raven smelled rain on the air. Monique was looking at the clouds with an uncertain expression.
“There’s safety in numbers,” Bee offered, face open and guileless
Raven met Henry’s gaze and her brother nodded.
“Sounds good to me,” Raven agreed, holding her hand out to shake first with Bee then with Rodney.
They walked toward their respective vehicles, discussing polite and trivial things.
A feeling of peace settled over Raven and she held to it tightly. They would find Liz, she was sure of that. They just had to keep looking and this meeting point was as good a place to start as any. The first drops of rain fell, leaving splotches on the asphalt. It pattered through the trees bringing with it the fresh smell of the forest.
Riley
Riley cleared his throat sharply, wishing for a cold beer, or a Coke. Not like cold anything is thick on the fuckin’ ground, he thought ruefully.
The concrete was hard but he stayed down on one knee, where the President wanted him. Riley’s hair had grown over the intervening months and was badly in need of a trim, sticking out from his head in a moderate Afro. The skin beneath his eyes was dark with weariness and the orbs themselves were red and dry. Sweat beaded on his forehead and trickled down the dark flesh of his neck. Shame piled on his shoulders, like something palpable and unbelievably heavy. He’d lost his brother to that skinny bitch and most of his belongings along the way. He still had a large buck knife and a single MRE. His jacket was torn and sticky with blood and dirt.
Even worse, he now found himself as a fucking errand boy for this pussy little shit. If this were the old days he’d beat the crap out of Angler without a second thought.
