George Pasqualee and Selene were tending to the rescued Marine, the one called Golf, cleaning the wounds on his face. Raymond and Daniel Cabello were sitting with the woman and child in the corner, and the two kids seemed to be giggling and playing some kind of game with a deck of playing cards.
How do we break the news? Malin wondered. By the twisted look on Elna’s face, he could tell she was wrestling with this same thought, so he decided to spare her the unfortunate task.
“Let me tell them,” he said to her, squeezing her shoulder gently.
“I really don’t mind if you do,” she replied, with a look of near exhaustion.
As Malin approached the first cot, he heard the doctor give a little whoop of surprise, holding up a large, white pill bottle. “Antibiotics,” she said. “You guys did it. You found exactly what we needed. This should help your man here. Good job.”
“Well, it was Archer who grabbed the supplies,” Prig said somberly. “Hopefully, she got good stuff. She didn’t make it back.”
This comment seemed to cast a pall over the room. Spence came to a sudden stop, baring his teeth, as if he wanted to lash out at someone. The tension among the Marines was a strange, almost electrical sensation in the air.
“Well, it’ll give this man a fighting chance,” Dr. Ruzka said.
“Ant, you’d better pull through,” Spence said. “I’ll come down there and kick your ass in hell if you die after what Archer did for you.”
The injured Marine called Ant looked horrible. He was all sweaty and flushed, muttering under his breath, but he seemed to be hanging in there for now. If he heard Spence’s comment, he didn’t give any indication. The wound on his shoulder was clean and freshly bandaged, but Malin spotted a wad of soaked and discolored old bandages in a ceramic bowl on the floor nearby.
“Staff Sergeant,” Malin said, drawing Prig’s attention.
When the Marine looked up at him, pale eyebrows going up in an expression both weary and wary, Malin beckoned him. Prig rose from the stool with a groan, adjusted his cap, and approached. George Pasqualee came with him. Elna’s dad looked about half asleep, dark circles around his eyes. His beard was pushed in all sorts of directions, as if he’d been tossing and turning in bed. He moved to embrace Elna.
“By the look on your face, I guess there’s worse news,” Prig said to Malin.
“Yeah, we’ve got another boat headed to the island from the northeast,” Malin said. “We’ve got two hours at most to get ready for them.”
Prig pulled a face, tapped a finger against his lips, and said, “Could be the mercenary group.” He seemed to consider this for a moment. “Look, we need to get to the bunker ASAP, okay? I recommend you bring the islanders. I mean everyone. Round them all up, and let’s go. It’s a more defensible place than this big box of kindling on the hilltop. What do you say?”
Malin looked at Elna.
“I don’t suppose we have much choice,” Elna said. “We’d better move fast. It’ll be quite a little hike down to the lighthouse, especially if we’re bringing everyone.”
Malin retrieved Garret’s old cobbled-together pushcart, and they loaded it up with medical supplies, food, and clean water. Spence and Mac carried the cot bearing the injured Ant. The doctor had already given him some antibiotics, though only time would tell if it was too late. As they started down the hill from the guesthouse, the Marines stuck close together, Cat limping along with an arm around Prig’s shoulders. Norman and Selene were helping the Dulleses, who had not been particularly happy about leaving the guesthouse. Raymond and Miriam walked with the kids.
“It’s going to be a long, hard walk for some of these people,” Malin said to Elna.
“Yeah, I wish we could just load everyone up in a big trailer or something,” Elna replied. “This is awful, Malin. Prig warned us that another enemy was coming, but this is too sudden. We’re not prepared.”
“Hey, we’ve got the United States Marine Corps with us,” Malin replied. “How much more prepared could we possibly be?”
She rolled her eyes. Somehow, she didn’t seem comforted. “I wish I’d been able to turn the island into a fort, line the walls with cannons or something. I just want to keep the world out, Malin.”
He put an arm around her. “I know. Well, if there’s really a bunker down there beneath the lighthouse, it should give us a tactical advantage.”
“Let’s hope.”
Malin and Elna decided to fall back, letting Prig and the Marines lead the way down the backside of the island while they kept an eye on the others. The kids, Daniel and Chloe, seemed to be having a fine old time, laughing and capering about like they were on vacation. That was good, at least. Malin was most worried about the Dulleses. The old couple was shuffling along at a snail’s pace, holding hands and looking frail.
“Is there a way I can help you folks?” Malin said, falling back beside them. “I could give you a piggyback ride. That’s what the Marines are doing for their injured friend.”
Joe gave him a withering look, made all the more poignant by his scraggly white beard and bushy eyebrows, which made him look like a disgruntled homeless man. “We are still ambulatory, Malin. If we’re going to be dragged out
