Candy nodded. “But that’s for soldiers who are out of the battle zone, Vicky. We’re still living in it.” She met Vicky’s eyes and her lip quivered. “There may not be an end to this war.”
Vicky pulled the other woman into a brief embrace and stroked her back. “There’s always an end. It just sometimes takes time.”
Candy stepped back and wiped at her eyes. “I don’t know who’s the bigger basket case. Me or you.” She laughed nervously as she turned into the infirmary.
“Come on in, I’ll buy you a drink.” Vicky shut the door behind them and pulled a bottle of medicinal whiskey from her desk drawer. She looked at the bottle and grimaced. “This is pure rotgut.”
“Ah, only the good stuff for your friends.” Candy laughed as she took a seat next to the desk.
“In these days and times, beggars can’t be choosy.” Vicky pulled out two specimen cups and poured the cheap whiskey for the two, then screwed the cap back on and slipped it back into her drawer. They held the cups up and Vicky took a sip. “Holy wow. That will put hair on your chest.”
Candy wheezed and set her cup back down. “That will put hair on your throat!” The two women laughed and relaxed a moment, their thoughts going out to the party that had just left and was headed to Colorado.
“Do you think they’ll make it?” Candy asked without realizing the words had even been uttered.
Vicky stared at the amber liquid in the plastic cup and inhaled deeply. “They better.”
A soft knock at the door of the infirmary pulled both women from their melancholy mood. Vicky stood and opened the door. A teenage girl stood there, face downcast. “Can I help you, sweetie?”
The girl avoided Vicky’s gaze and muttered something unintelligible. “What was that, sugar? You need to speak up. Is something wrong?”
She finally looked up and met Vicky’s eyes. Her face was red from crying and the fear was evident. “I got some bad news for ya, but I don’t wanna be in no trouble for telling it.”
Vicky opened the door wider and ushered the girl in. “It’s okay, sweetie. You can tell me. You won’t get in trouble.”
The girl’s eyes bounced around the infirmary and finally settled on Candy. “What about her?”
Vicky chuckled and shook her head. “No, honey, she won’t get you in trouble, either.” She sat back down and coaxed the girl to approach her desk. “Now why don’t you take a deep breath and tell me what the problem is.”
The girl faced Vicky and nearly whispered, “Skeeter done run off.”
“Skeeter what?” Vicky sat up quickly and stared at the young girl. “How do you know that?”
“She and I share a room most nights. She heard that Hatcher was gonna take them new folks somewhere and…” her voice trailed off.
“She what, sweetie? What did Skeeter do?”
“She packed a bag and snuck into the back of the truck. She done went with them.”
Skeeter held on underneath the old oily tarp as best she could. When the truck hit a big bounce in the road, she nearly squealed. She had to bite her tongue to keep quiet. She just knew that if Hatcher found her in the back of the truck, he’d turn it around and take her back. Even if he had to wait a long time before he could take off again, he’d do it. For some reason, he liked to pretend she couldn’t take care of herself.
Skeeter knew she wasn’t grown yet, and she knew she couldn’t possibly know everything there was to know about the Zulus or the world outside, but if there was any way for her to find out about the Free Zones firsthand, it was a risk worth taking.
She had snuck into the back of the truck right after they had finished stacking the cans of fuel in and strapping them down. There were supplies in the back, and Henry had covered them with this old, stinky, oily tarp. It was heavy and it made her sweat a lot, but it kept her covered and nobody knew she was there. She actually found it funny that nobody thought to check one last time before Hatcher left, just to make sure he had everything.
She had this funny tingling feeling inside. It made her almost need to pee. But once the truck started and it began to move, the feeling subsided. As soon as she had heard the first scream, though…despite the sweat covering her body, she broke into chill bumps. The hair on her neck stood on end and her body froze in place. She knew they were close. She felt the bumps against the truck and knew it had to be them bouncing off the outside of the truck as Hatcher drove it to safety. When the truck bounced so high in the air, she almost wished it was one of them going under a tire. She even heard one go under the truck and bounce off the bottom, all the way to the back. It made her smile to think that the Zulus were so stupid they’d let themselves get run over by a tank of a truck.
Now that they were on the highway and the steady rhythm of the tires on the pavement made their continuous hum, she almost felt sleepy under the big green tarp. She pulled herself to one of the crates and used it as a pillow. The steel bed of the truck was her cot and the tarp her blanket. She closed her eyes and allowed her body to rest. The constant adrenaline rushes had paid a toll.
As she closed her eyes and her breathing slowed, she thought of only one thing…how happy Hatcher would be when he found her in the back of the truck.
Chapter 4
Captain Hollis waited while they mounted the
