“Tell me you have somebody in mind.” Walters eyed him suspiciously.
Vickers nodded slightly. “I do. But neither of us like it.”
The president groaned under his breath and Vickers nodded. “Not that touchy-feely son of a bitch…”
“Yes, sir.” Vickers raised his eyes to meet his. “He is the best candidate. He used to be a spec op soldier, he’s got a Masters in Microbiology. He may be a son of a bitch, but he’s been a huge help in the lab.”
Walters closed his eyes and shook his head. “And he’s volunteered to go on this mission?”
“Not yet. But I’m sure he will once I announce that it needs to be made.”
Walters exhaled hard and nodded. “Fine. Make it happen. The sooner the better.”
“There is…one more thing,” Vickers added hesitantly.
“Oh, please. Tell me the ship is sinking.” Walters added sarcastically.
Vickers snorted a chuckle and shook his head. “Negative, sir.” He finished his drink and set it on the desk. “We need to find a man, if he’s still alive.”
“If he’s…who?”
“His name is Hatcher.” Vickers face remained stoic.
The president stared at him for a moment until a light of recognition crossed his features. “He was the guard or some such at the park, wasn’t he?”
“Park Ranger,” Vickers corrected.
“Why on earth do we need him?”
“The park is literally ground zero. It’s bound to be crawling with the Zeds. Hatcher knows every inch of it. If anybody can get our man in and out in one piece, it’s him.” Vickers hated to admit it, but Hatcher had been hovering in the back of his mind ever since this option first came to his attention.
“I still don’t see why. Hollis was a spec op soldier. Surely he can handle himself…”
“Sir, with all due respect, I had a whole squadron of men like that up on that mountain. Most of them are Zeds now.” Vickers paused to allow his statement to sink in. “Even if I sent in a SEAL team to escort Hollis, chances are, we’d just be adding to the Zed population by sundown.”
Walters studied Vickers for a moment. “And you really think that this Park Ranger can do what a SEAL team can’t?”
Vickers nodded. “He avoided them all before, including my men. He knows every game trail, short cut, side road…you name it. The man knows that park.”
Walters put his hands up in surrender. “Okay. If you say you need him, send a team out to find this guy.” He stood, indicating the meeting was over, then paused. “You do have an idea where he is, don’t you?”
Vickers shook his head. “No, sir, I don’t.” He turned and headed for the door. “But I will.”
Chapter 2
“Candy, how’re you holding up?” Hatcher patted her shoulder as she walked by.
“I’ve been better.” Her voice betrayed the pain she felt.
Hatcher held her arm, stopping her in mid-step. “What happened?”
She shook her head and looked away. “Nothing. I’ll be fine.”
“Right. I know that tone.” Hatcher pulled her aside and tried to get her to look at him. It was obvious now she had been crying. “Tell me what happened.” His voice was low and soft, not letting the others hear his concern.
She lowered her head and averted her eyes, her gaze unfocused. “There were kids in that group, Hatch.”
“Oh, no…”
“And I torched them just to get them off the damned door.” Her voice broke as she spoke and her resolve threatened to let go. He pulled her close and tried to wrap his arms around her, but she pushed him away. “No. I’ll start crying again, and I promised myself I wouldn’t do that.”
“Hey, sometimes you gotta let yourself. If you try to hold it all in, it can eat you up from the inside.” He kept trying to look her in the eyes and she kept avoiding his gaze.
“I have to keep telling myself they weren’t kids anymore, Hatch. I just have to. Otherwise—” Her bottom jaw quivered and she turned from him. “Anyway, I have to go check in.”
He let go of her arms and let her slip away. “If you need to talk later, you know where to find me.”
She waved a hand over her shoulder as she continued down the hallway. Hatcher watched her go and couldn’t help but worry for her. He knew the stress of being constantly on guard was getting to all of them, but throw in the added stressors like what she had gone through tonight? Sometimes people needed to allow themselves a little breakdown just to get it out of their systems.
Hatcher continued watching Candy as Skeeter came rushing down the hallway. “Hatcher!”
“Hey, squirt.” He opened his arms and wrapped one over her shoulder. “What are you up to tonight? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“Nurse Vicky needs to see you. She asked me to fetch you and the rest of the council. You’re the last one.” She sounded breathless as she talked, and Hatcher imagined she had run all over the warehouse looking for him.
“Okay, squirt. I’m guessing she’s in the infirmary?”
“Yup.” She clung to him as he walked down the hall. “It sounded real important. Can I come and listen, too? I’ll be real quiet.”
Hatcher shook his head. “No ma’am. It’s way past your bedtime.” He pulled her in closer and gave her a one-armed hug. “Scoot. Get your hiney off to bed.”
“Aww, Hatcher, please?” Her voice went up an octave as she whined. “I’m not a kid, you know.”
“You heard me, missy. Scoot.” He playfully swatted her bottom to get her moving.
“But maybe she wants to hear about the Free Zone? Did you hear anything when you were out tonight?” Skeeter’s eyes were big now as she inquired about every child’s hope these days.
Hatcher shook his head again. “I didn’t hear nothing tonight. I was too busy getting supplies. Now go to sleep before we both get in trouble.”
Skeeter dropped her head and began shuffling
