Hatcher hated to admit she was right, but he reluctantly nodded. “Bring him in.”
Vicky leaned out of the office door and nodded to Candy. She stepped aside and allowed the couple to walk in. “Hey, Hatch.” Candy stepped around his desk and gave him a crooked smile.
Hatcher eyed Roger as he stepped in and extended his hand. “We weren’t formally introduced.”
Hatcher sighed and grasped the offered appendage. “Tell me about these people.”
Roger motioned to the chair opposite of Hatcher and Daniel nodded. He slipped into the seat and seemed to sit on the edge. “I rode with these guys for about six months before this all went down.” He scooted back into the seat and leaned back as he tried to think of the pertinent information. “I can tell you that the leader, Simon, is a psychopath. He’s paranoid. He’s dangerous and he can’t be trusted.”
“Yet you rode with him,” Hatcher deadpanned.
Roger nodded. “I sure did. And I hated every moment of it. But my job required me to gain their trust, so I did.”
“In six months?” Hatcher leaned forward. “If this asshole is so paranoid, how’d you pull that off?”
“I blended in. I mixed with the right people at the right time. When they did something bad, I got the credit, too. Before long, Simon began to see me as one of the go-getters. Going above and beyond in an attempt to climb the ladder.”
Hatcher had to admit that the story was plausible. “Go on.”
“When everything went down, I tried to get to my wife. We were going to skip town and…” He averted his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. “Obviously, those plans didn’t work out, so I ended up back with the gang.”
“And you stayed with them.”
Roger nodded. “Safety in numbers.”
“So, you ‘became’ a member and went along with the looting, raping, killing…”
Roger lowered his eyes again and nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“So this Simon saw you as one of their own?”
Roger nodded again.
Hatcher leaned back in his chair and tapped on his desk with a pencil. “What happened?”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, what happened that you’re with us now, instead of with him.”
Roger nodded and glanced to Candy. “Let’s just say I got tired of being the bad guy. I ran across a couple of your people while searching for you—”
“Me?”
Roger smiled. “Simon wasn’t too happy that you escaped his trap. He had us heading out in four different directions looking for your base of operation.” Hatcher nodded and waved him on. “Anyway, I ran into Hank and Wally. They brought me to meet Candy and…” He glanced at Candy again and grinned. “I liked what I saw.”
Hatcher watched Candy’s face flush and sighed. “So, you decided to turn against your own for…what? Something better?”
Roger opened his mouth to argue but held his tongue. He realized the pressure that Daniel must be under and the mistrust he would obviously hold for a stranger. He chose to simply nod. “It’s not like I was really with them. I rode with them. Like I said, there was safety in numbers. But once I saw this place? This town? All of the potential to create a real community?”
“There are other towns, you know.”
“True. But not nearly as many survivors as you might think.”
Hatcher nodded and his brows knit together. “Especially after Simon found them.”
Roger shrugged. “Sometimes he’d get stupid and kill off people that could have contributed to the cause, but—”
“Contributed to the cause?” Hatcher interrupted.
Roger blew his breath out. “This is going to take longer if you challenge every ill-chosen word that comes out of my mouth.” He eyed Hatcher cautiously, then proceeded. “By contribute, I mean to get the human race back on its feet. Save the species. That kind of contribution.”
Hatcher eyed him and fought the urge to bark at him. “You mean breeders?”
“No!” Roger was on his feet now. “I mean healthy young people who could help build something. Like you’re doing here.”
“We have old people, invalids, children…not exactly what you might think of when you think of rebuilding humanity.”
Roger exhaled slowly. “Every person has something to offer.” He threw his hands in the air. “Unless you stop challenging every statement I make…”
Hatcher held a hand up. “You’re right. Go on.” Here’s the rope, son. Hang yourself.
“Anyway, I rode with Simon until I ran into your group. There are enough in numbers here that if we could combine the two, we’d have a real shot at creating a community. At least, that was my thought.”
“Except Simon might not like the idea of sharing resources and would rather just take what he wanted and shoot the rest.”
“Exactly.” Roger sat back down. “Now, there are good people in the group. People like me who were just trying to survive the end of the world.” He waited a moment for Hatcher to attack him for his choice of words. When the attack didn’t come, he continued. “There are also bad apples. Not many, mind you, but enough to make things difficult.”
“Tell me about this Mike guy.”
“Big. Big and hairy and scary-looking as hell, but once you get to know him a little, you realize he’s not mean-hearted. He wants the same things as everybody else.”
Hatcher swallowed the lump in his throat as he thought of Mitch. “I know the type.”
“Anyway, he wants to help. He’s going to try to remove Simon from the equation.”
“You mean kill him.” Hatcher’s face was stoic.
Roger nodded. “If he can, yes. But you gotta understand, there’s no other way to deal with people like Simon. He’s crazy enough that if we tossed him and tried to build something good without him being the leader, he’d never stop. He’d do everything in his power to destroy what he couldn’t have. He’d build up another army and he’d—”
“I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it. If he’s half as crazy as you paint him, then he’s a rabid dog that needs
