“There has to be something around here.” He looked down the dusty road but nothing stood out as promising.
Trevor walked back to the overpass and started to climb the embankment when he realized Patricia was gone. His coat lay in a heap at the top, but the girl was nowhere to be found.
In a panic, Trevor spun a slow circle. Should he call out for her? What if somebody else heard him?
He ran back to the road and stared down each direction. “Where are you, Patricia?” he whispered to himself, “why the hell would you run off?”
He squinted in the early morning sun, looking for any sign of her when a scream broke the morning silence.
Trevor froze and stared in the direction of the blood curdling screech. In a panic, he began to run towards the screaming, praying that she hadn’t been discovered by her own kind. She was too gentle and soft hearted to deal with the crazy cannibals that he’d dealt with. He broke into a full run. “Patricia!” he yelled. He slowed to a jog and yelled again, “Patty!” He stopped in the street and slowly turned in a circle. “Dammit Tricia, answer me!”
He felt the hair on his neck stand on end when another scream broke the silence and he turned to face his fate.
Patricia stood in the shadow of a small outbuilding, her eyes wide with panic. Trevor felt a wave of relief when he saw her lilac purple hoodie. He stepped toward her. “Come here, baby girl.” He held his arms open, his hands motioning her to him. “Come here.”
She took off towards him at a dead run and he dropped to his knees, praying that she didn’t intend to eat him. She nearly bowled him over when she ran into his embrace, her thin little arms wrapping around him in a bear hug.
Trevor lost his balance and fell back, taking her with him. “I’m sorry, Peanut. I’m so sorry.” He held her tight while she squeezed him, mewing. “I was trying to find us a safe place or a car or…” He rolled to his side and lifted her from the ground.
He carried her back to the shadows under the overpass and cradled her while she whimpered. “I won’t leave you ever again, okay? Just please don’t take off on me like that.” He sniffed back the tears that he hadn’t realized he was crying and held her close, rocking her. “You scared the life out of me.”
Patricia peered up at him, the hoodie hiding her face. She reached up and brushed the tears from his cheek and stared at her hand. He chuckled and gave her a smile. “Yeah, I know. I’m just a big softie.” He sniffled again and wiped at his face. “I’m just a big baby, huh?”
He pulled her hoodie back and saw the streaks that ran down her cheeks. He leaned back and studied her face. He raised his hand to her cheek and wiped the tears away. Patricia’s eyes grew wide and she cupped the side of her face.
Trevor couldn’t tell who was more surprised by her tears as she stared at her hand. She slowly looked up and met his gaze. He watched her lower lip quiver slightly before she buried her face in his chest again.
Trevor continued to rock her, stroking her back while she mewed. “I’ve got you,” he murmured. “Daddy’s got you.”
Chapter 12
Daniel attached the clamps that kept the chain link fabric in place while others attached theirs. He stepped back and smiled. “Damned if it don’t look professional.”
“If we had more time I could vinyl coat the bases and we could consider making it electric. There are standalone solar chargers out there that can handle up to twenty five miles or more and—”
“Doc.” Hatcher held a hand up to stop him. “One thing at a time.”
“As I explained earlier Mr. Hatcher, I do not hold a doctorate in any discipline. I do, however—”
“It’s either doc or maestro. I prefer doc.” Hatcher leaned close and lowered his voice. “It just rolls off the tongue easier.”
Will Stanton sighed and shook his head. “You are the director, Mr. Hatcher.”
Hatcher grinned at him. “Director. I like that.”
“Don’t get too full of yourself just yet, Mr. Director.” Roger nudged him. He pointed to the gap between the wall and the fence. “Don’t you have a moat to put in?”
Hatcher rolled his eyes. “No, that’s Wally and Hank’s project. I’ll have nothing to do with it.”
“Don’t talk too loudly. Hank already has a front end loader picked out for the project.” Roger raised a brow at him. “Unless you pull the plug before they get started.”
Hatcher shook his head as he walked off. “I can’t believe they’re all talking about a moat now,” he muttered to himself as the crew had their fun at his expense.
Hatcher wandered into the lobby then peered out the front at the men replacing the wrought iron gates with heavier, steel plated ones.
“Whatcha doing?”
Hatcher didn’t have to turn to recognize Buck’s voice. “I’m thinking.”
“What about?” Buck sidled in next to him. “This is really cool how you’ve brought all this together.”
Hatcher shook his head. “I didn’t do it.” He turned around and nodded to the rear court. “They did. I just made suggestions.”
“It’s still cool.” Buck took a deep breath and sighed. “Feels like freedom.”
“Does it?” He turned to stare at the front again. “I have this horrible feeling that I’m missing something. Something major. Something right in front of my eyes that I’m just not seeing.”
Buck shrugged. “Beats me, Hatch. From what I’ve seen, you’ve covered about every contingency out there.”
“Okay. You’re pretty creative. If you wanted to break in, how would you do it?”
Buck smiled. “I’d knock on the front gate and beg for sanctuary.”
“Not funny.”
Buck gave him a knowing look. “I wasn’t joking.” He pointed outside the gate. “I’ve been on that end looking in, remember? Unless I had a helicopter and a
