Hatcher turned and gave him a confused look. “What do you mean, let them decide?”
Hank shrugged. “Let them meet her. Then let them vote. If they want them to go, they can. No big deal, right?” He glanced at Trevor who gently shook his head.
“Don’t put your people on the spot like that, man. It’s not worth causing a split.” He hooked his thumb back toward Patricia. “We’ll be okay. Really.”
Hank turned back to Hatcher and waved him over. “Tell Hatcher what she did.”
Trevor raised a brow. “When? In the bathroom?”
“No…when the Zulus cornered you.”
Hatcher crossed his arms and raised a brow at Trevor. “What did she do?”
Trevor swallowed hard and met his gaze. “She stood up to them.” He put the RV back into park and shut off the engine. “There was this big, tall Rager shaking a piece of pipe at me and screaming to beat hell. I had covered her face so she might not see them eat me and…” He glanced at Hank then back to Hatcher. “She jumps out and screams at them. She’s shaking her fist at them and she called me ‘daddy.’ It’s the only thing she’s tried to say.”
Hatcher gave Hank a surprised look and Hank nodded. “She was having problems…earlier. I heard her call him daddy.”
“No shit?”
Hank snorted. “Oh, there was a lot of that too, but…yeah. She said it.”
Hatcher sighed heavily and shook his head slowly. “You know this goes against everything. Everything we’ve built here is to keep us safe from them.”
Trevor held his hand up, stopping Hatcher. “Look, it’s no big deal, really. We raided a grocery store and we’re stocked up. I got nearly a full tank of gas and we don’t mind being on our own.”
“Wally said you needed me?” Vicky appeared at Hatcher’s side and he gave her a confused look.
“I did?”
Wally nodded toward the RV. “Let her check the girl out, Hatch. If they can’t stay, then at least let a trained medical professional give her the once over.” He glanced at Trevor. “Better to know if there’s something else wrong, right?”
Trevor sighed and gave him a polite smile. “I doubt she knows anything about Patricia’s kind.”
“Her kind?” Vicky gave them all a confused look.
“She’s infected,” Hatcher stated flatly. “Hank and Wally want us to let them move in.”
Vicky’s eyes couldn’t have been any wider. “Infected…like infected infected?”
Hatcher nodded. “Not like Brenda, but actually red eyed, grey skinned and…yeah. Infected.”
Vicky strained to see past Trevor. “Is she restrained?”
“No need.” Trevor turned and nodded to Patricia. “Come here, Peanut.” He waved at her and she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt.
Vicky gave an audible gasp when she saw the frail little girl appear by his side. “And she doesn’t display any hostility toward you?”
Trevor shook his head. “We look out for each other.” He pulled Patricia close and gave her a soft squeeze. “She’s my little girl.”
Vicky stood back and gave Hatcher a confused look. “I’ve never…I mean…”
“I know, right?” Hatcher gave her a sideways grin. “Just grab your doctoring bag and give her the once over if you don’t mind.”
Vicky nodded and looked to Trevor. “You’ll stay close by, right? Just in case?”
Trevor nodded. “It won’t be necessary, but yeah. And I appreciate you doing this.”
Vicky disappeared and Hatcher leaned against the RV. He looked to Hank and shook his head. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that they need help.” He glanced back at the slowly growing crowd of people who were working their way around for a better view. “That’s why we started this thing, isn’t it?”
“To keep the infected out. To keep Simon and his kind out. To keep our people safe.”
Hank shrugged. “I don’t know what I was thinking, Hatch. These people are alone, in need of help and—”
“No, we’re not.” Trevor shook his head. “I told you man, we’ll get by just fine on our own.”
Hank leaned toward the window. “It’s you and a little girl in a dying world.” He shook his head. “You decided to give this a try for her, remember?”
Trevor nodded slowly. “Of course I remember. But your boss is right.” He gave him a sad look. “Your people can’t be sure of her. If it’s just the two of us, I’m willing to put myself on the line to keep her safe.”
Wally shook his head. “I’m telling ya, she’s not a threat.”
Hatcher sighed and looked through the front gate at the kids chasing each other through the courtyard. “Maybe not, but we just can’t take that risk.” He gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Wally.”
Broussard settled in behind the table with the monitors. The Chief pointed to the top monitor. “They’ve just begun to spray the cure.” He tapped the side monitor. “This is the feed from our people on the ground…well, what’s left of them.”
“There’s nothing but corpses littered everywhere,” Broussard stated the obvious.
“The Zeds stay out of direct sunlight these days. From what I’m hearing, it hurts them.”
Broussard nodded slightly and continued to study the screens. “Do they know where any populations of them are?”
The Chief pulled out a map of the area. “They’re spotted quite regularly coming from these two buildings.”
“So they’ll concentrate the spraying in those areas for now?”
“Roger that. Saturate the area and hope that some of it works its way through the broken windows.”
Broussard leaned back and continued to stare at the screens. “There,” he pointed, “…is that one?”
The Chief leaned across the table and nodded. “Certainly fits the description.” He smiled. “And it looks as though he’s been sprayed. Look at him wiping at his arms.”
Broussard sighed and nodded slowly. “If he goes back to the rest of them, it should spread rapidly.”
The Chief stepped back and gave him a curious look. “I wonder how they plan to address the situation once your cure is spread?”
“Situation?”
The Chief crossed his arms and nodded toward the monitors. “There’s only small pockets
