She remembered the look on Andre’s face when she explained her theory of how the military would “use” women as breeding stock to rebuild humanity. She sighed inwardly and pulled the thin blanket tighter around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Andre,” she whispered softly. “I hope they didn’t hurt you.”
She rolled over and tried to push the thought from her mind. She saw the expression on the soldier’s face that hit him across the back of the head before they dragged him off. He was filled with self-righteous anger, as if to say, “How dare you drag us out here to get you?”
She fought the urge to cry but her body rebelled. She could feel herself sobbing before she even realized that she’d begun.
Simon paced the grocery store and glared at his sick troops. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea that so many had fallen ill so quickly; just hours before they were mastering new weapons. They were throwing spears and shooting arrows and waving knifes like true hunters.
He leaned against the checkout station and slowly peered toward the open doors. He could see a few of his clan milling about outside, their voices low.
His paranoid mind was curious and he narrowed his gaze as he pushed off the station and silently made his way toward the entrance. He paused just inside the doors and let the breeze carry the voices to him.
“They need to be well,” a woman softly stated.
“What is causing this?” one of the new hunters asked.
Clyde stood stoic, his eyes constantly scanning the area beyond the parking lot. “We fight tomorrow regardless.” It wasn’t a question. “If we have to carry them, we will.”
“And those who die?” the man asked.
Clyde never wavered. “We eat.”
The woman nodded. “They will strengthen us for the battle.”
Simon smiled to himself as he stepped out into the night air. “Anything out there?”
Clyde shook his head. “Nothing.”
Simon watched the new hunter and the woman step back as he approached. They allowed their Alpha room, their eyes downward.
“How many are sick?” When nobody spoke he reached out and took the woman by the chin, lifting her eyes to meet his own. “How many sick?”
She seemed to tremble in his hand. The few wisps of hair still clinging to her head shivered as she shook her head. “Most.”
“How many hunters are well?”
Clyde finally turned his attention from the perimeter and faced him. “Only a few.”
“Enough that we could properly study the Cagers?” He waited while Clyde processed the question.
“Study?”
“Watch them. See what they usually do at night. Learn their ways so we can decide how to beat them.”
Clyde’s face twisted in confusion again. “We beat them with sticks. And rocks.”
“How we win!” Simon was beginning to lose patience. “How we kill them all.”
Clyde still couldn’t understand. He simply stared at Simon. “We kill them.”
Simon inhaled deeply to yell but slowly blew it out. He squeezed the sides of his head and fought the urge to strike the man. “We need to figure out HOW we are going to get to them so we can kill them. They are…” His mind fought for the word fortified. “They are INSIDE. We have to get to them to kill them.”
Clyde nodded slowly. “We go inside. We kill them.”
Simon sighed heavily. “Gather the hunters that are able to travel. We go to the Cagers and watch them. We decide HOW we will get inside to kill them.”
“No fight?”
“Not tonight.” Simon smiled broadly. “Tonight we look. We plan.”
Clyde nodded and turned for the door. Simon eyed the small framed woman standing in front of him. He lifted her face again and stuck his fingers into her mouth, checking her teeth. “You’ll do.”
He pushed the other hunter toward the door. “Make sure he gets weapons. In case we’re spotted.” The hunter nodded quickly and darted toward the door.
Simon turned his attention back to the woman and gripped the tattered remains of her shirt. With a tug he ripped it from her body and gave her an approving stare. “We have a few a minutes.” He pushed her to the ground as he struggled with his pants.
As he climbed atop her, he grabbed her by the jaw and turned her face to his. “Woman, can’t you pretend to be interested?”
Chapter 19
Hatcher turned at the knock at his door. “Yeah?”
A sentry stepped inside. “I’m sorry to bother ya, but we’ve had a couple of incidents.”
Hatcher pushed away from his desk. “Come in. What’s going on?”
The sentry gave a cautious glance through the window of the office then stepped forward. “I don’t want to get anybody in trouble…”
“But…” Hatcher waved him on.
“We had a couple of incidents that just shouldn’t have been.” The man slumped his shoulders. “Heck, it may be nothing.”
“I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me.” Hatcher waved the man further into the office and motioned to a chair. “Just spit it out and we’ll patch it together if we have to.”
The sentry sat down and pulled his cap from his head, working the material between nervous hands. “I just got off watch and…” He hesitated, swallowing against his sore throat. “And there were a couple of occurrences that I wouldn’t normally think anything of except they happened so close together.”
Hatcher sighed and gave the man a bored look. “Just get it off your chest.”
“Well, sir, there was a couple of near skirmishes that we had to break up.” He looked up at Hatcher with confusion on his face. “I mean, guys were about to start throwing punches until we stepped between them and made them go opposite directions.” He sighed and sat back. “Like I said, I wouldn’t think twice about policing a fight but this was different. There weren’t no need for
