She gave him a surprised look. “Really?”
Hatcher shrugged. “He drove me through a housing addition and mentioned that he wanted to pack up Candy and move her to a ‘private’ place.” He smiled as he remembered how excited Roger had been. “I even talked to Stanton about possibly doing to a gated community what he’s done here.”
“You mean, move all of us?”
Hatcher nodded slowly. “It might be nice to have neighbors that don’t share a wall with you.”
Vicky raised her brows and shook her head. “Start our own little community.” She grinned at him. “Call it Hatcherville.”
“The hell.” He sat up and gave her a dirty look. “I’ll go back to Yellowstone if you try that.”
She opened her mouth to argue when a knock on her door interrupted. “Hey.” Trevor gave her a nod. “Any chance you could look over Peanut?”
“Patricia!” Vicky came to her feet. “How are you feeling?”
“It’s Brandy, Miss Vicky.” The little girl gave her a beaming smile.
Vicky’s mouth fell open. “Well, look at who’s talking now.” She smiled as she opened her arms to greet the child.
“I better get going.” Hatcher came to his feet and nodded to Trevor. “Good to see you’re back.”
“You said we could return.” Trevor raised his brows. “It looks like you could use some help rebuilding.”
“Talk to Stanton. I’m sure he’d put a hammer in your hands.” Hatcher turned to his sister. “I’ll check on Roger on my way out.”
Vicky scooped up Brandy and set her on the corner of her desk. “So. We had your name all wrong, huh?” Brandy giggled as Vicky tickled her ribs. “I think her tickle box is broken. We’re gonna have to do surgery!”
Hatcher found the sound of a child’s laughter music to his ears and he pulled the door shut behind him. He looked in and found Roger sleeping. He turned to leave when Candy cleared her throat. “He asked for you.”
Hatcher turned back and gave her a sad look. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“Did you kill Simon?”
He shook his head slowly. “They’d already pulled up stakes.” He stood taller and blew his breath out slowly. “Hank found an old man that…” He looked away.
Candy nodded. “I overheard part of your conversation with Vicky.” She stood and stepped out of Roger’s room. “I’ll admit, at first I was angry that you didn’t put him down yourself.” She looked away and shook her head. “But the more you spoke, the more I wished…”
Hatcher nodded. “I know.”
She sighed heavily and looked up at him. “I had gotten so used to thinking of them as animals.”
“I remember somebody being heartbroken when children were killed attacking us.”
She nodded solemnly. “They might have been infected, but they were kids, not adults.”
“And they were all infected by the same virus. None of them were in their right minds, Candy.”
“I know.” Her voice was a whisper. “It’s going to be tough to think of them as people again, Hatch.”
“I know.” He inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly. “And it’s going to be even tougher to know which ones are trustworthy.”
Carol dropped her bag on the narrow bed and looked around the tiny cabin. “I swear, everything is smaller than I remember.”
“You’ll adapt.” Broussard stated. He glanced around the room then gave her a curt nod. “I’ll leave you to it.”
She stepped forward and took his hand. “I didn’t thank you for coming back for me.”
He shook his head, his face blushing. “It wasn’t anything I did. Dr. Miller swayed the higher ups to make that happen.”
“You convinced him that I was needed.” She looked up at him and he looked away.
“You were.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, you are.”
She pulled him closer and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Broussard felt his face flush. “You are most welcome, chéri.”
A knock at her door broke up their moment and both turned to watch it open slowly. “Are you decent?”
“Of course,” Carol stated as she stepped forward, pulling the door open. “Dr. Miller.”
Miller stepped inside and barely glanced at Broussard. “I was just curious if you’d eaten? They’re about to clear the mess decks, and while we may be scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel, it might be the last hot meal for a while.”
She nodded. “I could definitely refuel.” She looked to Broussard. “Care to join us?”
He shook his head and stepped into the hallway. “Go ahead.” He looked away, trying to think of an appropriate thing to say. “I’ll, uh…I’ll meet you at the lab in the morning.”
She watched him slip away and felt a momentary pang of regret.
“Shall we?” Miller held his arm out to her.
She gave him a false smile and took his arm. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
“I just assumed that your selection out there was rather limited.”
She shrugged as she pulled her door shut. “Mostly canned goods.”
He chuckled. “Well, depending on what magic the cooks have whipped up, canned goods might be better.” He led her down the hall toward the smell of food.
Andre Broussard slipped around the far corner and caught a glimpse of the pair before they rounded the other end of the hallway. He silently cursed himself for being less than debonair and fought the urge to follow them. He stepped back into the shadows and opted to find his bed.
He had a lot to think about.
Lana stood at the upstairs balcony and breathed in the cool evening air. “I can see why you chose this place.”
Simon looked down the hill and across the abandoned town. “It gave me a view of the cagers.”
Lana gave him a confused look then he pointed to the small compound. “The lights are just starting to come on.”
Her eyes widened and she smiled. “They have power.”
Simon nodded. “And running water and everything else we used to have before the world went to hell.”
“Oh, running water,” she cooed. “I can see why you’d want to take it over.”
Simon shook his head and stepped closer to
