Simon nodded and came to his feet. “So we leave.” He took her hands into his and pulled her closer. “First thing tomorrow. You grab your stuff, we load it in here and we hit the road.” He pulled her face closer to his and lowered his voice. “We put as much distance between us and her as we can.”
Veronica scoffed and turned away. “These people count on me, Simon. I’m their doctor. I’m their sounding board.”
“People survived for years without doctors, Vee.” He pulled her closer again and brushed her hair from her face. “They’ll be fine.”
She gave him a look that he’d seen before on other women’s faces. It was the “you’re an idiot” look. “I can’t just leave.”
“Fine.” He squared his shoulders and gave her a stern look. “Then we’ll just have to make Lana and her new fucktoy leave.”
“Just like that?”
He nodded. “Just like that.”
“And when they refuse your invitation?”
Simon’s face drew hard. “It ain’t an invitation. It’s an ultimatum.”
Jedidiah Proctor huffed as he dragged the struggling body behind him. “Hush! Be still!” He tugged the young woman into the dim light of the candle and leaned close, forcing her to gasp as his face came into view. “You’re doing the Lord’s work, my dear.”
She struggled against her bindings and tried to scream through the cotton t-shirt gag that he’d shoved into her mouth.
Jedidiah came to his full height and stared down at her. “You were a difficult one to locate.” He pulled the handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the perspiration on his forehead. “If the angel hadn’t told me where to find you…” He chuckled to himself as he tucked the handkerchief back into his trouser pocket. “Let’s just say that our Lord’s army might have had to do without.”
He gripped the thick ropes that bound her legs and dragged her unceremoniously up the steps of the theater. He dragged her across the commercial carpet as it formed rug burns on her soft skin.
The young woman continued to struggle and call out as Jedidiah pulled her to her feet. “I said, HUSH!” He jerked her to him and glared into her eyes. “You want to be free?”
She froze and stared at him with tear filled eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and babbled something incoherent.
“Very well then.” He bent low and untied the bindings that held her ankles then jerked her closer as his hands fumbled with the thick ropes around her wrists. She continued to stare at him with wide eyes as his bird like hands reached up and tugged the gag from her mouth. “If you want to be free…then be free.”
He crossed his arms and stared at her with hard eyes. “But you can’t go back the way we came. The monsters may have seen us come here.” He hooked his chin towards the steel double doors leading to the movie theater then slowly pointed to them. “You’ll have to go through there.” His voice softened and he lowered his eyes. “There’s a fire exit on the right, near the bottom, by the screen. It leads to the back of the theater and the commercial loading zone.”
She stood in place, her body trembling as he spoke. Her voice cracked as she muttered something unintelligible.
“The angels told me where you were. It was God’s will that I found you.” He sighed and removed his hat, his hand fishing the handkerchief out again. “But seeing the fear in your eyes…” He dabbed the sweat from his brow. “Go. Now, before I change my mind.”
He turned his back to her and listened as she bolted for the door, her feet making slight thumping noises on the thickly textured carpet. He looked up and smiled as she jerked the theater door open and ran into the darkened space.
The growls and howls that echoed through the theater were quickly replaced by high-pitched screams that lasted only a few moments. “This is my body which is given unto you…”
22
Hatcher’s eyes snapped open and he strained to listen. He had dreamed that a giant bear was growling and tearing at his front door. His body visibly relaxed and he collapsed back onto his mattress as the next volley of snorts and growls echoed into his room.
He turned over and blinked at the early morning sunlight pushing through the closed blinds and sighed. He rolled over and tugged his pillow tightly to his head, hoping to drown out Rich’s incessant snoring.
Frustrated, he dragged his pillow away and slid from the bed. He had slept in his clothes and bent to tug his boots on. He made a mental note to move Rich to the other side of the house while he stayed with him. He stretched and did his best to ignore the angry bear in the next room.
He trudged into the kitchen and started the coffee maker, falling into the chair at the small dining room table as the little machine warmed up. A shadow moving outside his window caught his attention and he stumbled to the sill and pulled the thin curtains back. “What are you doing?” he asked as he tapped on the glass.
Roger appeared a bit too enthusiastic as he held out a roll of cable. “Sorry man. Did I wake you?”
Hatcher lifted the window and leaned out. “I couldn’t sleep.” He blinked in the early morning light and looked up towards the roof. “What are you doing?”
“The last of the cameras are mounted on the other side of the complex. Will wanted me to run these cables to the roof so he could tie them to the coupler.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Roger grinned as he stepped
