“Of course there’s the Dragon Warriors.”
Rain blinked. “The Dragon Warriors? What have they got to do with anything?”
Albie leaned forward, peering intently into Rain’s eyes. “Not exactly normal, are they? Men strong enough to wield a diamond-edged blade and take down a dragon single-handed. Sounds like a super solider if you ask me.”
Rain hadn’t thought of the Warriors being super soldiers. The Marines had always insisted the Dragon Warriors were specially trained to fight the drags and that the reason there weren’t many of them was the rarity of diamonds for their blades, not the rarity of trained men. Though the super soldier angle would explain things. Then again, what did any of that have to do with the Marines taking dead bodies?
She decided to bite the bullet. “What about bodies?”
The two elders exchanged a look. “Bodies?”
“Yeah. Did the Marines ever take dead bodies?”
There was a long pause.
“Well, now,” Hank said at last, “Dave Dugan once claimed he’d seen a man killed by a dragon. He said the Marines showed up and bundled the man’s body into a truck. Took off with it.”
“Dave Dugan is a drunk and a liar,” Albie said.
“True,” Hank agreed. “But that’s a pretty crazy thing to make up.”
“They took the body of my friend,” Rain said quietly. “He died in a dragon attack and the Marines took him.”
The two stared at her for a minute. “Maybe Dave Dugan wasn’t lying,” Albie finally admitted.
“I need to find out what they’re doing over there at that base. I won’t have them experimenting on Sutter’s body.”
“Well, now, I don’t know how you’re going to do that.” Hank shook his head. “The base is full of Marines, heavily guarded. No way they’re gonna let you waltz in there.”
“There’s got to be a way ...” Rain was interrupted by a loud pounding on the door.
Hank hurried to open it and a teenage boy spilled into the room, eyes wide with panic. “Hurry,” he gasped, “you gotta hide. The Marines are coming.”
Six
THERE WAS A FLURRY of activity as Hank quickly locked and barred the door. The boy blew out the light on the bar then ducked behind it.
“Now keep real still,” Albie whispered. “Don’t make a sound.”
Rain heard the familiar rumbling outside on the street. Marine unit Humvees. Like the ones that had taken Sutter’s body from the compound.
Her fists clenched and she had to consciously relax them. She wanted so badly to go after them. To beat the truth out of them, if necessary, but getting caught now wouldn’t do anybody any good. Least of all Sutter.
The rumbling of the Humvees continued. Sounded like at least four of them, maybe more. Not a usual patrol then. Something big.
Finally, the engine noise faded. Rain heard what sounded like a rooster crow. She hadn’t heard a rooster since she was a kid.
“That’s the all clear.” Hank spoke up from where he crouched with the boy behind the bar.
One of the lanterns flared to life sending eerie shadows dancing across Albie’s face. “Good riddance, if you ask me. Damn Marines.”
“Wasn’t always that way, Albie. These ain’t real Marines. Not like the old days.” Hank poured himself a glass of moonshine. To Rain, his hand looked a little shaky.
“Don’t I know it. Pour me some of that, too.” Albie sank back into the chair next to Rain. “So you see that’s how we survive. We make sure the town looks deserted and we hide right in their shadow. They pass through and never even know we’re here, just inches away.”
Rain shook her head. She couldn’t imagine living that way, always fearing discovery. Bad enough hiding from the drags. But if the Marines really were taking people and using them for experiments, she could understand hiding from them.
The boy brought glasses for everyone before gulping his own drink down in one shot. He looked hardly more than fourteen.
“You old enough to be drinking?” El would never allow someone so young to imbibe.
“We figure if he’s old enough to stand watch, he’s old enough to drink. The old ways are long gone. No sense in them anymore.” Hank tossed back his own beer and poured another.
Rain shrugged. “Fair enough. Now about the Marine base.”
“You goin’ to the base?” It was the first the boy had spoken since his dramatic entrance.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Well, now would be a good time. Looked like half the Marines cleared out in that convoy. Got to be low on guards. They even took their Warrior with them.”
Her eyes widened. “They have a Dragon Warrior?” She’d never seen one with any of the envoys that had visited Sanctuary.
“Just one. Seen him sometimes.” The boy slurped at his drink. “He only goes out when they hunt drags.”
Rain supposed the Marines wouldn’t waste a Warrior on a compound raid, super soldier or not. It was too bad, in a way. She’d have loved to have seen one up close.
“Guess that’s my cue to get moving. Thanks for everything.” She stood up.
Hank eyed her over the rim of his glass. “You sure you want to do this now?”
“Got no choice. They took my partner.” His dead body. But that was beside the point.
“We can’t help you once you leave this town, you understand that?” Albie’s face was half hidden in shadow, but her voice held apology. “Our duty is to our people.”
“I understand. Thanks for your hospitality. Hard to come by these days.”
“You’re welcome back any time.” It wasn’t too dark to catch Albie’s smile. “Always nice to know there’s still other human beings left in this screwed-up old world.”
Amen to that. With a last look, Rain slipped out the door and disappeared down the dusty streets of Fossil.
THE DAY RAIN MET SUTTER was the first time he saved her life.
She couldn’t have been more than five. Maybe six. She’d gotten outside the compound and Padre Pedro had sent the ten-year-old Sutter to find her. Ten was practically an adult in their world.
“Hey,
