Dave Dugan turned out to be a stocky man in his forties with too much facial hair and a fondness for checkered clothing. His shirt and his pants were both plaid, neither of them matching. He stank of home brew and he needed a bath. Still, Rain politely shook his hand.
“Dave, why don’t you tell Rain here all about the dead bodies you saw the Marines taking.”
Dave peered at Rain through bloodshot eyes. “Dunno, Albie. She’s hanging with that Marine fellow. Can’t be trusted, them Marines.”
“Now Dave,” Albie patted his hand. “You know what I told you. Micah Caine is a hero. The minute he found out what those Marines were up to, he left. He’s on our side now. So, you just go right on and tell Rain what you know.” She gave Rain a nod and then placed a bottle of brew on the table before melting into the crowd.
Rain sank into the chair opposite Dave Dugan. “Another drink, Dave?”
He smiled at that and held out a chipped mug. “Don’t mind if I do.”
As Dave rambled on about his Marine conspiracy theories, Rain casually scanned the room, memorizing the faces of her new neighbors. Her ears perked up when Dave mentioned dead bodies disappearing from compounds.
“You actually saw the Marines taking dead bodies?” she prodded.
Dugan placed his finger over his lips and leaned in close, sending a waft of beer-scented breath straight up Rain’s nose. “Shhhh. Careful now, they got eyes everywhere.” He cast a quick look around the room as if he expected to see giant eyeballs looming out of the shadows. “Nobody believes me, see. But I seen ‘em. I did. Clear as I’m seeing you now.”
Rain wasn’t entirely sure Dugan was seeing anything particularly clearly at the moment, but she’d take his word for it. He was the first person she’d spoken to who had more to offer than just rumors and speculation. Who claimed to have actually seen things for himself. She hoped he really wasn’t lying.
She scanned the room. No one was paying them any attention. The adults were busy chatting over their drinks or playing card games while the kids were chasing each other around the tables.
“Okay, tell me about it. About the Marines taking the bodies. What did you see?”
“I don’t know.” He fidgeted, obviously nervous.
“Here, you look thirsty.” His glass was still about half full. “Let me top up your drink.” She poured some more beer into his mug.
Dave Dugan looked from his now full cup to her and back again. Then he took a big gulp before taking another quick glance around. Assuring himself no one was listening, he leaned forward.
“All right, then. But don’t you go telling nobody. If they find out I told ...” He drew a line across his throat with his forefinger.
“I promise. I won’t tell a soul.” Rain had zero problem lying. Finding out what the Marines were doing and stopping them was more important than keeping her word to a drunk man as far as she was concerned.
Dugan took another gulp of home brew. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “The first time, see, was back in the beginning.”
“The beginning?”
“Of the Wars.” He said it like she was stupid. “Not long after the dragons came. Maybe a year. Maybe more. I was a kid then. Don’t remember much.”
Rain guessed he’d been in his teens and had probably spent the entire time since then drunk. It was a wonder he hadn’t completely pickled his brains.
“Okay, so what did you see? Back then.”
He frowned, scrunching up his face. “I was still living in the city back then. There were a few of us left in the cities. The ones that didn’t get nuked. We scrounged around for food, avoided the drags and the Marines. They weren’t like the Marines from Before, you know.”
“I’ve heard.”
He nodded. “Before, the Marines were good men. Honorable. Not anymore.” He shook his head sadly. “Not anymore.”
“The bodies?” she prompted.
He drained his cup and held it out for a refill. Rain obliged and Dave continued. “Well, one day I was in some store or other trying to find something to eat when I heard the humvees. I knew it was Marines so I hid. I watched. They had a couple big trucks with ‘em filled with bodies in black body bags.”
“Clean up, maybe?” Rain suggested. It would make sense to clean up the bodies. Prevent disease.
Dugan shook his head. “You got to understand, back then we didn’t bother with the bodies. There were just too damn many of them to bury anymore. Mostly we just burned ‘em or left ‘em to rot. Didn’t have much choice. And the military was too busy fighting to bother about bodies. The cities had mostly been abandoned anyway.
“In any case, I overheard some of them talking. They kept on saying something about somebody named Barnes needing more bodies. That was the start of it.”
Barnes. Figured. “You saw them again?”
“Sure thing. It was years later, mind you. Before I came to this place. I was passing through a compound east of here a ways. We were attacked by a drag. Killed half dozen fighters. Men and women.” He stared into his beer for a moment before taking a drink and continuing.
“The Marines showed up less than an hour after the drag was finally killed. They did their usual confiscation of supplies and then they took the bodies.” He looked a little pale as he hunched over his drink. “Didn’t matter that there was kids crying and people screaming and whatnot. They just took ‘em and left.”
Just like Sutter after she’d killed the dragon back at the compound. “You see them after that?”
“Couple years ago. I was out on one of my supply runs and I came across a small compound further north a piece. I only caught the tail end. I passed the Marines on the road. They
