Bryan moved on the far bridge, so he bolted toward him. His steps echoed on the bridge. Bryan didn't look up from his shooting. "Josh."
"We need to evac. Now."
"I agree. Gabriele and Randi are downstairs. Let's book." They ran down to the ATV barn. Gabriele was there, but Randi was gone.
"Where is Randi?" Josh asked.
"She went looking for Vixen. She said this won't be over until the woman is dead, and she's going to take her out."
Josh muttered under his breath. "Y'all take the Charger and get out of here while I find her."
"Not leaving until we can all go." Gabriele shook her head. "Not happening."
"You're injured." Josh needed to find Randi, and standing here arguing with this woman was wasting time. "Just go."
"We'll be fine." Bryan motioned for him to go find Randi. "I'll stay with her. We'll have each other's backs."
Josh darted to the fence line. Thank the good Lord Vixen's people were lousy shots for the most part. Still, they'd done a lot of damage.
Where was Randi? He stood next to Gabriele and moved his gaze over the compound grounds searching for Randi. She slipped from behind the house. She was headed for the secret tunnel. He raced over and grabbed her. "Stop. We have to evac."
"Then go." She glared at him. "I'm taking Vixen out once and for all."
"Not like this. You're going to get killed."
"That doesn't matter. The woman won't stop until she kills us all."
"I get it, but let's evac, then regroup. We can always set up a sniper to take her out."
"No. If we wait, something will happen."
"Randi, we're all exhausted. Come on."
Shots rang out and something slammed into his hip. His leg buckled, and he fell to the ground. Randi grabbed his arm. "Can you move at all?"
"Yeah." He felt his hip. "Flesh. No bone."
She grimaced as she gave the house one more look, and helped him up. "Okay, let's evac." He leaned on her and they headed for the car. He limped, but could still bear weight on the leg. Another sign it was just a flesh wound. She opened the door and helped him inside. "Bryan, you take them back to the camp. I'm going to search the perimeter for the others."
Randi took off on one of the four-wheelers heading into the perimeter.
Bryan drove through the ATV barn and the nearest fence. "Do you think she'll be okay?"
"I pray she will." Josh groaned and shifted off his hip. "She's tough, but sometimes she thinks she's invincible."
"As long as she doesn't go back for Vixen, she'll be fine." Gabriele tore her shirt and handed a large swath to Josh. "Put some pressure on that wound to stem the blood loss."
Her French accent had disappeared since they'd been fighting. "What's the deal Gabriele? You aren't really French, are you?"
She stared at him over the back of the seat for so long, he didn't expect her to answer.
"I spent a year before college in France and learned the language." She shrugged. "For some reason, men tend to pay more attention to someone with a French accent. I automatically became prettier because I was exotic, I guess."
Since he was asking, he might as well pose the question that had been bugging him since she'd shown up. "Why Uncle Reg? I mean, he's a great guy, but he was married with two children, and old. At least old compared to you."
"He was kind to me. Nicer than anyone has ever treated me in my life. I didn't want to get involved with a married man, but as we worked together, it just happened. He's an incredible man. I've never met anyone as intelligent as him, and he's nice looking. I know you might not think so, but from a woman's perspective, he's a real catch."
Josh still didn't get it, but he wasn't a woman. He groaned and shifted again. Thankfully, they'd taken all of the medicines so they could treat the wounded. Without Miguel and Aunt Mary Anne, it would all fall on Uncle Reg. He frowned. "Can you stitch people up and help treat them?"
"I'm a medical doctor who chose research. Reginald is a microbiologist. Between the two of us we should be able to take care of the wounded." She grimaced. "As well as we can with what we have to work with."
Bryan pulled into the campground. "Do you know where they are?"
"No, but we can't call them on the radio. Vixen's listening to us."
"I heard." He drove forward. "Mark said something about finding a cabin near the back."
They drove around for a while and Josh spotted the RV. "There." They reached the cabin and Bryan came to his aid. "I'm good. Help Gabriele."
Adriana met them at the door. "Where's Randi?" Panic shone in her eyes, and her hands trembled. "Please don't tell me she's dead, too."
Josh put his arm around her leaned on her as they walked inside. "She's fine. She's getting the rest of group and will be here at any time." He prayed his words were true. He never should've left her there alone.
Randi flew into the perimeter searching for their family. Jill lay on the ground with a bullet hole in head. Randi cursed under her breath. She'd kill Vixen. One way or another. A few yards from Jill lay Aaron. She ran to him and felt for a pulse. Nothing. At least they put up a good fight from the looks of the bodies lying in the dirt.
If she didn't find Ethan and Nia…. No. She refused leave them there to die. She swiped at the sweat dripping off her face and willed her trembling body to still. Unless Vixen had already killed them.
She drove toward the far fence where she'd parked a truck earlier. Nia sat in the back seat with her head down. Blood dripped down her face. Randi ran to her and felt for a pulse. Nia grabbed her hand. "Thank God it's you. I've been playing dead for what seems like hours."
Ethan lay on the other side of Nia. Was he dead?
Randi pulled her hair back to look at the wound. Not deep but she did have a bullet wound creasing the side of her head. "Girl, your hair will never look right again."
Nia smiled. "Let's get Ethan out of here. He has a bad wound. I've been holding pressure since we got shot."
Randi climbed into passenger seat and flew through the fence. "Is he alive?"
"Barely. He's lost a lot of blood. Miguel will have his work cut out for him to keep him alive."
A lump lodged in Randi's throat, and a small cry escaped her lips.
"Not Miguel?"
She nodded.
"Who else did we lose, Randi?"
"Mom."
"No." Sobs came from the back seat, and Randi's eyes filled with tears. She swiped at them. No time for grief. She was responsible for keeping Ethan alive, and if she didn't get them to help soon, they wouldn't make it.
She flew up to the Ranger's Station at the park and hit the breaks. The truck rolled to a stop. Where did she go from here?
"Can't you call them on the radio?"
"Vixen has one of our walkies, she's been listening to us. I don't want to clue her in on where we are."
Bryan pulled up in the Charger and motioned for them to follow him. Was he coming to look for her or heading back to Vixen? She thought she could trust him, but a niggling of doubt still lingered.
She followed Bryan, but the roads and the landscape passed in a blur. Was Ethan still alive? How long did they have before he bled out? She parked and jerked her door open. "I need help getting Ethan inside. They shot him in the chest, but he's still alive."
Bryan grabbed Ethan's shoulders, and she lifted his legs while Nia walked beside them holding pressure on his chest wound.
"I was hoping you were close behind me." They reached the bed, and Bryan eased Ethan's shoulders onto it. "If you hadn't shown up in the park within a little bit, I was coming to look for you."
Randi frowned. "Why? I can take care of myself."
"I know, but it's hard enough leaving those who died out in the field. No way was I leaving you behind."
She nudged his shoulder with hers. Reginald started an IV in Ethan as Gabriele cut off his shirt. Did these two have a clue how to save him?
"Gabriele, are you okay to work on him? What about your i
njuries?"
"Reg did as much repair as possible. I'm taking pain pills and propping it up, but I'm all Ethan has right now. We'll deal with my leg once he's stable." She motioned to Reginald. "Wide open, Reg." Gabriele probed the wound. "Bullet was a through and through. Looks like no bone or organs hit. If I can stop the bleeding, we're golden. Unless he's lost too much blood already."
"What about a transfusion?" Bryan asked.
"No way to cross match. There's more to it than having the same blood type." Gabriele swiped her pale face with her forearm.
"Let me get that." Josh swabbed her face with a cloth. "Can you stitch up the artery?"
"Yeah. It's not as friable as I thought at first."
What happened to her French accent? She sounded more like someone from Louisiana, and she acted like someone who'd been in the middle of a battle or two and had to keep going in spite of excruciating pain. She would ask Gabriele later when she wasn't trying to save to Ethan's life.
Randi walked into the other room. They'd lost Miguel, Mom, Ayanna, Aaron, Daniel, Mary Anne, and Jill in one fell swoop. Why didn't she insist they evacuate and let Vixen have the compound? The blood of all of those people, and Ethan's was on her hands.
Josh lay on the sofa with his hip elevated. How bad was the injury? She walked to him. "Has anyone stitched you up?"
"Yeah. Reginald took care of it. Gabriele's leg is bad. I'm hoping she doesn't lose it."
Randi flinched. "Bone?"
"And muscle tissue. Man, I don't know how she's in there working on Ethan. I'm glad she is, but I don't know how she's not passed out by now. She refused any IV pain meds when Reginald probed it. Told him what to look for, and how to repair it to the best of his abilities."
"How does she know how to do all of this?"
"Trauma surgeon before she decided she didn't like that life, biomed engineering was her undergrad degree, so she went into research."
Randi patted his shoulder. "Did you get pain meds?"
"Yeah. Adriana's pushing pills to everyone who needs them."
"Good. Try to rest. We'll need to regroup and get out of this area as soon as Ethan and Gabriele are able."
She walked outside and took a deep breath. The clean winter air filled her lungs, and she could almost imagine she hadn't lost most of her family. She'd avoided her dad and sister because the accusing looks bored into her soul. They knew this was her fault as much as she did.
The door opened, but she refused to turn around. She prayed it wasn't her father or Adriana.
"There you are." Adriana grabbed her and pulled her into her arms. "I was so afraid you were going to die out there. When Bryan and the others came back without you, I almost lost it."
Randi didn't say anything. She couldn't. If she did, she might lose control of her emotions.
"I'm so sorry for everything I've ever said to you. When they killed Mom, you held it together in a way I never could have. If it hadn't been for you, I would've climbed out of the car and grieved over my mother right there in the midst of everyone else dying."
Randi pulled back from Adriana. "No. You're tougher than you think."
She shook her head. "Not like you. Of course, you just stuff your feelings down so you can get things done." She tugged on Randi's belt. "It's not good for you, though. The more you quash your emotions, the skinnier you get."
Randi smiled. "Not sure how to do anything else, but you are tougher than you think."
"You have to take care of yourself." Adriana patted Randi on the back. "We've only got each other, now."
"And Dad."
"Yeah, and Dad."
The door opened and Bryan walked out. "Randi, want to make a run with me? I'm going to spy on Vixen's group for a while. I'd like to see how many of their people we took down. If she doesn't have plenty of minions, she won't attack until they come up with a way to recruit more fighters."
"Yeah."
"I'll come, too."
Randi rubbed her sister's back. "Dad needs you. I don't have a clue how to help him, but you can. You've been in his shoes."
Tears shone in her eyes. "Just promise me you'll be safe."
"I won't let anything happen to her."
"You'd better not." She jabbed a finger in his chest. "Otherwise, you'll answer to me."
Vixen stepped onto the porch and surveyed the damage. Alton had warned her they would lose people, but she never dreamed it would be so many. How many were wounded? And who all ran like yellow bellies?
Jane joined her on the porch. She had a bandage on her arm. "We have many dead and even more wounded. I don't think anyone came out unscathed except you and Doc."
"Is Doc sober?"
Jane twisted her mouth up in a way that looked painful and promised to add even more wrinkles to her face. "No more so than usual."
"We must find a true doctor. This can't go on. The man's going to kill someone."
"He's all we've got for now, and we have lots of wounded to attend to. Alton's helping by stitching up those who have minor injuries, but we have no antibiotics. Doc said he told Bryan to find some but he never did."
Vixen let out a curse. Bryan Ridley would pay for his traitorous actions. If it was the last thing she did, she would kill him and Reginald Barker. Who did those men think they were defying her and stealing her dog? "Where's Alton, now?"
"He's in the downstairs bedroom helping Doc."
"Send him out here, now. I need to talk to him."
"But Vixen, he's helping Doc. We have wounded out the wazoo."
"Then you help Doc. I need Alton." She shoved the woman's injured shoulder with her fingertips. "Go get Alton."
Jane yelped, but turned and scurried inside.
A few minutes later Alton walked through the door with a bandage on his arm. "What do you want? Jane can't stitch anyone up. The woman vomits at the site of blood. Doc can't take care of the minor injuries what with several people on the verge of death." He pinned her with a glare. "Now what in the devil is so all-fired important that I can't attend to our sick?"
"I want you to find out where Reginald's group went."
"No. They decimated our ranks. I'm not going to leave wounded people to run around like your lap dog. Forget about Barker and his group. Let them leave. We got the place." He raised an eyebrow. "Which is what you said you wanted. Now, it's time to take care of our wounded, repair the fences, and bring the children here."
"How do we know Reginald won't come back to attack us again?"
Alton motioned to the ground littered with bodies. "How? We've killed most of his group. Let it go."
"I can't. Not after the way he disrespected me."
Alton stared at her for several moments. "We can't go after them. Do you understand when I said no one was left uninjured that I wasn't joking? You and Doc are the only ones who came through this unscathed. If you want to find out where they are, do it yourself."
"Alton, if you want to remain in this community, you'll do as I say."
"Fine. Then you need to take your skinny rear inside and help Doc. Otherwise, we're going to lose more people. Do you understand? The more people we lose, the more vulnerable we are." Alton turned and stalked to the one car Reginald's group had left behind. An older Bronco. "My arm is going to be fine, thanks for asking," he yelled over his shoulder.
Joe limped out of the house. "Hey Vixen."
"Do you know how to suture a wound?"
"No, but Marguerite's a seamstress. Can't be that much different than sewing a dress."
"Send her in to work with Doc. Alton had to leave."
"Yes, ma'am."
He turned to head inside but she grabbed his arm. "Do not call me ma'am."
"I forgot. It was meant as a term of respect."
She shooed him away without answering. Any adult who thought calling a woman ma'am was respectful should have their heads examined. She wasn't an ancient grandmother.
Time to gather a crew to round up the dead bodies. They needed a truck to pull
the trailer. She keyed the military radio at her side and called Atlas.
"This is Tammy."
"Tammy, I need a truck here as soon as possible."
"Yes, ma...okay."
"Have the other teens load up the children and bring them here, but you bring me the large Dodge Ram 2500. Do you think you can manage that?"
"Yes."
"Good. I want you here as soon as possible. The directions to this facility are on my desk."
When Tammy and the others arrived, she would have them load up the bodies and burn them. Alton wouldn't approve of the children working like that, but someone had to get it done and with the adults injured, they had no choice but use the teens. The thought of all of those children in the house made her shudder. She would clean out the basement and have someone take beds down there. The children could enjoy the large room without disturbing her, and it would free up one of the other rooms for her to set up an armory, food bank, and office. The adults could share the downstairs bedroom. She was taking the entire top floor. If they didn't like it, they could build themselves a place to live elsewhere, or stay in a tent. She didn't care. This was her home, and they were her guests.
Joe rejoined her on the porch. His limp quite pronounced. "She's helping him. Not happy about it, but she's doing it."
"Good." Vixen pointed to his leg. "What happened to you?"
"Gunshot. Doc said there's muscle damage, but no arteries or bones, so I'll live unless I get an infection."
"When the kids get here with the other vehicles, take someone and go find antibiotics before you all die. Before you do that, get some of the other men and clear out the basement. Move all of the furniture from the upstairs except for one of the larger beds."
His face blanched, and he nodded. Smart man. "Vixen, how many do you think we lost?"
"I'm not sure." She waved her hand over the camp. "Look around. Can't be good with all of these bodies littering the ground. Of course, quite a few of them are Reginald's group."
"Was it worth it?"
"Why would you ask that?"
"So much loss of life, and we have downed fences, deaders wandering around in that area. The critters are getting out." He shrugged. "It seems like such a waste of life."
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