Inquisition

by Marcy G. Dyer

  "Good. You need some rest, because we're aren't waiting for Bryan much longer."

  She hugged Adriana and walked inside.

  Josh took her place in the chair she'd just evacuated.

  "With the people Randi and Mark brought back, we're going to need supplies and probably additional vehicles." Adriana pointed to the ambulances. "I figure we can put Gabriele and Ethan each in a bus. Reginald can ride in one, and Darius in the other to help keep them stable. The benches in the back will seat a couple of other people. We can stuff three each into the bench seats. Especially if the middle person is small."

  Josh stifled a yawn. "Plus we've got a truck, the truck with the fencing supplies, the Porsche, the RV, and if Bryan gets back, we'll have another truck."

  "Yeah. The Porsche will hold two adults and three little ones in the backseat. It's a tight fit. Not sure an adult could sit back there for any length of time."

  "True." Josh stretched. "Cooper and I talked about going on a supply hunt, but we haven't yet." He stood. "I'll go find him and we'll see what we can find. Of course, we'll need to figure out somewhere to stuff anything we find." He yawned and stretched again.

  "Hang on. You haven't slept yet, have you?"

  He shook his head. "Go." She pointed toward the RV. "You're probably going to have to drive one of the vehicles, so you've got to rest. We can't keep running on fumes. I'll find Reginald, between him, Cooper and me, we'll find supplies and vehicles."

  Josh stretched his achy muscles, and shook his head to clear the fog away. Why couldn't he come up with a clear-cut argument to keep them from going out? "Arm yourselves. We only cleared out the area around these cabins. If you go over the bridge and start digging through campsites, no telling what you'll find. When you get back, y'all find a place to rest, too."

  Adriana pushed up from her chair and left to find Cooper and Reginald. Josh walked to the RV and stepped over children and dogs sleeping in the floor. Uncle Reg had stretched out on the sofa. Keshanna and Kayde were curled up on the u-shaped dinette.

  He gently shook his uncle. Reginald opened his eyes. "What time is it? Is it time to leave?"

  "No." Josh motioned to the door. "Adriana needs your help."

  His uncle nodded. "You get some rest. I've been sleeping for a while."

  Josh made his way to the back bedroom, but Xever and his grandchildren were stretched out on the bed, so he retraced his steps, using caution not to step on a child or a dog. The sofa was short. His uncle's legs had hung over the side precariously perched over little Toni's face. Josh smiled. He was a little taller than Uncle Reg. No way would the sofa work for him.

  He went inside the cabin and stretched out on the kitchen floor. Everywhere he looked people slept on the floors, sofas, wherever they could find.

  Why did Bryan go back after Vixen? Josh understood the desire to stop her at any cost, but they were leaving, so they didn't need to worry about her. She wouldn't follow them all the way into the ocean, would she? No. The woman was insane, but even insane people had a limit.

  He drifted off until someone shaking his shoulder woke him. Bryan stood over him. "We need to talk," he whispered. "Outside."

  Josh shook himself awake, and followed Bryan. Why couldn't he sleep more than ten minutes at a time? There was always something. Maybe he should've gone into one of the other cabins they'd cleared.

  "Vixen's no longer a problem, but her followers evacuated and left behind a couple of women, children, and teenagers. Alton and I couldn't leave them to fend for themselves."

  Alton? "Wasn't he Vixen's right-hand man?"

  "Yes, but he double-crossed her. He killed the man who shot Faustina."

  "I thought the sniper got her?" Were these two pulling something over on them?

  "No. It was a tall, awkward guy. I can't think of his name, but Alton said that was the final straw. He was trying to help Randi and me lure Vixen into the open so I could shoot her, but Vixen captured us all instead. She was going to hang us at sunup."

  "You and Randi had no business going after her. Not when we're trying to evac."

  "I know." Bryan had the decency to stare at his feet. "We reacted instead of thought, but nevertheless, I've got a couple of women, teenagers, and children with me. We can't abandon them."

  Josh pressed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "No. You're right. We're heavy on children, and low on adults. I hope we can keep them all safe."

  They walked to the back of the truck and helped people out. Josh motioned for them to follow him. He opened the next cabin using the keys he'd stolen from the ranger's station. "Y'all can stay in here for now. Some of you will have to sleep on the floor, but you can rest while we ready things to leave. The cabin on the other side of ours is full, too."

  Bryan passed out bottles of water. "We won't leave without all of you."

  They all stared at Josh with wide eyes, and a couple of teenagers trembled. "Look, you don't need to be afraid of me." He handed the older woman the keys. "Lock the doors behind you, but if you need help, I'll be right next door."

  Once they were all tucked into the cabin, Josh motioned for Alton to join them. "You need to stay with them. Their safety is your responsibility."

  He didn't wait for Alton to answer before he turned to Bryan. "I'm going to try sleep a little longer. I suggest you try to do the same. We still need to leave before long. Adriana's hunting for supplies. Also, you need to get some of the women in there to check them for bites. Otherwise, they stay behind."

  He turned and went back to his place on the kitchen floor. The wood bit into his tired muscles, and his brain ran a million miles an hour. How could they keep this crew safe? The children outnumbered them, now. Even with the addition of the adults Randi and Mark rescued. Traveling with this many people was a mistake. One that might cost lives.

  Adriana handed Reginald and Cooper handguns and rifles. He slung the hunting rifle over his shoulder, and stuck the handgun in his pocket. He hoped their search went smoother than the rest of his life had.

  "We stick together at all times." Adriana touched Reginald's cheek. "I know you're hurting. So am I, but don't get lost in thought. If we don't focus, we won't make it back. Getting to where we're going with a herd of children is hard enough. We need every able-bodied adult alert and focused on the task at hand. We need you or we'll never make it out of the park. Do you understand?"

  "Yes." They all climbed into the truck parked in front. How much gas did they have? Finding it wouldn't be easy.

  The sweet woman had lost so much. Would he ever learn to emulate her strength? Maybe living through losing her husband had given her the strength she needed to take care of her children.

  "Do you think we'll find much? After all, it's winter." Cooper scrunched up his nose. "If it was up to me, I'd be in a nice warm house."

  "You've got to be kidding." Adriana laughed. "This place was always packed to the gills. It's too cold to swim or tube in the winter, but hiking is very popular. They have some insane trails. A friend of mine from upstate New York visited over Christmas break when I was in high school. She thought we couldn't find decent hiking in Texas. We spent a couple of days hiking here, then we went to Big Bend for the rest of the week. She never dissed Texas hills again."

  "I guess I never thought of hikers or mountain bikers."

  Reginald stared out the window. "Boy scout troops. Which begs the question, what if we find survivors? Do we take them with us?"

  "We don't have a choice." Adriana shrugged. "We can't leave behind anyone who wants to join us."

  "Who knows, part of our group may decide to set up here. If they do, it'll make life easier for the rest of us. I sure don't look forward to trying to get this many people to the coast." Cooper pointed to a screen shelter. "Looks like a Boy Scout troop, or church group set up there."

  "Bingo. There's the van I was hoping to find." Adriana pulled up beside the small bus. "That thing will hold quite a few people and supplies."

  "Let's check t
he van for keys." Adriana hopped out and waited for others. She retrieved her handgun and motioned for the others to do the same. "We don't know what we might find."

  Reginald led the way toward the van. He peeked in the rear windows. Two bodies were huddled together in the seat. He tapped the window, and the heads jerked up.

  "No shoot! No shoot!" a woman screamed and jerked her hands up.

  The man with her led her to the front of the bus. He opened the door. "I'm sorry. We've not seen anyone who didn't want to eat us in this place before y'all. When you tapped on the window, it scared Luz." He held out his hand. "I'm Santiago and this is my wife, Luzita."

  "Nice to meet you." Reginald shook his hand. "Are you the scout leader?"

  "No. We just hid here when we encountered some biters."

  "How long have you been in there?" Adriana asked.

  "Two days." The woman's thick accent made her a little hard to understand.

  "What?" Adriana's eyes went wide. "Did you have water or food?"

  "We had bottle of water." Luz licked her dry lips. "It was gone first day. We try not to drink too much." She pointed to the van. "I too scared to get off."

  Adriana ran back to the truck and grabbed some water. "Here you go."

  They chugged the bottles, and she handed them two more. "Where are you staying?"

  "Here. We were camping in our RV, but ran out of food and water." Santiago rubbed his forehead. "We were on the search when we got cornered."

  "Do you have any weapons?" Cooper asked.

  "No. I mean why would we have guns?" Santiago wrinkled his nose. "We were just camping for a week and doing some hiking. Besides, I don't know how to shoot a gun."

  Great they were about to add two more helpless people to their ranks. "Have you been bitten? Scratched?"

  Luz frowned. "I no understand."

  Santiago rattled off something in Spanish, and smiled. "I'm sorry. Luz, her English is not so good. She's trying, though."

  Adriana took Luz by the arm and spoke to her in Spanish. The woman's eyes grew wide. The sorrow on her face lifted, and she and Adriana carried on an animated conversation.

  Santiago smiled. "It is nice to see someone speaking to my wife in her native language. She emigrated from Guatemala six months ago."

  "Her English is very good for only living here a short time." Reginald still wanted an answer to his earlier question. "So, did any of the infecteds bite or scratch either of you?"

  "No, sir. We saw them running toward us and hid in the van." He trembled a little as he took a drink. "They covered the van pounding and trying to get in. We hid in the floor and huddled together. I guess they thought we weren't in there anymore, so they left, but I couldn't get Luz to come out of hiding."

  Everything in Reginald screamed for him to leave these people on their own, but they wouldn't survive very long. "Would you like to join us? We have a large group of people. You'll be safer, but you will have to learn to shoot and protect yourselves."

  "Yes. Very much. We won't live much longer alone."

  Adriana smiled. "Great. We do have some conditions before we bring new people into our group. We must check you for bites or scratches. I hope you understand. We had someone bring the disease into our group and lost a couple of people." She then repeated her statement in Spanish for Luz.

  "Yes, of course." Santiago furrowed his brow. "We will do what we must."

  "First, we are going to see if we can find the keys to this van and scavenge supplies." Adriana grabbed the doorknob to the screened-in room. "We've added a lot of people to our numbers, so we need food and water."

  The odor from the screen room hit Reginald long before they opened the door. Dread at what he might see cut through him.

  Adriana walked in and stopped. She pulled her shirt up over her nose. "I know this is bad, but we have to check the pockets of the adults."

  She walked to the first man and stuck her hand in his pocket. Reginald knelt beside the man next to her and glanced at her. Tears streamed down her face, but she continued to work.

  "Found them!" Cooper yelled from across the room. Reginald looked up as the man he was searching grabbed Cooper's arm. The kid yelped, fired a shot and jumped back.

  "Did he scratch you?" Reginald ran to him, grabbed his arm, and shoved his sleeve up. No signs of scratches or bites. The energy rushed out of Reginald. "We've got to be more careful."

  "I thought they were all dead." Cooper's voice came out shaky.

  "Let's see how much gas is in the van and start searching for food." Adriana walked to the door. She tried to be strong, but her hands shook, and she walked stiff-legged like her muscles were cramping.

  Reginald didn't blame her. Seeing adults and children cannibalized like that was enough to send anyone running for the hills. He ran his hand through his hair. "Let's get out of here."

  He climbed in the van, started it, and frowned. "Less than half a tank. We're going to have to find gas, but right now, let's concentrate on finding food and water."

  "Let's take Luz and Santiago back to the cabin. A couple of people there can check them out." Cooper leaned against the door. "We can dump one of the vehicles and stick together that way. Besides, those two don't know how to shoot, and aren't armed. They'd be a liability instead of a help."

  "Good idea. Adriana, you and Cooper take the truck, and I'll follow you with Santiago and Luz."

  They dropped the two newcomers off at the cabin, and headed out in the van this time in case they found more survivors. Reginald twisted his neck trying to work out the stiffness in his muscles. If they found many, they might have to talk some of them into setting up shop here in the park instead of joining them in their quest for the coast. It was going to be hard enough to get there as it was without adding more people to the mix. Not to mention, trying to get hundreds of people on a boat didn't make sense.

  He pulled around to some campsites near the river. Several tents and a pop-up trailer were set up in two sites. "Come on. Time to get busy." His hair stood up on his arms as he climbed out of the van. His body rebelled against going into tents and campers, but they had no choice.

  He walked to the camper and knocked. If a survivor was living it, they'd probably shoot him if he barged inside. No answer. He eased the door open. Empty. His breath whooshed out. "This one's empty. Let's check the tents before we go any farther."

  Adriana shuffled toward the first tent. Her hands trembled as she touched the fabric. "Hello? Anyone there? I'm not here to hurt you."

  Cooper started toward the second tent. "Wait." Reginald caught his arm. "One at a time. We don't want to take any chances."

  "Sorry." He hung his head. "You're right. I wasn't thinking."

  "Not thinking will get us killed." Adriana clenched her jaw. "Back me up. I'm opening the tent."

  She unzipped the tent, pulled the flap, and jumped back as an infected lunged for her.

  Josh stretched and sat up. His back, legs, and neck ached from sleeping on the hard floor, but it was better than nothing.

  Randi walked into the room. She still had dark circles under her eyes. "Where's my sister? I can't find her anywhere."

  "Did you sleep at all?" Josh stood and stretched again.

  "Yes. Now answer my question. Where's Adriana?"

  "She went with Uncle Reg and Cooper to hunt for supplies. We have so many newcomers that we don't have enough water or food."

  Randi's eyes went wide and she shoved Josh's chest. "What do you mean she went scavenging? You know as well as I do, she can't take care of herself. How could you let this happen? She's going to get them all killed."

  He grabbed her arms. "Relax. Adriana's tougher than you think. She's fine. I promise."

  "How can you make that promise? None of us are fine any time we go out there. With Adriana, it's even worse. She can't even shoot an infected."

  "Yes, she can. She even shot some of Vixen's people. You're underestimating your sister."

  "If she shot people, then she'
s messed up in the head. You know that. They crawl into your brain and take up residence. Not to mention, she just lost Mom, and your uncle just lost your aunt. How can they be at their best when they have so much weighing on them? You should've woken me. I need to go with them. Or instead of them."

  Josh let her rant and rave until she ran out of breath. "They're fine."

  She turned away and took a step, but Josh held onto her arms. "Where are you going?"

  "To look for them. I need to take care of them."

  "No, you don't. Randi, it's not your responsibility to shoulder the safety of everyone in the group. We have to take that on ourselves. The only ones we are responsible to protect, besides ourselves, are the children, and we have a boatload of them, now. Bryan brought back around one hundred teens and children from Vixen's place."

  Randi's face paled. "Did they kill everyone there? Bryan said he was going after Vixen. Just Vixen."

  "I don't know what they did. I didn't ask. Why did you go after her, anyway?"

  Randi closed her eyes and rubbed her neck. "She wasn't going to let us go. They planned to attack us again. I had to stop her from killing more people I loved." She pointed to the bedroom. "We've lost so many. Miguel, Mom, Mary Anne, Jill, Aaron, Ayanna, Daniel. Not to mention, we don't even know if Ethan and Gabriele will make it. How could I allow her take more people from us?"

  "We're leaving for the coast where we'll be safe."

  "No. Alton said she sent him to follow us and report to her. He said she's bent on revenge against Reginald."

  "What did my uncle do that was so horrible?"

  "He left. Don't you get it? The woman is insane. She had all of those children locked in the basement. I showed the oldest one how to escape if things got bad. That's probably why Bryan brought them here. She's evil."

  "She's gone, now. We don't have to worry about her coming after us."

  Randi hung her head. "How do I keep piling up evil things in my life? Why can't I do something good?" Her voice was barely a whisper, and tears dripped down her face. "Ethan keeps telling me God will forgive me, but come on, even He's got to have a breaking point where He just washes his hands of me."