Walker won’t accept a feeling, though, and we break into the secured fence. The few remaining soldiers that hung back during the battle locked up the place and left as though they would be back one day. They didn’t expect Erwin to die.
“What did you say to her?” I ask Jude when we get a second alone. “Back at the garage?”
Their exchange had bothered me the whole ride over, but I didn’t want to shout it out.
“I asked her about Parker. No one will give me a straight answer.”
Jude and Parker grew close over the last year. Like, maybe even relationship close. We haven’t seen her in over half a year. “What did she say?”
“That Parker went AWOL about a month ago. She just left in the middle of the night—no reason given.”
“That sounds strange. I mean, she’s been with us since PharmaCorp.”
Worry lines tug at his eyes. “She’s not a big risk taker or stupid. She wouldn’t go off in the Death Fields alone. I mean, she wouldn’t, would she?”
“Not without a good reason.”
Leaves blow around the street like tumbleweeds, rushing up against shop fronts and fences. “We’ll split up,” Walker says. “Jackson, Jude, and Mary Ellen take the south side. Wyatt, Alex, Zoe, and I will comb the north end of town.”
Wyatt and I exchange a look as we separate from the others. We both know we’re being supervised. What is Walker--or even more likely, Hamilton-- afraid of? We pass the first houses headed into town. We climb the steps to a historic home. The school teachers lived here post-crisis. Wyatt tries the door—it’s unlocked. These people trusted one another.
“Zoe, wait on the porch. Signal if there’s a problem.”
“Signal how?” the girl asks.
I sense Walker holding back. I’ve been on the other side of her sharp impatience. With her jaw tight she replies, “Just shout or something. I’m sure you’ll figure out what to do.”
I can’t hold it in any longer. “Is there a specific reason we’re being punished like this? We’re the ones that killed Chloe.”
“You’re not being punished,” Walker says, stepping into the house. It smells musty even from a few days of being closed up. From a quick glance, everything appears in place. These people knew they were leaving and tidied up. No one has been back.
“Feels like a punishment to me.” I open every closet door in the house. Wyatt checks under beds. A fine layer of dust coats the dresser top in the bedroom.
“Hamilton thinks you know the Hybrids better than anyone. He needs our expertise and that’s why he sent Davis out that day to start tracking them down. To the security forces back at New Hope, they’re almost an urban legend.” She gives me a cool glance. “As are you.”
“They saw them at the battle,” Wyatt says, wiping his dusty hands on his pants. He’s moving to the door, confident this house is empty.
“By the time we got there they were on the run or dead. Hamilton has big ideas for the future of the country, but he doesn’t have the skills to handle the Hybrids and Mutts without casualties. I told him coming in like that—filled with piss and bravado--wouldn’t end well. He doesn’t understand their unrelenting drive and motivation,” Walker explains.
The problem is that a week ago I would have argued that I didn’t get it either, but I can’t say that now, at least for the Mutts. Hamilton and even Walker do not understand what we’re up against. Before, these super soldiers had a focus. A goal and a leader. Now? They’re alone, unorganized, and being hunted. The lack of structure and a single leader could ignite something we haven’t seen before.
Walker and Hamilton are right. We do know the Hybrids and Mutts better than anyone, but that doesn’t give us an edge. It just makes me aware that we’re headed for serious trouble.
With Zoe on guard, we check the rest of the houses on the street and soon we’re losing daylight. Wyatt notices and says, “I’ll take this building. You guys hit the shops.”
The building in question is the one where our apartment is located. I glance up at the window to our room. It’s where Wyatt and I declared ourselves to one another. He avoids my questioning look.
Walker weighs the risk of splitting up and I say, “Seriously, Wyatt can take care of himself. If we don’t split up we’ll never get out of here.”
Her hesitation is brief. “Be quick. Fire your gun if you get into any trouble.”
“You do know I’ve taken out dozens of these guys on my own, right?”
She glares at him and the truth is written on her face. She’s well aware and that’s not what scares her. Something happened to Walker while she was away from us. She doesn’t doubt our abilities—she just doesn’t trust us. I’m not sure she ever has. The irony is that she probably shouldn’t.
Chapter Five
Wyatt quickly goes in the side door of the apartment building. It’s weird because I only stayed there for about a week, but it’s a place of importance to me. I feel eyes on me and turn to find Zoe staring.