“Yeah. He’s not, though.”
***
Jason didn’t realize just how amped up he had been on adrenaline until he nearly collapsed while walking from the edge of the house back to the truck. Mark had been with him, though, and kept him steady until he could sit down in the back of the trailer. The sun was low in the sky and the shadows were long. The air felt chilled and Mark zipped up his jacket and shoved his hands into his pockets as he scooted closer to Jason.
The older man wrapped an arm around Mark and spoke softly. “You did good here today. Your mom and dad would be proud.”
“What are we going to do about her and the rest?”
“Well,” Jason said slowly, a thin smile spreading across his face, “if I know your mother, Tina and my Sarah at all, they’re already cooking up something. Tina’s bound to have let them know what we did, so they’ll hopefully be ready for us when we go in guns blazing.”
“Is that what we’ll do?”
“More than that.” Jason scratched his chin and patted Mark on the arm. “Come on. Let’s he
ad down to the barns and take a look around. I think I might have an idea of what we can do.”
Chapter 16
Ellisville, VA
“They did what?” Dianne didn’t dare look over at Tina as she scooped another cup full of dirt and sand into the nearest sack. Over the course of the day she had figured out what speaking volume allowed her to communicate with the children and Sarah while simultaneously not attracting the attention of the guards.
“They got on the trailer back to the house. They’re going to stop the guys with the trailer then come back here for us. We need to be ready for them.”
“How could you let Mark do that?!” Dianne risked a quick glare, but Tina didn’t look up. Her face was red and swollen and she had bruises already starting to appear on her arms. While Dianne was angered by what Tina told her, she had to admit that the older woman was handling the current situation well.
“You’d rather him be here? Or still hiding in that ditch, trying to find a way to get across an open road and rescue you? Jason’s with him.” Tina glanced at Sarah. “They’ll both be fine. I’m sure of it.”
“She’s right, Dianne.” Sarah’s whisper was barely audible. “It’s not a good choice, but it’s the best one they had. And now we know that they’re alive.”
“But for how long?” Dianne finished tying off the sack and pushed it aside before wiping a filthy sleeve across her brow. The sky was dark overhead but a loud generator kept a series of halogen lights running, though they flickered in time with the fluctuations of the generator. The back door to the community center creaked open and Nealson stepped out, his left hand holding a cigarette and his right hand resting on the handle of a revolver tucked into a leather holster.
“Midnight!” He crowed, a satisfied smile on his face. “Time for food and sleep!”
“Food?” Tina raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t get excited.” Dianne looked away from Nealson, unable to stand the sight of him. “They gave us so-called lunch. Josie threw up from it.”
“So glad to see the little family’s growing bigger!” Nealson walked across the grass, flicking his cigarette to the side before coming to a halt before Dianne, Tina and the two children. The other four prisoners were huddled together across the yard, watching Nealson’s every move.
“Let the kids go, you monster.” Sarah spoke softly; loud enough for him to hear, but with a growling, menacing undertone.
“Go where? Out to fend for themselves in the wild? Nah.” He pulled another cigarette from his shirt pocket, squatted down and lit it. “What I can do, though, is promise you some edible food, extra clean water and a soft spot for your heads.” He looked at Sarah while taking a long, slow drag. “If you tell me where the others from the house got to.”
“They died. I told you that already.” Tina straightened her back, trying to draw attention to herself.
“And yet I don’t believe you. Funny how that works.” Nealson sniffed and stuck the cigarette in the edge of his mouth, then stood up and nodded at a pair of men standing nearby. “Take ‘em all inside. We’ll continue this conversation in the morning.”
Dianne’s group along with the other four slowly stood, stretching their legs as they shuffled toward the building. Josie began to weep uncontrollably and Dianne put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, her entire body seizing up in anger over not being able to protect her children. Jacob was doing slightly better but Dianne could tell that he was confused more than anything else and dearly wished that he could go back home.
Because the two groups weren’t bound to each other but had instead been separated to perform two distinct tasks, Dianne, her two children, Sarah and Tina were a fair distance closer to the community center and under greater supervision than the four strangers whose names were still unknown. With Sarah in the lead, the two children behind her, then Dianne and finally Tina pulling up the rear, the group shambled toward the center, all of them wondering what was going to come from their first night as prisoners.
Tina glanced up and off to the left, her gaze drawn by the sight of something in the corner of her eye. In the distance, toward Ellisville, emerged a twinkling pair of yellow headlights accompanied by the low rumble of an engine. Nealson, who was still standing near the back of the community center, walked to the corner of the building upon hearing the sound.
“You,” he shouted, turning and pointing to all but two of the men standing near the door, “out front now. Truck’s getting back and I want the supplies off the trailer and inside!”
One of the men grumbled as he walked by, shaking his head in frustration. “What’s the point of having these people do work for us if we have to do stuff like this?”