Unfortunately, they wouldn’t know for sure for at least three or four days.
If Cynthia remained symptom-free during that period, then she was safe. If not, then…
Kilrane had been in a hurry to depart. He’d ordered Geronimo onto the black and hauled Cynthia up behind him on the Palomino. It wasn’t difficult for Geronimo to deduce Kilrane’s motivation for haste. Cynthia’s farm was located in Cavalry territory. Kilrane was concerned some of the Cavalry riders might have heard the gunshots during Geronimo’s battle with the mutations. He evidently wanted to return to the Legion region before his raiding patrol was confronted by a hostile force larger than his own.
“I take it the two brothers aren’t very fond of one another,” Geronimo said, fishing for information.
“Fond?” Kilrane laughed bitterly. “They hate each other’s guts!”
“Rather unusual for brothers, isn’t it?” Geronimo asked.
Kilrane stared at Geronimo, his face a study in suppressed rage. “What would you do if your own brother raped the woman you loved?”
Geronimo and Cynthia exchanged surprised glances. This revelation was news to her, too.
“Rory raped Rolf’s woman?” Geronimo inquired.
Kilrane nodded. “About ten years ago.”
“Why didn’t Rolf kill Rory on the spot?” Geronimo prodded.
“That’s what I would have done,” Kilrane stated harshly. “Hell, I offered to kill Rory for Rolf! Even promised to let the prick go for his gun first. But Rolf wouldn’t hear of it! He’s too damn decent for his own good.”
“Rolf couldn’t bring himself to kill his own brother?” Geronimo asked.
“You’ve got to understand how it was,” Kilrane explained. “Rory always was a troublemaker. It wasn’t so bad when their dad, Brent, was alive.
Brent was able to keep Rory in line. But after Brent was shot in the back, Rory grew worse and worse. He resented having to share leadership of the Cavalry with Rolf. He caused trouble whenever he could. Rolf just took it all in stride, certain Rory would come around some day. Well, he was wrong! Rolf fell in love with a woman named Adrian. Rory decided he wanted her for himself. The son of a bitch raped her!”
“What happened then?” Cynthia asked.
Kilrane’s features clouded with the memories. “I was there when the three of them had it out. I was the only one there, and afterwards Rory made me promise never to tell any of the Cavalry what had happened.”
“I’m not Cavalry,” Geronimo said. “You can tell me.” He sensed Kilrane wanted to tell someone, that it had been eating at his insides for a long, long time.
Kilrane glanced around, insuring none of the patrol riders were close enough to overhear. The nearest was ten feet away.
“Rory taunted Rolf,” Kilrane detailed, speaking in a low voice. “Dared him to go for his gun. Rolf wanted to. I could see it in his eyes. But Adrian intervened. You see, she didn’t tell Rolf right after the rape happened. No, she waited until she discovered she was pregnant with Rory’s child. She said she hadn’t told him because she didn’t want to cause trouble between them. She didn’t want their blood on her hands. Adrian is a sweet woman, you understand. The kind who wouldn’t kill a fly. But she’s missing a few marbles, if you ask me.” Kilrane paused, frowning. “Still, Rolf loves her, and he’s an honorable man. After Adrian pleaded with him to spare Rory’s life, he backed down. Never saw him do that before. He decided he was going to leave and made an announcement in front of everybody, although he didn’t tell them his reason. He’s well liked. A lot of the Cavalry went with him and formed the Legion.”
“Cynthia told me a little about it,” Geronimo admitted. “What happened to Adrian? Did she go with Rolf?”
Kilrane’s hands clenched and unclenched. “No! She said she loved Rolf too much to ask him to raise Rory’s child. So she stayed with the bastard! Can you imagine it! Now she has a ten-year-old son called Calhoun. He’s almost ten, anyway.”
“And Rolf?” Geronimo queried him.
Kilrane looked at Geronimo and shook his head. “Pitiful. Just pitiful. The man is a shadow of his former self. Oh, he looks the same on the outside, but he’s not half the man he used to be.”
“And the brothers haven’t seen each other in a decade?” Geronimo questioned.
“Nope.”
“Who’s the oldest?” Geronimo casually inquired.
“Neither,” Kilrane answered.
“I don’t follow you,” Geronimo admitted.
“Didn’t I tell you? They’re twins,” Kilrane explained.
One of the other riders, a small man with a wisp of a moutache and a scruffy beard, wearing faded brown pants and a green shirt, rode closer to Kilrane.
Geronimo remembered this one; he was carrying the Martin and had the Arminius and the tomahawk stuck through his belt. The man’s own Winchester was slung over his back.
“What is it, Hamlin?” Kilrane demanded.
“Aren’t we getting pretty close to the Dead Zone?” Hamlin asked, nervously glancing to the northwest.
“We are,” Kilrane verified.
The left corner of Hamlin’s mouth twisted downward. “Listen, don’t get me wrong,” he said to Kilrane. “I’m not questioning your judgment or anything, but aren’t we taking a big chance?”
“I know we are,” Kilrane agreed. “But I figure the Cavalry patrols won’t come this close. We should be able to return to our own territory undetected.”
“I hope you’re right,” Hamlin stated.
“What’s the Dead Zone?” Geronimo interrupted.
“You’ve never seen it?” Cynthia queried.
Geronimo shook his head, shrugging at the same time.
“Actually, there’s more than one,” Kilrane mentioned. “But this one is special.”
“Why special?” Geronimo pressed him.
“Dead Zones are areas devoid of life,” Cynthia said.
“My Family calls them Hot Spots,” Geronimo revealed. “They were areas impacted by a nuclear weapon during the Big Blast. We haven’t entered any of them because we have no way of knowing what the level of radioactivity might be.”
“Sounds like the same thing,” Cynthia confirmed.
“But you still haven’t told me why this one Dead Zone is so unique,” Geronimo reminded them.
It was Hamlin who responded. “This one has life in it, if the reports are true.”
“What reports?” Geronimo quizzed them.
“Only one person we know of ever returned from this Dead Zone,” Kilrane elaborated. “He told fantastic tales of bloodthirsty monsters before he died. That was years and years ago. Some curious types have ventured into the area in recent years, but not one of them ever came back.”
“Can I ask about something else?” Geronimo inquired.
“What is it?” Kilrane replied.
“You can read, can’t you?”
Kilrane’s surprise registered. “Yeah. My parents taught me. So what?”
“I can read too,” Cynthia stated with a trace of pride. “My family owns a primer and a dozen other books.” She paused. “At least we did until this dimwit burned everything!” She whacked Kilrane on his right shoulder.
Amazing behavior for a captive! Geronimo considered the information revealed during the course of their conversation. “How do the two sides feel about the conflict?” he questioned Kilrane.
“They don’t much like it,” Kilrane answered. “They never did understand the real reason Rory and Rolf had their falling out. Most of them want the two factions to reunite. Whole families were divided by the breakup. Brother against brother. Cousin against cousin. Can you imagine what it’s been like?” He stopped, reflecting a moment. “Many of us feel the Cavalry will be whole again after Rolf or Rory die. Some of us have even been discussing how to accomplish it, if you get my meaning.”