Nora didn’t even know that Hunter was in the vicinity. She believed they had left him two hundred miles away.
He ended the pandemonium in the tent, stopping what would have been a massacre. But they were not without loss.
Meredith was beyond consolation and Nora didn’t know if the shock of what happened to John would ever heal. She held her friend close to her body, crying from the depths of her soul.
John was gone. He was really gone. Without warning, he was shot dead.
Nora couldn’t speak, again, she tried, but the shock of everything for some reason caused her throat to tense up. She grabbed on to Jason.
There was no gunfire, no other noise except for crying.
Afraid to move, Nora didn’t want to leave Jason’s side. It may have been finished in that bio room, but what happened outside? Was it over? Eventually she would know, but for the time being, Nora stayed there frozen in the aftermath and sadness of all that had transpired.
TWENTY-TWO – HIS FRIEND
No one knew exactly what was supposed to happen. Everything was speculation. Worry from Hunter and concern on the part of Trey caused Malcolm to come up with a backup plan, and Norris with his further speculation, initiated Malcolm’s plan.
Malcolm would never know if he acted prematurely, on time, or too late. His gut told him it could have been worse.
When it was all said and done they had sadly lost John and two others from the DC lab team. Dr. Cole was spared, Malcolm was grateful because he only took a hit to his leg, and Jason was the recipient of a wayward bullet to his hand when he shot an arrow in the throat of the soldier.
They would have lost more if it wasn’t for Hunter.
Hunter lived on instincts and Malcolm couldn’t ignore the fact that their new friend was insistent that there was going to be trouble. When Trey also warned of that, Malcolm not wanting to alert the others, or cause alarm, tucked Hunter unknowingly in the back of the van.
He told him, “Just stay in here. If there’s trouble you know what to do.”
Malcolm didn’t expect to hear what he did from Norris. Norris believed Malcolm was one man, but in truth he wasn’t.
When he moved the van he was able to alert Hunter to the possible traps that were set.
Unfortunately, there were only two of them. If Malcolm moved too soon, it could have been worse for those in the tent.
The snipers on the roof never fired a shot.
Hunter had taken them out long before the blood results were in.
Rick believed he was spared from being euthanized. He was told he was just leaving Salvation. He didn’t know, told Malcolm he hadn’t a clue that it would go any other way, until he was face to face with the barrel of a gun.
Hunter stopped that.
Marilee and her son were cornered. They clutched to each other believing they would be gunned down. Until Hunter arrived removing their assassin and pulling them out of the way so no one was any the wiser.
The young man, a product of a post nuclear war, a young man who wanted to see the world, ended up being much more than anyone bargained for.
Despite Hunter’s victories and all that he had done, no one could say, or do anything to take away the heartbreaking defeat they felt over the loss of their friend, John.
He had not shown any emotion until then other than laughter but Hunter showed the complete opposite when he learned that John was killed. He walked into the tent, dropped to his knees, and cried out a sound from his heart and chest. One nobody else could ever make.
He was inconsolable and shared that only with Meredith. He requested they be left alone in that tent and they stayed there for an hour.
When they emerged, Hunter had John’s body tightly wrapped in cloth, and he carried him to the van.
John would need to be buried. But not there, and not then.
They had stayed long enough, and radio chatter increased on the Aldervice. Progress reports were needed. At one point Cole replied, pretending to be Nelson, conveying that all went as planned and they were cleaning up.
Whether it bought them more time, remained to be seen. The truth was, eventually someone would show up and they had to leave before that happened.
They gathered what they could from the Jacksonville site and left.
Before everything went down, Malcolm was able to use the Aldervice to tell Trey to stay where he was. He’d be there. That Rantoul was their destination. After, of course, they stopped at the fort and grabbed the rest of their supplies.
Malcolm could barely walk. Cole did a quick fix but said he’d need surgery. Jason was more fortunate the bullet went straight through his hand.
Once they got to Rantoul, Cole would do his best. There were no guarantees.
But Rantoul would not be a long-term place. It couldn’t be. Once the massacre was discovered, Malcolm was certain, Salvation would head there.
They had to stay one step ahead and it would be that way for a long time.
Rantoul was a step in that preparation. They had been canning and drying meat, all food that would help the group in survival along with grains and seeds. Also, Rantoul would be the final resting place for John.
While Cole had helped the dying people of Rantoul, Malcolm dug graves, he used the farm equipment, and also a shovel, but he dug those graves. He never thought he’d be back to dig one more in the new cemetery placed on the grounds surrounding the church.
When they arrived, Trey was digging one.
He was relieved to see his father but worried about the injury.
Cole didn’t want to waste time, Marilee showed him where the medical office was and he immediately took Malcolm there.
They arrived back on the cusp of dusk. They’d rest for the night and have a service for John and Maggie in the morning, then move out.
Four different vehicles, four directions, to throw off Salvation. All meeting up at the same place.
That was the plan.
Meredith was quiet all evening and in a deep state of mourning. She stayed close to Hunter who not only dug John’s grave, but also worked on a marker for it. Nora believed that Meredith felt safe with Hunter, that the world couldn’t hurt her when he was there. A lot of the group viewed him that way.
While she wouldn’t eat much, Nora was able to get her to sip on a cup of moonshine. It would relax her and help her sleep.
The others rested by the fire pit. It had been a long day, a hard day, and six hours later, Cole was still working on Malcolm. Nora spent her time checking on his progress and checking on Marilee and Meredith, avoiding her own situation.
Rick.
He was back in her life. How would she justify what was happening between her and Jason? Did she need to justify it? She hadn’t really spoken to him much other than to hear about how he was almost killed.
Jason was handling things fine, he was confident and not jealous, or worried in anyway. He was in the church working on his service for John and Maggie when Nora checked on him.
“Oh, perfect,” Jason said, accepting the moonshine.
“I didn’t know if it was against church rules to get you a drink.”
“Well it is not only acceptable, it is expected.” Jason smiled and grabbed her hand. “Hey, how does this sound?”