He realized in this case it was better not to issue a warning. With a twist and a tug, he flung open the door and got the second major surprise of the day. Partially hidden under a pile of blankets was a pink-faced baby girl. For several seconds, Nate stood staring down at the child in disbelief.
Finally, he brought the walkie to his lips. “Uh, Ralph, better make that twelve.”
Chapter 12
The baby cooed as Dakota rocked the little girl in her arms. Doris had tried to calm the child for nearly half an hour with no luck. It had taken Dakota less than two minutes.
Jay and the nine others they’d rescued from the cellar were in the police station lunchroom, being examined by a local nurse. They probably needed a hospital, but the closest functioning facility was either in Chicago or Rockford. The danger of entering the city quickly nullified that option. Likewise, the encroaching aura of radiation now engulfing all of Rockford had meant for now, staying here was their only option.
“Have you spoken to Jay?” Chief McGinley asked. “And gotten to the bottom of what exactly was going on in that house?”
“Not yet,” Nate said, removing the badge he’d been wearing around his neck and setting it on the table. “Honestly, my days of playing policeman are done. If I’m gonna be honest, I half expected to find Jay’s body in the backyard, sticking out of a snowbank or something.” He looked over at Dakota and the baby. “I certainly didn’t expect to find…”
Doris approached them. “I’m sure both of you are wondering where the kid came from. When we were at the house, I took a moment to examine the woman you called Biscuit and I can confirm she recently gave birth.”
Nate nodded, somewhat surprised.
“I can also tell you she was twenty-two.”
Ralph poked his head into the conversation. “And you got all that from looking at a dead body? Modern science, ladies and gentlemen, is a marvel to behold.”
“That may be so, but her age I got from the driver’s license in her wallet,” Doris said, grinning.
“Wow,” Nate replied. “I could have sworn she was somewhere in her forties or fifties.”
“Meth’ll do that to you,” McGinley offered. “But there’s still no word on the identities of the two deceased, is there?”
Doris shook her head. “And there likely won’t be, not unless someone comes in to report a missing person. Even then, at least half the country is probably missing at this point.”
As Nate had suspected, Skinny had bled out. That meant the four who had died in the house were all brought to the station and placed temporarily in a shed out back. After removing the prisoners’ chains, Nate had gone through any documents he could find in the house. A ledger in the kitchen had painted a rather chilling vision of what Skinny and Biscuit were up to. It had become clear on the first page that the two considered themselves entrepreneurs and the extended blackout as a prime opportunity. Like anyone with some business savvy and a sick mind, they had recognized that in a world without supply trucks, food and in particular meat would soon be in high demand. Nate proceeded to fill in the others on their grisly plan. “Seems they were intent on carving people up and selling them to hungry, unsuspecting survivors, with the claim that it was deer meat. Most probably wouldn’t have known the difference. Given enough time and hunger, some might not have cared. But neither one of those lowlifes was blessed with enough brains to realize that keeping twelve people alive would require more food than they were willing to provide. So what to them started as a promising business opportunity quickly turned into something depraved and almost…”
“Demonic,” Chief McGinley threw in, his face contorted with disgust. “I’m just glad I didn’t need to book either one of them.”
“But why target your friend Jay?” Dakota asked, circling the perimeter of the conversation.
“Seems the two men knew each other,” Nate said. “Least that’s the way Jay described it on the way here. Said Skinny would do odd jobs for him. Help him with renovations here and there in exchange for a little money under the table. He and his wife were living in a tiny one-bedroom trailer. Apparently, they thought they were due for an upgrade and saw their chance when the power went out. As depraved as this plot was, I’d be willing to bet we’ve only just scratched the surface of what’s going on out there.”
The idea sent an icy chill through an already cold room.
McGinley tapped the leg of his pants. “Well, the good news is Jay’s already starting to get some color back in his cheeks. By tomorrow, I suspect he might just be able to take a look at that snowmobile of yours.”
“That’s very kind, but we shouldn’t put him under any more strain,” Nate said, meaning it, in spite of his eagerness to move on. Hearing about the buses passing through town a few days ago had only magnified his overwhelming determination to reach Amy and the others. “Jay’s already been through enough.”
“Hogwash,” Doris snapped. “Jay’s a trooper. I’m sure once he finds his strength again it’ll be the least he can do.”
“If there’s one thing Jay knows,” Ralph said, folding his arms over his chest and wearing a wide grin, “it’s snowmobiles.”
“All right,” Nate said, defeated. “You win.”
A short time later, Nate was sitting by a window, watching the snow fall and taking a moment to let it all sink in. Dakota showed up and sat next to him.
“What, no more baby?”
She grinned. “Taking a break. It’s not easy on the arms.” She flexed her left elbow, holding her biceps.
“I wouldn’t know,” Nate said. “Not yet at least.”
“Soon enough,” Dakota said. Although intended to offer a tinge of hope, the comment had left a bittersweet taste in Nate’s mouth. She noticed this and apologized.
“Nah, it’s not you. It’s just hard to see everything you’ve built over the years snatched away in the blink of an eye.”
“A home in Byron,” she said. “Was that your dream?”
He leaned back in his chair and scratched at the ample scruff growing on his chin. “Not really.”
“What then?”
“If I could have anything, it’d be a plot of land where we could raise our own food and not have to rely on anyone else.”
“There’s a word for that,” she said, smiling.
“Heaven?”
“Maybe, but that wasn’t the one I was thinking of.”
“Self-sufficient,” he said, peeking at her from the corner of his eye.
“Technically that’s two words, but I know what you mean. The more we rely on others for basics like food and shelter, the more danger we find ourselves in when things go bad.”
“And you?” he asked. “What’s your idea of heaven?”
“A family,” she said, without a moment’s hesitation. “But this is pretty nice too.”
Nate grinned and looked back outside. He couldn’t agree more.
Chapter 13
It was dark already by the time Manny pulled the snowcat up to a quaint two-story structure and killed the engine. Although they’d already made it a few miles, they were still technically on the outer edges of Chicago proper.
“‘Peaceful Grove Senior Care Facility,’” Holly said, reading the sign over the front door emblazoned in fine gold lettering.
Below the name was the home’s motto. “‘A place for living,’” Johnny said, a healthy dose of skepticism in his voice.
Despite the building’s size, the dormer windows and canopy out front added to the warm and homey feel of the place.
“This shouldn’t take long,” Manny said, undoing his seat belt. Manny’s grandmother was a resident here and since it was on the way, he had wanted to check in and make sure she was all right. He closed the door behind him, leaving Johnny, Holly and Dillon in the snowcat.