Up ahead, she saw a figure darting from one room to another. When she got closer, she saw that it was Manny.
“You’re still looking for your gramma, aren’t you?” she asked.
“I went to her room and she wasn’t there. But her bed was messy, like she’d gotten up to get something.”
She took Manny by the shoulders. “Listen, there’s something very sick and twisted going on here.”
“What do you mean?” A look of fear filled his young face.
“I just spoke to someone who said they stopped feeding the old folks here.”
“Stopped feeding them?”
“They’re only giving them melted snow,” she said. “Sounds like they’ve convinced themselves there are too many mouths to feed. They’re letting them die.”
Manny pressed his palms to the sides of his head, his eyes filling with tears.
“I’m not saying your grandmother’s gone,” she said, trying to reassure him. “Just that if the cops were still around, all these people would be serving life sentences.”
“I need to find her and we need to alert the authorities,” he said, breathing hard now.
Even Holly knew at least one of those two things was no longer possible.
“You keep looking for her and I’ll find this Earl guy everyone says is running this death camp.” She took Dillon by the shoulders. “I need you to do something very important for me. I need you to help Manny here search for his grandmother. Can you do that?”
He nodded.
With that she left them, pushing down the long corridor. This was where the cook had told her she would find Earl. Her hand fell to the pistol in her jacket pocket, her fingers closing around its grip, cold and reassuring. When she finally found the man, she would have a lot to say to him.
Chapter 14
Day 8
Nate, Dakota and Jay spent the night at an empty house across the road from the Marengo police station. After the nurse had assessed their health, most of those held prisoner in the mechanic’s basement had been released and headed home. It was hard not to imagine the reunion that awaited them. Nate pictured it with no small amount of envy. But of course, there was no telling what any of the folks who had survived the abduction would find when they got there. It would be months before anyone had any real sense of the final death toll.
On a brighter note, after a quick breakfast of wieners and beans, Jay had found the strength to have a look at Nate’s snowmobile.
“So, what’s the prognosis?” Nate asked following the initial inspection.
Jay shook his head, the cords of his thin neck clearly visible, another consequence of being starved for more than a week. “Not good, I’m afraid,” he said, wiping his greasy hands on a white towel. “You’re gonna need a new fuel line and a carburetor. The belt’s also wearing out. If you make it another five miles on that thing, I’ll be surprised.”
The corner of Nate’s mouth turned down.
Dakota shuffled down the stairs and entered the kitchen, yawning. She was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. “I have an idea how to find my uncle,” she said, wiping at the inside corners of her eyes. Her crow-black hair was slightly askew.
“I’m afraid we have bigger problems at the moment,” Nate said, his hands planted on his hips, his brow furrowed in thought.
“We’re getting back on that horse, aren’t we?” she asked, sounding less than enthusiastic.
“Looks that way.”
She crossed over to the cans of tuna stacked on the counter, opened one, scooped it into a bowl and opened a side door, setting it on a small patch of snow.
Jay watched her do all that with a funny look on his face. “What’s that for?”
“Shadow,” she said. “Although I’m sure he can get his own food. This just makes things easier on him.”
“And keeps him coming back for more,” Nate said. That puzzled look on Jay’s face made Nate smile. He explained they’d found the animal caged at the middle school and Shadow had followed them ever since.
“You don’t know anything else about him?” Jay asked, incredulous. “You cross paths with a wild animal and claim him as your own?”
Dakota laughed. “Heck, no. He chose us.”
“Did he have a collar on? I mean, who knows if he belonged to someone?”
Nate considered this. “He might be someone else’s, but there was no collar. We know that much.”
On a whim, Jay opened the side door and burst into raucous laughter. “The bowl’s empty.”
Dakota smiled, tiny lines forming under her eyes. “I told you.”
“You two are heading to Chicago, right?” Jay said, leaning against the kitchen counter. “What if the wolf follows you there? I can’t imagine that’ll be good for him.”
“Believe me, I’ve thought of that,” Nate said, recalling the two drunken men in Rockford who had tried using him for target practice. “First off, I’m not sure we could get rid of him even if we wanted to. If this whole insane situation has taught me anything, it’s that there’s a lot in life that defies our ability to control. Seems the more we spin our wheels planning for every possibility, the more we lose track of what’s staring us straight in the face.”
Jay smirked. “Funny hearing that from a guy who always considered himself a prepper.”
“I did,” Nate said, nodding. “Until things truly went south. It was only then”—he paused—“and when I met Dakota that I began to realize how little I actually knew.”
“What are you saying, then?” Jay asked, leaning back on the counter, his ribs pushing against the fabric of his shirt. “Prepping’s a waste of time?”
Nate’s head rolled back with laughter. “Not at all. I’m simply saying planning for every possible scenario is impossible and maybe even counterproductive. Look at me. Everything I had in place was geared toward bugging out and camping in the woods until things began to settle. I might have been able to do that too if the hackers had been kind enough to attack us in summer like they were supposed to.”
Now it was Dakota who was laughing. “Don’t you just hate when they don’t follow the script?”
“Prepping is important,” Nate went on. “But so too is adaptability. You gotta deal the hand you’re dealt the best way you know how. If the god of snowmobiles decides it’s time to get back on the horse again, then so be it. Wayne’s had some rest. I’m sure he’ll be up to it.”
Jay waited until Nate was done. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” he said, after taking a sip of coffee. “While I may not have the parts to resurrect your dying snowmobile, I can offer you the next best thing.”
Nate regarded him inquisitively. “Next best thing?”
“Well, I was speaking with Ralph last night and he’s agreed to give you the Beast.”
Nate was genuinely stunned. “You’re kidding me. But I couldn’t. Marengo needs the Beast to help clear the streets.”
“Ralph’s already working on the Beast’s successor as we speak.”
Dakota was bobbing up and down, her hands clasped together as if in prayer. “Oh, please say yes. Please, please, please…”
“Doris told you yesterday to let me pay you back for saving my life and the life of everyone else trapped with me.”
“What about Wayne?” Nate asked. “We can’t very well drag him behind the truck.”
“I’ll see he’s taken care of,” Jay assured him. “The same way Doris is taking care of that baby you found.”
Nate sighed. “Okay,” he said finally, shaking Jay’s hand and yanking his friend into a hug. “When will it be ready?”