“Yup,” Will nodded.
“Gregson” was written on a nametag over the man’s right breast pocket, with a large but simple white star-shaped patch on the right shoulder. There was another patch, this one in the shape of a boot on his left side. After scrutinizing the “boot” for a moment, Will realized it was actually the state of Louisiana.
“Look at this,” Will said.
Danny, who was busy watching the horse dine out, glanced over. “Whatcha find?”
“They’re organizing. Names on uniforms. Regional declarations.”
“Well, damn, it’s about time they got their shit together.” Then, “Hey, you know how to ride a horse?”
“Can’t say I’ve ever ridden one.”
“Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re from Houston.”
“So?”
“And we’ve never ridden a horse before.”
“And I’ve never owned a Stetson or cowboy boots or a belt buckle the size of my head. What’s your point?”
Danny shrugged. “Seems kind of wrong, that’s all.”
Will stood up and pointed at the ground. “There was another horse heading south. Let’s see where it leads.”
“Famous last words,” Danny smirked.
The trail didn’t lead him to Gaby as he had hoped. Instead, it took them to two of the men on horseback they had seen earlier. One of the riders had climbed off his mount and was peering cautiously into the mouth of a dark cave. He saw something in there that he didn’t like, and it kept him from getting too close to the opening.
Then the man took a step back and kicked at some bones on the ground.
A dead ghoul.
Will glimpsed nametags on their uniforms, along with the same white star and the Louisiana boot. He didn’t bother trying to make out their names, though he and Danny were close enough that they could hear the two men talking just fine.
“Are we going in there to make sure?” the one still mounted asked.
“Fuck no,” the one on the ground said. “I’m not going in there.” He kicked at a deformed skull as if it were a soccer ball and watched it roll all the way into the cave, where Will saw something (somethings) squirming within the darkness.
“You see that?” the mounted one said.
“Yeah,” the second one said before walking back and climbing into his saddle. “Freaks me out every time.”
“What are we going to tell the kid?”
“The kid”? Will thought.
The second man reined his horse around. “We tell him the truth — that his girlfriend had the misfortune of trying to hide inside a cave full of the bloodsuckers and didn’t come out.”
“Girlfriend”? “The kid”?
They’re talking about Josh and Gaby…
“Just like that?” the first one said.
“But more tactfully, of course,” the other one said, chuckling.
“Of course.”
Will and Danny watched them go.
When they couldn’t hear the horses anymore, they stood up and made their way over to the cave.
“One guess what’s in there,” Danny said. He kicked dirt at the bones. They were almost pure white under the sun and looked malformed. He sniffed the air. “Lots of them, too.”
“Why don’t you go in to make sure,” Will said.
“Maybe later. So now what?”
“Those guys are either smarter than they look and she’s dead, or they’re just as dumb as they look and she’s not.”
“That’s so convoluted I bet you think it actually made sense, huh?”
Danny peered into the dark cave opening while Will looked around for tracks.
The ground was soft and malleable, which was both a good thing and a problem, because there had been a lot of activity around the area very recently. There were more than one set of tracks, both on foot and on horseback. He noted then quickly dismissed the horseshoes, along with the newest pair of boots belonging to one of the dismounted (wannabe) soldiers. With those out of the way, he was able to focus on three separate pairs of shoes. Two sneakers and one pair of boots.
“What’s your Injun skills tell you?” Danny said, coming up behind him.
“Three people went inside — either separately or together, but they all went inside — the cave, and the same three came back out later and headed south.”
“That’s a good sign. Everyone who went in came back out.”
“That’s a very good sign.” Will stood up and followed the tracks until they vanished through some underbrush. “Those two seemed convinced one of those tracks belonged to Gaby.”
“The ‘girlfriend’ in question?”
“Yup. If they go back to town and tell Josh she’s dead, that means she’s free and clear of him.”
Danny chuckled. “Now who’s Captain Optimism?”
Will grinned. “Let’s go find our girl.”
“Let’s,” Danny said.
They headed off, Will feeling more hopeful than he had in days.
Gaby was out there. If he had to guess, the two with her were friendlies. That was the good news. The thought of Gaby having to face all of this alone bothered him more than he wanted to admit. It was his fault she was out here in the first place. Also his fault that she had gotten caught, because he had sent her on ahead of him.
Hang on, Gaby. Hang on a little longer…
After about twenty minutes of steadily tracking Gaby and her two companions, it became clear they were using the lake — Hillman’s Lake, according to the map — as a guide while traveling further south.
“We’re going to have to stop so I can call in to Song Island,” Will said. He glanced at his watch. “I promised Lara at least two contacts a day.”
Danny made an exaggerated whipping sound.
Will grinned. “Until then, what’s up ahead?”
Danny fished out the same map. “If they keep along the lake, they’ll run across a place called Dunbar about thirty-five klicks south. If they turn left between here and Dunbar, they’ll be heading toward a place called Harvest.”
“I know Harvest.”
“Fun times?”
“Oodles.”
“Tell me about it never. In the meantime, what the hell’s in Dunbar?”
“No idea. She either has a map or one of the people she’s traveling with knows the area. Anything smaller that’s worth stopping for between us and there?”
“We’re in the sticks, buddy. They probably have towns out here that have been around since the days of Tutankhamun.”
“Who?”
“Tutankhamun.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Egyptian pharaoh. He’s the dude all you uneducated types call King Tut.”
“You been sneaking off to read again?”
Danny smirked. “It’s amazing what you can shove into your learning hole when you’re bored.”
“Carly know you’ve been shoving things into inappropriate places?”
“Oh, the things you don’t know about that little demon redhead—”
The whine of an engine cut Danny off and sent both of them into a crouch among the tall grass. They scooted over behind a large tree and put it between them and the lake just as the noise turned into the roar of an outboard motor.
It was an aluminum twenty-footer, gray sides reflecting back the sun as it skidded smoothly across the lake’s surface. There were two men onboard, one sitting on a swivel chair on the bow cradling an M4 while the other stood behind the steering wheel near the center. Both were wearing the same uniforms as the ones they’d seen so far.
They watched the boat disappear up the lake, the man up front glancing around and talking into a radio.