The Stones of Angkor (Purge of Babylon, Book 3) (12 page)

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” as Will would say.

*

Danny stayed behind
with the men as they took their turn in the dining room. Sarah and Carly had whipped up a new batch of fish and cold drinks. The men attacked the cold drinks even more ferociously than the food, which wasn’t that surprising. Ice was the new currency in today’s world.

While the men ate, Lara went to check on the women. As expected, they had grabbed rooms next to each other near the middle of Hallway A. It was instinct. When she, Will, and the others had arrived at the hotel, they had done the exact same thing.

So when Lara found Jo’s room, she didn’t have to go far to find Jo’s sister, Bonnie, in the room next door. Bonnie’s door wasn’t closed, and when Lara leaned in, the older woman was pulling clothes out of her backpack. She had washed her face and hair, and she looked more stunning than when Lara had seen her earlier in the day. An open luggage stuffed with undergarments and personal hygiene products sat on the bed.

Lara saw a portable sonic toothbrush and toothpaste among Bonnie’s things. “You too, huh?”

Bonnie looked over. “Which one?”

“Toothbrush.”

“Oh God, I would end it all now if I couldn’t brush my teeth at least once a day.” She pulled out a fresh batch of batteries still in shrink wrap. “That’s all these are for, you know. The toothbrush. The trick is finding enough toothpaste.”

“You’re in luck. We have boxes of the stuff in storage.”

“You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.” She held up an almost empty tube of toothpaste. “I’m not kidding.”

“I’ll show you guys where to grab everything you’ll need later.”

“Thanks.”

“You and Jo are sisters, right?”

“How did you know?”

“There’s a resemblance.”

“She’s my little sister, yeah.”

Lara closed the door behind her.

Bonnie stopped what she was doing and looked over. She must have seen the seriousness on Lara’s face. “You have questions.”

“I do.”

“About the men.”

Lara nodded.

Bonnie pursed her lips.

She knows what I’m about to ask. She’s been waiting for it.

No, that’s not true. She’s been
dreading
it.

“Can I trust them?” Lara asked.

Bonnie sat down on the bed. She seemed to be thinking about her answer. Or maybe she was trying to decide how much to say.

Lara didn’t push her, letting her take her time. There was a reason she had decided to trust Bonnie. She had seen how the other woman acted around Mae, and how she made sure Lucy and Kylie and the boy Logan ate while they were in the dining room. Once, Bonnie gave the last piece of a fish to Logan, and sat for ten minutes waiting for the next round of food to show up. All the while, she hadn’t complained, hadn’t made a scene, and simply kept the conversation going, laughing all the while, even though Lara could tell she was still hungry.

She’s a good woman,
Lara remembered thinking.

After a while, Bonnie met her gaze. “Roy’s a good guy.”

“What about the other two?”

“It was just Roy, me, and the girls in the beginning,” Bonnie said.

Lara didn’t interrupt. She understood; Bonnie was telling her this because she thought Lara needed to know the background, the context of what she would say next. So Lara stood against the wall and listened.

“It was hard,” Bonnie said. “Roy’s a really good guy, but you can tell by the way he dresses, this isn’t his thing.” She gave Lara a small but endearing smile. “It’s not our thing either, but it’s really not Roy’s thing. He worked in an office fixing computers, you know. But we got by. Barely. We were skin and bones when we ran across Brody and West. Those two guys could have survived in the pioneer days. Me, Jo, and Roy, and the others? I don’t know how long we would have lasted.”

“Brody and West saved you.”

“They did, yes. In the very real sense that we wouldn’t be here without them. Roy pitched in whenever he could, but it was mostly Brody and West. They went out for supplies, came back with food, kept us basically alive.”

“How did you guys meet?”

“They were heading up north when we crossed paths with them in southern Oklahoma. We were on our way down here after we picked up the radio broadcast. We convinced them to come down with us because we needed them in the worst way.” Bonnie paused. She looked down at her hands. “From the very first week, we made an arrangement. It was between me and Gwen, and Brody and West. They agreed not to touch Jo or the kids. And they didn’t.”

Lara didn’t have to ask what kind of “arrangement” Bonnie was talking about. “You did what you had to do,” she said.

Bonnie nodded. “I know. And I don’t regret doing it. I’m not going to be writing about it in my journal or anything, but it’s a different world out there. You have to do things you might not otherwise have done before in order to survive.”

“You don’t need them anymore, Bonnie. You’re not going anywhere. Neither are the girls, or the kids. But I need to know—can I trust them? Can I trust Brody and West to stay here on the island and not cause trouble?”

Bonnie didn’t answer right away. She met Lara’s eyes and held them.

“I don’t think you should, no,” Bonnie said finally.

“Are they dangerous?”

“They can be.”

“Were they ever violent with you and Gwen?”

“Sometimes.”

“I might have to eventually give them back their weapons.”

“I wouldn’t, if I were you. At least, not while they’re still on the island.”

“Why?”

“We weren’t always alone on the road. The eleven of us. We met other survivors.”

“What happened?”

“They had things West and Brody wanted. Supplies.” She paused. “One day, those supplies just showed up in the house we were staying in. I asked West where they got them, but he told me they found them.”

“How do you know he lied?”

“When you met him earlier, did you see the watch West had on?”

“The gold one?”

“Yeah. It used to belong to one of the survivors we ran across.”

“Did you ask him about it?”

“He said he traded for it.”

“Could he have?”

“No.” She shook her head. “When we first met the others, West asked about the watch, but the man who had it—he was young, in his twenties—said it was his father’s. West kept pestering him to trade for it, but the guy wouldn’t budge. Then one day we have extra supplies and West is wearing the watch.”

“He killed a man for a watch?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Bonnie said. “Maybe the guy changed his mind.” She shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, Lara, you know?”

“How many people were in the other group?”

“Four. Two men and two women. One of them was just a girl.”

They didn’t say anything else for a while.

“Thank you, Bonnie,” Lara said finally, and she turned to go.

“Lara.” Bonnie was standing when Lara looked back. “Is Danny good with those weapons?”

“Danny was an Army Ranger. After that, he was a SWAT commando. Yeah, Bonnie, he’s really good with those weapons.”

“Then he should think about using them.”

“What do you mean?”

“If Brody and West think they’ll never get their guns back, that you’ll never trust them enough to let them stay on the island, they might do something drastic. Something you won’t like.”

“What do you think they’ll do?”

“I don’t know,” Bonnie said, the fear clearly visible on her face. “That’s the problem. I don’t know what they’ll do if you push them into a corner. I just know that they’re capable of anything in order to get what they want. After seeing what the island has to offer, I don’t think they’re going to want to leave. Would you?”

No. No, I wouldn’t…

WILL

“You sound beautiful.”

“Oh, you can hear that through the radio, can you?” Lara asked playfully.

“Only because it’s you,” Will said.

He was alone inside a small administrative office in the east tower of Mercy Hospital’s tenth floor. It was almost dark outside, with maybe thirty minutes of sunlight left. Will could sense the falling darkness, draping over the city of Lafayette inch by inch.

“Tell me about the new people,” Will said.

“Six women and five men, including two cowboys.”

“Cowboys?”

“Bona fide Texas cowboys. You know how, when everyone thinks of Texas, they picture us all wearing giant belt buckles, ten-gallon Stetson hats, and boots?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, they haven’t called me ‘ma’am’ or ‘darlin’’ yet, but that’s basically them. And minus the hats.”

“So your biggest knock against them is that they look too much like cowboys?”

“That, and Danny says they have squirrelly eyes.”

“Hunh.”

“That mean something to you, too?”

“We had a CO in Afghanistan with squirrelly eyes.”

“So Danny tells me.”

She went quiet.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I asked one of the women about them. About the cowboys.”

“I’m guessing she didn’t have very good things to say.”

“She told me we should only trust them as far as we can throw them. Like into the lake. She thinks we should walk them at gunpoint to the beach and just shoot them in the back of their heads.”

“She said that?”

“Not in so many words. I inferred.”

“Hunh.”

“‘Hunh’? Is that all you have to say?”

“Did you tell Danny what the woman said?”

“I discussed everything with him, Carly, Blaine, and Maddie afterward.”

“What about Sarah?”

“She was busy in the kitchen.”

“A woman’s work is never done.”

“Tell me about it.”

He paused to think about what she had said. Then, “What did Danny say?”

“That we need to watch them closely.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Just ‘okay’? That’s it? I was hoping for something more profound. Or at least, more than ‘okay.’ What does that mean, exactly?”

“It means if they so much as look cross-eyed at you or Carly, or anyone else on the island, Danny will put a bullet in their heads.”

Lara went quiet on the other end.

“Lara?”

“I’m still here,” she said. “Would he really do that?”

“Yes.”

“Because of what Bonnie told me?”

“That, but mostly because Danny will do what he has to do in order to keep you and the others safe. Just follow his lead when it comes to the gunplay.”

“What about everything else?”

“Lara,” he said.

“Hmm?”

“Just follow Danny’s lead on the two cowboys.”

“Okay.”

He could hear something else in her voice, a slight hesitation. “What is it?”

“I miss you.”

He smiled. “I miss you, too.”

“Are there any hot women over there?”

“They’re not much to look at over here.”

“Meaning?”

“They’ve been hiding inside a hospital floor for the last eleven months. Think about it.”

“That bad?”

“The kids are straight out of
Village of the Damned
.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a movie. About this town where the kids are damned.”

“Oh.”

“You’ve never seen it?”

“No.”

“When we get back, I’ll bring over a Blu-ray and we’ll pop it into the TV and watch together.”

“You have a Blu-ray copy of a movie about creepy children in a village that’s damned?” He could hear the amusement in her voice.

“What, you don’t?”

She laughed. “I can safely say, no.”

“You’ll love it.”

“I’m sure I won’t.”

“Lara,” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“I love you.”

“You sound so serious.”

“That’s because I am.”

“You’re alone over there, aren’t you?”

“Of course not. There are a dozen guys just sitting around listening to me profess my undying love for you.”

“Good. Because for a moment there I thought you were only doing the lovey dovey stuff because you were alone.”

“What kind of guy do you think I am?”

“I know exactly what kind of guy you are. And I still love you, too.”

“That took a while.”

She laughed again. “I had to think about it.”

“Damn, lady, you really know how to hurt a guy’s feelings.”

“I’m just messing with you. I didn’t have to think about it for one second.”

“Better.”

“Okay, maybe half a second.”

“Hunh.”

“By the way, one of the newcomers is a computer guy. Danny and I were discussing how he might come in handy.”

“The hydro turbine back at Harold Campbell’s facility?”

“Exactly. Of course, we’ll need Jen’s helicopter. How’s it coming, anyway? Is your charm offensive going as planned?”

“I’m working on it.”

“Work harder. We need that helicopter.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They spent another thirty minutes talking. By then, Greg, the guy whose job it was to monitor the radio, had returned from dinner, and he sat back behind a desk and picked up an old, heavily dog-eared novel he had been reading when Will first arrived.