After the midnight raid, neither Catherine or Erika could sleep.  After Helen didn’t return from her talk with Sam, Catherine had left the injured girl in the hotel room to make sure everything else was alright.  She’d found Sam’s door opened and nobody was inside.  When she’d checked Ted’s room, she only found the boy’s groggy bunk mates Roy and Heck.  Roy had answered the door and claimed that he hadn’t seen Ted all night.  That pushed the count up to four missing.

            When she’d returned to her room, Catherine had considered not telling Erika.  The girl had been through enough, but she’d want to see Ted.  She’d wanted to see him when the gunmen had charged in, and ever since.

            “What do you mean missing?” Erika asked.

            “I don’t know.  We’re going to take a walk across the street and talk to Mr. Hunter.”

            On her way out, she nearly crashed into Frank Cross.

            “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

            “Sorry,” he said.  “Have you seen Sam around?”

            “No.  He, Jack, Ted, and Helen are missing.  I was just about to take Erika across the street and talk to Scott.”

            Frank nodded.  He’d been a soldier since the dead started to walk, and had been a friend of Sam’s for twenty-two years.  They’d climbed ranks together, and Frank had served under Sam on numerous missions.  They’d saved and lost a lot of lives together, and knowing that he was around made Catherine feel a hell of  a lot better.

            The sun had been up for an hour.  Had the midnight raid not happened, they wouldn’t have had to worry about curfew enforcement, but that day Catherine wasn’t sure.  After whatever trouble they’d had, the guards might try to keep their guests inside.  While they descended the stairs and crossed the street, Catherine worried that a jeep or van could pull up as any moment, full of people who wanted to take them away.  But nobody showed.

            Birds chirped and sang in the distance.  Nothing seemed to affect them.  Why should it? The undead only ate human flesh.  There were still plenty of insects and worms around.  They no longer had to worry about the neighbor’s house cat or being sucked into a jet engine.

            When they reached the parking lot, Catherine saw motion inside, but couldn’t see who was down there until she was nearly at the door.  She spotted Scott Hunter addressing a group of maybe ten men and women, clearly out of his element.  Scott hadn’t signed up to head security to be personable and ease the concerns of his people.  He was a man of action and right now, Catherine felt sorry for him.

            Had Franklin been around, he could have addressed the group and eased their concerns.  Though he was worthless in a physical confrontation, Kyle Franklin was an expert at instilling confidence in people.  He could have assured people that everything would be okay.  Catherine supposed that job would fall on her shoulders soon after she opened the door.  Luckily, her hotel seemed to be fairing better.  Or perhaps they were quiet about their concerns.  Either way she was thankful.

            When Catherine and her friends entered the building, the tension and anxiety on Scott’s face immediately gave way to relief.  As the people continued to demand answers, Catherine waved them off, saying she needed to check on Scott’s wife.  It wasn’t entirely a lie, although there were several nurses in this hotel who were making sure Lucy was healthy.  Catherine still wanted to check on the woman for herself.

            But that hadn’t been one of the main reasons for her visit.  Since they were safely inside of the building, Catherine left Frank to handle the crowd.  Though he’d commanded soldiers in the wild, he was no more equipped to deal with the people than Scott.  Though she didn’t give him any instructions, Catherine knew Frank wouldn’t mention the night’s disappearances just yet.

            “Is anyone else missing?” she asked Scott when they were away from the crowd.

            “No,” he said.  “Anyone missing from your group?”

            “Sam, Jack, Ted, and Helen seem to have disappeared.”

            The girl at Catherine’s side stayed quiet as they moved up an inside stairwell.  To save power the lights inside of the stairwell were off during the day time.  Though there were windows at the top of each flight, the stairwell was eerily dim compared to the lobby.

            “How’s Lucy holding up?” Catherine asked.

            “I think she’s doing better than me,” Scott said.

            “I was thinking that I might leave Erika here for a while, she could help you look after your wife.”

            “But when Ted comes back…”

            “You’ll just be across the street.”

            Catherine saw pain in the girl’s eyes.  She hadn’t discussed the move and her decision might seem like she was abandoning the girl after everything else.  But she couldn’t just keep the girl nearby when things might get dangerous.  Catherine was barely prepared to protect herself, let alone this injured girl.

            When they reached Scott’s room, Catherine asked Erika to step inside.  The girl did as asked without protest.

            “Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

            “The roof.”

*

            Scott held the door opened as Catherine stepped onto the rooftop.  From their position, they could see right to the walls of the compound in some places.  He liked escaping to the rooftops sometimes while Lucy slept.  The others seldom came up here and it gave him a safe place to loose his composure.  Since Franklin had disappeared, his group lacked a leader.  Though many of the refugees were older and had experience, they hadn’t stepped up.  Some, he guessed may have gotten used to the cozy life of retirement.  He supposed he’d been feeling much the same way as Catherine and Sam.

            “What haven’t you told me?” he asked.

            Catherine leaned against the edge of the rooftop, facing away from the building.

            “Things are going to get a lot more dangerous for me,” she said.  “I couldn’t keep Erika near by in good conscience when I’m the next on their hit list.”

            “What are you talking about?  There’s just as good a chance they’d come after me or Frank next.  Why shouldn’t I send Lucy across the street?”

            “We weren’t entirely honest with you when we visited your building,” she said.  “The visit was partly a cover.”

            “Sam and the others found something.”

            “Yeah.  We thought it was best to hide it, just in case we needed some kind of bargaining chip.”

            “So you, Sam, Jack, and Helen knew about the discovery.”

            “And everyone else has disappeared.”

            “But how would they know?”

            “Come on, Scott!  You’re supposed to be head of security.  Think about it.”

            “Franklin.  I guess we know what happened to him now.”

            This was too much.  He guessed that the cover-up had been Sam’s idea.  How could he protect his people when part of the picture was hidden from him?  Then again, he couldn’t be mad at the former cop.  Had Franklin known, he would have broken and revealed the location of the find.  Then their hosts wouldn’t have any more reason to keep their guests around.

            “So what are you going to do?”

            “I don’t know.  For right now, I’m going to play it cool and act like I don’t know anything else is wrong.  I hate putting anyone else in danger, but I’ll probably stay with Frank.  Maybe he’ll come up with something.  I’ve dropped enough on you.”

            “Do you have a weapon?” he asked.  “I snuck a thirty-eight in.  It seems like you might need it more than me.”

            “I don’t know.  If they come after all of us, I’d rather you had it.”

            “If they come after the rest of us, I’ll have plenty of their weapons to choose from.”

            His hands clenched into knuckled balls.

            “I don’t doubt it,” she said, “but what if I get caught with it?  It’ll just make things worse for the rest of you.”

            “If they’re coming after us, then that’s the least of our worries.  If you don’t trust yourself with it, then let Frank have it.”

            He reached for the back of his pants, where the pistol rested in his waistband, concealed by his untucked shirt.  After the search, he’d wanted to keep the weapon on him in case they came back to search the room.  In case they came back for him.  Now he was glad he’d kept it because he wouldn’t have to sneak the weapon out past his wife.

            When he held the gun out by the handle, Catherine took it reluctantly.  Her hand shook.

            “Of all the people here to be armed,” she said.

            “You spent the last twenty years with guns, just like the rest of us.”

            “But I’ve hardly fired one off of the range.”

            “Then let Frank have it and keep him near.  I’m not letting you off of this roof without it.”

            “Fine,” she said, hiding the weapon under her shirt.  “I think I’d better get going.  Tell Lucy I said hi.”

            With that, she left.  Scott stood there for a moment, contemplating what had just happened.  With four others missing, it seemed his worst suspicions were proven.  He wondered if the gun he’d kept would have actually done any good against an army.  He hoped it would help Catherine.

            When he finally moved back inside, Scott wished he was back down in the lobby with the crowd.  At least then he really hadn’t known how bad the situation was.  Now he wasn’t sure he could face another group of concerned refugees.

            Lucy opened the door before Scott could start moving his hand towards the knob.  She greeted him with a smile, but he could tell she was bewildered by the situation.  She knew something was wrong, but didn’t want to confront them in front of Erika.

            “So we have a new room mate,” Scott said.

            “Honey, why don’t we go to the roof top after lunch?”

*

            Catherine waited until they were in her hotel room to show Frank the gun.  Upon seeing the side arm, Frank’s eyes widened.  He pushed his lips together and whistled.

            “That sneaky bastard,” he said.  “Wish I would have thought to do the same thing.”

            “I think it’s best if you hold onto this for now,” Catherine said.  “I don’t have much experience with these and I haven’t had to shoot at anything that would shoot back.”

            “Neither have I.  With the exception of some of the old farts who saw action overseas, very few of us have ever been in a real firefight.”

            Sitting on the bed, Frank continued inspecting the weapon.

            “This is ridiculous.  I shouldn’t even be in this situation.  I’m a fucking nurse.  First they think I’m in charge, now this.  I’ve never had to shoot at anything alive.”

            “Neither have I,” he said.  “If it makes you feel better, I’ll carry the gun if we go out anywhere.  But while we’re in here it stays where we can both get to it easily.  Hopefully we’re wrong about this whole situation.”

            Catherine wished she’d disappeared instead of Sam.  Given some kind of warning, he could have prepared for this.  He’d been trained to use firearms and in fire fights before the dead started to walk.  He’d been a natural at strategy.  And Catherine trusted him a lot more than she trusted herself.  If Sam had been taken, then what hope did she have?  What hope did any of them have?

            If they stood and fought, they’d be slaughtered.  Not only did they lack weapons, but they were out numbered and knew next to nothing about their enemy.  Had they forcefully destroyed many compounds before?  Were they at war with another civilization that was just as large?  There were too many unknowns.

            They had little knowledge of the compound’s layout.  They didn’t know where there were large motor pools.  Nor did they know where the weakest spots in their border defense were.  Even if they did, there’d be no way to escape without waging an unwinnable war.

            Maybe it was better to die fighting than to wait for a mass execution, but Catherine wasn’t looking forward to addressing her people.  Worse, she didn’t know how to get everyone organized.  If she tried to have a mass meeting, their hosts would know.  There would be no way to address over two-hundred people without being noticed.  And there’d be no way to communicate to them without being overheard.  Catherine had no doubt she was being watched.  She couldn’t plan anything, but maybe she could have someone deliver the message to Scott.

            “Hey, there’s something on the pillow,” Frank said.

            When Catherine turned to him, she saw an envelope in his hand.  It had her name on it.  Frank passed the mysterious envelope to her, and with shaking hands she unfolded the flap and extracted a hand written note.

            I know that right now you must have a lot of questions and I understand if you’re hesitant about trusting me, but if you want to save your people meet me at the movie theater an hour after sundown.

 Signed,
A friend

            Hands shaking, she dropped the letter.

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