“Possibly a couple of families. There are kids, women, three men visible with old style pulse rifles. Might be more inside the cabins.”
“Are the Rosewater buses there?” Tamsyn asked, surprised to find herself eager for a reunion even though most of the people who’d fled on the buses probably weren’t even from Rosewater.
“Negative.” Cody switched to a holo of the parking lot and there were a number of cars and one beat up groundtruck but no bus.
“What do you want to do, captain?” Zach asked. He was at the APC controls this shift. “We going in or giving it a miss?”
“I liked the idea of sleeping inside a cabin rather than a tent or on the ground,” Melly said before Jeff could answer. “And maybe these people need medical help.”
“Show me the overview again,” Jeff ordered and the view changed immediately. He rubbed his chin, considering the situation. “All right, we’ll take these two cabins closest to the parking lot. Pull the APC’s up over the curb right next to the cabins to form a barrier. When we arrive, we’ll do a patrol run first before the civilian members of the team disembark. See what the story is with these people. I hear anything I don’t like, we’ll move on and camp out further down the road.”
Tamsyn hoped he would decide they could stay at the park. She’d never been here but the hot springs were rumored to be amazingly restorative and after a long day in the APC, she craved the stability of a bed inside four walls. Give her a day long ride on a horse and she’d be ready to dance afterwards, but this riding around in a metal can was tiring and stressful to her.
Chapter Twelve
Jeff wasn’t expecting trouble from the small group of refugees already at the park. It was obviously an extended family and friends group and the few weapons on display were no threat to his men, the APC’s or the megablaster cannons. Still, he wasn’t taking anything for granted, especially not with the safety of Melly and Mike at stake. And now Tamsyn too, he reminded himself. Once the vehicles were parked as per his order, he surveyed the scene again on the vids and with the drone holo. The civilians had come to watch their arrival and were clustered a few yards away, silently observing. He subtracted points from whoever was in charge here because no way he should have let the women and children assemble before knowing who was inside the military vehicles. Lucky for the man or woman Jeff had no ulterior motives.
“All right, I’m going out to have a chat,” he said. “Cody, keep overwatch. Zach, with me.” He’d already sent orders to Trent and Ryan in the other APC.
Weapons at the ready but not directly aimed at anyone, Jeff and Zach exited. “Who’s in charge here?” Jeff asked.
An older man stepped forward. “That’d be me. Ned Chalmers. This is my wife Rebba and the rest is our family. You from the government?”
“What’s the news?” called a woman who was quickly shushed by others.
“We’re on detached duty,” Jeff said, which wasn’t exactly a lie. “We intend to spend the night here and move on in the morning. Anyone else here besides your group?”
“Couple of people have come and gone,” the man said. “Got a locked cabin full of infected up there on the hill—we left them alone. Maybe you could get rid of them for us.” He grinned. “That’d be the neighborly thing to do, what with your guns and all.”
“I’ll consider it,” Jeff said. “Where are you from?”
“Taillor. We left there in a convoy right before the government folded, couldn’t find a place to stay, heard of one town but it fell before we even got there. Lost a few people and cars along the way.”
“Why aren’t you going to the big refugee camp as Glastine?” Jeff asked. “Especially with the children?—”
“Our vehicles weren’t much to boast about when we left Taillor,” Ned said. “Truck’s engine is busted now, barely limped into the parking lot and we can’t all fit into the groundcar so I reckon we’ll be staying here.”
“You couldn’t find another vehicle?” Zac asked. “Plenty of them abandoned on the roads.”
“We tried twice, nearly got surrounded by infected both times.” Ned shook his head. “It ain’t as easy as you make it sound, soldier.”
“But if we had the means we’d keep heading northeast.” His wife spoke up. “I’ve got a sister whose husband runs a ranch up there. His place was our destination. Forget any camp controlled by the government.” She spat on the ground. “Sure I’d trust them with my family after they did such a wonderful job fighting the outbreak and saving the cities.” Her sarcasm was biting.
“Please, do you have any food?” The woman making the plea was on the edge of the group, with two children clinging to her legs. Her face was drawn and haggard.
“I’ll see what we can spare,” Jeff said, coming to a decision. “We have a doctor with us as well if anyone is in need of medical attention.”
One of the men with a rifle said loudly, “Thank the Lords of Space. My wife got shot at one of the stops we made and she’s not doing well. We dug the bullet out but the wound is infected.”
“I think Tris here has a broken arm.” Another woman cradling a pale faced toddler in her arms spoke up. “Her parents didn’t make it. We’re not sure what happened to her but her arm’s not right.”
Jeff raised one hand to stem the flow of requests and information. He was sure by now Melly was wildly frustrated inside the APC at not being able to immediately start treating these new patients. While he didn’t see a threat from this group, he wasn’t going to relax either. Nor was he going to let his team get overwhelmed by the obvious needs of the people in front of him. He’d do what he could without endangering his own or his ultimate mission. “Give me an hour to inspect the place and get ourselves established. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to hand out rations and to let the doctor examine your wounded and ill.”
“Bless you,” Ned said in a shaking voice. “You’re the answer to our prayers.”
“Just a bunch of soldiers doing our jobs, sir,” Jeff replied.
“There’s a big hall with a kitchen and dining area,” Rebba said. She pointed downhill beyond the welcome center. “I guess they had groups stay here in the old days. Your doctor might want to set up there.”
