Chapter 25 #2
“Nobody shoot!” she yelled, hands in the air. “I am not armed!”
The three strangers took a few steps back as she approached, their guns now pointed at her. That was okay, so long as she quickly got the situation under control.
She stopped about ten feet from them, hands still high. “What do you call an alligator who solves mysteries?” she blurted out. It was one of the absolutely awful jokes Jimmy had told them around the fire what seemed like ages ago.
A moment of silence.
“What?” the older man asked, his voice gruff.
She took a deep breath and smiled. “What do you call an alligator who solves mysteries? C’mon. Any guesses?”
The younger man shared a confused glance with the woman then lowered his gun a bit. “Um, I don’t know?”
“An investi-gator.” She cocked her head, still smiling, willing them to get her intentions.
A laugh rang out from behind her. To her shock, she recognized it as Ripper’s.
Then she saw the woman smile, her expression still confused but less strained. She nudged the older man, lowering her own rifle, and his mouth curved just a little.
Bingo. She kept her hands in the air. “I’m sorry for running over here, but we don’t want to fight any more than you do. I promise. Everybody’s really afraid on both sides here.”
She looked down. Her own aura was mostly yellow, and she could see it reaching out to the auras of the others.
“I’m Allie.” She turned her head and saw that Ripper was slowly approaching on her right.
Hands still up, she pointed her thumbs toward him.
“He’s Ripper. I don’t... actually know his real name.
” She made a face at him. “Is that weird?”
He shrugged, his mouth still quirked up on one side, his gun down by his side and his stance relaxed.
She turned to her other side and pointed at the rest of the group, all now in view and all out of their battle stances.
“This is Keyshawna, Odette, and Gray. And Cam.” She smiled at him, and he kept his gaze steady on hers, expression unreadable.
She hoped he understood why she’d done it.
Then she turned toward the other side of the road.
“And the other person over there is Rachel. She’s new to our group, so this is a little awkward.
We didn’t realize she’d get into a standoff on her first time scouting for us. ”
Rachel rose from her crouch. Her aura was a blend of black and white, fluctuating with relief and irritation. “What are you doing?” she hissed as if everyone couldn’t hear her.
“I’m stopping this from becoming a bloodbath.” Allie looked back at the newcomers. “I’m right about that, yeah? You all don’t want to shoot anyone if you don’t have to.”
The older man lowered his gun fully, holding it by his side. “No. We really don’t.”
“Cool.” Allie nodded. “So we’re all going to stop pointing guns at each other. Okay? And I’m going to put my arms down because they’re getting tired.”
The man nodded then looked at the woman and the younger man, who also nodded.
Allie began lowering her suddenly aching arms. “Right?” She looked back at Key, not Cam.
“Right,” Key said. She sheathed her machete. “Sorry about that.”
The woman in the red handkerchief tucked her gun under one arm, the jagged edges of her aura smoothing out as her fear faded a little. Her wary face looked from person to person behind Allie then came back. Her eyes were so tired.
“I’m Jennifer. Jen.” Jen looked at the older man beside her. “This is Manny, and that’s my son Zachary. We’ve had a rough time. Ran into a dog pack yesterday, and we’ve all got some injuries.”
The blond man, Zachary, stepped forward, slinging his rifle over one shoulder. “There’s only one more of us. Ginger’s—”
“I’m back here.” The voice came from behind the car, higher pitched and strained despite a thread of amusement. “Your joke made me laugh, nice person named Allie.”
Manny smiled a little at Jen, shaking his head, then looked back at Allie. “Ginger’s hurt the worst. We just didn’t expect the dogs to attack like that. And we’ve all been feeling weak. Don’t know why—we’ve had plenty of food.”
Odette came forward. “We can help.” She turned back to Allie, smiling a little, and then to Key. “Right?”
“Absolutely,” Key said. “Let’s set up a camp and get started.”
Allie smiled with relief. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Cam—whose lovely, soothing aura had become mottled in an avalanche of suppressed panic.
She remembered the way the Z-terror had swamped him only after they were safe in the bunker. Oh, Cam. That delayed fear reaction is hell on you.
“Please come with me back to the bikes,” he said, practically vibrating, face pale.
Allie knew how it must have looked to him, how he must have felt, watching her run toward a group of people armed to the teeth, standing between their two groups as they teetered on the edge of conflict. Not Morrigan Vision this time—just plain old empathy.
“They don’t want to fight, Cam,” she said softly, reaching out a hand to him. “I’m not in danger now.”
“Yes,” he said, not taking the hand she offered—instead moving to put himself between her and the other group, who was currently talking with Key and Odette. “But please come with me to go get supplies.”
“Hey.” When Allie turned, she saw Rachel power walking toward her. “I had that under control. I was preparing to make my move.”
“What kind of move?”
Rachel frowned. “I was going to... I don’t know. Neutralize the threat.”
Allie stared at the other woman. “You thought you could take out three armed people?”
Rachel grimaced. “Well, you didn’t have to embarrass me.”
Cam opened his mouth, stepping forward, but Allie put a hand out. “Thankfully, we’re all good now. No neutralization necessary.”
“I know,” Rachel said, a little sulkily, and rolled her eyes.
When Allie concentrated, she could see Rachel’s aura. So this is something I get to keep? Cool. What she saw was a whole lot of frustration and energy, plus a healthy dose of fading battle-readiness.
Great. Exactly what we need, a gung-ho fighter with a hero complex. Fun times.
“Why don’t you search the cars?” she asked Rachel, voice carefully polite. “I’ll bet you’ll find some stuff. Be sure to check for Zs inside first.”
Rachel looked like she was going to argue—again with this person—before Cam intervened.
“Great idea,” he said. “Thanks, Rachel.”
When the woman walked away, they both watched her go.
Allie sighed. “I hope she stays out of trouble.”
“I hope she stays at the Plant,” Cam muttered.