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We drove ‘til an hour before dusk.Patrick selected another house in the middle of nowhere with sight lines from all sides.
“Rig the lights just in case,” he ordered as soon as we stopped.“I want a team of six sweeping the house.Tamra, Sid, Mateo, Roni—”
The crack of wood interrupted him, and everyone’s attention shifted to Molev as he disappeared inside the broken door.Patrick immediately looked at me.
“If he doesn’t want to be a weapon, he should stop acting like one,” he said.
“I don’t think it was the tasks he objected to but being told when and how to do them,” I said.“He seems to enjoy free will.”
Patrick said something under his breath and focused on the four he’d called out.
“Sweep the house once he’s clear,” he said, his tone laced with annoyance.
I gathered up an armful of MREs and waited for the go-ahead to enter.When I did, the shower was already running, and Roni leaned against the wall just outside it.
“He already in there?”I asked.
“Sure is.He handled four infected.Waited until he took them out back to deal with them so nothing’s dirty in here.Isn’t that sweet?”
She didn’t sound impressed.Like Patrick, she sounded annoyed, and I wasn’t entirely sure why.
“You okay?”I asked.
She sighed and shook her head as if clearing it.“I’m fine.Frustrated.Tired.Hungry.It’s making me moody.”
I handed her one of the MREs.“Snack while you wait.I’ll go look for clothes for him.”
I was still searching one of the dressers when he found me.With only a towel wrapped around his waist, he slipped into the room and closed the door behind him.
Then he locked it.
Maybe that would have worried me if he didn’t immediately head for the bed and lie on it.
“Was it the running that did you in or the running without eating or drinking?”
He grunted, and I tossed an MRE pack so it landed squarely on his chest.
“Eat, Molev.You’re no good to anyone dead.”I moved toward the door.
“Don’t,” he said.
I looked back at him.“Eat.Don’t make me say it again.I’ll be back in a minute with something to drink.Then you can sleep.”
The corner of his mouth did that twitch thing that I hadn’t seen in a while, and he didn’t try stopping me from leaving a second time.When I saw Roland in the hallway, I told him to stand next to the door and not to let anyone in.
He didn’t question me; he simply nodded and leaned against the wall.
When I returned, Roni was there, talking to him.
“Why can’t anyone go in?”she asked.
“Because he’s not in a people kind of mood right now.Get some sleep, and I’ll try to talk him into less running tomorrow.”
She didn’t try to follow me inside.
When I entered, I found Molev sitting on the bed and working his way through his second MRE.I poured him a glass of water from the pitcher I’d brought and watched him drink it in a few gulps and set the empty glass aside.
I sat on the floor, watching him eat.He seemed distracted, not even noticing what he was eating.
