They found him lying under a tree two hours later. His back was propped up against the trunk, his feet splayed out in front of him like a Bowery bum. He didn't move, just stared at them as they trudged slowly toward him across the flat terrain. They were moving, but through the steaming heat rising from the ground and his throbbing headache, they looked like flies preening on the carcass of a dying animal.
It took them twenty minutes from the time they spotted him until they actually reached him.
He could see the shock on their faces as they got closer, realized his condition. Their eyes traveling from head to foot, taking inventory of the damage.
Tracy was the first to compose herself. "You faking, or what?"
"Or what."
"Thirsty?"
"What have you got?"
"Black Russian, Brandy Alexander, and water."
"I'll try your water."
She bent down, lifted his head slightly, tilted the canteen so the water could trickle into his mouth. He swallowed a few times.
"Thanks."
Season brought a first-aid kit over.
"Where'd you get that?"
"We passed through Savvytown on the way here. Everyone running around like crazy. With Flex and Savvy dead, it looks like Lido's taking over. Anyway, the confusion gave me a chance to steal this out of the infirmary."
"You know what you're doing?"
"I bandaged my collie's leg once."
"What was wrong with him?"
"Nothing. I was just practicing to be a nurse. I thought I might need something to fall back on in case I didn't become a sex goddess."
The four of them worked over his wounds together; Season and Tracy took everything from the waist up, Rydell and Molly handled the rest.
Eric closed his eyes, drifted in and out of sleep. Exhaustion dulled the pains a little, though he did wake up when they picked the slivers of glass out of his neck. And he felt the tug on his pants leg as they cut the material and tried to soak it where it had burned onto the skin. They bound his cracked ribs, cleaned the cuts and burns, and forced him to drink hot lentil soup that Tracy made from a box of instant Knorr's mix they'd also picked up in Savvytown.
"Why aren't you following Fallows' men?" he finally asked. There was no accusation in the tone. It was just a question, like why do you like the color red.
"We tracked them for a while," Rydell said. "But then we decided to come back for you. See if you needed help."
"You are the worst bunch at following orders I've ever seen. If this were the army…" He laughed dully. "But it ain't."
There was a long pause no one bothered to break. They knew what was coming and weren't anxious to hurry it.
"Annie's dead," Eric said.
"We know," Tracy said. "We saw her."
Eric nodded, told them what had happened. They listened without questions, letting his voice unwind slowly in the morning breeze. Two miles behind them the black smoke from the smouldering church swirled in the air like a painted tornado. Ashes snowed lightly around them as they listened, the smell of a fresh fire somehow nostalgic.
"Cruz is dead. But Fallows is still alive. With Timmy. I followed for a while, but they're on horseback."
"We'll find them," Tracy said. "Just rest for now."
"Nope. No time." Eric dragged himself to his feet, using the tree trunk for support. He winced at the pain in his chest, rubbed the bandage Season had wrapped around his ribs. "Did that collie live?"
"Yeah," she snapped, "because he was smart enough to know when to lie down. Unlike others of less breeding."
Molly cupped her hand under Eric's elbow. "She's right, you know. You could make things worse by moving around."
Eric nodded. There was no point in describing how he'd wandered through the jungles of Nam for two weeks with worse injuries. Then again, he was younger then. The young can feed off hate much better; it tastes as good when you're older, but it lacks nutrition. "Lend me a bow," he said to Tracy who was still carrying the crossbow they'd taken from Foxworth,
She handed it to him, and the quiver.
"Fallows head south?" Rydell asked.
"First things first?" Eric said.
"Huh?"
"I mean we have other business first."
"Other business?" Tracy said, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Savvytown."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that now's the time to hit them. If Lido takes charge it will be business as usual, only worse." He thought of Annie, saw her haunted face. "And, yeah, maybe I do owe those women something."
"What about Fallows and Timmy?"
"I won't make much time on foot against their horses. So I'd be better off going back and taking one of the horses at Savvytown. Once we're finished there. Any questions?"
There were none.