James Axler – Way of the Wolf

“Heard you came in with Albert,” Phillips admitted. “That’s what set me to suspicioning so much.”

“Good thing Kirkland isn’t as suspicious as you,” J.B. said.

“And if he was of a mind to be?”

“Reckon we’d find out if we could feed a few more crows before we got out of the ville.” J.B. held up his cup as the coffeepot made the circle of the table.

“We got more to eat,” one of the young men at the table offered.

J.B. thought briefly of Mildred probably sleeping back in their room at the hotel. He wondered if she’d eaten yet or was waiting for him to come back. Then he decided she’d probably eat before he got back. It didn’t look like he was going to be leaving any time too soon. He pushed his plate forward, and it was filled again. “What made Eddie take off out of the ville?”

“Took off in the middle of the night,” Phillips said. “Figured mebbe he could make it. Every now and then, you hear stories about somebody who made it out of Hazard.”

“Any truth to it?”

“That’s what we were going to find out. Eddie slipped off after his inoculation, figured he’d know something damn quick. Two days later they brought his body back.”

“How long had he been dead?”

“Animals and insects had been at him,” Phillips said. “Kind of hard to figure.”

“Mebbe as much as both of those days he was gone?” J.B. asked. He helped himself to another square of corn bread. One of the young men pushed a tub of homemade butter toward him. “Mebbe.”

“Did you get to check the body over?” J.B. noticed that Anna was growing more uncomfortable with the subject of the conversation, but he had to press on with it. He and his friends were in the middle of the present situation.

“No. Kirkland always has the bodies of the reclaimed plague victims wrapped all special. Look like mummies time he’s through with them.”

“So what could you see?”

“Eddie’s face was all blotched up. Black looking.” The old man’s voice roughened and broke, but he pulled it back on track soon enough.

“Rad burn will do that sometimes.” J.B. spooned up more beans and meat.

“Wasn’t rad burn,” one of the men stated. “Damn plague is what it was.”

“Kirkland come around asking any questions?”

“Oh, yeah,” Phillips answered. “Wondered what Eddie was doing out in the forest. Told him I didn’t know, that him and Anna had a fight. A young man during something like that forgets his good sense.”

“He believe you?”

“Hell, no. That’s when we started barricading ourselves in here a little tighter.”

“Kirkland doesn’t want you to leave.” J.B. looked at the old man.

“Me and mine,” Phillips announced, “we were one of the first families in Hazard. Time was we took a certain pride in that. No longer.”

“Lot of work for a man who knows weapons,” the Armorer said.

“Yep.” Phillips gave him a wry grin. “Can’t say that I see you hanging out a shingle anywhere and settling down. So don’t be saying it like it’s a thing to be done by just anybody.”

“Too much traveling with the Trader,” J.B. replied. “Fiddle-footedness gets in a man’s blood after a time. Always wandering.”

“Well, you and your companions surely wandered in the wrong direction this time.”

“Low on ammo,” J.B. explained. “We didn’t have much choice.”

“How come you didn’t know about the plague?” Anna asked.

J.B. returned her gaze full measure. “Liberty didn’t answer a whole lot of questions before he caught the last train to the coast.”

“If you wander around in this area, you’ll find people talk about the plague,” Anna said. “Still get some folks in from time to time for trading, but it’s generally those who know Kirkland’s got the plague under control who show up. It doesn’t set right that you wouldn’t know about it.”

“We’ve been running low to cover,” J.B. said. “Before we got here, we just left a whole peck of trouble.” And that was true enough.

Phillips rubbed his hump again and fixed the Armorer with a steel-hard stare. “Well, J. B. Dix, I’ll promise you one thing—that trouble that you left, it isn’t anything like what you got on your hands now. If Kirkland let you and your companions into this ville, it was for a reason. Whether he makes you stay here or ups and chills you people outright when the time comes remains to be seen.”