Chapter 17

[Arnold's manuscript continues]

A moment later, I saw an old stake body truck go by on the main street. It was full of men. I decided that I didn't know if that were good or bad. I wondered if the bad guys had somehow called in reinforcements. However, it was the first sound and sight and was heading away from the hotel. I told Maria all that and said, "We will have to be careful. I think we should stay here at least for tonight."

She said, "That is fine but, if you don't talk out your side, I will shoot you!"

"Maria, I lost my entire family when this started. They lived in Orlando when all this started. My girl in California broke up with me when I came down here. After that, I had started dating a nurse and went to the hospital to help her. She died of the virus. It was not pretty to watch.

"I've told you much of that. Everyone died and I finally left. I went back to my hotel and tried to decide what to do.

"I finally decided to return to L.A. There wasn't any particular reason for that. It was just a goal. I could change it.

"When I met you, I avoided any serious entanglement. I wasn't entirely comfortable with Tomas. He seemed to be unaware of the realities of our situation and seemed to not approve of us having even a friendship, much less a romance. I realize now that you suffered because of my attitude and response to him. I do not handle confrontations well. If I can leave a situation to avoid a confrontation, I will do that. I also hadn't been in a lasting relationship since high school. I have been hurt badly enough to avoid getting involved with someone.

"Finally, I have always had a good opinion of you. That has never varied. My reasoning was that Tomas was your brother and you would want to stay with him. I spent an unpleasant and uncomfortable night here after I left you.

"I should have listened to you. I apologize and promise to always listen to your opinions. I know you are smart."

Maria stood and came to where I was sitting and watching and hugged me fiercely. She took my head in her hands and turned my face to hers and kissed me hard and passionately. She released me. "Now, go back to watching."

"It's going to be difficult to keep my mind on watching the street." I chuckled. "I want to watch you more." She smiled.

It was late afternoon when I heard the sound. Someone was coming down the street beside ours. Maria was snoozing. I gently gripped her shoulder. She woke quickly looking at me. I whispered, "Company is coming."

She kept low but slid over to me. "Who, where?"

"I caught a glimpse of someone the next street over. It's just one person. He or she wasn't dressed like the bad guys in army fatigues."

"That's hopeful then."

"Perhaps. Let's forget that I speak Spanish if we meet someone."

We had the doors unlocked. We saw the person flitting from house to house searching each one quickly. I began to wonder what they were searching for or who. We waited to see what would happen. The front and back doors were unlocked and I sent Maria to watch the back where we suspected our visitor might try to enter. She came back to me and whispered, "Every door is being tried. If unlocked, the person enters. The clothes make them shapeless and I can't tell if they are male or female."

We might not shoot but did set up an ambush and waited.

An hour passed. We were getting antsy until I heard the knob to the back door turn. I held my finger across my lips for silence and pointed. We remained in position and waited some more. I heard the door open and then slowly close. Maria gave the person a moment and said quietly in Spanish, "Please put your hands in the air. You are covered. We don't want to shoot but will if we have to. Let's talk."

The person raised their hands palms out. "You were fighting the guys in the fatigues, the black shirts. I am also. Could we work together?" It was a woman's voice speaking Spanish.

Maria said, "Let's sit at the table and talk."

The stranger sat down and said, "I am Graciana. Before all this started, I lived in Guatemala City and was finishing college. My parents were killed by those locos. My brother is missing. He was working in Mexico City and I haven't heard from him since a week after the tsunami. He was going to try to make it home. After that, calls to him went straight to voice mail.

"My parents were walking one day and the locos just shot them. I saw it but there was nothing I could do. I have been tracking them and shooting them when I could. They are violent rapists. There are only twenty-three left now.

"They were chasing some people who shot a driver and caused one of their vehicles to crash. They had tracked them to fancy hotels and sent a larger party to capture or kill them earlier. It wasn't successful and they are looking for the ones who disturbed them."

I came behind her quietly. I said, "We should be able to tell you what happened. They killed two of ours. Maria's brother and his wife are dead. We got four of them and got away. They're hunting for us now. We are just trying to escape them."

She was a little disturbed by me sneaking up behind her. I continued, "We would prefer to live in peace but will fight if we must. We weren't sure who you were or what your attitude might be. If we were like them or weren't willing to live in peace, you would be dead." I sat down at the table next to Maria.

Graciana said, "Would you let me come with you?" Before we could respond, she said, "I've had no one. I couldn't get in front of them and gather allies so I have been taking them out when I can. They know there is a sniper after them, but I am a good shot and quickly learned to be careful. You hid your presence well. I thought this was just another vacant house. I was going to stop here and rest while I watched the road."

I looked at Maria and slowly nodded. She said, "You may join us. We are headed north to the United States unless we find good people or a good place sooner. Arnoldo is in charge. He is good about talking things over when there is time or explaining later if there isn't time. You need to know that I trust him completely and will not vote against him if there is a disagreement."