That was five years ago, and given Campbell’s money and resources, it wasn’t a stretch to believe the facility was finished, and probably had been years ago. The question was, had Campbell gotten to it in time? Will doubted it, unless the man was already living inside the facility at the time of what Will and the others were referring to as The Purge. That was possible, but unlikely.
What he was fairly certain of was that the facility was there, and it was their best shot.
He told the others all of this while they were still in Houston.
To his surprise, they agreed to follow him out of the city.
Danny and Ted were waiting in the driveway of the temporary home base, the garage door open behind them, when he and Kate walked down the street from the house they had spent the previous night.
Danny glanced in his direction, and a second later Will heard a click in his ear: “Took your sweet time. We were starting to wonder if you two had run off together.”
“Thought about it,” he said, “but it would have been cruel, leaving them with you.”
“Now that hurts. Speaking of which, you get some last night?”
Will glanced reflexively at Kate.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He pressed the PTT switch. “Everyone good?”
“Sounds like a ‘Yes’ to me,” Danny said in his ear. “Hopefully you still remembered how to get the job done. It’s been a while, right? Since that emo chick you picked up outside the Taco Cabana on Westheimer?”
“Great,” Will said, aware Kate was watching him closely. “We saw about two dozen of them last night, checking the houses up and down the street.”
“Yeah, we heard them moving around the house. Same group from yesterday, you think?”
“Possibly.”
“If it’s the same ones, then they’ve doubled since the last time we saw them. That’s not good.”
“Nope. Not if they’re following us.”
“You think they’re following us?”
“Maybe.”
“By the way, you didn’t answer my question. How was it? Spectacular? She looks like a spectacular lay.”
“Fuck off.”
“What’s he saying?” Kate said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
“Something about his mom,” Will said.
“Oh, go for the momma jokes,” Danny said in his ear. “Classy.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “He’s asking about us, isn’t he? What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.” When she looked like she didn’t believe him, he feigned hurt. “Honest. Not a thing.”
“Uh huh,” she said, clearly not believing a word of it.
As they reached Danny, a motor started up and Luke rode one of the ATVs out of the garage and down the driveway. The four-wheel all-terrain vehicle, a red Yamaha with dented sides, was hauling a trailer behind it, topped with supplies underneath a heavy tarp cinched closed to keep the wind from ripping it loose.
“Welcome back!” Luke shouted over the roar of the engine. “Thought we might have lost you guys last night!”
“This guy?” Danny said. “Ghouls wouldn’t know what to do with him.”
Ted rode a green Honda out after Luke, his ATV also pulling its own supply trailer. They had found the vehicles in a sports shop along Highway 59 on their way out of Houston. The place had been ransacked, but there were plenty left behind. The ATVs proved invaluable, allowing them to take the highways by staying mostly along the shoulders and maneuvering around vehicles in their path. And when they needed to, the vehicles traveled just as well along smaller roads, dirt trails, and sidewalks. The hitched trailers made carrying supplies and bullet-making materials effortless.
Ted and Luke parked their ATVs in the street, then went back inside the garage and drove out two more. Will’s ATV was a black Yamaha that — like the other ATVs — had seen plenty of action in its previous life. It had a solid motor, which was all that mattered.
Carly and Vera came out of the house, shielding their eyes against the glare of the sun. They looked energetic, even refreshed.
Danny said, “Grab a shower. Bottled water, soap, and shampoo are in the bathroom on the second floor.” He wrinkled his nose. “In fact, I insist.”
“I smell like a rose,” Will said.
“Keep telling yourself that. We’re not going to be moving for another hour anyway. Smoke’em if you got’em.”
Kate asked, “An hour?”
“Go for it.”
“If you insist.” She hurried up the driveway, stopping to chat with Carly and Vera briefly before continuing into the house.
Will looked after her for a moment before he sensed Danny standing next to him. “What?”
“So? Spectacular, good, or just meh?”
“Best night of my life,” Will smiled.
“Damn, really? I suspected, but I had no idea your sex life was that bad before everything went to shit.” He sniffed Will and made a face. “It must be the dirty, filthy, foul-smelling kind of sex.”
“King-size bed didn’t hurt.”
“Just like a hotel, huh?”
“Minus the room service. We made do, though.”
Carly came over to them. “Kate said you guys got stuck in one of the houses last night. We were worried.”
“All’s well that ends well,” Danny said. “By which I mean they totally had sex last night.”
“Oh, real subtle, Danny,” Carly said, rolling her eyes at him. Then she smiled at Will and said, “So, how was it? Spectacular, good, or just meh?”
“You’ve been hanging around Danny too long,” Will said.
Harold Campbell had chosen a secluded patch of land that he had purchased years ago in the city of Starch, Texas, about thirty-two kilometers — or about two hours given their deliberate progress — from Cleveland. Starch was a city of 2,000 residents and was remote enough from prying state and federal government eyes for Campbell to get away with building his compound. The city also had something Campbell needed — Lake Livingston, a huge nearby reservoir of water.
Between the two small cities, the highway had flattened out noticeably, with walls of trees flanking the four-lane highway. There were few elevated roads this far out of the city, and at times the road was so well-trodden that it felt as if they were driving on hard gravel. Most of the businesses they passed along the way were gas stations, diners, and every now and then, a strip mall with a few businesses vying for attention. Ancient structures that had been here forever, and had always relied on the occasional customers for survival.
Will rode his ATV with Kate behind him. Danny rode with Vera clinging tightly to his waist, while Carly rode with Ted on his Yamaha. They were all carrying supplies in trailers. Except for Luke, whose Honda was up the road ahead of everyone. Will had given the kid the same communications gear that he, Danny, and Ted wore, so Luke could keep in touch at all times.
He heard a click in his right ear, followed by Luke’s voice: “Hey, guys, reporting in.”
Will clicked the PTT: “Go ahead.”
“He shouldn’t be out that far ahead!” Kate shouted over the wind.
Will looked farther up the road but couldn’t see any signs of Luke. He told the kid repeatedly not to get too far ahead of them, but teenagers were still teenagers. One with a very cool toy, no less. Kate hated the idea of Luke riding alone, but she had about as much control over him as Will did. Which was to say, very little.
Luke said, “There’s an overturned semi about half a mile ahead. It’s made a pretty big pileup and there are cars blocking both sides of the highway. I don’t know if we can even go around it, it’s pretty big.”
Will heard Danny’s voice cut in: “Luke, did you say there was an accident ahead?”