He scanned the crowd for more input, but it appeared they’d talked this one to ground. “All right,” McCrea said. “Eric, you and Caine have charge of the prisoner. Call out if you need help. The rest of you grab whatever booty you want to carry and we’ll head back to town.”

“Wait,” George said. “Nobody goes anywhere till we bury Ryan.”

* * *

For the entire walk back to town, Caleb dreaded the confrontation he knew would be coming with his mom. He just prayed that she wouldn’t embarrass him in front of everyone.

Major McCrea insisted that the townies, as he called them, carry back what they wanted to salvage from what had been stolen. He said he didn’t want to touch it. Caleb didn’t fully understand, but he saw that the major was 100 percent committed to his opinion.

When Caleb offered to help, something passed silently between George and Major McCrea, and George said, “No, that’s okay. I’ve got this.”

McCrea and Caleb did carry back the dead folks’ weapons, though, as did the others. You couldn’t have enough weapons, and you didn’t want other people picking them up and using them against you.

Caleb hadn’t said anything, but he’d already decided that the M4 he was carrying would be his from now on.

As they entered the outskirts of town and passed in front of the houses, more people were outside. Everybody still looked scared, but at least they were making eye contact. They said hello as Caleb passed.

“How pissed is your mother going to be when you get back?” Major McCrea asked.

Caleb answered with a shrug.

“Is it going to be a show worth sticking around for?” He hip-checked Caleb as he laughed.

“Just stick around in case I need help,” Caleb said through a smile.

“Oh, hell no. Your mom could kick my ass. There’s no way I’d intervene. I might stick around to be a good witness, though.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Anytime, kid. Besides, when we get back, I’m going to have to figure out something to do with our prisoner.”

“Do you think they’re going to end up executing him, anyway? Even with everything we talked about?”

“Hard to say. If young Mr. May is found guilty of murdering that truck driver, he’s going to have to pay a high price. Execution is as high as it gets, right?”

When Caleb and McCrea entered Maggie’s Place together, Victoria was in the midst of a conversation with a bunch of townspeople. Lots of new faces—ones that weren’t present for the earlier meeting. Caleb didn’t know what they were talking about, but it didn’t look like a pleasant conversation.

When she made eye contact, Victoria held up a finger, indicating that she needed another minute, but that he should stick around.