“There's about five hundred of us, we're trying to attract more people all the time. People are scattered in small groups all over the country. We wanted to bring them all here, close to your mountain, so we can begin rebuilding.”

RJ shared a pointed glance with Brad and Amy. It was obvious they were all thinking the same thing. How could this old guy know about the mountain? That information was supposed to remain strictly protected. “We can definitely help with that. It sounds like your goals are exactly in line with our mission. I need to know one thing, are you missing a small group of people from your community? We found two women and a boy in the desert about fifteen miles north of our location. The women are in bad shape, one may well die. They were being beaten up by a couple of guys on motorcycles when we found them.”

“No Miss Anderson, we aren't missing anyone from our group. I suspect they were probably on their way to join up with us because where you found them is close to our location. We have a problem with raiders, they ride around on their motorcycles often attacking people who can't defend themselves” David explained.

“I suspect we can help in that regard, too,” RJ answered.

“What became of the raiders who attacked this group you mentioned?”

“They escaped into the desert.”

“That's unfortunate. I'll look forward to meeting with your people tomorrow.”

“Good night David.”

“Good night.”

RJ locked gazes with Brad. “This doesn't make sense. How can they know so much about us?”

“I guess we'll find out in the morning,” was Brad's only response.

Chapter Forty-Four

Bud lay face down in the mud, fighting to keep himself as low to the ground as possible. He'd been waiting here for almost an hour now. Tam was somewhere up ahead, but he couldn't see her. The storm was still raging, and while it should keep the mountain people from seeing her, it made him uneasy not knowing where she was.

He'd objected to her being chosen to crawl up close to their perimeter; she was young and less experienced. Not to mention the fact that they were lovers and he was worried about her because of their close relationship.

In truth he understood why she'd been chosen, her small build increased her chances of success and she made a smaller target for their weapons if she was seen. The fact that she was new to the group meant she had less information she could reveal if she was captured. Bud didn't like thinking of her as expendable, but in the eyes of the others, that's what she was.