She was there with her suited companions and, Elliot saw with some horror as he whipped around, she’d gathered at least a dozen more. They stood in a loose formation behind her, wedge shaped, every last one staring at him with looks that were otherwise blank except for a faint crinkle of regret.
He screamed back at her, fright and startlement overriding all else, and under it he could hear shouts from the men in robes down below. None of that mattered, though, because he was back with the woman in red and now she’d be able to finish what she’d started, what she’d meant to complete if it weren’t for his fortunate flight.
Elliot flinched away from her, tried to get up and run, but the two suits were on him, each grabbing an arm and forcing him to the ground. They were efficient this time, making sure to pin him properly so he couldn’t kick his way out. The woman smiled–she actually smiled–and the suits lifted him until he was standing. Two others from the flock grabbed his legs and, as they carried him away, back along the path the group of robed men had taken, the woman’s new companions walked along side, watching him with those same melancholy stares.
The treasure hunters continued to shout but the sounds grew fainter and Elliot knew they were running away, not interested in coming to his aid. And chances were they hadn’t known he’d been watching them and had merely heard the screaming. What else would they do? With this many crazies in the woods, it was a good bet those men knew about them and had experience with how dangerous they were. Of course they’d run. Elliot would’ve done the same.
Unless it was Evajean the woman in red had captured. Then he wouldn’t have run. He twisted and writhed, knowing it would do nothing because these men were so damn strong, but he had to get away from them. He had to find her because what if she were out there running away from the crazies, too? What if she’d been captured and needed his help? How could he keep her safe if he couldn’t even get out of the grasp of these four insane men and this one insane woman?
The others came in closer now, wanting to see him up close, like kids jostling for a view of blood on the playground. Elliot hissed at them, still kicking out with his legs and jerking his arms, and a couple backed up. But the rest only stepped nearer and one of the suits had to shout for them to back up. Their pace improved then and Elliot lost track of the distance. It seemed a very long way.
Eventually he gave up his struggle. This wasn’t defeat, he told himself, but rather a conservation of energy, preparing himself to fight his way free again when a better opportunity arose.
Some time later, they set him down on hard earth. With so many of the crazies walking along side, he’d had little opportunity to see any of the journey except glimpses of night sky and the tops of trees. He figured they’d gone a quarter mile at least, and maybe as many as two. What that meant, he realized with sudden depression, was that, even if he manage to get away, he was now completely lost in the mountains, after dark, with no compass or GPS or cellphone. Since Callie had been so young when they’d moved out here and the constant pressures of raising her and working on their marriage had been overwhelming, the family hadn’t ever gotten around to spending much time in the high country. Elliot didn’t know how many roads went through here, whether finding water would be a problem, or even if it got terribly cold late into the night. His wilderness survival chances were, in short, not the kind you’d want to bet on.
He looked around, lifting his head up the moment the men let go of him. The cave was small but still comfortably fit him, the four crazies who’d ported him through the forest, and woman in red. She was near the back, poking at a burned down fire, the embers giving off a glow that intensified the color of her dress, making her seem almost spiritual or god like. She wasn’t paying any attention to him, but the four men were, and Elliot didn’t feel the time was right to make his break for the cave’s mouth.
It was this he studied now, and was dismayed to see that it was nearly covered over completely with a line of more crazies, some facing into the cave, others with their backs to it, a line of soldiers keeping careful watch in all directions. Unlike the woman in red and her immediate companions, these crazies had that glazed over look he and Evajean has seen in the swarm on the road, the blank stares and faces slack except for the occasional twitching of mouths as they muttered and gibbered. Elliot found he was less scared of them than the ones in the cave. Their emptiness meant he could likely outsmart them by moving quickly enough, but the woman in red and the men in suits were coherent and thinking.
Elliot turned his head back to the fire when he heard the woman say something. She was talking to the shorter suit, who’d walked over to her, the two of them close. The taller suit saw Elliot watching and nudged his leg with his foot, shaking his head. Elliot, not knowing what the two were saying anyway, obeyed and focused his attention elsewhere, this time at the ceiling of the cave. He hadn’t seen them before, because his eyes weren’t adjusted to the dull glow of the nearly dead fire, but now he could make out symbols drawn on the rough rock, lines and squiggles in ash and chalk. He recognized them immediately as the same symbols drawn in the circles on the trees. Had the crazies done that? Or were they merely copying the work of others?
