A Lawless Land

Be Wary

It had been a few weeks already. Leo was able to do more with himself now. The wall was finished, another woman was taking care of him. Only this time it was an older woman, who had once been a school nurse. Queen had showed her what to do, since she had only been used to performing basic first aid, not tending to an actual full-on wound. Queen was gone.

He walked along the wall, trying to recall every little thing she did, every word she said. He was dissatisfied. He had wanted to get to know her, be her friend, but she had done a hell of a job keeping to herself, while at the same time, showed him and his community mercy, and got them on the right track to being better prepared for the worst. It left him feeling like something was missing.

"Blanche, have you ever missed someone you never realized you needed in your life?" He asked the woman as he stared out the window.

Blanche was mending some shirts for him, but glanced over at him with a knowing smile, "I'm sure we all feel that way at some point in our lives. Providence introduces us to special people because they always have something important and unique to contribute to our existence, no matter how big or small that something might be. I've always believed that."

"Providence, huh? Do you think she'll ever come back?"

"Who knows? Providence might have a much bigger plan for her, more people to help," Blanche smiled reassuringly as she returned to her task.

Leo thought over it carefully, "perhaps, all the same though, I wish she didn't need to go."

>>><<<

Queen turned at another bend in the road. It was the middle of nowhere when she came to an intersection.

"No signs, of course," she glanced down at Duke, who was panting heavily.

They had been walking since early morning, the sun beating down on them the whole way. She pulled her mess kit from her pack and poured some water into the dish. She placed it on the ground in front of Duke. He lapped it up in seconds. He looked up at her, still thirsty.

Queen took a sip, then poured a little more into the dish, "you're lucky they gave us more water before we left or we'd be out of it by now."

Duke whined, as if to apologize. She smiled and scratched him behind the ears. It was time to start moving again. She pulled a compass out, trying to figure out which way she needed to go. She looked over her shoulder as she heard a loud motor sound coming up behind her.

There was a group of people on motorcycles coming up the road. They came to a stop a few feet away from her. She reached for her gun cautiously, not sure what they were after.

One by one, they dismounted their bikes and took off their helmets, "hey fellas, check this out. That's not something you see every day. Where'd you get the dog?"

Queen examined each of their faces. They were all men, they all carried guns, but they didn't bother pulling them out. Either they didn't see her as a threat, or their intentions were innocent.

"Is there a reason you stopped, or are you just being friendly?" Queen asked cautiously.

They all exchanged looks and smiled, "can't we just stop and say hello? It's been a long time since we've seen a woman like you."

A red flag went up in her mind. She shuddered at what they might be thinking of. She glanced over at Duke, her hand still resting on her gun.