Silo

Chapter 34

Chapter 34 "Yeah . . . no," Keith said, a smirk of satisfaction on his face. "Tyler doesn't worry me. By the time I'm done with him, he won't be moving for a while. It's those six guys he's got in that silo that bother me. No way is just dumping him back in that hole a good idea."

Keith walked back into the supply room, stopping in front of Meredith. "What do you know about those other six guys living with Tyler?"

My muscles tensed at the edge in Keith's tone. I knew he wasn't intentionally trying to scare her, but he was tired, pissed, and getting less patient with each passing minute.

Meredith looked at me, seeking a way out of this conversation. Not seeing any, I just nodded for her to answer. Like Keith, if I was going to drag all of us into the woods then I wanted to be damn sure I wasn't going to find six rifles pointed at my back.

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"I want to know if those six guys...the ones we watched leaving the silo with a crap-load of weapons strapped to them...I want to know how soon until they come after us once we leave?"

Meredith shook her head. "I don't know anything about them."

"Bullshit." Keith fired back. "You lived there for ten months, and you're telling me you don't know anything about these guys?"

She looked at me, her eyes full of a silent plea to make Keith stop asking questions. I knew then and there what she was after - privacy and what little bit of self- dignity she'd managed to keep intact. Hell, she hadn't even been able to talk to me, had to give me her diary rather than put her own voice behind what had happened. And what Keith was asking...the information Keith was demanding she deliver was no different.

"Give us a minute," I said jerking my head toward the door.

Evan left without question; it was Keith who pushed back. "We need to know, Jake. You can't expect me to walk into the woods with her and Evan in tow having no clue who or what is coming after us."

"I know," I said, fully in agreement. "Trust me, I know." I waited until they were gone before I turned to her, praying she'd tell me the truth. "If it was just me, I wouldn't care. I'd take my chances in the woods. But it's not. It's Evan, and Keith, and you I'm thinking about."

I waited for some type of acknowledgement. A nod of the head. A whispered okay, but I got nothing. "You need to start talking," I continued, "or there's a solid chance we end up dead and you end up back in that crap-hole in the ground with Tyler."

Meredith nodded, her worried eyes finding mine. I didn't like using her worst fears against her, but Keith was right. We couldn't simply drop a bloodied Tyler off back home if it meant that we'd wake up tomorrow with six lunatics hovering over us.

"Okay," she said. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything. Everything."

"It was just me and Tyler for a while once Dustin died. A couple of weeks later, he brought the first boy in. He was good to them, kept them fed and clothed. Told them he only killed when it was absolutely necessary...when it was a matter of saving their lives over somebody else's."

"And they believed him?" I asked, already knowing the answer. I'd done more than my fair share of justifying crap down here, could explain away any one of my actions as good as the next guy.

She shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. They bought it. It's not like they had any other choice. You got to understand, Jake, they weren't exactly in good shape when found them. He keep them safe. Fed and protected them. In a way, they owed him, looked up to him."