“Jesus, kid. Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”

Alex had heard about Lorna being taken to the clinic, and he had rushed to see her there, two little boys in tow. He had taken a look at the wound in her side, and he immediately prodded at it with his finger, like a child, earning himself a slap from Lorna.

The two boys, one with dark curly hair like his father and the other with blond hair, suspiciously unlike his father, giggled at Alex getting slapped, and Lorna’s cheeks warmed. She sank herself deeper into the soft pillows that she had been given after her wounds had been cleaned.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“This could have become really serious, you know.”

“I know.”

Alex turned to the boys who were elbowing each other in the ribs for some reason that Lorna had missed, and he told them to stop “horsing around.” They stopped and grumbled an apology, but as soon as his attention was back on Lorna, they went right back to elbowing each other.

Lorna felt a pang in her chest, and she wondered what the past ten years would have been like if she had a sibling of her own.

Hattie slipped into the clinic. The two boys politely greeted her, and Alex turned to do the same. Lorna sank further into her pillows, not wanting another lecture from the older woman.

Hattie stopped next to Lorna’s bed, and she held up a piece of paper.

“I have some news regarding your uncle, Miss Lorna,” she said. “One of my scouts went out today, and they received a warning from the raiders that they have abducted Ean.”

Lorna gasped, and she sat upright. The wound in her side burned, and she fell back, clutching her side and wincing.

“Hey, boys, go find your mom, would you?” Alex said.

The two boys looked wide-eyed at the adults, but the blond boy, the older of the two, grabbed his brother’s hand and pulled him out of the room.

“Two men came to my scouts, and they showed them this picture.”

Hattie gave Alex the picture, and the man grimaced. He looked Lorna over the picture, and he shook his head.

“I don’t think you want to see this,” he said.

“I deserve to know,” Lorna said, and she held out her hand for the picture. Her hand shook, and she had no idea if it was from the fever of her infection or the thought of finally discovering what had happened to her uncle.

Alex glanced at Hattie, who just shrugged, and he sighed. He gave her the picture.

It was her uncle. He was laying still on the ground, and a strategically placed leg covered his genitals. His lips were purple, and he looked dead.

Tears gathered in her eyes, and her chest ached. Alex took the photo back from her, and he handed it back to Hattie, who tucked it into her back pocket.

“So, what do they want?” Alex asked. “I’m assuming they expect us to bring them a shit-ton of supplies because they know this guy is important to us.”

“I do have men attempting to negotiate with them now, but your assumption is correct: they do indeed want supplies from us. Food and ammunition in particular.”

Lorna reached out a hand, and Alex grabbed it and gave it a gentle squeeze. He flashed her his lopsided grin that always brought the funny feeling to her belly.

“And we’re not giving in to those demands, are we?” Alex said

“We’re playing along for now, but we’re just trying to get them to tell us where he is. We can’t afford to give away our supplies, so we have to take him back without giving in. Thankfully we had a few scouts take the initiative to lower the raiders’ numbers for us. We would be fools to call this an easy mission, but their efforts made it easier.”

“When do you plan on going after him?”

“Tonight.”

“I’ll have to talk with the Missus first, but if you need more people to come with you, I’m willing to go.”

Lorna perked up, opening her mouth to speak, but Alex patted her shoulder.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said. “You have an infected would. We need you to stay here to recover, and we’ll bring your uncle back safe and sound. You understand?”

“But I can shoot! I can—”

“Yeah, you can shoot, I know, but you’ll just hinder us in that condition, all right? And your uncle will kill us if he doesn’t see you safe.”

There was a pang in Lorna’s chest at the reminder that she had ventured away from the cabin against her uncle’s wishes. She ducked her head, and Alex squeezed her shoulder before he stood from his chair next to her bed.

“We’ll bring him back, Lorna. Come on, chief,” he said to Hattie. “Let’s go make a plan.”