The Hunt: The Oakmont Saga, Book 2

“Melanie,” Rebecca pleaded to the lifeless body on the bench next to her. Not getting any answer, she looked to her husband, “She needs a hospital!”

“Richard,” she called, but got no response from him either. Looking back, every one of the kids was unconscious, and bleeding. Melanie had mentioned that they could join together somehow, but now she saw what the price of that was. Not one of them was responsive, in any way. Whatever Melanie had done, she had taken all of them with her.

“Rebecca, I don’t think a hospital will help, but we can get them comfortable until they recover. I know a church not far from here that might be able to help out,” he said, and got a nod of agreement from her.

With her nod, he got off of the interstate three exits further, and then they drove for many miles into the backcountry of Tennessee. He knew those parts well, since he’d grown up there. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he hadn’t dialed in a long time. He thought he’d left this part of his life behind.

“Steph, this is Brian,” he began and had to wait for the initial response, which was surprise and screaming.

“Brian, is that really you?” Steph asked.

“Yeah, it’s me. Listen, I would love to catch up, but I’m in a bit of a fix and need some help, really bad,” he said.

“What’s up?” she replied, sounding suspicious.

“I have two busloads of kids that’re in bad shape, and we need a place to crash, possibly for a few days. We have money and can pay for food and everything, but we need a place big enough. Is Uncle Robbie’s church available, and is he even still there?”

“What kind of bad shape?” she asked.

“To be honest, you don’t want to know, but it’s not drugs or anything like that,” he assured her.

“If I’m going to ask Uncle Robbie, I need to know what’s going on,” she said.

“They’re all unconscious, and bleeding a little. We know what the problem is, and it’ll clear up on its own in time, but we need a place to let them sleep, until it does. And we’ll need to feed them when they wake up, and try and spoon food into them until then,” he said.

“You’ll probably need help getting them off the buses then, won’t you?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess I will,” he replied.

“Give me a minute to call Uncle Robbie,” she said, and hung up.

Five minutes later, his phone rang. When he answered it, Steph said, “He’ll meet you there. Do you remember the way?”

“Of course,” he replied, with a bit of sarcasm. It was an ‘as if I’d forget’ kind of voice.

“It’s been a few years since you came home,” she said, to his tone.

“I know,” he said.

“We’ll see you there, Brian,” she said, and hung up.

Forty five minutes later, they were pulling into the parking lot of a rather large country baptist church. Although not fancy, it was very nice and very big.

“It’s been added onto a bit since I was last here,” he said, as they pulled to a stop.

“Brian!” he heard a deep booming voice bellow out, as soon as he stepped off the bus. He’d only intended on stretching his legs before going inside, and didn’t expect his Uncle Robbie to be standing there waiting for him.

“Uncle Robbie,” he replied, turning to see the very large man bounding toward him. His uncle had grown in girth since last he saw the man. He was huge, and although there was definitely a good deal of padding, there was as much or more muscle underneath. Brian Stone knew well how strong his uncle was. The man was completely grey, and had wrinkles that made him look like he was always smiling, which from Stone’s memory, he probably was.

His uncle grabbed him in a suffocating bear hug, only moments after he turned to see him. He returned it in kind, earning grunts from both men, as the air was squeezed out of them.

“Uncle Robbie, this is my wife, Rebecca,” he said, once Uncle Robbie had released him and as Rebecca stepped off the bus.

Without any thought to propriety, he grabbed her in a less back breaking hug, but enthusiastic, nonetheless. She couldn’t help but return it.

“Now,” he began, releasing Rebecca after a moment. “I want to know all about you finally finding a woman that’ll put up with you, but I understand we have a bunch of children needin’ help,” he said.

“We do. What we need is a place for them to rest until they recover, and access to a kitchen, so we can make broth to spoon feed them,” Stone said.

“What’s wrong with ’em, and what if they don’t recover?”

“I wish I could tell you what’s wrong, but unfortunately, it’s top secret. As for recovering, I’ll admit we’re assuming they will, but there’s a chance they won’t. We don’t know the full nature of their condition, and unless we take them to a hospital, we won’t. Even then, we probably wouldn’t.”

Uncle Robbie had a look of curiosity and suspicion, but didn’t push. Instead, he stepped into the bus they’d stepped off of, returning a moment later with Melanie in his arms.

“Well, are we goin ta bring ’em in, or not?” he asked. “It’s cold out here,” he added. Stone and Rebecca resisted laughing at his comment, considering they were warm, but the situation didn’t allow for it.

As the three of them walked into the church, the doors propped open, a line of people went out to continue the work. It took less than thirty minutes for the people to have every one of the children laying in a cot in the church’s gym.

“Evelyn, can we make a lot of hearty broth for them kids?” Robbie asked with a yell.

“Yeah, Robbie. Might need to go to the store, though.”

“Get a couple of the boys to go for ya.”

“Okay.”

“Brian, or are you still going by Stone? It don’t matter, come with me,” he said, not waiting for an answer. “Your misses can come too,” he added, with a smile directed at Rebecca.

Once they were in what was apparently his office, he sat down at a table, indicating for them to do the same. “What’s going on?” he asked, sounding serious and not willing to be put off this time.

“We really can’t tell you,” Stone replied.

“You bring almost 100 kids into my church, without any real warning, and expect me to just sit here and accept that, without any explanation? Brian, that dog don’t hunt,” he replied.

“Listen, these kids are part of a top secret government program. We really can’t tell you anything, other than what we already have,” Stone said.

“Brian, what do we have to lose at this point?” Rebecca asked, getting an almost irritated look from him. It quickly faded into one of resignation, though.

“You tell him, then. You have a better feel for what can be said than me, anyway,” he told her.

“These kids have all had genetic manipulation experiments performed on them. They have abilities that aren’t...normal. I won’t give you details on that, unless there’s no choice, and right now, there is. They’re heading to North Carolina, and en route, they did something that knocked them all out. We don’t know how long, or if they’ll even recover. There’s a lot about them we don’t really understand, although we thought we did.” He listened with rapt attention while she spoke, and when she finished, he sat back, clearly in thought.

“Alright. I know you didn’t give me much, but it’s better than nothin’. I think it’s sick that these kids have been messed with like that, though. It ain’t right,” he stated, getting a nod of agreement from both of the Stones.

“Now, why wasn’t I invited to the wedding? I raised you, after all,” the older man said, but Rebecca could see a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

They chatted for quite a while, catching up on events in their lives. Rebecca learned a bit about her husband’s past, that though she’d heard, certain details had been glossed over. Of course, she also learned about some of his childhood misdeeds, from a ‘parent’s’ perspective. She found Stone’s discomfort at some of those, very amusing.

“Mrs. Stone,” a small voice said, surprising them all. There was a very small girl standing in the doorway, her dark brown hair tied up in two pony tails. She had one of those angelic faces. As with all of the kids, she was still wearing her school uniform. Although they’d been given clothes at the Catholic church in St. Charles, none had changed into them.

“Sweetie!” she exclaimed, grabbing the shocked child in an embrace.

“I’m hungry,” the child said, when she could finally speak.

“We’ll get some food cooked. Do you think any of the other kids might be waking up?” Robbie asked.

The child at first seemed intimidated by the huge man, but then she gave a cutely dimpled smile and said, “I don’t know, but I think so.” Then she bolted out, her bare feet slapping on the floor as she ran.

Not much later, most of the Oakmont kids, but not all, were awake. Most of those that were awake were sitting on the edge of the cots they’d awakened on, holding their heads in their hands. All had headaches, of varying severity. Notably, Maggie, Richard, Chelsea and Melanie were still unconscious, but all of them were beginning to stir, except Melanie.

“I’m worried about her,” Rebecca said to Brian as they and Uncle Robbie were standing over their cots.

“What about these others?” Robbie asked.

“They seem to be coming around. She isn’t moving, and I know she has a habit of overdoing it. I’m worried she pushed herself too far this time,” she replied.

“What did she over do, that could cause this?” he asked.

She didn’t reply before he answered his own question, “You probably can’t tell me.” She nodded her head in agreement, not saying anything else.

Brian and Robbie left to help with whatever needed to get done. Rebecca found a chair and sat down beside Melanie’s bed, gently brushing her hair with her hand. That’s when she really noticed the difference in her hair. She’d seen the patch on the top that was definitely different, but this was the first time she’d really been able to look at it. As she examined more closely, she saw the faint scar underneath.

“Brian!” she called out.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, as he ran in, having heard the concerned tone of her voice.

“What does that look like to you?”

He began looking closely at Melanie’s scalp, tracing the lines. When he was satisfied, he looked at his wife with a very worried look.

“Before I left, I’d heard talk about some device they were working on that would make security a lot easier for us. We never figured they’d do it, though, and we never imagined it being this barbaric,” he said, and she thought she saw a look of horror, or maybe disgust, on his face.

“What is it?” she asked.

“We weren’t given details, but we were told it’d be implanted in the telepaths and ensure they never escaped. I don’t know that’s what this is, but it looks like someone cut her scalp open, and that definitely doesn’t look like some kind of accidental injury. That looks to me like surgery,” he replied.

“God, why can’t they leave this poor girl alone?” she exclaimed.

“Mrs. Stone, they cut her head open to put it in, and they didn’t numb it before they did it,” she heard a boy tell her.

Looking over, she saw Richard. He looked like he was in pain, and not a little pale, but he was standing up.

“Once they were done, she watched them shoot the old couple that had helped her, along with some other man, and they made it look like the other man killed the couple. She didn’t talk the entire time she was back at Oakmont, not until the very end. After the battle, I thought she’d stop talking again, but she’s strong,” he said, his face becoming downcast as he told the story.

“Let’s get you some food,” Stone said, putting an arm around the boy’s shoulders and leading him away. A moment later, he returned, setting another chair beside his wife’s. He put an arm around her to comfort her.

“I didn’t think it was possible with her, but I thought she looked sadder, or like there was something deeper going on,” she said.

“She’s suffered a lot. Too much,” he remarked.

“What do you think about this school, and what she’s doing?” she asked him.

“What she said to me was very good, and right. That doesn’t mean it’s right in her situation, but to be honest, her arguments are somewhat sound. She’s messed up, and she knows it. She also realizes the strategic significance of all of the telepaths, and that they can’t be running free like the rest of us. She’s right about everything she said, but I don’t know about this school,” he admitted. His phone rang at that moment, and looking at the face, saw that it was Randy.

“Hey,” he replied, as he answered.

“What’s the status?” Randy asked.

“We’re at a church in Tennessee. The kids did something that kind of knocked them out. All of the kids have regained consciousness, except Melanie. I’m not going to let them move until she wakes up,” he said.

“Does she need to go to a hospital?” Randy asked, sounding like the worried father he was.

“They wouldn’t know what they were looking at. It’s related to her telepathy. She overdid it recently, contacting Aliyah,” he said.

“That explains why she left,” Randy exclaimed.

“What? What do you mean, ‘she left’?” Brian asked.

“Aliyah left, taking Ben and Eliana with her. I had noticed that the two younger kids seemed to follow her lead, even over me being Ben’s father and their uncle, but hadn’t really thought much of it. In all honesty, I hadn’t been paying enough attention to Ben, and I guess this is what I get,” he said, sounding more sullen than Brian had ever heard him, not that he’d known him that long.

“They’re going to North Carolina,” Brian told him.

“We figured that, but we can’t find them anywhere,” he replied.

“Those kids have proven to be incredibly resourceful. They’ll make it, so just get to where they’re going,” Brian said.

“I’m already there, but I think I’ll make a short side trip. Send me your coordinates and let me know immediately if there’s any change,” Randy commanded and hung up.

All of the other telepathic kids seemed to recover rapidly as the day progressed, all but Melanie. She remained unconscious, not stirring in the slightest. Rebecca recalled seeing her like that after the battle at the cabin, out near the Knik glacier.

“How is she?” Rebecca heard, and was surprised to see Randy standing there. His face was etched with concern, and his eyes looked watery.

“I don’t know,” she replied, being honest.

“Randy, they operated on her brain. We think we know why, but we’re not certain,” she said, and was debating how to tell him the rest.

“They didn’t anesthetize her, or sedate her, from what we know. In addition, she witnessed the murder of the couple in South Dakota, and the other man. From what we’ve been told, it wasn’t a murder - suicide, but only a murder, all three committed by the same person. That person is not among the bodies,” Stone said, relieving her of the task.

“Also, all of that was done after they had tortured her for a while, and made her witness the torture of the couple,” he added.

“That’s why she’s so determined to be locked up,” Randy said, almost collapsing into the chair Stone had vacated. “My beautiful angel. God I wish I could take it all away and make it better,” he said, taking her hand, his tears falling on their clasped hands.

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. Rebecca and Stone noticed and gently showed Randy.