Chapter 11

"We were lucky this time.

"In Spanish, she said, 'Could you help us?'

"Maria replied, 'We will try.'

"She led us into an adjacent building where there were six more people. They looked hungry and were raggedly dressed. I immediately noticed that they weren't armed.

"Maria asked, 'Who are you? How did you get here?'

"The first woman answered, 'We escaped from a group of men. They wouldn't feed us and didn't let us wash. We got away three days ago when there was an attack by another group.'

"Tomas said, 'What do you want from us?'

"The first woman was clearly the leader and looked to be more alert than the others. She said, 'We need food and a safe place to stay where we can become healthy.'

"Maria said, 'Dulce, Tomas, let them have the food we are carrying. Arnoldo and I must talk.' She led me outside. 'Arnold, how much can we help them? They look pretty bad. Do you think they are partnership material?'

"I answered, 'Except for the one who spoke, probably not. The others are badly beaten down. Perhaps with food and a thorough cleaning, they might rise to questionable. I wouldn't bring them to the compound or our safe house. Your last name may be worth something, too. I think they are ripe to be captured again.

"'Also, when did you find out that I spoke Spanish?'

"She smiled, 'I think, as a woman, I'm entitled to a few secrets. Let's go back in. You take Tomas and search out a place close by. I will talk to Dulce about last names.'

"She went in and I waited outside. Tomas came out and said in English, 'Maria wants us to find a place. She said that you had something to tell me.'

"'Yes. Just use first names. Your last name could be valuable to a gang and would probably have name recognition. We won't mention where we live or our plans either.

"'Let's search.'

"We grabbed our bikes and rode. We found a nice house that didn't smell on a side road a few blocks away. We returned to the place where we left everyone. It took hours but we ferried everyone to the new place.

"After we got them there and settled them in, all four of us went on a food raid. We found plenty and cooked a meal for the escapees. After the meal, the first woman introduced herself. Her name was Eugenia Lopez. She had been a teacher before the Day. She told us that all the women had been abused and even the men had suffered. They had been intentionally degraded and humiliated with the intent, she thought, to break them mentally and physically. For some, it had worked. Two of the men and one woman had to be told to do even the most basic things.

"I gazed over the group and realized that they were all in their forties or older. Eugenia was, it seemed, the most educated. The others had been laborers of one sort or another before the Day.

"We told Eugenia we would return in a day or so but had things we had to do and must be about those things. I think we all wanted to get away from those poor people. I could not and didn't want to imagine what had happened to those people to reduce them to such a state.

"We left the little house and returned to the compound by a roundabout way. We were careful to not be seen, particularly when we entered the compound.

"We had entered and put our bikes where they couldn't be seen when we heard trucks zoom by our location. These were the first we had heard. I suggested that we spend the afternoon inside listening. I suspected a gang was expanding and that our compound might be a target.

"An hour later, the main gates were rattled. We had only used them once to pull the SUV into the garage so the place looked deserted. We had been using the servants' entrance and it was the only spot that would show any signs of use. We were inside with no lights and away from windows. I had crawled over to a window and looked out. I saw a head poke over the main entrance looking toward the house. When it dropped down, I had Maria look while I placed my ear to the opening of the window to listen.

"I could hear a discussion about whether to enter or not. Finally, one stronger voice said that it's not worth the trouble right now but that the location would make a good headquarters. Maria gasped. She could hear that statement, too. We heard the sounds of motors starting and then it seemed the vehicles left.

I leaned back. 'Don't assume they didn't leave a spy. They think this is a good location and they may have left someone to watch over it until they return. We need to be careful.'

"Maria whispered to me, 'Should we be careful with lights and our cooking?'

"I thought a moment and said, 'Yes. No lights tonight and we don't cook. We need to keep quiet. Assume that someone is trying to spy on us whether we can see them or not.'

"The compound was equipped with motion sensors and alarms. I had carefully disconnected all the alarm sirens but left the sensors in place. If a gate were opened, we would know. Also, if someone were walking in the compound, we would be warned. There was a day bed in the alarm center and I planned to sleep there tonight. We were going to bed early and I didn't head for my room but went toward the servant area and the room where the alarms were located.

"Maria noticed and asked, 'Where are you going?'

"I answered, 'I'm going to stay in the room with the alarms for a few nights. I'm feeling paranoid.'

"She nodded. 'I'm going with you. One of us can watch while the other snoozes.'

"I didn't object. I appreciated the company.

"We entered the room and I sat at the desk. I turned on all monitors for outside the house. I had checked them before and none showed red lights when on. I thought that was a good idea. To me, it seemed to defeat the purpose to let people know they were being watched.