Missing by Darrell Maloney

Author:Darrell Maloney [Maloney, Darrell]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2015-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Karen caught Frank’s eye and made a motion with her own eyes.

The signal was unmistakable. She wanted to talk to him alone.

Frank excused himself from the others and went to the dining room to pour himself a cup of coffee. Then he sat alone at a table and waited.

A couple of minutes later Karen followed and joined him.

She looked around to make sure no one else was within earshot, and then said, “You’re going to consider me a foolish old woman for what I’m about to tell you.”

Frank had only been living in the compound for a few months. He and his wife Eva were invited to join the group after becoming ham radio friends with Hannah and several others, and after most of their block in San Antonio was wiped out by marauders.

But Karen had become one of his closest friends, and he felt quite comfortable in teasing her a bit.

“I already consider you a foolish old woman, so you have nothing to lose.”

Karen smiled and pretended to take offense.

“I’ll beat you later for that remark, but for now I have something serious to discuss with you.”

The look on her face told him this was no time for levity.

“Okay. You have my undivided attention. What’s up?”

“Glenna came to me earlier and told me she was in the woods with Marty recently. She said she had the sense that she was being watched by something, or someone.”

“Who?”

“She didn’t know. She said she wasn’t even sure it was a person.”

“Meaning it may have been an animal?”

“She didn’t say that. She wasn’t sure herself. She just described it as ‘something evil.’ She used that term several times.”

“I can’t think of any animals out there we’d have to fear, or that could do any of us damage. I mean, there haven’t been bears in these woods in fifty years or more. And I’m pretty sure the freeze killed off most of the wolves and coyotes.

“I’ve been out tromping in those woods many times, hunting for deer or rabbits, and I’ve never seen any kind of canine tracks.

“So we can rule out wolves and coyotes, and foxes as well. Raccoons have survived, I saw one in a tree not long ago. Possums too. But neither of those will attack a human, and if they did, the attacks wouldn’t be lethal. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless they were rabid. Rabid animals don’t fear humans. They don’t run when they sense the scent or see a human. They are very unpredictable, and have even been known to attack a human, even though the human is several times larger than they are.”

“Oh, my God. Do you think that’s what happened to Sarah? She got attacked by some rabid animal?”

“I don’t know. I’d have to inspect the area where they found the blood. If she was attacked by an animal of any size, there would be signs of a struggle. Animal tracks. Scratches in the dirt. That kind of stuff.

“I’ll have Colonel Weiss talk to his man at the scene, and see if any of that stuff exists.

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