Chapter 29

"Where are they?" Anna whispered to Luther. She coughed and cleared her throat. They were crouched down together on the carpeted hallway of the 3rd floor of the hotel. The air was thick with smoke from the smoke grenades the intruders had tossed and her eyes were burning and smarting.

Luther pointed with his head to the far end of the hallway. "We've got them trapped in the room at the end."

"How the fuck did they get this far?" Anna whispered furiously as Merle and Warren crawled up to them.

"They were heavily armed." Luther said. He was wracked by a coughing fit and Anna waited impatiently for him to finish. "They had smoke grenades and machine guns. The cut down the guards in the lobby in seconds and made it up to this floor before we could gather our people together." He looked down at the gun in his hand, "If we didn't have the weapons and ammunition from the SUV they would have taken us all out in minutes."

Anna cursed angrily, "Do we know who they are?"

Luther nodded, "One of them is that Nathan guy; not sure who the other one is."

"They've come back to rescue their people; ain't that sweet." Merle said sarcastically.

"Are they out of ammunition do you think?" Warren asked.

"Why don't you go knock on the door and find out ya big idiot." Merle clapped him on the back and smiled merrily at him.

"Shut up Merle." Warren growled and Anna held up a warning hand.

"Weren't there some of those smoke grenades in the SUV?"

At Luther's nod she turned to Warren, "Go get them." He turned and crawled towards the exit door as Anna turned back to Luther.

"We open the door, throw the smoke grenades in and fill the room with smoke. We'll wait for the smoke to debilitate them and go after them while they're disoriented. I want them alive."

Luther frowned, "Anna, I'm not sure that'll work. The smoke will take us down as well, plus we don't know if they're out of ammunition."

She let out a scream of frustration, "I don't care Luther! I want those two assholes and I want them now! Send in Jonathan, Lawrence and Mark. They're pretty much useless anyway; I don't care if they die."

"Anna, you're not thinking clearly." Luther tried again. "You're going to lose three of our men to a plan that doesn't make sense. What's to stop Nathan and the other guy from – "

"Shut up!" she screeched. "Go and get the others now and stop your goddamn stupid, sheep whining!"

Luther, his face full of frustration, headed out of the hallway. Anna stared grimly at the closed door at the far end of the hallway, not noticing when Merle slipped quietly out the exit door behind Luther.


"How much ammo do you have left?" Rick panted harshly to Nathan. They had propped up the mattresses from one of the beds and were crouched behind them, shielding themselves from the door and any gunfire.

Nathan shook his head and threw his machine gun to the side. "This is empty." He pulled out the gun in his belt and checked it, "Three rounds left. Fuck."

"I only have a few rounds myself." Rick rose up and peered around the room. Faintly they could hear shouting in the hallway outside the room.

He knelt back down behind the mattresses. "This is a single room, no other door to another room."

"Shit." Nathan stared at him, "Now what the fuck are we going to do?"

Rick blew his breath out and glanced behind him at the large sliding glass doors. "We could maybe try the patio door; go out the balcony and climb – "

He was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. The doorknob exploded in a shower of metal and wood and the door bounced open. Before Rick and Nathan could fire, four smoke grenades were lobbed into the room. They exploded with a soft hiss and the room began to fill with a thick, toxic smoke.

"The balcony!" Rick motioned frantically at Nathan to follow him and with their shirts held over their faces, the acrid smoke burning their eyes, they crawled to the patio door and Rick slid it open. They crawled out on to the balcony. Behind them they could hear coughing as three men entered the room, handkerchiefs tied firmly around their mouths as they squinted through the smoke. Rick shut the patio door and he and Nathan took deep breaths of the warm, humid air.

Rick peered over the balcony into the darkness below them. "The balcony to the other room is directly below us. If we hang down from the edge of this balcony we should be able to swing ourselves onto the other balcony. Ready?"

Nathan nodded grimly and the two of them climbed over the balcony railing. Rick eased his body down, feeling the strain in his arms as they took the full weight of his body. Quickly, before he lost his grip on the railing above him, he swung his lean body back and forth. On the third swing, he let go and fell with a loud bang on to the balcony below him. He cracked his knee painfully against the smooth cement of the floor and his head connected solidly with the leg of the patio chair that was lying discarded on its side.

There was a loud grunt beside him as Nathan fell on to the floor. The shorter man had barely cleared the railing of the balcony and he moaned painfully as his left leg tangled in the iron railing of the balcony and he sprawled uncomfortably on the cold cement.

Rick helped him to his feet, rubbing his knee as the two of them limped to the edge of the balcony and peered over it. Both this floor and the bottom floor had their doors and windows boarded up but there was a thick, overgrown layer of bushes surrounded the windows of the bottom floor.

"It's a longer drop but the bushes should break our fall." Nathan whispered. Rick nodded and the two men eased themselves over the railing and stood on the small cement lip surrounding the railing, looking down.

"Remember to bend your knees as you drop and try and land on your side." Nathan advised. Rick nodded again and they both looked up as the patio door from their room on the 3rd floor opened and a thick plume of smoke blew out. They could hear the coughing and gagging of men and they gave each other a mutual look of encouragement before they leaped silently from the balcony.

Rick winced as he landed in the thick mat of bushes. A thick branch scraped across his cheek, drawing blood and the breath was knocked out of him as he smashed through the branches and landed with a thud on the hard ground. He crawled out of the bushes, twigs and leaves sticking to him, as Nathan, cursing under his breath, dragged himself out next to him.

They staggered to their feet and Rick grabbed the Latino man's arm. "We'll double around to the back of the hotel." He whispered. "See if we can find a way in while they're running around in a panic. We need to find more ammo and more guns and then we'll look for – "

He stopped as the sound of a gun being cocked was heard. Both men turned around slowly, Rick's mouth dropping open with shock at the sight of the one-armed man holding a gun on them.

"Merle?" Rick whispered.

"Well, if it ain't my old friend the Sherriff." Merle grinned at him. "Once I heard their idiot plan, figured I might as well step outside, see if anyone dropped by for a visit. And here ya are! How about you and yer brown-skinned friend drop yer guns and we'll go into the hotel and have ourselves a chinwag."


"Nathan!" Anna smiled warmly at him and squeezed his shoulder affectionately. "It's so good to see you again."

Nathan and Rick were duct taped to chairs in a room that was similar in size and style to the room Hannah and Thomas were in. After taking their guns, Merle and another man had led them into this room and taped them securely to chairs. In a matter of minutes they were joined by a large man and an older slender woman. She was wearing dark slacks and a white blouse buttoned to her throat. Rick could see a large silver cross resting against her flat chest.

"Hello Anna." Nathan said stiffly.

"You've come back to rescue your friend I guess." Anna smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder once more before running her fingers over the burn marks on his biceps.

"Where's Matthew?" Nathan glared at her and she pressed her thumb into one of the burns until Nathan winced.

"It was foolish of you to come back for Matthew." She responded. "He's joined my army and is a follower of the Lord now."

She crossed to Rick and stared down at him. "Hello. I'm Anna, and you are?"

"Rick."

Her smiled broadened as she knelt in front of him and examined his face carefully, "It's nice to meet you Rick." She reached out and traced the spot on his cheek where the branch had cut him open. She frowned a little and glanced behind her at the man standing next to Merle.

"Luther, bring me some antiseptic and a basin with clean water please."

He nodded and left the room as Anna leaned closer and ran one nicotine-stained finger over Rick's forehead and through his hair. "The Lord has blessed you with good looks hasn't he then?" she inhaled deeply and looked Rick over as the giant of a man standing behind her shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Anna, you shouldn't stand so close to him."

"Shut up Warren."

She crouched in front of Rick and ran her hands back and forth over his thighs. "Tell me Rick, are you single?"

Rick stared at her in disbelief as her hands gripped his thighs tightly. "Perhaps you think I'm too forward?" she smiled a little. "The Lord has given me the ability to see into people Rick, to see into their very souls, and it tells me that you're a good man. I've been searching for someone like you."

"Sorry, you're not my type." Rick rasped quietly. "You're too old and too fucking crazy."

Nathan winced at his words but Anna only smiled and traced his cheek with her fingers, "I think after a few days you'll change your mind."

Luther entered the room carrying a small bottle filled with yellow liquid and a basin of water. He put it down next to Anna and she gently and carefully washed the cut on Rick's cheek before dabbing antiseptic on it.

She stood and walked around Rick, running her hand through his hair before standing behind him. She squeezed both of his shoulders and knelt down until her mouth was at his ear. "You should consider my offer Rick. I take very good care of my people. I think you and I would fit well together."

He said nothing in return, smelling the smoke on her breath as she breathed into his ear and staring at Merle who was leaning against the wall by the door. The redneck hadn't spoken a word since Anna entered the room and as Rick watched he stuck a toothpick into his mouth and grinned widely at him.

Anna placed a soft kiss on his temple, "I'll give you some time to think about it." She motioned to the men in the room, "Leave them for now."

The three men followed her out of the room as Nathan and Rick stared grimly at each other.

Anna marched down the hallway. Warren nearly plowed into her back when Merle's soft drawl stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Rick knows her."

She turned around and stared at him, "What did you say?"

"That Rick fella; he knows Hannah. They've been screwin' for months."

"Watch your language!" she said sharply

Merle's nostrils flared angrily but he swallowed thickly and just stared silently at her.

"How do you know they know each other?" she asked suspiciously.

He shrugged languidly, "I knew 'em before. Stayed with their group for a bit."

"At the town they're holed up in?"

"Nah. This was with a different group. Hannah left with me; we got split up not long after. She must have joined up with this group and Rick joined her."

Anna stared silently at him before turning and continuing down the hallway. She turned the corner at the end of the hallway and walked a few more feet before opening the door of one of the rooms and stepping into it.

"Your boyfriend is here to rescue you." She said solemnly to Hannah.

Hannah stared at her, her heart speeding up in her chest.

Anna nodded at the look on her face. "It's true. He and your friend Nathan," she glanced at Thomas, "came in to my home, guns blazing and killed some of my men. All in the name of love."

She stood in front of Hannah and leaned down until they were face to face. She rubbed her hand almost lovingly across Hannah's forehead, "If you don't allow me to perform the ritual on you, tomorrow morning you'll be forced to watch as I slowly and painfully sacrifice your lover."

Hannah swallowed loudly, the terror evident in her face and Anna smiled with satisfaction. "I thought that might bring about a change in heart."

She stood and walked back to the door, "I'll see you in the morning Hannah." She left the room, closing the door gently behind her.