She stood there and screamed without words for what seemed like forever before somebody tried to stop her, but she wouldn't let herself be touched. Molly supposed she shouldn't have been surprised by that, considering the marks on the girl's body, but she hadn't expected her to resist so violently. She backed off quickly, her hands raised in surrender. Rebecca stopped screaming and turned away from the sight before her. She might have been hyperventilating, but Molly couldn't remember what the hell you were supposed to do for that. Something with a paper bag? Thankfully, Rebecca made a beeline for the couch and quieted herself down.
The kids were being remarkably well-behaved; despite Fi's undoubtedly overwhelming curiosity, she had stayed in her sleeping compartment, as had the boys. Thank God. That just left Irene and Ned to hash out the details of the plan amongst themselves. She would stay out of it; she had to stay out of it. She couldn't go up there again, couldn't look outside. So she sat next to Rebecca, close enough to offer support, but not so close as to risk incurring her wrath again.
"All right," Irene announced a few minutes later. "Ned's going outside. We're all going to stay in here. Just for now."
"Shouldn't we call the police or something?" a small voice asked from the back of the bus.
"No cell service." Irene held up her apparently dead phone as evidence.
Fi nodded.
"Could you use some help?" asked Carey, venturing out tentatively from the boys' compartment.
"Yeah." Ned glanced over at Rebecca, who was still shaking slightly. He brushed past Irene to pat the girl on the shoulder awkwardly, feeling the sudden need to reassure her that he would be careful with her father's body.
She grabbed his hand and looked up at him gratefully before he even said a word (which left Molly somewhat bewildered, to say the least.) "I'm sorry."
"What could you possibly have to be sorry about?" he asked gently.
The girl's eyes widened suddenly, and she tightened her grip on his fingers. "Don't--stop him! Please!"
He removed her hand from his with unexpected agility--a side benefit from his stint as a bouncer some twenty-five years ago--and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine now."
****
When Ned returned about 30 minutes later, he handed over the man's wallet to Irene. Behind him, Carey was visibly shaken by what he'd seen, what he'd had to step up and help his father do--move a man's body, then raid it of its only remaining possession--yet Ned remained remarkably calm. She supposed this might not have been the first dead man he'd come across in his lifetime; then again, he'd always been good at keeping everyone else steady during times of emergency, so it wasn't surprising that if he were truly unmoved by this, he wouldn't let on. It was just the kind of man he was.
"How am I supposed to know where this is?" she asked, examining the man's driver's license and growing more frustrated by the second. "This address could be anywhere."
"He came from out of the woods," Ned pointed out. "From that direction. Maybe it's that way."
"We can't just wander around in the dark looking for a house," Molly said suddenly, abandoning Rebecca on the couch and joining the adults' conversation.
"You guys can stay here and watch the kids. Carey and I will search for the house."
Echoing the sentiment expressed clearly in Carey's expression, Irene said, "No, no, no, no. Either we all go, or none of us do. I've seen this movie. Splitting up never works out."
****
Eventually they reached a compromise: Fiona and Rebecca (who was now asleep) would stay on the bus in case the police happened to pass by; the rest would split into groups and investigate different areas. At this proposal, Jack and Clu looked as through they would each rather swallow tacks that spend that much time in each other's company, so Molly took charge and assigned herself to Jack and Carey to Clu, which elicited only a slightly less unenthusiastic response from them both. She had never been particularly skilled at detecting the truth behind the truth, and now wasn't the time to dwell on what might be causing the tension between them, anyway.
Ned and Irene headed off in the direction from which Rebecca's father had staggered. Clu and Carey began to walk ahead of the bus, in search of a road off the two-lane highway that might be the "Breid Rd." listed on the man's license. Molly and Jack took off in the opposite direction, in case they might have already passed the road.
"Are you okay?" Molly asked. "I mean--all this, it's so terrible, and we haven't really had a chance to talk about it."
He shrugged. "What's there to say?"
"Well, it's just--"
"Mom," he interrupted. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"Okay, then."
They resumed walking in silence.
Molly opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could get the words out, a scream rang out: "OH, MY GOD!"
"It's Clu," Jack said, with surprising certainty. He took off running, and she yelled after him to stop; when he didn't, she cursed the unsteady terrain and her impractical footwear and ran after him.
When she finally caught up, he had already joined Clu and Carey in gaping at something obscured by overgrown brush and weeds.
"What is it?" she asked breathlessly, squinting in the dark.
No one answered.
"What the hell is going on around here?" murmured Carey.
Only then did Molly get a good look at the body on the ground; a woman, old enough to be Rebecca's mother and the dead man's wife, staring back at them, her throat sliced.
"If that's that girl's mother..." Jack began.
"And the other guy really was her father..." continued Clu.
"Fi," Carey finished.
This time, Molly was the first to take off running.
The kids were being remarkably well-behaved; despite Fi's undoubtedly overwhelming curiosity, she had stayed in her sleeping compartment, as had the boys. Thank God. That just left Irene and Ned to hash out the details of the plan amongst themselves. She would stay out of it; she had to stay out of it. She couldn't go up there again, couldn't look outside. So she sat next to Rebecca, close enough to offer support, but not so close as to risk incurring her wrath again.
"All right," Irene announced a few minutes later. "Ned's going outside. We're all going to stay in here. Just for now."
"Shouldn't we call the police or something?" a small voice asked from the back of the bus.
"No cell service." Irene held up her apparently dead phone as evidence.
Fi nodded.
"Could you use some help?" asked Carey, venturing out tentatively from the boys' compartment.
"Yeah." Ned glanced over at Rebecca, who was still shaking slightly. He brushed past Irene to pat the girl on the shoulder awkwardly, feeling the sudden need to reassure her that he would be careful with her father's body.
She grabbed his hand and looked up at him gratefully before he even said a word (which left Molly somewhat bewildered, to say the least.) "I'm sorry."
"What could you possibly have to be sorry about?" he asked gently.
The girl's eyes widened suddenly, and she tightened her grip on his fingers. "Don't--stop him! Please!"
He removed her hand from his with unexpected agility--a side benefit from his stint as a bouncer some twenty-five years ago--and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine now."
****
When Ned returned about 30 minutes later, he handed over the man's wallet to Irene. Behind him, Carey was visibly shaken by what he'd seen, what he'd had to step up and help his father do--move a man's body, then raid it of its only remaining possession--yet Ned remained remarkably calm. She supposed this might not have been the first dead man he'd come across in his lifetime; then again, he'd always been good at keeping everyone else steady during times of emergency, so it wasn't surprising that if he were truly unmoved by this, he wouldn't let on. It was just the kind of man he was.
"How am I supposed to know where this is?" she asked, examining the man's driver's license and growing more frustrated by the second. "This address could be anywhere."
"He came from out of the woods," Ned pointed out. "From that direction. Maybe it's that way."
"We can't just wander around in the dark looking for a house," Molly said suddenly, abandoning Rebecca on the couch and joining the adults' conversation.
"You guys can stay here and watch the kids. Carey and I will search for the house."
Echoing the sentiment expressed clearly in Carey's expression, Irene said, "No, no, no, no. Either we all go, or none of us do. I've seen this movie. Splitting up never works out."
****
Eventually they reached a compromise: Fiona and Rebecca (who was now asleep) would stay on the bus in case the police happened to pass by; the rest would split into groups and investigate different areas. At this proposal, Jack and Clu looked as through they would each rather swallow tacks that spend that much time in each other's company, so Molly took charge and assigned herself to Jack and Carey to Clu, which elicited only a slightly less unenthusiastic response from them both. She had never been particularly skilled at detecting the truth behind the truth, and now wasn't the time to dwell on what might be causing the tension between them, anyway.
Ned and Irene headed off in the direction from which Rebecca's father had staggered. Clu and Carey began to walk ahead of the bus, in search of a road off the two-lane highway that might be the "Breid Rd." listed on the man's license. Molly and Jack took off in the opposite direction, in case they might have already passed the road.
"Are you okay?" Molly asked. "I mean--all this, it's so terrible, and we haven't really had a chance to talk about it."
He shrugged. "What's there to say?"
"Well, it's just--"
"Mom," he interrupted. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"Okay, then."
They resumed walking in silence.
Molly opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could get the words out, a scream rang out: "OH, MY GOD!"
"It's Clu," Jack said, with surprising certainty. He took off running, and she yelled after him to stop; when he didn't, she cursed the unsteady terrain and her impractical footwear and ran after him.
When she finally caught up, he had already joined Clu and Carey in gaping at something obscured by overgrown brush and weeds.
"What is it?" she asked breathlessly, squinting in the dark.
No one answered.
"What the hell is going on around here?" murmured Carey.
Only then did Molly get a good look at the body on the ground; a woman, old enough to be Rebecca's mother and the dead man's wife, staring back at them, her throat sliced.
"If that's that girl's mother..." Jack began.
"And the other guy really was her father..." continued Clu.
"Fi," Carey finished.
This time, Molly was the first to take off running.