section7mfu | The Seven Days of Halloween : Stranded, Part 4

The rain was still coming down, but the outside light had gone from black to gray about an hour before they heard from Mildred. She came to the door almost timidly and looked in.

"That horrible noise outside woke all of you too, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. Well, all of us but Illya."

Hurrying over, Mildred looked over Illya and sighed.

"I did warn you that the dewy lung takes more than one dose of tonic. I'll get it warmed up."

Following Mildred into the kitchen, April looked through the window to see if there was anything she could see from there while making small talk.

"I was a little surprised that you didn't join us after that scream."

Adding some wood to the stove, Mildred shook her head.

"I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I pulled the covers over my head like that would have prevented anyone from finding me. And I stayed like that until I was sure it was morning. I don't know why the daytime feels safer than the night, but it does."

"I have to admit, I've noticed that myself. Is there anything that I can help with?"

"Not right now, but I'm hoping that Napoleon and Mark wouldn't mind bringing some wood from the wood pile up onto the porch. I've about used up all I had on the back porch."

"I'm sure they'll be glad to help."

The smell of the stuff Mildred poured into the mug made April's nose want to curl up, but she didn't remark on it since it had seemed to help Illya so much before.

"Can I take that in for you?"

"Thank you, but no need. I've got it."

Following behind, April thought it was a bit peculiar that Mildred wouldn't let her carry the mug, but was very insistent that Napoleon take it from her hand. It struck her as having an almost ritualistic quality to it. Scoffing at herself, April decided that the non-stop rains were starting to wear on her nerves.

Napoleon was finally able to rouse Illya enough to offer him a drink, but despite his enthusiasm for it the previous day, Illya seemed reluctant to let the mug near him at first. Still, after he gave in to Napoleon's coaxing and took the first sip, the problem then was trying to keep him from drinking it too fast. As the drained mug was pulled away, he heard Mildred's voice behind him.

"Ah, that's good, that's good. Once more and it will all be over."

There was an undertone to her voice that sounded almost like excitement or possibly anticipation - neither of which struck Napoleon as being appropriate to their situation, but after the night they'd spent, the combination of too much adrenaline and too little sleep likely had his perceptions skewed.

They were served a hearty breakfast of eggs, fried rabbit and toast, but Mildred didn't eat herself, saying she had eaten while cooking as it had helped settle her nerves. April mentioned Mildred's earlier request about wood and, as she expected, both men immediately volunteered - or at least until Napoleon remembered he only had one shoe. Mildred rummaged in one of her storage areas and dug out her father's old rubber work boots. They were a bit large, but after putting on two pair of socks that were also offered, they fit well enough and were, at any rate, better than going out barefooted.

There was no helping the fact that they were going to get soaked, but at least the temperature was warm. Since Napoleon had the boots, they decided Napoleon would make the trips from the woodpile to the back porch and Mark would take the wood from there and stack it. Once they had finished, Mark looked over the area.

"Listen, mate - we already couldn't get any wetter. What say you and I take a look around to see if there's any signs of what happened last night? Or see if there's any signs that THRUSHies might be about?"

"Good idea, Mark. Sooner we start, the sooner we can go back inside and dry off."

After a brief discussion, they decided to stay within easy calling distance of one another, starting their search in the direction that Napoleon had said the scream seemed to come from. It didn't take them long to find the first body.

Neither agent was a rookie at viewing death, but the man in front of them had clearly died a horrifying death. Some large wild animal had ripped the man's throat out and his abdomen had been ripped apart as well - most of the organs were missing, presumably eaten.

The untouched backpack and weapons with the corpse easily identified him as a THRUSH operative. It didn't take a lot of scouting around to find two other bodies in sickeningly similar condition to the first corpse. They searched a bit longer to ensure that there were no other dead before gathering the backpacks and weapons to take back with them.

Mark tried his communicator again, cursing a bit when he still couldn't make contact. Putting his pen back, Mark hefted up his share of the load before turning to Napoleon.

"It's likely this weather playing tricks on my mind, but does something strike you as being . . . off?"

Napoleon shot Mark a rather incredulous look.

"You mean beyond finding three enemy agents torn open by some sort of animal?"

Mark returned Napoleon's look full force.

"Yes. Things were feeling off before we found those blokes. There's something about Mildred. Little looks and expressions she has that she only has when she doesn't know we're looking. The way she watches Illya - almost reminds me of a cat watching a mouse."

"Now, Mark . . ."

But Mark wasn't in the mood to be interrupted and carried on.

"And how about Illya? I've seen the man with everything from a splinter to being on death's door, but I have never, ever seen him just quietly lie back without complaint and do whatever's asked. Accept any treatment without question. You know him far better though - does it feel right to you?"

Sighing, Napoleon gave in.

"No. You're right, but I can't tell what's legitimate and what might be my mind playing tricks. I mean, there was one moment that I would have sworn that Mildred's eyes went red. And there was something about that fire the first night that bothered me, but I never could figure out what."

"How about the fact that she said she was going to go start it, but there was already a bed of coals? That fire had been going before we got there, mate. Of course, maybe she misspoke and meant she was going to get the fire going again. But I do know one thing - you, me and April need to get to ourselves and lay out everything we've noticed that's odd or out of place."

"You're right, Mark. We're trained agents and none of us are known for letting our imaginations run wild. Needing to go through these backpacks will give us a good excuse to be off to ourselves and we can ask Mildred to watch over Illya."

Nodding agreement, Mark gave a glance back over his shoulder. Three dead men. Three dead trained assassins and not a single indication that they'd even managed to wound whatever it was that killed them. Remembering the howl, a shudder ran through him and he picked up the pace a bit. Getting out of the woods seemed like an excellent idea.

The Seven Days of Halloween : Stranded, Part 4

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