THEM (Season 1): Episode 1 by M.D. Massey Page A

paused and tucked his thumbs in his belt while he cleared his throat. “Anyway, someone said you attacked them without provocation, and that you killed two caravaneers yesterday.”
    I decided to just act dumb and see what he’d do. Donnie Sims was a coward at heart, and I figured he didn’t have the balls to arrest me regardless of what I may or may not have done. “What else?”
    “That’s it, I think.” He paused, pulling his thumbs out of his belt to straighten his shirt, and then he tucked them back in his waistband and looked at the ground. “Well, did you? Kill those fellers, I mean?”
    Two ways I could play this. Deny or tell the truth. I decided to do neither. “Donnie, let’s just say I did kill a couple of lowlife, good-for-nothing, rapin’ and stealin’ scumbags who were passing through. If I did happen to do such a thing, I’d probably have had good reason for it. Self-defense might be a reason, defense of an innocent might be another. Besides that, you’d need evidence to even prove I did it. A body, and witnesses to say it was in cold blood. So, what’ve you got?”
    Donnie hemmed and hawed over that last bit. As it turned out, he only had one witness, and it was the one that got away. Damned if I didn’t know I should’ve chased him down.
    “Alright, so you have one witness who says I gunned his buddies down in cold blood. So what? His word against mine. So, if you’ve got nothing better, I have shit to do and dead things to kill.” I started off past him, hoping he’d let it go.
    “Scratch, I want you to know that I believe you’re innocent.” I paused and looked back over my shoulder for a second. “But this fella Jimmy, he claims one of them fellers was his brother, the other his cousin. I don’t think he’s gonna let it go. Not that you need it, but just fair warning to you.”
    Surprised at Donnie’s words, I nodded slowly. “I’ll keep an eye out.”
    “And Scratch? I just want you to know that, well—I know you don’t think much of how I do my job.” I just stood there, quiet. There wasn’t anything to say to that. After an uncomfortable silence, he continued. “I may not be the best constable, I admit it. But if I had someone around here like you to help, it might go easier.”
    “I ain’t no lawman, Donnie. I’m a hunter. It’s what I’m good at.”
    Donnie shook his head in disappointment. “Yeah, I figured that’s what you’d say. Just think about it. Kara’s a good woman, and there’s a place for you here, if you want it.”
    Damned if Donnie didn’t surprise me twice in one day. Hell if I’d ever take him up on it, but it surprised me that he’d even offer. I nodded once and walked off; it was going to be a long trip to the Corridor.
    - - -
    I t was noon before I stopped, and I’d been making good time since I’d left the gate back at the safe zone. I planned to make it to the Canyon Lake settlement in two days, and so far I was right on track and setting a good pace. My route was mostly farm-to-market roads that’d been left over from before the Great War. They were still used by caravans and salvagers to get back and forth from the settlements and safe zones to the Corridor, but not so often that I couldn’t avoid company if I wanted. Most folk avoided the major highways; too many punters there, looking for easy prey.
    So far this morning, though, I hadn’t seen a single soul. I’d stopped off the south side of the road back up in some trees to take a rest and check Donnie’s safe-house map, and had a pretty good vantage point of the road from where I sat. Then something caught my attention out past the road to the northeast. I saw a flash of movement, then nothing, about eighty yards up the road. It didn’t appear to be an animal, and since I was headed that direction I figured it’d be prudent to check it out.
    I gathered my gear and readied the HK in case I needed to put something, or someone, down for the count. This time of day there