Six Feet From Hell: Unity: 6FFH Book #5 by Joseph Coley

there .”
    “Larry, I’m headed to the jail to pick up Captain White. Why don’t you just pick up Curtis and the woman and bring them both over to me. We can kill two birds with one stone,” Joe interjected.
    “ Sounds good. I have the truck, so I’ll pick them up and then head to you. See you in a few. Larry out .”
    “ Roger that. Curtis out .”
    “I’m on Fincastle Road, Larry. Just pick Rick and I up along the way. Joe out.”
    Joe let out a deep sigh and continued walking. About fifteen minutes later, Larry pulled alongside him. Joe and Rick lumbered into the vehicle, while Kane took up residence in the bed of the truck. Larry sat in the driver’s seat, while Curtis sat with the still-unconscious woman in the back. Rick sat in the back with the two as Joe climbed into the passenger seat.
    The woman, who smelled like freshly made manure, looked to be in her late twenties. She was covered from head to toe in filth, looking as bad as she smelled. Her long hair hung in clumps and looked to be either dark brown or black. The sheer amount of filth on her made it difficult to discern her race or creed, but she appeared to be a white female under the layers of grime. The small pooch of a belly looked to be from malnutrition, not from pregnancy. Skin clung tightly to bone throughout her body with almost no muscle to hold together. She was the epitome of a life lived in the wild, or a human thrown into the trash.
    The smell of the comatose female in the back hit Joe full force as he got into the truck. “Christ, if she’s not one of the undead, then she missed a hell of an opportunity. She smells like the last shit I took.”
    Larry made a grimaced face. “Try riding in here for a few more minutes. It’ll make you wonder if she isn’t rotting from the inside out.” He pulled forward and headed across town to the jail.
    Joe turned around to face Curtis. “So what exactly happened? Where the hell is she from?”
    Curtis shrugged. “I have no idea. Jamie and I went to his house to try to get some more guns and ammo he had locked up. After a few minutes, I heard some screaming and she came runnin’ down from the hills outside town. Two good ‘ol boys came down after her, shot at us with a bow and arrow, and Jamie took one of ‘em out with a Barrett.”
    Rick perked up at the mention of the behemoth rifle. “A Barrett?”
    Curtis glanced over to Rick with a wry grin. “Yeah, he said you might be interested in it.”
    “So what is with these ‘mountain men’ fuckers, Larry? What do they want?” Joe said, turning his attention to his cohort in the driver’s seat.
    “I’m not real sure. We’ve had run-ins with ‘em before, but nothing major. They mostly keep to themselves and we keep to ourselves. The Snake Handlers, however, have given us problems, though.”
    “Funny how both of those names popped up this morning. Who was the old guy bitching about them this morning?” Joe was intrigued. The two factions, however minor they may be, were still a thorn in their side. There was no use in trying to act like both groups popping up was a coincidence.
    “ The old guy is Don McKinley. I think he was a cop somewhere over in Kentucky, but he doesn’t talk about it much. I’ve never had a problem with him. That being said, I don’t think that anyone is above suspicion, but what exactly are you suspicious of ?”
    Joe shrugged, continuing to stare ahead as he did. “Nothing really. Just thinking out loud I suppose.”
    They rode the rest of the way to the jail in silence, each man lost in his own thoughts. The uncomfortable silence was broken once by the groan of the unconscious woman in the back seat. She stirred slightly, but still did not wake up.
    Larry pulled the Dodge beside the jail and threw the truck into park. He turned around to face their unknown captive. “Alright, let’s get the skank into one of the cells and get an IV started on her. I don’t know how much good it’s gonna do until she