Early one morning while making the rounds

I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down

I went right home, and I went to bed,

I stuck that lovin’ 44 beneath my head

Got up the next mornin’ and I grabbed that gun,

Took a shot of cocaine and away I run

Made a good run but I ran too slow

They overtook me down in Juarez Mexico…

Wind whispered through the long blades of grass, and dry sand crunched underfoot.  Bette and Helena were led by Alice and Lara and the group moved quickly toward what looked to be an abandoned farmhouse.  A well lay just to the side of the front door.  The porch creaked eerily, seemingly of its own accord.

“Well, what do you guys think?” Alice turned back to the others once they had stopped, keeping the corner of one eye angled for movement within the house. “Should we raid this place or just keep going?” She paused and listened, motioning for Lara to come closer.

The presence of a bit of shade and the discovery of a cold water source had calmed Bette and Helena’s worries over their daughter’s bit of heatstroke, and much improved Caiohme’s disposition. Bette stood next to a well with the babbling toddler in her arms, wiping her neck with water and discussing the various farming equipment scattered about.

“Anyone moving about in there?” Lara asked Alice this question as quietly and casually as she could.

Alice grinned and flicked a piece of grass from Lara’s shoulders.

“Yup.” Was all she said.

Bette and Helena exchanged confused glances but kept quiet.  Alice and Lara had determined, for some odd reason, that the rest of the group should stay outdoors while they checked the house over. If they needed help, they didn’t want the others trapped with the confines of the crumbling walls, and both women knew they could run their asses off if it came to that—their backup would more than take care of whoever they lured out of the place. 

Shane and Jenny walked casually back toward the well where Bette and Helena stood, not twenty yards from the house. Kit and Peggy moved around to the other side and waited as well.