Chapter 14 (part 2)

“And now they’re here?” Evan asked. “I wonder why.”

“I’m not sure.” Max shuffled through the maps and found the map of New Mexico. It seemed to be the newest map of the bunch, the folds relatively fresh and the markings along its pages much bolder than the other maps.

There were three towns circled and marked through. Max pointed to them slowly, trying to gather any sort of pattern to them.

“Are those all small towns, too?” Evan asked.

“Seems that way. Fowler is right here, marked through. I personally know that Fowler is a piss pot of a place. I’d say roughly thirty or so people live there. There’s not even a post office. Just one small general store. Everything else is over in Dry Gulch, fifteen miles away.

“This one I’m not too familiar with, this town called Wolf Creek. But being right there in the middle of the desert, I feel certain it’s not much bigger than Fowler.” Max followed the route that led away from Wolf Creek and towards the third X. “Samson is a tiny little place, too. I’ve driven through there several times. It’s basically a twin of Fowler. One or two shops, a few houses, and that’s it. No side roads, no streets, nothing.”

Evan studied the map and located Shinoe. It sat about forty miles to the west of the X that crossed through Fowler. He then looked away from Shinoe and to the criss-crossing of roads that sat between it and the three Xs.

“Where would their shacks be located?” Even asked.

Max studied the map and pointed, as if not quite sure of his answer. “Somewhere around here, between Wolf Creek and Shinoe.”

“Do you think they’re planning on doing something in Shinoe?” Evan asked.

“It’s doubtful. Shinoe is small, but not nearly as small as these other places. Compared to Fowler and Samson, Shinoe is a practical metropolis.”

“Then what do we look for?” Evan asked.

Max shrugged and followed the route that connected the Xs once more with his finger. They seemed to make a curve and then a harsh arch. Studying the markings, he wondered if the circling of a fourth town on the map would make a circle. He made the motion of a circle with his finger and felt certain that this was what the people on the bus were trying to do.

He looked back to the map of Utah and looked at the routes and the Xs. There were three different patterns and all of them made a crude circular shape. Two of the patterns consisted of five circles while the other one—the one with Osprey along its route—were made up of only four. He then checked the map of Arizona and found the exact same patterns.

Max looked back to the map of New Mexico and made the imaginary end to his circle again. There were several towns between the start of the circle—Fowler—and the place where it had stopped—Samson. Max had heard of a few of them and knew that they were all relatively small in size.

“We need to check out these towns,” he said.

“You think they’re traveling in a circle?”

“They did it in Utah and Arizona,” Max said, pointing to the maps. “And if there’s something ritualistic about what they’re doing, I don’t see why they would do anything different this time.”

Evan sighed. “I really don’t want any of this,” he said. “You know that you’re pretty much blackmailing me, don’t you?”

Max said nothing. The coffee pot beeped and he poured himself a cup. He offered a cup to Evan and he took it begrudgingly.

“Not only that,” Evan added, “but you’re going about this as if this was any normal cult. But what about those things you saw in the cellar? What was that about, huh? I think it’s clear that these guys are into some shit that is way over our heads and, quite frankly, I think it’s pretty stupid to chase after them.”

Max said nothing. He did look down to the floor for a moment, clearly thinking hard about something. But all he did was sigh and nod. He folded the maps back up and tucked them under his arms.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go pay your buddy Sam a visit.”