Snatchers (Book 7): The Dead Don't Yield by Shaun Whittington

Rosemary began. "What kind of man sees it to be okay to pick on someone like that?"
    James was now standing, facing Rosemary from afar and still no words left his lips.
    Rosemary added, "Where's your wife?"
    "Dead," he answered coldly. "Why?"
    "What kind of man were you when your wife was alive? Was you a good father? Did you used to be a good husband? Or did you drink, ignore your kid, and beat your wife?"
    He never answered. All he could do was stand and glare at this middle-aged woman with demonic eyes.
    "That's what I thought." Rosemary smiled.
    Jimmy Mac huffed, "If I get my way, there'll be another vote. Me, Lee, Daniel, Sheryl, Luke, Gillian—everyone will hear me out and we'll have another vote."
    "You can't kick thirty of us out there."
    Laughed McDonald, "Can't I?"
    "No you can't, and it won't happen anyway." Rosemary stood firm and folded her arms and looked past McDonald to catch Karen's eye. "I actually came round to tell you that I bumped into Vince and Pickle, Karen." She looked over at Karen. "They found Helen and John Waite...dead. They'd killed themselves."
    "Fuck," muttered Karen.
    Jimmy Mac lowered his head in sadness, and mumbled, "I'm sorry to hear that."
    It appeared that the sad news had diffused the heated situation in seconds.
    Rosemary held her hand out and beckoned McDonald, "Come with me."
    He looked perplexed and asked, "What for?"
    "Have you heard stories about Karen and Pickle since they arrived?"
    "Not really." He looked back at Karen, but she had lowered her head. Although unintentional, Rosemary was embarrassing her.
    "Come on." Rosemary smiled at McDonald. "Let's walk and have a chat."
    Jimmy Mac shuffled away from Karen, who remained standing by her front door and dressed in her Snoopy pyjamas. She saw Rosemary and McDonald walk away together down Sandy Lane, and before Karen shut the door, she heard Rosemary say to Jimmy Mac. "You should really be aware of who people are before you go picking fights with them. Let me tell you about Karen and Pickle, and how they first met."
    Karen was hoping that the stories of her journey with Pickle might calm James McDonald down. Once Rosemary had told James about Stile Cop, Heath Hayes, Wolf's cabin and the Spode Cottage disaster, then maybe he would leave her alone. She had killed many of the dead, and even some people. Rosemary knew it all, and was about to reveal to James McDonald that Karen wasn't just some young girl that struck it lucky. She had had to fight week-after-week to be still breathing today.
    Karen didn't want the man to be scared of her—or Pickle, neither did she want him to be coming round and acting all nice, and she didn't wanted an apology.
    She just wanted to be left alone, in peace.

Chapter Seventeen
     
    After their walk and chat, which was ruined by the discovery of John and Helen Waite's body, both Vince Kindl and Harry Branston decided to head back to their digs.
    "Well that was fun." Vince spoke with derision. "I think I'm now depressed."
    "Me too." Pickle stopped walking and gaped at the pile of bodies on the patch of grass, near the Lea Hall building. He nodded over to the pile, "That's starting to stink a bit now."
    "It does." Vince remarked, "When we first came here, when Lee was showing us round and we were on our way to Karen's old house, I never noticed it before."
    "Neither did I." Pickle appeared lost in thought. "I know you had to do something similar, back at the old camp, but there was never that many. And it was a lot further away, so the smell never really reached us."
    "Maybe you could bring it up, if it bothers you that much. I heard that they have a meeting once in a while."
    "Maybe I will." Pickle nodded. "They need to be moved. It's not healthy for the kids to see this on a daily basis."
    "I thought he was supposed to be on a watch." Vince pointed up ahead at a young Simon Benson who was strolling out of his house and appeared to be heading to the barrier.
    "Simon!" Pickle called over.
    Simon turned