"One choice, Sawyer."
"I can't stay here. It's too dangerous to the people here in the settlement. The mechs are looking for me."
"Why?" Roark asked. "Why would they care about you?"
"I haven't figured that part out," Sawyer replied. "I think they either want to punish me for escaping and they want to make an example out of me or they're worried the ADF will get their hands on me and figure out what they are doing."
"What are they doing?"
"I haven't figured that part out either," Sawyer replied. "There were several hundred people on that tarmac that day, people who weren't injured. It makes no sense that they would save me."
"Could that be their plan?" Stefan asked in a quieter voice, almost afraid to give volume to his words. "Could they be trying to convert humans into mechs?"
"It would make more sense that they would be trying to turn a human into a mech then into a spy," Roark said. "So many of those who survived the virus and the invasion have gone into hiding, there's hardly anyone left to suck dry. If they had a mech who looked human, especially one who is a well-known ADF soldier, he could get into one of the settlements and report back to the mechs."
Stefan shuddered in horror.
He glanced at Sawyer when the man pulled him close. It had been so long since he'd felt protected, even if he didn't really need it. He could protect himself. But it sure felt good to have someone who cared enough to try.
"You think they could have done something to me that would make me report back to them?" Sawyer asked,
"I doubt it," Roark replied. "I think that might be why they are hunting for you. You got away before they could program you." He frowned so suddenly, Stefan's eyebrows rose. "Just how did you get away from them anyway?"
"They were keeping me pretty doped up. I think that's how they thought to control me and to keep me from fighting them, but I don't think they realized humans could build up a tolerance for medications after a while. One day when they were escorting me back to my cell, I was lucid enough to fight back. I escaped and ran. I've kind of been running ever since."
Stefan closed his eyes as he leaned his head against Sawyer. It sounded as if the man had been through hell. "It's time to stop running, baby. It's time to come home."
Sawyer shuddered against him. Stefan was pretty sure he was the only one who knew just how upset and anxious Sawyer really was.
He turned his head until his lips brushed Sawyer's ear. "If you need to run, then run, but take me with you. Don't leave me alone again." It took a moment, but when Sawyer finally nodded, Stefan almost cried out in relief. "Thank you, Sawyer."
"I can't stay here," Sawyer said. "There's too many people here."
"Okay." Stefan drew in a heavy breath. "Give me a few minutes to get my stuff and saddle up Fred."
Sawyer nodded.
"Don't leave without me."
"I won't."
Stefan prayed Sawyer kept his promise. He turned to look at the others. "Commander—"
Roark held up his hand. "We'll all go."
Stefan was surprised by that.
Roark's eyes rolled rather dramatically. "We're a team, Stefan. We fight as a team, we live as a team, and when the occasion warrants it, we run as a team, but we stay a team." He pointed at Sawyer. "And he is part of this team. If he needs to run, we run with him."
Stefan heard Sawyer swallow hard before the man reached out and shook Roark's hand. "Thank you."
"You'd do the same for me," Roark replied then glanced at the others. "We need to do a bit of clean-up work here then get our gear and get on the road before dawn."
Sawyer shook his head. "I can't—"
Stefan pressed his hands to Sawyer's chest. "Why don't you go get the horses saddled up while the rest of us help John check for survivors and get the wounded rounded up? That way we'll be ready to go just as soon as we're done."
Sawyer's lips pressed into a thin line as he glanced toward the aftermath of the battle.
