Roark's nostrils flared. "Not anymore."
"The mechs cleared this facility out just like they did the last one," Sam Harris said. "The only things left were a few husks."
Stefan grimaced. They'd been coming across more and more cryogenic facilities that had been cleaned out. It wasn't known yet whether others had liberated the humans in stasis before the mechs arrived or if the mechs got to them first. That's what Stefan's unit was doing here. Trying to figure it out.
He grunted and took a cautious step back when Dahl stepped in front of him. He couldn't tell what the man was thinking. There was no expression on Dahl's face.
"Sorry I had to shoot at you," Stefan said. Considering his history, he knew he was on shaky ground, even if he was trying to save his friend. "I had no other way of letting you know the scarab was there."
He tried not to flinch when Dahl lifted his hand, but the man simply patted his shoulder before walking past him. Stefan almost slumped against the rusty car. That could have gotten really dicey. Stefan was a crack shot, but Dahl was pure muscle. He'd hand Stefan his head in a fight.
"All right," Roark said, "let's head out. I want to get out of here double time in case these things were here after for us. Dahl, I want you to take point. Sam, you bring up the rear with Butler. Everyone else stay frosty."
Like the possibility of that not happening was even possible. Stefan was pretty sure they were all primed and ready to pull the trigger at a moment's notice. They'd been on edge since word had come down that the cryogenic facilities were being emptied out.
No one knew what was going on. Considering ADF command communicated to other settlements through messengers on horseback and word of mouth, that kind of made sense. It still concerned the higher-ups that facilities that had been left alone in the past were now being emptied out, and no one knew who was doing it. They were all kind of hoping it wasn't the mechs, but the few human husks they'd found said otherwise.
"We're going to swing down through Colorado Springs on our way back."
Stefan's breath caught as he glanced at Roark. "Colorado Springs?"
"I told you I would get a unit to search for Sawyer when we got back to base with Frankie. I wanted to do it right then, but this thing with the facilities came up and we were sent out on that. I kind of figured you'd want to be a part of whatever unit went looking for Sawyer."
Stefan nodded, but he had to swallow hard before he could answer. "Yes, I would."
There was very little he'd like more. He just never thought he'd be allowed on a mission to search for Sawyer. Not after the way he fucked up. Stefan's gaze strayed to Roark's shoulder. It might have been covered up by the man's uniform, but Stefan would never be able to forget he'd shot his commander in a fit of misplaced revenge.
"Well, I figure we can head southeast as the crow flies and be home in a week or we can make a small detour and go down and head down to Colorado Springs. It'll take an extra couple of days, but it'll give us a starting point for our search."
"Does command know about this?"
"Command knows what it needs to know."
So, they didn't in other words.
"Thank you, Roark."
"Yeah, well." Roark smirked. "I want to be there when you explain to Sawyer that you shot me."
Stefan winced, his heart heavy with regret at his actions. He really wasn't looking forward to that conversation, but he'd take whatever punishment was coming his way if it meant finding Sawyer alive and well.
His heart still ached every time he remembered seeing his lover go down in a firefight. So many had lost their lives that day. For so very long, Stefan had been convinced Sawyer had been one of them, and that Roark let it happen.
It was only after he'd shot Roark and held him at gunpoint that he came to realize what he'd thought he'd seen might not have been what actually happened. There was a chance—however slight —that Sawyer was alive.
Roark chuckled. "Don't worry so much, Stefan. Sawyer will forgive you after he kicks your ass."
Stefan would take it. He'd do just about anything, suffer anything, just to have Sawyer back. The two years he'd been missing, Stefan felt as if he was dead inside. He followed orders and did his duty, but he cared about nothing and no one. The world could have been sucked up in a vortex and he wouldn't have lifted a finger to stop it.
Stefan stiffed and spun when he heard someone coming up fast behind him. It was Sam and Butler, and they were hauling ass. When the two men waved their arms in the universal sign to get moving, Stefan turned and started running right along with everyone else. He had no idea what was coming, and he didn't really want to find out. If it was enough to send Sam and Butler running, it couldn't be good.
As he ran, he scanned the area for any place they could all hide as well as a high vantage point where he might be able to get off a few good shots. He spotted a parking garage about half a block down.
"Commander!"
When Roark looked back at him, he pointed. Roark looked to where Stefan pointed then nodded even as he grabbed Frankie's arm and started pulling him toward the garage.
They were lucky in the fact that the rebar in the building was built from steel and not iron, or the place would be nothing but a pile of rubble. If they were lucky, the staircase would still be intact, and they could take that up instead of running up the ramp.
