Stefan wasn't terribly thrilled to be down one man, but he also understood that they all needed to have something to believe in to keep them going from day to day. For him, it was Sawyer. Until today, it had been his hope that Sawyer was alive. Now, it was keeping Sawyer with him. If Foster found the same thing, someone to fight for, then more power to him.
Roark waved to the guards as they rode out of the settlement. "I had John double the guard. I don't know how many marauders there were or if they have a base camp somewhere close by, but someone will be waiting for them to come back. I don't want John and the others getting attacked out of revenge."
Sadly, that made sense. It made more sense to Stefan that people band together to try and preserve the human race, not lie, steal, and kill to get what they wanted.
As much as Stefan hated to ask… "Should we stick around a little longer?"
"No, John has enough men to keep the place safe. He was just caught unaware and didn't have enough men patrolling the grounds." Roark grimaced. "I doubt he'll be so careless again. It's just too bad that lesson had to come with such a heavy cost."
Stefan felt a knot form in his stomach and reached down to rub it. "How many did they lose?"
"Three, but even one life is too much."
Stefan agreed, but that was kind of how life went nowadays. That was one of the reasons Stefan was so in favor of Foster staying behind if he'd found someone. They'd had to learn to live in the moment over the last ten years, because no one had any idea what tomorrow would bring.
The ride down to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex went fairly easily. They arrived just as the sun rose directly overhead. Stefan was actually surprised they hadn't run into any mechs or marauders, especially considering the chaos they had left behind.
When they finally stopped in front of what had once been the large tunnel entrance into the complex, Stefan's heart sank. The whole front of the place had crumbled. It looked as if the mountain had collapsed in on itself and covered the entrance.
"It's caved in." There was no way they were getting in.
"I blew the entrances a few months back," Sawyer admitted. "Caved them all in under several tons of rock and dirt."
Stefan turned to look at the guy over his shoulder. "You blew them?"
Sawyer nodded. "I didn't want anyone getting inside."
Now, Stefan was confused.
Sawyer slid off Fred and walked around to the front of the horse. He stroked his hand over the side of Fred's face. He seemed to be thinking about something. There was a small crease on his forehead.
"We seem to have a problem," Roark said as he stared at what was once the entrance to the government’s top-secret North American Aerospace Defense Command. "How are we going to get inside?"
Stefan chuckled. "I had kind of been wondering that myself."
Sawyer glanced at Roark. "Do you promise to keep the entrance secret from everyone, including the ADF?"
Roark's eyebrows lifted. "You don't trust us?"
"I trust you. It's everyone else I don't trust." Sawyer grimaced and looked back at Fred, stroking his hand over the horse's mane. "I've spent the last six months fixing this place up so I'd have a good base of operations. If others learn that it's no longer destroyed, they'll try and take it from me."
Stefan understood where Sawyer was coming from. Everyone needed one place to call their own. What he didn't understand was why Sawyer was feeling so protective of the place. There were other hiding places, places the mechs either didn't know about or couldn't reach. Why was this one so special?
"We won't tell anyone, Sawyer," Roark assured the man. "Not unless you give us your permission first."
Sawyer's shoulders slumped as if the weight that had been on them was suddenly lifted and he didn't need to hold them up anymore. "Thank you."
"I'm still a little confused as to how we're going to get inside," Roark said. "It'd take us a month to shovel our way through." Probably longer.
Sawyer chuckled. "I made sure I had another entrance before I blew this one."
"I thought the complex was sealed up except for this entrance. That was the whole point of this place. The government could hide here for months, sealed off from the rest of the world."
"That might have been the idea, but the top brass never does what's good for everyone else. They do what's good for them." Sawyer smirked. "Follow me."
He started walking back the way they'd come then off to one side. Stefan shrugged when Roark glanced at him as they followed Sawyer. He had no idea where they were headed, but Sawyer seemed to know.
They only walked for about ten minutes before Sawyer stopped at a small crevice in the rocky hillside. Stefan glanced around. There really wasn't much to see. Most of the ground was rocky with a few bushes and trees.
