“Aren’t we on a mission to get help from others?”
“We’re looking for an alliance, not handouts.”
“If this town was better armed, they might have killed those Raiders themselves, and having fewer Raiders is inourbest interest.”
He nods. “Point taken.”
I debate whether to ask him about his nightmare, but I’d rather wait until it’s less fresh. “We’d best get going. There’s still a long way to High Hope.”
Caden nods and looks away. “How bad is it?”
He means Josh’s bruises. “It’s not pretty, but it will pass in a few days.” Though it will feel longer to Caden, who will have a constant reminder of his actions in front of him. “If you act weird about it, you’ll make him uncomfortable.”
“I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”
“Then ask him to leave.”
“Are you being a smartass?”
“Maybe. Timothy will keep watch on you during the next few nights.”
Anger flashes in his eyes. “You guys have been talking about me.”
“Yes, your friends discussed keeping you safe—how fucking dare we?”
He grabs my shirt and pulls me closer. “You kiss people with that big mouth of yours?”
“Depends on the lips.”
He kisses me hard, holding my face while his tongue dances against mine. I loved sharing a bed with River again, but I missed Caden’s presence. It’s been easy getting used to him after months apart, and I was only half joking about tying him down so we could share a bed.
Caden breaks the kiss and says, “We should hit the road. Can’t keep the king waiting.”
The whole town comes to say goodbye as we leave. They already have people out on patrol and establishing lookout points like Caden suggested. I tell myself that no matter what, they will be more prepared for future attacks, but it might not matter if the enemy comes with greater forces. They won’t besafe until we kill the source of the evil that has been terrorizing Colorado for so many years.
To reach High Hope, we’ll need to ride through an area called Grand Mesa, which is rich with lakes and mountains but also wildlife I’m less keen about.
“Dino told me good things about you,” Josh says as we ride slowly on a road riddled with exposed roots. “Must be challenging being his right-hand man.”
I wonder if I hear a trace of jealousy in his voice. If he hadn’t enlisted, he would have likely been doing my job. Dino shared with me that that had been his plan since Josh was a child, but it wasn’t in their cards.
“Anyway, I’m just trying to say that I’m proud of you.”
I hope he knows how much it means to me. He was the first Hiver who saw me as more than just an ex-Raider, and I’m sure that played a part in Dino’s decision to trust me.
“Thank you,” I say. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He glances aside, where Caden is riding apart from the rest of us. “I’m going to try pulling the stick out of his ass.”
“Good luck with that; it can get pretty deep.”
“I guess you should know.” He winks and wiggles his fingers, leaving me to blush as he steers his horse away.
I watch them ride next to each other, noticing Caden’s shoulders becoming less tense the more they talk. Not far from me, River is riding next to Timothy, who’s wearing his new cowboy hat. Josh might have fought to bring River’s soul all the way to Kansas, but it was Timothy who performed the miracle. If he hadn’t kept River’s clone for all those years… I feel sick just thinking about that.
We keep a steady pace for most of the day until it’s time to break camp. We stop by a lake called Vega Reservoir according to our old maps, next to an old road marked as 646. I like knowing the names and numbers of things from the Before Times. We rarely name things these days, maybe because there aren’t enough people to use them.
Unsurprisingly, it takes River less than two minutes to take off his clothes and jump into the lake. The surprising part is his choice to keep his underwear on, or maybe it was Josh who advised him to do that. The rest of us follow suit, washing the hot day from our skin in the fresh water. Timothy is the only one who remains on the water’s edge. He can afford to get a little wet, but it’s still a risk not worth taking. I doubt there’s one person alive who knows how to fix him if something malfunctions, and that thought terrifies me.
