He gets turned on, so when we’re back in the camper, we have sex in bed and lounge around together afterward.
Then we make dinner and sit around the firepit talking. Molly begs for our ham and potatoes, and we sing old pop songs together afterward.
It’s a really good day.
The best one I can remember.
18
The next dayis our weekly trip to Cleverly.
We walk because it’s not far, I’m feeling fine, and Molly can come along. Plus there’s no sense in wasting gas on an easy errand.
Micah hangs outside with Molly as I haggle with Billy and chat with Frankie a few minutes. She tells me Logan’s soldiers have been all over Cleverly lately. Logan and Haskell, who was the county sheriff before Impact and still acts as the community leader, have been in talks.
It seems clear to both me and Frankie that Cleverly will soon be sucked into Logan’s territory.
Damn Logan.
I’m frowning about it as I come out of the bar with my package of provisions, traded for scavenged lotion and medication.
“What’s the matter?” Micah asks when I reach him. “Did something happen?”
“No. The trade was fine. Just Frankie said that Logan’s probably going to take over here too.”
“I’m not surprised.”
I stiffen. “You aren’t?”
“No.” Micah looks slightly wary, as if he’s treading dangerous territory with me. “I didn’t know about it. His territory didn’t extend this far when I left. But I don’t think it’s surprising that very small communities want to join up. He offers much more dependable provisions and protection than anyone else in this region.”
“Sure. It’s the same reason small businesses used to pay off the neighborhood mafioso.”
“Logan isn’t leaving horse heads in the beds of anyone who crosses him.”
“Maybe not. But he doesn’t actually have anyone crossing him right now, does he? I don’t trust what he’d do if he did. Men like that… I get that he might not have started bad. He was your boss before Impact, and you’re remembering who he was back then. But he’s not the same man anymore.”
“You don’t even know him.” Micah doesn’t sound angry or defensive. Just slightly grumpy.
“Not personally. I only know him by his actions. And that’s what counts with me. When a man gets as much power as he has, even in a small, deprived, backwoods region like the Wild, he changes. He always changes. Andhe might act like a human and pretend to be friends, but when it comes right down to it, he functions like a warlord. He kills people who act against him. He never gives without expecting something in return. He’s not a kindly benefactor working from the goodness of his heart.”
“I know that. I never said he was. He’s practical. Always practical. Back before Impact, he was at his best in a crisis because he could see the big picture and how to get through it without getting bogged down in fears and doubts. Now the world has turned into one enormous crisis, and he’s helped so many people survive it.”
“And is taking over a larger and larger territory as he does it. He’s only been around here for a year and a half. How much power is he going to have ten years from now? What kind of man is he going to be then?”
Micah stares at me, silent but visibly conflicted. Finally he says, “Maybe you should meet him.”
“I don’t want to meet Logan. And even if I did, I’m never going to fall under his spell like everyone else. I never fall for the smooth talkers. I can see right through them.”
This makes Micah chuckle, his expression softening into something fond. “No argument here. All my smooth talk sailed right by you without making the slightest dent.”
I smile back, so we just stand and smile at each other for a minute.
Then Micah gives his head a brief shake. “But anyway, Logan isn’t a smooth talker. He’s blunt and no-nonsense and has never charmed anyone in his life. But there’s more to him than you’re seeing from the outside, and I thought maybe if you met him, you’d recognize it.”
“Maybe.” I say that not because I believe it to be true but because I don’t want to continue the conversation. Micah loved Logan when he was one of his soldiers. Despite everything, it’s obvious he still does.
Damn Logan.
