“Exactly,” Arkas said with a grin.“I’m going to top up the gas tank before we leave,” he said, then held out his hands for the keys.She took them out of her pocket and tossed them to him.
The warrior strode over to the truck and took a jerrycan out from beneath the tarp.He filled the tank, then put the jerrycan back.The statue was still wedged in place.He patted it on the shoulder before tying the tarp back down.
Oaklie finished her lunch, then stepped behind a tree for some privacy.She joined him in the truck when she was done.He’d already adjusted the seat and mirrors.Starting the ignition, he took off smoothly and drove up the onramp back onto the interstate.“Thisisfun,” Arkas said with a wide grin.“I just wish the truck wasn’t so damn small.”
“The truck is fine,” Oaklie shot back.“You’rejust too damn big.”He snickered, then focused on driving.
It was almost dark when he saw yet another pileup in the distance.Something seemed different about it this time.The vehicles only blocked half of the lanes.He could see another group of cars and trucks about a hundred or so yards ahead.Again, only half of the lanes were blocked.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Oaklie murmured as they neared the partial blockage.
“So do I,” Arkas agreed, slowing down.He sent his senses out and picked up on some humans nearby.“It’s a trap,” he said, then put the truck into reverse.
“Get them!”a man shouted, then a dozen men swarmed out from behind the fake pileup.
“Watch out!”Oaklie exclaimed when she glanced over her shoulder.
A truck had been driven out from behind an old billboard.Arkas slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid a collision.“Stay in the truck,” he said grimly, switching off the engine then climbing out.
Shouldering his rifle, he surged forward to engage his enemies.They opened fire, but he dodged the projectiles.Cutting the first three humans down, he hissed when pain flared in his left wrist.He glanced back at the truck and saw two men trying to drag Oaklie out of her seat.A knife was sticking out of her arm and she was fighting for her life.
Rage swelled inside the knight.With a bellow, he shot the three men in front of him, then sprinted to the truck.
Oaklie had been pulled out of her seat.She kneed one of her assailants in the groin, then yanked the knife out of her arm and stabbed the second man in the chest with it.
Arkas wasn’t taking any chances and conjured his sword.It flashed past her even as he tucked her behind his back.With two rapid thrusts, he killed them both.
Turning to face his cambion, he pulled her into his arms.“Are you alright, my female?”he asked, searching for danger with his senses.
“I’m okay,” she said huskily, hugging him back.“They almost got me,” she added.
“You fought well,” he said, proud of her courage.“I’m sorry I allowed the pitiful humans to wound you.It won’t happen again.”
She pulled back and shook her head in denial.“You can’t watch over me twenty-four-seven,” she said.“The world is full of evil people now.We’ll just need to be more careful and wary of traps.”
The pain was ebbing in his wrist, so he knew she was healing, but his rage was still strong.“We should find somewhere to spend the night,” he said when lightning lit up the storm clouds that were rapidly flowing in their direction.
“There should be motels along the interstate,” Oaklie said.“With luck, we’ll find one that hasn’t been taken over by raiders like these losers.”She kicked one of the dead men in the leg, curling her upper lip in derision.
They climbed back into the truck and Arkas drove around the bodies.He zoomed through the gaps in the blockades and kept watch for a motel.Candlelight shone through some of the windows of the first one they passed.Another one appeared a few miles later.It was dark this time.“I’ll park a safe distance away and scope it out,” the warrior said.
Oaklie nodded in agreement, still shaken by her close call.
Arkas left the interstate.He pulled over before anyone inside the motel could hear the truck coming.“Lock the doors,” he said after climbing out.He’d left the keys in the ignition.
Oaklie climbed into the driver’s seat and flicked a button to lock all of the doors this time.“Signal me when it’s safe,” she said.
He nodded, then sprinted over to the cheap, shoddy-looking motel.His senses told him it was clear, so he turned to wave at his cambion.“I’ve got to stop thinking of Oaklie that way,” he murmured as she drove the truck over.“I wish I could stay with her after we win this war, but it’s against the rules.”A pang at the thought of leaving her all alone in this dystopian hellscape hit him directly in the heart.Oaklie Woods was smart, tough and capable, but it killed him knowing how vulnerable she would be with no one to watch her back when he was gone.
Oaklie drove around to the back of the motel where their ride would be out of sight.He loped around to meet her, then kicked the back emergency exit door open.They grabbed their gear just as it began to rain and hurried inside.
