Page 60 of Amaros

Chapter Thirty

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AMAROS FELT UNEASYabout leaving Zoe and Grace behind.Even Camriel wasn’t happy about it as they drove off before dawn.“We’ll be as quick as we can,” Amaros said.

His second nodded, then watched the hidden structure in the rearview mirror until the boulder blocked it from view.“Everything is different this time,” Camriel mused while keeping watch for deer.“We’re the only two knights so far and we haven’t seen or sensed our enemies yet.”Amaros had given him some of the clothes he’d taken from the sports store last night after butchering the deer.He was glad to be wearing something that fit him better.

“Chaos let some of its soldiers loose a couple of decades or so ago,” Amaros reminded him.“That upset the balance.Fate intervened and now anything could go.We can’t predict what’s going to happen, or when the rest of our unit will arrive.”

“Grace is a little firecracker,” the big blond warrior said in fond amusement.“I almost envy whichever of our brothers ends up bonding with her.”

“She’s too young,” Amaros said in disapproval.“She’s barely classed as legal.”

“A lot has changed over the eons,” Camriel said.“There was a time when females much younger than her were considered prime marriage material.”

“Now, they’re allowed to make their own choices for the most part,” Amaros said.“Or they were before the Rapture.”

“This era is going to be the worst one yet, isn’t it?”his brother in arms said.“We’re not just going to be fighting our enemies.We’ll also have hordes of insane humans trying to kill us.They don’t even need to be assimilated into Chaos’ army.They’re already nuts.”

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Amaros agreed.“This war won’t be won in a year or two.We’ll be here for the long haul.”

“I’m not complaining,” Camriel said.“I’m just trying to imagine what our futures will be like.”

“I guess we’ll see,” Amaros said.He switched on the radio, but there was only static this time.The ranting prophet must still be asleep.

Driving to the small town, they searched for a hardware store.It was tiny, but had the tools they would need to repair the roof.They worked in the dark, so they didn’t draw any attention if anyone was watching from afar.

Loading the truck with toolboxes, nails, screws, batteries of all kinds and battery-operated tools, they found a couple of generators at the back of the room.

“These babies will come in handy,” Camriel said in approval.They went into the back of the truck as well.

“We’ll need to secure more fuel,” Amaros said after they’d taken everything they needed.The only thing missing was wood to repair the roof.He’d found a brochure for a lumberyard on the outskirts of town that had supplies they could use.

“Maybe I should take one of the smaller trucks for now,” Camriel figured, reluctantly eyeing the vehicles parked nearby.

“You’d need to find the keys first,” Amaros told him.“I was lucky that the keys were left in my tank.”

Camriel grinned at the nickname that suited the big black vehicle.“I’ll do a quick search of these trucks,” he said, then loped off.Amaros’ sense of unease grew stronger as he waited.Camriel returned a few minutes later in a smaller red pickup.“This will have to do,” he said in resignation.

“Let’s load it up with empty containers and fill them with gas,” Amaros said.

Camriel began to look uneasy halfway through filling the containers.“Can you feel that?”he asked, glancing around.

“What are you sensing?”Amaros asked, peering around as well.

“I’m not sure,” his second said, then heaved the full container into his truck.“Something feels wrong.”

Amaros nodded in agreement.“We should get a move on,” he suggested.“We need to find some wood, then get back to our base.”

Camriel hurried as fast as he could to fill the rest of the containers.There was enough gas left to last them for a long time, as long as no one else stole it first.With the power off, they’d had to figure out how to extract the fuel with hoses.

“Follow me,” Amaros said as he lifted the final container into the red truck.“We’ll make a quick stop at the lumberyard, then head home.”

“That works for me,” his second agreed.

They drove a couple of miles to the lumberyard and pulled into the lot.Several vehicles were there, but the place was deserted.The stench of decay wafted to them.Sadly, they were getting used to it.Death was far from new to either of the warriors.

“We need to hurry,” Amaros said.His unease was growing stronger by the minute now.