Page 6

CALE

The snow started to fall in earnest as we made our way through the thinning forest, the wind whipping through the trees and chilling me to the bone. I’d never experienced such a deep cold, not even in Elysium. I tried to stop my teeth from chattering, tried to hug my arms around my torso to conserve heat, but the heavy wet flakes of snow saturated my hair, stuck to my eyelashes, and weighed down the oversized guard uniform. The wet fabric against my skin made it impossible to stay warm.

“Here.” Eben handed me his sleeping bag. “Wrap it around your shoulders. The fabric should keep the moisture off your skin.”

“You need that,” I protested. “What will you use tonight when this is soaked through?”

“You’re freezing.” He shrugged and held out the sleeping bag. “Take it. Please.”

Uncertain, I held his stare. My mother used to say I was the most stubborn person she had ever met. “Worse than your father” she would have said right then if she were here. I didn’t have the luxury of being stubborn anymore.

“Then you’ll share my sleeping bag with me tonight.”

The corner of Eben’s lips twitched, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. That works.”

“Will you two stop fussing over each other and hurry up, I’d like to get back to camp before dinner. Devon is making stew.” Sammie glared at us over her shoulder. “We still have quite a way to go, and if the snow keeps up, we’ll all freeze to death out here, sleeping bags or not.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Eben tucked the bag around my shoulders. “Better?”

“Thank you,” I said and linked my fingers through his. They weren’t much warmer than mine.

“You don’t have to worry about those bags of yours anyway. You’ll have a dry place to sleep at the settlement.” Thomas nodded toward the tree line. “It’s just past this ridge, down in the valley.”

“How long has the settlement been there?” Eben asked.

“Seven months.” Thomas gave us a smile. “It’s not much, but it’s ours. The cities are too dangerous. Denver is overrun with lawlessness. It’s like the wild west all over again. Gangs. Every man and woman for themselves.” He sighed. “The NEA has settlements throughout the Midwest; the East Coast is a lost cause. New York is a nightmare. People are still infected with no way to get aid inside the city. What’s left of it, anyway. Militia did a real number on Manhattan.”

“What about the capital?” I asked and Thomas shook his head.

“Razed. Fucking Freedom militia. Thank God the NEA got the President and his family out. No one knows where the President is, he never stays in one location for more than a month. Sometimes he travels with his husband and daughter, sometimes he’s alone. The other day, we heard on the radio—”

“Radio?” Eben was incredulous.

“Damn it, Thomas, shut your mouth. These boys could be spies.”

“These boys?” He gave me a once over and laughed. “Worst pair of spies I’ve ever seen.”

Sammie exhaled an annoyed breath. “All I’m saying is don’t let all the freaking cats out of the bag, old man.”

“Shit… Old man,” he muttered with a laugh, running his hand over his shorn salt-and-peppered hair. “You seemed to like this old man pretty good last night.”

Color flushed her freckled cheeks, and she clicked her tongue. “Jesus Christ.”

I tried to hold back my smile to no avail. It didn’t seem real. Jokes about sex, and people having conversations like old married couples. The world was on fire, and we were walking through a shit storm. And yet there was a smile on my face, and as I looked up at Eben, he was smiling too.

“Radio?” he asked again. “But there’s no power.”

“There’s some power. Freedom Militia likes to keep their people in the dark. Spread propaganda about how the President turned off all the lights when it was their bombs that took out the grid. Some of the settlements have solar power, some of the smaller cities too. We have some of the best civil engineers on our side. I don’t think we’re anywhere near having what we used to; hell, I’m not sure we’ll ever see the world the way we knew it once, but the President, the government, the NEA, we’re doing what we can with the little resources we have. God knows what’s going on overseas. I sometimes wonder if they’re just living the fucking life over there.” Thomas huffed out a bitter laugh. “Last I heard, the Freedom Militia had infiltrated Europe. Russia, France, UK, even Switzerland… who knows. These fuckers with their radical ideas taking us back to the dark ages. They want dictators, not democracy, Stepford families. All this crap about God and sinning, when they’re out there murdering anything they deem unworthy. It’s fucking depressing is what it is.”

“Amen.” Sammie nudged me with her elbow. “This wind will get worse once we’re in the valley. Stick close to your man, I don’t think you have enough fat on your bones to last three clicks.”

My man.

I turned to look at Eben, his eyes were fixed on something I couldn’t see, his smile long gone.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked and he didn’t answer. “Eben?” He finally met my gaze. “Are you all right?” I asked again and he swallowed.

“Yes… yeah. I mean, yeah… I’m good. Just thinking.” He gave me a half-hearted smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Are you warm enough?”

“I’ll live.”

His grip on my hand tightened, his gaze roaming over my face. “I hope so… more than anything.”

“Eben…” I whispered his name, a sense of unease gathering in my stomach. His tone had been tinged with something I couldn’t place.

Something like fear. Something like goodbye.

“What’s wrong, you seem—”

“Oh, thank God,” Sammie cut me off with an exhausted groan as we broke through the trees. “They’ve got the fires started.”

From the edge of the ridge, you could see the settlement off in the distance. A soft orange glow emitted from several tents, the warm color filling the valley while smoke rose in tendrils into the snowy evening sky. As predicted, without the heavy forest around us, the wind’s bite was brutal as we made our way down the rocky pass. It didn’t help that there was a lake on the other side of the camp, creating more unwanted moisture.

“See that copse of trees, it helps with the wind, but sometimes we have to take shifts keeping the central fire going. The settlement is solid. We don’t have plumbing, but our core engineers built us a shower house. We have to fill the tanks with lake water, but it works, and if you’re more of a bath kind of guy we found a hot spring about a five-minute walk from camp. Housing is good, most of the tents are military issues. Heavy duty canvas, equipped with wood-burning stoves. Most of our materials have been scavenged, but the government does what it can to supply us.”

“Won’t the canvas catch fire?” I asked and Thomas shook his head.

“No, sir, they’re treated with fire retardant.” He scratched at the shadow of stubble on his chin. “Lucky for you we have one open. Jack left last month to fight at the front.” He raised his brow. “Unless you both want your own tent? Which would be harder to come by.”

“We’re grateful for whatever is available,” Eben said, his cheeks darkening. “Thank you.”

Food. A shower. A tent. With heat. I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around any of it. It was all too much. Like at any minute I’d wake up and smell rotting apples and hay and my own piss and excrement. But we’d finally have a safe place to sleep. To just be. Be with Eben. My heart stuttered. It had been so long since I’d shared an actual space with anyone. Let alone someone I was… I didn’t know what we were. What would happen once we were safe? When the novelty of escape wore off? His hand suddenly felt heavy in mine. Like I couldn’t hold it long enough to keep him close, to keep him by my side.

“Eben, you don’t have to share—”

“I want to,” he said, his voice soft and low. He spoke in the same voice he’d used in the halls of hell, like we were back in that place. That dark hole where no one could know two men cared about each other. Where death was just one breath away. He let go of my hand as Sammie and Thomas walked ahead. Running his knuckles along the line of my jaw, he bent down and kissed my forehead. “We’re in this together, right?”

EBEN

Cale looped a finger around the strap of my rucksack and nodded. His eyes falling to my chest, he shivered. “I would understand though, if once we got settled if this… if you didn’t.” He swore under breath. “You’re not responsible for me.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Is that what he thought? I was a murderer. I was complicit in his suffering for so long. Every prisoner at Elysium. I’d selfishly allowed it. I didn’t deserve any of this. But him. For Cale, I would do anything. Anything and everything to make sure he remained safe, and when I confessed to what I did to Treban, I would deal with whatever the outcome. I would take accountability. As long as he was safe. As long as he was free.

I lifted his chin, staring into those icy blue eyes. His lashes were wet from the snow, his nose, and cheeks burned pink from the wind. “If I had met you before all of this… at work, or maybe at a bar, I would have wanted you then too. I don’t feel obligated… my affection might be heightened because of all the shit we’ve been through, but I’m sure about you, Cale. I could’ve lit one-hundred lamps in that hell hole, and nothing would have shone as brightly as you had the night I met you. As you do now. I can’t explain it. And I’ve decided it doesn’t have to make sense. You’re not an obligation, you’re my hope.”

Maybe that wasn’t something I should have said out loud. Maybe it was unhealthy to feel so close to him, to need him as much as I already did. But I didn’t think it mattered. Not in this world, in this new tomorrow where you weren’t guaranteed the next twenty-four hours, or even your next breath.

He blinked a few times, his eyes filling with moisture. “That’s… I…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, his mouth crashing into mine. My fingers made their way under the sleeping bag and found the back of his neck, curling in his hair, pulling him even closer. We were out in the open, and I could feel Thomas and Sammie’s eyes, and instead of fear, I understood again what it meant to be free. I had no idea what was in store for us, what Cale would think of me once he found out I’d murdered Treban, what the NEA would think of it. I had no clue what was next, but I could smell the scent of wood burning in the air, and somewhere beyond the silence, I heard drifting laughter on the breeze. We were almost home. It was in the air, in this kiss, and all the death and darkness over the past year was a shadow. It lingered behind us, but it was no longer the shroud making it impossible to see.

Cale pulled away his hand on my chest as he took a deep breath. “I never expected to make it. I never thought… Eben… You’re my hope too.”

Thomas chuckled. “As romantic as all of this is, my balls are about to fall off, and Sammie turns into a crone if she doesn’t eat before seven.”

I wiped my thumb across Cale’s bottom lip, the split in the skin nearly healed, my heart too amped up to suppress the smile spreading across my face. “Yes, sir. Sorry about that.”

Thomas grinned and Sammie rolled her eyes. “I’m not a crone.”

“Of course not, dear.”

The last mile was rough, the cruel wind never relenting as we navigated our way down the rocky terrain to the valley below. Cale held his own, but that last half mile he huddled close to my side, and I held him as he fought off the violent tremors wracking through his body.

“Almost there,” I said, but he only snuggled in closer.

A high, wired fence surrounded the perimeter of the encampment. Two men in gray fatigues with large semi-automatic rifles guarded the front entrance. They didn’t hesitate as we approached, opening the giant gate as quickly as possible.

“Shit, sir, we thought you got lost,” one of the men said. He was tall with long blond hair pulled back in a tight bun at his nape. “Found some strays?” He glared at our uniforms as the other guy shut the gate behind us.

“Runaways more like it. Prisoners from Elysium,” Sammie clarified.

“What’s with the fucking Freedom uniforms?” the other man asked, his dark, almost black eyes assessed us. His curious gaze lingered on Cale. “This one looks like he’s knocking on death’s doorstep.”

“Stop gawking and call it in. I’ll take them to Margie.”

The blond man pulled out a walkie talkie and I stared at it in disbelief.

“How…” I shook my head. The militia had lied about so much. There was power in some places, Thomas had said. Solar energy. Batteries. “I haven’t seen one of those in over a year.”

The other guard, the stockier one with short brown hair laughed openly. He held out his hand and I shook it. “I’m Dexter and that’s Colton.”

“Eben.” I released his hand.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a greenie in our presence. Welcome back to civilization.”

“Greenie?”

“I guess you’re not a real greenie, though.” He pointed at my green camouflage jacket. “Stolen, I’m guessing.”

I nodded, not sure if I should mention I’d been an actual guard at one point. Thomas gave me a look and I kept my mouth shut. Cale just burrowed deeper into my side. “We need to get Cale inside,” I pleaded, and Thomas waved at a third man wearing fatigues as well.

“Where’s the Captain?” Thomas was all business.

“Back bunk, sir.”

“Give me your jacket,” he ordered, and the man’s brows furrowed.

“Sir?”

“Give me your fucking jacket, Private. This man’s about to die of hypothermia and I don’t have time for explanations.”

A flash of irritation crossed his face, but he took off his jacket and handed it to Thomas. Thomas shoved it at me. “Put this on him and let’s get this over with. You both need a shower and some food, or maybe the other way around.”

“Cale.” He didn’t answer me, and I slowly extricated him from under my arm. “Put this on.” He was shivering so hard I thought his teeth would crack. “We’ll be inside soon, but I need you to put this on.”

I helped him as fast as I could, dropping his wet jacket and the sleeping bag he had wrapped around him onto the ground. I pulled up the hood and he immediately burrowed back into my side.

“Come on… Follow me.”

“Want me to take care of this?” Sammie said, lifting the jacket off the ground.

Thomas looked at it and wrinkled his nose. “Burn it.”