Page 52

Now, they have a mission and little time to waste, so she’s on the back of the bike again while they head for the distant Arizona mountains. Not to hike yet, but to search out a water source along the way or risk being stranded.

A cluster of hovering birds in the sky gives them the first hint. Animal tracks lead the rest of the way to a small stream where they drink their fill and store a second helping in those old soda bottles.

Moving water means less contamination. After having to ingest that soda, she’s more than ready for a good drink. They nestle the rest safely in the storage container of the bike, wrapped in towels from the shop to keep from jostling.

If they’re lucky, they’ll find a filter soon. They are, after all, near one of the best camping capitals of the world.

They haven’t seen any mountain peaks yet, but they’re close. She can feel it. Any second now, they’ll tower high and show themselves.

* * *

Turns out driving to the red rocks is a hell of a lot further than they expected. They’re still not there by the time the sun starts to set.

One thing about national parks and forests that’s working out in their favor is all the easily looted campsites.

RVs rarely have more than a single rotter or two inside, and the ones roaming the parks are easy to take out.

They’ve become camping folk now, moving from one park to the next without even discussing that as the plan. It just is.

A forest in New Mexico is their next stop, boasting a few road signs for general stores and camping supplies close by, and the most expansive field she’s ever seen not covered in corn.

“It doesn’t even look real, does it? It’s some sort of combination of Kansas, the desert, and the Rockies.

” The rock formations in the distance are distinctly western, but the grasslands have Midwest written all over them.

Then she spots something moving in the distance at a steady amble, followed by two, three, six more, all as big as cars, and she gasps, tugging at his shoulder. “Wade, there’s bison! Look!”

She must sound like a child just learning these animals exist. She’s looking at a herd of bison from the back of the bike, grazing like the virus never touched this land.

Her migraine is gone, the weather is nice, and all feels right with the world again after being toppled so completely over the last few days.

“Wonder if they taste like regular beef.”

She nudges him. “Very funny. Those are for looking, not eating.”

“Can I have one of those deer instead?”

She follows his pointed finger to a herd in the other direction. Her face must be lit up like a fully decorated Christmas tree.

“Oh no. You like them, too, huh?” he teases, looking over his shoulder to catch her gazing at the animals. “Gonna let me try to find a squirrel at least?”

“I suppose the forest can spare a squirrel or two.”

She’s not even sure if there are squirrels out here, but if they exist, Wade will find them.

* * *

They come across a collection of trailers and vans only a mile past the park signs. Not a rotter to be seen. There are no obstacles out here to trap them, and anything that used to haunt this space wandered off long ago.

“I didn’t expect it to be so empty,” he says.

“What?”

“Everything. Everywhere. I guess I assumed the rotters would have taken over, but we hardly see any. Not that I want to see ‘em. It’s a good thing that it’s quiet. Fuck, I’m gonna jinx us, aren’t I?”

She shrugs with a shake of her head. “They were everywhere in the beginning. But like I said before, it’s really only the fast ones now, and they live in herds like those bison. We’re damn lucky we haven’t seen those yet. The slow ones have mostly disintegrated.”

Their chosen trailer has one strangely fresh but slow occupant that she takes care of with her knife before they begin searching for supplies.

“Hope there’s some clothes in here. Need to find you a jacket. Getting cold at night,” he grunts.

It doesn’t hold a jacket, but she finds another hoodie under the platform bed and several packages of ramen noodles in the cupboards. They’ll be eating good tonight.

“I’m gonna go check out that jeep in front. Be right back.”

He leaves her behind to see what’s under the drop cloth peaking out from the side of the trailer while she continues searching hidden storage compartments.

What she doesn’t expect is the sound of an engine roaring to life with a rumbling purr.

Nearly trips over herself to go out and look, finding Wade smiling ear to ear beside a Land Rover.

“Oh my god. That hasn’t happened in years. How is it even running?”

“Got no clue,” he grins. “Maybe whoever was here was maintaining it. Might have been…I dunno, making their own gas outta vegetable oils or whatever preppers use? That’s a thing, right?”

“I’m no prepper, but I suppose so.”

“It ain’t a jeep. It’s one of those expensive things. Built to last.”

They had a few select cars still running for emergencies in Paradise Falls, even if they prefer the horses now. She never thought to ask them exactly how they did it, though. They’ve learned how to keep them running, and apparently the owner of this trailer had those skills, too.

“What are you looking for?” she squints, watching him fuss near the floorboards until he holds up a CD.

“No label. Should we give it a shot?”

She nods, hoping it’s a good song and not something depressing.

He pops it into the player and for a moment there’s nothing but static, but then a sultry, deep voice feathers across the air mingling with the wildlife that’s begun to chatter for the night.

‘ Come away with me’ has probably graced a thousand weddings. Now it’s here with them, in the speaker of an old Land Rover in a deserted campground.

It’s getting darker by the second but they’re in the middle of nowhere, and she’s safe with him. She isn’t worried about what she can’t see when he’s clear in front of her, backlit by the headlights, reaching out a hand as if asking to dance.

It’s a joke. It has to be. Wade doesn’t dance. He would never ask. Maybe she’s hallucinating again.

“Are you gonna leave me hanging here? I’ll try not to step on your feet.”

It takes her a moment to realize he’s serious.

In all her wildest fantasies, she never allowed herself to imagine anything so far out of reach.

He’s doing that thing again, trying for her in a way that turns everything she thought she knew upside down.

When her palm slips into his and he pulls her close, the uninhibited smile that overtakes her is all-consuming.

All their battles fall away for the time being. She’s not a fighter or a warrior or a runner. Right now, she’s just a woman dancing with a handsome man who’s managed to make her feel special when no one else ever could.

He spins her once, awkwardly holding his hand in the air while she twirls. This is the good kind of fairy tale, she thinks, letting out a delighted half-laugh as he tugs her back in.

“Sway with me,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’s just a swaying hug. We’re getting pretty good at hugs.”

“Damn right we are.”

She hasn’t done this much either, only once at a wedding a million years ago.

She’s rusty, but he’s not nearly as bad at it as he assumed he would be.

They fit. The two of them always have. What’s unfamiliar is easy because she’s with him and they fall into a slow, simple rhythm under the last rays of golden light that fan across the plains.

Kara isn’t sure what comes over her. Later, she might look back and scold herself for taking such liberties, but her hand moves on its own and she’s powerless to stop it.

Her touch roams the span of a wide shoulder and through the curve of his neck, over a stubbled cheek that warms her palm until the tip of her thumb feathers reverently across his lips.

What’s even more surprising than how she’s touching him is that he lets her, holding still as if mesmerized until she’s had her fill.

“You mean everything to me, too,” she whispers in a delayed reply to what he confessed when she was fresh off her head wound.

It’s the closest she can get to admitting what she wants. Rather than wait for a reply, she rests her head against his shoulder and enjoys swaying to a sweet song, shocked that she can hear it above her own heart beating so frantically between them.