The road is mostly clear, other than blockades put in place by the city’s military. We can move around them but it takes time—time that we don’t have. After we get through the second one, we all agree it’s a problem.
“We avoided these on the way down by coming on foot and later horseback,” Wyatt explains.
“I don’t want to leave the vehicles behind,” Paul says. They’re packed tight with ammunition. “If we do we’ll have to take time to hide them. We absolutely can not let Hamilton’s people get ahold of them.”
I scratch my neck. “You think they’d find them this far south?”
“I think Walker will cover her bases,” Davis replies.
Walker. She knows us. She knows how we operate. Hell, she trained me. “Then what do you want to do?” I ask.
Davis and Wyatt exchange a silent look, mentally going over a plan. They’ve always been in sync like this. Silent but deadly. Wyatt nods at his friend and says, “Me, Davis, and Alex will scout ahead. You guys strip the vehicles of whatever you can carry. Stash the rest around town. If things go south we’ll come back this way, gather the trucks, and either fight or run.”
Paul frowns at the idea of running but eventually gives his agreement with one addendum. “Take Cole with you.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”
“You’ve seen him fight,” Paul says. “If something happens he’ll be an asset. At the very least give one of you a chance to get back to us.”
Wyatt and I are accustomed to working with Cole but Davis hesitates. He still remembers him as the vicious Mutt Chloe created. In reality, Cole can be much, much worse but he’s also a proven asset. “We can use him,” I say to Davis.
“He won’t hurt Alex,” Wyatt says.
“It’s not Alex that I’m particularly worried about,” he says, but rubs his cropped hair. “But whatever you think. You guys know the situation better than I do.”
“I’ll go tell him,” I say as Wyatt gets out his worn paper map.
Cole is standing off to the side, leaning against a concrete barricade. He’s alone and I’ve noticed he doesn’t socialize well with the others—including the Mutts. This may be part of why Paul wants him to go with us. To keep him away from the others. Cole has a strange energy.
“Hey.” I lean next to him.
“What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to scout ahead. Me, you, Wyatt, and Davis.”
He snorts. “I’m sure the other two are pleased about that.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Wyatt’s okay.”
He glances over at the men hunched over the map. “I guess so.”
“It’s crazy to think that maybe we’re near the end of this, you know?”
“Do you think that?” His entire body is tense. Like at any moment he could crack into a million pieces. Something’s holding him together but I’m not sure what. “Like really? That there will be an end to all of this?”
His voice isn’t mean. If anything he sounds, beneath the exhaustion, sincere.
“I think we can get to a place where we can move forward maybe. Get the vaccine out to everyone.”
“Vaccinating the whole country would be a massive feat,” he says. “It would take years, don’t you think? We don’t even know what it’s like out there. It could be so much worse.”
“Or maybe they got their shit together better? Look at Birmingham? Winston-Salem? We had no idea they even existed. There could be some other amazing places out there.”
He looks down at his hands. “I’m not sure I’d know what to do in this body without a fight ahead.”
It’s a pipe dream, I know it. But I’m also tired of fighting. I’m too skinny and bruised and my body aches all the time. I glance sideways at Cole. “One way or the other, this is my last battle.”
“That’s what you really want?”