Commodity

“We don’t see much of anyone,” Chuck says. “When they started talking shit about Christine, I thought it’d be best to keep our distance, ya know? I’d fuckin’ die for her, but I’m realistic, too. We focus mostly on making sure those ships can’t see our lights at night. I mean, I can only do so much.”

I swallow and nod. I know exactly what he means.

“Aw, shit, man,” Chuck says as he snaps his fingers. “I should tell ya—I stole one of the guns out of your apartment—one of the shotguns. Never seen those ships land or anything, but I wanted to be prepared.”

“That’s okay,” I tell him. “You keep it. I can only carry so many.”

“I think Caesar swiped the rest of them. The ammo, too.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” I take a deep breath. “I really thought maybe you’d know more.”

“I wish I did, man.”

Christine returns and hands me a cup of iced tea without any actual ice. It’s still pretty good.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, hon.” Christine runs her hand over my arm in a motherly gesture. “I wish I had some ice for it.”

“It’s just fine like this,” I tell her.

I drink the tea and confirm with Chuck that there are only the four of them there. He tries to get me to stay on at their camp, but I refuse—I have to keep looking for Hannah. Chuck informs me of two other groups they’ve seen that are located nearby.

“Never seen any women with them, though,” Chuck says, “but like I said—we keep our distance. I would have noticed Hannah if she was there though.”

“Poor girl,” Christine says softly. “I wish we had known what those guys were up to sooner.”

“She was worried about you,” I tell her. “She didn’t want to leave without warning you. That’s on me. I wouldn’t let her come back. I couldn’t risk it.”

Christine looks at me for a long time.

“It’s okay,” she finally says. “I get it.”

“It’s getting late,” Chuck says. “Stay here tonight. Get some decent food in you. We’ll see what we can spare to send you on your way in the morning.”

“I got someone else with me,” I tell him. “Is it all right if I bring her along?”

“Her?” Chuck raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah.”

He keeps giving me the stink-eye.

“I just found her the other day,” I tell him. “She was being harassed by a group of guys.”

“What happened to them?” he asks.

“They met with an untimely end,” I reply slowly.

Chuck laughs.

“Well, yeah! Bring her on over!”

I call to Katrina, and she’s by my side a heartbeat later. I’m fairly certain Sam’s eyes bulge out of his head. In fact, Katrina is kind of looking at him out of the corner of her eye as well.

I introduce her to everyone, and Christine heaps the plates full of food and passes them around. It’s not long before she and Katrina are talking recipes. I enjoy the actual cooked meal and then steal myself off to the side of the common area for a cigarette.

Sam, surprisingly, joins me.