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“William.”
The grin falls from my face and I turn serious. “I want to talk with you about finding the insulin for Emily’s friend, and what might happen after.”
Griffin straightens up and crosses his arms, an unreadable look on his face. “That’s a good question, and something I’ve had some thoughts on as well. What is it you have in mind, exactly?”
“Look, I know that we all care for her. That’s clear as day. Even your stubborn ass, so you can’t deny it.”
“Are you going somewhere with this or did you only come in here to insult me?”
One corner of my lips turns up. “Figured that wouldn’t surprise you. I’d like to propose a motion to let her stay, and not as a hostage.”
He scoffs. “She stopped being a hostage a long time ago. She just hasn’t realized it yet.”
“You’ll let her go?”
His face hardens. “If that’s what she wants, then I won’t stop her, no matter how hard that might be.” He lets out a small laugh. “I can’t, even if I try. But she’ll stay, and her friend, too.” He grins bigger than I’ve seen him grin in a long time. It’s an odd look on him. He almost looks scarier than Max. “We can finally start our own colony, William. We’re not the last of the decent-assholes left in the world, she’s proof of that. There might even be others, but we’d have to vet them first.”
“How do you propose doing that, handcuffing them to yourself during a probationary period?”
“Oh, you’re funny. I don’t know when you got your humor back, but keep it up.” His comment throws me by surprise, but he’s not wrong. “We can build a wall around the town to keep out rotters, and have someone patrolling to keep out the dregs. We can search the area for any other traps that might still be up and rework them to our advantage.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think lately.”
What he says sounds good. Almost too good to be true. Then again, maybe I’m so used to everyone leaving that I expect it. But maybe this time someone will stay. Maybe she’ll stay.
“A good way to convince her to stay would be to help her find her friend’s insulin.” His ideas give me hope, but I can’t let him forget about the most important thing. The reason we’ve traveled all this way.
“About that.” Griffin uncrosses his arms and moves back to the counter, beckoning me over. There’s a large map spread out. It looks well used. “I found this shoved in the back of a drawer, figured it could come in handy. There are a few places on it that could have the potential to have what Emily’s looking for. I want us to head out soon to check it out, preferably tomorrow. If it’s successful, I want to let Emily go.”
“You what?” So soon? I was expecting to have more time with her, at least more than a day. Although I can’t imagine any amount of time that would be enough.
“Let her go. Give her the choice to stay so she doesn’t feel like a prisoner anymore. I’ll drive her as far as she’ll let me and then trust that she’ll be okay and that she’ll come back. I’ve made that mess and this is me trying to fix it. She’ll come back to us and stay.”
“How certain are you of that?”
“There’s no reason not to. Like you said, we’ve all formed a connection. None of us are blind to what she’s been forming with each of us. We know it’s not normal, but our lives aren’t normal. I don’t know what her life is like where she left her friend, but with us she’ll have food, shelter, and protection. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have any of that where she came from.”
After talking over some of Griffin’s ideas to start our own colony with the four or five of us, and deciding on the first location to check for the insulin, we decide to get started first thing in the morning. I can’t wait to tell Emily.
22
EMILY
The flowers that Griffin and I dug up and planted look like they’re thriving, and I can’t wait to see the lavender roses at their fullest. They’re already beautiful, but they’re going to be stunning.
“Everything still good?” Griffin asks from behind me, and I stand up and face him with a smile.
“Everything is perfect. Though I’m wondering if we should bring them inside for a little while.”
“Why would we do that when we’re getting ready to leave soon?”
My eyes widen. “What do you mean?”
A radiant grin lights up his face, his normally empty eyes sparkling. I don’t know why he’s so smiley lately, but I like it. I enjoy seeing him happy. “First thing in the morning. I found a map and there are some nearby places we can check out for your friend’s insulin.”
“Your stitches?—”
