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I exhale, happy that I’m not going back out into the cold after snuggling into my own personal furnace, and happier that he didn’t make a stink about me talking without thinking. After kissing me soundly, Aiden sits up and reaches for my feet where they dangle off the bed—my boots dripping onto the floor, and yanks them off, tossing them in the general direction of the door.
“I was in a hurry,” I start my excuse as he raises an eyebrow and smirks in my direction.
“You know where Dylan gets his...”
“Don’t you finish that sentence,” I warn him, narrowing my eyes at him. I must be losing my touch as he laughs at me.
“Stay here. I’ll send Trisha in to check on you, this stress can’t be good for you.” He kisses the top of my stocking covered foot before tucking me in and pulls on the layers he’ll need for the trip to Lee’s.
“I love you,” I whisper as I debate taking off my coat, but just sink into the mattress that’s still warm from his body. “Hurry back to me.”
“Always,” he promises, blowing me a kiss from the doorway.
Julia
“Hey, Lee!” Gramps calls out from the gate. “Mind if we have a chat?”
I’m sitting behind my grampa on his favorite horse. His only horse actually, and Aiden is beside us on my grandma’s mare. Neither of the beasties have had much exercise as of late, so before I weaseled my way into joining them, Gramps had decided that it was the best way to come up here for a chat. It’s been years since I rode behind him on a horse and is no longer as fun as it was when I was a child. I’m quick to dismount, but wait to make sure Aiden uses the correct knot to secure Driftwood to the gate.
“Depends,” Lee’s voice comes out from the hedge, not more than fifteen feet from us. “You gonna talk to your grandson about snooping around?”
“His mom’s already let him have it,” Gramps assures him. “But I gotta say, we’re a bit curious about your intentions.”
“I intend to hold this mountain and not let anyone traipsing through town get far enough up here to think about taking what we have.”
“Got anything hot to drink?” Aiden interjects. “I know you and Mike are impervious to the cold, but Julia and I are delicate.”
My gaiter covers my grimace, but as soon as Lee lets out a chuckle, I understand that Aiden said the right thing to put everyone at ease.
“Yeah, Julia’s as delicate as granite.” With Lee’s statement, his shotgun’s barrel swings down to the ground and he holds up what looks like a remote control. With a click, his front door swings open and we slowly walk toward it.
“Why don’t you have one of those?” Aiden asks my grampa, who immediately lets out a laugh.
“All of you, coming and going all the time, I would need one that will slam the door after each of you,” Grampa responds, shaking his head as he gets Lee laughing in turn.
“Lee, we’re sorry Dylan and Rachel were snooping around your place, but we think we might need some help,” I tell him. I know that he and Grampa would have danced around the topic for a while, but if I’ve learned anything from Mom, it’s that being honest and direct has its advantages.
“You mind them, so they don’t go nosing around my stuff,” Lee says, his eyes holding mine.
“Done. Especially since you’re going to loan us some of yourstuff. Dylan can nose around it down at our place,” I sass back, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You got a working, long-range radio going yet, Mike?” Lee asks, his eyes moving between all of our faces. “Have you heard about these militia groups that are sweeping across the country? Well, I bet that the one that’s wintering in Dayton is the same one that shot up Dale’s boy.”
“That doesn’t make sense. They were southwest of us already, why double back if they were heading toward the coast?”
“Resources and shelter,” Aiden immediately answers Grampa’s question and Lee taps the side of his nose.
“From what I’ve ferreted out, they’ve taken some losses during their trip. I think they’re going to recruit, possibly forcibly, some of the men left in town. Rest up the ones they have, then hit up the Army National Guard before they make their final push to the coast.”
“Maybe Dad isn’t in town by choice anymore.” I float that idea, but even I notice that my voice sounds hollow.
The fact that everyone is looking anywhere except at me confirms what they aren’t saying out loud. Dylan was right, Dad saw an opportunity to get ahead, and he took it. What remains to be seen is what his plans are regarding us. Will he protect us? Or will he leave us in the dust, once and for all?
*
Shockingly enough, Lee walks us through the section of the bunker that Dylan and Rachel had found; pointing out weapons that he was planning on loading into his Humvee and driving it to our place in the next day or so.
I drift further from them as they start planning what to do in case we are ever attacked, but then I tune back into their conversation the second I hear my dad’s name whispered.
