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Riley stands right along with me, her hands balled into fists and placed on her hips.
“Galen, please…” Merle starts to speak, but one look from Riley, and he closes his mouth.
“Galen, come with me.” Riley speaks the words directly to me and then turns and walks out of the room.
I comply without thought to her order.
“Holy shit,” Errol mumbles as the door closes behind us. “I guess
that puts the whole relationship into perspective, doesn’t it?”
I follow Riley into the hall where she turns to face me.
“I don’t want to argue about this,” she says.
“Good,” I say. “Don’t.”
“I’m going.”
“It’s insanely dangerous, Riley,” I tell her. “How can I protect you if you’re going to insist on putting yourself in that kind of situation? You’re supposed to guide me into combat, not participate in it!”
“Is it more dangerous that jumping out a helicopter right before it explodes?”
“We didn’t have a choice then!”
“And we don’t have a choice now!” Riley takes a deep breath. “We’re only talking about me going to the first checkpoint. Marra is four miles into Mills territory. It’s a rural area with no military presence. I’ll be fine.”
It’s clear she isn’t going to give in, and my chest aches at the thought.
“How am I supposed to do this when I’m going to spend the whole time worrying about you?”
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
“The fuck I don’t!” I turn around, grabbing my head with both hands. I can feel the violence and rage building inside of me, and I have nowhere to direct it. My hands and legs shake, and I try to regain some control.
I feel Riley’s fingers on my left arm and give myself to the calming effect. It still takes several minutes before I can speak again.
“I need you to be safe,” I finally say.
“I’ll be careful. It will all be fine.”
“You don’t know that.” Inside of me, all the conceivable complications run through my head. If she’s captured, I will be destroyed—either by the Mills Conglomerate or by the simple fact that she’s gone. Either way, I won’t survive.
“We have the potential for a whole new life here,” Riley says gently, still stroking my arm. “I know it’s frightening right now, but it’s all we have.”
“You are what I have,” I tell her as my frustration and fear grow. “You are everything I have. Nothing else makes any difference. Not the implants, the drugs, or some stupid fucking war I don’t give a shit about—nothing. I have no family, no friends, no life without you. I have nowhere to go and nothing to do unless it centers around you. I’m only doing this because of you, because I won’t risk going psycho on you!”
She stares at me, opened mouthed, for a long moment before she steps forward and places her hand on the side of my face.
“I understand, Galen,” she says quietly, “but you need to understand me, too. My life has also been turned upside down. I found out everything I thought I was working toward was based on a lie. I found out my father may have been assassinated by the people I worked to advance. His death is the reason I fought against CA in the first place. I forfeited my career, which was the only thing I really cared about, in order to help you—to correct my mistakes. I don’t regret any of it, but it leaves me in the same position as you.”
She runs her hand over my face and presses up against me.
“All I care about is making sure my mistake doesn’t end up killing you or causing you to be killed. I need to be there to make sure it’s done right. You’re all I have left, too.”
I close my eyes and lean my forehead against hers. I haven’t thought of all this from her perspective, but I can’t deny that she has as big a stake in this as I do—maybe more so.
“We need to stick together,” she says. “It will take two days to get from Carson City to the first checkpoint. You will do better with me there, close to you. More importantly, I don’t want to ever be apart from you—not ever.”
