Page 26 of After the Burn

Adrian opened the map he was holding and laid it across his lap.

“Where in the hell did you get that?” I glanced around nervously, hoping no one saw what he was holding.

He answered absently. “Power matters more to Gideon than almost anything else. And the man himself gave it to me to look over.” His face grew smug. “He wants me to see where security could be tighter.”

This was good news, indicating that Gideon was beginning to trust Adrian. Hopefully, he would soon redirect the eyes that constantly watched us elsewhere.

“That could work to our advantage,” I murmured so low that only Adrian could hear.

“Possibly. I’d like to find a way out without destroying the town’s infrastructure.” He tapped his chin in thought. “Too many innocents could be harmed.”

I nodded. “That’s at least one thing we can agree on. Sounds like you’re getting pretty tight with him since he gave you the map, right?

Adrian pushed his glasses farther up his nose. “He’s coming around.”

I smirked. “That just proves he’s not the judge of character he thinks he is.”

Adrian's lips curled into a genuine smile. “I guess not.”

Across the street, a man dragged another infected body toward the burn trench outside the perimeter.

The infected had been female once. Her long hair dragged through the dirt behind her while blood streaked the pavement. She must have turned into the quarantine section of the hospital where they kept the sick women.

He dragged her body with one hand at a speed that was far from normal. I assumed that was the reason this place hadn’t been taken over or fallen yet: a large population of enhanced.

None of the people nearby even glanced at her. To them, she was just another woman who didn’t make it through the fever.

This was bad.

Adrian finally raised his head with a frown. “That makes several women on my count for today.”

“Yeah.”

At the very least, by coming here, we’d gained more knowledge than we’d had before. The danger to our world and the risk of human extinction were greater than we’d initially realized.

Our only hope was that nature had given us a small loophole to overcome this.

Crickets chirped somewhere near the railroad tracks. Wind rattled dry leaves against a rooftop. A baby cried briefly from one house before a woman’s voice soothed it back to sleep.

People who hadn’t experienced the fever would’ve missed those sounds.

I heard every damn one of them.

Including the heartbeat of the man standing several yards away, talking to his friend.

Mother Nature had given humans a chance. Some more than others. A percentage of those who survived the fever gained only a fraction of the enhanced senses. Those were the men most commonly getting into the ring. They seemed the most desperate to prove their worth and to be among the fortunate few to find female companionship.

I hadn’t bothered to fight them for three reasons. First, they wouldn’t be much of a challenge. Second, Adrian and I had decided it was smarter to keep my skills to ourselves for now. Third, and most importantly, the woman I wanted wasn’t here to claim.

I narrowed my eyes at Mace—one of the men in Gideon’s circle—as he walked by on the opposite side of the street. He smirked in my direction, and I gave him a bloodthirsty grin.

I’d love to fight that weird bastard.

Mace was tall and broad-shouldered, carrying himself with the easy confidence common among the enhanced men. Dark hair fell carelessly across his forehead, and several faded scars marred his otherwise handsome face. One nicked his eyebrow. Another disappeared into the stubble along his jaw.

Most people probably saw him as a survivor.

A leader.