Page 72 of Uncharted

“Guess I did,” I said with a grin. “Ya went to Xander, though? Why not Colin?”

“Because Colin is a gay man who’s known he was gay since he was a teenager or even sooner. Mika said he knew long before he told me; it took him a while to accept it before he was willing to get someone else to accept it.”

I frowned. “He…was scared of telling you? But you two are…it’s not like ya care.”

“No, and I know he knew that. And honestly? I like that you brought that up.”

“Why?”

“Because I wondered the same thing after he took his time telling me and was nervous. I racked my brain, looking for whatever I might have said or did that made him believe I’d react badly, but after everything lately? Even when you know the people around you love you, and will stand by your side, there are some things that just feel so…enormous, and heavy that it scares the shit out of you to face it, let alone talk about it to other people.”

I thought about that for a moment before nodding. “That…huh. Life is weird. Never thought ya’d get an answer to that problem, did ya?”

“No,” he said with a smile. “I guess I didn’t expect it, but there it is anyway.”

He glanced over his shoulder again, and I frowned. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he said slowly. “I just…keep thinking I’m hearing something.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Should we check?”

“I…” He looked unsure, but I knew Reno, and I knew his instincts. He had been in these woods more than anyone at the outpost in the past couple of years, except for Mav. They were the only two I trusted, that if something was tugging at their gut, it was worth attention.

“Let’s check it out,” I told him, looking in the direction he kept glancing.

“I’m just bouncing with nerves, is all,” he said uneasily.

“Look, you or Mav say somethin’ is up? Somethin’ is probably up,” I told him, seeing the surprise flash over his face. “What?”

“Not you putting me on the same level as Mav,” he said with a snort.

“Yeah, well, there it is,” I said, confused why he was so surprised. “We can go quiet if it helps.”

He still didn’t look sure, but that wasn’t a surprise to me. The man tended to second-guess himself, when I’d yet to see him steer himself wrong when he finally listened to his gut.

Rather than listen to him doubt himself, I walked in the direction he’d been glancing, and we both fell silent. There was only the faintest rustle from our footsteps. The birds were still piping up here and there, and I could hear small animals rustling all around. If Reno had been picking up something, it clearly wasn’t a predator. The woods went unnervingly quiet whenever a big cat was around, though that didn’t always include bears, so it was a good idea to keep our eyes sharp.

After a few minutes, Reno shook his head. “See? Nothing.”

“Not nothin’,” I told him, walking forward and crouching. “Look.”

Reno bent to pinch the bright spot of white in the brush and pulled it out. “A wrapper. Ugh. Bad enough that people are already assholes about picking up their trash where we live, why do they have to do where the rest of nature lives?”

I frowned at it as he tucked it away. “Out here?”

“I mean, it was right here,” he said, clearly confused.

I shook my head. “No, I mean, we didn’t have any reports of people being out here. Rangers normally keep a log and fire them off to Cait. Right?”

“You keep track of that?” he asked in surprise. “I thought it was only her, Xander, and maybe Mav who did stuff like that.”

“Naw, I take a glance, she posts it up on the board. Helps to know where people are.”

“Why?”

“Because if ya find evidence that there’s people where they shouldn’t be, then it’s worth lookin’ into. And no one’s been up in this direction for a few weeks now.”

“I mean, it’s a wrapper. Shit will last forever out here.”