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Through a blur of tears, I lift my attention and find the face of a boy, maybe eighteen, staring back at me. At the mouth of the cave, three other men sit crouched, examining the carnage. One shakes his head, throwing his hat onto the ground, before exiting the cave on a curse.

Who are they? Marauders? Hunters from a nearby hive? Good? Bad?

Something thumps against my chest, and I look down to see canteen pressed there.

“Drink,” the boy commands, and without hesitation, I accept the proffered vessel, tipping it back to guzzle the fluids, which sizzle down my parched throat.

I hand the empty canteen back to him, not even remorseful for having finished it off. “Who are you?”

“Name’s Sam.” He nods toward the man who shot Gwen, now crouched at her side. “That’s my uncle Albert.” Twisting back toward the mouth of the cave, he points to the two men still standing there. “That’s Ed and Otis, and my Pop just left.”

“Marauders?”

“Nah. C’mon.” He jerks his head for me to follow. “You’re hungry?”

I couldn’t eat a damn thing if I tried right now, but I nod anyway, not wanting to spend another minute in this cave. Any moment, the reality is going to break through the shock and pull me under. Until then, I have to keep my wits about me.

The dull throb at the back of my skull tells me I’m in for a world of pain once the numb sensation fizzles away. I ignore it, along with the incessant tug of memories trying to pull me back into those seconds before these men showed up.

Outside of the cave sits a red pickup truck with an open bed, and I hobble on shaky legs toward it beneath the sky, where the moon and its stars are as unmoved as before.

Inconsequential.

Chapter 5

The boy drapes a blanket over my legs, where I sit with my back against the cab of the truck, and hands me a canteen that’s heavy with fresh water. “Might want to tuck the blanket under your legs. Wind kicks up pretty good back here.”

Back at the Legion truck, his uncles attempt to salvage parts and siphon the gas, while we wait.

“So, you … just happened to be driving by and heard our screams?” Call it innate suspicion, but I can’t hide the air of disbelief in my voice, even if the kid saved my life.

“Saw the truck broke down. Followed a trail to the cave.”

A trail? Perhaps where my body got dragged. Blood, maybe. “So, what now?”

“Can’t leave you out here. Wouldn’t feel right. Gonna take you somewhere safe.”

I lift my canteen for a sip, but pause midway to my mouth. “And where might that be?”

“Anywhere in particular you’re headed?”

There’s no way I’ll get back into Szolen at this point. “A convent, north of here.” Even at the risk of Mother Chilson’s wrath, at least I’ll have fresh clothes there, food, shelter, safety. And the possibility of a shorter sentence, if Jack can help me.

“Sisters of Mercy?”

“You know it?”

“It’s the only one left. They tend to take in refugees, so we’ve taken a few women and children to them for safety. We can take you there.”

I want to believe in the good will of man, but the stories my father told, the wretched nature of some human beings, along with the scarcity of women out here, there’s something about this that doesn’t seem right. “How lucky was I that a band of good Samaritans happened to be driving by.”

“It’s true. Another minute, and I can’t imagine what that Rager would’ve done with you.” His words are deliberate and meant to redirect my suspicions, and at the moment, I don’t have a choice, unless I want to stay with the truck, in hopes that Legion might eventually come, risking both thirst, starvation, and whatever else might decide to snoop around.

The one he introduced to me as Otis hoists a gas can over the tailgate, setting it down into a secured crate. The clank of the metal shatters across my nerves, and it’s then that I notice I’m still shaking. “Where we headed?” Occupied with his task, Otis doesn’t bother to look up when he asks the question.

“North. The convent,” Sam answers.

The older man finally lifts his gaze to mine, and I’m too drunk on exhaustion and fatigue to search for lies buried behind his eyes. “Then, we head north.”