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“He’ll come in over there,” Sam points in the distance. One side of the land is cliffs, while the other dips to the coast. It’s where we entered months ago, but our small boat is long gone.
We walk forward to the edge, scanning the water.
Lights beam out over the waves, hundreds of them scanning through the blanket of rain.
“That’s more than just Dean,” I gulp.
“You didn’t think he’d come without his little army of junkies,” Sam spits. He wraps his arms around me, kissing me and pulling me against his wet chest. “You should go… hide with the others by the edge. I can distract Dean.”
“Won’t work,” I shake my head against his body. “That drone is not leaving our side.”
“Fuck, I wish I had a gun to shoot it down.”
“Won’t matter,” I sigh. “The best chance of keeping Dean above ground is me, and you know it. If anyone should run, it’s you.”
Sam kisses me again. It’s long and passionate and feels like it might be our last, as if he’s kissing me goodbye.
“No chance,” he smiles when our lips separate.
“I figured,” I smile back. “I know you, Mr. Lawson.”
“Mrs. Lawson,” he replies, gazing at me while the rain continues.
I consider if this is goodbye for us, for our family. If the kids see the sun again, and it’s not on a ship, or wearing some AOE uniform, I can make peace with everything else.
Maybe Sam falls from the cliff and Dean steals me away. How far would we need to get before I jump from the Thalassa, sealing my own fate? I would always be a liability to my family in his possession. They’re safer when I’m gone, and it doesn’t scare me. I’m not sad or regretful about the decisions I’ve made.
We built an entire life together in one year, and that’s more than most people get. Surviving this long is better than millions — maybe billions — of people.
It’s enough.
“What are you thinking about?” Sam asks. He traces my jaw, running his thumb across my bottom lip.
“Dying,” I say. “I think our family will get out, and that’s…”
“I can’t accept that,” Sam says.
I don’t argue. Instead, I wrap my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest and watching the boats anchor on the coastline. One by one, they unload dozens of men that make their way to us.
There’s one man that separates from the crowd when he walks past, everyone pausing and turning in his direction as he gets closer.
The rain pours too hard to know for sure, but I feel the pit of rage inside me grow when I focus on him.
Dean walks ahead of the pack, leading them all to us, and we can do nothing but wait.
He’s a monster to me, a shadow of the person I once knew.
Did I ever know him?
Sam and I stand hand in hand as he steps out into the field, the army behind him marching through the rain. There are probably two-hundred men, and we’re just standing here waiting for the slaughter.
I don’t have a better plan.
“Now would be a good time for you to leave,” I tell Sam over a roll of thunder.
He squeezes my hand, and the blood throbs through my fingers, making it impossible for me to push him away. “No fucking way,” he answers.
There’s a crack of lighting, and the outline of Dean appears through the blinding light. It seizes my heart, stopping it at once, the figure coming at me just like the day I went underground.
