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“What do you think of the name Henry?”
“It’s a bit boring, if you ask me.”
“Boring is good,” she says, placing a kiss on the baby’s forehead. “It’s a sign of being content.”
I sit beside her on the bed and circle my arm around her. “Then maybe you should call me Henry.”
God, I want to be Seth’s father. But I’d promised I wouldn’t take another. That my life would be dedicated to righting the wrong of the world.
I look over at Blake. “Get the women topside.”
“Roger that.” He exits, leaving me alone with Amber and Seth.
“Thank you,” she says through sobs.
“Trust me when I say there is no greater pleasure than reuniting you with your boy.”
She forces a smile, and the genuine gratitude in her eyes pains me. And that’s when it hits me.
I want her to expect that of me, because I want to be her Keeper. I want to do everything for her and Seth. I want to feed them, clothe them, bathe them. I want to read him stories every night and be by her side as her belly swells with my baby. Fifty isn’t too old to start anew.
I loved Carolyn and Henry with everything I had, and when they died, I was a wrecked man, promising things that were more suited for the world before the dead rose.
“Amber…”I say, my voice trembling slightly.
“Yeah.”
“I hate to say this, after all that you’ve been through. Your captivity and loss of freedom. But…I think I’m going to claim you.”
“Claim me?”
“Consider yourself Kept.”
She throws herself into my arms, melting my heart in the process.
“I don’t much like being down here. Mind if I carry your boy topside?”
“Go ahead.”
Seth lets me scoop him up, and we exit the room, passing a slew of bodies as we make our way to the exit, but as we near the door, a thunderous clap shakes the entire shaft.
Amber falls, but I manage to get to a wall, bracing myself as I try my best to shield Seth from what’s coming.
Dirt falls all around us, like salt and pepper from a shaker.
“What the hell was that?” Amber shrieks.
I look over and see the miner’s elevator in shambles. Someone blew it up.
“Take your boy and get outside!” I shout as I hand him over.
“But..”
Her words are lost to me as I rush over to the rubble.
No—fuck no!
I grab chunks of rock, tossing them aside.
