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Justin rolled out of bed, his eyes automatically searching the shadowed room for danger, though he didn’t think there was any threat to Carly’s safety, based on Sam’s response. The wolf was anxious, not frightened.
He heard Carly moan, and she tossed her head on her pillow, her breath coming in gasps. Justin crouched down beside the bed and shook her gently. Carly woke with a small scream. She swiveled her head, looking around in confusion. Justin turned on the battery-powered lamp, and she relaxed slightly.
Justin sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. “Are you okay, Carly?”
Tears sparkled in the corners of her eyes, and her voice was unsteady. “It’s always the same. The same nightmare over and over.”
“Can you tell me about it?” Justin considered hugging her, but he wasn’t sure how she would take it.
Carly shook her head.
“If you figure out why you’re having it, the dreams will stop coming back.” Justin walked into the bathroom and brought back a handful of tissues. Carly blew her nose, and Justin had to suppress a smile at the cute little honking sound she made.
“I once had the same problem,” Justin said. “I kept having a bad dream about one of our missions. Once I talked it over with someone, I realized it was happening because I felt guilty about something that wasn’t really my fault. After that, I never had the dream again. Do you feel guilty about something?”
Carly nodded. She couldn’t meet his eyes.
She didn’t want to talk about it, something he well understood. He wouldn’t pry; she’d tell him when she was ready. “Is it something you could have done differently, or changed?”
She shook her head.
“Then you have to let it go, Carly. If it wasn’t your fault, you shouldn’t carry a burden of guilt.” He patted her hand. “Maybe someday you can tell me about it, and then you’ll feel better about it. All right?”
“All right.” She gave him a watery smile and lay back down. Sam hopped up beside her and circled around a few times before he plopped down with a contented sigh. Justin headed back to his own bed, but it was a long while before he could fall back asleep.
Carly drifted back to sleep, but it was filled with the images she’d seen on television. Troy Cramer talking until his voice was hoarse, filling them in on the latest developments in the Crisis, and every development was worse than the last. Bodies, always bodies everywhere. Violence and fear as society crumbled to ash.
She woke groggy and grumpy. Sam wasn’t in his place at the foot of her bed. Carly called for him and heard nothing but silence. She went to the doorway of Justin’s room, but he wasn’t in his bed, and when she checked, he wasn’t in his bathroom, either.
Going to the window, she breathed a sigh of relief. Justin was sitting by a small fire built in the parking lot. Sam lay by his side and Shadowfax munched on some grass at the edge of the asphalt. As she watched, Justin picked up a metal coffee pot, after wrapping the handle in a cloth, and a plate covered in a napkin. Both animals followed him back to the room, and he had to dissuade Shadowfax from following him inside.
“Morning, Carly.”
“Do I smell coffee?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes, and I have another surprise for you.” Justin pulled the cloth off the plate like a magician revealing a woman sawed in half. “Ta da!”
Carly could have wept. “Are those eggs?”
He grinned. “Yep. Not fresh, I’m afraid, but pretty good, if I do say so myself.”
Carly took a bite and moaned in bliss. “Where did you get them?”
“They’re powdered.” She noticed Justin wasn’t admitting where he’d come by them, and she supposed it was probably better she didn’t know. She ate like a starving lumberjack. Justin seemed delighted by her appetite, even though Carly blushed a little when she handed him the empty plate.
“Thank you, Justin. That was the best meal I’ve had since...” She’d been about to say something about her mother’s cooking, but she wasn’t ready to talk about that.
“I’m glad you liked it. I’ll get us loaded up while you get dressed. Remember, don’t use the water for brushing your teeth. Use one of our bottles, okay?”
“Okay.”
Carly pulled her hair back into a ponytail and dressed in one of her long-sleeve shirts with a T-shirt over it; it was bound to be cool this morning. She joined Justin outside. Shadowfax loped over to her and butted Carly with her massive head, and Sam did the same, both of them demanding attention at once. Carly giggled and distributed the requested pats, one hand for each animal. She wondered if they were competing with each other for her affection. Well, she wouldn’t play favorites.
They mounted their bikes and started out along the Klondike Highway, riding roughly northeast, as Justin had shown her on the map. “How far are we from the next town?” She hadn’t checked the scale.
“White Pass is fifteen miles, but it’s uphill. I doubt we’ll make it there tonight.”
Carly thought about what he’d said about experienced bikers being able to make up to eighty miles per day, and she set her jaw in determination. She’d impress him with her stamina, she vowed.
