mines, the sun is beating down with fierce intensity. My long-sleeve overshirt is soaked with sweat, and I fight the urge to strip down to my tank top and shorts.
I’m still replaying Eli’s words in my mind, and I’m so distracted that I barely notice him leading us in a completely different direction from last time. Instead of the imposing sandstone formations looming in the distance, all I see is open desert.
“Where are we going?” I ask in alarm. Surely I couldn’t have thrown Eli off his game so much that he lost his way.
“We’re taking a different route into town. It’s a longer walk, but there’s nowhere for the drifters to hide.”
“Oh . . . good.”
“And I doubt they would rebury our land mines all the way out here. Nobody from Recon comes this far north.”
I nod.
“Did you think we were lost?” he asks, clearly amused.
“No. Well . . . maybe a little.”
He chuckles, and it strikes me just how different this deployment seems. Our little moment made everything feel deceivingly light, but it’s more than that. After provoking Constance’s ire, I might actually be safer out here than I am in the compound.
Eli wasn’t kidding about the roundabout path being longer. My throat is parched from thirst, and I can feel the heat making an imprint on the top of my forehead and the bridge of my nose. I could really use a water break, but something about Eli’s purposeful stride makes me think he doesn’t want to slow down.
When I finally emerge from my bubble of discomfort, I see the fuzzy shape of a town looming off to our left. On our right, the highway carves a gentle path through the rugged terrain, the blacktop swimming in and out of focus in the sunshine.
We walk faster as we approach the town, and I grip my rifle a little tighter. There aren’t any rock formations to provide cover for a sniper, but the drifters probably still have lookouts stationed near the edge of town.
Then I hear a high-pitched rush of wind. It’s a sound I’ve heard twice before, but it takes me a second to recognize it.
Eli grabs me around the shoulders and pulls me to the ground. My elbows burn as they scrape pebbles and grit, but he pushes me down farther. He shimmies along next to me, trying to conceal himself in the slight slope of the land, and I copy his movements until we’re lying side by side.
That’s when I realize that the sound I heard was a car.
As the vehicle approaches, I tuck my head and focus on lying absolutely still. My heart is pounding against my ribcage, and I can feel Eli’s ragged breathing as his chest expands and contracts against my side.
There’s a sharp whoosh! as the hunter-green SUV blazes past us, and I let out a low breath of relief.
“It’s headed into town,” says Eli. “That has to be the Desperados.”
We lie in the dirt for several minutes, steeling ourselves for the possibility that we could encounter Owen’s gang.
“You think he’s with them?” I ask.
Eli lets out a long breath. “Only one way to find out.”
“What are you going to do if we find him?”
He shakes his head. “Hopefully get close enough to talk to him — tell him to get the hell out of here.”
“ And you think he’ll listen ?”
I don’t mean for the question to come out so indignant, but it does.
I only spent a few hours with Owen on our last deployment, but that was enough time to realize he was even more stubborn than Eli. I can’t imagine he’d cut and run just because his brother asked him to.
Then again, I never thought Eli would admit he had feelings for me, so it’s possible the Parker brothers aren’t as incorrigible as they like people to believe.
Once the SUV has disappeared from view, Eli helps me back up, and we continue our trek toward the town.
“Stay alert,” he mutters under his breath.
I nod and hurriedly wipe my sweaty palms on my fatigues.
That old fear of the Fringe is back in full force, and it feels like my first deployment all over
I’m still replaying Eli’s words in my mind, and I’m so distracted that I barely notice him leading us in a completely different direction from last time. Instead of the imposing sandstone formations looming in the distance, all I see is open desert.
“Where are we going?” I ask in alarm. Surely I couldn’t have thrown Eli off his game so much that he lost his way.
“We’re taking a different route into town. It’s a longer walk, but there’s nowhere for the drifters to hide.”
“Oh . . . good.”
“And I doubt they would rebury our land mines all the way out here. Nobody from Recon comes this far north.”
I nod.
“Did you think we were lost?” he asks, clearly amused.
“No. Well . . . maybe a little.”
He chuckles, and it strikes me just how different this deployment seems. Our little moment made everything feel deceivingly light, but it’s more than that. After provoking Constance’s ire, I might actually be safer out here than I am in the compound.
Eli wasn’t kidding about the roundabout path being longer. My throat is parched from thirst, and I can feel the heat making an imprint on the top of my forehead and the bridge of my nose. I could really use a water break, but something about Eli’s purposeful stride makes me think he doesn’t want to slow down.
When I finally emerge from my bubble of discomfort, I see the fuzzy shape of a town looming off to our left. On our right, the highway carves a gentle path through the rugged terrain, the blacktop swimming in and out of focus in the sunshine.
We walk faster as we approach the town, and I grip my rifle a little tighter. There aren’t any rock formations to provide cover for a sniper, but the drifters probably still have lookouts stationed near the edge of town.
Then I hear a high-pitched rush of wind. It’s a sound I’ve heard twice before, but it takes me a second to recognize it.
Eli grabs me around the shoulders and pulls me to the ground. My elbows burn as they scrape pebbles and grit, but he pushes me down farther. He shimmies along next to me, trying to conceal himself in the slight slope of the land, and I copy his movements until we’re lying side by side.
That’s when I realize that the sound I heard was a car.
As the vehicle approaches, I tuck my head and focus on lying absolutely still. My heart is pounding against my ribcage, and I can feel Eli’s ragged breathing as his chest expands and contracts against my side.
There’s a sharp whoosh! as the hunter-green SUV blazes past us, and I let out a low breath of relief.
“It’s headed into town,” says Eli. “That has to be the Desperados.”
We lie in the dirt for several minutes, steeling ourselves for the possibility that we could encounter Owen’s gang.
“You think he’s with them?” I ask.
Eli lets out a long breath. “Only one way to find out.”
“What are you going to do if we find him?”
He shakes his head. “Hopefully get close enough to talk to him — tell him to get the hell out of here.”
“ And you think he’ll listen ?”
I don’t mean for the question to come out so indignant, but it does.
I only spent a few hours with Owen on our last deployment, but that was enough time to realize he was even more stubborn than Eli. I can’t imagine he’d cut and run just because his brother asked him to.
Then again, I never thought Eli would admit he had feelings for me, so it’s possible the Parker brothers aren’t as incorrigible as they like people to believe.
Once the SUV has disappeared from view, Eli helps me back up, and we continue our trek toward the town.
“Stay alert,” he mutters under his breath.
I nod and hurriedly wipe my sweaty palms on my fatigues.
That old fear of the Fringe is back in full force, and it feels like my first deployment all over
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