Page 111 of Last Light

“Shit. Should’ve thought of that. Got carried away.” He turns me around and peers at my back, pulling my tank top away from my skin so he can see beneath it.

“Am I bleeding?”

“No. Looks raw though. Sorry ’bout that.”

“I’m not complaining.” I glance down and see that I have his semen all over the front of my top. “You can make up for it by getting me another shirt from my bag.”

He does, and I feel better when I’ve changed shirts and washed my hands and face in the creek. We eat a quiet dinner, feed the dog, and get ready for the night.

I spread out the sleeping bag but don’t get into it. I just stand and stare down at Travis, who has propped himself up against a tree, his legs outstretched and his gun beside him.

He meets my eyes for a minute. Then he extends a hand. “Come here.”

I go to him immediately, sitting down and leaning against him as he wraps an arm around me.

“Y’okay?” he asks, nuzzling my messy hair.

“Yeah.”

“Not sure painful tree sex is really what you needed after that scare.”

“Itiswhat I needed.” I rub my cheek against his dirty shirt. “It was exactly what I needed.”

“Not sure why I lost control like that.” I can hear in his voice how much it bothers him—that he wasn’t as strong as he wants to be.

“Because you’re human. And humans lose it sometimes. I was glad. I wanted it.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah.”

He nuzzles me again. It’s almost a kiss against my hair. “Okay.”

I relax against his warm body.

We almost got killed today, but the day is still ending better than it started.

***

AT LUNCHTIME THE NEXTday, we’re on our final approach to Fort Knox.

It’s almost unbelievable, but we’re nearly there.

If we could drive straight to the front entrance, we’d reach it in less than an hour, but it’s not that easy.

Travis is sure that the main roads leading into it will be blocked by nasty groups looking to take advantage of desperate people. I’m certain he’s right about that. So we’ve got to find a way to get there without encountering danger.

As we eat lunch, we both study the map.

“The main gates are here and here,” Travis says, pointing to the places on the map. “But we got no way of knowin’ which gate to use. Don’t know whether they’re holdin’ the whole base or just part of it or where they’re lettin’ folks in.”

“Shit, this place is huge.”

“Yep.”

“What we need is to get somewhere we can scope it out. Is there any higher ground we could go to get a look at it?”

Travis is frowning down at the map. “Maybe. Couldn’t see the whole thing, but maybe we could see part of it and get a look at one of the gates.” He traces his finger along one side. “This should be higher ground here. We could drive through here—no roads but should be passable—and end up ’bout here. Maybe we can see better there.”

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