Page 44 of Last Light

I’m still aching where the man’s fist connected. It could have been so much worse.

I can’t seem to stop shaking. I feel sick to my stomach.

“Thank you,” I rasp.

His face twists again.

“For this. And for coming.”

“I shoulda come sooner. I’m sorry. I knew you were takin’ too long. I shoulda...” His accent always gets stronger when he’s upset.

“You came in time. Thank you. I’m the stupid one. I wasn’t on guard. I—”

“You weren’t stupid. You didn’t do nothin’ wrong. It was him. It was all him.” His voice is rough and almost fierce again, but he’s still gently stroking my hair back from my face.

“I was stupid. I know better than to lower my guard like that. I put my gun down. I was... I was enjoying myself. And I put my gun down.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You’re allowed to enjoy yourself. It was all him.”

I wrap my arms around my stomach in an attempt to stop shaking. “I remembered what you taught me. I bit him really hard. I got out of his hold.”

“You did real good. You did so good.”

“Thank you for helping me.” A tear streams down my face. I feel it fall.

Travis makes a helpless sound in his throat. His hand goes out and drops down again without touching me. I know he wants to do something but doesn’t know whattodo.

I’m still hunched over by the stream. Shirtless. Holding my damp towel in front of my chest. “Can you get that other shirt from my bag? The blue one?”

He gets up immediately and brings it to me. When I pull it on, Travis stands, staring down at me. “You need water or anythin’?”

I shake my head. “Not now. Do you mind... do you mind if we go somewhere else for the night? I don’t want to stay here.”

That man’s body is still lying on blood-soaked dirt near the house. It’s possible he has friends. What if Hank tells them what happened?

“Course we can.” Travis helps me to my feet, collects our stuff, and drives us away from the stream, away from the farmhouse.

We find another small group of abandoned houses about twenty minutes away. Most of them are collapsed from earthquake damage, but one is intact. It has two floors, so it suits our needs.

We don’t talk at all as we get our stuff and head upstairs. I go into the master bedroom without thinking, and Travis follows me.

“You hungry?” he asks softly.

I shake my head and crawl into the bed. This one has a pretty quilt on it. Musty, but not unpleasantly so.

I get under the covers and curl up on my side.

Travis stands and watches me for a minute, his face twisting in that way that proves he’s trying to control emotion.

He eats a protein bar as he cleans his gun. Then he barricades the door with an armoire and crawls into bed beside me.

I roll over to face him.

His eyes are searching and so gentle. “Can I do anythin’?”

“I’m okay.”

“Are you?”

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