Page 17 of Citadel

That night, however, we don’t find a conveniently located cabin, so we have to sleep outside on the ground.

I’m tired enough to go right to sleep a few minutes after I lie down, but I wake up several hours into the middle of the night with my entire body hurting.

I can’t sleep in my normal position on my side because of my bad arm, so I’m having to lie on my back, and I don’t like it at all.

I can feel every hard place in the ground and about a dozen little rocks beneath me. My back aches and my legs hurt and my arm beneath the bandage is burning.

Shifting a few times, I try to relax and close my eyes again. I can hear Breanna’s steady breathing beside me. She’s always slept better at night than me. If only I could sleep right now.

After a while, I give up with a muffled groan and sit up. The campfire has gone out, so the only light is from the half-moon and the stars.

I push myself to my feet, stepping far enough away from Breanna so I can stretch without disturbing her. Then I look around in the dark, searching for wherever Cole might be.

He’s not sleeping. I honestly don’t know if he ever does. Surely he’ll crash eventually if he keeps it up.

It takes a minute for me to find him. Leaning against a tree nearby. He’s got his rifle propped next to him, and his pistol is in the holster on his belt. His face is shadowed, but it feels like his eyes are on me.

I walk over to stand beside him. “Why don’t you ever sleep?”

“I sleep when I need to.”

“You don’t need to stand guard all night long.”

“Yes, I do.” His voice is low and husky and echoes oddly in the quiet night.

I want to argue, but I don’t. There wouldn’t be any point, and I’m too tired anyway.

“You in pain?” he asks, scanning me closely.

“A little. Not too bad.”

“You should go back to sleep then.”

“I needed to move. Couldn’t get comfortable.”

“It’s too early to take more Advil.”

“I don’t need more Advil. I just need to stretch my legs.”

“You do yoga or something?”

I snicker. “Nope. I meant just walking around or something.”

“Okay. Then we can walk.”

He starts pacing slowly around the perimeter of our little camp. I fall in stride with him, feeling kind of silly since I didn’t actually need to walk.

But Cole took me seriously. So now I’m walking.

We don’t speak for a few minutes. Then I want to say something but don’t know what to say, so I end up asking, “Did you have a family?”

“What?”

“A family? Before Impact, I mean. Or after, I guess.”

“I had parents. They died a long time ago. And I have a brother.”

“Older or younger?”

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