Page 18 of Citadel

“Younger.”

“Where’s he?”

Cole doesn’t answer immediately. His eyes are focused ahead and don’t shift over to me even briefly like they were.

“Cole?” I prompt. “Where is he? Did he make it?”

“In a way.”

I blink.

“I joined the Marines right out of high school. He was always smarter than me, and he was supposed to go to college. But he got in trouble and hooked up with the wrong sort. The year before Impact, I got out and came home to try to sort him. Thought I made some progress. He was starting to get it together. Then they announced the asteroid was coming, and the whole world went to hell. He hooked up with a gang, and they took off.”

“Oh no.” I raise my hand to cover my mouth, having no trouble at all imagining how he must feel at the forced separation from his brother. “So he’s still alive?”

“He was seven months ago. I’ve been able to follow the track of his gang from time to time. They hooked up with a drove for a while, but that didn’t last. If what I hear is accurate, they’re still moving up and down the coast.”

“Oh.” I gulp. “Oh! That’s why you won’t leave the coast. You’re still looking for your brother.”

He doesn’t reply.

“You really think you can find him?”

“Yes. There’s hardly anyone near the coast anymore, and the decent people will always give me information about the groups traveling through. He’s still with that same group. I know it.”

“What if he doesn’t want to be found?” I ask very softly.

“Don’t matter. He’s my brother. He’s gonna be found.”

I don’t know what to say. I work my bottom lip with my teeth, anxious and upset and uncertain. “He might not even know you’re looking for him,” I say at last. “He might not know you’re alive.”

“Yeah.”

We’re still walking a slow circle around where Breanna is sleeping. “Don’t you ever want to try to start your own life?”

He turns his head and his eyes toward my face.

“I don’t mean give up on your brother. I just mean… it’s got to be so hard. To be all on your own and always traveling. Aren’t you… aren’t you tired?”

“Everyone’s tired these days.”

“Maybe. But…” I give my head a hard shake. “I don’t know. You could go inland. Be part of a community. Start a real life.”

“Would you do that? If it was your sister who was lost?”

I have to think about that for a minute. It feels necessary to give him an honest answer, so I finally admit, “No. I’m not sure I could. Not unless I knew she was gone for real. For good. Not if there was a chance of getting her back.”

He nods. It feels like the issue is concluded.

I ask before he tries to send me back to sleep. “What’s his name?”

“His name?”

“Your brother. What’s his name?”

“Mark.”

“How much younger is he than you?”

---