Page 7 of Uncharted

“Haley, give Easton your legs.” I help her turn.

She grunts but lets Easton put her pants on and then curls back up in my lap. I stand with her and walk back to the map tree. Easton’s got my clothes.

Chapter4

Liberty Call

Zane

“Where the hell are they?” I pace down the trail and back to Dante, who is cleaning up from the bass. The smoker on the beach is ready to turn the leftover fish into jerky. Fish jerky isn’t something I thought I’d want to eat. But it’s not half bad. I check on it several times, watching my steps as I go between the beach to the smoker. It’s an almost moonless night, but there are no clouds in the sky, so there’s enough light to almost see.

I’m back at camp for a few minutes when I hear them coming down the trail. I want to fucking punch Calvin in the face. But my mother didn’t raise a fool. When they come around the corner, I freeze.

Calvin’s holding her against his chest. Her eyes are fluttered closed. She’s asleep and not sort of asleep and faking it. No, she’s unconscious.

“What did you do to her?”

“Good,” she mumbles. “So good. Tired. So, so tired.”

I glare between Calvin and Easton. But then Dante pops up. “Did it work?”

“Sort of.” Easton drops Calvin’s clothes on the makeshift table. “Thicker’s going to be more useful.”

Dante nods. “Oh, it separated. Did you shake it or stir it?”

“You didn’t say anything about stirring it.” Calvin raises a single eyebrow. I wave at him to give me Haley, and he remarkably does, pulling on his clothes afterward. Easton hangs up the towels.

“I didn’t? Yeah, sorry about that.” Dante tosses some small scraps to Pepper.

“Can you make it up here, Little Bird?” I hold her limp body next to mine. Calvin and Easton have used her so hard, I’m not sure she can lift her head.

“She needs to eat first.” Dante’s holding a bowl.

“Upstairs.” We’re so close to having the sleeping platform done. I fucking wish we’d finished it. Haley needs the space to sprawl tonight. But it’s not ready yet.

“I can do it.” Haley opens her eyes. “You can put me down. I want to go up to sleep, and you can’t carry me.”

“Don’t tell him he can’t do something, Haley. He’ll have to prove you wrong.” Dante pats Pepper.

“I can do it.” She looks from Calvin to me. I put her down slowly.

“I’ll be right behind you.” I rest my hand on her lower back. “Take it easy.”

After they leave, I spend time cleaning the living area, changing it back into the sleeping room. “It looks good,” Haley says through hooded eyes. “Thank you.”

I pull back the woolen blanket. She always gets the cushions, and the guys next to her for the night end up getting some blanket. We’re all using our life vests as pillows. It’s not much, but even a little makes it feel like home. I tuck her in. “Anything you need, Little Bird?”

“Stay with me.”

“I need to go check on the smoker. And talk to the guys about what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

“No. Stay with me.”

“Haley, I have to?—”

“Stay with me.” I shake my head even though I know she can’t see me. “I’ll be back.”

She exhales. She won’t even know I’m gone. I quietly sneak down the ladder.

---