Page 66 of Rising

“Why leave the horses?” He rubbed his chin, using the information I provided to map the route in his mind.

“As I’m sure you’re well aware, the treaty states we have to have written permission to enter into another territory. At least not without facing skepticism and risking possible execution,” all eyes turned to him pointedly and he scratched the back of his head. “Since we won’t have that until weeks after we arrive, we’ll have to walk the rest of the way to attract the least amount of attention possible. Five horses on the horizon are a lot more noticeable than five silhouettes. And if you aren’t leading us to the middle of some trap, I’m sure we’ll end up on back roads and trails that were never cleared. Horses will only slow us down.”

His head bobbed up and down in a trance-like state, the room silent as we waited for him to speak. “We leave the horses we may not have any to come back to when we’re haulin’ ass. You okay with that?”

Seth met his eye and shrugged. “Ain’t takin my best or my personal, no matter to me. I can break anything we need on the way back. We may need the extra days down the line.”

Riley’s eyes were trained on Seth, assessing him before he felt the weight of my own stare. I shook my head.Not now.

Okay,his face seemed to say before turning back to the map.

“Elko is one of yours, no?” Alexiares asked, breaking my focus on Seth and Riley and back to him.

“Yeah, we’ll stop there for a night or two before the final push to Montello. Why?” It was interesting, watching him process and plan.

He’d certainly done it before. There was something familiar, official, about the way he chose to gather information, asking strategic questions before offering direction.

“We’ll stop there and decide how to best move from that point. My gut tells me that we should push into Utah.”

“But?” I asked, hearing the hesitant pause.

“But logic tells me that preemptively planning our next move withoutknowingthe conditions out there would be a waste of time. Might as well receive an up-to-date report from Elko on the state of their borders while we’re there. Use that to our advantage.”

Smart. It wasn’t that I was testing him, but it was reassuring to see he’d approach the situation similarly to myself, given we’d have to put our blind trust in him to guide us there. He may have left their territory in good graces, but something told me he was running from something on his way out. Or someone. And when you’re running, you don’t exactly take the front door out.

“Makes sense, but hypothetically”—I angled the map towards him like it would help him answer the question—”if we went from Montello to Utah, where would ourfirstfew stops be?”

It’d be smart to not tie ourselves down to one plan, especially if they had someone with Moe’s gifts watchingourmoves. Then there was the fact that we still needed a solid idea on next steps in case we hit trouble or got separated. And perhaps a small part of me resisted blindly following him.

He took a moment before answering. “We have to go around Salt Lake.”

“Salt Lake is huge. You might as well hit up Twin Falls and drop the horses off,” Riley cut in.

“Nah, instead we loop up to Grouse Creek”—he traced a line down the rough paper—”play it safe along the border. If we keep good pace, we’ll dodge Salt Lake and make it out Utah in ‘bout uh, six days give or take. Preferably, take.”

Moe gaped at him. “That’s averaging more than thirty miles a day. You’re insane.”

“Forty-three for that push from here, to here,” Riley added in pointing at a few of the markers Alexiares placed, his head shaking in bewilderment.

“I’ve seen what his men can do”—Alexiares tossed a thumb towards Seth who only nodded in confirmation what they were capable of—”there’s at least three of us that can cover that all day, every day. Without stopping if we really needed to. Something tells me, you two wouldn’t be around these other three if you couldn’t hold your own.”

The table was silent as he went on, “Now, we’ll have to walk into the night for the forty-mile push, and take a lot of breaks but the day after that is only about twenty. We can catch our breath and rest then. It’s either that or risk getting caught. They’ve got a heavy patrol in the area and are … less than accommodating to any unwelcome visitors.”

“I thought they were supposed to be all holy up there or somethin,’” Reina chimed in, mortified look on her face.

“Great people,” he teased, “but averystrong will to continue on their legacy. Rightfully so, got a lot to protect. A lotta families survived up there and you don’t wanna mess with ‘em.”

We nibbled on our baked goods and coffee. Each of us studying every inch of the map before going our separate ways, promising to entertain Reina’s ‘last hoorah’ idea and regroup later in the evening.

Everyone had their own things they needed to tie up, goodbyes to say and bags to pack. I decided spending the rest of my day around The Compound was the best use of my time. Making sure to stop by houses of soldiers I’d been meaning to check up on, playing cards with a few of them in the barracks. Took some time wandering around The Docks and the Stables. I finished my day reading on the steps of The Arena, taking in the kids who played their own version ofCops and Robbers, Mortals and Zombies, in the streets of Entertainment Square and the familiarity of it all. I’d miss this place, miss the constant noise and feeling of community.

It’d be hard to walk away from it all, but I would give everything I had to keep this place safe. When I looked around, I saw the future of humanity facing me, proof that in the end civilization would find a way to survive.

* * *

Live alternative musicblared from the tavern as my friends and I approached, hanging back a second to remember every detail of this moment. Reina skipped ahead, pulling Moe behind her as if she were an extension of her arm.

For such a solemn night, it was nice to see everyone dressed up and acting as if all were okay. They were stunning, all of them including the men, as much as it pained me to say now that Alexiares was included. Happiness was an emotion that suited them well, and maybe it was the shots of liquor we’d taken at Riley and Alexiares house, but it seemed genuine.

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