Page 2 of Tower
Just as well. Anything else would have made it worse.
We stand in silence, staring at each other for a minute. The light breeze blows my loose hair into my face, but I don’t have it in me to even push it back behind my ears.
Boss is wearing beat-up army-green cargo pants and a dark gray T-shirt with a leather motorcycle vest. He’s got full sleeves of black tattoos down both arms—from this distance the design looks like trees. His dark hair is thick and longish and still damp from the river. His eyes are dark too. A very dark brown. He has a full beard and broad, strong features.
His appearance is almost ageless, but there’s a little bit of gray in his beard. He’s got to be at least in his forties.
Right now he’s frowning. He’s still holding the shotgun, safety off, in his right hand.
“Fuck,” he finally says again. “Get back home. Barricade yourself in the house as best you can. And don’t come out again. Not for any reason.”
This is the first thing he’s said that truly annoys me. I fight to keep it from my tone. “How long do you think I can survive in the house that way without starving? We’ve got some provisions stocked up but not enough for more than a few months. And what exactly do you think is going to happen when word gets out that Dad has disappeared?”
My father was one of the strongest, toughest men in the region. Born a country boy and hardened from twenty years in the army, he was dangerous enough to intimidate all but the most arrogant or clueless of invaders. I was always safe with him.
I fight to keep a rising desperation from my tone as I continue. “He came out at least twice a week to trade with folks in town. You know that. His absence will be noted. What do you imagine will happen to me then?”
Boss knows the reality as well as I do. I can see it on his face.
“I need a man,” I go on, taking advantage of the opportunity. “I’m not going to survive without one. And I need one strong enough to keep away all the assholes. My dad was strong enough, but he’s gone, so now I need another one.”
“You’re not gonna find anyone who’ll volunteer for dad duty.”
“I know that. I’m twenty-five. Not a child. I’m an adult woman, and I need a man. And I’m prepared to give that man what he wants.”
His face changes almost imperceptibly. “Got it. In that case, you’ll find what you need easy enough.”
“You think it’s easy? To find a man strong enough to protect me who can also give me a life somewhat worth living? In the shithole this world has become?”
“The Mayor’ll take you.”
“I know that. But I would be his fourth wife, and he’d expect me to have one baby after another just like the other three. I’veseen his wives whenever they passed by the house.” Nothing sickened me more than the bleak emptiness I saw on those women’s faces. Dad hated the Mayor, and he made me promise to never put myself at his mercy. “There’s no way in hell I’ll do that to myself.”
“Can’t say I blame you, but you’re in a shitty situation, and you don’t got a lot of options. What about that Nelson son on the farm east of town? He lost his wife, and he’s been lookin’ for a woman. They’ve got a good setup there. Well-guarded compound. And they do better growin’ food than anyone else around.”
“I know about him. He asked Dad about me last month.”
“There you go.”
“I told him no.”
“Sure, when your dad was alive. Things are different now. You’d at least be safe there.”
“They were hardcore religious even before Impact, and they’ve got very old-school notions of church and family and women. I don’t want to take the place of a dead wife and raise four little kids that aren’t my own for a man like that.”
He gives his head a brief shake, quickly scoping out our surroundings with a guarded wariness that must be second nature to him. “Look, girl, it sucks big time, but your life ain’t the only one that sucks now. You don’t got many choices.”
“I know I don’t have many choices. I’ve considered every single one of them, and the reality is I have three. Three choices in this area of men strong enough to keep me safe. The Mayor. The Nelson son.” I pause briefly before I say the last thing. “And you.”
He grows very still for a few seconds, although surely he must have suspected this is the point I’d eventually reach. After all, why else would I be here right now?
“You don’t wanna hook up with me, girl,” he says at last, very softly.
“It wouldn’t be my first choice in a world that offered me real options, but of the three I have, you’re by far the best.”
“You know who I?—?”
“Of course I know who you are. You’re Boss. The head of a gang that’s a major force in this area.”
