Page 158 of Bones
I turned to see him gazing at me, and I wished I had one of the cameras from Before. I wanted to memorialize that expression on his face so I could always remember him staring at me with awe and love and desire. It made my eyes burn with emotion, but then the icy wind gusted, and I scrambled for my clothes.
"Gods, I didn't think about how cold it would be to get out," I said through chattering teeth.
"Yeah, that's always the worst part," Trey said, emerging next to me, his skin also steaming.
“Do you think we could start a fire?” I asked as we quickly dressed.
Trey hesitated, glancing out at the quiet landscape. “I’d feel better if we put some more distance between us and the wolves.”
We made our way down the hill to where the horse dozed on her feet. Trey saddled her back up and we ate a little more before starting out again. Trey handed me a small metal compass and showed me how to make sure we were heading west. Mountains and trees spread as far as I could see under the huge blue sky.
"Once we get through these mountains we'll come to a large river," Trey explained as we followed a small deer trail in the snow. "If we follow it south, we'll come to a dam. We can cross there and keep goin' west."
“Have you been this far before?” I asked.
“I’ve been to the dam, but that’s as far as I’ve gone.”
“What were you doing at the dam?”
“There was a group of people livin’ inside the dam, but they went radio silent. So Madame sent us out to go check on ’em.”
“Really?” It surprised me Madame would care.
“Well, she wasn’t so much concerned with their well-being,” Trey clarified. “They were people who used to be at the Vault, but Madame thought controlling the only crossing for miles and miles would be advantageous. So she sent a team to do that. I was just a kid when they left. They ran the damn for years, demanding payment from people who wanted to cross.”
“What happened?” I asked, already guessing the answer.
“They were all dead,” Trey answered, confirming my suspicion. “Either some group didn’t want to pay the toll or they were tryin’ to take control of the dam. Looked like a massive firefight, and none of our people survived.” He sighed. “So we collected whatever hadn’t been looted, burned the bodies, and left. After that Madame decided the dam was too far away from the Vault to maintain.”
“Do you think the wolves are still followin’ us?” I asked after a pause, rubbing my gritty eyes and trying to stifle another yawn.
“Not sure,” he said tensely. “I hope not.”
* * *
As much as I tried to stay awake, I must have passed out because the next thing I knew, Trey was shaking me, and the sun was disappearing behind the mountains.
“How long was I asleep?” I mumbled, disoriented and annoyed at myself.
“A while,” Trey said, but he didn’t sound mad. He dismounted and I realized we’d stopped to make camp for the night.
“Have you heard the wolves at all?” I asked anxiously as I slid off the horse.
“No,” he said, but he didn’t look happy about it. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
I studied him as we started setting up our campsite. He moved slower than normal, his face lined with exhaustion.
“Trey, you should sleep, and I’ll take the first watch.”
He looked like he wanted to argue for a moment, but then he just nodded. “Alright.” He cracked a weary smile. “Do I look as tired as I feel?”
I smiled. “You look pretty damn tired.”
He made a face. “Guess I do then.”
I had to hassle him into only doing the bare necessities so he could get to sleep. He insisted on finding a big dry stick to use as a torch, building a small wood pile for the fire, and showing me how to use his pistol, but then he collapsed into the bedroll and immediately passed out. I settled myself next to his head, holding my cold hands out to our crackling fire with his gun in my lap. The woods were quiet and still. Our poor horse had started dozing almost as soon as we’d dismounted. I hoped we were able to give her enough rest tonight.
My thoughts drifted back to the Vault as I stared at the fire, full of bittersweet wishes and wants that I knew better than to have. It took me a while to name the emotion clogging my throat. I washomesick.
