Page 39 of Darkness I Become
She rolled her eyes, and Davy stared at the ground, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
“Fine,sir,” she parroted, not bothering to hide her sarcasm.
“Very good,” Cade said silkily. “She can be taught.”
He walked away, taking a position to supervise the climbing drills the others were doing.
“Dickhead,” Asha breathed, and to her delight, Davy laughed. She turned to him with what she hoped was a winning smile. “Could you show me the ropes? I’d appreciate it.”
Davy had a lovable grin. “Train with the same fierceness you give the Captain, and we’ve got no problem here.”
Chapter 12
The next few weeks were hard, but Asha had built up enough strength that she was able to finish the drills, something she wouldn’t have accomplished just a month or so before. True to his orders, Davy helped her through demonstration, and although the two of them were always last to finish, she felt like they were making significant progress.
Garett and Tom still hated her—they seemed to hold her responsible for their punishment and for the downgrade in respect they now enjoyed among the others—but other than that, most of the men seemed to tentatively accept her presence, even if they still didn’t entirely understand it.
At the start of June, they took her on her first scavenging mission, which was a strange experience for Asha. They sought out a far-flung, long-abandoned hamlet, some way from the city. They stayed on high alert for cannibals and for other gangs, but the village was so small and pitiful that Asha doubted there were any that would be interested in the place. It was totally derelict, with nothing but old, empty buildings slowly crumbling into dust.
Cade was patient with her throughout, showing her how to search for things that others may have overlooked, like metal scraps, ammunition, and other weapons like knives or baseball bats. The others chimed in when they could, though Garett still refused to speak to Asha directly.
Whatever, asshole.
Seeing the ruins of civilization made Asha understand why they’d called it the Wasteland at home. Searching the husks of old houses and businesses somehow felt like sorting through corpses. There was an enormous, overwhelming sense of loss that she felt to her bones, and she wished that there was a way to return to that fragile world of glass that had once existed here, so peaceful compared to the desecrated carcass it had left behind.
“It’s sad,” she said to Cade, in a quiet moment. “I wish I’d lived back then. That I hadn’t lived to see this time.”
He considered. “The world always had problems. I’m not convinced that the choices they had back then were much better—or even that different—to the ones we have now. Swim against the current, fight to survive in a hellscape populated mostly by dicks who don’t care about anything but themselves. Sounds the same to me.”
Asha snorted. “I wouldn’t hate going back to hot showers, though.”
“You got me there,” he replied with a small smile.
The sun had dropped lower in the sky, and the golden rays softened his sharp features, making him look gentler, less severe. Asha admired him, though she tried to hide it. He was still somewhat mysterious to her, his past incomplete, but he’d given her so much in such a short time.
Such an odd thought to have about a man who’d literally purchased her, yet it was true.
“I haven’t been too tough on you, have I?”
“What?” Asha said, surprised by the question.
“I know I’ve been demanding, these last few weeks,” Cade replied, a little regretfully. “Especially since you’re a civilian. It’s just that we’ve had so little time to prepare, and I couldn’t think of another way to keep you away from Angel—”
“It’s fine,” she cut in. “I’m used to your massive ego by now.”
He chuckled and moved closer to her, into her space, so they were barely a foot apart. She looked up into his eyes, and there was a strange, new affection in them.
“And I’m used to your big mouth,” he murmured, but it didn’t sound like an insult when he said it with that kind of warmth. He leaned closer, and for a wild second, Asha thought he might kiss her.
But then she panicked. She turned away and cleared her throat, saying, “Thanks for training me. You were tough, but not cruel.”
Cade gave a little sigh and looked off toward the horizon, probably judging that it was time to leave.
“I think that’s the closest you’ve ever come to giving me a compliment, darling.”
They didn’t recover much from the buildings on that trip, but on the way back, Asha discovered an empty campsite with a tent, sleeping bags, and a small cache of ammunition, hidden beneath the leaves of a shrub.
“Aren’t we stealing from someone who might need this stuff?” Asha asked after they’d left with the loot, wringing her hands. “The camp didn’t look that old.”
