She looked down at him, the corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly, and then held out her hand, palm up.
“Come,” she said.
He smiled, ready to tell her, thanks, but he had too much on his mind. Before he knew what he was doing, though, his hand was in hers and he was on his feet, all thoughts of the island and the others and the vaccine and the UN fading away.
The Resistance convoy reached Denver as the sun was going down, but since there was only a light dusting of snow on the freeway, they pushed on, not stopping until they reached Walsenburg three hours later.
Their home for the night was a Best Western north of town. Ash, Brandon, and Josie took a room on the second floor, while Ginny and Rick chose one about as far away as possible on the first. That hadn’t been Ginny’s idea. She and Josie and Brandon had begun to form a bond, and Ash knew the girl would have liked to stay near them.
Rick, on the other, had spent a good part of the trip glaring at Brandon and rubbing the hand that was missing a finger. Ash knew he would have to keep an eye on that situation. Though Brandon had become very good at taking care of himself, Rick was several years older than Ash’s son and twice his size. Ash had no doubt the kid was planning some kind of retribution.
“You all right?” Ash asked Brandon, once he and his kids were alone in their room. While his son had not outwardly let Rick’s unwanted attention affect him during the trip, Ash was concerned that inside was a different story.
“Yeah, why?” Brandon asked.
“Rick.”
“Rick? I can’t help it if he’s a jerk. If he didn’t want to get hurt, he shouldn’t have been shooting at us.”
Ash put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “True. Probably best, though, if you keep your distance. Don’t think he’s looking at things in quite the same way.”
“How’s Brandon supposed to do that when we’re all in the same truck?” Josie asked.
It was a good point, and one Ash had been thinking about. “I’ll see what I can do about that in the morning,” he said.
They ate dinner in their room, sharing cans of pears and ravioli and lima beans, and got ready for bed. Ash was finishing brushing his teeth when someone knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Brandon said.
As the door opened, Ash heard Matt’s voice from the hallway. “Hey, Brandon. Your dad around?”
Ash stepped out of the bathroom. “What’s up?”
“Can I borrow you for a minute?” Matt asked.
“Sure.” He pulled on the shirt he’d just taken off and told his kids, “Be right back.”
Stepping out of the room, he saw Matt wasn’t alone. A few feet away, Chloe was leaning against the wall.
“What’s going on?” Ash asked.
“Not here,” Matt said, and headed down the hall.
Ash glanced at Chloe, silently asking if she knew what was up.
“More bullshit, I bet,” she whispered as she pushed herself off the wall and followed Matt.
Matt stopped about ten feet short of the end of the hallway, in an area where none of the rooms were being used. When Ash and Chloe joined him, he said, “I didn’t want to spring it on you in the morning, so I’m going to tell you now. This is where we part.”
“Matt, it’s not a good idea,” Ash argued.
Ignoring him, Matt said, “The 160 heads west from here. You’ll take that. Here.” He pulled a folded map out of his pocket and held it out to Ash. “The route to the base in Nevada is marked. You’ll take one of the plows and your Humvee. Head out when we do in the morning, so you beat the storm.”
“You’re making a mistake,” Chloe said. “You need us.”
“We’ve gone over this already,” Matt said. “I’m not going to argue about it again.”
Ash had yet to take the map from him.
“Chloe and I are the only ones here who’ve ever actually been in one of Project Eden’s facilities,” Ash said. “There’s a good chance you’re going to need what we know.”
“Take it,” Matt said, waving the map. “Get the kids to Nevada where they’ll be safe.”
With extreme reluctance, Ash took it from him.
Looking relieved, Matt said, “I sympathize. I really do, but trust me, this is not a mission you want to be on, especially in the condition you both are in.” He forced a smile. “Now go get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” Then, looking as if he couldn’t get away fast enough, he walked stiff-legged to the stairs and headed down.
“This is stupid,” Chloe said when she and Ash were alone. “Even with one hand I’m better than anyone he’s got.”
Ash didn’t doubt that was true. His own condition, though, was not quite as accommodating. He knew he’d be struggling to keep up with the others, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t be part of the team. If what Matt had planned would truly deliver a major blow to the Project, Ash needed to be there. That would be protecting his kids. Driving them to Nevada would be running away.
“You’re thinking it, too, aren’t you?”
He looked up and saw Chloe staring at him. “What?”
“That you’re going to New Mexico whether Matt wants you to or not.”
He hesitated. “The kids,” he said. “I can’t just leave them.”
“Your kids aren’t kids anymore,” she said. “We find a good place for them to hide and they’ll be more than capable of taking care of themselves until we get back.”
“I don’t know.” He rubbed his eyes. “I want to. I…I don’t know.”
“I do know,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
As he watched her walk back to her room and disappear inside, he tried to figure out what would be the right thing to do, but this wasn’t his decision alone.
When he returned to the room, Brandon and Josie were lying down but still awake.
“What did he want?” Josie asked.
Ash walked over to the empty bed the kids had left for him, and sat on the corner. “I need to talk to you both about something.”
The amount of fuel left at the Ranch had not been nearly as much as Pax had expected, so they’d only had enough to get the Combi to Idaho Falls, where they were able to finally fill up their tanks. By the time they got back in the air, it was after seven thirty p.m.
Pax was sitting in the cockpit auxiliary seat, headset on, when they neared their destination.
“Bravo Eleven, this is Pax,” he said, using the call sign for the Nevada base. “Bravo Eleven, please come in.”
Static.
“Bravo Eleven, this is—”
“This is Bravo Eleven,” a female voice cut in. “Please restate your call sign.”
Grinning broadly, Pax said, “It’s not a call sign. It’s my damn name. It’s Pax. Rich Paxton.”
For a moment, there was no response, then, “Pax? Are you kidding me?”
Recognizing the voice, he said, “Is that you, Crystal?”
“Yes! Pax, oh my God! We thought—” She paused. “Hold on.”
When the static stretched to several seconds, Pax said, “Bravo Eleven, you still there? Crystal?”
“Is it really you?” A female voice, though not Crystal’s anymore.
“Rachel,” Pax said. “It’s great to hear your voice.”
“You’re alive.”
“Hell, yes, we’re alive!”
“All of you?”
“Yeah, my whole team.”
“Thank God. When we lost contact with you, we couldn’t help but think something happened. Where are you?”
“Should be touching down on your airstrip in about ten minutes.”