“You never asked him?”
“He’s never been all that anxious to talk about it.” She shrugged. “Besides, what happened before doesn’t have anything to do with now. And right now, he’s a good friend and someone I wish had come with us.”
“Instead he’s going after Mercer.”
“He has his reasons.”
“A lot of people have reasons to want Mercer dead.”
“He’s done some bad things. They’ve hung men for less.”
Riley nodded, then, “So what else did you want to talk to me about?”
“Your soldiers. How good are they?”
“I wouldn’t really call them soldiers.”
“So what are they really?”
“They’re trained, don’t get me wrong, but they didn’t volunteer to run around Texas creating chaos for a reason. They’re not killers. Aside from skirmishes here and there before R-Day, they haven’t really been in prolonged conflicts. At least, not the kind of gun battles that we might encounter if the aforementioned criminal elements are still hanging around the Islands when we get there.”
“But you trust them to stand up in a firefight?”
Riley seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding — though not quite with enough confidence for her liking. “I don’t think they’ll run from a fight, if that’s what you mean.”
That’s not what I meant at all, but I guess it’s good enough…for now.
“What about your people?” he asked.
“We’ve been surviving out here for the better part of a year. We’re not going to run from anything.”
“You guys have been through a lot.”
“We have.”
“Lost a lot…”
“Everyone’s lost someone, Riley.”
For a moment, his eyes drifted away, as if some long-buried memory was rushing back to him. She knew what it was because she had seen that expression on a lot of faces these days, including her own when she stared in the mirror. She didn’t want to ask him who he’d lost, because eventually the question would get turned back to her.
“And you’re okay with us not going straight to the Islands?” she asked him.
Riley nodded. “In your position, I’d do the same thing. Besides, the Islands aren’t going anywhere. They’ll still be there waiting for us when we reach them tomorrow or next week or next month.”
That’s what I keep telling myself, and maybe that’s why we never seem to get there.
“When do you expect them to radio in?” Riley asked.
“As soon as they’re able.”
“It’ll be nice to have an Army Ranger around.”
“What about those kill teams Mercer has running around Texas?”
“They’re mostly civilians, though Benford was in the National Guard. I’m not sure how long ago, though. He and a couple of ex-Army guys did most of the arms training back in the early days.”
“I take it you didn’t have a lot of weapons training while auditing for the U.S. government?”
“You took it correctly. The first time I ever picked up a weapon was after all of this happened. It was a huge learning curve.”
Lara felt like laughing. If Riley only knew the things she’d had to do, how much she’d had to change since the world ended. They were things no one had ever taught her — not her parents or any of those long and hard years in school. Sometimes when she thought about what she’d been through, she had a difficult time understanding how she was even still alive.
Adapt or perish, right, Will?
“I have a question for you,” she said, looking across at Riley.
“Sure.”
“What if Keo succeeds?”
“I don’t understand…”
“Would you go back?”
“Where?”
“Black Tide Island.”
“Go back, after what I did?”
She nodded. “Think about it: How many other people like Erin are out there running around killing for Mercer right now? How many of them are exactly like her in that they just need someone or something to get them to do the right thing? Mercer’s death could be that catalyst.”
“Go back to Black Tide Island,” Riley said quietly.
“You could make a difference.”
“How?”
“If Mercer’s dead, there’ll be a power vacuum. Someone will have to step in and assume command of all those people, all those guns.” Lara let that sink in before continuing. “I’m willing to bet there are more people like you and Erin than you think.”
“There are,” he nodded. “But why would any of them listen to me? After what I did?”
“Maybe they’ll listen to you because of what you did.”
He stared at her, confused.
“You did what many of them, including Erin, couldn’t — you finally said no to Mercer,” Lara said. “You disobeyed him at great risk. How many of them wanted to, but were too afraid? Maybe that’s why they’ll listen to you.”
“Or maybe they’ll just shoot me as soon as I step onto the island.”
Lara gave him a wry smile. “Or that.”
He chuckled. “That’s not very reassuring, Lara.”
“Sorry. Anyway, I was just thinking out loud.”
“Your friend would have to succeed first for any of this thinking out loud to matter,” Riley said.
He was looking at her, but not really at her. She could tell that she had planted a seed in his head and it had taken root.
“There’s that,” she nodded, remembering the last time she saw Keo, and their last conversation on the Ocean Star.
“Don’t be an asshole, Keo,” she had told him. “If you won’t stay with us, if you won’t come back to the Trident with me, at least promise me you’re not going out there just to get yourself killed. Tell me you’ll at least try to make it back, and mean it.”
“What if I can’t?” he had answered.
“You can. You just have to make the choice.”
“I’ll do my best,” he had finally relented.
Do your best, Keo, she thought now. You better do your goddamnest best, or I’m going to find you and kick your ass.
“How goes it?” Maddie asked when Lara stepped onto the bridge.
“You tell me,” she said.
“We’re on course. The question is: How long do we wait for them?”
“As long as it takes.”
“Does Riley know that?”
“He knows.”
“And he was good with it?”
“I didn’t give him a choice.”
“That’s my girl,” Maddie said.
The small Texan was planted behind the helm where Blaine usually was and looked just as comfortable, even if she didn’t quite fill out the room the way Blaine did. If it were anyone else but Maddie guiding them across the endless expanse of the Gulf of Mexico right now, Lara might have been worried, but next to Blaine, there was no one else who knew more about the Trident.
“Any word from them yet?” Lara asked after a while.
Maddie glanced at the dashboard. “Nothing yet, but we’re not expecting them so soon, right?”
“No…”
“You worried?”
“I’m always worried.”
“I mean, more worried than usual?”
“No. They know better than to do something stupid while it’s still dark out there.” She leaned toward the wraparound front windshield, as if she could see her friends out there, hiding among the thick blackness that covered the ocean. “They should be hanging out in the water right now, far from land, waiting for sunup to go ashore.”