“You should have tied him to the bed,” Thordin said for the eighth time that evening. The sun had slid beyond the horizon and they clustered near a campfire for warmth; the clear night sucked what little heat was left in the world from the day’s sunshine faster than life faded from the eyes of a decapitated man. The broad-shouldered man was moody, staring into the flames of the fire with the same fascination Rory did, though likely not for the same reasons.
Thom exhaled a sigh, his breath steaming in the still air. “Too late to change that now, isn’t it? We didn’t think he was fit enough to risk it, anyhow.”
“We should have known,” Jacqueline said, her knees hugged to her chest and a blanket drawn around her slender form. “We all suspected he’d try something like this. Thordin’s right, we should have taken precautions more quickly.”
“It’s too late to change that now,” Thom said again, staring at the sky. “All we can do now is hope that another day’s riding will put us on top of him. I can’t believe he’s gotten this big of a head start.”
“Well, we did start going in the wrong direction initially,” Rory pointed out, poking the logs with a stick, shifting them so the fire would stay strong and burn throughout the night. “Still not really sure how that happened.”
Thordin shook his head. “My doing, my fault. I thought for certain I was reading the signs wrong at first. He’s got no reason to go south. He should have gone west, toward Aoife.”
“This is Phelan we’re talking about,” Thom said. “He’s unpredictable at best.”
“Well, we know that he didn’t bother to stop at that settlement we passed,” Jacqueline said softly. “I guess none of us are really surprised by that, right? Since he left us to keep us safe, he wouldn’t be making contact with any other groups.”
Thom’s lips thinned. He still wasn’t happy about them stopping in that settlement, but the people there had seemed harmless, they’d had a much easier time of It since the end of the world. Too bad we’re not so lucky. I guess they’re not special like we are.
He wasn’t sure how much be believed that, but it was nice to know that they had neighbors that wouldn’t be out to kill them come spring.
“But where is he going?” Thordin wondered out loud.
“Chicago,” Thom said, the word grating out of him. “He’s going to the ruins of Chicago.”
“Why there?”
Thom shook his head. “I don’t know. But when we find him, we can ask him. That’s the only way we’ll find out.”
“We’re sure we’re going the right way this time?” Jacqueline asked softly, her voice barely audible over the sound of the fire.
A wolf howled in the distance as Thordin said softly, “Yes. I’m sure.”
Thanks for another posting. Really like the story. The characters are fascinating, in their own right. The environment is a whirl of danger, weird, normal, and paranormal.