Sixteen – 05

[This post is from Bryant Tapping’s point of view.]

He glanced at the rest of his friends—still sleeping—then crept closer to her, keeping his voice low.  “I guess not,” he murmured, looking from her to David.  “How bad do you think it is, really?”

“It’s a bit premature to ask that question,” she admitted, mustering a smile as she glanced at him.  “I haven’t had much of a look since I was a bit busy with some other problems yesterday.  I’m sorry to come so early, though…” she paused, glancing at the sleeping forms all around them.  “It doesn’t seem like I’m disturbing anyone except for maybe you.”

Bryant smiled weakly.  “I couldn’t sleep.  And the others…I guess we feel safe enough here to get some extra rest.  It’s been a long ride.”

“You didn’t get to rest when you spoke to Lara down in New Hope?”

“Who’s Lara?”  He frowned.  “New Hope?”

“South of here,” she said.  “Closer to the water.”

“Closer to the lake than here?  That’s impressive.  But no.  No, we didn’t cross through anywhere in weeks.  Came from the southeast along the old highways.  Those…” Bryant paused, staring at the floorboards.  “I mean, I remember what they used to be like when I was a kid.”

“Not many do.”

“Not many people younger than you guys, you mean,” he murmured, looking past her to David.  “Of course, that’s a weird spot to be in.”

“I can only imagine,” she said softly, glancing at him.  “You’ve been looking out for all of them for a long time, haven’t you?”

He just nodded, his mouth too dry to speak.

It feels like forever

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This entry was posted in Ambrose Cycle, Book 8, Chapter 16, Story and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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