John
“Well, he’s dumb as shit,” Danny said the next evening, sitting behind his desk at the outrider station. “Denied everything, but then when I told Claire’s side of the story, he flipped his lid and said she deserved it. So.”
“Piece of shit,” I spat. “He’s lucky I didn’t kill him on the spot.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that would’ve gone over well with old Jameson,” Danny replied doubtfully. “After all, what’s a little homicide between old friends?”
I blew out a breath of frustration. If he’d been outside the Valley, he’d already be dead. I’d gotten too used to handling everything myself, being away from home so long.
“Anyway, he’s got a formal warning to stay away from her now,” he continued.
“What if he doesn’t?”
Danny drummed his fingers on the desk. “Kind of uncharted territory. Not like we have to order people to stay away from eachother that often. But even if we did, Claire’s an outsider. I don’t honestly know if the same rules apply.”
“You can bet Jameson will say they don’t, just to save his loser son.”
I paced the room, unable to stand still.
“Buddy, you’re gonna wear a track into my floor,” Danny said. “Look, whatever the rules say, I’m gonna do what I can to protect your girl. If he comes around her again, I’ll handle it. The thing I’m most worried about is that you can’t go and kill this kid. You’ve been an outside cat for too long. Don’t do something stupid.”
I exhaled slowly, reining in my anger. “I won’t. Even if he fucking deserves it.”
“Glad to hear it. Go get ready for the night shift. It’ll be you, me, and Will, and he doesn’t laugh at my jokes, so I’ll be fighting for my life over the radio tonight.”
Despite my mood, I laughed. “Noted.”
I briefly visited Kimmy at the clinic before my evening shift. She was showing Asha around the place, telling her about the job, and to my surprise, Asha actually seemed interested.
“But you’re heading off on another scav trip tomorrow morning,” Kimmy said, her tone teasing, “abandoning me again.”
Asha kissed her, and I just about fell over. Of course, I knew something had been going on between them, but I’d never seen Asha show affection in front of anyone before. Kimmy actually blushed, and I hated how much harder that made it to dislike Asha.
I think I’ve seen Kimmy blush a grand total of twice in my entire life, I thought as I walked through the lounge for the front door of the Lodge.Fuck me, I’m gonna have to start calling her my sister-in-law eventually, aren’t I?
There were a few people hanging out in the lounge area, including—for fuck’s sake—Zach Jameson. He was sitting by the fireplace with his brother, and he gave me a death glare as I walked out. It took real effort not to react, but I ignored him, and thankfully, he didn’t stir the pot.
I wanted to take it as a good sign, but I just felt uneasy.
Another night, another patrol.
As Danny said, it was just me, him, and a younger guy called Will who’d only started a couple months before I did. It was two in the morning, and it’d been an uneventful night. After hours of boredom, Danny decided to entertain us—or realistically,himself—by telling lame jokes over the radio every so often.
“Command to Ghost and Copper,” my radio buzzed for what felt like the hundredth time. “I’m great for protection. You use your fingers to get me off. What am I?”
I led Ghost in a canter towards the outer edge of the Valley. The night was calm, and though the air was still cool, spring was finally here. Soon enough, we’d start planting some of the bigger crops.
Meanwhile, I rolled my eyes and lifted my radio to my lips. “Seriously, man, how old are you?”
He didn’t reply right away, so I finished my perimeter check, then steered Ghost back towards the interior. I rode for a few minutes in silence.
“Ghost to Command,” I said into the radio. “Everything okay?”
No response. I frowned. It wasn’t like Danny to not reply right away, but maybe he’d spotted something. I kept riding farther into the Valley, but when another ten minutes had passed without a response, I knew something was wrong.
Will’s voice came over the radio. “Copper to Ghost: you heard from Command? Haven’t heard anything since last transmission.”
“No,” I replied. “Starting search. Stay on your route and wait for my call.”
