place. Lucas gave an answering grin. “You girls behaving yourselves?” he asked.
She winked. “I can’t speak for Eve, but I’m looking for trouble.”
Lucas sighed. “Best we get some rest. We’re going to be up with the chickens.”
Sierra gave a small pout, but it was clear she understood. “You eat anything?” she asked.
“I’ll gnaw on some jerky. You?”
“We dug into our provisions. Might as well while they’re still fresh. Could be a long time until we taste fruit and vegetables again, especially where we’re heading.”
“Look at the bright side. At least it’ll be freezing.”
“Always silver linings with you.”
Eve’s head poked out next to Sierra’s, and Lucas tipped the brim of his hat. “Good night, ladies. Sleep well.”
“Already?” Eve complained.
“Stay up as long as you want. I’m hitting it,” Lucas said.
Sierra made a face and Eve mimicked it. “Party pooper.”
“Let’s see what tune you’re singing when you’re up before dawn.”
Sierra gave the little girl a quick hug. “He’s got a point.”
Eve nodded with a wisdom beyond her years. They watched as he disappeared into his tent. The rustle and chirping of night creatures around them seemed suddenly louder for his absence, and the thin tent fabric inadequate to shield them from the menacing shadows. Eve scooted closer to Sierra and blinked her big eyes.
“My ears are still ringing from the shells,” she said.
Sierra nodded resignedly. “I know, sweetie. It’ll get better with time.”
“How long?”
Sierra looked up at the heavens, where a thousand stars pulsed like living things, and then back to the little girl, and said with what hope she could muster, “Not much longer now.”
Chapter 4
Green and blue streaked the sky and a neon orange glow spread from the eastern ridge as Elliot forced himself to his feet with a groan. His bones ached from a night spent on the rocky slope beside the trail to the dam, and his sacroiliac felt like a spike had been driven through his back. He drew several deep breaths to steady himself before making his way to where Michael, Arnold, Ruby, and Terry were munching on dry rations while they huddled around a small fire, the night’s chill lingering in the morning air.
Michael looked up as Elliot approached and rose with the ease of the young, his wounded arm giving him only slight difficulty.
“Morning,” Elliot said.
“Morning,” Michael responded. The rest of the group mumbled greetings as Elliot took in the panoramic view of the valley below. The lake and Abiquiu Dam looked like he could reach out and touch them, but he knew it would be another six to seven hours of treacherous trail before they made it there. “We got a broadcast from Lucas. They’re still loading the horses, but they’ll be on their way shortly.”
“Excellent. We should do the same.”
Arnold nodded. “That’s the plan. I told everyone we’d get moving in fifteen minutes.” He checked his mechanical wristwatch. “That was ten minutes ago.”
Terry held up a canteen. “Welcome to some water, if you like.”
Elliot shook his head. “No, thanks. I’ll just find the gents and compose myself.”
The group was smaller than the one with Lucas, only twenty strong, and all capable fighters except Ruby, who had elected to accompany Terry. They’d grown closer over the week since Terry’s near miss with his beloved plane and were now nearly inseparable, easy in each other’s company in a way only those comfortable in their own skins could be.
The party mounted up and resumed the slog down the mountain. The forest road they followed at first quickly degraded to little more than a goat track along the side of a deep gulley, the original trail long before fallen victim to the effects of snow and rain. A line of animals drawing carts loaded with lab equipment and larger gear followed Arnold and Craig, the engineer who’d worked at the dam and who knew the route better