Wall: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Adventure (The Traveler Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

bother me, but the others were looking at you. I don’t want them looking at you.”
    Battle looked up and over Lola’s shoulder. The others had returned to their harvesting duties. Only Sawyer was staring back at him. Battle offered a weak smile at the boy and then caught Lola’s gaze.
    “I don’t care what they think,” he said. “We won’t be here long.”
    Lola stepped back and shifted the basket, leaning it against her hip. “We won’t? What is it you’re not telling me?” She looked over her shoulder at the Dwellers and back again.
    “A war is about to start,” he said under his breath. “The Dwellers are ready to fight. I’m pretty sure the Cartel is too.”
    Lola’s gaze intensified. “How do you know this?”
    “A couple of ways,” Battle said. “Paagal is hell-bent on getting rid of the Cartel. She’s got spies in every major city who are ready to strike.”
    “And the Cartel?” she pressed, her eyes searching his for the answer. “How would you know what they’re planning?”
    Battle scratched his forehead. “Charlie Pierce was one of them,” he said. “He was feeding information to them. He killed a Dweller last night. I killed him.”
    Lola’s mouth dropped open, her arms fell to her sides, and the basket dropped to the ground. The cucumbers rolled out into the dirt. “Pierce?” Tears pooled in her eyes. Her lips quivered. “We can’t escape. No matter where we go. We can’t escape.”
    Battle wanted to throw his arms around her. He wanted to comfort her and promise her they would escape, they would find a place beyond the reach of the Cartel and the grip of the evil that had the world in its clutches. He tried to will himself to listen to Sylvia and Wesson and give in to his evaporating need for human contact, for an emotional connection.
    Instead, he adjusted the Sig Sauer tucked into his waistband and offered her a choice. “We have options,” he said and knelt down to help gather the vegetables back into the basket.
    Lola pulled her lower lip behind her teeth and bit down as she joined him on the ground. She slid the basket toward her feet.
    He tossed a trio of cucumbers into the basket and held up his index finger. “We can leave now,” he said. “You, Sawyer, and me. We can find our way to the wall and get to the other side.”
    “Or?”
    He held up a second finger. “We stay and fight. We beat back the Cartel. Paagal helps us get to the other side.”
    They both stood. Lola wiped the corners of her eyes with her knuckle and folded her arms across her chest. She’d closed her mouth and was chewing the inside of her lip.
    “Paagal says there are scavengers out there along the wall,” Battle added. “We could probably use her help.”
    Lola took in a deep breath and pushed it out through puffed cheeks. Her entire body appeared to deflate. “We need to fight,” she said. “These people helped us. We fight; then we leave.”
    Battle imperceptibly tilted his head in surprise and then pulled his shoulders back. Her resolve was empowering. She wasn’t the same defeated woman he’d met thirteen days earlier.
    “I agree,” Battle said. “We fight. Then we find the wall.”
    “What’s on the other side of the wall?” Sawyer had snuck up on them. Battle hadn’t seen the boy approach.
    “That’s a really good question,” said Battle. “I don’t know.”
    Sawyer took the basket from his mother and held it for her. “What if it’s worse than this side of the wall?” he asked. “What if we have it better here than there?”
    Lola bristled. “I don’t know what could be worse than living under the Cartel,” she snapped, her eyes flashing with a bolt of anger before filling with sadness. “You know the things I’ve done to keep us alive.”
    Sawyer recoiled and stepped back from Lola, seemingly surprised by her reaction. “I was just saying—”
    “We know,” said Battle softly. “It’s a fair question, Sawyer. We could be jumping from the frying