Chương 146

They rode fast along the track. The old ATVs handled the uneven ground without slowing. The track narrowed between the trees, and branches brushed Louis's shoulders. Cherish held tightly around his waist. Louis kept both hands on the handlebars, with the M1911 holstered at his hip. The captured rifle shifted against his back whenever the ATV hit a rut. Through the dust, he could make out Savannah's ATV ahead.

"Are you okay?" he called over the engines and wind.

"Yes." Cherish spoke close to his ear.

"I am scared."

"Me too." She laughed softly.

"You too?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because they are fucking cannibals."

"Do you think they will chase us?"

"I don't know," Louis said.

"But we are faster." She said nothing after that. After a while, she rested her cheek between his shoulder blades. The track climbed around the side of a hill. Ahead, Maeve turned sharply onto a narrower, rutted path. Gladice and Savannah followed, and Louis turned after them.

"Louis?"

"Yes."

"Are those children going to die?" He kept his eyes on the path. He had been thinking about the children since they left the house too.

"They will probably survive. They know how to." Cherish was silent for a moment.

"It is horrible."

"Yes." The ATV jolted over a damaged culvert crossing. Cherish tightened her arms around him and remained silent until the track straightened.

"Did we do the right thing?" He slowed slightly to keep his distance from Savannah's taillight.

"We are alive," he said.

"We did what we had to do." Her grip tightened on his jacket. He did not know whether she was seeking comfort or still afraid.

"Thank you," she said close to his ear.

"For what?"

"For not leaving me."

"Never," he said.

"Louis?"

"Yes."

"Will we really go to Switzerland someday?"

"Yes. But it comes after Hawaii. I promised Angi and the others."

"Hawaii?" She lifted her head.

"Your home?"

"No, I live in Los Angeles most of the time. But Hawaii is also part of the Dominion. And the beaches are amazing."

"Mama said she took me to a beach once when I was very little," Cherish said.

"In Jacksonville? Before the war?"

"Maybe," she said.

"But I don't remember."

"Then we will go to a beach after we are safe. You will see the ocean. You will remember it."

"I would like that." Her head pressed against him again.

"Mama said the world was beautiful before."

"She was right. And it will be beautiful again. Someday." Louis wasn't sure he believed that. He thought of Nicholas and Rita asking him to take her to the Dominion. He thought of the look on her face when he had said yes.

"Louis?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me about your home?"

"Which part?"

"The house. Where you live."

"Okay," he said.

"For starters, it has twenty-four bedrooms." Cherish gasped.

"Twenty-four?"

"Yes. And I have an underground garage with a lot of cars and motorcycles."

"A lot? Like... three?"

"No. Maybe eighty. I lost count after my father gave me my sixth Ferrari."

"What's Ferrari?"

"A fast car. Red." He smiled.

"I will teach you to drive one when we get home."

"But I've only driven pickups and tractors." She hesitated.

"I was grounded for a month because I crashed Papa's truck into a barn." Louis smiled despite himself. He pictured Nicholas's angry face and Cherish hiding in her room.

"Don't worry. I'll buy you a new one if you crash it." Cherish laughed.

"You're funny." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I am serious."

"Do you have horses?"

"I don't. Mom doesn't like their smell." He slowed for a wide turn.

"But Angi has many horses in Portland. We can visit there too."

"You like Angi?"

"Yes. Very much." He glanced down at her hands clasped over his jacket.

"I love her." Cherish didn't answer for a long time. Then she asked, "Do you love her more than me?" Louis thought of Angelique's smile, her laugh, the way she teased him and the way she protected him.

"Maybe love isn't a contest," he said.

"Maybe it's… bigger. Like a house. The one with twenty-four bedrooms."

"I don't understand," she said.

"The house is big enough for many people to live in it. And love is big enough for many people to be in your heart."

"So you love Angi. And you love me. And…"

"Yes. And Glads, Willa, Donya, Savvy." He paused.

"All of them."

"How can your heart be so big?"

"Because you all made it bigger. Each one of you." He paused.

"When I was imprisoned in that room, I thought about killing myself. I thought they had killed Savvy." Cherish's arms tightened around him.

"Louis…"

"And then I thought about you all. And I knew I couldn't die. Because we had to get out of there. Together."

"I… I am glad you didn't die. It's a sin to kill yourself."

"I know." He kept his eyes on the track ahead.

"I am glad I didn't too."

"Will you marry me, Louis?" He almost lost control of the ATV.

"What?"

"Will you marry me? When we are safe." She held him tighter.

"I can be a good wife. I can cook and clean and pray for you. Mama taught me how to be a good wife."

"Cherish." His voice was gentle.

"In the Dominion, we don't have to get married to be together."

"But I want to be yours. Officially."

"We can belong to each other without it." He paused.

"We already do."

"But I want to wear a ring. A white dress." She lowered her head.

"And I want to have your babies." He felt a strange mix of shock and warmth at her words.

"Well, I can buy you a lot of rings and dresses. As for babies…" He paused.

"I don't like babies. They're small and loud and they pee everywhere."

"But they are a blessing from God," she said.

"Yeah, well, maybe God can bless someone else." He smiled. Cherish was quiet for a few seconds, then she laughed.

"You're so weird."

"I am a Collins, after all." He kept driving. The track descended into a low section where dark water covered part of it. Maeve led them along the shallowest edge. Mud sprayed against Louis's boots. The engine sputtered twice and began to lose power. He gave it more throttle, but it sputtered again and slowed.

"Shit," he muttered.

"Hey!" He shouted ahead.

"Stop! My engine is failing!" Maeve pulled over ahead of him. Louis guided the ATV to the side of the track, where the engine stalled. The other ATVs slowed and stopped farther ahead. He and Cherish climbed off. Savannah rode back with Donya behind her.

"What is it?" Louis pressed the starter. The starter turned the engine over, but it only sputtered and failed to start.

"Mine's dead." Maeve swore and got off her ATV.

"Stay alert. We might have company soon." Gladice and Savannah climbed off their ATVs and kept their rifles aimed into the woods.

"Anyone following?" Louis asked.

"Not yet," Gladice said.

"But keep your guard up." Maeve crouched beside Louis's ATV and pulled off a side panel.

"These things are shit," she said.

"Tell me something I don't know," Gladice said.

"It's not getting enough fuel." Maeve leaned closer to the engine and sniffed, then felt along the fuel line.

"Maybe dirt in the line. Maybe these corpse-eaters used shit fuel." Cherish flinched. Donya moved to her side. Willa checked the radiation meter.

"The reading is lower than before."

"Good," Maeve said.

"At least we can die of bullets instead of cancer. Give me light." Donya held the flashlight low and shielded the beam with one hand. Maeve pulled the fuel line free. Fuel ran over her fingers, and she swore. She pinched the line, worked the blockage loose, and shook a speck of dirt onto the ground. Louis kept watch with the M1911 in his hand.

"How long?"

"As long as it takes."

"Longer than we have," Gladice said from the road.

"Then shut up and watch the dark," Maeve said without looking up.

"I need to pee," Cherish said quietly.

"Here," Angelique said.

"Here?" Cherish whispered.

"Yes." Gladice pointed to a spot beside the track.

"Unless you want to find out what's hidden behind the trees."

"She's right," Louis said.

"We can't afford privacy now. Everyone stays in sight." Angelique touched Cherish's arm.

"Don't worry. I'm with you. I need to go too."

"Actually, me too," Louis said. He felt embarrassed saying it.

"Tactical piss break." Gladice grinned.

"How romantic." Angelique shook her head.

"Cover us." The three of them moved to the side of the track. The ground there was damp. Cherish lowered her pants and squatted with her back to Louis and the others. Angelique squatted beside her, facing the same direction. Louis unzipped his pants and tried to piss, but he kept hearing Cherish's stream hit the dirt beside him. He glanced at her bare ass. His cock began to harden. He looked aside and saw Angelique's ass too. His cock kept hardening. He cursed under his breath.

Once he was hard, he could not make himself piss. He tried to think about the bodies in the yard instead.

"Are you okay?" Angelique asked.

"No," he said.

"I can't go."

"Because you're staring at our asses?" Angelique said.

"Yes."

"Just think of something else," she said.

"Like the cannibals."

"I'm trying," he said.

"It's not working." Angelique laughed.

"Louis, you're hopeless."

"I'm fine," he said through clenched teeth. He finally managed to urinate, though it was uncomfortable. Cherish glanced at his erection, then looked away at once.

"Here." Willa came over with two napkins.

"For after." Cherish took the napkins.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Willa looked down briefly, then back at Louis.

"Get yourself together, cowboy." Louis did not answer. He kept urinating and was relieved when his erection began to subside. When he finished, he tucked himself back into his pants and zipped them.

"Here. Wash your hands." Donya uncapped a water bottle. They rinsed their hands. The others took turns after them. Maeve was still crouched beside the ATV, her fingers wet with fuel and streaked with dirt.

"Try it," she said. Louis climbed onto the seat and thumbed the starter. The engine caught and settled into an uneven idle. Maeve stood and started to wipe her hands on her pants, but Donya held out the water bottle. Maeve hesitated, then rinsed her hands with a little water.

"Thanks," she said.

"Sure." Everyone climbed back onto the ATVs. Cherish climbed onto the seat behind Louis and wrapped her arms around him with less hesitation. The group started moving again. Louis's engine still sputtered from time to time, but it kept running. Cherish spoke close to his ear.

"Louis."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I looked at you."

"It's fine."

"No. It was not proper."

"You don't have to be proper with us. We are beyond that now."

"Okay." She rested her cheek against his back. He felt her warmth and wished he could kiss her, but he kept his eyes on the track. They continued through the woods. Twenty minutes later, the trees thinned. The track climbed through a cut in the hill and joined an abandoned highway. Willa pointed left.

"That way," she shouted over the engines.

"Northwest." Maeve turned onto the highway. The ATVs spread out across the empty lanes. Dust covered the cracked pavement, and parts of the shoulder had collapsed. The highway continued straight ahead.

"Are we really in the Alliance?" Cherish asked close to his ear.

"Yes," Louis said.

"We crossed into Ohio."

"The land looks the same."

"It is. But the rules are different."

"Do you think they will arrest us?"

"We won't give them the chance." He felt her nod. She had stopped trembling. Her grip had relaxed, though she still held him firmly. He liked the way she held on. The highway curved around a low hill. Beyond it, the trees gave way to open ground. A band of white light showed on the horizon. At first Louis thought it was dawn. As they came closer, he made out floodlights and walls. The Great Lakes control perimeter stretched across the land miles ahead. Cherish lifted her head from Louis's back.

"Is that it?"

"Probably," Louis said.

"Shit," Maeve shouted.

"We can't go through there with these!"

"Over there!" Gladice pointed to another cluster of lights beside the highway on the right. Maeve slowed first, and the other ATVs slowed behind her. An old service area stood beside the next exit ramp. Fires burned in oil drums around the parking lot. Cars and trucks stood at odd angles while people moved between them. Gladice eased her ATV to a stop.

"That's not the checkpoint."

"No." Savannah looked past the market toward the floodlit checkpoint.

"A market." Louis felt Cherish's hands tighten around him again.