Chapter 9
Finn
When I finish showering, the room is empty.
The rest must have gone down for breakfast. I put on a fresh set of clothes, but I keep my assembly uniform in my bag until we reach High Hope.
Before I leave the room, I spot a few drops of Josh’s blood on the floor, so I clean them up.
I’m the expert in nightmares, and I can’t remember ever waking up so upset as to turn violent.
When I step into the hallway, I hear, “Finn.”
I jump and turn around. “You scared me.”
For once, Otto is not wearing his assembly uniform, though he’s still dressed too neatly for the road. “Sorry. I heard the commotion earlier.”
“It was nothing. Everything’s fine.”
“Oh, okay. I… well, I wanted to thank you for helping me out yesterday when that Raider was about to smash my face.”
I try to remember if I did that, but the moment is lost among everything else that took place. “You’re welcome.”
“And I’m glad that Josh and River will be joining us. They seem like good people.”
“They are.”
He walks toward the stairs. “I assume we will be leaving shortly. I’ll see you later.”
I wait a few seconds before climbing down into a small dining hall, where I find River sitting next to Timothy and Josh. They have a plate of food in front of them, with cheese, fruit, and bread. I sit down on the other side of the table, grimacing at Josh’s nasty black eye and swollen bottom lip.
“How are you?” I ask.
He shrugs. “It’s worse than it looks.”
“I’m very upset,” River says, his arms crossed.
“It was an uncontrolled reaction to a bad dream,” Timothy says calmly. “I assure you that Caden is more upset than any of us.”
“I know,” Josh says with his shoulders slumped. “Please don’t bring this up to him.”
I watch him closely. Behind the pain he’s clearly in, he also seems troubled. “Did he say anything while he was dreaming?”
Josh shifts uneasily. “He said things like ’What the fuck do you want?’ but… I’m not sure he was really dreaming.”
An unpleasant feeling grows in my stomach. “What do you mean?”
“I woke up when I heard him speaking. He was sitting in bed with his eyes open, like he was looking at something that was in the room with us.” He shivers. “It was terrifying.”
“Well, now I’m even more upset,” River says.
Josh shakes his head. “Don’t be. Whatever it is, we’ll keep an eye on him on the road.”
“I should be the one doing that, since I don’t need sleep,” Timothy says.
“Thank you.” I pour myself a cup of tea. “Where’s Caden?”
“He went to speak with the local defense force,” Timothy says. “Or what’s left of it.”
Josh slides the tray toward me. “Eat.”
“We should leave soon,” River says as I chew on soft cheese. “Lyla said the king is expecting us.”
“You can hear her from such a distance?” I ask.
“No, but I can hear Mother, and she can speak with Lyla. It’s easier for my people to communicate now that Mother is strong again, but some of Father’s satellites were corrupted during his downfall.”
I remember how worried he was about Mother not surviving Father’s attacks. It took me a while to understand what she meant to him and the rest of his people.
“Oh!” River calls. “I forgot to show you.” He grabs his bag and pulls out a book.
I take it and ask, “Another Moomins book? With my name?” The title reads, Finn Family Moomintroll.
“The Finn part is because of the language it was originally written in,” Josh says. “There isn’t a character called Finn.”
“The language is called Finnish,” Timothy says. “It was spoken in a country called Finland.”
The concept of different languages sounds alien to me, but I know there used to be many, and maybe there still are somewhere.
We don’t know how Doomsday affected other regions of the world, but we do know the war involved multiple countries and spread over different continents. “How did you find this book?”
“Josh did,” River says. “We came across an old library, and he saw it.” He kisses Josh’s cheek. “Very brave.”
“I just picked it up from a pile.”
“Yes, bravely.”
“I’d like to read it later,” I say and return the book to River. During our months of searching for the Kansas lab, I practiced my reading with a different Moomins book and Josh’s help.
I glance out the window, wondering if Caden is close by.
“You should go find him,” Josh says, because I’m clearly being obvious.
I nod and stand up. “I’ll see you guys later.”
The day is about to get much warmer by the feel of it, but the low clouds should make the heat more bearable.
People walk along the main street, but underneath the cloak of normality, I can sense their tension.
Each of them must have lost someone when the Raiders took over, and I hope that those who escaped will eventually return.
I spot a group of people standing by the gate, facing Caden. I walk closer until I hear him say, “If you only spot threats when they’re at your doorstep, you’re already fucked. Establish small lookout points around the valley to pass on warnings in advance. Give the town enough time to get ready.”
“What sort of lookout points are we talking about?” an old man asks.
“Nothing fancy, and nothing that will stand out. It can be someone sitting on a chair with good visibility of the area around him. Make sure to have walkie-talkies or a quiet radio transceiver device.”
“We used to have some of those, but the fucking Raiders broke them!”
Caden points at me. “It just so happens you have an official representative of Unity here. Maybe he can help you out with supplies.”
I have a second to send daggers with my eyes before the group moves to talk to me, listing out the many supplies they’re lacking.
I don’t have the authority to approve anything, but I listen patiently and make a mental note of the items we might be able to spare.
Strengthening these sorts of towns across Colorado is in Unity’s best interest, but they are not our strategic partners like the Free Cities are.
After a few minutes of back and forth, the group finally moves on.
Caden, who is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, says, “Sorry about that. I needed a break.”
I walk over to face him. “I can’t get half of what they asked for.”
“Then don’t. Places like this need to learn how to take care of themselves.”
“Aren’t we on a mission to get help from others?”
“We’re looking for an alliance, not handouts.”
“If this town was better armed, they might have killed those Raiders themselves, and having fewer Raiders is in our best interest.”
He nods. “Point taken.”
I debate whether to ask him about his nightmare, but I’d rather wait until it’s less fresh. “We’d best get going. There’s still a long way to High Hope.”
Caden nods and looks away. “How bad is it?”
He means Josh’s bruises. “It’s not pretty, but it will pass in a few days.” Though it will feel longer to Caden, who will have a constant reminder of his actions in front of him. “If you act weird about it, you’ll make him uncomfortable.”
“I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”
“Then ask him to leave.”
“Are you being a smartass?”
“Maybe. Timothy will keep watch on you during the next few nights.”
Anger flashes in his eyes. “You guys have been talking about me.”
“Yes, your friends discussed keeping you safe—how fucking dare we?”
He grabs my shirt and pulls me closer. “You kiss people with that big mouth of yours?”
“Depends on the lips.”
He kisses me hard, holding my face while his tongue dances against mine. I loved sharing a bed with River again, but I missed Caden’s presence. It’s been easy getting used to him after months apart, and I was only half joking about tying him down so we could share a bed.
Caden breaks the kiss and says, “We should hit the road. Can’t keep the king waiting.”
The whole town comes to say goodbye as we leave.
They already have people out on patrol and establishing lookout points like Caden suggested.
I tell myself that no matter what, they will be more prepared for future attacks, but it might not matter if the enemy comes with greater forces.
They won’t be safe until we kill the source of the evil that has been terrorizing Colorado for so many years.
To reach High Hope, we’ll need to ride through an area called Grand Mesa, which is rich with lakes and mountains but also wildlife I’m less keen about.
“Dino told me good things about you,” Josh says as we ride slowly on a road riddled with exposed roots. “Must be challenging being his right-hand man.”
I wonder if I hear a trace of jealousy in his voice. If he hadn’t enlisted, he would have likely been doing my job. Dino shared with me that that had been his plan since Josh was a child, but it wasn’t in their cards.
“Anyway, I’m just trying to say that I’m proud of you.”
I hope he knows how much it means to me. He was the first Hiver who saw me as more than just an ex-Raider, and I’m sure that played a part in Dino’s decision to trust me.
“Thank you,” I say. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He glances aside, where Caden is riding apart from the rest of us. “I’m going to try pulling the stick out of his ass.”
“Good luck with that; it can get pretty deep.”
“I guess you should know.” He winks and wiggles his fingers, leaving me to blush as he steers his horse away.
I watch them ride next to each other, noticing Caden’s shoulders becoming less tense the more they talk.
Not far from me, River is riding next to Timothy, who’s wearing his new cowboy hat.
Josh might have fought to bring River’s soul all the way to Kansas, but it was Timothy who performed the miracle.
If he hadn’t kept River’s clone for all those years… I feel sick just thinking about that.