Chapter 29
Several weeks after Asha’s departure, Cade found himself sitting in a derelict house in the same place he’d first met her—Little River—talking to a rat-like man named Waters, who represented the residents there.
Little River was weaker than ever under the leadership of the Skulls, and taking it from them had been easier than he’d expected, given that they were totally incompetent.
“So let me get this straight,” Cade said, murder in his eyes, “Asha was in Little River. And you let her go.”
Waters gulped. “N-not exactly, sir. We tried to capture her. But she was with friends who were well-armed.”
“Wait, you tried to detain her?” Cade shot back. A vein was popping in his temple; he was sure of it. “You attacked her?”
Waters backed up a step. “I’m…not sure what you wanted us to do differently, sir. We told her you were looking for her.”
“And what was her response?”
Waters gulped again, looking more uncomfortable than ever. Cade rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time for this weaselly little man.
“I…I believe her exact words were ‘go fuck yourself’, sir,” Waters replied, looking at the floor.
Well, I had that coming, I guess.
Cade massaged his temples. He’d been getting more migraines ever since Asha left.
It wasn’t just losing her; it was the incredible stress of keeping the Order off his back, while trying to keep Angel’s small empire intact.
Seizing Little River from the Skulls had been a huge headache, but it’d been an effective delaying tactic to avoid sending slaves to the Order.
He’d promised Clyde that after taking over Little River’s slave market—which was larger than any of the markets in the Settlements—they’d be able to supply a higher volume of slaves to meet the Order’s demands.
Now that they’d taken it, however, Clyde was getting impatient.
“Where is she now?” he asked, dropping into a chair.
Waters gave him a confused look. “We don’t know, sir. Her friends killed our men, and then took off.”
Cade’s eyes snapped wide. “You’re telling me that two fucking yokels with hunting rifles took down six of your men without even blinking? How is that fucking possible? How the fuck did you all survive before I turned up?”
By this point, Waters was practically shaking in his well-worn boots.
Cade took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
He wasn’t used to being so close to the end of his fuse all the time.
Since Asha left, his temper had gotten worse.
He’d flown off the handle again at Dom the other day over nothing.
To Dom’s credit, he didn’t even speak; he merely turned on his heel and walked out, leaving Cade alone.
This is why she left you, he berated himself. Get a fucking grip, soldier.
Maybe that was the problem: he was a soldier, not a politician.
Even though taking down Angel had been partly his idea, he’d really had no idea what he was getting himself into.
The sheer logistical and ethical nightmare of dealing with five settlements and appeasing the Order’s constant demand for more bodies was undoing him.
Trying to fix it wasn’t just difficult; it was proving impossible.
She was right, he thought miserably. Of course she was right. And now she’s gone.
“It’s fine,” Cade managed to get out after a couple more deep breaths. “You did what you could, under the circumstances. Give the dead men’s families extra rations for the next six months as compensation.” There. That wasn’t so bad.
Waters looked stunned. “Uh…okay, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Sure,” Cade said gamely, rubbing his eyes, which were now hurting in addition to his head. “You can get the hell out of here.”
Waters left without another word, looking shellshocked.
It took Cade a second to understand that the Skulls probably would’ve inflicted some dire punishment on Waters, or even the people of Little River at large, for their failure to capture a target.
He smiled grimly as he leaned back in his chair.
That’s the Wasteland for you: not one trace of humanity left.
He sat there for a long time, fighting his migraine as he tried to think.
Asha naturally dominated his thoughts, and he wondered where she was, and what she was doing, and if her new friends were treating her right.
He worried that she’d fallen in with someone even more dangerous than himself, someone she may not be able to escape from.
He hated the thought that even now, someone like Angel might be hurting her, and he was once again failing to stop it from happening.
He’d failed her in every conceivable way, and he’d thought he could learn to live with that. Maybe it would be a good thing for her to get away from him and this mess he’d made for them. She’d been so disgusted by him during their last fight.
But the thought of her trapped in another situation where she was being violated made him realize he couldn’t live with that.
He had to find a way to track her down. Just to make sure she was okay.
Not trapped. That she was safe, and warm, and fed.
And then, hell, if she wanted him to leave, he would.
Cade rose to his feet, decided. This wasn’t a frivolous mission.
It was about her safety, and her well-being, and it had nothing—nothing whatsoever—to do with the deep, painful longing just to see her beautiful face again.
Nothing to do with wanting to hold her, and tell her how wrong he’d been, and how sorry he was.
He wasn’t even going to do that, anyway.
It was more like a wellness check than a visit.
A wellness check over possibly hundreds of kilometres, sure, but still.
This was altruism in its purest form.
“So…if I have this right,” Leo said, pacing Cade’s meeting room, “you’re going to leave now to search for Asha. You don’t know where she is, or how far she’s gone, or even what direction she’s traveling. She’s with a group of strangers that we know are armed, and she doesn’t want to see you.”
Cade sighed and rubbed his eyes. Trust good, old, ever-rational Leo to lay out how truly insane his plan was. The doc knew how to cut through the noise.
“I don’t know where she is,” he admitted, “but if I can take down Clyde during his next visit, get access to his PID…I can track her, if she’s in range.”
“From the Order, who we’re trading slaves to, under threat of certain death,” Dom said flatly. “Right?”
Cade winced. “Yeah. I didn’t say it was my best plan.”
Even Dom, usually so impassive, shot Cade a look of incredulity.
“Arguably,” Leo continued, acting as if Cade hadn’t spoken, “the entire power structure of the Guardians will collapse as soon as you leave, which means you’ll never be able to come back.
Everything we’ve worked for, all these months, was for nothing.
And you want Dom and I to stay here, without you, because you somehow imagine you’ll make it on your own in the Wasteland, even though we barely managed it before with the three of us?
And we somehow have to ambush Clyde and take his PID? ”
Cade sighed. “I know it’s crazy. But I can’t see a way for me to stay. I’m not cut out for this, and Asha might be in danger. You know I’m not doing well; you’re the one who’s been giving me the weed to manage my migraines, for God’s sake.”
That seemed to give Leo pause, but Dom broke in: “The Settlements are relying on you.”
“Yeah, well, you know what, Dom?” Cade snapped. “I didn’t sign up to traffic innocent people. If I remember right, the whole point of me taking over was to end that practice. And now, I’m becoming just like Angel.”
“You’re not,” Leo said immediately, but Cade shook his head vigorously.
“No, it’s the fucking truth,” he growled. “That’s what Asha was trying to tell me, and I didn’t fucking listen. I can’t be part of this anymore.”
He blew out a breath. “You know, before Asha came along, I probably would’ve tried harder to make this work, because I was used to being unhappy. The idea of signing on for more years of unhappiness wouldn’t have bothered me because I didn’t know the damn difference.”
It was him pacing now, as though trying to find a path out of this godforsaken place. His chest felt heavy with loss as he trained his eyes on the floor.
“I was happy with her,” Cade croaked. “I’d never felt anything like that before, not with Janie, or with anyone.
With her, I wasn’t just…surviving. Getting through it.
It felt like there was something…I don’t know, purposeful?
About it. Somehow. I just need to see her again—even if it’s stupid and risky. ”
He glanced up to see Leo’s piercing gaze. It was the stare he leveled at patients to get the truth out of them when they lied about drugs or pre-existing conditions. I’m not here to get you in trouble, Cade had heard him say a million times over to some young, plastered private. I’m here to help.
Dom looked largely unmoved, his arms folded over his chest, but then, he always looked like that, so Cade wasn’t sure how to interpret it. There was a pregnant pause.
“So,” Dom said, with his characteristic gravel, “when’re we leaving?”
“Wait, what?” Cade stared at him, stunned.
“It’s October,” Leo said slowly, “so we should probably make a move now. Winter’s coming, and being on the road won’t be easy when it arrives. We’ll have to dry as many of your plants as we can.”
Dom gave a short nod. “There’s lots to harvest.”
“And,” Leo continued thoughtfully, “I should restock my kit. I’ve still got the important things—antibiotics, painkillers, Regenerex—but some more bandages and alcohol couldn’t hurt.”
“Whoa, you guys aren’t coming,” Cade started, but all it earned him was an eyeroll from Dom. “You’re needed here.”
“So are you,” Leo countered, “but that’s not stopping you. Anyway, you’ll die if we don’t, Cap. So, that’s our hands tied.”
“So what?” Cade asked. “Just because I’m going on a suicide mission, doesn’t mean you have to do it with me.”
“If I remember right, we already deserted with you once, right after you murdered a man,” Leo replied sardonically. “This seems tame in comparison.”
“You’re losing your touch,” Dom said, with a rare half-smile.
Cade sighed. “Fine. What do we do about the women? If things are gonna collapse here, I’m not leaving Lana and the girls at the mercy of the men here, or to the Order.”
The three of them fell silent, thinking hard. No matter what they did, there was no perfect solution that led to everyone being totally safe.
“We free the women,” Cade said after a moment. “Give them a choice to stay or go, knowing that the Order is going to come down hard on this place. We give them time to evacuate. Then we hand the place over to Raph.”
“Raph?” Leo asked, surprised. “Why?”
Cade shrugged. “He was one of the people most opposed to the deal with the Order. If we hand command to him, there’s less chance he’ll be willing to comply with their demands.”
“But then everyone here is dead,” Dom said, unconvinced.
“That’s the same situation they’re in now,” Cade pointed out. “Once the women have made their choice, we can offer the men the same one: abandon this place, or stay and try to fight off the Order. My guess is that Raph will convince them to leave and settle elsewhere.”
“And if he does?” Leo asked skeptically, his arms crossed.
“Then we send messengers to the Settlements and tell them the same thing,” Cade replied wearily.
“They can decide for themselves to leave or fight. I really hope for their sakes that they pick the first option, but we can’t force them from their homes.
And we all know that they can’t take on the Order.
That would be true whether we stayed or not. ”
A heavy silence descended before Leo said the thing that Cade didn’t want to think about at all.
“What if we can’t find her, Cap?” he asked sympathetically. “More than that, what will we do if we do find her? We need a new destination.”
At least Cade had thought about the last part. “Ashburn.”
“It’s been two years,” Dom said. “Not gonna be in great shape by now.”
“We’ll rebuild,” Cade said with a shrug. “We did it once.”
He hoped their second pause was indicative of assent, though he couldn’t be sure. He knew the plan was holier than Swiss cheese.
“We have work to do, then,” Dom sighed. “And not much time.”
Cade nodded, and they set to work.
Taking down Clyde wasn’t as difficult as he’d feared it might be.
The man was terminally arrogant, and though he knew Cade was from a compound, he assumed the rest of them were basically unskilled, untrained troglodytes.
He also assumed that Cade would be desperate enough to hold onto power that he’d do whatever he could to keep the Order happy.
But Cade knew now that assholes like Clyde were never satisfied, even when you gave them exactly what they wanted.
They saw capitulation as weakness, and they’d exploit it over and over, asking for more and more, until there was nothing left to take.
They were parasites, and the only way to handle them was to annihilate them.
“Clyde,” Cade said in curt greeting, as the masked man approached the entrance to the clubhouse, flanked by two masked comrades.
“Captain,” Clyde said with false warmth that grated on Cade. “It’s rather quiet this time around. Where is everyone?”
“They’ve been told to shelter in place as a result of your visit.”
It was a lie. They’d evacuated everyone days ago. Those who wanted to go off on their own were allowed to leave. Then Raph had taken control as planned and moved everyone to Silver Creek for the time being. It’d be the easiest settlement to fortify against attack and plan their next move.
“Ah,” Clyde said. “A wise choice. But you have nothing to fear, assuming you’ve come to the right decision.”
“I have,” Cade replied, keeping his face impassive as small red lights appeared on each of the men’s heads. He lifted his hand in the ‘go’ signal and retreated back through the door of the clubhouse before the men had time to react.
Bang. Three simultaneous sniper shots to the head, and all three men lay bleeding on the ground.
Cade dropped next to Clyde, drew his knife, and cut the PID from his belt. To his surprise, Clyde groaned in protest, even as blood pooled rapidly under his head.
“You,” was all he could croak out.
“Me,” Cade replied calmly as he aimed his pistol at Clyde’s head and pulled the trigger.