Chapter 61 - Gage
Dawn breaks slowly over the fields, a pale smear of gold barely cutting through the morning haze.
I’m walking. Again. My thighs are sore, my feet ache, and I can’t stop thinking about her.
Every fucking step I take is for her. For that soft smile, those gorgeous eyes.
For the way she always pretends she’s fine, even when she’s cracking inside.
I need to see her. Need to know she’s safe.
Brannick caught a scent yesterday morning on the wind while we were packing up camp.
He said it smelled like his kind, which, considering he’s a giant wolf that sometimes growls at pop cans and is afraid of rabbits, could mean anything.
He got twitchy with his ears going alert, eyes scanning the tree line like something might come leaping out of the shadows.
“I will leave you now. I’ll move faster alone. If they’re my kind, I need to meet with them and see if they have news from home. You will complete your quest alone, my new friend.”
Even though we just met, I feel a connection to this man from a strange world and I can’t help but worry about all the dangers here that he won’t know about. I reach down and lift the rifle into my hands, holding it out for him to look at. “Do you have these types of weapons in your world?”
He shakes his head. “I have been confused as to why you carry this metal stick with you. It cannot be much of a weapon as it does not even have a sharpened edge to it.”
I turn away from him and lift it to my shoulder, pointing at a tree thirty feet away.
“It’s not a stick and it doesn’t need to have a sharp edge.
It does far more damage than any blade could.
” And then I pull the trigger. The sharp noise of the shot has Brannick jumping back with wide eyes that quickly narrow.
“It is made to deafen someone? I still don’t see how…”
“Go look at that tree up close and then you will.”
He looks at me with suspicion but goes over to the tree. I watch his shoulders tense up as his fingers run over the damaged bark and the hole the bullet created. When he turns back to me, his expression is thunderous. “You said there was no magic in this world!”
“That wasn’t magic, Bran, it was a bullet.
Look at what it did to that hard tree. Now imagine what it will do to flesh and bone.
You need to watch out for these types of weapons.
They come in different sizes. Some are long like this, some are small enough to fit in a man’s hand, but all of them will do incredible damage to a body. ”
I hold the rifle out to him and show him the dangerous end of it as well as the bullets and trigger.
He leans closer to study but then rears back with an explosive sneeze.
He shakes his head hard and rubs at his nose with a scowl.
“It smells like tainted, rotting iron.” His eyes lift from the rifle and meet mine with the most serious expression I’ve seen from him so far.
“This weapon is evil, my friend. You should melt it down and bury it.”
I set the rifle down again. “In the wrong hands, it may be evil, yes. But so is any weapon in the wrong hands. Just keep an eye out for them, especially in your wolf form. That beast would make for a very tempting prize for a hunter.”
Brannick reaches across and clasps my forearm so I grab his. “Thank you for the warning, friend. I have the scent of it now and will be vigilant for it going forward.”
It feels wrong to leave him after everything, but he’s not wrong.
I need to keep going. He takes off my sweatpants, getting ready to shift.
"Hold on a minute," I tell him as I get an idea. I drop the last half-empty pack of jerky into one of the legs and tie them into a loop that he can put around his wolf’s neck after he shifts.
He leans in to hug me but I hesitate as his giant dick sways my way and teach him how to bump fists instead, making him laugh.
“Be well, Stoneheart.”
“You too, Wolfman.”
I watch him shift and vanish into the trees like a ghost and I'm shocked at how alone it makes me feel. Now I kind of wish I had accepted that hug.
Since then, it’s been me. Just me, the open fields, and the creeping dread that I’m too late and something horrible might have happened at home.
I ditched the ATV in Calgary after putting holes in all of the tires.
I was trying to get around a rolled-over transport and didn't realize that it was a truckload of nails strewn across the road until it was too late.
There were people around and I got distracted by the way some of them were eyeing up my transportation.
Some were crying and others were shouting, desperate for answers that none of us have.
A few were looting a grocery truck like it was Christmas morning.
One guy had a machete. Not cutting anything, just waving it around like a warning.
Where do you even get a machete in fucking Canada?
I walked away from that real fast. I walked the ring road that goes around the city, not wanting any part of the 1.
5 million people losing their shit. It took hours to get around it and away from the chaos.
I slept under an overpass last night in hopes of avoiding anyone and woke up even more tired and sore.
But I kept walking, what else could I do?
I have to get home. I found a beat-up hatchback with its door ajar and keys dangling from the ignition like a gift from the gods an hour south of the city.
I hesitated, having never stolen anything in my life.
Not even a pack of gum. But I had Luna in my head, my heart beating loud with her name.
I took the car.
I managed to get within about an hour of my town before it overheated.
Steam poured from under the hood and all the dash lights lit up.
So, I left it and started walking again.
And always, always thinking of her. Thinking about how I’m going to ask her to be mine.
Ask her to take a chance on us. Tell her that I don’t want to pretend anymore that she’s not the woman I want to spend my life with.
That I’m done waiting for the right time.
The right time is now. I don’t care about leaking magic, strange powers, people losing their shit. The world can burn for all I care. I just want her. Once we are back together we can figure out the rest.
I keep putting one foot in front of another, zoned out as I picture her the way she’s all rumpled and sleep-soft when she’s just woken up and stumbles into the kitchen with cute, grabby hands reaching for coffee.
I think about the way she laughs when she’s exasperated with me, like I’ve pushed her just far enough to make her threaten violence but not far enough that she actually means it.
I think about how she looks when she doesn’t think anyone’s watching, sad and lonely.
And how badly I want to make her feel safe.
Feel wanted, loved. I’m not the best with words.
Never have been, but when I see her again, I’ll find the ones that matter.
The sun’s almost overhead now. I’m finally nearing the outskirts of town as fields turn into post-apocalyptic subdivisions, half-built and half-burned.
Smoke curls from a couple of roofs in the distance, and the smell of fire lingers in the air like something permanent.
I spot the Welcome sign for the town and pick up my pace. Almost there.
I’m getting excited to be almost home when I hear danger up ahead.
Someone yells in outrage and multiple hard voices bark back orders.
A gunshot rings out and a few people scream.
What the fuck is happening in my town? I duck to the side and crouch low behind one of the abandoned cars lining the road into town and peer out.
Whatever’s going on, I need to be ready.
I’m too close now to get mixed up in shit I don’t have time for.
I frown in confusion at what I see down the road.
There’s a roadblock ahead with barricades that completely close the road.
There are even a couple of armored trucks and soldiers.
Not cops or rent-a-security guys. These guys look like serious military, full camo, guns drawn, yelling at people to get out of their vehicles.
I just traveled a good portion of this province and didn’t see a single soldier, not even around Calgary.
So what the fuck are they doing here in my small town?
I know there’s a training base not that far away from here, but why wouldn’t they have been deployed to the bigger city centers instead of here?
I crouch lower and keep watching, trying to understand.
One by one, folks are being forced from their cars and loaded onto a bus. No explanations or questions. Just herded away and not in a very nice way. These guys seem like they’re enjoying the power a little too much right now.
As I watch, my fists clench. This isn’t right. None of this is right. If they tried to pull that shit on Luna… No. No, they won’t because I’m getting there first and they’ll have to go through me if they want to touch her.
I grip the straps of my pack, adjust the rifle slung to the side as my heart pounds like a drum. Not much farther now, but I need to know what’s happening here first, so I slip from the road and shadow the bus from a street over when it moves out.