The layer of grit in the sky seemed thicker despite the heavy rain the night before, and Angela tried to avoid looking at the suburbs of identical condos crammed together across from the field. It sickened her to see how many had corpses of starved pets in backyards and front windows, most still appearing to be looking, searching for the Masters who had left them to such an awful fate.

"We have to come to some terms before we go any farther together."

Her eyes swung to his, a sweet smile of relief lighting up her tired face and making him suck air into lungs that felt too small. Marc watched her happiness cool, knew instinctively she was waiting to see if she could pay the price he was about to demand. "First and most important, I'll teach you to use your gun and some basic self-defense."

Angela nodded, frowning at the thought of being close enough to him (to any man!) long enough to learn something like that. "Okay, to both."

"Good. We'll plan routes together, share the chores, and I'll keep my distance as best I can and still protect you. In return, I'll need more than an introduction. It can wait until you decide about your man, but then they'll both have to be told so I can spend time with my son."

She frowned again. The things he wanted were fair, reasonable, but there was still great fear in her heart. "Agreed, anything else?"

Marc waved a hand, dark blue eyes smoky, serious, "Yes. I'll need to know things about your life, and that we'll leave for when you're ready, but on the way I'd like you to tell me about...Charlie. Everything I missed. Bedtime stories, any pictures you have?"

She gave him a small smile that didn't reach her cold eyes, and he wondered what about his words she hadn't liked. All of it? Angela gave him another nod, a thin smile. "Is that it? Good. Now, I have conditions. First and most important, we will travel every day. I'm in a hurry, and I want that clear up front. Second, you're in charge, but when I say to change direction, we do it. We'll use the maps, but I'm tracking him too, and I trust me."

Marc thought she sounded like a mother bear protecting her cub, and for a man who hadn't had anything but guilt and loneliness for a long time even before the War, it was very attractive. "Agreed, next?"

"Next is last. When we get there, do as I ask and abide by my choice. I want no violence if it can be helped."




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