Page 54 of Treasured By the Hunter

“This Great Plains group… would you like to go back and visit?”

“Yes,” I said carefully. “As I said, they’re good people.” I didn’t understand where he was going with this.

“I’d like to appoint you our official ambassador.”

Well, that was a surprise. “Does that mean you plan on allying with them?”

“I liked their leaders. Mo is sensible and action-oriented. And Aaron from the Rockies group can think circles around me. We all know we have to fight smarter, not harder.” The corner of his lip lifted, and so did mine.

Connor had said that often.

“And the hunters aren’t bad. My foragers tell me they see them fighting the bugs every day. It would benefit us to ally with them. You said so yourself, they are good people, and I trust your judgment.”

“Thank you.” That was a compliment coming from Clark. “But wouldn’t this cause issues internally? I know some here have a hard stance against aliens.”

“I have Sasha and Gabe working on it. They know who amongst their ranks are most likely to cause issues.”

Sasha and Gabe were heads of the guards here, with Gabe usually managing the force that policed inside the walls and Sasha managing the ones who protected us from outsiders.

“Isn’t Sasha an alien hater himself?”

“He was,” Clark said. “Sasha has fought the mutations from that nest, and so have his men. He was the first to cast his vote to join the fight. A solid group of his men have already volunteered to fight at the nest.”

I was still doubtful, considering all the anti-alien rhetoric I’d heard from him. But then again, people change.

“And it’s time we branched out. We need trade to thrive.”

I nodded. “You guys did amazing with what you had. Sanctuary isn't half-bad.”

He raised his brow. “Even without the video games and water showers on demand?”

Of course, of all the things I had told him about the camp, he’d focus on the video games. Men.

“The showerswerepretty good.”

“I will give Mo a call and let him know we will accept the offer and that you will be joining them as our ambassador. I’m also sending you to that Trader’s Market of theirs. No one else knows about it yet, not even Gabe or Sasha or the advisors. We won’t have anything to trade this year, but—” He shrugged, a hopeful look on his face.

“What about Riley?” I tried convincing her to travel with me New Franklin, but she was adamant that she’d done enough moving about for a lifetime and just wanted to settle down here.

“She’ll stay here. I’ve talked to her already. She’s tired. It was hard work you did connecting communities in such a harsh landscape. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I found Riley chewing her nails and waiting for me outside of Clark’s office, and by the look on her face, she already knew what we’d talked about.

She put her hand out. “I am not saying no forever. Maybe one day, I’ll feel like getting out there again. And this way, you get to come visit every month or so. It’ll be great.”

“I get it,” I said, giving her a hug. “Sometimes, I want to settle down too.”

And that had me thinking of Harb’k. I was going to have to face him if I was going to be Sanctuary’s ambassador to their camp.

We walked through the foyer toward the door to help the survivors clear out the winter crops. With the help of hoophouses and greenhouses, Sanctuary was able to farm the land around it year-round. They’d even had to extend their fences to include another converted block since the last time I was here.

It was late afternoon, so everyone was doing their best to get everything that needed to be done finished before sunset.

“So what are you going to do about… you know?” Riley asked as she pulled up more radishes sweetened by the cold.

She meant Harb’k. I’d told her all about him the moment we’d had some privacy.

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