Chapter 23
Beckett plowedhis way across the expanse of the 118th floor, and pulled, with effort, the door open and jogged the stairs to the rooftop, arriving just as two men descended from the now-landed helicopter. Beckett presented himself and met the captain, Hansworth, and the copilot, Janson, and directed them to the pile of boxes he and Luna had filled.
Hansworth said, “We don’t have enough fuel for a big load. We can only take two—the equipment.” He pointed at the equipment boxes. “Grab what you need out of the others.”
Beckett helped them heft the two boxes deemed worthy of transport and then flipped open the lid on his own trunk and grabbed his toiletries bag, a pair of shoes, his pillow, his Great-great-great-grandmother’s quilt, and his book of Calvin and Hobbes comics. He raised the pile questioningly. Hansworth nodded, and then he and Janson climbed into the helicopter to prepare for take off.
Beckett stood in the middle of the Outpost, his home for almost five months. He did a small turn to check for anything else he might need, mindful that right now Anna was paddling, performing her own turn, heading east to meet him a long, long way away.