Page 7 of Whispers and Warriors
He traced a finger along the map, his brow furrowed in concentration. The coordinates made no sense. If a mole worked within base, this person they drove toward absolutely did not work or live on the base. There were too many hours to drive between the two points. It was a gamble, trusting an unknown source, but their options were limited.
“Whoever sent that transmission risked a lot to get us this information,” Alex mused, his voice low and thoughtful. “They must have a damn good reason for wanting to help us.”
Liam wasn’t the least bit surprised Alex came to a similar conclusion—they all usually did.
I just hope they don’t mean to harm Emma.
Liam tried to push the thought back, but even after hearing the transmission himself, he worried it was just as dangerous to go there as it was to stay on base.
He couldn’t shake the nagging sense of unease that coiled in his gut, a lifetime of hard-earned instincts warning him to be wary of hidden agendas. Trust was a luxury they could hardly afford in this brutal new world, where betrayal apparently lurked around every corner. And yet, what choice did they have? To stay on base was to invite certain death, a fate he refused to accept. Not for himself, and certainly not for Emma.
Emma.
Just the thought of her name sent a pang of longing through his chest. He ached to be in the back with her now, to pull her into his arms and shield her from the fear and uncertainty that clouded her lovely face. She was the heart of their little band of survivors, the glue that held them together through unimaginable horrors. To see her so shaken, so vulnerable, tore at every fiber of his being.
But as much as he yearned to comfort her, Liam knew his place was up front, pouring over the map and making sure Alex didn’t make any wrong turns.
The others would look after Emma, offering reassurance and support in their own unique ways. Chris with his steady strength, William with his quiet compassion, Bash with his gruff protectiveness—each of them would do whatever it took to keep her grounded, to keep them all grounded.
And then there was Ranger, of course. That dog would sooner chew off his own leg than let any harm come to Emma. Liam would do the same for the dog, but he suspected the playful lab had grown on all of them, reminding them of better times. Times that he needed to ensure Emma knew might be harder toreach than Chris let on. He’d deal with the big guy later if he was pissed.
Liam turned in his seat, meeting Emma’s worried gaze. “Em, listen. There’s something else you need to know about that transmission.” He kept his voice low and steady, not wanting to alarm her further but knowing she deserved the whole truth.
He took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts. “The coordinates we received weren’t just for some random location in the mountains. They came with a set of instructions, a way to contact the person who can allegedly get us to a real safe haven.”
Her eyes widened, a flicker of what must be hope warring with trepidation in their depths. “A person? Who? How do we know we can trust them?”
“We don’t,” Liam admitted, reaching out as if he could take her hand through the small window, but that was impossible. He flexed his fingers as if he had only been stretching instead of reaching for the impossible. “But right now, it’s the only lead we’ve got. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit around and wait for the government to hunt us down in that apartment.”
Emma bit her lip, clearly torn. Liam could practically see the gears turning in her head as she weighed the risks against the potential rewards. Finally, she nodded, her jaw set with determination. “Okay. So, what’s the plan? How do we find this mystery contact?”
“That’s the easy part for you all. Just sit back while Alex mans the wheel, and I make sure he doesn’t drive us into a mountainside.” He made a show of turning around and playfully shifting the wheel.
“Haha, I see you’ve got jokes now?” Alex snickered, but didn’t take his eyes off the road.
“It’ll be okay, you know that, right?” Liam didn’t look up, but he knew Emma would understand he was speaking to her.
“I trust you all, it’s not that. But being on the road, it brings up…”
Marcus.
She didn’t need to say it for Liam to know where she went when she got scared. It wasn’t just the bombs that scared her anymore, and they were partially to blame for that.
“That should have never happened,” Chris snarled and cleared his throat. “We let you down in ways we’ll never be able to apologize for, but there’s no one getting through us to you ever again. Not even our own.”
“We’re going to make it, Emma,” Liam whispered fiercely. “I swear to you on everything I hold dear. We will find a way to keep you safe.”
“How can we be sure this transmission is legit? Aside from thinking the end game is a trap, what if you heard some silly old movie being broadcast or that it wasn’t a test from the base command to see who you all are loyal to?” The worry in her tone was palpable, reflecting the unease they all felt.
Bash’s gruff reply came from the front seat, his eyes never leaving the road. “We can’t.” His words hung heavy in the air. “But the danger they mentioned, it tracks with what we know.”
Liam nodded, his jaw tightening. Bash’s blunt assessment was spot on. They were flying blind, chasing a lead that could very well be a trap. But what choice did they have? Staying put meant certain death.
“Let’s not doomsday. The world does that enough for us,” Liam called out, his voice cutting through the tension. “We’ve got about an hour ahead of us. With any luck, no one back at base will have noticed our absence yet.”
William, hunched over a laptop in the back, glanced up and met Liam’s gaze. “I disabled the tracking systems on the apartment door before we left. As far as they know, we’re still onsite. I’m watching that damn dot and won’t take my eyes off it till the battery dies.”
“And I killed the truck’s tracker weeks ago. There’s a dummy one on there, and it’ll keep transmitting a location just inside the base to keep them hopefully chasing their tails for a few hours.
