Page 109 of Dustwalker
“How long are we staying?” she asked.
“Not much longer. You slept for four hours and thirty-seven minutes. We need to get moving soon.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Four hours wasn’t nearly enough rest. Sitting up with a groan, she pushed aside Ronin’s coat and slowly shrugged off her own. Her every muscle screamed. Even after days spent scavenging or dancing, she’d never been so exhausted.
“Once we reach another settlement, you’ll have time to recover.”
“Will it have a bed, like your house?” She could hope, right? She’d spent all her life sleeping on the hard ground or a threadbare pallet. Nearly a month in Ronin’s house had spoiled her.
He chuckled and used a stick to poke at the fire. “It’s unlikely. You should eat before we go.”
Lara sighed and grabbed her bag, drawing it close. “On it.” She opened it up, removed a strip of dried meat, and took a bite. Around the mouthful, she asked, “Do you think they’ll follow us?”
“It wouldn’t make sense. I broke a rule, and he said to get rid of you. That’s what I’m doing.”
She frowned. “What rule?”
“Humans are not to be keptby bots unless he approves of it.”
She swallowed her food, and her stomach clenched around it, threatening to force it back up her throat. “That’s…that’s what happened to Tabitha, isn’t it?”
Ronin shifted his gaze to the fire and was silent for several long moments. “I think so.”
“Her bot didn’t get rid of her when he was told. So, Warlord did.”
“Or the bot wasn’t deemed valuable enough to the community to earn a warning.”
“But you were.”
“I brought in materials that Cheyenne requires to remain prosperous. That means something to him.”
Lara ran her hands over her hair, sweeping back the strands that had escaped her braid. “He’ll be angry.”
“It’ll spare him the frustration of having to deal with me.” Ronin smirked. “He didn’t care for my disregard for the rules, or my disrespectfulness.”
He was probably right, but Lara couldn’t shake the dread that had taken root in her belly. “Why can’t bots keep humans?”
“Because Warlord hates humans.”
“Yeah, I know. Even before you told me about the journal. I wish you would’ve done that sooner, by the way.”
“What good would it have done, Lara?”
None.
Had he told her earlier, how could she have stood at the window and looked out at that park without thinking of the people who’d been killed there? How could she have existed for even a moment in that house without being completely consumed by fear, especially while Ronin was away? She’d been afraid enough of being discovered by Warlord and his gearheads before she’d known they had slaughtered the people who’d lived in those homes.
She shifted her gaze to the dwindling fire and ate quietly.
“Why does he hate us so much?” she asked after a while.
“I don’t know, Lara.” Ronin shook his head, his brow creasing. “I don’t know. Intense emotions are new to me. Haven’t hated anyone before.”
“It’s an ugly feeling. He allows everyone only a handful of crops and forces us to share one water pump. Couples aren’t allowed more than one child. Sometimes I wonder why he hasn’t just killed us all… But he enjoys it, doesn’t he? The torture, the suffering. Our terror.”
“I don’t know if he enjoys anything. He puts on a steely façade, but underneath… It’s just hatred for humans and a desperate need for control.”
“But he has to feel some enjoyment from it. Why else would he be so cruel?”
