Page 119 of Dustwalker
“He has a small army around himself. Who could oppose that?”
“Other bots, like you.” She lifted her head to meet his eyes.
“I’m only one. Even if I managed to walk up to Warlord and deactivate him permanently, I’d never get out in one piece.”
Lara flung her hand toward Newton. “He’s the fuckingProphet! You recognized him. Wouldn’t others? There must be bots in Cheyennewho trust Newton, who owe him their lives. If the Prophet openly opposed Warlord, more would rise up with him.”
“The Prophet is a legend, Lara,” Newton said. “I’m just a robot who assisted in scientific research and experimentation.”
“But they’d listen to you. You know things, and you turned a lot of them on, didn’t you?”
Newton raised his hands, turning them to look at his scratched palms. “I reactivated them, yes, but it was individuals like Warlord who provided them the things they require to function properly.”
“Roninprovides the things they need. Him and the other dustwalkers are the ones bringing in scrap.”
“That’s true,” Ronin said, “but it doesn’t matter. I’m still an outsider in Cheyenne, existing apart from the community he built.”
“Built? Humans built Cheyenne, he just took it over.” Lara pulled away from him. How could she not feel guilty for leaving now, having learned all this? She hadn’t even said a word to Gary and Kate, who’d helped her despite having no obligation to do so, whose lives hung by a thread that Warlord could cut at any moment, especially now that Kate was expecting another baby. “He’ll kill them all, every single one of them. It’s just a matter of time. We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
Newton met her gaze. “What would you have us do? Are the three of us to walk into the center of town and proselytize in an attempt to rally robots to our cause? You know what he’s capable of, Lara. You’ve seen it firsthand.”
“The humans would fight. We’ve got nothing else to lose. And what about the people at the base? If you told them what he’s doing, would they just sit back and wait until he eventually finds them?”
“We can’t go back to Cheyenne, Lara.” There was steel in Ronin’s voice. “It’s not safe for you.”
“Is anywhere safe?” She closed her eyes and shakily inhaled.
Her throat was tight, and she was on the verge of crying. She knew she was asking a lot, knew she was pushing against forces beyond her control. But even if she didn’t personally know all of them, Cheyenne’s humans were her people, and they’d lived in fear under a needlessly cruel, vindictive tyrant for longer than anyone could remember. He’d stomped his boot onto their backs to keep their faces down in the dirt, and the conditions he imposed on them had slowly scraped away the compassion and humanity people must once have had.
Like he was making them as empty as he’d become.
Lara had seen it all around. The weariness and wariness in everyone’s expressions, the despair, the gleam of hunger in the eyes of the malnourished children running and playing in the filthy streets. It was suffering she’d known firsthand all her life.
She hated feeling so helpless, hated that there was nothing she could do about it. The whole situation, the whole town, was wrong, it was fucked up, but what were her options?
Run away and live…or return and die. Getting herself killed wouldn’t help even a single damned person.
“You’re right,” she whispered. “We can’t go back.”
“It may be difficult to believe,” Ronin said gently, curling a warm finger under her chin and guiding her eyes to his, “but there is an entire world beyond Cheyenne. We can make a future somewhere, and this may be the only chance we have to do so together.”
Lara nodded. However terrible the situation was in Cheyenne, she had something to live for. Someone to live for. Mental exhaustion tumbled atop her, weighing her down; this was all too much, too fast. She sagged in Ronin’s embrace and rested her head on his shoulder.
Newton said something quietly, but she’d already closed her eyes and stopped paying attention.
Once the storm was over and they left this place, she’d see the world, and she was glad Ronin would be the one to show it to her.
But she knew, in the deepest part of her heart, there’d always be a patch of gloom casting a shadow on her happiness because she’d done nothing to help the others.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Ronin sat on the edge of the bed, turned so he was perpendicular to Lara. The position afforded him a perfect view of her. She lay on her back beside him, serene in sleep, and he slowly traced her features with his optics.
Despite all the time he’d spent studying her, committing every bit of her to his memory banks, his wonder only grew each time he looked upon her. It shouldn’t have been possible for her beauty to grow, and yet she was only more stunning with each moment. The dark lashes brushing her cheeks, those shapely eyebrows, those pink, tender lips, the gentle upturn of her nose…
Just looking upon her like this made him feel so full, so warm. He still didn’t understand those feelings. Perhaps he never would. But one of the many things he’d learned over the last few weeks was that understanding was not necessary for fulfillment. It wasn’t necessary for joy. All he had to do was look at his wife, his Lara, and know that he was where he belonged, that he had found his place.
Delicately, he brushed his fingers over her cheek and watched her lashes flutter open.
