Arriving in Louis City had been disorienting for Adam. Exhaustion had him hallucinating well before he began to realize that the houses, buildings, and other vehicles he was seeing were real. When he looked up in the sky and saw an enormous silver horseshoe, he thought for sure it was just as much a part of his imagination as the fake trucks he’d been seeing on the empty road, the animals he’d thought he’d glimpsed out of the corner of his eyes as he was riding toward the city, and other mysterious elements he’d seen that faded away as soon as he turned his head to look at them.Now, standing in the grass near the landmark he’d been traveling toward even when his body was about to fall off of the bike, holding Rain in his arms, he knew it had all been worth it.If it wasn’t for her scent, the distinct mixture of florals and refreshing water he inhaled with every breath, he might think she wasn’t

“Is she gonna injure herself?” Adam asked after a few moments where the silence of the lonely road did nothing to stop the noises coming from the truck.“Probably,” Rain said, shaking her head. “But that hasn’t stopped her from doing it lots of times since I cut that piece of metal out of her.”Adam snickered and shook his head as well. He was sitting with his ankles crossed, his hands fallen over his knees. Rain tried not to stare at him, tried not to wish his hand was in hers. Something had definitely changed since he’d been back, but she couldn’t quite decipher what it was. Had he become someone different out there on the road, or had she changed while she waited for him? Maybe it was a bit of both. Either way, she didn’t like it.This was the first chance she’d had to speak to him alone since he’d returned. Lots of questions floated around in h

The drive to the border of the Nation of Quebec took another three days, longer than expected, but caution kept them from taking a more direct route. Along the way, Rain and Adam were careful of Seth’s feelings. Unlike their friends, they were able to satisfy their longing for one another with subtleties--a knowing glance, a touch of fingers while passing an object from the front seat to the back, a small smile in the rear view mirror. Seth was a kind person, and he had done right by them, doing so much more than he was obligated to. He could’ve left Rain on the riverbed to die. He could’ve pointed them in the right direction and wished them well. Instead, he was sacrificing so much to take them across several unknown lands that even he had never visited before so that he could ensure their safe arrival. The last thing in the world Rain wanted to do was hurt him.But he knew. It was evident that he did. She could see it in the way that

Another loud blast went off as a shell fired from an artillery vehicle exploded into an armored tank across the lines in the Spanish-America Army ranks. That damn tank had already taken out two transporters and a few of their smaller artillery vehicles. As White watched the large Spanish-American vehicle explode from a fortified bunker on the high ground overlooking the battlefield, she hoped every soul aboard died a horrible, fiery death.The Mothers seemed to be winning, but it was hard to say. Their forces hadn’t been pushed back from their own southern border yet, but then the Spanish-American ranks seemed to fill back in whenever they took a large swath of them out. She knew the southern country was much more densely populated than Michaelanburg, and since they allowed both men and women to fight amongst their military ranks, there was a possibility they could have two or three times the number of soldiers the Mothers had available. They&rsquo

Several days went by. The five of them spent much of their time doing nothing but talking about what might be taking Prime Minister Bissett so long and worrying. They also watched the news. It was obvious the Spanish-American forces were pushing the Mothers back, but the invasion was slow going, and it wasn’t clear whether or not the southern nation would give up and decide to go back home before reaching even the cities of Michaelanburg situated closest to their border.They were listening to one such news report in the room assigned to Mist, since Walt had basically moved in there already and it was easier for the other three to come to them, when a sharp knock at the door drew their attention. Several times during the day, they were interrupted by knocks--food delivery, fresh clothing, someone from the staff checking to see if they needed anything--but this one was different. At the sound of it, Rain’s heart leapt into her throat. All five