Knowing they will have to carry Ruby and the children, he looks inward for some kind of magical wisdom, anything to untether them from this burden.
But then he looks back at Ruby. His will solidifies, and the world feels winnable again.
He scoops her into his arms. He squints his eyes, ignoring the wind that freezes each limb. The exhaustion that wears on every joint. All of it, he throws aside for the chance at a better future.
He doesn’t know if it’s possible, but he knows one thing.
This is more than pack blood. This is family. This is the alpha-omega bond.
He won’t let either of them down.
Right when he thinks this will be his energizing moment, another set of alphas appear over a hill. Red beams shine over his eyes, and an ear-cutting alarm sends him to the ground, screaming.
“There’s more of them?” he asks.
Vash checks his ammunition. He isn’t sure he has enough bullets to win.
But he has to keep pushing.
Lucas
“Rover’s pushing eight hundred miles,” Aiden says.
Lucas opens his eyes, wind whipping across his face. He had been dreaming of Rae, lying near him in bed. She gazed into his eyes, laugh lighting up the entire room. The kind of dream you never want to end. But when he wakes up, everything has disappeared from him.
He still doesn’t have the girl. He doesn’t even have his kids.
“Aiden,” Lucas yawns. “Would you say I’m a bad father?”
Aiden glances in his mirror. “I don’t know if we can make it much longer. Engine’s giving me trouble,” he says.
“I guess I haven’t set a great example for them,” Lucas says. “But this is who I am. I grew up in war. I’m a pack alpha. I’m still trying to figure my shit out. But I’m trying to move on. That’s something, right?”
An electrifying noise pops and sizzles below them. Gravity shifts as the Rover sends the two flying into the snow-covered sand.
Groaning, Aiden stands and wipes the snow off his wear. “I just got that thing serviced,” he says. “It’s toast.”
Lucas lies back. The snow melts into his hair. “We must walk the rest of the way. What does the GPS say?”
It’s been hundreds of miles and, truth be told, Lucas has found a soft spot for Aiden’s blue psychotropic drink.
He guzzles it down.
Aiden pulls away the leather drink pouch. “Easy on that, brother. You never know when you’ll need your sanity,” Aiden says.
An infectious haze taunts them; Lucas squints but can see what direction they’re headed. It’s white as far as the eyes can see. White with a yellow sky.
The sun hides behind a dark set of clouds.
“GPS is shot,” Aiden says with a worried glare.
Lucas pulls out a compass, but the dial won’t stop spinning.
“Electromagnetic activity is through the roof,” he says. “Iron Eye must be close, but where the hell is it?”
The temperature is only slightly painful. Soon, the snow will fall again. He’s sure of it. Maybe, if they’re lucky, they could make it another day on foot, but he can feel his toes numb.
This isn’t what he expected. Not by a long shot. In his naivety, he thought he’d be with her by now, fucking her senseless.