"Then let's do that. They're far enough away and not looking back. Let's head north, but be careful until they're completely out of sight."

They eased cautiously down the bluff, keeping its bulk between them and the riders for as long as possible, heading north at a fast pace. Jason was obviously still having trouble walking, but he kept moving with a new determination.

As the riders finally vanished from sight behind them, Kira remembered something. "Jason? When we were arguing, I said I wasn't worth millions of lives, and you said something like I was as far as you were concerned. What did you mean by that?"

He kept his head down so Kira couldn't see Jason's expression as he paused before answering. "Um…you're my friend. I mean, someday you might be my friend. Maybe."

"Well, it's kind of ridiculous, Jason. Friends are important, but not that important."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

There was obviously something else that Jason wasn't saying, but at the moment Kira was too busy listening and watching for any other danger to spend time worrying about whatever Jason had meant.

They kept moving north as the sun rose to their right. Jason didn't want to take any breaks, but Kira forced him to, growing more worried about his physical condition. They couldn't afford to take a long stop, but Jason was clearly pushing himself hard.

At one point, as they walked along a higher stretch of the road, she caught some glints of light far to the east and pointed them out to Jason. "There's some cavalry. That's sunlight reflecting off of their helms."

He squinted, his face drawn from effort, sweat drawing lines through the dust. "Why do they still wear armor that gives them away like that? It's not going to stop a bullet."

"It still stops other weapons," Kira said. "I don't know. Change is really hard when nothing changed for such a long time, I guess." She heard something and held up one hand to stop Jason's reply. He waited while she listened, his eyes wide with worry. "It's a wagon," Kira said. "Two horses pulling it."

Jason gave her a baffled look. "How can you tell that?"

"I can hear it!" A moment later the wagon came into view. Kira saw one man on the bench, and a brace of horses trudging steadily ahead. The wagon wasn't covered and had only low sides, so unless someone was lying down there was no one else on it. The driver didn't seem to have any weapons. "Let's wait for him."

Kira waved as the wagon drew near. "Can you give us a ride?"

The man, middle-aged and slightly stout, looking like someone who had spent a life working the fields, pulled back on the reins to bring the wagon to a stop. He eyed Kira and Jason with slow appraisal. "I'm going to Denkerk. Where are you headed?"