“We can’t stay here,” Cade said as Quintus snored softly. “We’re better off stopping at the—”

“—place that smells of death?” Scott interjected.

“Can you give me a break?” Cade snapped.

Scott froze, surprised by Cade’s reaction.

“Hey,” Grace said, giving Scott a gentle nudge. “Give the plan a chance. Has Cade ever let us down? He’s a player.”

“You can say that again,” Amber said, flashing Cade a smile. She swatted him playfully.

It was enough to lift some of the tension, and Cade sighed. It felt good to be so close to her. He’d been so engrossed in their survival, he’d hardly had a chance to talk to her.

“You know what I mean,” Grace said, grinning. “Cade knows this game. Knows how Abaddon thinks. If this smelly place was part of Abaddon’s plan for the Romans, at the very least we can find out what was there.”

Cade felt his head nodding, his chin bouncing on his chest. It would be so easy to sleep here. The cabin was already warming to the sun’s rays above.

But he could not allow them to rest. They had to move on, make camp in the spot where they had the best chance of discovering what new tools Abaddon had given the Romans.

“You know, this might all be a waste of time,” Yoshi said. “The Romans definitely checked out this death place, right? So what could we possibly find there that they overlooked?”

Cade shrugged. “Our advantage has to be the Codex. It sounds like the Romans attacked so soon after their arrival, they didn’t have time to find out what everything was. Marius said he only learned what the cannons were because Louis Le Prince told him.”

He thought a moment longer. “In fact, that’s a second thing. Even without the Codex, we are modern humans. More so than even Louis—if they could understand him properly then. Maybe there’s something there that he wouldn’t have recognized.”

“A rocket launcher?” Scott joked.

“Maybe,” Cade said, dead serious. “It could be a tank for all we know.” He sighed. “We won’t know for sure until we go there. But I know there’s something we can use. There has to be.”

“Well, all right, then,” Scott announced, leaping to his feet, then wincing and clutching his head. “Oh man, I think I need some water.”

Cade smiled and handed him his amphora.

“Thanks. And hey, I didn’t mean to put you down earlier. Just making a bad joke.”

Cade shook his head. “We’re all exhausted, man. Don’t worry about it.”

“You are right though,” Amber said, standing too. “We need to get going. I say we pull Quintus along; he’s had even less sleep than we have. I don’t know how accurate that map is, but it looks close. Maybe we can get there before nightfall, investigate in the daylight, and finally sleep when the sun sets.”

“Now you’re speaking my language,” Yoshi said. “I don’t care how bad it smells. I’d crawl up an elephant’s ass if I could get some sleep.”