—

Maisie forced herself to eat some food, and managed to get upright about half an hour later. Doc peered at her disapprovingly as they headed up the basement stairs.

“You know you’re running around with a broken hand?” she asked.

“The stabbing pain makes it hard to ignore,” Maisie responded.

“It hurts?” Lennon asked. “Did Hadley pack any pain meds?”

“Yeah, there’s some numbing cream. I’ll put some on in a minute.” She smiled at Doc. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I knew your father.”

Maisie’s smile faltered, because it was hard to know if people meant that in a good or bad way. She nodded.

“We were friends, pre-zone,” she said. “He helped me a few times. Figure we’re even now.”

Maisie thanked her again and followed Lennon out the door. She pulled the numbing cream from the backpack and spread some on her hand. Pain meds would be better, and she had some, but she couldn’t afford to be foggy right now. She still felt a little off balance from the sedative.

“Doc thinks we’ll have an easier time now that curfew has passed,” Lennon said. “We probably shouldn’t have tried to move at night at all. Patrol is really heavy then, apparently.”

Her gaze caught on a flashing light coming from the radio in the backpack. She pulled it out. “Hey, Hadley.”

“Hey! You’re awake!”

“Yeah, I’m up. We’re just leaving Doc’s.”

“Oh good, I was—wait, ‘we’? Why is Lennon still with you?”

Maisie looked at Lennon in confusion. “Why wouldn’t he be with me?”

“Queso told me that Doc was offering you a spot on a truck to the gate! They didn’t tell you, Lennon?”

Lennon ran a hand through his hair. “No, they did. I didn’t go.”

Maisie gaped at him. “Why not?”

“Because I promised to help you get the shipment first.”

His eyes met hers, and her stomach flip-flopped.

“That’s nice, but very dumb, Lennon,” Hadley said.

“Very dumb,” Maisie echoed softly.

“I was supposed to just leave you unconscious in some strange woman’s house in the worst territory in the north?” One side of his mouth lifted.

She was blushing. Shit. She wanted to touch his stupid hair again.

“I was actually about to figure out just how deeply Maisie was screwed now that she was alone,” Hadley said. “So, I’m glad you’re not, hon.”

“Me too,” Maisie said faintly. She tore her gaze away from Lennon’s because that half-smile was really distracting. “Uh, we’re fine. We should have an easier time now that it’s daylight, and we’re not far from Val’s Territory. I’ll call you when we get there, okay?”

“Okay.”

LENNON

LIKE DOC HAD said, the walk was much easier in the daylight. They stuck to the edge of town, and were able to veer off into an old, unused back road as they got closer to the edge of East Spencer territory. The narrow two-lane road wasn’t fit for cars anymore—there were huge holes and debris in the road—but it was beautiful. The trees on either side were huge, providing shade as the sun rose higher in the sky.