‘Relax, BK ,’ Nine says, waving at him. ‘Consider this a little light training before we head to Ohio.’

‘Right. We’re training now,’ I spit, pulling myself to my feet. ‘With everything we just learned.’

Nine throws a jab and I deflect it. But I can’t do the same for his right hook. My ribs feel like they just got hit with a battering ram. I fall to my knees, clutching my middle, and he side-kicks my sternum, knocking me flat on my back.

‘Come on, man!’ he yells down at me. ‘Step it up, why don’t you? You think you can charge into the desert, take on whatever enemy comes your way, but you can’t take me?’

I spring to my feet and surprise him with a clean punch to the gut. As he doubles over, I knee him in the mouth.

‘ That’s what I’m talking about, Four!’ Blood spills from his split lips, but he’s beaming at me. We circle each other. ‘Tell you what. Since you’re showing signs of giving me a decent run, I’ll make you a deal. You beat me, we go to New Mexico. Immediately. I’ll even let you drive. But if I win, we spend a couple more hours here, figure some shit out, and come up with a real plan. Then, we go back to Paradise and head down that well.’

‘And you call me a coward,’ I say.

We continue to circle each other and we each land some devastating blows. I hear one of Nine’s ribs snap when I connect with my right elbow. I swing around with my other elbow, but he delivers a hard kick to my left knee. Cartilage rips and pain sears through my leg. Limping, I’m able to throw a few more punches, but I can’t move, giving Nine a huge advantage. He leaps behind me and kicks my other leg out from under me. My head hits the floor and the world goes white. When I get my bearings, Nine has my arms pinned to with his knees. The fight is over. And with it goes our chances for finding the Garde out west.

‘I’ll get a healing stone,’ Nine says, slowly standing. With blurred vision, I watch him hold his side as he leaves the room. Bernie Kosar whimpers.

‘This is bullshit, you know that?’ I yell after him. ‘You can’t just decide things like this! That Garde in New Mexico could die on their own and you don’t even care!’

Nine’s voice booms through the apartment. ‘We’re soldiers, Johnny! And soldiers die. We were sent here to train and fight and some of us aren’t going to make it. That’s the nature of war.’