“Time’s up,” Cam told him with a grin. “It was Uncle Nick’s beard.” It took me a moment to remember that Bryce’s first name was Nicholas, but when I did, I couldn’t hide my laugh again.
“Almost an animal, at this point,” Arlonne pointed out. Poor Bryce was on the other side of our fire circle with Chandry next to him, just to make sure he was okay. I shook my head at the game and gestured for Cam to help me with the tents for the night. He stood immediately, all business. The clouds above us looked angry, and I doubted rainfall in the Leftovers was going to be as kind as mortal rain. With our luck it might contain an acid or contact poison. Dorian and Cam had shared their experiences with the trees earlier, and their words were fresh in the back of my mind as we carefully pinned up the tarps in their tent positions. A sentient forest that created traps made my stomach twist with worry.
For the moment, we didn’t plan on leaving the vicinity of the gate. It was too dangerous. Sike’s scanners had a map of it now, but we had the civilians to worry about. We couldn’t take them to the Immortal Plane.
We were low on food, although Dorian thankfully had thought to grab the rations he’d found at the abandoned city, and we needed to figure out how to get more. I didn’t want to abandon the mission just to take the civilians back. We’d nearly killed ourselves getting out here successfully, and we had no plane to fly us out.
I mentally counted the rations we had. If we ate wisely, we had enough emergency food to stretch for a few more days. During that time, I wanted to continue our search of the area. There was no point in staying put if the trees just wanted to kill us. A surge of frustration tore through me. The airplane crash had happened so fast. One day, we were setting out on our first mission for the company, and the next—boom. I’d failed everyone in that moment. I should’ve kept a closer eye on Cam. We should’ve confronted the monster outside our plane. A million “should’ves” waged war in my mind.
Cam glanced at me, likely noticing how tightly I was glaring at the makeshift tent pole.
“I’m sorry about before,” he muttered. Nobody else was paying attention to us. My anger abated in the face of his apologetic look. His new friend, Finn, peeked his head out over Cam’s shoulder, as if to help guilt me. The rodent was sort of cute, in a weird Leftovers kind of way. “It won’t happen again.”
I exhaled slowly. “What’s done is done. I expect you to follow orders next time, but… I understand why you did it. I have a soft spot for wounded creatures, too.” Finn reached out a tentative paw and batted my shoulder. I smirked. “Just don’t feed him all your rations, okay? And I can’t stop the lecture from Bryce.” Actually, Cam might not get a lecture, if Bryce woke up and remembered why he passed out…
The activity with Cam distracted me for a few moments. We hadn't found my parents or the survivor from the office, which compounded all my worries. I needed to talk to Dorian about the voices from the Immortal Plane, as well.
"If you can do a supply inventory next, that would be great," I told Cam. He nodded and hopped to it. While I had a rough idea of what we had in terms of technology and equipment, I knew that we’d lost a lot of our tools when the plane went down. The plane's presence was intended to help us transport survivors, but that wasn't happening anymore. At least in my bag, I had an emergency beacon to summon backup… but it was backup that wasn't on Callanish's payroll. Our budget had been immediately slashed in half with the loss of the plane, at least until our insurance paid out. Now, I understood a bit better why the government had given us so much. Good thing Bryce had insisted we buy extensive insurance. Things happen that you don't plan for.
I headed over to the fire to check the wood situation. Earlier, I had managed to grab a few more dry branches and break them up for kindling. I fed one to the flames, watching as the fire ate it up eagerly. Sike had left his scanner for me and suggested I check out the map. I picked it up halfheartedly, feeling doubly frustrated because Dorian was here, and I couldn't even throw my arms around him for a proper hug. Lance, under his new cover story, was safe and sound, but Jennifer and her weird boyfriend were watching us like hawks.
I highly doubt they survived for three months out here. It seemed more like they had accidentally stumbled into the Leftovers after picking a bad spot to vacation. But I had no proof, and if their story turned out to be legitimate, they could sue the government and my company for damages. If they were trespassing, though, they would be in trouble with the Bureau. Jennifer seemed like the type to enjoy involving herself in legal disputes. The way she bossed around her partner also made me uncomfortable. I’d never treated Dorian that way, and I could do nothing but ignore him now.
There were downsides to being married to a vampire. Who would have thought?
Quit your complaining and let's focus. I looked at the map of the surrounding area, noting a blank section where we hadn't explored. Dorian and Cam had come from that direction, so now we knew that there was an immortal city over there. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jennifer playing around with their high-tech camera. It was odd to continue filming so
