Free Flicker by Anya Monroe

wish I’d been the one offering protection. Instead it was Charlie the cowboy, who was here for us. He was willing to shoot men down to protect strangers, and now we’re in his debt.
    “I don’t mean you any harm.” He hangs his rifle over his shoulder. “Look, I was coming down to the water on my horse when I heard screams. I followed them until I found you. I only wanted to help.” He pushes dark hair from his face, dropping his eyes. His worn-out gaze shows me he has no agenda.
    As thankful as I am for the help he’s given us, I’m still scared of this guy. Walking in, shooting everyone he sees, he isn’t someone to trust. Mom walks over to me and I take her hand, surprised by the unsteadiness of her grip, the apprehension that pulses through her body. I hold on to Mom for dear life, not wanting to stay around a second camp of dead men any longer.
    “You can’t go walking around like this, you know,” he continues. “This is going to happen again. There are no women out here. Look, I don’t know where you come from, but here in the wild, it’s a man’s world. Next time they’ll do worse. You’re lucky I was here or you’d have been theirs, forever.” He points to the men lying on the ground.
    I don’t know if he is right or not, or why I should believe him, but he saved us when he didn’t have to.
    “What do you think we should do?” I ask, my quiet voice returning.
    “Lucy, stop. We’re going to join The Light. Do you know where they are?” she asks Charlie. His shoulders stiffen when Mom mentions our plans.
    “I know The Light.” His words are slow and deliberate. “But I’ve got to tell you, there’s another way.” He looks at me like he wants to say more but hesitates, allowing Mom time to answer.
    “We aren’t interested,” Mom says. “We almost died and I’ve learned my lesson, I’m not taking any more chances. I’m getting my daughter to safety if it’s the last thing I do. We’re not joining some vigilante militia of yours.”
    Her eyes flare with intensity at the words she speaks, and my own well with tears. Of course I know she would do anything to keep me safe, she did as much at the compound when everyone else took their lives. Still, there’s relief in hearing her say that out loud, because even if I question her ways, I know her plan is pure. She just wants to keep me safe.
    “Can you tell us where The Light is?” I ask as love for Mom surges through me.
    “Yeah, I can take you there. I know where their boat landing is, a few days walk south, but it’s not what you think.”
    “But you’ll take us?” Mom asks.
    “If that’s what you want. I’m sure they’ll want you.” He looks at me when he says it, like he knows me in ways I don’t know myself.
    “How soon can we go?” Mom lets go of my hand, her strength’s returned with the knowledge we’ll make it to The Light.
    “Let me pick through their camp, then we can go if you’re sure.”
    “I’m sure,” she says.
    “And you?” he asks me.
    “I’m … I’m going wherever she takes me.”
    “Then you’ll fit in at The Light,” he says, shaking his head. 
    In silence we eat the fish the men left in the pit. The food fills me and I’m thankful to avoid the nausea of hunger. We find some jerky and wrap it in a cloth, shoving it in our packs. Charlie pilfers through the bags carefully; he takes a few flasks, exchanges his shoes with a pair of their boots. He takes the guns off the men’s lifeless bodies. Then he leads us back down the stairs where his horse is tied up waiting for his return.
    “I’m Charlie and this is Lucky,” he says, introducing us to the red stallion I saw through the steady stream of the surveillance cameras at the compound. I look at Mom to see if she recognizes the horse, but she doesn’t look closely at the animal. Her eyes are already miles down the road.
    “I’m Lucy.” I look at the ground, feeling like a liar remembering him, but holding that information