Free Season Of Decay (The Decaying World Saga Book 2) by Michael W. Garza Page A

children .
    “I’m not asking for permission.”
    Asher’s assertion drew all eyes back to him.
    “I’m going with Rowan,” he continued before anyone else could object. “This needs to be quick and it needs to happen now. There’s no time to ask for volunteers.”
    Mia was overwhelmed and the heartfelt pain surprised her more than anything else did. The thought of Rowan going down there was enough of a shock to her system, but the idea that they’d both be in danger was more than she could handle. She wanted to say something, anything to get them to think of another way. The look on their faces told her everything she needed to know.
    Rowan started for the door before Mia could get another word out. She hesitated to go after him then Asher pushed his chair back and walked around the table. The entire room broke into a loud debate, most of them shouting at Asher as he tried to exit the room. Mia gave up and ran after Rowan with Asher pushing through the crowd. Rowan was already in the hall when she caught up to him.
    “This is crazy,” she said, looking back and forth between them. “You’re going to get killed.”
    Rowan spun around to face her.
    “What do you want me to do?” he asked. “You really want to wait around for them to agree on something? Jonah will be dead by the time they make up their minds.”
    “That’s not fair,” Asher said. “It’s not their job to worry about four kids.”
    Rowan became animated as he stomped toward Mia. Asher took a few steps forward and she thought she might have to keep them apart.
    “Spare me the standard response,” Rowan said. “I’ve heard it too many times. The needs of the many, blah, blah, blah.”
    Mia threw her arms straight out on either side in time to place a palm on each of their chests.
    “Of course you don’t care,” Asher said. “You don’t care about anybody, but yourself.”
    The hallway went silent, and Mia realized all of the conversation in the conference room had died away. She felt pressure against both hands as Rowan and Asher tried to take another step toward each other. Rowan had a hand on the hilt of his knife. Mia considered throwing her arms around him to keep him from pulling the blade free.
    “You think you’re better than me?”
    Mia was shocked by Rowan’s question.
    “You think because I know nothing of the old world that it somehow makes me less than you,” he said. Asher didn’t respond. “Let’s see what happens when all of this is gone and the infected are hunting you.”
    Mia had heard as much as she could take.
    “That’s enough,” she said then gave them both a shove for good measure. “This isn’t helping anything.” She focused on Rowan. “I don’t like the idea of you going down there, but I don’t know what else to do,” she admitted. Her heart hurt and her emotions overwhelmed her common sense. “Just bring them back.”
    ♦
    Clouds covered the moon, blocking out the familiar pale light. The cold wind blew across the snow-covered valley with little to hold it back. Mia’s boots sank into the snow with every step. She had her eyes on the two young men standing near the edge of the massive gorge that led down through the center of hive six. The lights hanging around their necks made them glow in the darkness. Rowan’s youthful face still held on to the boy Mia grew up with, but Asher’s features spoke more to the man he’d become.
    Mia listened for confrontation as she approached, but didn’t find any. She was content that, for the moment, the two young men had stopped arguing with one another. It was apparent that they agreed on what they needed to do. Mia had a brewing suspicion that the relative truce wouldn’t last long once they were off on their own.
    A number of other tribesmen and women were working on a set of riggings connected to a long climbing net. The support system would have to hold the climbers’ weight as they attempted to navigate the damaged walls of the gorge. It