Free After The Fires Went Out: Coyote (Book One of the Post-Apocalyptic Adventure Series) by Regan Wolfrom Page B

anyway.
    “I was worried about Justin at first,” she told me. “That he wasn’t good for us. But I’m glad there’s another person around who has enough training to... you know... back you up or whatever.”
    I smiled and nodded; I was tempted to tell her the truth, to let her know that her instincts had been right, but I didn’t.
    It’s enough for me to know what he’s capable of.
    And I didn’t want anyone to know that I’d done nothing to stop him.
    That I don’t really have a handle on Justin Porter.
    There’s no good that can come from telling people that.
     

2

     
    Today is Saturday, December 8th.
    Since Graham had a rabbit’s foot and four leaf clover shoved somewhere between his close-cropped hipster asscheeks, we decided this morning to cross the river to find more batteries. Because we weren’t going to be getting too close to Cochrane, it was a tough call whether we should take the truck or the horses.
    In the end, my Scottish half won out and we hitched up the cart.
    After passing through the gate and putting on our vests and helmets, we turned and headed south on Comel Road, just in from the banks of the Abitibi. There never was much of anything down there, just one house and an old rail siding; this part of the district emptied out long before the fires came, and now the only people who use that road use it to access the old rail bed that leads across the river to New Post.
    “This place always creeps me out,” Graham said as we passed a large expanse of burnt forest.
    “You should be used to seeing this kind of stuff,” I said.
    “I’m not talking about the fires... these empty gravel roads. Every square inch of Ontario looks like the setting for a horror movie.”
    “You don’t have gravel roads in Illinois?”
    “Not like these, no.” He grinned at me. “I come from a more civilized part of the world, you know.”
    “I come from the centre of the universe,” I said. “We pave our roads in Toronto, too.”
    Graham shook his head. “It’s hard to believe we ended up here... talk about some crappy luck.”
    “It’s not all bad... lots of girls.”
    His face hardened again.
    “What happened this time?” I asked. “You guys should try cutting out the fighting and move right into the make-up sex.”
    “It’s not funny, Baptiste.”
    “Not funny to you, maybe...” I laughed.
    He just shook his head again.
    “Seriously...” I said. “What did Lisa do?”
    “She’s cheating on me again.”
    My mind went straight to Ant. But obviously it wasn’t him this time. “Are you sure?”
    “I’m pretty sure, yeah.”
    “So not really. Do you really think she’d be interested in Matt? The guy would lose a battle of wits with a watering can.”
    “Not Matt.”
    “Then who?” For a second, I wondered if he was about to accuse me. That would be ridiculous, obviously; it’s hard enough to believe that Sara lets me touch her.
    “I don’t know...”
    “So let me understand this,” I said. “You are upset with Lisa because you think she’s cheating with someone, only you don’t know who.”
    “It’s not Ant this time. At least I know that.”
    “That’s not funny.”
    “You’re right. Sorry.”
    “Don’t apologize... you sound like a goddamn Canadian.”
    He smiled. “I need to confront her.”
    “You need to be sure first. You’re actually pretty lucky, Graham.”
    “How’s that? You mean because I got stranded up here? Or because I now have to hang around with you?”
    “Yes... and yes... but mostly you’re one lucky asshole because you’ve managed to hold onto Lisa for almost a year now. But once you start making accusations that you can’t back up...”
    “Yeah... I get it.”
    “If she really is cheating, you’ll find out eventually. Trust me... I know all about this stuff.” For some reason, I wanted to say more, almost like I wanted to brag about some of the things I’d done to Alanna... that when I’d come back from my last rotation I’d