Steel Horizon

Chapter Twenty

"Morgan."

The voice echoed in my head like a dark empty cave.

"Morgan."

I blinked my eyes open.

The blurry images came into focus, but my head pounded painfully near the base of my skull. I pushed myself into sitting position with weak arms and frozen skin. I shivered and looked around, trying to remember what happened. Kaileb was crouched next to me with Elliot standing behind him, but his eyes were somewhere else along with his thoughts. The sun had set and the moon was full and bright, making the snow glow around us where the buildings' shadows had not yet touched. We were alone in the street.

"Where is he?" My voice quivered and I did my best to ignore it.

"A couple of blocks away," he answered. "Everyone is leaving."

Everyone except Jude.

I stood to my feet so fast my head spun. Elliot reached out to steady me and I quietly thanked him.

"Morgan, why didn't you tell us about him?" Kaileb asked. "You didn't have to hide the truth."

I shrugged, my shoulders shaking a little. "I wasn't sure how you would react, and Jude didn't want to freak anyone out."

"I probably would have been shocked at first, but all the time I've spent with him was enough evidence to convince me he was human." Elliot just silently nodded in agreement. "Did you guys really meet up in Denver? Was he already like that?"

I didn't have the patience for his questions but he had the right to know, especially after I hide things from him. After everything we had been through together.

"We did meet in Denver," I said, "but it was after the Scrappers has caught us."

Kaileb's eyes widened. "You were caught by them? How did you escape?"

"Jude. They thought he was dead, and then they left him and to come get me, so he was alone for a time. He was only able to fight them because of his arm."

"So, you both escaped," he said incredulously. "That's unreal."

"I need to see him, Kaileb." It was all I could say. The lump in my throat prevented any other words from coming out.

"I know, we've been trying to wake you for the last half hour but you were out cold. Come on."

We walked down the street as quick as we could and I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling cold despite having my jacket. It felt like I would forever feel cold, even if spring came. Kaileb was carrying Jude's bag now, and it made it feel like he was already gone. Never to come back.

We our way through the streets with the help of the bright moonlight and my eyes fully adjusted. I avoided glancing at the shadows cast by the buildings, thinking something was watching us. We turned the next corner and there were dozens of people hurrying in every direction, trying to grab their belongings before having to leave. Some were already walking past in the opposite direction. None of them looked twice at us.

And neither did I.

It took everything within me to keep my legs from buckling. But I had to stay strong, now more than ever. I walked forward, blind of everything around me, unable to tear my gaze from what was ahead.

Jude was handcuffed to a length of chain connecting him to a light post fallen in the center of an intersection—standing there like he had been waiting for me. His face was expressionless, his hair shadowed part his face from the pale moonlight, and his shoulders were slightly hunched. Defeated.