𝙵𝙻𝙴𝚂𝙷 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙱𝙾𝙽𝙴 | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙾 𐂃

Chapter 23

"No. That's us making sure both sides stop further bloodshed and reason what's best for our and his people." The answer made Troy snort and look at the ceiling, but he said nothing else. He didn't need to. It was Jake's sentimental ways that would get them killed. Troy loved Jake, but his brother was too soft. That's why he didn't understand why their father would entrust their family's legacy in Jake's hands. Calls like this was going to get them eradicated.

"We don't have anything Walker wants other than the Ranch." Cristine voiced her disagreement. In what world, especially this one, was turning the other cheek even an option? They had the arms, the people, and much more to defend the Ranch. From what the others reiterated in the infirmary, Walker wasn't interested in coexisting. Let alone in peace with them. What he wanted was clear as day and as old as human nature itself. Take what you can to survive and to hell with everything else. "I'm with Troy. This will unify our people. They're scared and are looking for solutions. This is one... even if it results in bloodshed." Unconsciously, she glanced at Troy. The eye contact brief with a silent appreciating glint inside of them. Darting her eyes from one pair of blue to the other, she lowered her voice to emphasize, "they killed Charlie. Killed Phil and his crew. Sounds to me Walker made it perfectly clear what he wants. Which is death if we don't leave. Why not give him what he wants and return the favor?"

Jake sighed, defeat cut through his expectations of anyone giving negotiations a chance. Jake at least expected Cristine to be open to what he was trying to accomplish. But he remembered that when it came to something as base as survival, Cristine was ruthless and unbending. The young medic wasn't that different from the rest of his family in that regard. After a bout of silence, Jake's hands clamped around his biceps. A sign he would accept the unanimous decision. He was the only one against it.

"That settles it then." Jeremiah's heart glowed with the verdict. His dark brown eyes alternated between James and Vernon. While Vernon showed a mixture of emotions that were as clear as day he was anxious, James was the opposite. Outwardly the usually amicable man was just indifferent. Once it became clear Walker and Black Hat Reservation were involved in this and brought back their shared pasts, their thirty plus year friendship shifted for the good and bad. Exhaling, Jeremiah bobbed his head up and down, accepting that this was it was how it was going to be.

-

"You trust Troy to lead the mission?" The question caught Cristine off-guard. She stared in the bluish-green eyes of Madison Clark. With the unanimous decision, they were the last ones to exit the big House. Cristine was on her way to help with some fence mending and Madison followed. The view was peaceful. This scene was as real as the chaos, death and destruction further behind their fences.

Cristine nodded her answer, voice confused. "You don't?"

Madison inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh oxygen. She watched the high lush green of the hills. During her time here, Madison had time to observe the dynamics of the Founding Father's and their children up close. Jeremiah, Vernon, and James had families and children, same as her. She used that relatability to her advantage. But so far, the Otto's were her priority. James landed in her path when she realized the man was more militant compared to Jeremiah. A welcome surprise. Then there was Cristine, his eldest child. Madison spoke to Cristine once or twice. It was superficial at most. Nick, however, was charmed when he mentioned her. Even Alicia was impressed with Cristine's work as a medic. She was closest to Jake, her sister, and Blake. Her relationship with the Survivalists wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but sometimes there was a distant feeling. A solemnity she didn't fully belong. At least, that was what Madison picked up and she didn't pay Cristine any mind. Until the Big House just then. Madison spotted the, perhaps unconscious, interaction between Cristine and Troy. It wasn't much, but enough it could mean something in the long run. Something Madison could use to her advantage in the future.

The young medic seemed to have faith in Troy's capabilities as a leader. So different when Madison herself experienced that, under pressure, Troy was a tyrant and could be a loose canon. Gulping, she remembered the cold steel of his blade against her throat. It wasn't her intention to taunt him, but Troy's first response fit the tics of an individual with a social disorder and sociopathic tendencies. A troubled young man with mostly mommy issues and who had a strange fascination with her family. Madison was curious about one minor detail and instead of answering Cristine's wary question asked, "is there a reason you asked Troy to help you with the prisoner?" Eyes flicking to the dark polished onyx of her unwavering ones, Madison expectantly waited for a response to a relatively easy question. So when Cristine took a while to reply, Madison narrowed her frowning eyes.

Shaking a hand through her loose curls that hung loosely over he shoulders, Cristine pursed her lips, voice sure, "Cause I knew he could get it done and he did. With men like Walker at our doorstep, we need someone like Troy." Madison not giving her a slither of emotions made Cristine's skin itch. It was difficult to place a pattern, but it didn't feel right. It felt like the woman was trying to pry into her mind. Filter from their conversation what she could use for her own gain, so Cristine tried to let as little as possible slip. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"I do." Again, Madison was unbending, using logic rather than sentiments for what they were about to do. "I thought about what I would do if I saw my husband's killer. The man who took something of mine and almost took my daughter. When I did, I wanted to kill him right then and there, but I came back for my kids." Madison's fingers dug around the wood, the only visible sign to her resenting anger and sadness over the loss of Travis. But even that emotion was fleeting.

"Your children are strong. Smart too." Cristine complimented and the corner of her lips arched in a faint upward curve. "Jake and Alicia, Nick and Jeremiah. They picked the right people-" A pause. "You and Troy," Cristine whispered. "That's why I'd like it if you keep my father- my family out of what plan you have in mind for the Otto's." Cristine didn't wait for Madison's to reply. She silently took the toolbox with her and walked away to do her last chores of the day.

Thoughts?