The Stones of Angkor (Purge of Babylon, Book 3) (48 page)

“Is that enough?” she asked.

“The Ford doesn’t have that much to give. You’ll need to search for more gas along the way, or find something else less shiny to drive.”

Will climbed back into the Ford and maneuvered it until it was parked nose-to-nose with the Mustang. He popped the truck’s hood, and Gaby fumbled around with the Mustang until she found a lever underneath the steering column. Pulling it, she heard the sports car’s hood pop open. Will climbed back out and Gaby watched him hook the jumper cables between the two batteries.

When he finally gave her the thumbs up, Gaby turned the key in the Mustang’s ignition. The car struggled for about five or six seconds before it finally turned over and roared to life, so loudly that Gaby instinctively pulled her foot off the gas to quiet the beast. She climbed out of the Mustang and left it running.

Zoe stood outside the truck, cleaning her hands on a rag that was already covered in dried blood.

“How is he?” Gaby asked.

“Better than yesterday,” Zoe said. “You’re taking him to the island?”

“That’s the plan.”

“How far is it from here?”

“Beaufont Lake,” Will said.

“I know where that is,” Zoe nodded. “I used to go fishing there with my dad when I was a kid. It’s nice. So you guys are on the island? Song Island, right?”

“Right,” Gaby nodded.

“So what about me?” She looked at Gaby, then at Will. “What happens to me now?”

“You’re coming with me,” Will said.

She frowned. “Why won’t you just let me go?”

“I will, but not yet.”

“When? I already told you everything I know.”

“I still need to know more.”

“But
why?”
she asked, sounding very much like a child.

“
‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles,’”
Will said.

Zoe sighed. “What the hell does that mean?”

*

“Are you really
going to leave Will?” Nate asked.

He was reclining in the front passenger seat of the Mustang, stretching out his legs as far as they would go. She could hardly tell he had been shot twice yesterday unless she peeked underneath his shirt, where his entire left side was wrapped tightly in gauze. It helped that he wasn’t wearing his old, blood-covered shirt and had a bottle of generic Vicodin in his pocket.

“That’s the way he wants it,” she said.

She watched Will through the windshield, waiting for the gas inside the GMC to finish transferring over to the F-150. She could see the outline of Zoe’s head in the front passenger seat, probably still fuming.

“That’s what he wanted last time,” Nate said, “but you followed him out here anyway.”

“He also made a good point.”

“What’s that?”

“Take you to Song Island before you bleed to death.”

“I won’t bleed to death, Gaby. Zoe made sure of that. If you want to go where Will goes, I’m good with it.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Why?”

“Why are you so nice to me? Besides the fact you’re desperate to get into my pants, I mean.”

He chuckled. “What, that’s not enough?”

“No,” she said, still serious. “Why the devotion to someone you’ve only known for one day?”

“A day and a half.”

“Don’t deflect the question.”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“Answer the question,” she pressed.

“Because you’re…you.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Besides the physical appearance—which is pretty damn spectacular, big nasty looking gash on your forehead and an outrageous amount of scars and bruises notwithstanding—”

She had to smile at that.

“—the rest of you is pretty awesome, too.”

“Like what?” she said.

“You’re really making this difficult.”

“What about me specifically makes you willing to risk your life over and over again? It can’t be just the potential for sex.”

He sighed. “The first time I saw you, I thought you might be it.”

“What’s that?”

“You know.
It.
The one. The girl I’ve been waiting for.”

She was speechless.

Nate laughed. “Oh, shit, now you’re going to make fun of me, aren’t you?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“No?”

She shrugged. “I asked, and you answered.”

“So…”

“So, what?”

“So…that’s it?” He gave her a strange look. “I confessed that the only reason I’ve been following you around like a lost puppy is because I have this totally abstract notion of you being ‘the one,’ and all you can do is shrug?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, say something.”

“Thanks?”

“That’s it?”

“I told you, I don’t know what to say.”

“Hunh,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I would really like to kiss you right now, but I’m afraid you might punch me.”

“I probably would.”

“See?”

“If it makes you feel any better, the old me would be sucking face with you right about now.”

“Damn, really?”

“Absolutely.”

“Dammit.”

She smiled, then opened the door. “I’ll be right back.”

She climbed out of the Mustang and walked over to Will. He looked up from the gas tank as she approached.

“You’re still here,” he said.

“We decided we’re coming with you.”

“Gaby…”

“Nate’s fine.”

“And you believe him?”

“Yes.” Gaby leaned through the open F-150 window and looked across the front seat at Zoe. “How’s Nate? The truth.”

Zoe looked confused by the question. “He’s fine. Why?”

“Is he in any danger of bleeding to death anytime soon?”

“Unless he plans to get involved in a gladiator fight, then no.”

Gaby looked back at Will. “He’ll be fine. We’ll keep back, stay in support. Besides, if I go back without you, Lara is going to kill me.”

“No, Gaby,” he said.

“Why the hell not?”

He motioned for her to follow him. She did, and he led her almost to the very end of the parking lot. She glanced back at Zoe, realizing it was because he didn’t want the other woman to hear. Zoe had apparently come to the same conclusion, because she stared curiously after them.

“What is it?” she asked in a softer voice.

“I’m going to do some recon,” Will said. “That’s all. The truth is, I’m better on my own.”

“What about the doctor? You’re taking her with you.”

“She’s a necessity.”

“For what?”

“In case it gets FUBAR.”

She knew what that meant. FUBAR.
Fucked Up Beyond All Reason.
Military jargon for when everything you planned went completely awry. Will was doing what he always did. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

“She’s my bargaining chip,” Will continued. “But I can’t keep an eye on her and at the same time worry that Nate is going to bust a stitch and bleed to death. Even if it’s unlikely, the possibility exists. Besides, I need you to go back to the island and tell Lara I’m fine.”

“And you’re just doing recon,” she said doubtfully.

“That’s it,” he nodded.

“No hero stuff?”

“Scout’s honor.”

“You were never in the Scouts.”

“Let’s pretend I was.”

She stared at him, trying to read his face. He looked back at her, as cool and calm as he always was. Unflappable. Unreadable.

Like I could ever read him.

Gaby looked back at Zoe. “Can you trust her?”

“No,” Will said without hesitation.

“But you’re willing to risk it anyway.”

“I need to know.”

“Need to know
what
, Will?”

“What the hell they’ve been doing out here. Not just in the camps, with the pregnant women, but in these towns they’re taking over. I need to know if we can fight it, or if we even should.”

“If we even should? What does that mean?”

“Things have changed, Gaby. The world’s changed while we hid on the island. Why do you think they haven’t attacked us in three months?”

“Josh seemed to think it was because of him.”

“Josh is delusional,” Will said. “They haven’t been attacking us because we don’t
matter
to them. What’s a handful of humans trapped on an island compared to what they’ve been doing in these camps? We’re insignificant. That’s why they haven’t bothered.”

“Josh said the camps were just the start.”

“That’s what worries me. What’s on the other side of the camps?”

“The towns.”

“Yeah. The towns. I need to know for sure.”

She couldn’t blame him. The same questions had been bugging her ever since she learned what was going on in the camp. And that wasn’t even the end of the line. There were the towns…

“All right,” she said. Glancing over at the Mustang, she saw Nate curiously watching her back. “I’ll take Nate on ahead to the island. What should I tell Lara when I make contact?”

“Tell her I’ll be back by tomorrow. Later this evening, if everything works out.”

“Right,” she said, smirking back at him. “Because things have always worked out great for us in the past.”

WILL

He didn’t move
from the Phillips 66/Burger King until nine in the morning, about an hour after Gaby and Nate had left in the Mustang. When his watch clicked over to nine, he turned on the F-150 and pointed it out of the strip mall and back toward I-49 in the distance.

Zoe sat quietly in the front passenger seat through most of the trip. She didn’t speak until they were almost at the highway.

“You’re going to follow them to the town, aren’t you?” she finally asked.

“What makes you say that?”

“All those questions last night.”

“I guess there’s a reason they gave you a medical diploma.”

She snorted. “Are you always this much of an asshole?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

He turned left, merging back onto I-49 and slipping into the mostly barren northbound lane. They were the only thing moving for miles, which both comforted and concerned him. The fact that Josh hadn’t bothered to pursue them remained in the back of his mind. He had hardly slept at all last night, and had spent most of it listening for the sounds of car engines that never showed up.

What are you doing out there, Josh?

“So who’s Lara?” Zoe asked.

He thought about not answering.

“I’m just going to keep asking,” she said.

He sighed. “She lives on the island.”

“Is she your wife?”

“No.”

“Girlfriend?”

“I guess.”

“You guess? So you don’t know?”

“I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Oh no? I bet she has. A lot. That’s what we do, you know. We think about these type of things.”

“Good to know.”

“Wow, you must have majored in asshole in college.”

“Greek history.”

“Greek history?”

“Yeah.”

“You majored in Greek history in college? That was unfortunate.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t talk much, huh?”

“No.”

“So Lara likes the strong, silent type, is that it?”

“You’d have to ask her.”

“Is that your way of telling me you won’t kill me after this?”

“I’m not going to kill you, Zoe.”

“No?” She stared at him for a moment, as if trying to gauge his trustworthiness. “I can take that to the bank?”

“Why do you think I’m going to kill you?”

“How the hell should I know. I never met you until yesterday, and back then you were named Givens. I don’t know anything about you. Why you’re doing what you’re doing, or how you could so cold-bloodedly shoot those two men back in the tent.”

“I had no choice.”

“You could have wounded them.”

“Too risky.”

“You’re good at it,” she said. It wasn’t a question. “The killing part.”

He didn’t answer.

“I guess everyone has something they’re good at,” she said, turning her head into the breeze outside her open window. “So why Greek history?”

“What do you have against the Greeks?”

“Nothing. Some of my best friends are Greeks.”

“Is that right?”

“No.”

“Hunh.”

“You’re a real conversationalist, Will.”

*