Alliance

Chapter Fifty-Three

I watched Ben's deep and even breaths when I woke the next day. The sunshine that tried to break through the thin currents was what woke me. The warm rays heated my body in the leather suit I forgot I wore. Drained from last night, I fell asleep before changing.

With the angling of the sun, from what I could tell with the closed curtains, the time had to be near noon. The ache in my stomach for food was the other indication.

I sat up. In the other bed, Olivia was asleep, cuddled up to Asher. Asher's head turned toward me, his eyes open.

Getting up, I grabbed my backpack and nodded my head to the door. Asher got my meaning. He slid off the bed without waking Olivia.

Back in Denver, Clark told me he would gather our belongings when he retrieved our bikes. I didn't know if he was able to find our clothes that were taken away when we were forced into uniforms. And to find our weapons was a hopeless cause.

I closed the door to the bathroom and opened the bag to reveal my handgun on top of my rusty red jacket. I never really trusted Clark, but he must have been sincere since he took the time to find our belongings.

I struggled out of the leather suit and threw it in the shower. There was no way in hell I was ever going to wear a leather suit again. Stepping out of the bathroom with fresh clothes on, Asher removed the chair and other things that barracked the door.

He opened it and walked out into the hall.

I placed my bag beside Ben's in the room. Taking his communicator from his bag, I placed it beside him where he would see it. I put my communicator in my back pocket with my gun in the other and went after Asher.

"I never saw Ben sleep so much," I stated, we walked down the hall.

Asher nodded beside me. "He had a rough time in Denver. There was a kid there. The raiders were rough on him and Ben defended him. That is where the majority of his wounds came from, from the beating he received. That was when they found out Ben was a good fighter and decide to give him the special Champion treatment." Typical. So typical of Ben to sacrificed himself for someone. "So where are we going?"

We entered the staircase. "There should be a kitchen somewhere, right?"

"That food has to be over a couple hundred years old," Asher said behind me.

He had a point, so I opened the door to the first floor. "You got a better idea?" I asked. We walked out into the lobby and turned to the room where the bikes were.

A gun cocked to our right.

Asher and I froze. I closed my eyes.

So tired. I was so tired of guns and traps and getting caught. I turned my head to see a group of men.

I exhaled a deep breath, the men weren't raiders. The clothes gave them away. There were seven men in total. Most of them wore plaid and faded jeans. Almost all of them held some sort of object that could be used as a weapon. One held a baseball bat while another held a pitchfork.

The plump man in the middle was the only one who held a gun. "State your purpose here."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Asher look at me as if to say, 'Your move.'

With the way the men stood, shifting on their feet and their lack of real weapons, they were not a threat. Only one held a gun and his hand shook. I opted to be honest. "We are traveling to Vegas," I said, "We needed some aid so we came here for the night. We will continue on and leave you in peace."

The plump man with auburn hair looked Asher and I over. "You come from Denver?"

I wanted to avoid that. We did come from Denver. I had no idea if the Raiders were after us or if they would come this far. Or if these people want to hand us over to them for a sum. But there was no lie I could tell. To get on the expressway a person had to travel into Denver or close enough that the Raiders would grab them.