ChapterEighteen
Sunny waited in the hole while Davis made sure the coast was clear. Carefully removing the silvery blankets from their protective positions, she cringed at the holes ripped through them. It truly was a miracle bullets hadn’t riddled her and Davis, and they weren’t bleeding out. Her hands shook as she folded the last blanket and shoved it into her pack.
Dirt rained down into the hole. She jumped and shrieked. Davis’s low chuckle preceded his head filling the opening.
“You remain cool as a cucumber through gunfire, but scream now?” The sun behind his head shadowed his face, but she imagined he had that glorious one-sided smile he’d get sometimes when he watched her.
“Oh, shush.” She shoved his pack out of the hole. “Give me a break. I’m coming down from DEFCON 5 in here. And, in case you didn’t know, that was my first time being shot at with a machine gun from a helicopter.”
He chuckled even more. “Baby, high alert is DEFCON 1.”
The way he said baby, all low and slow, made the cool hole suddenly warm.
“Really?” She paused as she pushed her pack to him, hoping her blush would calm down, and tipped her head. “That’s kind of backward, isn’t it? I mean, the scale is usually one to ten, with ten being the most. Why would they go backward?”
“Because it’s the military.”
He waved his hand at her, like that was a good explanation. Then again, she’d heard all the stories her siblings and father told, so maybe it was the perfect explanation. She scrambled up the hole.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” He pulled her to her feet and softly pushed her hair out of her face, his whole soul pouring from his gaze in overdrive.
She could stand there forever and just soak in the care and, dare she think, love issuing from him.
“I’m glad that was your first experience with that. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he promised, and she believed him.
“I know.” She smiled and kissed him, then took off toward the forest.
A young grizzly sprawled dead on the edge of the microburst. Dark blood saturated its coat in so many places, it almost looked black. Her head jerked back to Davis.
“They must’ve thought the bear was us at first and decided that was what they’d seen in their scan that originally drew them over here.” He stepped up beside her and kissed her temple. “That bruin saved our lives.”
“Poor thing.” She skirted the carcass and beelined for the trees, tears stinging her eyes.
She hated that everywhere these people went, they left destruction and death. Would she and Davis even be able to make it to safety with the tech and weapons against them? If only they could get hold of help and turn the fight back on their enemies.
They walked in silence for what seemed like hours. She couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t dissolve her into tears. Davis didn’t mind the quiet. Probably spent hours not communicating when he was on missions with his special ops team.
The shade beneath the towering trees blocked the sun, which, ironically, she was thankful for. The day before, she would have cherished the warmth. She relished it, glad the rain had finally let up, and clear, blue skies stretched from horizon to horizon. However, the sun brought temperatures that had to be reaching in the nineties. That kind of heat for the Alaskan girl, more often on the frigid mountains than the tundra, left her roasting.
A clearing appeared through the low hanging birch branches. Hopefully, they’d find a creek they could get more water from. Her canteen hung light from her belt.
“Hold up.” Davis commanded from behind her. “Let me take a look.”
She heaved a sigh of relief and stretched her back as he snuck up to the edge of the clearing. When he continued to scan the surroundings, she rolled her eyes and dropped her pack to the ground. This might take a while.
She checked the InReach for a signal, again. But like the hundred times before, there still wasn’t a signal, which made absolutely no sense. The InReach had worked at the North Pole. It should work.
Unhooking her water bottle, she took a sip. Until they found a water source, they’d have to be careful. She gritted her teeth as she capped the bottle. Could anything else go wrong?
She quickly took back that thought. Worry that even thinking such a thing would bring about more danger had her forcing thoughts of them finding a rushing creek that would not only give them sustaining water but lead them to civilization. She wasn’t taking any chances the stray thought of doom and gloom would bring more trouble.
“We’re clear.” Davis turned to her, finally done with his reconnaissance or whatever he’d call it.
“Good. Let’s see if we can find some water.”
She walked up to him, ready to lead them on. Forcing a smile past her exhaustion, she winked at him when she drew close. As she passed, he grabbed her pack strap, pulled her to him, and kissed her so thoroughly, she had to lock her knees so they didn’t buckle. When he stopped, her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.
“What was that for?” Her gaze glued to his lips, excitement unfurling as one side of his mouth tipped up into a cocky smile.