Guns and Dust

** Guns and Dust will be going on a 3-month hiatus! See comments at the end of this chapter for details. **

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– chapter six –

It had been more than an hour since the fight with the man the survivors called Shoah and Adina could tell Asher was anxious to be on the move again. Although his armored coat had saved him from a much more serious injury, the raider’s bladed club had ripped loose a six-inch chunk of skin from Asher’s right shoulder blade, right through the heart of one of his tattoos.

He hissed in pain as she carefully lifted his shirt off and everything spun when she saw the large, ragged flap of hanging skin.

Grimacing and hissing herself, she put a hand down to steady herself against swaying nausea.

“Oh Asher… He tore a big hunk of skin loose!” She pushed her long dark hair back behind her ears and rolled it too keep it out of the way, then leaned unsteadily for the first aid kit and grabbed the big bottle of sterile water to rinse it. She’d seen plenty of wounds in her nineteen years, but she wasn’t usually the first one to treat serious ones. She wasn’t a healer. As part of the training days in the rift, Asher asked her what she knew about treating wounds. She knew about using pressure to stop bleeding, how to stitch things and keep them clean, boiling water for sanitizing, the signs of infection and poisoning, even some medicinal plants. But as far as she knew, those were things everyone in large camps and caravans knew. He’d shown her where trauma supplies were and given her quick lessons in how to use those she was unfamiliar with. She was grateful for that now. It took everything she had to focus while what felt like ants crawled under her skin making her hands and arms shake.

Locked in the bearcat, she could hear the activity outside. The chaos was surprisingly organized. There wasn’t the panic or debilitating grief and helplessness she’d seen in some groups after they’d taken such losses. The headwoman gave orders, cajoling and consoling in equal measure.

Adina grabbed the stitching kit looking away from the wound and taking a deep breath to steady her hands and nerves. She and Asher had retreated into the bearcat so she could look at his wound after they’d helped gather all the survivors together. Lookouts were posted in case Shoah or any of the other ghost eyes returned.

Asher turned over his shoulder trying to see. He indicated the first aid kit with his eyes. “There’s a mirror in there. Slim left side internal pocket. Let me see.”

Adina grabbed the polished metal mirror and spent several distracted seconds just running her fingers over it and staring at it. She’d never seen a brand-new mirror before. Then she handed it shakily to him. He peered at the reflection of the wound, his lapis blue eyes set off strikingly between his short-cropped white hair and similarly trimmed beard.

“Yeah, he really did a number on me. One of his eyebrows came up. “I guess I’m lucky I have someone who’s so good at stitching with me.” He grinned, his cheek dimpling making him suddenly look younger than his forty-something years. “Otherwise my tattoo’s going to be a mess.”

She stared at him dumbfounded for a moment before a barking sort of laugh erupted from her. She just watched his expression, her mouth hanging open. “You’re joking? You’ve got a big chunk of…” she gestured at the flap, then threw her hands in the air, “skin hanging off your back like some kind of… I don’t know what. And you’re joking!?”

He smiled at her. “It’s not the first time I’ve been hurt, Adina.” He pointed to some of the numerous scars on his bare chest. “And it probably won’t be the last.” His expression softened. “Thank you for being so concerned.”

She let the stitching kit fall into her lap with her hands, his easy humor undermining her anxiety. “Well, this is all new to me!” She pointed to the hanging flap, a shudder racing through her. “I’m used to stitching skin – after – it’s off the animal!”

He laughed, then grimaced. “Okay, that hurts.” He leaned toward her. “Come here.”

She grinned stupidly caught between revulsion at his wound and his sudden charm and gave him a kiss.

“Do you think you can put it back?” He smiled again, looking at the wound in the mirror.

“I think so.” She pointed to the bearcat’s decking. “Lay down.”

He did, grimacing at the strain as he put weight on his arm and the skin stretched. He glanced at her shoulder. “Once you’re done, we need to immobilize your shoulder so that things knit back together.”

Once he was settled, she flushed the wound. He hissed as the bloody water flowed over the raw meat where the skin should be and onto the metal floor. She carefully laid the skin flap back in place. “We’re going to be the most attractive couple around,” she quipped, able to breathe a little easier now. The wound wasn’t as frightening once the skin flap was back in place. “Me trussed up and you stitched up like a pair of old shoes.”

“Who’s old?”

She grinned again and carefully pushed the small, curved needle through, then tied off the first stitch. It was so easy. She’d always worked with whatever they had around, her sewing needles or things the makers put together. The purpose-made needle was so small and smooth, it seemed to almost glide through the skin.

“Use the forceps in the kit,” he commented, watching her work in the mirror. “It makes working with such a small needle easier.”

“Forceps?”

“the bent jawed things that kind of look like scissors in the kit. They help hold the needle.”

She looked in the kit and pulled out what he described. “These?” They were brightly polished and moved with amazing ease, then locked in place with little teeth between the handles.

He nodded. “Use those to hold the needle. It also helps to keep your hands away from the wound so that it doesn’t get contaminated.”

She gingerly grabbed the needle with the forceps and ran the next stitch. He was right, it was much easier.

There were local anesthetics in the kit, but he’d told her not to use them unless he told her to. It only took a few minutes for her to finish the job, carefully lining up the tattoo so that when it healed it the lines would be minimally broken.

“There, have a look.” She held the mirror so he could see clearly.

“Looks great.” He grinned again. “Thanks.”

She flushed it again and when she was finished, let him sit up. She put antibiotic ointment on it and covered it with a dressing, then stuck it down with tape. The tape was really neat. She’d heard of it and had seen a few examples, but there were whole roles of the bright white adhesive-sided cloth in the trauma kits. She could think of a-million-and-one uses for it. Once he was cleaned up, she kissed his shoulder. “Okay, all done.”

He grabbed a fresh shirt from his locker and pulled it on with a grimace, then nodded to his torn one as he hung it up, then his coat. “You’ll have to show me how best to fix those.” He smiled and sat down cross-legged in front of her. “Okay, your turn.” He put her right arm in a sling and then tied a long strip of cloth around her arm and across her chest to keep her from moving it. “You should only have to wear that for a day or so. The nanos will take care of the rest.

“Nanos?”

He was closing up the kit. “Sorry, that’s what we call the little robots running around inside us. “Nano” just means really tiny.” He stopped, thought for a moment then looked her in the eyes. “You know how big a meter is, right?”

“Three point three feet or something. There are a thousand meters in a kilometer.”

He nodded. “Exactly right. Nano means one billionth. Do you understand what a billion is?”

“Not really. I know it’s a really large number.”

“It’s a thousand million. Does that make sense? That’s nine zeroes after the number.”

At her confused look he drew in the dust on one of the bearcat’s horizontal surfaces. “A thousand has three zeroes after the number, right?”

She nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

He drew a one, then a comma and three zeroes. “A million has six zeroes.” He added a comma and three more zeroes.” “A billion has nine.” Another comma and three more zeroes.

“Nanometer is one billionth of a meter. That’s how small the robots inside you are. They’re too small for even a normal microscope to see.

“Like what assayer’s use?”

“Right. It takes a special kind of microscope to be able to see things that small.”

She squinted, trying to wrap her head around the big numbers and tiny scale that didn’t quite seem to mesh. “How can anyone see something that small?”

He held up a hand. “I don’t know. I just know they can. But the way numbers are structured is important to understanding physics, okay?”

She nodded feeling dumb at the moment.

He seemed to pick up on her struggle and leaned forward putting his forehead against hers. “Hey.” He waited for her to look up so he could see her eyes. “Thank you for saving my life today.”

His eyes had taken on the strange depth again and she just wanted to stay there, lingering in that look forever. Her heart felt like it had suddenly ballooned up to twice its normal size. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she just pulled him into a kiss, cautious of the dressing on his back and frustrated by her bound right arm. He pulled her against him and when their lips finally parted, he ran a filthy hand over her cheek.

“We need to get going.”

Adina stood at Asher’s shoulder as the headwoman looked them over through narrowed eyes, sitting in the shade again with the ancient, but well-maintained lever-action rifle across her lap. The old woman’s skin was dark, the color of red clay – rich ochre, baked by the harsh sun. Her hair was long, gray, dust caked, most of it hidden by a wrap made up of what had once been brightly colored scraps that covered her head and trailed to her shoulders. What hung below was braided into thick, ropey, dreadlocks. Her long, light colored, now scorched sleeveless coat touched the ground where she sat. Beneath it a large, faded blue wrap covered her shoulders over a long sleeve shirt that was homespun and dyed, not quite orange and not quite red. A wide belt with charms and pouches filled the space between her shirt and the dark narrow-legged trousers that tucked into the top of her moccasin-like boots. Most of the survivors stood and sat around them. Many were injured, hollow-eyed with loss and grief. Most were blackened by soot, if not from the fires, then recovering things from the burning vehicles. Some stood watch for the ghost eyes or Shoah while others who were too badly injured to move or grieved over fallen friends and loved ones were scattered in the shade of the other vehicles.

But the headwoman was unmoved, as hard as the baked ground they stood on. Adina had seen the deep compassion she showed to her grieving tribemates, even as she kept them moving.

“I’ve seen your kind before,” the headwoman said, her eyes on Asher. “Since I was a little girl. Just never so close.” She nodded to the bearcat. “Seen your hunchbacked machines in the distance, watching us. Sometimes just driving past.”

She leaned forward putting ancient elbows on her knees, the rifle cradled like it was part of her withered frame. “Never seen your kind fight before, either.” She watched him for a long time, then shifted her gaze to her. Adina could feel her assessing her with faded brown eyes. She turned her attention back to Asher. “I have a bargain for you.”

Asher stood easily; his thumbs hooked in his pistol belt. “We’ve done what we can for you. We’ve given you what aid we are able to.”

“You’re looking for something.” The headwoman interrupted. “All your kind are.” She pointed a wizened finger at him. “Seen you from far in the east when I was little, then out here – again and again. Like ants crisscrossing the desert looking for the trail of something sweet. Myrmidons…” She sat back. “That’s what I’ll call you.” She waved a hand dismissively. “You won’t tell me the truth of who you are or what you’re doing out here. Not like that matters anyhow.” She raised a thick white eyebrow at them. “Myrmidon means ant in one of the ancient tongues. I always liked that word.” She eyed him, her wrinkled features closing up. Adina couldn’t tell if it was suspicion or respect. “And there was supposed to be great heroes called Myrmidons in the ancient world.”

“We’re not here to be anyone’s heroes,” Asher dismissed. Adina picked up on the shift in his posture, it was slight, almost imperceptible, but it was there. He was uncomfortable.

The old woman cast a glance significantly around her. “I think some folks’d disagree.”

Asher cocked his head slightly. “What’s your name?” His tone was pleasant enough, but there was an edge to it that Adina could only think of as grudging respect, like he might have for a potential adversary. Or it might have been curiosity. But he was wary of this woman; she could feel the tension coming off him.

Adina looked at her again, trying to understand what it was that he saw, what set off his instincts. There was something. It was hard to pin down. It could have simply been that she’d never seen anyone as old as this woman be so powerful, so in control, especially after what had happened to her and her caravan. And there was something extra, hiding beyond her ancient hooded eyelids, behind her eyes. She knew something.

“I’m Priav.” The old woman twisted her head slightly, watching Asher more with one eye than the other. “Or you can call me old woman, mother, or domina. Just don’t call me late for supper. It takes me a while to get anywhere anymore.” She gestured at them with a pursed lip sort of point of her chin. “And who are you?” She eyed Asher. “Or should I just call you Myrmidon?”

Asher pointed to his chest. “I’m Asher,” then to her. “This is Adina.”

As the old woman watched them, one thing what made Priav seem so unusual stood out. She was utterly unafraid of Asher. It wasn’t a bravado sense of ‘you can kill me, but I won’t back down.’ It was something that emanated from the old woman, a sense of certainty as if she were rooted to the earth beneath her and it to her.

Asher inclined his head to her. “Priav, we have a mission that we must return to. You are correct, we are looking for some…”

“Two days,” Priav interrupted again. “It’ll take us about two days, no more than four to get to our camp. You help us get there, and I will tell you about the lights in the sky and the haze city in the west.”

What she said didn’t mean anything to Adina, but its effect on Asher was clear. He stood stock still for almost a minute, his eyes never leaving the old woman. “You’ve seen the city?” He emphasized the word. His tone wasn’t disbelief but seeking clarity.

“Of course not.” She gestured to their remaining battered vehicles. “We look like we could navigate the sandsea? We look like we been showered with riches?” She leaned forward again. “But I’ve seen the way to it. Least the beginning of it. Two great pillars, like a gateway, glowering black shiny towers from the old world. And the lights in the sky to the west. Always to the west.”

“When was this?”

“Years and years ago, when I was fit and healthy. But I know where it is. I’ll never forget that. There’s a landmark; impossible to miss. Find that, and you’re near the gateway. Somewheres beyond that, the sandsea and your city with its strange lights in the sky.”

“What landmark?”

Priav scoffed with a sharp “Ha!” then pointed at him. “Two days and I’ll give you your answer. ‘Sides, once you’re at our camp you can trade. We got clean water and maybe things you need.” She gestured to the bearcat. “Things to repay what you used helping us.”

“We didn’t help you for pay,” Adina interjected. She was thoroughly confused by the exchange. But Priav seemed to know exactly what to say to get Asher’s attention.

Haze city in the west? The sandsea? Lights in the sky?

There were occasional storms of strange lights in the sky. Sometimes they were meteor showers, other times sheets of blue and green light shimmered from horizon to horizon, but they were always short lived, maybe two or three nights.

Priav turned to her and her eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re a fool, or naïve, girl. Nothing comes without payment.” She nodded to Asher without looking away from her. “He knows that. There’s a cost to everything.” She looked her up and down again. “But you should know that. You’re not one of them. You’re like us – spent your life scratching dirt to live. How you come to be with him? Captive, slave? I’ve heard of these, or some like them taking slaves.”

Her question struck Adina like a punch and the accusation of her being naïve made heat rise in her face and neck. Confusion kicked up again like the dust cloud from the big rifle.

“I’m not his slave, or his captive,” she challenged back, her tone prouder and haughtier than she’d intended.

“Ahhh…” Priav sat back. Adina didn’t like what her look said.

“We helped you because it was the right thing to do!” Adina riposted, feeling small and stupid in the old woman’s gaze.

“We will be glad to trade,” Asher interrupted, breaking the momentum the conversation seemed to be building. His voice was even, but she could hear the harsh edge creep into it. “We will help you for your information. But we cannot expend more resources to assist you that we cannot replace. If we fight again while we are escorting you, we will need to be compensated. What we did here. We did on our own.” he gestured indicating the aftermath of the battle, then turned his gaze to Adina, keeping his eyes on her. “Because it was the right thing to do.”

Adina’s chest tightened at his unequivocal support.

He turned his attention back to Priav. “Now you are asking us for a service; one that must be paid for.”

Priav’s ancient eyes traveled between them. Then she barked, “Done!” without hesitation.

Getting the caravan moving took hours and it was it was dark before they finally moved off. And they didn’t get very far. Priav wanted the caravan away from the battle site.

“Battle sites always attract predators and scavengers, some on four legs, some on two,” she’d said.

They’d made camp when the stars were almost halfway through their nightly rotation and the camp fell quiet quickly after people stopped moving. Asher climbed up onto the top of the bearcat with a box and took a fine-looking instrument from it. She followed him up, enjoying the cool air as he raised the instrument and looked to the stars.

“That’s a sextant, isn’t it?”

He nodded adjusting the instrument. “You’ve seen one before?”

“Not as nice as that one. One of the caravan leaders used to use one. What are you doing with it?”

“The same thing he probably was, trying to figure out where we are.” He looked at the side of the sextant and jotted down some numbers. He put the sextant back into its case and then sat cross legged in front of her, making quick calculations. He set the little notebook aside and nodded to where she was stitching the ragged hole in his shirt. “Thank you for doing that.”

His simple appreciation made here grin stupidly again, everything inside her feeling like it had been knocked sideways. “You’re welcome.”

Their lovemaking that night was a gentle, quieter sort of thing. There was very little privacy in camps and Adina was used to everyone knowing everyone knowing each other’s business. Groans and ecstatic moans, the slapping sound of bodies against each other were normal. But even inside the bearcat she would have felt awkward having the kind of passionate sex they normally did. This wasn’t her camp; these weren’t her people. And there was, of course, the issue of them both being injured. The torn skin on Asher’s back was his worst injury, but he was battered and bruised. His entire left thigh was going black from where Shoah’s motorcycle had apparently clipped him during the fight and his left elbow and shoulder looked like he’d been dragged across the hard ground. Even with his coat, he had wide, raw abrasions that were now hardening to scabs.

And her shoulder ached. Now that everything had calmed down, the ache she’d barely been aware of seemed to be all she could think of. And as Asher lay on top of her, her hips pitched up to meet his pelvis, her legs wrapped around him, he kept pushing her arm back down to her side.

“Do I have to tie it down?” he’d asked, looking down at her as their bodies rocked against each other, his cock exploring inside her again.

It was frustrating because her body wanted to grab and hold him, but he wouldn’t let her right arm up. He didn’t hold it down but kept pushing it back down when she tried to reach up.

“Are you saying you want to tie me up?” she asked him playfully, distracting herself from her frustration and ache in her shoulder.

She smiled back at her, drawing his cock almost all the way out of her and then driving in, slamming against her, making her take in a quick catching breath. “If you’d like?”

She moaned, squeezing her legs around him. “Maybe when we’re not both about to fall apart.”

Another day passed, largely uneventfully. They’d had to stop for several hours to work on one of the caravan vehicles which suddenly started belching smoke and steam just before midday. Then they were moving again, heading almost due east based on the track Asher was making on his map.

As they made camp that night, Priav approached them, her ever-present rifle cradled absent-mindedly in the crook of her left arm.

“It was a good day. We didn’t bury anyone today,” she began.

Asher stood up, his coat off, wearing his freshly stitched shirt.

We really need to wash and shave… Adina thought, her mind suddenly back in the rift, images of Asher naked, dripping wet, washing himself filling her mind. Then her helping him, her hands on his stiff cock, stroking it until they were once again fucking hard on the edge of the water.

Priav looked Asher up and down. “I want you to seed some of our girls,” she announced.

Asher was wiping his hands. The motion slowed and then stopped as he watched the old woman. But his expression gave nothing away.

Priav pointed to a young dark-skinned woman with a short braid of smooth black hair who was helping settle injured survivors under a shade. “Mirin just finished bleeding a few days ago. It should be a good time for her.” Priav turned back. “And there are other women in our main camp who would also be good candidates. We are a small community and we have to be careful about who makes babies with who.” She shrugged.

Having conversations like this were common enough in camps, but Priav’s… bluntness was… unsettling

Adina stammered out. “We are…”

What are we? She suddenly had no idea. It’s not like there had been anyone else around, but the whole ‘are we going to be having sex with other people?’ thing just hadn’t really come up.

She just stood there and stared at Priav and then turned back to Asher, struck dumb. Words wouldn’t come out.

Asher pulled himself up straight. “I understand your need, Priav.” He glanced at her and then back to Priav. “I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Priav made a dismissive gesture with her free hand. “If you two are together, I understand that, but this isn’t about that. This is a transaction. We need you to impregnate as many of our women who are willing as you can.” She made a sour face and gestured back toward the battle site. “The other ways our women become pregnant by those outside our camp are… problematic.”

Rape… She’s talking about women who are raped by raiders.

Adina felt ill.

“Priav, I’m afraid I can’t help you. I have radiation injury. I can’t father children.”

Adina swiveled her head to him. The ease… the practiced way he said it. He’d answered this question before.

“What about you?”

Adina turned her head to Priav’s voice.

Priav held her in a fixed stare. “If he can’t.” Priav gestured to a strapping man who was manhandling a big piece of equipment from one of trucks. He was burned tan with an unruly shock of red hair sticking out at all angles, some braids with charms hung down the left side of his face. He was taller than Asher, but not anywhere near as broad shouldered. “Aaron can put a baby in you. He’s very fertile. He’s had seven children, four strong ones who’ve survived so far.” Priav’s eyes returned to her. “Or if he’s not to your liking.” The old woman was looking her up and down as if she were a livestock animal she was trying to sell. “I’m sure there are many other men at home in the camp that would be happy to impregnate you.”

Adina felt a little bit faint.

“Don’t be shy girl. You are attractive enough; you have good bones for making babies. How many have you had? Not that many by the look of you.”

Seeing Adina’s distress, Asher interjected. “Adina and I were involved in the same accident. She can’t get pregnant.” He eyed her. “We’ve tried.”

Priav narrowed her eyes at him. “That could just be your seed.”

“I uhhh… I don’t bleed,” Adina stammered, trying to fend off Priav’s all-too-direct intentions.

Priav’s expression closed up. She appeared to be deeply in thought again. Then she sighed and looked between them. “That’s a pity.” She walked to Asher and regarded him for a long time. She watched his eyes, seeming to react to their stark lapis color, then gently patted him on the cheek in a most grandmotherly gesture and then approached her. Priav’s ancient eyes traveled over her face. She watched her eyes too. There was a look of deep, remembered happiness in her expression. She gently put bony fingers under Adina’s chin and turned her face left and right, then gave her a wizened smile and turned and walked away. “Such a shame,” she said with a wistful sigh. “You both would have made such beautiful babies.”

The following day passed without anything interesting happening, except for a huge flock of birds that appeared out of nowhere, passed overhead and then disappeared again. Asher craned his neck up, watching them. “There’s something nearby. Something big to support a flock of birds that size.” He made a note on the map.

“What kind of birds do you think?” Adina was used to vultures, hawks and other scavenger birds, but large flocks were rare, especially as large as the one that had just passed over head.

“Crows would be my guess. They’re about the only thing that flocks in numbers like that. But crows are usually noisy.” He looked up again. “We just might not have heard them.”

It felt strange to Adina to stay isolated from the rest of the caravan the way they did when they camped. Asher parked them upwind at least thirty yards from the nearest camp.

“We have to keep a buffer between them and us,” he’d told her. They’d washed up after they set camp, so they were finally able to get the worst of the filth from the fight off of them. Adina loved the little brush that Asher had for getting the dirt and grit from around her finger and toenails. She scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed her nails and beds until they were pink and clean. It was such a novel feeling. And she’d taken to stealing the mirror from the first aid kit so she could really see what she looked like. The blue in her eyes had grown from flecks of lapis to streaks among the rest of the hazel.

About an hour after they’d set camp, Asher made an unusual sound, like he was clearing his throat. After the second time he did it, she turned to him. He was smirking and made a subtle gesture with his right hand, pointing to his left as he squatted at the fire. Adina followed where he pointed. A four or five-year-old little girl in grubby clothes was peering out from behind one of the bearcat’s tires, her brown eyes like saucers as she looked at the equipment they had laid out. Her skin was on the light side of Priav’s red ochre, her features broad which made her eyes look even larger in her dark complected face. She seemed to think they didn’t know she was there. She scooted out from the wheel well and peeked into the bearcat’s open side hatch, staring in wonder.

Adina’s hand came to her mouth to try and stop from laughing, her cheeks aching with how wide her smile pulled. Asher went about what he was doing, then looked over his shoulder. “If you want to have a look around, you just have to ask.”

The little girl started and banged her head hard on the door.

Adina grimaced and sucked in a sympathetic breath, but the little girl just made a pained face, put both hands on her head and ran away.

Asher turned where she’d gone his face pinched with sympathy as well. “Ouch. That must have hurt. I hope she’s alright.”

Adina walked to him watching the girl’s distinctive hands-on-her-head silhouette disappear. He absent-mindedly made sure her arm was held against her body, still watching where the little girl had gone. “Keep an eye out and make sure that everything gets stowed as soon as you’re done using it. We don’t want anything to walk away.”

“They’re not thieves,” Adina commented, her left arm running up his back and carefully onto the dressing.

He nodded and turned to her, looking her in the eye. “Locks exist to keep honest men honest.” He looked where the little girl had gone. “The temptation is just too strong, even for adults sometimes.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Think what it would have been like for you if you were just a part of this caravan.”

She leaned into him and nodded against his chest. “We have so much they’ve never seen.”

“Exactly. That doesn’t make them thieves, it just makes them human. But we still can’t afford to have things walk off.” He turned his face to hers again. “How’s your shoulder? Still hurts?”

“Aches, but not like it was. When can I be out of shoulder prison?”

“When it stops hurting.”

Later that night as darkness was fully falling a small group approached them and stood at a respectful distance. Adina could see the little girl with them.

A woman gestured toward the fire. “Can we… talk to you?”

Asher waved them in. “Of course.” He squatted down and looked at the little girl, his white hair and beard shining in the fire light. “How is your head?”

She hid behind the woman. The way she did made Adina assume the woman was her mother, or at least her adopted mother. The woman was very fair skinned, the child wasn’t. It was common for orphans to be adopted by whatever family had resources to care for them. Or the child could have just favored her father. The little girl peered around her leg. She looked up at the woman but didn’t say anything.

“You hit it pretty hard,” Asher mimicked her holding her hand on her head, watching the little girl as they all approached. There were five people in the group. The mother, daughter, two younger men and another younger woman. The younger of the men, more an older boy, lanky in oversized clothes that were belted and suspendered to keep them on, stared around at the camp, his eyes running up and down the bearcat in open-mouthed wonder.

The little girl nodded, both hands holding a tail of her mother’s coat, chewing on it uncertainly.

“I’m sorry you hurt yourself,” Asher told her.

The mother coaxed her daughter forward. “Go ahead.”

The little girl looked from her mom to Asher. Adina could see her struggling. “I’m sorry… I…” she looked at her mother for guidance.

“Came into your camp without permission,” her mother mouthed.

The little girl made a face, started to mumble with her mother’s coat tail still in her mouth. Her mother pushed it out of the way.

“Came to your camp without asking.”

Adina couldn’t help the grin the pulled her cheeks wide. “It’s alright.”

Asher winked at the little girl. “I was going to offer to let you to look around when you bumped your head.” He stood again. The woman held the little girl in front of her, seeming to gather her courage, trying not to gawk at everything around them. Her eyes traveled up and down Asher uncertainly. Adina remembered her first impression of him and how intimidated she was.

“We’re not thieves and we don’t press in on people’s privacy. I’m sorry for what Shella did.” She looked down at her daughter. “She knows it’s rude.”

“Thank you,” Asher answered.

“I’m Devon. These are my children.” She blew out a breath. “They were so curious about you. I didn’t want you to think… So, I thought I would ask… if it wasn’t a bother…”

To Adina’s surprise, Asher just said, “Of course.” He stepped around the fire and squatted down in front of Shella. “Do you want to look inside?” The little girl’s eyes were huge, locked onto his. Her fist, with part of her mother’s coat tail in it was stuck in her mouth. She just nodded.

The next hour went by with Devon and her children exploring the bearcat and Asher telling them bits and pieces he could. He never mentioned the Longhunters, the city states, or what they actually did. Everything was conversational. He didn’t give anything away but explained what they could see with their own eyes.

Asher was on top of the bearcat with the boys and Shella when Devon stepped close to Adina.

“I don’t want to seem… rude. But Priav said he can’t make children? But he’s so healthy.” Then, Devon looked suddenly chagrinned. “I’m sorry. I… If you two are… together and don’t want to.” She nodded. “I understand. It’s just he’s so… I mean he’s someone who isn’t…” She seemed to run out of words. “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”

Adina had no idea what to say. Having someone walk up to her and basically say she wanted to fuck the man she was in love with to make a baby wasn’t something she was quite prepared for.

Devon turned to her watching her eyes. “And you don’t want to have a baby?”

Adina kept from sputtering out nonsense but not by much. “We were… in an accident. We can’t have children,” she got out.

Devon suddenly looked horrified. “Rotted ground. I’m so sorry.” Her expression turned to compassion. “I’m so sorry for you.”

Adina felt like her mind was stuck, trying to get in gear. She thinks we were trying for a baby and… Adina’s uncertainty had apparently come across as anguish. She nodded, trying to catch up, playing to the fiction.

“It was… is… hard. She put a hand on Devon’s arm. “Thank you for understanding.” She almost laughed at Devon’s concerned expression as a wave of relief washed over her.

Devon laid a hand on hers. “I’m so sorry to have brought up something painful.” After a moment, her expression changed again, Devon cocked her head, her eyes searching. She squeezed Adina’s hand. “Even if we can’t make a baby… I could come back later. After my smallest are asleep. My eldest can watch them.” Devon smiled. “You are so pretty. And Asher.” She breathed out whistfully.

“Uhhh…” Adina once again had no idea what to say.

“Do you have people want to fuck you all the time?!” Adina demanded, pulling her black hair back with her left hand, her right still frustratingly trapped against her side, keeping her from gesturing with satisfyingly large motions. They were safely locked in the bearcat again after she’d declined Devon’s invitation and she and her family had left. She was pacing the tiny space in agitation. “I mean, I’ve had lots of men interested in me like that, but this… It’s like…”

“Being treated like a breeding stud?” Asher filled in flatly.

She stopped her manic pacing and turned to him, his deadpan tone feeling like it hit her in the chest. She stood reading his expression. He wasn’t much happier about it than she was.

“To answer your question, yes, it happens. It’s a reason we stay away from people. It’s also not safe. Like with you, we have no idea what illnesses or contamination people may be carrying. They treat us like studs at a fair or something, but it’s worse for the women in our ranks…”

“There are women longhunters?” Adina blurted out. She was already off balance from the encounter with Devon and this just tripped her up more. The idea of women doing what Asher did had never occurred to her. It didn’t even make sense.

He sat back a little, his expression surprised. The furrow between his eyebrows canyon deep. “Of course, there are. Why wouldn’t there be?”

Adina could only stare at him. “But… But…” Words were just coming out in a babble, a direct stream from her currently undirected thoughts. “How? You’re so strong and… All alone, aren’t they at risk. You know… of.”

Asher’s look of disbelief was unrestrained. But this time she didn’t feel stupid under his gaze. She knew he wasn’t going to leave her behind for asking things that didn’t make sense to her.

“Rape?” He crossed his arms. It wasn’t quite annoyance, but it certainly wasn’t his normal, easy way. “First of all, all longhunters aren’t the same. We have different strengths and weaknesses. There are things women in our ranks can do that I’m simply no good at. Second, women aren’t the only ones who get raped.” He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “But you know that.” He eyed her intently. “What’s really going on, Adina?”

She could only stand and gawk at him. “I just…” She did know that men and boys were raped by raiders. The fact that there were women longhunters was a surprise, but as she thought about it, it was something she should be happy about. But instead she was confused and angry.

“Did Priav tell everyone in the caravan that we can’t make babies? What else has she said? And what are we? Are we together? Are we just riding around together and fucking?”

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Asher asked.

“What? What is?” Adina was so wound up that she had to think back to remember what she’d said.

“The question about what we’re doing, what we are.”

“Well… yes. I just… I don’t know.”

Asher got up and walked to her, putting his hands on her arms. “We, you and I, are together.” His tone was firm, reassuring. “Things out here are uncertain. You and I are one thing I’m certain of.” He put a hand on her cheek, a calloused thumb running lightly over her skin.

She was still confused but felt better.

He smiled, and his smile turned to a mischievous grin. “I’m going to make some hot water. It’s been a while; someone needs a shave.” He ran a hand down her body over her clothes.

Adina pressed herself against him, her anxiety suddenly turning to arousal. She put her face against his neck. “I’d like that.”

Adina was shivering as Asher finished shaving her right armpit, but it had nothing to do with cold. It was warm and stuffy in the bearcat now. The warm pan of water making it humid. When he finished, he put her arm down and tied it to her side again. He pushed the sling aside and kissed her naked left nipple, her right hidden under the sling. He kissed down onto her belly, her mound and then ran his tongue over her clit and then inside her. She shivered again, opening her legs wide as he ran warm water over her mound and her vulva. He shaved her clean again, pushing her legs up and wide carefully working around her anus. When he was finished, her ran soapy fingers over her asshole and then slipped one inside. Adina shuddered as he played with her ass, the thumb of his other hand running over her slippery clit. She could only take quick sighing breaths, her hips pumping at the alternating hard pressure on her clit and then him pushing his finger deep up her ass. She leaned back against the cargo net on the side of the bearcat grasping the heavy webbing and moaning as he increased the pace on her clit. He slid a second finger into her ass. She bit her arm, moaning and arching her back feeling the fire in her ass spread through her pelvis into her belly, her hips spasming forward. She was taking hard, catching breaths, her eyes closed when his lips touched her nipple, then bit lightly and pulled. Her orgasm crashed through her belly and she shook hard, but he held her firmly, keeping his fingers inside her. She couldn’t escape them or the fingers on her clit. She bit her arm hard to keep from screaming as her whole body spasmed harder, her orgasm rolling through her like lightning striking her nervous system, throwing into wild quivers. She wasn’t sitting up anymore but was on her back on their bedding as her hips eased, their spasms becoming less straining. He turned her over and as her body was finally starting to relax, she felt the head of his cock running over her slippery, swollen clit. He lifted her hips and pushed himself inside slowly, his thumb playing at her ass. She moaned as he penetrated her sensitive depths. And when his thumb pushed into her asshole, she pushed back hard with a groan. She pushed up with her free arm, her breasts hanging as she thrust back onto him.