I never realized how much of a luxury a vehicle can be. In a short amount of time, Kate and I are almost home despite having to take detours. There's no air conditioning, but at least I don't have to walk. The fact that this jeep is a standard relieves me. That means I don't have to worry about Kate trying to take the wheel and running us into a tree.
I shift down into third gear and barrel towards a puddle of water in the middle of the pasture. Kate leans away from her door as the tires slice through the water and sling mud up all over the sides of the jeep.
"You did that on purpose asshole." Kate sneers as she wipes a streak of brown water off her cheek.
"It wouldn't have been funny if it was an accident."
She puts her attention onto the radio and fiddles with the AM frequency. Almost all of the noise coming out is static, but there is a signal strong enough to hear a couple words. She cranks the dial to the left and stops.
"Where…this….How….start…" Faint words of a female reporter break through the white noise. Kate leans in and slowly rotates the dial back right and listens. She turns the volume up and urges me to slow down. I decelerate and drop all the way down to first gear. The rippling sound of the engine calms down to a small grumble.
"We…no…ce…tin where the contamination originated, but we have reason to believe that the contamination affects everyone differently, and it's based on if they had a disease prior to being contaminated."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"I'm saying that someone that's perfectly healthy will be affected differently than someone with a disease. That's why there are variants. During our examinations, people with healthy medical records were the common type of contaminate that we are encountering. Whereas someone with cancer are the contaminants with the glowing organs."
Kate leans in as close as she can and intently listens.
"So the contaminates change depending on what disease they have?"
"Yes."
"Fuck…" Kate leans back in her seat and sighs. She presses her hands into her face and tries to relieve some of the stress she's feeling.
"I'm sure that it's only if the individual gets bit if that's what you're worried about."
"Yeah, but still. It isn't really a comforting thought."
"At least we know there's more types of contaminates other than shamblers and croakers now." I say as I try to divert Kate's thoughts away from Rebecca.
"Yeah, just what I wanted to hear…"
My attempts to help Kate's anxiety failed. I should have kept my mouth shut, but it was a spur of the moment. Even if there was something that could have been said, what would it have been? Now that I think about it, it's slowly stressing me out as well.
Shamblers are bad, croakers are worse, and that one thing I was calling the wyvern is easily the most terrible out of them all for now. The thought that there is a contaminate out there that could potentially be worse than the wyvern is a really worrying.
What kind of disease could have actually made something that monstrous? A part of me wants to believe that it isn't human. From what I remember, it was more like a giant lizard because of the way it opened its mouth. If the wyvern just happened to be some kind of animal, then does that mean the contamination can affect animals as well?
If that's the case, then that means it can affect all the local predators like the bears and mountain lions. Jesus Christ. It just gets worse and worse the more I think about it. There's already a huge spectrum of contaminates due to all the different diseases, but now that spectrum has doubled in size if it can affect wildlife.
"You okay Matt?"
"Yeah. I was just thinking about some stuff."
"Well, you got really quiet there, and I thought you were having another episode."
"Nah. What I was thinking about was different from last night."
"Good because I was expecting you to just burst out in fear." Kate says as she lays her right arm out of the passenger side window.
Up ahead looks like the road that will takes us back to Liam's place. Kate pats my shoulder and points in the opposite direction, "Go in the back way. I don't want them assholes at the mansion seeing us with this."
I bring the jeep to a stop and flip on the four-wheel drive, "Alright. Tell me where to go."
Kate pulls out her map and examines it, "Let's see. A1…Black Breech…Highway 41… We need to head to B6…so turn left here… and we'll on track."
She holds out the map and points to where the two bodies of water are. Alright. That's the ponds behind where Liam's outpost is. I shift back into gear and take off towards the woods. There is a trail that has been carved out by the wheels of a vehicle.
Judging by how the grass has been repeatedly beat down, this is probably an old path some farmer used to go feed cattle. Something up ahead catches Kate's attention, and she pulls up her hunting rifle. I grab my revolver and keep it ready as we progress further down the makeshift road.
All along the beaten path, there are a series of shallow trenches that snake all over the place. Chills erupt across my body as I try and stay focused. Kate points the barrel of her rifle up towards a tree that overlooks one of the trenches to the left.
Camouflaged ladders that lead up into the trees are scattered all throughout the place. Thick limbs and freshly sprouting leaves overlap one another in such a way that only a sliver of the blind is visible. Up ahead is a giant wood cabin that has a center bonfire. Several smaller cabins set further back on elevated clearings.
"Kate?"
"Yeah?"
"I uh…I don't remember seeing this place on the map."
"That's because it wasn't."
This is bad. Really bad. Kate and I have wondered into a hunter's resort. This must have been some kind of retreat because the design and layout of the place is similar to an outpost.
If Kate and I were wondering out here about a month ago, I wouldn't be too concerned. The worst that would happen is the people would tell us, "we're trespassing" or "we'll scare the deer and boar away."
"You might want to put on a seatbelt." I say as I push the clutch down and shift up a gear.
Kate braces as I punch it. The wheels can handle the terrain, and there isn't any dips or steep inclines in front of us. I slide in between a fire pit, and the main resort. Nobody is shooting at us, so it's safe to assume this place is free from humans.
To the left are some croakers sprinting around in the distance. That must be the group Jamie was talking about last night. I swing wide and cut to the right. Kate watches behind us as I put some distance between us, and the croakers.
"They following us?"
"Yeah, but it's not a big deal. They aren't keeping up."
"I'll swing around and put some trees between us. That ought to throw them off."
"I sure hope. Those things are the worst." Kate sighs as she puts her rifle down and leans back in her seat. She closes her eyes and slouches in the seat. As tempting as it is, I shouldn't. I gently shift down a gear and avoid running over a hole at full speed. A small jolt causes the jeep to bounce, but it isn't enough to wake Kate up.
Seeing her sleep in the driver's seat makes me think of the times my family and I would go on vacation. Right about the time one of us was about to fall asleep, dad would run over those grooves on the road's shoulder.
It never really bothered Adam because he could fall asleep on a battlefield, so I learned to time sit behind dad and only sleep when Adam did. Mom on the other hand always wanted to be the one that sat in the passenger seat so she was always the victim.
Which when it came time to swap drivers on long trips, dad would always drink coffee or an energy drink. Although mom's response was always, "We still got a long trip, and you're going to have to fall asleep sooner or later."
The thought of those days causes me to smile despite our situation. Even though there's really no future, the memories of the past comfort me. It reminds me of what this world could be. Should be that is.
Up ahead is a pond with a decent incline. This must be the pond on Kate's map. I shift down a gear and position the jeep towards the easiest spot to climb. The tires grab ahold of the slanted ground and carry us towards the road at the top.
The back end of the jeep comes up and balances out. On the other side of the road is another pond. Which means we are close to the house. The surrounding trees conceal everything but the very top of the mansion Liam's group is holed up in. Good. That means they shouldn't be able to see us.
I look back in the direction the croakers were and make sure they haven't followed us. It's clear, but I don't want to wake up in the morning with those things surrounding the house, or have them wonder into Liam's outpost. Since I didn't go by to collect that ration he promised, maybe Liam will get the impression that we bugged out.
Kate opens her eyes and raises her arms above her head. "Wow. You didn't get lost. I'm impressed."
"Don't even act like you had any idea where we were going."
"Bullshit. I knew exactly where we were the entire time. That's why I went to sleep." She yawns.
"I'm sure you did." I reply as I park behind the house.
Kate hangs her arm out the window and rakes it across the door. She brings her hand back into the vehicle and slings it towards me. A cold slab hits me in the lips and splatters all over my face. Kate rips her door open and hides on the other side. The wet taste of dirt overloads my tongue and coats all my teeth with a grimy film. Particles of sand crunch every time my mouth moves.
I spit out a wad of brown, "You dirty little hoe."
"That was for earlier asshole." She teases.
I glare at her, but for some reason, I can't bring myself to be mad. Kate's smile crumbles away as she laughs aloud. She buries her face in her arms to try and conceal her laughter. The sound of Kate's unique tittering causes me to swell up and laugh with her. I wipe the rest of the mud off my face as Kate runs to the back door. In her defense, I somewhat deserved that.
"Jamie! We're back! Let us in!"
The lock disengages, and the door opens up. Kate makes her way in and sits down on the couch next to Rebecca.
"I don't know what you're cooking, but it smells really good." I state as I lock the door and take a seat at the kitchen table.
"Neither do I. I'm just tossing cans of food together and hoping for the best." Jamie sticks a wooden spoon tipped with red sauce back into the pot.
"What do you mean you're just tossing cans of food together? Surely you've got some kind of idea what you're doing." Kate says.
"I've cooked twice in my entire life, and this is the second time." Jamie replies as she fills some bowls with the red stew she just cooked.
Kate puts a clean spoon into the stew and hands it to Rebecca, "Go sit at the table with Matt. I'll be over in a minute."
Rebecca sits down across from me as Jamie hands Kate two more bowls. She brings the food over and puts a bowl in front of me. Steam radiates off the top of the red liquid as different types of vegetables and chunks of chicken bubble within the piping hot sauce. I scoop up a spoonful of tomato soup and some celery.
"Jamie?"
"Yeah?"
"You're a liar." I say.
"What?"
"You've cooked more than two times." I state as I take another bite.
"Yeah, because this is easily the best thing I've eaten." Kate adds.
"It's really good Jamie!" Rebecca says with a mouthful of soup.
Jamie shrivels up and tries to hide her embarrassment, "It's not that great…"
"Don't sell yourself short. It's better than anything I could have come up with." I say as I scoop up some chicken.
It never occurred to me to mix a can of tomatoes with a soup like chicken noodle. Which with what the survival guides have read, it's not a good idea to mix things together if supplies are low, but it seems we're pretty stocked for now.
The dull flavor of the tomato broth mixing with the sharp taste of the chicken stock boosts the overall flavor of the meat, and the noodles add a nice finish. The empty feeling in my gut disappears as I scoop the last bit of celery and tomato up.
A thought runs through my mind. Despite its concerning nature, it also gives me hope. That's only if I can get Kate, Jamie and Rebecca to come along. If the three of them could help me find Eric, and the others, then maybe all of us could find a place far away from the city. A place we could all settle down.
Eric and everyone else in our group knows the basic concept of how to grow food. Well, that's if they remember our elementary and middle school years. Regardless, all we'd have to do is find an almanac to base when and what to grow.
Almost everyone knows how to use a gun. None of us are really carpenters, but my manual does have a detailed diagram of how to build different types of shelters for the summers and winters.
Jamie can cook, Melissa is an archer, Fleming is close to being a doctor. The rest of us could tend to the fields and gather supplies. We'd have our own society. Sure, we'd have to figure out a way to keep the shamblers and croakers away, but we'd all have a place to call home. Just the possibility of seeing Eric, and the others again really excites me.
"Is there any more?" Rebecca asks as she holds her bowl out.
"Any more? I don't know. I'll have to check." Jamie states with a playful voice. She takes Rebecca's bowl and scrapes the last bit of the soup out of the cooking pot.
"It looks like there's just enough for one more bowl! Lucky you!"
YES!" Rebecca cheers as she slams her hands down on the table.
Even though what I got was a healthy serving, I would like a little more. However, Rebecca is having to pop chemo pills on a daily basis, and I think she needs it more than I do. Kate finishes the last of her soup and sits the bowl off to the side.
"Now comes the fun part of cooking." Jamie sighs.
"Do you need help with the clean up?" I ask.
"I'd appreciate it."
"Do you know what that means Rebecca?" Kate says as she digs around in her backpack.
"No, I don't have to."
"Yes, you do."
"I took a bath two days ago!"
"And in a couple minutes, you'll be taking another."
"NO!" Rebecca hops down from the table and runs into the back rooms.
"You're going to take a bath and like it!" Kate shouts as she pulls out a couple bars of soap and follows after Rebecca.
I gather the dishes and sit them in the cooking pot as Jamie breaks the barrels of her shotgun over and check to make sure they're loaded.
"Why do I have to take a bath? I don't even stink!" Rebecca pouts as Kate hauls her back into the living room.
"Because mom said that I'm responsible for you! Which means I make the decisions!" Kate replies as she hoists Rebecca up onto her shoulders.
Jamie grabs a hold of the pot she cooked in and kicks the grey ash from below onto the charred wood. The dust seeps into the wood and suffocates the flame. A weak puff of smoke rolls out of the logs, and the orange embers flash from underneath the black, ash colored bark.
"Matt?"
"Yes Kate?"
She walks over with her hunting rifle and hands it to me, "Rebecca and I are going to wash off first. You're going to be our lookout, but that doesn't mean you can spy on us."
"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill." I reply as I pull the bolt halfway back and make sure there's a bullet inside. Jamie leads the way out of the house. Kate and Rebecca follow as I shut the door and bring up the rear.
In all honesty, it doesn't seem like a very good idea to be washing dishes and bathing this close to our house, and the mansion that sets a couple hundred yards away in the opposite direction. Yet, what choice do we really have?
The dishes have to stay clean if we want to eat, and I haven't bathed since this all happened. It would be really nice to be clean, but there's just something about a psycho and his armed group living up the road from us that makes me uneasy.
Jamie steps down the slope and sits the dishes on the bank. Kate keeps Rebecca balanced on her shoulders and eases down to the water. I sling the rifle over my shoulder and follow after Kate. Jamie looks at the water, and then looks at the dishes. She is trying to figure out a way to wash without contaminating the pond.
"I have an idea. Start digging right here."
"Alright." Jamie presses her hand into the ground and scoops down.
I dig into the red clay and carve out a small trench in between the pot, and the pond. Jamie tries to press the pot into the ground but realizes the hole isn't big enough. Kate and Rebecca come over and help her with the adjustments as I make preparations for when to let the water flow down the trench. It isn't the most effective way to wash dishes, but given what we have, this is the best I can come up with off the top of my head.
Jamie sits the pot into the hole, "Alright. It's ready."
I carefully poke at the small thin strip of clay holding the pond back. The water slowly trickles over the edge and rolls through the trench and into the pot. I scrape some more clay out, and the water current picks up the pace. That should be enough.
Jamie picks up the pot and swirls the water inside around. It looks like she kept the stew inside well stirred because most of the broth hasn't burned into the surface. Jamie has definitely cooked more than twice if she knows that little trick.
She squirts some dish soap into the pot and runs her hand around the brim. Kate picks up the spoons and hand washes them as Rebecca cleans the bowls. Jamie pitches the sudsy water out of the pot and gives it one final rinse. Kate and Rebecca put their bowls and utensils into the pot and stirs them around.
"Alright. Once we get back, we'll give everything a good boil, and we'll be ready for the next meal." Jamie states as she drains the water.
"Jamie?"
"Yeah Kate?"
"Make sure Matt's eyes don't wonder." She teases as she takes the pot and fills it with water.
I lean up against the slope and face the direction Kate and Rebecca are heading. The both of them are walking to a cluster of small trees and saplings that rest close to the bank. Jamie lays her shotgun across her lap and watches the ridge behind me.
"You aren't looking, are you?" Jamie snickers.
"That girl would strangle me in my sleep if I so much as thought about it." I reply as I sling the rifle off my back and use it as a crutch.
"That she would." Jamie giggles.
"So tell me. Why do you lie about your cooking skills?"
"What?"
"You knew to keep the pot stirred as it simmered so the broth wouldn't stick."
"Explain how a guy would know that."
"My grandma. My mom. Cooking shows. That's where I learned the basics."
Jamie sighs, "Around my sophomore year, my family wasn't able to afford the full meal plan the campus had. Dad was a trucker, mom worked in retail, and this was at a time the economy was in a huge slump, so dad went from working seventy hours a week to about thirty. In order to live on campus grounds, you either had to have a meal plan, or pay for a partial plan and sign up with a program that would give canned food and water to students in need."
"Keep in mind, this was donations. Stuff from churches, food drives, school carnivals. It wasn't necessarily the cream of the crop, but it kept me from starving, and that's all that mattered."
Jamie takes a deep breath, "It was so embarrassing because nobody else at the school ever had to sign up for the program in the past."
"I'm guessing with it being a prep school, everyone wanted to be a cunt about it."
"Oh yeah."
"Figures. Trust fund assholes." I reply.
"There was one girl that understood my hardships though. She was a foreign exchange student, and she's the one that taught me how to mix these foods and make them better. Which she told me stories about her grandparents and how during their hardships, they had to eat snow during times of famine."
Jamie faintly smiles, "So every time there was snow, we would go out and eat it in remembrance of her grandparents."
"That girl sounds like everything a friend should be." I say.
"She was my only friend. We were talking about going to OU together and being roommates once we graduated, but as you know, the world decided to go to hell. I promised her we'd make it out, but I'm still here…" Jamie sniffles as she wipes some tears that stream down the side of her face.
She fights it as long as she possibly can, but Jamie's emotions get the better of her. She scrunches up and buries her head in between her knees and softly sobs. Seeing her in this state takes me back to the exact moment that arrow hit Samantha in the head. The sharp pain the memory brings back takes my breath away. I reach into my pocket and pull-out Samantha's bloodstained crucifix.
"I had somebody in my life too. She loved me more than my own family, and she didn't even make it the front gate. All because of me." I clench the crucifix and desperately hold onto the rage that storms within my heart.
"At first, I lashed out at everyone. I thought everyone around me was just using me as a tool to survive, and once I outlived my usefulness, they'd get rid of me. Now that we've been separated for a couple days, I realized that my fear wasn't them turning on me, but because I didn't want to watch them die like Samantha did."
Jamie looks up at me. Whatever I'm saying must be working because I have her full attention now. "I don't know what you've seen, or who you've lost, but the world doesn't care. I do though, and I'm not about to let it take any more from me."
Jamie nods her head and clears her throat. She seems that she wants to say something, but her feelings are preventing her from speaking. Jamie smiles, and the pain ridden mask that was on her face melts away into a joyful expression of hope. Kate walks out from behind the tree with Rebecca, and they make their way towards us. Kate throws a bar of soap at me, "your turn garbage bin."
"Garbage bin. Aren't you the comedian?" I reply as I hand her the hunting rifle and head towards the trees.
"If Matt tries to look at you, whistle and I'll come bounce his ass." Kate teases as she hands some soap to Jamie.
"I got this if he does." Jamie holds up her shotgun and laughs.
I pick up the pot and submerge it into the pond. Water floods over the sides and fills up to the brim with brown, murky water. I don't know how this is going to improve our cleanliness, but it's better than nothing.
Jamie steps behind a tree and unbuckles her belt as I pull my shirt off. A salt line from over three days of perspiration has formed at the base of my chest. That will be the first thing that goes. I dump some of the water on the shirt and scrub.
"Is that you Jamie?" I ask as footsteps approach me.
"Yes. Please don't turn around." She replies.
"Just making sure I wasn't about to catch a knife to the neck."
Jamie must be sitting right behind me because I can hear her scrubbing her body with a bar of soap. Which doesn't bother me. She's watching a direction I can't see. That way neither of us get caught off guard if someone manages to slip by Kate.
I yank the rest of my clothes off and wet myself with some of the water. It sucks there isn't a sponge to help scrub the stains off but this will have to do.
The muck and filth washes off in a barrage of suds. The unscented smell of freshness fills my nose and offers a sweet smell I have yet to experience. Something that doesn't smell like rotting meat for once. I rinse myself off and knead the suds into the fabric of my clothing.
My socks smell way better now, and my blue jeans have less buildup. The only thing that won't come out is the blood stains, but they are way less visible than they were before. I twist my clothes around and wring out as much water as possible.
"You about ready Jamie?"
"Yeah. Let me get my shirt on first."
I throw my clothes on, lace up my boots and stand. Jamie buttons her waterlogged shirt up and slides her shoes back on. I pick up the pot and dump the water inside out. That went way better than expected. Most people would be flipping out over a situation like that.
The looming threat of the contaminates as well as Liam's group scared us both straight, because the only thing that was going through my mind wasn't seeing Jamie naked, but getting the hell out of there because we were in a very vulnerable state. Sheer paranoia takes over and forces me to look in the direction of where Liam's group is. There doesn't seem to be anything on the ridge, so maybe nobody saw us. Although there is always that feeling deep down that somebody did.
"Let's get going." I say as I keep my eye on the ridge behind us.
Rebecca is drawing in the ground with her fingers as Kate twirls her knife around her hands. The handle wraps around her knuckles, bounces back and forces the knife to extend out. She spins it around and folds it back up in one swift motion.
"You two done?"
"Yeah. Let's head back."
Kate stands up and leads the way. Rebecca sticks to her side as Jamie and I bring up the rear. For some reason, that feeling from earlier will not go away. I look back and scan the area around where everyone was bathing. Nothing.
Yet, there seems to be a certain tone that is constantly lingering in the air. Almost like someone is stalking us. Maybe it's the guilt that's racking from within. The feeling that karma will come back around and get me.
Even though everything I've done could be justified. Might be justified. The idea that karma could come isn't what concerns me, but how it might punish Kate, Jamie and Rebecca as a result for what I've done.
Kate keeps her gun up and heads into the house first. I grab my revolver and go around back as Jamie follows Kate into the house. Nobody has messed with the jeep. Nor has there been any signs of someone skulking around while we were gone.
"House is clear!" Kate yells.
Jamie opens the back door and lets me in. Kate is rearranging the wood in the fireplace while Rebecca plays with her little stuffed cat. Kate wads some paper up for tinder and tosses it into the fireplace. She carefully blows and manipulates the smoldering embers that slowly burn into the paper. An orange wave rises up and turns the paper black. Kate carefully adds more paper and nurtures the flame.
"If you want food tonight, you'll have to eat it cold because the pot has to be sterilized." Jamie says as she hangs the pot above the fire.
"But you washed it out. Is it not clean?" Rebecca asks.
"There's still pond water inside, and there's a good chance that it will make us sick if we don't scorch everything clean." Kate replies.
"Don't worry Rebecca, I got a can of peaches for you. That can be your bedtime snack." Jamie states as she holds the tip of a spoon in the fire.
The three of them get into a conversation about what they'll be doing tomorrow. Kate pulls out the coloring book we were coloring in this morning and marks the next page Rebecca will be working on.
I sit down at the dining room table and think about what I'm going to do. I really want to go look for Eric and the others, but at the same time, it feels like something bad is going to happen tomorrow.
Something like those goons from Liam's outpost wondering down here, or Blair's group finding this place. That house Kate and I killed those guys at wasn't too far away, and even though I made sure the tracks didn't come directly here, Jack will go back and try to find clues on our whereabouts.
"Where you going Matt?" Kate asks.
"I'm going to bed early."
"You feeling alright?" Jamie adds.
"Yeah. It's just if tomorrow's going to be anything like it was today, I need as much sleep as possible. Goodnight."
I pull all my damp clothes off and hang them up in the closet. With as early as it is, everything should be dry by tomorrow. I slide underneath the blanket and lay my head on the pillow. Everything is going to be fine. Everything will work out.
"Hey Matt?" Kate's voice says from outside the room.
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah. I'm just tired is all."
"Well can I come in?"
Sure. Just be aware I took my clothes off because I didn't want to leave a damp spot on my bed."
Kate opens the door and walks in. I cover myself and let my arms lay out from beneath the blanket. She sits down on the edge of the bed and looks back at the door. Either she forgot to shut the door, or is making sure it's open to avoid any wrong ideas.
"What's on your mind?" I ask.
"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you weren't sick." She says.
"You weren't thinking about going to a shambler invested hospital, were you?" I tease.
"Since you are using that tone with me, no. You can suffer from whatever disease you have." Kate pokes in retaliation.
"You can't cure what I have."
Kate laughs as she kicks her shoes off and lays down on the bed, "So what's causing you to go to bed so early tonight? What's so important about tomorrow?"
"Well, I was wanting to go see if I could go find my group."
"Those people that were with you back in Coaltown?"
"Yeah."
Kate rubs her chin and goes into deep thought, "If I remember correctly, I saw them shortly before I ran into you."
"You mean before you shot me?"
"And beat your ass." Kate adds.
"I let you win."
"And I let you live."
"Fuck you Kate."
"The feeling's mutual." Kate giggles.
"Anyway. I'm going to go out and look for them. Now if you just tell me where you last saw them, I'll be on my way in the morning."
"By yourself?"
"Why not?"
"How about this, you let me come, and I'll tell you about a place I know they stopped by. Unless you want to navigate Coaltown by yourself."
"Not having to hearing you is tempting."
Kate tilts her head towards me, "Fuck you Matt."
The straight look on her face is causing her lips to quiver. The corners of Kate's mouth attempt to rise but, she tries her best to fight her feelings. I stick my tongue out and make a stupid face. Kate bursts out laughing as a result.
"In all seriousness, I can't let you go out there by yourself. The only reason I was able to come home to Rebecca was because of you, and it's my goal to keep you alive just as you've kept me alive." Kate states with a sincere nod. The way her eyes glisten with genuine pride reassures me.
"Since you put it that way, I guess I can let you come."
"I wasn't asking for your permission." Kate smiles.
"Goodnight Kate."
"Goodnight Matt…"