They walked all night, getting in another two battles with Patriot scouts. It wasn't random; they were after the group, no doubt. No one bothered to tell Cassandra why. They weren't a very talkative bunch. Miles and Rachel did a lot of privet whispering to each other. Charlie was friendly when spoken to but she seemed to have a lot on her mind. Gene seemed depressed, almost out if it. Sebastian was on full alert fight mode. They shared a few looks but didn't really speak the rest of the night. They finally entered the old state of Oklahoma at sunrise. Coming to a town with a pub and a boarding house, everyone decided to stop, eat, sleep and lay low for the day. The journey would continue that night. After watching from the edge of town for a while and deciding it looked safe enough, Bass went to get them a room while everyone else got needed supplies.
Meeting at the boarding house, Bass tossed Miles a key and taking Cassandra's hand, turned to walk inside. "Where are you heading?" Miles asked, as if he couldn't figure it out. "I got two rooms. I'm getting a bit sick of looking at you people and I'm tired. See you at dark." Bass snapped at him. "Sorry" he said to Cass as they went up some old creaky stairs, "Last night didn't leave me in the best of moods. And I know I didn't even ask you if you wanted to stay with me, but I want to keep you safe, so you are." Cassandra wasn't used to anyone just telling her what she was going to do. Frankly though, she felt too tired to bite his head off for it. "I don't care where I sleep right now, I'm just tired." "Well then, sleep you shall have, Baby. Don't worry about anything, I'm a light sleeper and I'll be there the whole time. We'll get some food when we get up," Bass says. Cassandra just nods. They reached the door and went in. A bed and a chair were the only furniture in the room. But there were blankets and pillows and a lock on the door. Cassandra sat on the bed to take her boots off. Bass put the chair under the doorknob and their weapons in easy reach. He turned to the bed only to see Cassandra already asleep. He smiled. Pulling off his own boots and getting in bed with her, he thought of all the things he had thought about doing with her in a bed. Sleeping wasn't one. But exhaustion was firmly set in on both of them. He pulled her closer to him and fell asleep. They didn't move again until almost dusk.
When she finally started to wake up, Cassandra was momentarily disoriented. Where the hell was she and who had their arm around her? She'd never woken up like that in her life. It came back to her then. Bass. Kissing. Walking and fighting for way too long. Sleep. And then cuddling in a soft, warm bed. He shifted a little in his sleep, instinctively pulling her closer. His warm breath on her neck sent sparks all over her body. Nothing in the world could make her want to move right then. But she knew they had to. "Bass," she said, while rubbing his arm. "No." He replied. "We need to go soon," she told him. "No." Again with the same reply. "I'm starving and the others will be waiting," she told him. "Fine, but only to get food for you. I really couldn't care less if they are waiting or not." He laughed a little as he rolled over and sat up. "I was already awake anyway. And I've decided that we should stay until tomorrow. We need some more rest and maybe we can find some things out while we are here, poke around a bit. We can't just keep going on like this. I don't do wild goose chases." "Will they agree? It seems like finding their friend is pretty important to them," Cassandra asked. "Hell if I really care. If they are smart, they'll take my advice. I'll go get us some food, Honey, and let them know what we are doing. Why don't you go have a bath and relax a little, while I'm gone? Take a knife though. I'll be watching." "That sounds awesome." Cass said. "I'll be back soon," Bass said, and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Cass grabbed her bag and went to the boarding house bath room. Paying for a lukewarm bath sucked. She very well-remembered the long hot baths of her youth. And showers every day. And toothbrushes. Thinking back to the first year after the blackout, toothbrushes were the only thing Cassandra had stolen. A whole box from a looted pharmacy. She still had a couple. And all of her teeth, so it worked out for her. Funny, the things that matter when the whole world changes over night. She finished her bath and got dressed quickly. Combing her wet hair, she decided to leave it down to dry. She walked out and saw Bass and Miles talking a few feet away. They looked mad. They both saw her and stopped. What was going on with them? Cass knew she needed to find out before too much longer. It was too risky being in the dark about whatever it was. She'd try to get some answers today.
Wow! That was all Sebastian could think of when he saw Cassandra. Her hair was down and she had on a very tight, pink tank top and a long skirt. Pink. It occurred to him that he hadn't seen that color in a long time. And women didn't wear skirts anymore either. He smiled at her. And noticed a lot of other people were smiling at her too. Including, Miles. Bass was very close to punching him. "Get your damn eyes off of her or so help me..." He muttered with clinched teeth. "Hey, I'd never make a move on your woman, that's more your kind of thing, isn't it?" Miles said. He's got me there, Bass thought. He let it drop. Cassandra came to him and he took her hand. "Do you want to go to the pub across the street? They have food and maybe we can overhear something helpful." Bass asked her. "Sure, and maybe we'll have a chance to talk as well," she said. Bass didn't really like the sound of that all too much. Maybe he could distract her from the conversation for a bit longer. Some things were just too hard to say. If all his truths came out, he was quite sure that she wouldn't stick around to let him explain. The less she knew about him and the situation they were in, the better.
After eating, Bass got them a bottle and pulled Cassandra to a back corner table, while the others sat at the bar. Sitting against the wall and watching everything going on, he took a drink and handed it to her. She took it but didn't drink. She looked at him. "Tell me what's going on. Why the Patriots are trying to kill you?" He knew that question was coming. "They aren't trying to kill me, they already did." What? She thought. Did he just say they already did? "I'll tell that story another time," he said. "I know I owe it to you since you've put your life at risk for me so many times. Basically, we are heading to see a large ball of twine, find someone who they want to find and bring down the Patriots. I'm only going along with it trying to find something that I can't find any other way. But, do you really want to talk about all this right now? Or can we find a better topic?" She decided she didn't really want to talk about it, yet. She just hoped that what she didn't know wouldn't kill her. Taking a drink, she smiled and said, "What do you want to talk about, then?" Bass leaned across the table, closer to her. "I want to talk about going back to our room and having my way with you all night long and in every way possible, Cassandra. Does that sound like a good topic?" It does.