Page 101 of What Remains

"If you find her," Seth said quietly.

Cade nodded once. “When I find her."

Seth's expression softened in a way few people ever witnessed. "Bring her home."

For the first time since they'd met him, Cade's guarded demeanor cracked—not with a grin, but with something far more fragile. Hope.

"That's the plan."

Jay pulled him into a quick one-armed hug before stepping back and clapping him on the shoulder. "Try not to get yourself killed."

"I'll pencil it into my schedule."

Cara laughed softly, blinking harder than the cold alone could explain. "If you ever make it our way, you've got people waiting."

Cade gave a small nod. "I'll remember that."

Josie hugged him next—a quick, warm embrace that spoke more of shared survival than a simple farewell. "Good luck."

"You too, Doc."

Finally, Cade adjusted his pack straps until his rifle settled comfortably against his shoulder. He glanced once toward the mountains, then back at the road stretching endlessly west.

"Alaska's waiting."

Without another word, he began walking, snow crunching steadily beneath his boots. None of them moved. They simply watched as his figure grew smaller against the white expanse until, after several yards, Cade lifted a hand over his shoulder in farewell.

He never looked back.

A faint smile touched Seth's lips. "Stubborn son of a bitch."

Jay chuckled beside him. "You Marines are all the same."

"No." Seth kept watching until Cade disappeared over the rise, his voice dropping low. "We're just stubborn enough to walk through all this for the people we love."

For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Seth climbed into Beast and turned the engine over, its familiar rumble filling the silence Cade had left behind.

"Let's get going."

The convoy pulled away, its tracks quickly vanishing in the falling snow. Seth focused on the road ahead, on the promise of warm fires and familiar faces. Still, his thoughts drifted west, following a lone Marine walking toward a woman he refused to leave behind.

Chapter 23

Home At Last

The familiar outline of the ranch emerged over the next rise as the afternoon sun dipped toward the mountains, gilding the snow-covered fields in fading amber light.

Home.

He tried to push the word away. This wasn't his home; it belonged to Josie and Layla. It was just a stop before the long road home. But the argument felt thin as he watched smoke curl from the farmhouse chimney—a peaceful, lazy ribbon against the white landscape. Horses wandered near the fence line, their quiet shapes a promise of sanctuary he knew he couldn't keep.

Jay smiled into the radio.

"Chimney's smoking. That's a good sign."

As Beast rolled through the front gate, the farmhouse door burst open before the truck had even come to a stop.

"There they are!" Layla's excited voice rang out across the yard as she flew down the porch steps, bundled in a coat two sizes too big, nearly losing her hat as she sprinted through the snow. Liz followed close behind, starting at a jog before breaking into a full run, the tense line of her shoulders softening as she saw them.