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Leo handed over the medicine without another word, and Kimmy inspected it. After a minute, she looked to me and said, “It’s hard to say for sure, but I think it’s alright. We have penicillin back home, and though this is obviously a more refined version, it seems similar.”

Relief flooded through me. “Okay. Thank you.”

She cut me a softer look before finding a vein in Claire’s clammy arm. Claire shuddered at the prick of the needle but otherwise stayed still.

“Where is this place you mentioned?” I asked Leo, still watching Claire’s face. “How far?”

“Maybe an hour’s walk,” Asha replied for him. “But we’ll have to put Claire on the stretcher, so it’ll take longer.”

I slung my rifle back over my shoulder. “Let’s get moving, then. The light’s almost gone, and we can’t wait till morning.”

“Dom?” Leo prompted, and Dom brought the stretcher over. As Kimmy and I quickly packed up our things, he and Leo lifted Claire onto the stretcher like she weighed nothing, even wrapped in all our blankets. When they stood up, carrying one end each, she stirred for the first time in hours.

“John?” she croaked, panicked. “Where am I? What’s happening?”

Her eyes were open, unfocused, her pupils dilated. It was killing me to see her like this. It was the only reason I’d ever have risked something as dangerous as trusting random strangers to operate on her.

“Shh, it’s alright,” I soothed, bending over the stretcher to kiss her cheek. “We’re getting you help, baby. Trust me. I’ll be right here, okay?”

Claire sighed as I stroked her cheek and leaned into my touch.

“’Kay,” she murmured, her eyes already closing again. I gave her one more kiss before we set out. I walked next to the stretcher, rifle at the ready, while the two men carried Claire. Asha took the front, her own gun in hand, and Kimmy brought up the rear with the horses.

The walk felt like it took forever. I switched out with Leo and Dom a few times, taking turns carrying the stretcher. Darkness fell, and we were left relying on my solar flashlight to make our way. Thankfully, we didn’t run into any people or animals.

Eventually, in the distance, we spotted a single burning torch on a pillar. The light outlined a tall wood fence that snaked around what looked like a village of old hunting cabins. Anything else was too dark to see.

We walked to the torch, which was right by the gate into the village, and were greeted by a huge, muscled, grumpy-as-hell-looking guy with short, dark hair cropped close to his scalp. His heavy eyebrows pinched together as we approached, Asha leading the way.

“I don’t like this, darling,” the guy said to her. “I know she’s your friend, but I don’t trust these Wastelanders.”

My eyebrows raised, and I stared at him. For the first time, I noticed that he and the other two men had the same smooth, clear skin, the same bright eyes, the same too-perfect look to them that all the compound people I’d ever met had. Were they all from the Delta? How did Asha find them?

“We don’t trust you, either,” I replied, keeping my voice level. “But when it comes to my wife…I’m willing to give anything a shot.”

“Your wife?” The guy’s eyes scanned over me and then Claire, on the stretcher, like he was putting something together in his head. Then to Asha, he burst out, “This is the dickhead who shot you?!”

He sounded so fucking outraged that I almost laughed.

“And I’d do it again,” I said with a shrug. Maybe I should’ve been friendlier, considering we needed their help, but I sensed that this guy picked up on weakness. Plus, it was just the truth.

His eyes bulged at my lack of regret.

“Cade, please,” Asha pleaded, and her hand fell in the crook of his muscled arm, stroking it. I didn’t miss the way Kimmy’s eyes lingered on it, the way her jaw tightened. I recognized the name; this was the guy that Asha had supposedly been all broken up over when she was with us, though we never got any details about it.

This is all we need right now: a bitter love triangle. I gritted my teeth as Claire took in a short, rattling breath on the stretcher behind me.

“We don’t have time for this,” Leo broke in. “Look, Cap, I already agreed to help. Stand guard if you must, but we need to operate on Claire now.”

“They don’t need to rob us,” Asha added, turning Cade’s face to meet her eyes. “They have much more than we do where they came from. If they were closer to home, they wouldn’t need us at all. I don’t care for the Wastelander, but I at least owe Claire my help after all I’ve done. Please.”

Cade reached up and touched her hand surprisingly gently, and let out a long breath. “Alright, my angel. But we don’t give something for nothing.” He shot me a look. “If what Asha’s told me is true, you know a lot about surviving in these parts. How to work the land, how to build things. We’ll help your girl…if you help us.”

I stared at him. “You’re putting a price on my wife’s life.”

Cade nodded. “Everything’s got a price, Wastelander. This can’t be news to you.”

“Cap—” Leo started, looking like he was about to argue, but Cade gave him a fierce look and raised a hand to silence him.