NOR DID IT TAKE NEARLY as long as Red had expected, until it was only himself and Charlotte who remained—Charlotte who looked at Red with her big, brown eyes and started shaking her head. “No way, asshole. Not in a million years.”
“They’re not going to leave, Charlotte,” he said, and nodded his head at the others. “Go. They’re going to attack, it’s just a matter of when. And the sooner you skedaddle, the sooner I can follow. Please.”
She looked at him a moment longer before finally shouldering her rifle and beginning the ascent, after which he called after her, “I love you. And I’ll be right behind you.”
She paused and looked down at him over shoulder. “In the rear with the gear?”
He tore his eyes off her and refocused on his sights. “In the rear with the gear,” he sighed, and squinted
