Wolf, WY

Chapter 1: October-4

Vaughn nodded, agreeing without further discussion, which was a good thing, Randy figured. At least he’d managed to say something right. He didn’t bother to give himself a chance to f**k that up, too. He turned and walked back to the road, slippers dark and growing heavy with muck, and tried to ignore the feeling that he was being watched. When that got too hard to manage, he turned and looked back. Both men were leaning against the machine, staring and silent. He lifted his arm in a slow wave, but instead of responding, they dropped their gazes and went back to work.

It was colder on the road, out of the protection of the trees. Though his mind kept pinging him with questions (Do you think they were watching because they liked what they saw? Do you think you’ll get a chance to talk to them again? Just how awful did all that actually sound?), he told himself that he was thinking about coffee and all the things he had to do that day.

Like watching the clock. Picking animal shapes out of clouds. Sorting snapshots.

The weight that had fallen on his shoulders earlier suddenly doubled. His entire body felt as heavy as his newly-muck-burdened slippers.

It was going to be a productive day for the ex-lawyer from Washington, DC, indeed.