I feel cold as I drive. I hate leaving Amelia right now, but I don’t think Ingram’s going to be back anytime soon, at least not today. His guys are hurt, and Ingram himself got it pretty good from Amelia’s knee to his fucking nuts.

Ingram’s not the guy I want to hurt right now, though. I clench the steering wheel, mind spinning.

When the fuck did he betray us? I can’t imagine it was from the beginning. Maybe he thought this strike would never end, and so he took matters into his own hands. Maybe he needed money. I don’t understand why he didn’t come to me if he needed help with something, but he didn’t.

He betrayed me, broke my fucking heart. That’s all I know. Roy is a fucking traitor and a scumbag, and I know I want him dead.

Except I don’t, not really. He’s still a friend, hell, something of a mentor. I used to look up to Roy in a lot of ways. Now that bastard broke me, but I can’t let him keep me down.

I pull up outside the house and kill the engine. I head up to the front door and knock loudly.

Vernon answers a little minute. “Samuel, hey,” he says. “What are you doing here?”

“We gotta talk.”

He nods, frowning at my expression. “Sure. Come in. Sarah’s just back from Boone’s.”

I follow Vernon into his place. Sarah’s in the kitchen, washing some dishes when we come in.

“Hi, Samuel,” she says. “What’s going on?”

I stare at the two of them and I feel my anger rise. These are good people, the kind of people that Roy betrayed by selling out our secrets to Ingram. I can take the hurt, but I can’t take him hurting our friends. I don’t think I can ever understand or forgive that.

“We should sit,” I say.

Vernon glances at Sarah. “I’ll give you two some privacy,” she says. “Gotta get ready for my shift soon, anyway.”

She leaves the kitchen, kissing Vernon on the way. I sit at their table, wringing my hands, and Vernon sits across from me.

“What’s going on, Samuel?”

“Ingram came to Amelia’s this morning. Tried to attack her.”

He looks surprised. “Is she okay?”

I respect him so much for asking that question. “She’s fine.”

“Good thing you were there.”

I sigh, and appreciate him even more. Some other guys might question me being there, but not Vernon. He’s a good man, even if he’s not perfect.

“It was bad,” I say. “But we have a contract. The strike should be over soon.”

“That’s awesome news,” he says, perking up. “But shouldn’t you be telling Roy about this?”

My expression darkens and I look away. “We gotta talk about Roy.”

Vernon leans back in his chair. “That’s going on?”

“Roy’s working with Ingram.”

Vernon’s silent for a second. “You’re fucking kidding me?”

“No,” I say. “It’s true.”

“No fucking way. Roy? Ingram? Roy hates that bastard.”

“It’s true,” I say, harsher than I need to. “Believe me, I’d never say it if I weren’t sure.”

“Shit,” he says softly. “Man. I… fuck.”

“I know what you mean.”

We sit in silence together. We’ve worked with Roy down in the mines countless times, put our lives in his hands… and this happens. It’s almost unbearable.

“What do we do?” he asks me.

“Do you want a promotion, Vernon?”

He sighs. “Fuck no.”

I lean toward him. “But you’ll do it.”

He meets my gaze. “Of course I will. What else can I do?”

“Good man.” I lean back, sure that I made the right choice. “Call some guys, people you trust. Have them watch Roy and watch him fucking close.”

“What are we going to do about him?”

“Right now, we’ll do nothing.”

“Nothing? We should string that fucker up.”

“Nothing,” I repeat. “Just watch him. If he tries to leave town, have them stop him. Other than that, it’s business as usual.”

“Doesn’t seem usual to me,” he says softly.

“Yeah, well.” I sigh, shaking my head. “Better muster more guys. Ingram’s going to be on the warpath these next few days.”

“He hasn’t been already?”

“It’s going to get worse, but after that, it’ll get better.”

Vernon sighs and we sit there in silence together, thinking about the weight of what we’re doing. It’s the weight of the mountain we mine under, all that rock and death and pressure behind held up above our heads by human ingenuity. We can do that, and we can do so much more. We can do this, I’m sure of it.

“Get the guys,” I tell him, slowly standing. “You’re my number two now. I’ll spread the word.”

He nods. “Okay, Samuel. I’ll do it.”

I head toward the door and stop. “Vernon.”

He looks up at me. “Yeah?”

“Thanks,” I say.

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “Man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

I laugh and leave his house, get back into my truck, and head off.