We walked on, deeper into the desert. Despite knowing that we needed to get moving forward, I found myself looking back every few minutes, watching the oasis disappear further into the horizon. I’d be lying if I said that Delaney’s joking suggestion didn’t have some appeal. I imagined the two of us living in that little retreat for years, turning more and more primitive as time went on. We’d be dressed in clothes made from the foliage, feasting on berries and animals.

Hell, maybe the koala family and us could be neighbors.

It was all totally silly, but a fun fantasy nonetheless. But she and I needed to get back to civilization, to the lives that were waiting for us.

The sun was as oppressive as ever, but the time in the oasis had really taken the edge off. I felt up for the hike ahead, and judging by the spring to Delaney’s step, I could tell that she felt the same way.

“So,” she said. “What’s your, you know, long-term plan?”

“Get back to Longbridge, then to Alice Springs, and complete my next job,” I said.

“No,” I said. “I mean, long-long-term. Do you plan on being a kick-ass mercenary for the rest of your life?”

“Part of me wishes that I could,” I said. “To be able to do this kind of work forever. But, yeah, I know what you’re saying—being a bodyguard wouldn’t really be the best career option for a senior citizen.”

“Have you thought about it?” she asked.

“I have,” I said. “And I wouldn’t mind settling down. It sounds nice. Not having to travel everywhere, not having to spend half of my life on airplanes, not having to be suffering from jet lag most of my waking hours.”

I thought about it, not sure if I wanted to reveal everything to her, then reasoned that if we were going our separate ways soon anyway, it couldn’t exactly do much harm.

“I’m thinking of starting a business,” I told her. “Maybe a local security company, something where I can direct things from behind the scenes, something where I can stay put.”

“And what would you do if you were staying put?” she asked.

“I’d want to be close to my mother, to make sure that she had someone looking out for her. I made a mistake letting my dad go, but I can do the right thing by her. I’d have a house built for her, make sure she didn’t want for anything. Then, maybe, I’d think about starting a family of my own.”

A little sparkle flashed in her eyes at this.

“The Navy SEAL settles down,” she said.

“Gotta do it sometime,” I said. “Can’t be an international jet-setter for your entire life.”

“Believe me,” she said. “I know.”

There was something unspoken between us now. After all, you can’t really say to someone you’re involved with that you both have more-or-less the exact same thing in mind for your futures without getting to thinking. But I didn’t know what would become of Delaney and I once we’d gotten back to civilization. I’d heard that relationships formed from traumatic experiences only lasted as long as the event did. Would things dissipate as soon as we were out of danger?

I knew it was all pointless to think about, however. We had very, very, pressing matters to deal with. I could picture with perfect clarity the mobsters arriving at the oasis, finding signs that we’d been there, and getting back on our trail. We were in a race against time, and the longer we took, the greater the odds of them finding us.

We kept on, the sun beginning to dip in the distance.

“Whoa,” said Delaney, pointing ahead. “What’s that?”

Up in the distance a curving, black shape snaked through the desert. I squinted, trying to imagine what it might be.

“Oh, shit,” I said. “That has to be the canyon and the river. Come on!”

I picked up my pace, Delaney hurrying after me.

“Does that mean we’re getting close?” she asked in between breaths.

“Sure does,” I said. “Means once we cross, we’ve only got a couple more hours of walking ahead of us.”

“Then Longbridge?”

“Then Longbridge. But we’d better pray there’s some way across.”

My heart rate began to pick up as we closed in on the river. I never thought I’d be so happy to arrive at a town like Longbridge, but here I was, missing that dust-swept little village.

The dark shape of the canyon began to take a more defined shape as we approached, and soon I could make out the rocky crags and hear the rushing of the river below. After about ten more minutes of near-running, we reached the edge of the canyon.

“Damn,” said Delaney. “That’s a hell of a drop.”

She wasn’t wrong. The walls of the canyon were steep as they came, and below, probably a good hundred feet down, a narrow, curving river raged.

“There,” I said, looking to our right and spotting a long, rope bridge that covered the width of the canyon. “There’s our ticket back to town.”

“Let’s go!” shouted Delaney, raising her voice over the rushing water that echoed from below.

We trotted over to the bridge and looked it over. With spaced wood slats and rope handles, it didn’t look like the most stable thing in the world. But it’d get us across—if we were careful.

I watched as Delaney stepped toward the bridge, placing one hand on the rope handle and looking down. The color seemed to drain out of her face instantly.

“Hey,” I said. “We were wondering why they called this town ‘Longbridge’, right?” I asked with a smirk. “Well, maybe this is it?”

She gave me a glare that made it clear she didn’t find my joke all that funny.

“Justin, I don’t think I can do this,” she said. “It looks like it might collapse at any second. And look—some of the slats are missing!”

She pointed ahead and, sure enough, there were gaps in the bridge where the slats had fallen. Crossing would be tricky, but luckily, we had all the time in the world to cross. That is, assuming that it would handle our weight.

“It’s our only option,” I said. “We need to get across.”

Delaney nodded, understanding that I was right.

“Okay,” she said. “But you need to hold onto me the entire time. And don’t let go.”

I nodded.

“I can handle that,” I said. “And I’ll go first.”

With that, I stepped to the beginning of the bridge. Keeping one foot on the dirt, I placed my right foot onto the first slat and gave it a press. It held my weight without cracking or creaking—so far, so good.

Now for the rest of my body. I took in a deep breath and brought my other foot from the desert onto the slat. Sure enough, it held.

“I think we’re good!” I called out, raising my voice over the river. “Take my hand and follow me!”

Delaney nodded, her expression still tight with fear. I moved over to the next slat, giving her room to approach. I stuck out my hand for her, and she took it. Then, with some hesitation, she moved onto the slat.

“See?” I said. “It’s fine. Looks worse than it is. And I’ll step first. That way you’ll know that where you’re going to put your foot down will support your weight.”

She nodded again, her mouth pressed into a tight, flat line, her brow scrunched with tension.

One hand on the rope, one hand holding Delaney’s, I began to move slowly across the bridge.

“Oh,” I said, calling out over my shoulder. “I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but don’t look down!”

“Just like ‘don’t think of the pink elephant’!” she said.

“Huh?”

“Tell someone not to think of a pink elephant, and that’s the first thing they’ll think of. Now all I want to do is look down!”

“I would really, really, strongly advise against that!”

I continued to cross, now having flashbacks of my time in SEAL training when I was forced to cross a similar bridge over a similar river. Only then, I didn’t have the privilege of anything to put my feet on—I had to shimmy across with nothing but a rope. I considered telling this to Delaney, but I realized with a wry smirk that she likely wouldn’t take too much comfort in it.

“Just keep moving!” I called out. “Almost halfway there!”

We took the slats one by one. The further we moved across the bridge, the louder the water roared. Soon, I could barely hold a thought in my head. After a little more time, we reached the halfway point of the bridge.

“We did it!” she yelled out, a big beaming smile on her face.

I tried to stay cool and calm, but I couldn’t help but feel more than a little affected by her spirits.

But then I caught a glimpse of something at the far end of the bridge.

It was a man. And not just any man, but a burly man with a shaved head, the long blade of a machete in his right hand.

“Delaney,” I said. “I want you to stay very calm.”

“What?” she yelled, as though she’d misheard me. “What are you talking about?”

I raised my hand slowly and pointed to the end of the bridge at the man. A shriek left her mouth as soon as she laid eyes on him.

“Oh my God, oh my God!” she shouted out, her face turning an even more grim shade of pale.

Then I felt a tingling behind me. Closing my eyes, I turned on the slat toward the other end of the bridge. Opening them, I spotted the form of another man, another one of the thugs that I’d dispatched at the gas station yesterday.

We were trapped.

“Justin,” said Delaney, noticing the second man. “What are we going to do?”

“Stay calm,” I said. “Stay holding onto the rope. Don’t move. Don’t do anything unless I say so.”

She nodded, her hair whipping around her face, her face tight with fear.

“We’ve got you surrounded!” the man on the side of the bridge called out. “Now, hand over the girl!”

“How many goddamn times do I have to tell you?” I shouted. “She isn’t the client! She isn’t the girl you’re looking for!”

“Doesn’t matter!” shouted the man on the other side, a stocky man in all black with a shaved head. “Our orders are to get the girl you’re with. We don’t give a shit if she’s the right one!”

“But we got a little leeway to deal with you!” said the other man. “So, if you’re smart, you’ll send her over. Otherwise, we’re gonna carve you a new smile! And maybe one on that pretty face of hers, too!”

Rage began to boil inside of me. Threatening me was one thing, but threatening Delaney was another matter.

“This is your final warning!” called out the shaved-head man. “Send her over now, or we’re coming for you!”

“Are you insane?” I shouted. “There’s no way this bridge will support all four of us!”

“I guess we’ll have to see about that, huh?” he called out.

He put one foot on the slat, a wicked smile on his face.

“Shit, shit, shit!” I said, watching the rope strain under the new weight.

“Justin!” cried Delaney. “What are we going to do?”

I needed to come up with something, and fast. Most importantly, I knew that any sudden movements could very well cause the rope to snap and send all four of us tumbling down into the raging waters below.

But if I went for either one of the men, I risked leaving Delaney open and exposed. There was the gun, but it was in Delaney’s bag. I realized to my chagrin that it was our best bet.

“Reach in your bag and grab the gun,” I said.

“Are you serious?” she cried. “And do what with it? You think I could take these guys out?”

“No,” I said. “But it’ll give us some leverage. Just do it!”

She nodded, likely realizing as I did that it was our best bet. With a trembling hand, she reached into the bag and pulled out the small pistol, holding it with a ring of her index and middle finger through the trigger.

“Hold it like you know what you’re doing with it!” I said.

She quickly took it by the handle and held it in the air.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Gable?” called out the shaved-head man. “You gonna get that rich brat to take us both out?”

I turned my attention away from the men and back to Delaney.

“Toss that to me!” I called out. “On three—one, two, three!”

With an underhand toss, she launched the gun into the air. But just at the moment the gun was about to land in my grip, the shaved-head thug raised his machete and cut into the rope, the blade landing with a thwack that sounded over the roar of the river. I stumbled where I stood, the gun bouncing off the palm of my hand and careening over the edge of the bridge and down, down into the water.

“Shit!” I called out.

“Just give it up, Gable!” said the shaved-head goon. “Send the girl over and no one gets hurt.”

“Fine!” I said.

Delaney shot me a look of total surprise.

“We’re coming over to the far end!” I yelled.

“Smartest call you’ve made yet!” the goon said.

“What are you doing?” hissed Delaney. “You’re not giving up that easily, are you?”

“Of course not,” I said, keeping my voice low enough so only she could hear it. “Just stick close to me, and when I say the word, I want you to take off to the other side of the bridge as fast as you can run. Got it?”

“And what about you?” she said, her eyes wide with concern.

“I’ll be fine. I’m trained for situations like this. You getting safe is the important thing.”

She nodded but didn’t look entirely convinced.

“We’re getting back to Longbridge, got it?” she asked. “After all we’ve been through, there’s no way I’m seeing this through without you.”

“I promise I’ll be there. You have my word.”

She nodded, taking a deep breath. I extended my hand toward her, and she took it.

It was time to move.