"Here we are," Arik whispered. "We made it."

Eden stared about herself in wonder. Lights glittered as though someone had put the stars themselves on earth. She couldn't escape the size of the city.

She'd been pushing herself all week, focusing on getting to Cortez. A tiny part of her hadn't believed they'd make it.

But they were here.

Buildings pressed together, all glittering steel and panes of glass that stretched so high into the sky Eden could barely see the top of them. Wide roads spanned below them, strangely empty. The roads were wide enough to drive a herd of a thousand cattle along them, and they were perfectly straight. In fact, everything was laid out into neat grids, and every building was square or rectangular. Thousands of little windows loomed in the side of each building, like a spider's eyes.

She couldn't escape the impression she was being watched. Maybe that was the point; Henry Chin had spoken of yearning for freedom, after all, and despite its glory, its technology, there was a creepy feeling of eyes boring into her back, no matter which way she turned.

But the thing that surprised her the most was how clean everything was.

Everything bore the stamp of the Confederacy; a half sun in the center of a circle, its rays radiating outward like a new sun rising from the ashes of a former empire. All the roads seemed to point toward the center of the city, where a massive building towered over everything else, comprised of a tiara of five towers built adjoining one another, with the one in the center spearing toward the heavens.

"That building looks like it's giving the middle finger," Johnny mused. "Do you think they realize they're saying 'fuck you' to the rest of the city?"

"Pretty sure," Arik muttered. "That's where the general will be, along with all his boot kissers."

She was staring at a world she could never in her wildest dreams have imagined. The sheer scope of the technology astounded her. Enormous square screens were mounted to the walls, flashing in bright colors in the night. They looked like a bigger version of her datapad, and images of people flickered over them. A scene of thousands of people in an enormous square appeared, waving dark green paper ribbons as a parade of cars drove along the narrow space in the center. A man in a crisp white uniform waved at the crowd with a dignified expression. White and green. The Confederacy colors.

"That's a general," Arik muttered. "Don't know which one, since it's been a while since I was here, but they rule the Confederacy with an iron fist. Each general rules a territory, and virtually owns his own city. Seven generals; seven territories. There was a coup about forty years ago, and ever since the military overthrew the leaders of the time they've been in control."

"There are so many people," Eden breathed, watching the screen.

"Yeah." Arik scrubbed a hand over his face. "They like to play their clips over and over. The military controls what people see, which means they can dictate what sort of information gets out. Expect to see a lot of parades and crowds cheering. But nothing real. You won't see the grimy underside, or the people who disappear just because they broke some imagined law."

All the people on the screen looked so clean. Their clothes were sleek, and everywhere she looked the men were clean-shaven, and the women wore their slicked-back hair in neat buns or braids. Military-style clothing seemed to be in fashion, with most people wearing varying shades of gray, black, or Confederacy green.

She felt very small, and dirty, and ragged. Every inch of her clothes had been repaired multiple times over the years, and her boots were scuffed, the soles thin. Dirt edged beneath her nails. It was something she'd never thought about until she walked into this place.

They'd never be able to blend in here.

"Cortez City's just a military outpost," Arik murmured. "This is nothing compared to the enormous city-states further in the interior. The Confederacy considers Cortez to be out in the sticks."

"What would they think of us?" Eden whispered, staring from one end of the city to the other. Despite her aches and pains, the sight was enough to distract her.

"Most people don't know much about the Wastelands to the west," Arik replied. "Like I said, information gets filtered. All they hear about are the monsters and the reivers. Nobody goes outside the walls. If you do, then they say you might get contaminated. Who knows what's out there? Radiation. Disease. Wargs and revenants. Ghost forests filled with mutos. Better to stay within the walls, where the military can protect you." He sounded disgusted. "They used to show a program in the warg camps about how lucky we were to be taken in. They've given us so much, so we should give back. It was our duty to play cannon fodder, because we were serving a bigger cause. Worse, some of the wargs believed it."

Thunder rumbled overhead, thick boiling clouds rolling in across the Wastelands. All three wargs looked up.

"Time to find some shelter," Arik muttered. "That storm's probably going to help. If the enforcers have wargs out on patrol, then they won't smell us if the rain washes away the scent. This way. We'll bunker down somewhere, then plan our next move on Radisson-Meyers."

* * *

Bunkering down somewhere consisted of housebreaking. They'd discussed simply tying a family up and leaving them in the cellar, but Eden didn't approve—at all—so she'd insisted on them finding a place that was empty.

The house was four times as large as her home in Absolution, and looked like it had been vacant for a while, though the rooms were sparsely furnished. Sleek furniture, and polished concrete floors. There was little ornamentation though, and a certain efficient coldness to the interior. Despite all the accessories, she much preferred her home.

"Right now we stick out like sore thumbs," Arik said as they gathered in the kitchen, around what was left of the dinner he'd hauled out of the icebox.

Lincoln picked through it, rolling a pea dubiously across the plate. He'd tried to eat the pale gray square on the corner of the plate, then gagged and spat it back out again. "Not meat," came his assessment.

"Shower, clean up, and I'll see if I can steal some Confederacy clothes from somewhere," Arik continued. Holding up his hands, he roughly measured her shoulders.

"Do you need one of us to come with you?" Johnny asked.

Arik shook his head. "I know how to act and what to say. You'll only give me away if someone spots us."

"Arik." Lincoln took a step toward him.

"You too," Arik said firmly.

The two brothers eyeballed each other, and Lincoln finally looked away. "I don't like it."

"Noted," Arik replied.

She could understand Lincoln's reticence. He'd lost his brother once, and now she was starting to warm up to the pair of them, she could see the way they watched out for each other. There was love there; the kind she felt whenever Adam was home. Sometimes it was smothering, but without it—

She'd be alone.

The way Johnny was.

Her eyes widened, just a touch, as she realized what his life was like. He'd mentioned a mother. But no one else. And he'd been alone in that bar when she found him, sinking into liquor as if there was nothing else to do.

But the second they set out through the Divide, Johnny slipped into the crew as if he belonged there. Worse. As if a part of him hungered for company.

She suddenly felt like she'd unlocked the key to part of Johnny's secrets.

"Eden can get some rest," Johnny said.

She'd been struggling to keep her eyes open, so didn't argue. Her feet tingled, as if they'd simply done too much today. "You might have to carry me to the bedroom."

"Can do."

"I'll sound out my contact, Derek Mayhew. Shadow Rock uses him to get our hands on black market goods, so he'll be aware we're coming. Nnedi would have managed to get in contact with him. I'll see if Mayhew can get us some intel on the Radisson-Meyers laboratories, and see what we're dealing with here," Arik said.

Eden rested her head down on her arms. She was so tired. As much as she wanted to get out there and get started, she simply didn't think she'd be able to even stand. Just a moment to rest her eyes….

Strong arms tucked under her, and she swayed awake to find herself in Johnny's arms. The room was dark, and there was no sign of Lincoln or Arik.

"I fell asleep?" she murmured.

"You've earned it," Johnny replied, tucking her head against his shoulder as he strode toward one of the bedrooms.

She'd insisted upon sleeping in what looked like the spare bedroom, a little discomfited by the idea of sleeping in someone else's bed.

Sinking onto the bed, she groaned. It was so soft. "You want to stay with me?"

"Do you want me to?"

She didn't even have the strength to think her way through the minefield. "Of course I do."

The bed dipped as Johnny joined her. "Want me to rub your back?"

"Is that a trick question?"

It took both of them to get her clothes off. Her fingers simply didn't want to work properly, and her deltoids and shoulders screamed with every movement.

"Do you know the worst thing?" she muttered. "We have to go back down that bloody ladder."

"Roll onto your stomach, and think of nicer things."

"Like your hands on my skin?"

He started with her feet. Eden groaned as she slumped facedown on the bed. "That feels.... Oh, God."

"Better than sex?" he teased.

"Maybe."

Depending on the situation. Right now, it was a definite yes. Sex seemed too energetic. Too much work. Maybe when she got some sleep, it might hold more interest.

He moved slowly up her calves, his touch easing the strain from her muscles. It was a pity she never got to enjoy it.

Within a minute, her eyes had flickered shut, and she tumbled into sleep.