Vivien Dean

In the year 2184, the US is divided. Half the country has moved on with the rest of the world, while in middle America, the survivors of the terrorist biological attack that split the country struggle just to stay alive. Though a century has passed, few people brave going behind the borders meant to contain the danger. Even the privatized military is reluctant to do so.<br><br>But that doesn’t stop recently discharged Sullivan Eberle. Only one thing drives him anymore -- the need to find Raphael Hamada. He doesn’t know why. He only knows he must. If that means a lifetime behind the borders, then so be it.<br><br>Rafe Hamada ran away from the real world when he was still a kid. The last thing he wants is to be found, especially by a soldier who can’t even tell him why it was so important to locate him in the first place. He’d like nothing more than for Sullivan to leave, but turning his back on a man alone and friendless is against everything Rafe stands for ...

Penny Candles

Rafe blinked. “You…walked?” At Sullivan’s nod, his eyes widened even farther. “But there’s trains now.”


One broad shoulder lifted in a reluctant shrug. “They need to know where you’re going. I didn’t.”


“You said you were looking for me.”


“So let me get this straight. You just…walkedaway from Strike—”


“The hospital. I got my discharge while I was still in recovery.”


The clarification didn’t actually matter. “Okay, the hospital, then. And you didn’t know where you were going, or why you needed to find me, but you did it anyway?”


“That’s insane. Do you have any idea how big it is behind the borders? And how small Chadwick is? How did you ever think you were going to find me?”


Chapter 10