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 never came back out of the kitchen. The sounds of his cooking drifted out, and every time Maria went in to retrieve steaming plates of food, Sullivan heard the soft cadences of his voice, but the man himself didn’t return. Sullivan knew he had a job to do. Rafe cooked, while Maria served and played hostess. But after their exchange behind the restaurant, he’d hoped for something more. Foolish, yes. He’d been upfront about his lack of reason for seeking the man out in the first place. It was no wonder Rafe would regard him as insane, though if he knew the extent of the memories that refused to coalesce, he doubted Rafe would allow him to stay at all. It was just disappointing. He’d had this meeting built in his head for weeks. Raphael Hamada might not be the man he anticipated—younger, friendlier, definitely more exotic—but that didn’t change his desire to learn exactly why he was so important to Sullivan.


Chapter 11