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

It must have read in his face. Sullivan stood and neatly pushed his chair beneath the table, offering a shy version of the smile he’d shared before. “Whatever they all think out there, I don’t. I want you to know that.”


His sincerity chipped away at Rafe’s walls, hard enough to block out Mama’s voice in the back of his head saying this could all just be an act. He didn’t want it to be an act. He wanted Sullivan to be genuine. More than anything he’d wanted in a very long time.


“I believe you,” he said softly, and though it took conscious effort to do so, he held out a hand. He matched Sullivan’s smile when the other man folded his fingers around Rafe’s. “And whatever the truth is that brought you here, I’m glad of it.” 5


Chapter 18