"Just can't sleep anymore, is all. How are you feeling?" Dane asked.

"Like I'm about to die, which, given the circ.u.mstances, isn't far off."

Dane's chest burned at the notion of having to go through another death. It wasn't his father this time, but it might as well be for all the emotion and pain stirring up inside him. He'd always thought he'd dealt with his family's deaths well enough, but faced with Sara having to go through it, he felt as if his wounds had been cut wide open.

"You don't know that for sure, sir. If you're anything like Sara, which I'm sure you are, you're strong enough to fight this and win."

A small smile came to his lips. "You like my daughter a lot, don't you?"

Dane nodded. He hadn't had to express his feelings for Sara to anyone the whole time they'd been together. It felt strange and wonderful to share them with her family. "I love her."

"I can tell. Who else but the man who loved her would stay by her side in a place where you could get sick?"

"I'm not worried about getting sick. And even if I were, I still wouldn't leave Sara to deal with everything on her own. She's a strong woman, but she still needs someone to lean on." He tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. "I'd like to ask you something, if I may." He met the older man's gaze. "It's not the best time, and in another world, I would have waited longer."

"Get on with it, son."

"I'd like to marry your daughter one day, when all of this is behind us and the world is normal again. And I'd like to know I have your blessing. I know you've only known me for a few hours, which is why I said if things were different I would have waited."

"Promise me no matter what, you'll keep her safe."

Dane fought to keep his tears at bay. He didn't want to show weakness in front of Sara's father. He thought about all the times he'd failed at keeping Sara safe. All the mistakes he'd made which had almost gotten her hurt...or worse. He looked down at her sleeping form, cuddled against him, her hand resting on his stomach. He would do anything for her. Anything. To the best of his abilities, he'd keep her safe from this point on.

"I swear I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. You have my word."

"Then you have my blessing."

They fell into a mutual silence, and Dane thought her father had fallen asleep again. Then he spoke so softly Dane almost didn't hear him. "One last thing."

"Anything." Dane tilted his head to hear better.

"Take her away from here after I'm gone. Find somewhere better to go. Somewhere you two can have a life together. Don't let her stay here because this is where my body will lie."

"I will," Dane said, choking on his words, wishing with his entire being it would never come to that.

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Sara wiped her nose on her sleeve since finding a tissue wouldn't happen. Her father's labored breathing encompa.s.sed the sole focus of her world at the moment. They'd all woken a couple of hours earlier to the sounds of a terrible coughing fit, and since then, his chest had been making a funny noise with each inhalation.

Not a good development.

He'd spoken a couple of times, saying he loved them all before falling asleep again. Whether or not he'd been conscious enough to hear their replies, she didn't know. She had to hope he had been. At the very least, she'd had the opportunity to say it, to let the words out so she didn't have to keep them trapped inside.

Another coughing fit started, his chest caving in on itself with the force of each one. She'd never known a person could cough with such ferocity. His face turned red as he struggled to bring air into his lungs. His breaths were shallower than before, little gasps as the color of his skin faded from red to something less than pale.

"Go gently. I'll see you on the other side," her mother whispered, kissing his hand.

Tears burned Sara eyes, blurring her final vision of her father alive.

His chest stopped rising, and her world stopped revolving.

She wanted to cry out. To tell him to "stay, don't leave me," but her voice disappeared, wracked by sobs too powerful to allow her to form words. None of this was fair. She'd just found her family, and now she'd lost her dad again, but this time she'd never get him back. As if this new world wasn't awful enough on its own, she also had to brave it without her father in it, making it a better place.

Arms enfolded her, pulling her to Dane's strong chest. She buried her head against him, clinging to his strength, hoping some of it would carry her through this awful moment. As always, he was her rock, keeping her grounded when the moment tried to pull her away into the mist of despair.

"I'm here. I love you," he whispered, over and over again as he led her out of the church and into the crisp morning air. He took her to the side of the church where a bench rested under a tree near what used to be some kind of garden. He rocked her in his arms while she cried, letting out everything she'd kept inside.

Sara didn't know how long they sat there, but at some point, her tears had dried up and her breathing had returned to normal. She lay on the bench with her head in Dane's lap, staring out at the wilderness in front of them, out at a vast emptiness of possibility.

Josh walked in front of her, blocking her view, looking as puffy-eyed and tired as she felt. He carried a shovel in each hand. Without a word, Dane stood and took one. Together, they wandered into the old graveyard behind the church. Sara forced herself to her feet and inside to where her sister and mother were.

Hours later, they held hands around a mound of fresh earth and said their goodbyes.

The next morning, Sara and Dane sat on the front steps of the church, leaning on each other. They'd spent the night inside, reminiscing about childhood, family, and telling stories about her father. They'd shared a meal of crackers, jerky, and freeze-dried fruit, which Sara didn't even taste. Then they'd all laid in silence through the night, pretending to sleep, but the irregular sounds of their breathing giving them each away.

"I know it's hard, but we have to go." Dane stroked Sara's hand.

"I can't leave him," she whispered.

"He's already gone. But I'm still here. I'll always be here."

Sara sniffled. Fresh tears filled her eyes even when she thought she didn't have any more left to cry. "I guess I never knew how it felt for you to go through life and all of this c.r.a.p without your family around you to support you. I thought I knew because I didn't have my family, but I always believed in my heart they were still alive somewhere. But I realize how different my situation is compared to yours. I'm sorry I didn't understand or, at least, try to understand more."

"You couldn't know. It's not possible unless you go through it, like I couldn't understand why you put so much importance on finding your family, because I couldn't do the same." Dane sighed.

They'd both learned more about themselves and each other on this journey. She knew the most secret places within himself he tried to keep hidden. And no matter how much she wanted to hide parts of herself, she couldn't. He'd seen her at her worse and yet he stayed by her side, still wanting her.

"I know you don't want to go, but we have to," Dane said. "We have to get somewhere safe. We have to get your mom somewhere she can take the time she needs to grieve. You all need to grieve. We have to get to the bunker."

"We might go there, but there's no way you're coming with us." Josh joined them. "Sara might have been willing to share with you, but I'm not so nice."

"You know, I've been in the bunker before. I could find it with my eyes closed and probably quicker than you could at this point, since it was my home for two weeks."

"Reminding me of your trespa.s.sing isn't going to make me change my mind. In fact, you might've solidified things even more for me. I think you've already used up your portion of the supplies that weren't meant for you to begin with." Josh crossed his arms and squared his shoulders, challenging Dane.

Sara didn't care to witness this p.i.s.sing contest.

"It's not your decision to make." Dane got to his feet and mimicked Josh's stance, but Sara could tell Dane could grab his knife at any second if it came down to it. No way would she let this argument escalate into something more.

"Stop fighting," she said, standing between them. "I don't have the energy to listen to you bicker or mediate your ignorant arguments. I don't have the patience to break up your impending testosterone-fueled fistfight. So, knock it off."

Sara glared at them as they looked down at her. She might not be at the same height as them, but she stood on the same level in this post-apocalyptic hierarchy. And she would make sure her opinions were heard. "Does anyone care to hear my thoughts on this matter, or am I excluded from these discussions?"

The boys both stared at her in silence. When she had their undivided attention, she continued. "We should go to the colony."

Dane narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, the exact reaction she'd expected from him.

Josh, on the other hand, looked confused. "What's the colony?"

Dane looked as if he had already dismissed whatever she planned to say. Well, he could get over it.

"It's a group of people who took me in on my way to the bookstore. They have this big warehouse-type building, supplies, and a bunch of people who've formed a community of sorts."

"Nope." Josh cut her off before she could say more. "We planned to stay away from the general population. It's the safest way. We head to the bunker and stay put."

"I gotta agree with your brother on this one," Dane chimed in.

"You're still not invited," Josh said, acting like a two-year-old.

"You're still not the only one making the decisions," Dane countered, sounding just as juvenile.

"You really want to live underground for the rest of our lives?" Sara demanded, her anger and frustration levels rising.

"Don't get dramatic and bent out of shape, Sara. You know the plan."

"I know it was the plan, but plans change. I think we need to change. Living alone doesn't make sense. The people in the colony were nice. They treated me well. They had a doctor and people who fixed stuff and scavengers who went out finding supplies. They had it all figured out, and it worked."

"Great. I'm sure Dane will fit in well there while we go to the bunker as planned." Josh started to walk away as if done with the conversation.

"I won't be separated from Dane. And I'm not letting you make decisions that involve all of us. So, let's take it to Mom and Sue, and we'll have a vote."

They listened while Sara once again explained how the colony worked, what her experience with them had been-even if it had been short-and what it had been like living in the bunker for those weeks with Dane.

"I vote for the colony," Sue said. "I think a place where we can settle in with other people sounds good. No offense, but living with family has been trying at times. I can't imagine what it would be like in the bunker for the rest of however long we need to be in there."

"Mom?" Sara asked.

Her mom looked down at her hands then out the church window toward the graveyard. "I vote for the bunker. It's what your father had planned for us, and I don't know what he'd think of this new plan."

"I vote for the bunker," Josh said. "The bunker is a known destination and future. Anything could happen at the colony."

"Well, I vote for the colony." Sara's voice resonated with conviction. She couldn't picture herself going anywhere else. She hoped her family would go with her.

"So, we have a tie. Great." Josh threw his hands up in frustration.

"Dane hasn't voted yet."

"He's not a member of this family. He doesn't get a vote."

"Yes, he does," her mother and Sue both said at the same time, looking at Josh as if he were a tyrant rather than their flesh and blood.

Sara twisted her hands together as she waited for Dane to cast his vote. Last she heard, he'd still been taking a stand for the bunker, so she guessed it would be the one place where he and her brother would meet on common ground. Not to mention, Dane seemed to have a pretty big grudge against Travis, one that tarnished his opinion of the colony as a whole.

Dane met her gaze, and in his eyes, she saw the possibility for a future with him. He looked at her as if he knew they'd see a million more sunrises and sunsets together. She hoped so.

"I vote for the colony."

Sara smiled and reached for his hand. "What made you change your mind?"

"You. If it's where you want to be, then it's where I'll go. Besides, I think you might be right about the people there. It could be great to be part of a community again. And there's strength in numbers. We have a better shot at the future if there are more than a few of us standing together. Worst case scenario, we try it out and if it's not going well, then we bail and head to the bunker at that point. But I think it's worth a shot."

"I'm changing my vote," Sara's mother said, wiping her eyes. "I want to be where my family is, and if your father could voice his opinion...well, I think he'd agree with me. And I think he'd agree with Dane. He always believed there is strength in numbers. So all of us"-she grabbed Josh's arm pulling him close- "are going to the colony together. End of discussion."

Josh's face changed from hard and determined to looking on the brink of tears. The stress of the situation had been getting to him more than he'd let on. "Sounds good, Mom."

They sheltered in the church together for the night and actually slept. The next morning, they packed up the remainder of their supplies and scrounged for anything the old church might have. After a final stop at her father's grave, Sara and her family set off for the walk to the colony.

She held Dane's hand tight as they left her father behind for an unknown future and hoped like h.e.l.l when Travis had made her the offer of coming back, he'd meant it.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

Nervousness built inside Dane the closer they got to the colony. Sara said it had been in some kind of warehouse, and they'd been walking along abandoned streets for the last half hour, looking for the right one. He almost doubted she remembered the way. He wouldn't blame her. She'd been in a traumatic state when they'd taken her to their settlement, and then when she'd left, she'd been focused solely on getting to the bookstore, not worried about having to retrace her steps one day.

"There it is." Sara pointed to the next block.

The building itself looked almost unscathed, much better than a lot of the other places surrounding it. It still had all of the windows in place, or at least it did on the side he could see. Not a lot of activity came or went while they watched, but not drawing attention to their location struck Dane as smart. Maybe the people in the colony knew how to survive.

He noted they weren't far from the river-farther than the bookstore had been, but closer than the bunker to the lake. So, at least they had a source of water. And with all of the other shops and houses in the immediate area, there still must be pockets of supplies left unfound. Maybe he could help them go out scavenging.

Hope sprang up inside him. He'd been resistant to coming here at first, but the idea of having other people to talk to, to work with, to not just survive with but to thrive with, filled him with optimism. Maybe a real future with Sara could exist. Maybe they could build a new community in a world falling apart around them and find a way to make it a place worth living for.

They walked to a side door, the one Sara had pointed out as the way she'd gone in the first time. After pounding on the thick metal door with his fist, they waited. Dane hooked his thumbs on his pockets and let his fingers dangle close to his gun holster. They might have been welcoming when Sara was alone, but a group of five might make the colony see things in a new light. Dane planned to be ready for whatever reception they received.

He glanced to Josh, whose hand also hovered over his holster. Maybe the two of them weren't so different after all.

The door clicked open, and two brawny men greeted them. When Sara stepped around Dane, the men's expressions softened.

"Hi, Joseph," she said with a small nod. "Travis said I could come back any time. I brought my family. I hope that's okay."

"Anyone sick?" the other guy asked.

They all shook their heads.

"Anyone exposed?" asked Joseph.