1

We know you’re there, Jordan thought, repeating Emma’s words in his mind. How could they possibly see us? He peered past the trunk of the tree and saw that Brett was staring straight at him. His orange eyes shone with a self-satisfied mirth. Emma was looking in their direction, but it was clear she hadn’t seen them yet.

“We won’t hurt you,” Brett called out. “And please put away your weapons.”

Jordan peeked at the sword. The weapon was hidden behind both his body and the tree. How is he seeing this? he wondered incredulously. He stepped out from behind the tree and advanced slowly. Keshon followed him.

“It’s nice to see you, old friend,” Brett shouted with false pleasantry.

Jordan seethed with rage and wanted to charge at him, but held his ground. He peeked at Emma. Her green eyes found his, and she smiled slightly. He heard a whirring noise and glanced over his shoulder. Keshon had queued up a Boulder.

“You won’t need that,” Emma said. “We mean you no harm.”

“Yeah?” Jordan called back. “And what about those wolves?”

Brett walked to the largest wolf and whispered to it. Moments later, the alpha led the wolves down the hill toward the river.

Jordan and Keshon advanced into the clearing.

Brett smiled and extended his arms outward, gesturing to their camp. “Welcome to our humble abode,” he said with slight sarcasm. “You are our first guests. I hope you brought a housewarming gift.”

“Shut up, you fucker,” Jordan hissed, then turned to Emma. “We’ve come to take you back.”

2

Emma laughed. “Take me back? To what? The endless pursuit of a pointless quest? Where I will continue to deform then die while toiling under the OCD and militaristic whims of your orc general?”

Jordan looked at her, dumbfounded. “Wha… but Emma…”

She waved him off. “Go on. Keep searching for the holy grail, that DNA which could be anywhere,” she mocked. “Did you ever stop to consider that whatever is left of him is long gone?”

Keshon stepped alongside Jordan. “That isn’t exactly true. Bones and hair—”

Emma held out her palm. “Oh, please. Spare me.” She nodded to them. “But you go ahead. Continue with your mission in the vain hopes that Cloud Nine will take you back.”

Jordan stood stunned, his jaw hanging open.

“You know we have no choice,” Keshon replied. “What else are we going to do?” She considered the evolving situation. “Emma, if you would rather not participate, we can make other arrangements for you.” The healer glanced furtively at Brett, already creeped out by his appearance. “You don’t have to stay with this awful man,” she whispered.

Emma laughed. “Yeah? And what would you know about that? You only believe what the other members have told you. Did you ever stop to think that they might be biased?”

Jordan stumbled toward her. “Emma, this… this is not you.”

His ex-lover’s green eyes sparked with rage. “Yes! You’re fucking right, this is not me! Do you have any idea what I have been going through? What it’s like to be infected, then avoided and dismissed by your own teammates?”

Behind her, Brett observed her outburst with glee.

“And what about you, Jordan?” she raged. “You could barely lay your hands on me. What? Were you worried you were going to catch something? I could feel the disgust coming off you in waves.”

“But… but that was my PTS—”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses!” she screamed again, her voice cracking as she started sobbing. “You weren’t there for me, Jordan. You weren’t there for me when… when I needed you the most.” She wavered on her feet. Brett strode up to her and wrapped his arms around her, soothing her.

Jordan reared back to punch his grinning face, but Keshon grabbed him and held him back.

“I… I’ve made my decision,” Emma wept. “I’m staying here. Brett knows what I’m dealing with and he can help me.” Brett hugged Emma more tightly as she composed herself. After a few seconds, she turned to Jordan with much of her anger dissipated. “There’s more going on in this world than you realize.” She gazed up at Brett with a look of admiration that made Jordan’s stomach churn. “Everyone on our team underestimated him, including me.” She placed her hand on his arm. “He’s more intelligent than any of us. The knowledge he’s acquired could have helped—”

Brett squeezed her shoulders and shook his head.

Emma suppressed what she was going to say, opting for, “I think I can have a life here, Jordan. He’ll take care of me.”

The four members stared at each other, speechless. Jordan’s mind was racing, inundated with competing thoughts. Keshon held his arm still, but the fight in the veteran hunter was gone. After a few moments, Emma broke the silence.

“I’m sorry, Jordan.” She sniffed. “You came a long way for me, but your intentions were misguided.”

3

Jordan broke from Keshon and lunged at Brett, but Emma pushed him away. He broke into his own sobs, disillusioned by the chain of events. He and Keshon retreated into the woods, more to give them some space than to leave.

Still, Emma called after them, “Don’t leave yet. We have more to discuss.”

They stayed in the shadows of the forest, wondering if Emma was being deluded. “I think this is over,” Keshon said, trying to help Jordan come to a resolution.

Jordan looked up at her. “He’s going to destroy her.”

She shook her head. “We can’t help that. And even if she isn’t in her right mind, she has made her choice. She won’t come.”

Jordan sighed, resigned to the predicament.

“Look, she still has the telepathy,” Keshon prodded. “She can reach out to you or anyone else if the situation changes.” She took a breath. “At least you have that going for us.”

They stayed in the shade for another ten minutes, feeling shellshocked and overwhelmed. Then Keshon gently took the veteran’s hand and led him back into their adversaries’ camp, wondering what else Emma and Brett had to say.

4

“We’d like to declare a truce,” Brett stated as a sardonic smile crept into the corner of his mouth. “A ceasefire, if you will… a suspension of hostilities.”

“Fuck you,” Jordan replied sullenly.

The tall man ignored the curse and looked to Keshon. “I see you’re new. That’s a good thing. You don’t have the history that we have.” He smiled disarmingly at her. “We may have divergent paths, but we’re not competing with each other.” He stepped closer. “We can just stay out of each other’s ways. You go about your business, and we go about ours.” He returned his gaze to Jordan. “All we want to do is settle down”—he gave a wry smile—“and live out our days in happiness and solitude.”

“He’s right,” Emma added. “We have different objectives now.” She walked next to Brett and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We won’t hurt or interfere with you. All we ask is that you do the same.”

Jordan looked on, stunned. “Emma, please…” he whispered, but his former lover stood rigidly.

“Go on and tell the team,” she said. “We will go on the assumption that you will agree to the truce.”

The members stared at each other with nothing more to say. Finally, Keshon took Jordan’s hand and led him back from where they came. As they were about to leap into the trees, Emma called out to them one more time, “Jordan… I wish you well.”

5

Once they were a good distance from the camp, Keshon stopped and said that she wanted to contact the team. She spent the next few minutes telepathing Damon. She told him about the proposed truce, but it was unclear how the orc general responded to it. Later on, she glanced up at Jordan with an expression of concern. When she was finished, she jumped to his tree. “Lorenzo’s been seriously injured.”

“What?” Jordan asked.

Keshon nodded. “Damon said the Dryad tribe attacked them and that Kylah was almost carried away.” She exhaled. “I guess Lorenzo was instrumental in saving her.” She placed her hand over her brow, blocking out the sun, and looked southwest. “He wants us to wait for them at the village.”

Jordan moaned and followed her gaze. The place where they had met the Jennings family was within their sights. It was surprisingly dry, considering it was so close to the river. The waters had spread through the land in a widening triangular arc, and the village was at the very top of that apex.

“Are those zombies?” Keshon asked as she stared at the shambling forms which occupied the village’s dirt road.

Jordan shook his head. “They’re former game characters,” he said, “but you could just as well call them zombies.” He glanced at her. “We’re going to have to clear them.”

They took off over the trees again just as Damon’s group came rushing out of the forest and into the orchard.