Nomad kept working, not missing a beat. “Never stopped me before.”
“I know I’m just a cook, but please, let me help. I’m sure Allison wants to join the fight, too. We’re both more than capable.”
Allison cleared his throat, flaring his eyes back at Watson. “Ah, well, maybe it’s best if we just hang back. Let the man do his thing. He knows what he’s doing.”
Watson couldn’t believe what he’d just heard from Allison. “Here? By ourselves? With all the bodies?”
Allison threw up his hands but said nothing.
Watson shook his head, adding more volume to his voice. “You saw the same thing I did. There’s nothing for us here. We have to go.”
Nomad tore the passenger-side visor from its windshield mount, tossing it away. “Then you guys find your own ride because I’m going alone. Trust me when I tell you that what’s coming is the last place you want to be. There will be casualties. Lots of them.”
Watson couldn’t stop his appeal. “And one of them might be you, if you don’t let us help.”
“This isn’t open for debate. My future is set. So is Fletcher’s, and those of his men. It’s best if you don’t get in my way and that’s exactly what you’d be doing. So no. This is my mission and mine alone.”
“Look, I get the whole Nomad’s Revenge thing here, but—” Watson started to say before Allison interrupted him.
“Hey, leave the man be. He’s made up his mind. You offered and he said no. It’s time you and I figure out what we’re going to do, don’t you think?”
Watson held for a few seconds, running it through his mind. Even though he knew staying behind was the wrong thing to do, he didn’t want to upset Nomad any more than he already had.
There might be another choice, but he needed to let the air cool a bit. He could feel the tension coursing across his body, and that’s never good with a man like Nomad standing nearby. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll figure it out. One step at a time.”
A thin smile took over Allison’s lips. “Good, because that’s the right move.”
Nomad pointed at the spare tire mounted to the side of the truck and told Watson, “Eighty-six that, too.”
“Don’t you think—”
“Tire. Off. Now. Just lay it in the back. That mounting bracket weighs at least ten pounds, so we lose it.”
“Oh, okay. Good idea. I guess I was—”
Nomad turned to Allison. “You—get busy. We don’t have all day.”
“What’s next?” Allison asked.
“Rear bumper. Then we lose the taillights. Work your way forward from there. Rip all this shit out with your teeth, if you have to, but get it done.”
“You got it, boss.”
Nomad brought his attention to Watson and pointed, looking as though he wasn’t aiming in any direction in particular. “Need extra fuel, so go round some up and double-time it.”
Watson ran the scenario through his head. “As in a fifty-gallon drum?”
“Jerrycans. Something simple to carry. I want to be out of here in twenty. Not a minute longer.”
“I’ll go in a second,” Watson said. “But I think you’re forgetting something.”
Allison threw up his hands and mouthed the words, “What the fuck?”
Watson mouthed back, “Relax. I got this.”
Nomad let out an extended sigh as he brought his attention to Watson. “Patience is not my strong suit.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. But you need to remember something,” Watson said, pausing to find his nerve. “Not only did we help you back at the cave, we let you live as well.”
“Jesus, Watson. What the hell are you doing?” Allison asked.
“He knows what I’m talking about,” Watson replied.
Nomad took a few seconds before he answered. “Earlier, when my weapon was on the ledge—”
“Exactly. If we weren’t on your side—if we couldn’t be trusted—then we could have easily taken it and used it on you.”
“Unless, of course, you’re both cowards.”
“Look, I get that I’m only a cook, but Allison over there, he’s trained security. I might be a great big pussy, but he’s not. Any normal person would have taken advantage of the state you were in and done something. Right then and there. You were completely vulnerable. An easy mark, I think is how they say it in your world, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Vulnerable? That’s an interesting choice of words. Perhaps I was only testing you? Seeing if you’d take the bait.”
“Then I’d say we passed, wouldn’t you?”
Allison spoke before Nomad could answer. “Look, I’m not sure where Watson’s coming from, but it never crossed my mind that you were anything but in charge. And I mean every step of the way. So don’t listen to anything my friend over there is saying. If you want us to stay behind, we will. Done deal.”
Watson shook his head. “Well, that’s not entirely true.”
“The hell it isn’t,” Allison shot back a millisecond later.
Watson couldn’t let it go. “Look, Nomad. We are on your side and if you can’t see that by now, then maybe you should just kill us both.”
Allison threw up his hands. “Wait. Wait. Wait.”
Watson continued, ignoring Allison’s plea. “Just go ahead, end the suspense. Because if we stay here with the EOD problems and everything else, we’re dead already.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Allison said. “We’ll stay. Do whatever you want.”
Watson shook his head, keeping his eyes locked on Nomad’s. “It’s only a matter of time before Fletcher comes back, or the Scabs do. The two of us don’t have a chance by ourselves. So I beg you. Please. Take us with you. We’ll do whatever you want, just don’t let us die like this.”
“Sorry, can’t do that. You’ll both just slow be down and I can’t afford that.”
“But what about when you catch up with the others? You’ll need us.”
“For what?”
“To corroborate your story.”
Nomad shook his head. “I’m not following.”
“Do you really think Krista and Summer are going to believe everything that’s happened? No. They won’t. Krista especially. She doesn’t trust anyone. Not without us to back up your story. Help make them understand.”
CHAPTER 36
“Whoa, watch out,” Watson said to Nomad as the man drove them down the dirt path at high speed. “Maybe you might be able to see a little better without the mask?”
“Just getting used to the steering on this beast. Been a while.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to tell you what to do, just wasn’t sure how well you can see through that thing.”
“My vision is fine.”
One thing was clear, there wasn’t anything wrong with the man’s reactions, dodging a mini-boulder that had grown up through the soil with a two-step turn of the wheel.
“I wonder how Allison is doing back there?” Watson asked, not sure if he should keep talking to help pass the time.