New West by BA Tortuga

watch. You stay with him.”
    Ezrah frowned, wanting to pull his weight. “I can take my watch.”
    “I know, but we got it. He’ll need you, through the night.”
    “Yeah.” He sighed, watching Jess twitch. “Thanks again, Cy.”
    When Cyrus left him, he moved closer to Jess, the night colder without a big fire.
    Jesse was muttering under his breath, shifting in the blankets. Ez didn’t know what else to do, so he stretched out next to Jess and tugged the man close.
    “Ez. Ez, I came. It hurts, man. I left when they told me, and now I’m here.” Jess wasn’t making no sense at all.
    Ezrah talked back, though. “I’m glad you’re with me, baby. I am.”
    “I needed to come. You’re Ez. I had to. I won’t leave you alone.”
    “Then come back to me now, baby. Jess. I’m all alone.” He needed Jess to look at him. To see him. Then they could sleep.
    “The quakes are coming. I was in the dark. Then it was burning. Dark and light.”
    “It’s dark out here, but we’re above ground.” He kept talking, stroking Jesse’s back.
    “You came for me.”
    Yes. Yes, thank God. That was sense. Ezrah rewarded those words with a tiny kiss to Jesse’s dry lips. “I did. I will always come for you.”
    “Always.” Jess saw him, eyes open, red and wet. “Ez. Am I dyin’?”
    “No.” He said it just as fierce as he’d told Emmett to stay, but Jesse he thought he could save. “You just need time to heal.”
    “I believe you. Water? Throat hurts.” Jesse swallowed, which sounded like a click.
    “You got it.” He grabbed his canteen, dripping some water into Jesse’s mouth. Not too much; he wasn’t sure Jesse’s head would survive retching if it came back up.
    Jess licked his lips, trying to get more. Ezrah gave it, but slowly.
    “No getting sick,” he said. “You need to keep it inside you.”
    Jess shivered, settling into the blankets, cheeks burning. Poor baby had a fever. Ez cuddled, close, wishing Emmett was there to help him plan their next move.
    “I miss Em, Jess.”
    “Me too.”
    “I’m sorry I got you into this.” He rubbed noses with Jess, feeling lower than he had since Em had passed.
    “The quake would have gotten me at home, and no one would have found me. I lived under the dirt.”
    Now, that was the most sense Jess had made since Ez had pulled him out of the ground. He grinned, nodding. “Okay, I can buy that.”
    “I’d rather die in the air, I think.”
    “I would, too.” He held on, not wanting to think about Jess passing at all, there or here.
    Jesse’s fingers squeezed him, held on tight. It was more than he’d thought he’d get from Jess so quickly, and enough to give him hope. Tonight they would hold on to each other.
    Tomorrow would be soon enough to see what was left of the world.

 
    Chapter Ten
     
     
     
    His dreams were filled with the smell of smoke, with the cries of hundreds of people running from the big city in droves. The mountains themselves seemed to be belching out fire, huge sections of rock sheering off and covering the foothills in dust.
    The world was falling again.
    Jesse groaned, brain searching through the rubble for answers, for something he could use. His nerves felt raw, as if he were right there in the flames.
    “Shh. I got you, Jess. I got you.”
    Why was Ezrah there? He’d get hurt. He had to run.
    “Ez. Ez, there’s fire. Denver is on fire. You can’t stay here.”
    “We’re not in Denver, baby. We’re okay.” Ezrah touched him, stroking his cheeks. “There’s a little shaking, but it’s not too bad.”
    But he was. He was in Denver. He could see the buildings, the streets mostly dirt and grass now, the animals right there in the street. “The people are running. The mountain is spitting fire.”
    “You’re all mixed up with what you saw underground, baby.”
    He nodded, shook his head, so confused. “Help me.” He was lost.
    “I’m trying, baby. I am. We just need to figure this out.”
    Figure it out. Denver was