They walked until the sky started to lighten, legs burning and packs growing heavier with every mile. Kane kept the pace steady but not punishing—twenty miles in six hours was enough for the first night. The highway shoulder gave way to rural two-lane roads, then dirt paths that wound through empty farmland. Abandoned cars sat scattered like toys left out in the rain. No one spoke much. Liora stayed glued to his side, small hand occasionally brushing his jacket. Raven and Willow followed close behind, breathing hard but never complaining.
By the time the sun crested the eastern plains, they reached a lone farmhouse tucked back from the road, half-hidden by overgrown cottonwoods. The windows were dark, the front door hanging open, but no bodies or fresh signs of violence in the yard. Kane stopped at the treeline and studied it for a long minute.
"Stay here," he told them. "I'll clear it."
He moved forward alone, rifle up, clearing the porch, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the barn out back. Empty. The family that had lived here was long gone—drawers pulled out, cupboards bare, but the structure was solid. He came back and waved the others in.
"Home for the night," he said. "We rest, eat, then push on at dusk."
Liora dropped her pack inside the door and looked around the dusty living room. "It smells like old wood and dirt."
Raven set her pack down carefully, rubbing her shoulder. "It feels safer than the city already."
Willow pushed her glasses up and nodded, eyes scanning the empty rooms. "We can make it work. I'll help with whatever you need."
Kane didn't waste time. He had them drag a heavy oak table against the front door and pile furniture in front of the windows. Then he stepped outside and set up a simple 360 security perimeter using fishing line and empty cans from the kitchen—trip wires at ankle height around the house and barn. Nothing fancy, but it would give them warning if anyone got close. By the time he finished, the sun was high and the air had warmed enough to take the edge off the chill.
Inside, they built a small fire in the cast-iron stove in the kitchen, using wood from the pile out back. The smoke went up the chimney and wouldn't be visible from the road. Kane opened two MREs and split them four ways—beef stew and crackers, the first hot food they'd had since leaving Denver. They ate at the kitchen table while the stove crackled softly.
Raven stirred her portion slowly, steam rising in front of her face. "I've never been this scared in my life," she said quietly, not looking up from her bowl. "Not even in the alley. Out here… it feels like the whole world is empty. But you make it feel safer. Like we might actually make it to wherever we're going."
Willow nodded, spoon paused halfway to her mouth. "Same. I keep thinking about what would've happened if you hadn't shown up. I don't know how to thank you for that. For all of it." She glanced at Kane, then quickly back to her food. "We're not used to any of this. But we're trying."
Liora ate in silence for a while, then finally spoke, voice small but direct. "Daddy always has a plan. That's why we're okay." She didn't look at the girls when she said it, but she didn't glare either. It was the closest thing to a truce she'd offered so far.
Kane wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Plans only work if we stick together. Tonight we rest. Tomorrow we push another twenty miles. The cache is still a long way, but we're making progress."
After they finished eating, he showed them how to bank the fire low so it would last through the night without giving off too much light. Raven helped wash the spoons with a little bottled water, moving quietly beside him at the sink. When she passed him a clean spoon her fingers brushed his for a second. She didn't pull away immediately.
Willow took first watch at the front window while the others tried to sleep. Kane lay on the floor in the living room with his rifle beside him. Liora curled up next to him under a dusty blanket they'd found in a closet. Raven took the couch, pulling the blanket around her shoulders. The house creaked softly in the wind, but nothing tripped the cans outside.
Hours later, when the fire had burned down to embers, Raven's soft voice drifted across the dark room.
"Kane?" she whispered. "You still awake?"
"Yeah."
She hesitated, then said, "I've never been this scared… but you make it feel like maybe we're not totally alone anymore. Thank you. For everything."
Willow's voice came from the window, quiet and steady. "Same. I don't know what we did to deserve you showing up, but I'm glad you did."
Liora stirred against Kane's side but didn't wake. He kept one hand on the rifle and the other resting lightly on her back.
"Get some sleep," he told the girls. "We move again at dusk."
The farmhouse stayed quiet after that, the four of them breathing in the same dark space. Trust was starting to form—slow, fragile, but real. Raven and Willow were already leaning on him harder than they probably realized. Liora was still jealous, but she hadn't pushed them away completely.
Outside, the wind moved through the cottonwoods and the distant Rockies waited.
One night down.
The road west still stretched ahead.