Shoshanna Evers: The Pulse

The thought stopped her cold.

I love Mason.

She loved his fierce independent streak. She loved his survival skills that enabled him to survive on his own in New York City. She loved that he cared enough about his sister getting justice that he killed her attacker—and that he killed to protect Emily too.

Things that would have terrified the old Emily—the pre-Pulse Emily—were now the very things that made Mason exactly the sort of man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She loved how his touch made her body come alive, how he made her climax over and over again, how he made her feel soft and feminine even when she was dirty and unkempt.

She even loved that he cared for her enough to give her up. Of course, when she found him, she’d tear him a new one for that. If she found him.

“Brad,” Emily said, looking up. “I can’t stay here. I have to go find Mason.”

He shook his head. “He’ll freak out if you leave here. You know that.”

“I don’t really care,” she said bluntly. “I’m leaving.”

She turned to walk back to Luke and Melissa’s house to get her things. She had to hurry if she wanted to find him. Who knew how far ahead he had gotten? Mason was slowed down by her, she knew. So without her, he had probably gone a lot farther. But where? What direction should she go?

“Brad, do you know where he went?” she called over her shoulder.

He shook his head.

This wasn’t going to be easy. But if she truly loved him, then she’d rather die trying to find him than live her life without him.

He might be angry with her for coming after him, but at this point she didn’t even care. Let him be angry. She was angry too. And if he didn’t want her to stick around, then tough—because once she found him, she sure as hell wasn’t going to leave his side ever again

If she found him.

Mason headed northon I-87, walking with one thought going through his head over and over like a mantra: don’t look back.

If he looked back, he’d turn back. If he turned back, he’d go get Emily and take her from the safety of the town. He couldn’t do that to her, not when he couldn’t promise her the same protection she’d have living there.

But leaving her behind was killing him from the inside out. He felt like he swallowed something too big and it stuck in his chest. He swallowed hard around the lump, trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

Keep walking. Don’t look back.

He only briefly considered going to New York City. It had been his home for so long, and he knew how to survive there… but now he knew there was a better life. Seeing how Potterskill, as hard hit as it had been, thrived after the Pulse made the conditions at Grand Central seem even more horrific.

If he kept moving forward, maybe he could find his own place. That’s what he was used to anyway—being alone. The thought should have made him feel better, but instead the idea of spending the rest of his life in what used to be blessed solitude now seemed like a life sentence. It was as if he had never escaped prison after all.

Don’t look back.

Mason shook his head, forcing himself to keep going. But Emily… God, he missed her already. Missed her beautiful face, her engaging conversation, even her teasing and giggling. He missed making love to her—and it had only been a few long hours since they had been together by the lake. How would he go a lifetime without kissing her lips again, without feeling her body beneath his?

She’d be okay, though. She’d be better than okay. Mason wasn’t even sure what he was going to eat later that day, or where he’d sleep. If she were with him, he’d be endangering her life. He couldn’t do that to her. Brad Crimshaw would take care of her.

Oh God. The mere thought of Brad touching his woman made him sick to his stomach. But he couldn’t very well expect her to join a nunnery after only knowing Mason for a few weeks. It wasn’t like she even thought of them as a couple. She said so herself at the lake.

She had made it quite clear, actually, that they were just together for that moment. Hearing her say that had made it slightly easier to let her go. But only slightly.

Don’t look back.

Emily walked upto the main highway outside Potterskill. She could feel the cold steel of the pistol in the small of her back, secure in the waistband of her jeans. It made her feel safer, knowing she had it. Just in case.

There were two guards at the road, guarding the entrance to Potterskill from the other side of the highway. She waved at them.

“Did you see that new guy Mason go this way, a few hours ago?”

The two men looked at each other. One said, “He told us we never saw him.” Then he grinned at her. She scowled. So Mason really tried to hide from her, huh?

And at least now she knew he’d headed north on the highway. How could she ever catch up to him, though, if he was several hours, and many miles, ahead? Surely if he stopped to camp he’d hide in the woods off the side of the road. She’d never find him.

But she had to try, or she’d never forgive herself.

Luke and Melissa had packed her a sandwich for the road, which was kind of them. They told her to come back if she couldn’t find him. Emily hoped she wouldn’t have to take them up on her offer, as nice as they were.

She wanted to be with Mason.

The road curved around the hills of upstate New York, and it was slow going. Her feet ached and she’d only been walking for a few hours. The sun hung low in the sky, reminding her that she’d have to find shelter for the night, and soon. She didn’t want to be caught out at night.

“Going somewhere?” the voice sounded raw and greasy, and definitely male. Emily gasped with surprise and looked to her left, where she heard the voice. But she couldn’t see anyone.

She grabbed her gun and pointed it in the general direction. “Show yourself,” she said, using all her strength to keep her voice from shaking. She sounded confident, and the steel she heard in her own voice made her feel safer.

She cocked the gun.

The guy laughed and stepped out from behind a stalled truck, holding his hands up. He was big, almost as tall as Mason, and walking toward her with a bravado only guys who think they’re invincible have. He stepped toward her and Emily lowered her gun since he appeared unarmed.

“There’s a toll, lady,” the man said. “If you want to keep going this way.”

“What are you talking about, a toll?” she demanded.

“You gotta give me something if you want to keep going this way,” he repeated, shrugging his shoulders. “Whatcha got? Something in that bag of yours?” He took another step toward her and Emily hoisted her gun up again.

“Step back, asshole,” she said.

He laughed again. “Shoot me for all I care. No big deal.”

What was going on? The guy had to be suicidal, which made him dangerous. He had nothing to lose.

“I have nothing in my bag,” she lied.

The man grabbed the bag out of her hands and she gasped, aiming the gun at his chest. “Give it back.”

“No. Shoot me if it means that much to you,” he said. The man pulled out her sandwich and took it. Looking at her, he calmly took a big bite. Then another. Then, to her surprise, he put the sandwich back in her bag and handed it back to her. “Go on now,” he said. “And watch out, because there’s a mean-looking dude camped a couple miles up the road.”

Mean-looking dude?

“Was he wearing cargo pants and a rifle slung over his shoulder?” she asked.

“Yup. That’s the one.”

Grand Central Terminal