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Months after everything had settled, Saul returned to Sanctuary.
The approach to the town looked different now.
Rebuilt structures stood where damage had once dominated the landscape. Timber had been replaced with fresher construction. Paths that had previously been uneven or improvised were now more defined, as if the town had slowly decided that permanence was worth committing to again. There was still evidence of what had happened, but it had been integrated into the environment rather than allowed to define it.
Saul slowed as he neared the edge of town, running his hand down his horse’s neck. For his comfort or the animal’s own, it was impossible to say.
Part of him worried the locals may hold him accountable for some of what had gone on. Not that he’d had any part in it other than killing off as many Reapers as he could, but people sometimes had odd perspectives when so many had died.
He crossed into the town without drawing anyone’s attention. For a few moments, no one reacted at all.
People were busy; some were still rebuilding, while others had trickled off and started up their daily lives again. Conversations happened without constantly breaking off to look over the talkers’ shoulders. Even the movement through the streets felt more comfortable, more relaxed.
The town wasn’t completely at peace, but it hadn’t been before the Reapers, either. There had always been a little crime here and there, a stolen basket of vegetables or someone breaking into someone else’s house. But those were minor things, the sorts of things that the town could deal with without having to build a gallows.
It was nice.
Saul dismounted and tied the horse outside the general store. He walked slowly, letting people glance his way if they wanted to. It seemed like a better idea than stalking into town like a ghost and showing up with a gun on his hip. It didn’t take long for folks to recognize him.
By the time he reached the central path through town, people were staring.
A voice called out from somewhere near a partially rebuilt structure, though Saul didn’t immediately turn to locate it. He didn’t need to. He knew exactly who it was, knew that they’d come running to greet him soon enough.
“It’s been a while, Saul. Glad to see you,” Sarah called.
They came toward him quickly. Eddie reached him first, closing the distance without hesitation, and Saul instinctively lowered himself slightly so the impact of the embrace wasn’t awkward or delayed. The boy grabbed him around the middle, holding on tightly. He squeezed as hard as he could. It was all Saul could do to keep down the burning in his throat and eyes. He hesitated for a moment before placing a hand on the boy’s back.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
Eddie pulled back just enough to look up at him, smiling openly now, his eyes bright in the sunshine with unshed tears. “You came back,” he said, like it still wasn’t entirely real for all he clearly hoped that he was.
Saul nodded. “I said I would.”
Sarah arrived a moment later. “You look…” she started, then paused, searching for the right word.
“Still alive?” Saul offered.
That earned a faint, brief smile from her. “Yeah,” she said. “That works.”
Eddie tugged slightly at Saul’s sleeve, still clearly delighted by his presence. “Did you come back to stay?”
Saul looked down at him for a moment before answering. “I came back to see how things were going,” he said carefully. “And to see what I can do to help.”
The boy seemed satisfied enough with the answer for now, though his attention remained firmly on Saul, as if afraid that looking away might make him disappear again.
Sarah gestured slightly toward the center of town. “People will want to see you,” she said. Perhaps a little bit of a warning.
Saul nodded. “I’ll talk to them,” he said. “I just wanted to check in with you two and Jason first. The rest of them can wait until things calm down a bit.”
Sarah studied him for a moment longer, then gave a small nod of her own. “Jason’s at the central hall,” she said. “He’ll probably be glad you’re here.”
Saul didn’t respond at first. He looked around again, taking in the rebuilt structures, the movement of the people, the quiet persistence of something that had survived more than it should have been required to. Sanctuary didn’t feel like something he had left behind anymore. It felt like something that had continued without him and now allowed him to return to it without disruption.
He looked back at Sarah and Eddie. “I’m glad you’re both okay,” he said.
Eddie smiled again, more openly this time, while Sarah gave a small nod that carried more meaning than anything she could have said aloud.
The three of them headed toward the town center. Here, there was more work happening than at the edge of town. Even some local Natives were helping, not that it was a surprise. Sanctuary had always been on good terms with the local tribes. Yet, he hadn’t expected the town to grow from the dissolution of the occupation.
Amid a dozen or so people, he heard a familiar voice. Jason was there.
He looked better than he had before, less worn down, more solid in his footing, and certainly in better health than when he’d last seen him. When he saw Saul enter with Sarah and Eddie, his expression shifted to something Saul struggled to name. Perhaps it was cautious relief.
“Well,” Jason said, walking toward them through the crowd. Half the people behind him were working through piles of maps and old drawings of the land around the area. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again. Or if I did, I wasn’t sure when that’d be.”
Saul gave a small nod. “Neither was I, for a while.”
Eddie clung to Sarah but stayed close enough to Saul to suggest he still wasn’t fully ready to let him out of his sight. Jason gestured toward the maps. “We’ve been organizing things better,” he said. “Supply routes, rebuilding schedules, coordination with nearby settlements, tribes, and a handful of mountain men who want to be involved.”
Saul walked over and looked down at the table. It was clearer than anything they had had before. Markings, routes, and notes layered over geographic outlines. It was a sign that Sanctuary intended to not just survive, but thrive. What had once been a motley gathering of homes and a handful of other buildings was trying to turn itself into the makings of a city.
Jason watched him take it in. “We’re holding,” Jason said after a moment. “But only just. We can rebuild internally, but we’re still isolated. That’s the problem.”
Saul nodded slowly. “No outside connection.”
“Exactly,” Jason said. “We need someone who can go beyond here. Someone who can speak for us without dragging us into another war. And someone who can get the word out if things get bad, fast.”
Saul looked up at that. A small part of him wanted to know exactly what Jason was planning, but another part of him had a growing suspicion that he already had a good idea.
Jason continued. “We need representation in the capital. Denver. Someone who can establish relationships, negotiate supply access, keep us from being forgotten or overrun again.”
Saul glanced briefly toward Sarah and Eddie, then back to Jason. “You’re talking about formalizing this. Making it something real, something long-term for everyone here. You want to grow out here,” he said.
Jason nodded. “As much as we can, as fast as we can. Sanctuary’s always been open for anyone who needed us. That means we need to be prepared for anyone who might show up, and that means building. Growing.”
Saul considered that. His gaze returned to the map, tracing routes without touching them. “You think that if the government has your back, you’ll be safer out here.”
Jason didn’t deny it. “Yes. What happened out here can’t happen again. And it’s well past time that it stopped happening everywhere else, too.”
Saul straightened slightly. “Who do you plan to drag into this plan of yours, Jason? An old friend?”
Jason met his gaze. “I’m not gonna beat around the bush. You already know who I have my eye on.”
Saul rubbed the temple of his head with his missing eye, the heel of his hand grinding there. “Denver.”
Jason nodded. “Yes.”
Saul looked down at the table again. The maps were spread there, but it wasn’t the markings on them that he saw. It was a cabin off a beaten dirt trail. One that had a little girl running down it, a smile on her face, arms thrown wide as she raced to hug her father.
A man given a second chance. A real second chance.
He chewed his lower lip for a second, then he looked back up at Jason. “I can do that.”
“Good,” he said. “You’ll be there from daylight to dark and back again. Plenty of folk think we should leave this land to the wild. It’s not going to be clean work.”
Saul bobbed his head in a nod, hand gesturing vaguely. “Nothing worth doing ever is.”
Jason let out a laugh, a sound that still seemed to be little used, and slapped Saul on the back. “I’ll get us dinner.”
“You’d damned well better,” Saul muttered, clapping the man’s back in turn.
Together with Sarah and Eddie, Jason and Saul headed toward the freshly rebuilt inn. They only paused long enough for Saul to purchase a small marionette from a visiting merchant who had set up a stall.
“Is it for me?” Eddie asked, one hand outstretched toward the horse in Saul’s hand.
Slowly, Saul smiled and tucked the toy away into a pocket. “Next time. Emma’s always had a love of horses, far back as I can remember.”
“Emma?” Eddie blinked, following along.
“My little girl,” Saul answered, warmth spreading through his chest. Something he hadn’t felt in so long: pride. “Let’s get somethin’ to eat. I’ll tell you three all about her.”
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