Dawns Break *Slow Updates*

Chapter 8: Casey

In Casey's mind, it was all Jasper's fault they'd gotten so behind. Pacing back and forth in front of the truck, he focused on thinking of ways to make up for the time lost, but all his deductions brought him to the same conclusion.

They'll have to hold their own, for now.

It wouldn't have mattered if they knew exactly where to go to find their women, there was still plenty of time for the mercenaries to kill them before they ever showed up. He could find himself hovering over the mutilated body of yet another person he loved if they didn't get there in time.

"Ya' want something done right, never let an easterner do it," a familiar gruff voice grumbled, getting clearer as the man approached.

Charlie.

"I'll agree with that," Evan spoke up, just a few meters behind the older man. "Brought us all the way out here just to find out that bloody tracker is exactly where we started. Why'd you let him?"

The sharp question was directed at Casey, and while he knew the recent disappointment stoked the flame of fear burning in each of them, he couldn't let it show if he wanted to keep their emotions in check. An emotionally unstable soldier was a liability in the field, and this certainly felt like a battle, only they were late for the fight.

Great, I'm even thinking like her, now.

He wondered if he'd ever get her off his mind. Perhaps if her life wasn't always in death's grasp, but then again, he doubted even a sense of normalcy would satiate him. Their time in LeHorn was as simple as it could get, and even then he couldn't fight the pull. Finding out she was an easterner should have ended whatever was brewing between them, yet despite his will to ignore it, passion only burned stronger, brighter as he finally saw the real her.

"Look, right now, Jasper is our best chance at finding the girls. Regardless of what I think of him, we don't know anything about this region. We need him," Casey redirected, attempting to get the two men's anger down. If they decided to unleash some of that on Jasper, it would only delay them further.

"Hey! Fellas!" The call of his best friend grabbed Casey's attention, along with Charlie and Evan's. Turning around, they watched as Reid jogged over, his eyes wild with hope. "They found something. A place the mercenaries camp could be."

The skepticism wasn't missed by Reid as the three men eyed him warily.

"Really?" Casey questioned. "How?"

His tone was not mocking, or ill-tempered. Rather, he sounded hesitant, cautious, and righteously so. The group of westerners may have been significantly smaller when compared to the original numbers that left from LeHorn, but the men still viewed Casey as their leader. They were depending on him to set the tone that they would copy, so he didn't want to seem too optimistic, but he also did not want to trample on their hopes.

Neutrality is what he would strive for—at least until he knew something for certain that he could base his efforts and reasonings on.

"On the map, there's a section if untraveled land, forbidden to the public. It's where they think they may have taken them," Reid explained.

"So, they don't know for sure?"

With a waver in his smile, Reid shook his head but clasped his friend's shoulders. "No, Case, but it sounds possible. Very possible. It's only a few hours away. We could get to them before the end of the day."

Casey was silent, still, soaking in everything. It wasn't that he didn't want to follow this lead wherever it took them. If it brought him to the people that had terrorized his home region for decades, then he'd cross the horizon to get there. His only fear was that the clue would take them nowhere, the woman would be harmed, and his people would blame him for the failure.