Kodiak Sky

EPILOGUE

“You okay?” Karen asked.

“Yeah, sure.” A light snow had begun falling on the small graveyard. It was just starting to cover the tops of the seven tombstones. Jack stood before the gravestone on the far right. “I need a few minutes alone with him, okay?”

“Of course.” Karen leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Take as much time as you need.” She took a step and then turned back. “Never forget how much I love you.”

“Never,” Jack answered firmly.

He watched her walk away into the woods. She still needed a cane, but not nearly as much anymore. Her speech was getting better, too. And that smile was almost perfect again.

She was going to give him a son in four months. Why was he so damn lucky?

He turned away so she wouldn’t see his emotion if she looked back. He still felt the need to be her strength even though, ultimately, she was probably stronger than him.

For several moments Jack gazed at Troy’s tombstone. “Why did you have to die?”

Maybe Troy was right after all. Maybe some people couldn’t be saved. Worse, maybe they didn’t want to be saved. Maybe those extreme measures RC7 took could be justified after all, at least when it came to those people.

Tears rolled down Jack’s cheeks. The last time they’d seen each other he’d shouted something terrible in a moment of anger and panic, then raced away to save Karen. Troy had died before he could take those words back.

“I miss you, brother,” Jack whispered as his lower lip quivered. “So much.”