26
In the last shreds of daylight, Tobias opened his leather-bound journal and read the first page inscription for possibly the thousandth time.
When you come back—and you will come back—I’m gonna fuck you, soldier, like you just came home from war.
He flipped the pages three-quarters of the way through the volume to where he’d last left off.
The pencil was down to its last inch.
The pipe was getting low.
He crushed down the ashes and took a deep draw, collecting his thoughts as the river murmured past.
From where he sat, the sun had left the building, although it still struck the summit of the mountain across the river, a half mile above him.
That swarm of abbies appeared to be on the move.
He could hear them screeching and screaming as they pushed on up the valley, leaving him a clear path to home.
Tobias wrote:
Day 1,308
I’ll keep this short and sweet. My last night in the wild and so many emotions. I can see the mountains that surround Wayward Pines from my camp, and with any luck, I’ll come out of the cold tomorrow afternoon. There are so many things I’m looking forward to. A warm bed. A warm meal. To speak to another human being again. To sit down with a glass of whiskey and tell people everything I’ve seen.
I alone have the key to what will save us all. I’m literally the one man in the world who can save the world. I carry that knowledge on my shoulders, but none of it really matters.
Because the closer I get to Wayward Pines, all I can think about is you.
Not a single day has passed when I haven’t thought about you. About our time together. About how it felt to hold you that last night.
And now, tomorrow, I’ll see you again.
My sweet, dear angel.
Can you feel that I’m close? Don’t you know it in your bones somehow, that in a matter of hours, we’ll be together again?
I love you, Theresa Burke.
Always.
Never thought I’d get to write these words but…
This is Adam Tobias Hassler…
Signing off.