It was heavy. Warm. Protective.
“You got somewhere to sleep tonight?” Jack asked.
“Behind the steel yard.”
Jack shook his head.
“Not anymore. You’re coming with us. Warm bed. Food. Work if you want it.”
Noah’s eyes filled with tears.
“Why? You don’t even know me.”
Jack knelt until they were eye to eye.
“You stood your ground when grown men would’ve run. You bled for a stranger. That makes you family.”
“And family doesn’t get left behind.”
Jack nodded toward the bikes.
“Let’s go home.”
Noah climbed onto the back of Jack’s Harley.
As they roared down Main Street, wind drying his tears, Noah held on tight.
For the first time in his life, he wasn’t just surviving.
He was going home.
