They were playing a perilous game by neglecting the passcode for so long. The brush of skin was only a flicker of the energy it needed. When not activated, it was hard telling the strength of it. But that single moment confirmed that the strength in it was nearly waned entirely. Neither of them were likely to forget Howard's warning that came with it. The passcode could be recharged, but it couldn't be restarted. The moment it was allowed to die, there would be no bringing it back.

Logan stared at his hand and wanted to swear at it.

"Somethin' tells me their metal guards might be the least of it." Even without their dispute, Logan had been walking along the dried river with a growing feeling of instinctual dread. His senses told him they shouldn't be going that direction, but he'd been placing the mission ahead of survival. It was absurd how his notion of survival was as twisted as it was.

He chewed on a sausage and looked to the cave's entrance. "... the damn code's near gone out."

Handholding was one way of charging it, but certainly among the slower ways. Yet after the last few hours, he was in no hurry of proposing more efficient alternatives.