At least they knew the monsters’ talons weren’t poisoned: He had been grazed by one of them before, and had been fine, and Eliza still had a scar on her leg from one of her first encounters with the things.
He glanced down at his own hands, at the cuts where the alien’s mouthparts had scraped him as he’d jammed a spear into its gullet, wondered what kind of bacteria was in their saliva, thought of spider venom and how it dissolved the insides of prey.
The front gate rattled and they all started.
“I’m here,” Imogen said from the other side. “What’s going on?”
Cal hurried to the gate, pulling it open, surprised at how easy it was now, then remembering his upgrade. Like the rear gate, this one was on rope hinges too, though they would have to replace them soon. The cordage they had been using thus far was fine, until it dried out. This took a while due to the humidity, but once it happened it became too brittle to be of much use.
That was why he had gone out to get more roots from the nettle-like plant. While those roots shrunk greatly when they dried out, they remained strong and flexible.
“We were attacked,” Cal answered her as she entered.
Her eyes widened when she saw the alien corpses everywhere, and widened even more when she saw Eliza.
“Where’s the basket?” Mirabelle asked as Cal quickly closed the gate again, not taking any chances.
“I dropped it to get here faster,” she answered, staring at Eliza. “You don’t look good.”
“Thanks,” Eliza grunted.
“Just the truth.”
This was more than he’d heard her speak since they’d gotten back from Earth. Since they’d lost her sister. He hadn’t even yet asked her what year she was from.
“We need to get these wounds bandaged and cleaned,” Cal said.
“I’ll be fine,” Eliza protested.
Ignoring this, he asked, “Where do we find the leaves and Tylenol flowers?”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“Eliza,” he said firmly.
She sighed. “Both are down the front path. For the flowers, take a right… and…” She trailed off, frowning. “Eh, not sure how to give directions in a forest, to be honest.”
“I know where they are,” Imogen said. “Both of them.”
They all looked at her.
“You do?” Cal asked.
She nodded. “She pointed them out once a few days ago while we were gathering food.”
“Didn’t even realize you were listening,” Eliza said.
“I always listen. Even if I don’t respond.”
Mirabelle put her hand on Imogen’s arm. “We understand.”
Imogen gave the slightest nod. “I’ll go get what we need. Besides, I know where I left the basket, and giving directions would be harder than just getting it myself.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Cal said. He looked at Mirabelle. “Go with her.”
She looked shocked at this suggestion. “You don’t want me to stay here with Eliza?”
Cal sighed and shook his head. “I hate sending you out there, but I killed one of them on the way here, so with the seven we killed here, that accounts for all eight of the things. Based on the past waves, that should be all of them. And besides, even if it’s not, you’re deadly with that bow. If there are more, you two can climb a tree and take them out. And here we’ve got the gates, so I can use the spears to stab any more that come.”
“Unless they climb the gate again,” Mirabelle said, glancing at Eliza with an odd expression.
“There’s no perfect option here, but it’s the best of the bad ones.” He looked at Imogen. “How far away are the plants we need? Still in hearing range?”
“If you shout loud enough, yeah.”
He nodded. “You two can call out if you encounter any. How many arrows do you have?” he asked Mirabelle.
“If I gather the ones from the ground and dead aliens? Almost thirty. But—”
“And you’ve got your quiver to carry them in.”
She nodded reluctantly. “Yes, but—”
“I know I’m asking a lot of you, to go out there and risk getting attacked, but if I go with her instead and we get attacked, we won’t stand a chance. As much as I hate to admit it, even with my upgrade, I’m not that good with a spear yet. You with your bow, on the other hand…”
“But what if I can’t kill them? I need to get a shot in their eyes or mouths, and that’s not easy from a tree.”
“If that happens, call out and I’ll come running.” He nodded at Imogen. “And she’ll bring a spear as well.”
Mirabelle sighed, cast another glance at Eliza.
“Come on,” Cal pushed, “what do you say?”
5
“Remember, call out if you encounter any,” Cal said, holding open the gate for Mirabelle and Imogen.
“We will,” Imogen said, and exited.
Mirabelle looked back at Eliza, then at Cal.
He reached out and touched her cheek. “It’s gonna be okay.”
She placed her hand over his, pressed her face into it, closed her eyes.
He pulled her into a hug, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him.
He had to lift his chin so the bow and arrows she wore didn’t poke him and take an eye out.
She had bad situational awareness when it came to stabbing people in the eye with worn weapons.
He rubbed her bare back then kissed her forehead, avoiding getting poked by her little horns. They had grown, and were now half-inch nubs that were starting to poke up from beneath her bangs. She was sensitive about them, so they hadn’t really talked much about why she might be growing them.
Cal had thought about it, but hadn’t come up with anything convincing yet, especially since she was the only one of them who’d developed anything like that.
“Go on,” he told her. “And hurry back.”
She smiled up at him, glanced past him at Eliza one last time, then followed Imogen down the front path.
He closed the gate, watching over the top of it as they made their way down.
A grunt from behind him drew his attention.
Eliza was getting up.
“Hey,” he said, rushing over to her. “What are you doing?” He took her hand to steady her as she got up.
“Getting sunburned sitting out here.” She lifted her chin at the tree.
“Right. Come on.” He helped her over, then lowered her in the shade, resting against the trunk between their beds.
They had taken to sleeping on moss, mostly due to Mirabelle—though Imogen, like Jonathan, had simply used dirt at first—and they had these beds situated around the base of the tree, Cal and Mirabelle’s opposite Eliza’s and Imogen’s to give them some privacy.
“We need to get those wounds cleaned,” Cal said, looking down at the cuts covering her.
She winced as she settled herself, nodded.
“I’ll get some fresh water.”
Avoiding the dead alien bodies everywhere and several broken arrows, he went to the water basket they’d built, which rested near the far edge of the hilltop that jutted over the stream below. The basket was made of the large leaves from the banana-apple tree.
This was the second one they’d made, as the first had started to dry out and leak too much water.
He picked it up and lowered it down over the edge, weighted by a smooth rock they’d gathered for just this purpose.
It was a little windy today, but with the rock he was easily able to lower the basket into the stream two-hundred feet below the hilltop’s edge on the first try.
Once full, he pulled it back up.
He turned to go back but froze upon seeing Eliza.
“What are you doing?” he asked as she set her top beside her.
She looked up at him, and he had the damnedest time meeting her eyes.
She’d taken off her loincloth and top, and was now completely naked. He couldn’t see much with the blood covering her, but even so, he f
elt a stir under his loincloth.
She quirked an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”
“Your clothes…” He approached her, still holding the basket of water.
“Easier to clean the wounds without them.”
“Right, right…” He was standing in front of her now, a few feet away, staring down at her.
“You going to put that in the trough? Pouring it from that will be awkward.”
“Huh? Yeah, of course.” He looked around for said trough.
They were made from half logs they found out in the forest, and they had gathered several.
He picked an empty one they hadn’t used yet that had been set out to cure in the sun and which hadn’t been disturbed by the battle. Figured it would have the least bacteria.
He didn’t want to wash her wounds with dirty water. The water from the stream below seemed clean enough, and devoid of life large or very small, and in any case it was all they had.
Unless some plant had antibacterial properties. Which come to think of it, it might. There was a pain-killing flower after all.
He’d have to investigate that possibility.
He set the now-empty basket down and moved the trough closer to where Eliza sat under the tree.
“Right.” He lifted the trough over her. “Ready?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. “Go ahead.”
He, gently as he could, poured the water over her face.
It quickly ran red as it streaked down her neck and chest, washing away some of the blood, revealing the flesh underneath.
He grimaced at all the slashes.
As the water ran down her body, the dirt under her turned muddy.
“Hold on.”
“What are you doing?”
“You’ll see.”
A few moments later he had several of the large leaves from the banana-apple tree from the stack they used to make water baskets with.
He set them down next to her, poured some water over them to wash any dirt off. “Come on. Better than sitting in mud.”
“Thanks,” she said as he helped her onto them.
Once she was settled, he poured more water on her, rinsing most of the blood off. Then he rolled up a leaf to use as a cup, filled it, and began gently pulling open each cut to wash it out.
This was going to take a while.
He soon reached her stomach, and was having trouble not being distracted, the top and bottom of his vision both filled with things meant to do just that—distract him, that is.
“Don’t like blood?” she asked, sensing his hesitancy.
“I don’t like seeing you hurt.”
She smiled. “Me either.”
Then he’d finished washing all the easy wounds, and he had to look at what he’d been avoiding looking at.
She had a cut an inch above her bare crotch.
Be a professional, he told himself as he placed thumb and forefinger on either side of the gash, feeling not like he was washing out a wound, but something else entirely. Pretend you’re a doctor.
With an insanely hot, naked patient who you’ve flirted with before.
And who’s flirted back.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked up at her.
“You going to clean it?”
He realized he’d frozen. “Yeah. Sorry.”
She tilted her head, then dawning realization crossed her face and she chuckled. “Oh, right. You’re from the past. You guys were weird about being naked. I told you before, I don’t have any modesty.”
Richard and the twins were well aware of this fact, and practically screaming at him to make a move.
He suppressed this. She was injured and he was taking care of her.
That was all.
“Good.” He smiled. “Tell me if it hurts.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” She somehow made this statement sound flirty.
He continued cleaning her, Richard pestering him the whole time.
Moving down, he spread her legs apart without thinking to get at the cuts on her inner thigh
Realizing what he’d just done, he looked up at her.
Only to find her grinning at him.
Her eyes flicked down to his loincloth, then back up.
He glanced down himself and saw his loincloth pushed up and away from his body, doing nothing to hide his reaction to her.
He worked his way down, methodically cleaning each wound, exhibiting the kind of grit and self-control that had led to so much success as an actor.
He had just refilled the trough and was about to rinse Eliza a final time when Mirabelle and Imogen arrived back at the gate.
“We’re home,” Mirabelle called cheerfully. “Got everything. You two okay?”
Neither woman was tall enough to see over the gate.
Cal glanced nervously at Eliza’s discarded, blood-soaked clothing, his erection rapidly deflating. “I can get you leaves to cover up with.”
“Go on, let them in. Don’t worry about it. If I’m not modest around a man, I’m certainly not going to be embarrassed with two women seeing me naked.”
Cal went to the gate and opened it, feeling trepidation, guilt. But that was stupid, there was no reason to.
Mirabelle greeted him with a smile. “How’s the patient?”
“She’s uh, fine,” he answered, looking not at her but at Imogen as she passed by him holding a basket full of leaves and flowers.
“Good.” Mirabelle nodded, then entered.
And froze when she saw Eliza naked under the tree.
Cal hurriedly shut the gate and braced it, then joined them.
Imogen seemed unfazed, and was handing Eliza one of the Tylenol flowers, which Eliza gratefully accepted and ate.
Mirabelle, on the other hand, was gaping at Eliza’s nudity.
She saw Cal looking and pushed him away. “She’s not decent! Go wait over there.”
Eliza chuckled. “It’s fine. He’s seen it all already. He’s the one who cleaned me.”
Mirabelle dropped her hands, looked between Cal and Eliza. “You… cleaned her? Like that?”
“Her wounds needed to be flushed,” Cal told her. “Getting an infection here would be serious.”
“Whatever.” She looked at Eliza. “You should put those bandages on before you get infected. I’m sure Cal wouldn’t mind helping.”
“Where are you going?” Cal asked as Mirabelle moved away.
“Washing these.” She bent and picked up Eliza’s discarded clothing, then turned to look at Cal. “So she can get dressed again.”
“I’m fine,” Eliza said. “Won’t be able to put them back on over these leaves anyway.”
“But… you’ll get cold.”
Eliza laughed, then grimaced at the pain this caused. “Here?” She shook her head. “Besides, what’s the point in wearing them? They don’t protect from anything. As you can tell.” She pointed to a cut on her breast which her top had been covering, yet not prevented.
“You can’t just walk around naked!” Mirabelle protested, flustered.
“Why not?”
“Because you… you just can’t, okay?” She stormed off toward the gate, then struggled to get it open. “Stupid thing.” She kicked it.
“Here,” Cal said, going to help her with it.
“Thanks,” she muttered as he pulled it open, then moved down the path.
“Careful. Don’t fall.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll stay here and keep watch.”
“K.”
He watched her make her way down to the stream, glancing around for any signs of monsters, though not expecting to see any.
“She seems even more bothered by my body than you are,” Eliza said from behind him.
He turned and looked at her, his eyes landing right on her breasts. He moved them upward to her face. “Yeah, she does.”
Eliza looked at Imogen, who was sitting beside her, eating one of their few remaining fruits. “Yo
u don’t seem bothered at all.”
Imogen shrugged. “We need more food. I’ll go get some.”
“I’ll go with you,” Cal offered.
“Thought you didn’t want to leave the base?” Eliza questioned.
“If there were more, they would have come by now.”
“Are you sure that’s the reason?” she teased.
“Of course.”
When Mirabelle got back, he told her his plan as she hung Eliza’s clothes up to dry over the rear gate.
“Oh,” she said, looking at him. “Okay.” Her mood seemed improved.
He took her face in his hands, bent down and kissed her, pressing his tongue in.
She resisted at first, keeping her lips firmly sealed, but then submitted and let them part to allow his tongue entrance.
He grabbed her butt as he kissed her, felt himself growing against her.
She felt it too through his loincloth, pressing against her stomach since he was so much taller than her.
She reached up and ran her hands over his bare, muscular chest as they kissed.
Then he pulled away. “Keep your bow and arrow ready.”
She blinked hazily at him, her brain foggy with lust. “Huh?”
“Just in case there are more. Shoot them before they can make it to the gate. Aim for the eyes. That seems to work.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah, I will.”
He smiled. “And maybe we can go for a swim after dinner. If you’re up for it.”
She shrugged, playing hard to get. “We’ll see.”
He took her chin, gave her a last quick kiss, then grabbed a spear.
“Ready to get dinner?” he asked Imogen.
6
They left out the front gate, and as Cal was pulling it closed from outside he heard Eliza say to Mirabelle, “That looked fun. You sure got a rise out of him.”
He couldn’t hear Mirabelle’s response, but Eliza laughed.
“What’s the hold up?” Imogen asked.
He shook his head, leaving the gate and joining her, and they headed into the forest.
“Let’s do this fast,” he said, looking up into the sky where one of this planet’s two suns had already set. “I don’t want to be out after dark.”
Imogen nodded, but said nothing.
“We’ll only get what we need. Banana-applies and tubers.”
Survivor- World of Monsters 2 Page 2
