Catharsis (Books 1-4): Outbreak Z

by EM Roberts

  “And young man, when did you see Izzy’s toes?” Ella’s father asked, his faded blue eyes twinkling.

  Carlos blushed and ducked his head. It was common knowledge he had a crush on the girl. The two were similar in age. It was too bad that Izzy didn’t realize just how much Carlos liked her, but honestly she just couldn’t see the two of them as a couple. She would have to speak to Izzy so the girl didn’t end up breaking poor Carlos’ heart.

  “Oh my gosh people, he saw my toes this morning when I came barefoot to the kitchen for breakfast.” Izzy exclaimed as she took a drink of milk and wrinkled her nose. The milk tasted different because it was fresh from the milk cow and not pasteurized. At first both Roe and Izzy had protested the drink, declaring it would kill them. Theo explained to them that he’d had fresh milk all of his life and was living to tell the tale. It took a little getting used to, but it was okay.

  “Okay, let’s forget about toenails and spas for a while. We need to branch out and travel a little farther than last time. We’ve hit all of the nearby towns. Maybe we should try a little farther away. I want to leave going from house to house as a last resort.” Ella mentioned as she helped herself to a bowl of her father’s homemade chicken and dumplings.

  “Well, we could go to Kingsport which is east. It’s about an hour and a half from here. I was looking at the atlas and noticed it’s a decent sized town which, of course, will mean a lot of the infected.” Parker looked expectantly at Ella. He knew the final decision rested with her father and her. He didn’t want to impose on their decision making. Their house, their rules, and he was fine with that. Plus, he didn’t really consider himself a leader anymore.

  “That’s a good idea. There’s a few shopping centers and malls there. Hopefully, they haven’t been completely ransacked.” Ella’s father replied, making the decision.

  “Okay, but we all can’t go. I’ll take Izzy and Carlos with me. Parker, are you okay with that? Is that okay with everyone?” Ella asked, looking at Parker, Izzy and Carlos.

  “That’s fine,” Parker replied. He had faith in Ella’s abilities. She’d hadn’t survived nine months without being able to take care of herself. Even though Carlos and Izzy were young, they were both level headed and were good with their weapons. Carlos had been practicing with both Ella and Izzy and had become an accurate shot. Parker and Theo would take turns watching the fence line.

  Later, Ella and Roe sat on the porch swing in the dark. The swing squeaked as it moved back and forth, and Ella made a note to grease it tomorrow.

  “So, is it gonna be like this the rest of our lives?” Roe asked as she took a sip of her warm soda. Warm soda, no television, no internet, no cell phones, and the list went on and on.

  “I guess it is. Wanna get married?” Ella laughed as she asked. “Come on Roe, you wanna grow old with me?”

  “You don’t have a dick. That’s my number one requirement in a lover these days.” Roe also laughed.

  “I had sex with Dean.”

  Coke went flying out of Roe’s mouth and onto the porch. She turned and looked at Ella following her announcement.

  “You’re gonna have to wash that down or the ants will be all over it.” Ella nodded her head towards the spill.

  “Okay, but Ella, I don’t care about ants right now. Spill it. When did you do the dirty with Dean, and how was it?

  “It was the day before he died. It was pretty, freaking amazing. We did it in that front lookout tower.” Ella smiled wistfully, remembering that night. She wouldn’t lie and pretend it was all sweet and romantic. In fact, it’d just been plain dirty. Dirty, hot, sweaty sex. She’d not really cared for Dean, but boy was it some good sex. She sighed.

  “You sly dog. That Dean was a serious hunk of a man.”

  The two sat in silence after Ella’s announcement. She still felt a little ashamed for her actions that night. She’d acted like a cat in heat. She supposed she was in a way. She’d not had sex for three years before that night, and combined with the fear of dying, she’d made a rash decision to get it on with a man she didn’t even like. She thought back over her interaction with Dean, and she realized she didn’t like him because she thought he’d try to control her. She was not a woman to be controlled. She liked taking charge. Maybe that’s why she’d never married. She was afraid of losing herself.

  For just a second when she’d been talking about her little secret, she’d almost felt normal. It’d just seemed like two girlfriends discussing sex and laughing. That was one of the reasons she liked to bring back little luxuries for Roe and the rest of the group. She liked them to have some kind of normalcy in this crazy, fucked up new world. She knew it wasn’t very smart or realistic to waste time and space on such things, but she couldn’t help herself. She liked making her friends happy.

  ‘Well, Roe, I’d better get to bed. We’re going to leave early in the morning. You know how I get when I haven’t had my eight hours of sleep. I can be…”

  “A real bitch, that’s what,” Roe interjected as she lit up a joint. The town of them had found a bag of the stuff in Pete’s bar, and sometimes when Ella’s father went to bed, the two of them would smoke it.

  “You want a hit?” Roe offered.

  “No, and you better be quick about it. Dad has a nose like a bloodhound. Plus, I’m going up to check on him, and he’d smell it on me right away.”

  “By the way, I was gonna say I can be a ‘pain’ without my sleep, but yeah, I guess I can be a bitch, too.” Ella laughed, leaned down, and kissed Roe on the cheek. Although, the two were twenty years apart in age, she felt like Roe was her older sister. They’d been great friends before the outbreak, and the last nine months had only made their relationship stronger.

  “Hey, if you see any of that face cream I like, grab it and stick it in your bra. I know the rules. Luxuries can be taken, but only if they don’t take up extra space. You’ve got some space in that bra of yours,” Roe instructed, laughing when Ella flipped her off.

  Ella stopped at the master bedroom, a room had parents had shared for over fifty years. She tapped softly at the door, just in case her father was asleep.

  “Come on in,” his gruff, southern voice answered.

  Ella walked in the room and smiled at the sight. Her father clad in an undershirt and pajamas sat reading the Bible in the soft lantern light.

  “You find any answers in there?” she asked.

  “There’s always answers in here. You just have to look for them and believe,” he smiled, removing his glasses and laying them on the nightstand.

  “Okay, well, I just stopped to give you a kiss and tell you good night.” Ella walked over to the bed, leaned down and dropped a kiss on her father’s head.

  “Ella, I know it’s hard for you to make sense of this, and I know your faith in God is lacking, but I truly believe he is looking out for us.”

  Ella swallowed, the lump in her throat paining her. She didn’t reply because she couldn’t tell her father her belief in God had been weak before, but now it was pretty much gone.

  “Well, say a prayer for us tomorrow. I love you daddy.” Ella left the room and closed the door softly making her way to her own room. She lay down on the bed and within minutes she was sleep and dreaming:

  “God, how much longer do we have to wait for the contact?” she complained from the passenger’s seat of the military issued Jeep. The desert’s dry heat caused her shirt to stick to her back. She felt hot and uncomfortable, but then again she’d felt that way ever since she’d been over here.

  “I have an idea on how to pass time,” the driver stated glancing over at her. In return, she smiled naughtily.

  Taking that as ascent, he unzipped his pants and released his hard cock. It already had a bead of moisture at the tip. He stroked it for a moment of two, looking over to gauge her reaction.

  She unbuckled the seat belt and leaned over into his lap. Taking his cock into her mouth, she ran her tongue up, down, and around its length.

  The
man moaned and breathed deeply. He knew this was a serious offense, but they were miles from camp, and he wasn’t expecting anyone. The woman was actually supposed to be driving since that was the assignment and he was a commanding officer. But, he liked to drive himself every now and then.

  He ran his fingers through the woman’s short locks and pressed her head just a little bit farther down on his cock. She took this as a sign to take him deeper. He was about ready to explode. He knew what they were doing was wrong, but he trusted this women explicitly not to divulge their secret. He knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  “Let your seat back, and pull your pants off,” he ordered, adjusting his own seat as far back as it would go. He climbed over and moved her body so that it was he who was lying back in the passenger seat with her on top of him.

  “If you can scoot on up here, I’ll exchange the favor,” he promised.

  Never one to refuse oral sex when it was on the table, the woman maneuvered about until her pussy was directly over his mouth. His tongue thrust in and out of her passageway.

  “Ah, that’s so good, but lick my clit, instead,” she ordered moving back in forth in thrusting movements over his face.

  He continued to lick and suck her until she was writhing on his face. She wanted his cock inside of her in the worst way possible. Sliding down his body, she positioned his cock at the entrance of her pussy, and sank onto it.

  “Ahhh,” he replied, “That feels so fucking hot.”

  She rode him in slow, methodical movements, his hips thrusting up to meet hers. She needed, wanted something more.

  She reached down and rubbed her clit with two fingers. Her knees were cramped and aching from the confines of the jeep, but it was worth it. The excitement of having sex on the side of the road just added to her arousal. They could both get into serious trouble for this, but it was so worth it. She was sure she’d have misgivings later and vow to never engage in anything this dangerous, but at the moment all she could think about was this.

  She rubbed faster and rode harder. She could feel the pressure building, and she honestly didn’t know if she could continue, it felt so good.

  “I’ve got to come. If you’re going to get off, you need to do it soon,” the man panted, his fingers digging into her ass, thrusting upward into her.

  Just as he said those words, she had an orgasm, and it was so intense, she imagined she could see stars. She didn’t even feel it as the man released himself inside of her.

  Panting, the two stayed as they were for a few seconds longer. The console and seat belt dug into her knees reminding her this wasn’t the best place to have sex.

  Laughing, the man slid from under her and over to his seat just as they heard another vehicle in the distance. He quickly pulled up his pants and fastened them as she did the same.

  He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

  “We’ve only got a little longer before we have to head back. I hope that helped with your boredom,” he cheekily said, opening the door and stepping out of the vehicle.

  It did, she thought in satisfaction, it definitely did.

  Ella jerked awake, her heart pounding and her skin flushed. Oh for God’s sake she thought—a wet dream. Really? She stood and climbed from bed, feeling the wetness between her legs. She guessed the talk about sex and Dean had invaded her dreams except it hadn’t been Dean in the dream. It’d been Dan, a married man she’d had an affair with in Iraq. Dean—Dan—Dean—Dan. Was there a pattern there? Was she becoming the type of woman who only slept with men she couldn’t have or didn’t want? She needed to quit psycho analyzing herself or two very important reasons. One, it didn’t matter. She just needed to survive; she didn’t need to worry about mundane things like sex or relationships. And, two, Roe was right. She was a bitch if she didn’t get her eight hours of sleep. She lay back down on the bed and returned to the thing she enjoyed most—sleep.

  After a breakfast of oatmeal, eggs, and toast, Ella, Izzy, and Carlos said their goodbyes and made their way to town in the farm truck. The truck wasn’t the lightest on gas, but it could hold more cargo. There were always drawbacks to anything. Drive a small car that used less gas but couldn’t hold very much, or drive a bigger vehicle that could hold a lot but took more gas? The bigger vehicle won out in the end. They would have to see if they could fill up somewhere on the way.

  All three of them had become adept at siphoning gas. It had been a trial and error thing with swallowed gasoline and burning throats, but they’d managed to get the hang of it. Finally, on their last outing, she’d found a siphoning pump at a hardware store. It only had eight feet of tubing with it, and she hope it was enough. It would be fine for car to car siphoning, but she planned on finding a gas station with some left in its reserve tank.

  As they entered the town of Taylor’s Creek, Izzy slapped her forehead and groaned.

  “I forgot the freaking totes, I’m such an idiot,” she exclaimed. She bit her lip and glanced at Ella gauging her reaction. Ella knew Izzy wanted her approval. The younger girl seemed to look up to Ella, and she didn’t want to hurt Izzy’s feelings.

  “Well, I’m not going back. And, you’re not an idiot, kiddo. Um, let’s see. We’ll stop at the post office. There are mail totes there-- I’ll just run in and grab a couple,” Ella said, swerving into the Post Office parking lot. She was the type of person that would make do. It was a trait she’d learned from both her father and her mother. There was no point in getting upset over things. She jumped out and left the truck running, just in case they had to make a quick getaway. The town had been pretty much cleared, but there were still a few stragglers every now and then.

  She broke the front glass in the door and made her way inside. She’d just committed a federal offense, breaking into a Post Office. She was a real badass, she thought sarcastically. She walked around the front counter and dumped a tote of mail on the floor. She did this three times. The fourth tote, she started to dump when a package on top caught her eye. It was addressed to her. The New York return address reminded her that she’d been expecting a package from her brother prior to the outbreaks. She placed the package under her arms and continued gathering empting totes. She carted them out to the truck, placed them in the back seat by Carlos and threw the package in with them.

  “What’s that?” Izzy asked.

  “Just a package I found in there addressed to me. Weird isn’t it? It’s from my brother. The last time we had a conversation, he told me he was sending it. It’s probably something useless. His gifts all are.” Ella put the truck into gear and pulled out onto the road.

  “Your dad mentioned him. Wasn’t he a doctor?” Izzy asked, curiously. Ella knew she never talked much about Eli or her mother. There was a reason for that—it was called pain.

  “Yes, but not like a medical doctor. He’s into research. He develops drugs for a large pharmaceutical company. We don’t know if he survived or not.” She wasn’t really in the mood to talk about Eli. It was a shame the last time she’d talked to him, she’d hung up on him. They’d been so close as children, she and her twin brother. Now, she wished she’d not been as hateful. She hadn’t imagined those would be their last words.

  She cranked some Britney Spears up on the radio, laughing as Carlos groaned. She and Izzy continued torturing the young man and teasing him good-naturedly until they were about thirty miles from their destination. Noticing the truck was starting to get a little low on fuel, Ella swung in to an abandoned gas station. There were a couple of creatures milling around, and rather than shoot and attract more, she and Carlos took care of them with a knife to the temple. Ella was pretty good in hand to hand combat because she’d taken training while in the military, and she’d continued to take class even after. She’d taught both Carlos and Izzy some of the moves, just in case they needed them.

  She walked over to the small indentation in the pavement and breathed a sigh of relief. The cover to the store’s gas supply was still embedded in the
pavement; hopefully, this was a sign that no one had thought to pry it off. She grabbed a crow bar from the back of the truck and lifted the lid from the pavement. She placed it gently on the ground to avoid making noise. The scent of gas fumes was strong, and she had to take a step back. She dropped the tubing down into the hole, straining to hear if it hit liquid. She didn’t hear anything, but that didn’t mean it didn’t. Carlo grabbed the discharge tubing and stuck it in the gas container in the back of the truck. She pumped the handle of the machine a couple of times, and nothing—no gas. She tried again. Nothing.

  “Okay, give me that fifty foot garden hose and the duct tape,” Ella instructed.

  Dropping one end into the tank, she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard a splash. There was some gas down there; she didn’t know how much. She taped the water hose to the pump sealing it and cutting any excess air off. She pumped the handle of the device a few times and was relieved when she heard Carlos confirm that the gas was now being transferred into the 55 gallon tank in the back of the truck. She looked around as she waited for the process to be complete.

  The windows of the gas station were broken, and Ella was sure it’d probably been looted. She couldn’t really blame anyone. People had to do what it took to survive. There were limits to that, however. When Ella and anyone with her went looking for supplies, they didn’t take everything. She always left something for the next person, or she tried to. She didn’t want to be greedy, and she also wanted to look out for her fellow man.

  “Okay, it looks like….” She broke off and strained to hear. She thought she heard a helicopter in the distance.

  “Did you guys hear that?” she asked.

  “What?” they both asked simultaneously.

  “Never mind, it must have been my imagination,” Ella replied, taking the hose out of the plastic tank and transferring it to the truck’s gas tank. After she filled up, she rolled the hose back into a loop and capped off the fuel tank. She also replaced the concrete cover over the store’s tank. She didn’t want water getting into the tank if it rained. Starting the truck, she made a mental note of the station’s whereabouts so she could stop on the way back through.