“Nice to meet you,” I said, nodding.
The men nodded in return but said nothing. Everyone seemed to be gathered around the table looking at a map, but I couldn’t tell what it was of or what they were planning, so I nodded to it.
“What’s going on?”
“Charting some places we need to hit up,” Devon explained, releasing my hand so he could tap his finger against the map. “Gander Mountain will be a jackpot of useful items, then there’s Dick’s Sporting Goods.”
“Huber Heights,” I said, moving closer so I could see the map, too.
Some of my hair fell across my face as I studied it, and I brushed it aside. Devon was next to me, his arm pressed up against mine, and every now and then he would glance my way. It made my scalp prickle because I could tell what he was thinking. Not just that, I was thinking the same thing.
“When do we go?” Kiaya asked.
I looked up to find every pair of eyes on her. The men in my group seemed to be only waiting for a response, but Lisa was frowning. The other men, however, were looking at Kiaya like she was crazy.
“You’re not going,” Gabe said.
She didn’t even blink. “Yes, I am.”
“Me, too,” Lisa piped in. “Like I said before.”
Now I knew why she’d looked so unhappy. They must have already discussed this little trip, and she must have already been told her services wouldn’t be required.
“It isn’t safe,” Gabe insisted.
Lisa let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t think my tits make me any more of a target than your dick does, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s just as safe for me as it is for you.”
“Is this chick serious?” Brian said.
Yesterday in the store, he’d had his hood up, making getting a good look at him impossible. Now, I wished he’d put it back on. It was like looking at Lurch from the Addams Family. He wasn’t just tall and broad, he was square. Square jaw, square head, even. His features were all hard, all severe, and so were his eyes, which looked nearly black in the dim light. Only his skin wasn’t dark, and next to his almost black eyes and even darker hair, he looked washed out. As if all the life had drained from him or he’d never set foot in the sun a day in his life.
Lisa took a step toward Brian. “Listen, Lurch,” I had to bite back my laugh, “I don’t know what your damage is, if too many steroids shrank your brain or what, but this is twenty-first century America. In this country, during this day and age, a woman can do anything.” She lowered her voice. “And I mean anything, so don’t you forget it.”
Brian balked at her, then looked at Gabe. “Is she threatening me?”
Gabe sighed like he was already tired of having to repeat himself. “Here, the men go out. We’re better prepared to handle this, and we don’t need any baggage.”
“Call me baggage again and you’ll find out how good my aim is,” Lisa said through clenched teeth.
Her hand was actually resting on the butt of her gun.
“Okay.” Devon stepped forward, hands up. “Let’s calm down. We obviously have different ideas about how things should go, but it isn’t something we can’t figure out.” He focused on Gabe. “Lisa knows her way around a gun. You’d be lucky to have her watching your back.”
Gabe ground his teeth but said nothing.
“Kiaya and Rowan are learning,” Devon continued, “which, in my opinion, is what everyone should do. The kids included.”
“Are you talking about teaching kids to shoot?” Max asked, sounding appalled.
During the altercation, he was the only one from this new group who looked at all embarrassed by Gabe’s and Brian’s comments, and even though he hadn’t spoken up, I’d thought he might be on our side. Now he was looking at Devon like he was insane.
“Yes,” Devon said calmly.
“You have to be shitting me,” Doug muttered.
I shot him a dirty look, and he shrank away.
“I’m not talking about letting them walk around with guns, at least not at this point,” Devon said.
“There’s a point where you think that’s a good idea?” Ari said.
“Maybe.” Devon leveled him with a serious look. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. Do you?”
He scanned the room, but no one responded.
“Exactly. Which is why these kids should be taught how to defend themselves in case it comes to that. Who knows what we’re going to face in the days to come? I know I’ve seen a lot of bad shit in my life, and that was when there was law and order. There’s none now. Nothing to stop people from doing whatever they want to whoever they want to do it to.” He was still scanning the room, and as he talked, the mood began to shift. The incredulity melted away, replaced by discomfort, and even a little horror. “What if something happens to all the adults? Are you willing to leave these kids in a world like that without a clue as to how to survive? I know I’m not.”
He stopped talking, and silence followed. It was heavy and noxious, like fumes from a chemical fire.
“He’s right,” Gabe finally said, breaking the silence. “I was only thinking short term before, but Devon is right. We have to make sure everyone can take care of themselves.”
Devon nodded, giving Gabe a grateful look, but said nothing.
“How do we do that?” Rick asked.
“Take them out to the farm a few at a time. Teach them to shoot. Make sure they know what they’re doing.”
“The farm?” I asked.
Gabe turned his gaze on me, pausing for a moment to look me over. It was different than when Miller did it, more like he was sizing me up, but it didn’t make me any less uncomfortable, because I got the impression he thought I would be better off staying in the kitchen.
“We have some animals stashed in a barn in the middle of nowhere,” Doug was the one who started talking, and I was grateful to be able to turn my attention to him. “We go there every couple days to check on them. Make sure they’re fed. Make sure no one has gotten them. We plan to bring them back here eventually, but we have to get things set up first. Which means supplies.”
“Which means you need every set of hands you can get,” Lisa said.
“Yeah,” Doug replied, nodding, but he sounded more resigned than like he actually agreed.
“It’s a secluded area,” Gabe said. “It will be a good place to get in some shooting time.”
I perked up at the news. “I’d love some more target practice.”
“More?” It was Doug’s turn to look me over, and he startled when he saw the gun in my waistband, like he hadn’t noticed it before now.
“Yeah,” I said, “Devon’s taught me a little, but we didn’t have a lot of time.”
Doug’s gaze moved to Kiaya. “He taught you, too?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s good.” My ex turned his focus on Gabe. “Shot a zombie from the car. Took two shots, but you and I both know how hard it is to adjust to a moving target. Takes some work.”
“Good to know,” Gabe replied, his expression thoughtful.
“When do we go?” Lisa asked.
“We were going to head there after lunch, but we’ll have to put it off so we can regroup.” Gabe sighed and looked everyone over. “Decide who’s going and who’s staying. If we want to make this a learning trip, then we might as well take advantage of it.”
“Speaking of lunch.” Rick nodded to the doorway, where a woman in her thirties stood smiling.
“It’s ready,” she declared.
Everyone started filing out, but I didn’t make it far before Devon had grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. He didn’t say anything as the room emptied, and he didn’t release me. He just stared at me, only inches of space separating us and his gaze so intense it made my knees weak.
Once we were finally alone, he said, “I was worried about you.”
“It went fine,” I managed to get out. “Doug was a big help.”
Devon sighed, his mouth turning down
. “He still cares about you.”
“He was in love with Jessie Simpkins.”
“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t still care about you.”
“Tough,” I said, “because I’m over him.”
Devon reached up and ran his fingers across my temple, pushing my hair behind my ear. “Are you into anyone else?”
“You know I am,” I said, the word a strangled whisper.
“Me, too,” he said.
My heart thudded as I waited for him to kiss me. The way he was looking at me made it seem like he wanted to, but he still hadn’t moved. All he did was stare at me, like he couldn’t get enough. Like he couldn’t make himself look away.
“Devon,” I finally said.
“What?” he replied, his voice just as low.
“Is this whole thing crazy? You and me in the middle of all this, I mean. Are we insane for letting ourselves get swept away like this?”
“Maybe, but I can’t stop it. It’s too late. From the moment I saw you climb out of that car in Vega, I wanted you, Rowan. God, I was out of my mind with grief, but I still wanted you.”
“I was a slobbery, snotty mess,” I said, trying to force out a laugh because everything suddenly felt much too heavy.
“You were gorgeous.” His gaze moved over my face, memorizing every line. “You always are.”
“Devon,” I said again, only this time I was begging.
I grabbed the hem of his shirt and used it to pull myself closer to him, wrapping the fabric around my fist and holding on for dear life as I lifted myself up on my toes. He met me halfway, his mouth covering mine and his arms wrapping around me. The kiss was deep, passionate, and totally uncontrolled. I hadn’t realized until this moment that he’d been holding back the other times, but I now knew he had been, because he no longer was. He kissed me like he was trying to devour me, like he needed me to survive, and I clung to him like he was the only thing keeping me grounded.
Our mouths moved together, our tongues exploring each other as he walked, pushing me backward until my ass hit the table. Then he lifted me, setting me down, and shoved my legs apart. His body was between my thighs now, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I could feel every hard inch of him as we kissed, and when I rocked my body against his, it was impossible not to moan.
His hand snaked up my side, moving under my shirt so he could cup my breast, and I moved my hips against him. He groaned into my mouth, whispered my name, teased me as we moved together, and it took everything in me not to rip my clothes off right then and there.
“God, you feel good,” he said, his lips moving down my neck.
“You feel good,” I said as I ran my fingers through his hair.
His hands cupped my breasts as he planted kisses between them and on them, and even though I was wearing a shirt, the heat from his lips seemed to scorch my skin.
“If only we could find a place to be alone,” I said then groaned when his finger teased my nipple through my bra.
“We will.” He kissed his way back up my chest. “Soon.”
“I want you now,” I said.
“And I want you.”
His mouth covered mine again, and then I didn’t care if I ever got to talk again, because the way he kissed me made it seem like he would die without me, and I’d never been kissed like that before. Never felt like I was the only thing the man I was with could think about, could focus on. But with Devon, that was how it felt. Like it was just me. Just him. Like we were the only two people on this planet, and we needed each other to survive.
14
I stopped in the doorway of the cafeteria, taking in the scene in front of me. The chatter had reached us when we were still down the hall trying to catch our breath, but it hadn’t prepared me for the sheer number of people gathered here. In addition to the six men I’d met in the command center, there were over a dozen kids and as many women. With our group, that brought the number of survivors to nearly fifty.
It shouldn’t have surprised me, not after learning that around fifteen percent of the population had been immune to this thing, but it did because the world had felt so empty the last few days that I’d begun to think most of those original survivors had been torn apart by the dead or had maybe even found their own way out of this world. They’d just been in hiding, I now realized. Like us, there were people all over the world who were hunkering down, staying quiet while they tried to figure out what to do next.
“That’s a lot of kids,” Devon said, eyeing the table where they were congregated.
The kids who’d been here before we arrived ranged in ages from about two years old to thirteen. There were just as many girls as boys, and they were all races. White, black, Asian, and Hispanic. It was like a United Nations of children, and seeing their innocent faces as they shoveled spoonful after spoonful of mac and cheese into their mouths made my heart ache. It also erased some of the ill-will I’d felt toward Gabe after our little meeting. He might have been a bit on the sexist side, but he had empathy. If he didn’t, he never would have brought these kids here.
A woman carrying a tray full of what appeared to be grilled cheese sandwiches headed our way, her face lit up with a friendly smile. “Rowan and Devon, I’m assuming. Everyone said you’d be on your way soon.”
My face flushed at the realization that our friends, as well as a bunch of strangers, had been aware of our absence.
“Just trying to find some alone time,” Devon replied, giving the woman a little wink.
She let out a twinkling laugh and covered her mouth with her free hand. “No need to explain. It’s a big building, but it can be tough to find some alone time. I’m Grace, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
Grace was in her mid-thirties and had auburn hair that fell to her shoulders in waves, a splash of freckles on her nose and cheeks, and green-brown eyes that twinkled like she had a secret she was just dying to tell.
“Hungry?” she asked, nodding to the tray in her hand.
“Sure,” Devon said and took a sandwich, his eyes already scanning the room.
I did the same, making note of what everyone was doing. The men and children had all sat down to eat, but most of the women were still moving around. Some, like Grace, serving food, while others were tending to the children, and still others were in the middle of gathering dirty dishes—probably so they could wash them. It was odd that I hadn’t seen any of them until now. Had they all been making lunch earlier? If so, it was even more strange that of the nearly dozen of them, not a single one had argued with the antiquated way things were set up.
I took a sandwich when Grace held the tray in front of me—after she’d offered it first to Devon—and said, “Aren’t you eating?”
“Oh, us ladies ate already. Makes it easier to keep the meals moving along, especially with all the kids.” Her smile was genuine and not the least bit hesitant. “You’ll see.”
“I doubt it,” I said before taking a bite.
Grace’s smile wavered, but only for a second, then she shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Is this what you do here, Grace?” Devon asked. “The cooking, I mean.”
“That and a few other things. The kids always need attention, especially the younger ones, then there’s the laundry and dishes. There really isn’t a moment of rest most days.”
“Interesting,” Devon said through a mouthful of cheese and bread. “Who set this all up?”
“Gabe, of course. He and Brian were the first two here.” Grace turned to face the room as she spoke. “From what I understand, they knew each other from the gym. That’s how they know Rick, too. Then there’s Ari…” She clicked her tongue thoughtfully. “Not positive if he was a gym guy, but somehow he knew the others. Doug and Max came along next, after they got home from college and found everything gone.” She looked back at us, shrugging. “They picked the rest of us up here and there over the next few days.”
The gym. That explained why these guys looked
like a football team.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“Oh, going on six days.” Grace’s smile faded once again, and this time it didn’t return. “The dead had just started coming back, but most of us didn’t know it until we ventured out for food or other supplies. That’s how I met Gabe and Brian. I was at Kroger, and this man came stumbling toward me. I thought he was sick, but he wasn’t.” She shuddered, and I got the impression that if she hadn’t been holding the tray, she would have hugged herself. “If it hadn’t been for Gabe, I wouldn’t have made it out of there.”
“Lucky you,” I said and took another bite, sinking my teeth in more violently than necessary.
Grace didn’t seem to notice, because her smile returned. “Yes, I got very lucky.”
“We should head over to join our friends.” Devon waved his sandwich toward the table the others had settled around.
“Don’t let me keep you,” Grace said, flushing like she’d made some huge social faux pas.
Devon grabbed my hand before heading off. As we walked, I studied the people we passed. Until this moment, I hadn’t noticed that not a single person—with the exception of Buck—was over the age of fifty, and the women were all under forty. Lisa seemed to be the oldest one, in fact.
Was it intentional? Was Gabe trying to keep his group young on purpose? He’d said he didn’t want any dead weight, which should have been a clue, but I hadn’t thought about it until now, and I wasn’t thrilled.
“You seeing this?” I whispered to Devon.
“Yup.” I looked his way, curious if he was referring to the same thing I was, and the hard expression in his blue eyes as he scanned the people told me he was.
“Maybe coming here wasn’t the best idea.”
He exhaled, blowing out a long breath. “Only time will tell, but for now, we’re here, and we’re going to have to make the best of it. And hope it wasn’t a huge mistake.”
Far Series | Book 2 | Far From Safe Page 28
