by M. J. Haag
“Adam. This is June, my girlfriend. What’s your name?”
“Tor.” His gaze flicked to me then to my hand locked with Adam’s. “You tell us which house to clear. Three of us will check for infected. The rest will wait outside with you. If there are no infected, you can come inside and gather supplies.”
Adam and I shared a glance. Nothing was ever that easy anymore.
“Okay. Let’s look for the houses that have signs of kids having lived there,” I said. “Those are more likely to hold more food.”
For the next hour, it was as easy as they’d said it would be. Easy didn’t mean less scary, though. While the fey did their best to kill any infected they found, some of the more intelligent infected proved better at hiding and managed to avoid detection. But that was why the fey stuck close to us humans while we collected supplies.
Adam was thorough and took everything he thought would be useful. From the obvious, like food, to the less obvious, like space heaters. Whatever we found went into a tote that someone from our assigned group of fey ran back to the trucks.
Tor stuck to us like our personal bodyguard and guide as we worked our way through the rooms.
“Check this out,” Adam called.
I left the master bathroom, my assigned fey trailing behind me, to find Adam in the walk-in closet.
“Someone was prepped for stuffing stockings.” He passed down a plastic bag. “We’re almost done here,” he said, looking at my assigned fey. “Would you mind scouting for another house with toys in the garage?”
While he left, I peeked inside at the Christmas candy. Tor leaned over my shoulder and studied the colorfully wrapped confections.
It was weird being this close to one of the fey, but I was slowly getting used to it. Their size might have made them intimidating at first, but the more time I spent around them, the more I saw beyond their appearances. They were quietly curious about everything and observed closely.
“What is it?” Tor asked.
“You’ve never had candy?” I asked.
He shook his head.
While Adam kept digging, I opened a bag and handed Tor a piece, taking one for myself. I showed him how to unwrap it then popped mine into my mouth. It was one of those taffy mints I used to like as a kid.
Tor mimicked what I did until he chewed. His neutral expression shifted to disgust before he started coughing and sputtering. I giggled a little and patted his arm.
“It’s okay. It’s not for everyone. Adam doesn’t like them either.”
“Did she give you one of those crappy mints?” he asked. “That’s just cruel, June.”
“He might have liked it,” I said, bending down to tuck the bag into the waiting tote. As I did, I noticed something hanging under the bed and took a rapid step back.
“Tor,” I said, pointing.
A second later, I stood in the corner, staring at Tor’s broad back. He’d moved faster than I could register to get me there.
“We may have missed one,” Tor said.
Adam swore, and I leaned around Tor just enough to see him come out of the closet with his knife drawn. He glanced at me, saw I was safe, then looked at the bed where I pointed once more.
“Something was hanging down under the bed. It looked like a hand.”
Tor nudged my arm behind him again, and an insane part of me almost laughed. The situation was far from funny, but in all the craziness we’d endured over the last few days, the fey’s level of protectiveness, which rivaled Adam’s, struck me as surreal.
Another fey strode into the room, grabbed the end of the bed, and flipped it to the side. Two infected tumbled out of the bottom of the bed. Before they could make it to their feet, they lost their heads.
“They cut the backing and hid in it,” Adam said, moving closer. He plucked a knife from inside the material and showed it to Tor.
“We need to be more careful. Especially with June. I don’t want to do anything that’ll put her in danger more than she already is.”
Tor grunted as he straightened.
“We will do better,” he promised.
I shot Adam a look.
“Don’t blame them. We’d both be dead already if not for their help. And you’re the one who sent the other fey away.”
Adam flushed and apologized to Tor for sounding like he was blaming him. But as I returned to the bathroom with another fey, I heard Adam say, “Stick close to her. She’s all that matters.”
Chapter Four
Adam was giddy when we walked out of the supply shed with enough food for a week. It was hard to feel the same. People stared at our boxes laden with food. Some with envy and more than a few with anger.
We’d been smart about what we’d taken. Dried foods, stuff that would require more work to prepare but would stretch further. We’d also taken the space heater he’d found, which was what I carried.
A man stepped in front of us.
“You took more than your share.”
“Nope,” Adam said, keeping his tone friendly. “We filled twenty totes. Fourteen went to the fey. Six came here. Two totes worth is thirty percent. That’s our take for risking our lives to feed able-bodied people too afraid to fend for themselves. It’s what happens when you put some effort into surviving. You might want to give it a try tomorrow.”
He stepped around the man, and I hurried to follow, looking back in time to see the man spit on the ground in our wake.
“You shouldn’t goad them,” I said.
“They need goading. Until more people man up, no offense, and head out to get their own supplies, we’re going to be busting our asses on their behalf.”
I couldn’t disagree with him, but I also remembered Matt’s warning about painting a target on our backs. However, once we reached our house, everything was quiet. Adam put away the supplies, and I started dinner.
Rather than sit around after we finished eating, Adam went out to talk to Matt about his missing weapons. A day spent searching for hiding infected made me jumpy in the house by myself. I kept busy by sorting through the clothes that had been on our front step when we got home. The pile of clothing made me feel guilty that Adam had been so rude about our share of the food.
The door closed downstairs.
“June?” Adam called out.
“Here,” I answered.
He entered carrying his uncle’s shotgun and rifle.
“Matt wouldn’t give me the handgun yet,” he said. “He’s worried I’m going to cause trouble.”
Considering the way Adam grinned at me, Matt was absolutely right in that assessment.
Adam set the guns aside and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Guess what I found when we were out?” he whispered close to my ear.
“What?”
He held up a line of five condoms.
“Tell me you’re as ready to use one of these as I am.” He kissed the side of my neck, and I turned in his arms to smile at him. The oral sex had tapered off after the first few weeks. Neither of us had ever said no to the other. We’d just gotten caught up in the day-to-day worry of surviving.
“I’ve missed you,” I admitted.
He grinned, and the tender kiss he gave me quickly morphed into hunger as we both stripped out of our clothes and fell into bed. Adam immediately went down on me, and I groaned. It’d been far too long. Long enough that I didn’t care what he was doing to get me ready in a hurry.
When I was wet enough, he kissed his way to my breast, nipped me, then entered slowly while watching my face. I let him see everything I felt.
“I love you, June,” he whispered before kissing me again. I tasted myself on his lips as he picked up speed, building a fire within me. He groaned and broke away from our kiss, his rhythm not slowing.
“You feel so good, babe. I want to stay like this forever.”
He changed the angle of his thrust, and I made a small sound. He swore and faltered before hammering into me faster. I could feel
him coming and hid my disappointment.
“Sorry, June. I lost it. You have no idea how hot it is when you do that. It’s been too long.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
He slowly withdrew and rolled to the side, sliding his leg between mine.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered.
My breath fogged in front of me as we approached the wall. Another dozen people were waiting, but no faces I recognized from the day before. Except for Matt. He broke away from the people he was talking to and approached us. His gaze flicked to the guns we carried.
“Are you sure you want to go back out again so soon?” he asked.
“How else do you plan on stocking up that storage shed?”
Matt looked like he was going to say something more, but the arrival of the fey distracted him. They jumped over the wall like the day before, but this time, there was a girl with Ryan. She hurried toward Matt as soon as the fey put her down.
“Just the person I was hoping to speak with,” she said with a smile. “I have some new ideas I’d like to run by you.” She looked at the fey who’d followed her. “Thanks for the ride, Tor. I should be fine on my own today.”
Without her use of his name, I wouldn’t have recognized the fey who had helped us the prior day, and I felt a little bad for it. Bad enough that I studied his features and did my best to commit them to memory. His bright yellow-green eyes with the vertical pupil, his strong nose with a slight bump in it that hinted at a past break, and his prominent cheekbones and brow. When I looked past the unusual shape of his ears and odd eyes, he was actually handsome.
“Hey, Tor,” Adam said, sticking out his hand. “I’m glad to see a familiar face.”
I couldn’t help but notice the girl’s shock as she glanced between Adam and Tor, who was accepting Adam’s gesture of welcome. Considering how unwelcoming this place was, I wondered if common courtesy was so unusual.
“I’m June,” I said to her. “That’s Adam.”
“New faces. You must be the couple they found out at the farm. Welcome.”
Her welcome was the first we’d received outside of Matt’s.
“Thank you,” I said.
“We better go,” Adam said, calling my attention to the mass exodus.
“It was nice meeting you,” I said to the woman before jogging with Adam to catch up.
As we waited to get into the truck, Adam spoke softly to Tor.
“Think we can have the same group as yesterday?” he asked.
Tor’s gaze shifted briefly to me before he nodded.
“Good. Thanks to your help, June and I had a good night.”
I flushed and pretended not to hear as I climbed into the back of the truck.
The ride took a little longer than the previous day, and the people in the back with us started to get restless.
“Ryan didn’t say this was going to be a long run,” someone grumbled.
“He stopped telling us,” someone else said.
“If it’s bad, I’m not leaving the truck.”
I leaned my head against Adam’s shoulder to distract him from answering. It worked. He turned to kiss my forehead, and I played with the hair at the back of his neck.
When the truck finally stopped and we could get out, a few of the humans stayed behind.
“What’s their deal?” Adam asked Tor as we walked away. The subdivision didn’t look any different from the one we’d raided the day before.
“They like staying closer to Tenacity. It feels safer to them.”
Adam shook his head and called them idiots, which made Tor grin. The fey’s pointed canines looked much longer than the rest of his teeth. Like a dog, but not. He caught me looking and immediately stopped smiling. Adam noticed and shot me a look.
I flushed again and focused on the surrounding houses.
“Let’s start with the ones at the end of the cul-de-sac over there,” I said softly. “Bigger back yards usually mean kids.”
While we moved off in that direction, away from the people sticking to the homes closer to the trucks, I did my best to shake off my slip. Pointed teeth did not define a man’s character, but it sure could be startling when not expecting it.
Three fey cleared the first house and moved on to the one next door while the remaining nine came inside with us. Adam and I propped our guns close by and started in the kitchen.
“So you guys live in that other town, Tolerance, right? What’s it like over there?” Adam asked, opening the first cupboard.
“Good,” Tor said.
Adam laughed and used more specific questions as we moved the things we wanted to the countertops. Gradually, we learned that Tolerance didn’t have the same supply issues that Tenacity had. People could go into the supply shed and take what they needed whenever they needed it.
“Why did we get stuck in Tenacity then?” Adam asked.
“New people go to Tenacity.”
“Okay. How do people get to live in Tolerance?”
“Mya and the other women have to approve them.”
“Could you let Mya and the other women know we’re interested in switching?” Adam asked. “Living in Tenacity sucks sweaty jock balls.”
Tor grunted, and I wondered if he knew what “sweaty jock balls” were.
When I turned to open the full-length pantry door, Adam caught my arm and shook his head.
“I will check,” Tor said.
He waited until Adam and I stood a healthy distance away then opened it. There was nothing but shelves of dry goods and chips inside. My stomach rumbled at the sight of the chips.
Adam grabbed the bag, handed it to me, then lifted me to sit on the counter.
“You snack, and I’ll sort.”
I opened the bag and took a chip out.
“We’ll get more if I work,” I said before shoving the crisp bit of deliciousness into my mouth.
“Union lunch break. Eat.”
I rolled my eyes at him but kept munching. When I caught Tor watching, I tipped the bag his way.
“I promise it tastes nothing like yesterday’s candy. Give it a try.”
Adam grinned back at me as Tor took a chip and crunched on it. The face the fey made had me laughing again.
“Come on,” I said, taking another one. “It’s sour cream and onion. It’s a universally enjoyed flavor.”
“Don’t let her bully you, Tor,” Adam piped in. “It’s not my favorite either. Watch for anything with flames on it. That’ll be better.”
I snorted, already picturing Tor’s reaction to that.
“Flames usually mean spicy,” I warned him.
We worked our way through the rest of the house without incident and moved on to the next. There were fewer infected here than in the other place, which meant we moved faster. We’d almost cleared the third house when Tor stopped us.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?” Adam asked even as he hopped down from the chair he was using to search the top shelf of yet another closet.
“A herd of infected was spotted moving this way.”
Adam swore softly, and we hurried out the front door. The fey jogged with us, easily keeping pace. The neighborhood was quiet with a few fey standing watch on the rooftops. No one seemed overly anxious until we reached the trucks.
The back doors were already shut, and the people inside startled when we opened one to climb in. Today, numerous boxes were packed in toward the front.
“Good haul,” Adam said, sitting beside me.
No one commented. In fact, before the doors closed and cut off all light, I could have sworn one man looked like he was about to throw up.
The truck’s engine roared to life, and we started moving. After a few minutes of hearing nothing, I leaned my head against Adam’s shoulder and relaxed enough to doze.
Neither of us realized how serious the situation had been until the doors opened again at Tenacity. Gore coated the fey, and one of our fellow passengers did t
hrow up at the sight of them.
“What happened?” Adam asked the clean fey offering me a hand down.
“What the fuck do you think happened?” the barfer said. “The infected swarmed the trucks.”
Ignoring that guy, Adam looked at the fey.
“Thanks for keeping us safe.”
The fey glanced at me then Adam before nodding.
There was a lot more tension as the supplies were unloaded and divided. Adam and I had three boxes to carry this time.
“Few more runs like that, and I’ll feel a little better about being stuck here,” he said, not being overly loud.
It didn’t matter. People heard. Instead of angry glares, people either avoided looking at us or smirked, which didn’t make a lick of sense to me until we got home.
All of yesterday’s supplies were gone.
Adam swore up a blue streak.
“Matt warned us,” I said. “Use your eyes, Adam. People are desperate and afraid. That same combination led to the deaths we heard about on the radio.”
Adam stopped swearing and hugged me.
“I’m sorry, June. I promised to keep you safe and am failing.”
“I’m the one that brought us here, Adam. Not you. This isn’t your fault. We just need to be more careful.”
He nodded, but the next morning, he still insisted we leave on a supply run.
“Fine,” I said. “But today we don’t take our personal share.”
Agreeing with me, he nudged me toward the door.
“Give me a few minutes,” he said. “I’m going to make sure our stuff is still here when we get back.”
I didn’t have to wait outside long before he came out and taped a sign on the door. It read, “Do not enter. Trespassers will be shot on sight.”
“Let’s go,” he said.
“They’re going to see that as confrontational.”
“I don’t care. It’s a warning. Plain and simple.”
I didn’t understand what he meant by that until after we returned from the supply run, and Matt was waiting for us at the wall.
“We need to talk,” he said, looking seriously pissed.
“Don’t worry, after yesterday’s theft, we agreed to waive our share of today’s take,” Adam said loud enough for the people waiting at the supply shed to hear. “Don’t want anyone getting too sore about all the effort we’re putting in, risking our asses to help feed everyone.”
