Cat and the Belle

by Victor Cruz

  “That’s’ it. After you give him that shot, you’re outta’ here,” Catalina pointed Inez out the door.

  “Psh, gladly,” Inez left the room when she was finished shutting the door behind her without looking back.

  “She always seems so happy to see me,” Maxson said with a sarcastic smile.

  “Probably because she’s worried you’re going to get Reggie killed,” Catalina was holding back a smile of her own.

  “Why does it always fall on me?” Maxson genuinely wondered.

  “How much was left at the pharmacy?” Questioned Catalina and simultaneously ignoring him. She was straight to the point when she had one that needed to be resolved.

  “With that big rig, I’d say we could make one or two more hauls,” Said Maxson.

  “Yeah I saw that. The same one that randomly appeared on the road?” She asked as though she already knew the answer.

  “Yup. Same one… but I’d say we could probably clean that place in about four or five trips with the pickup,” Maxson nodded. “More than enough supplies to get us through the winter.”

  “We’re not staying that long,” Catalina firmly stated back and stared at him to make sure he heard her.

  “I don’t understand why, we’re not exactly running at optimal levels here,” Asserted Maxson.

  “We’ll never be operating at optimal levels so get over that. We’re not safe here, Maxson, you know that, I know that. The army of the dead know that,” Catalina reasoned.

  “And what about the rest of the group that we lost? Are we just going to give up looking for our loved ones? We can’t go yet. Not until we find some answers,” Maxson said, reflecting on the other half of their group that was lost the night he lost his brother and Belle’s father.

  “Maxson. Do you really think we’re going to find them? Honestly,” Catalina said it with grievance.

  Up until now it had only been Maxson and Catalina engaging in conversation, but a third voice joined them. The grumbling voice came from the bed, “Will you guys keep it down? People are trying to die here in peace!”

  “Henry!” Catalina shrieked, then looked around for something to fret about. “Do you need anything?”

  “Water to wet the whistle would be nice,” Suggested the old man with a dry voice.

  “Of course, I’ll be right back!” Catalina said happy to see Henry feeling good enough to be awake. She exited the room and both Maxson and Henry both took a moment to admire Catalina’s beautiful form without her watchful eyes.

  “She’s a real Mexican angel,” Henry said from under his mustache. “I’d follow her to heaven any day.”

  “Hell-of-a-thing to say while you’re on your death bed, old man,” Maxson took a seat in the chair that Inez once filled.

  “Please, I’ve been through worse than this and came out stronger in the end,” Henry downplayed the severity of his sickness. “Besides, I deserved a few weeks rest with bed service from a beautiful woman after keeping all of you alive all this time.”

  “Is that so?” Smirked Maxson, before filling the old man in. “I brought you back an 18-wheeler to work on. No trailer attached, but thought you could do something with it once you’re back from vacation.”

  “I heard, and I can… hell, I can always can use spare parts and scrap metal”, Henry referred to the truck, but would not be distracted. “But g’damn right that’s “so”. It’s the least you all could do for me.”

  “Do you just say these things, or do you actually believe them too?” Maxson dumbfoundedly replied.

  “Psh.” Answered Henry. “Besides, it buys you and me both time, kid.”

  “Buy time? For what?” He wondered.

  “For you to find us a new spot and for me to spend some more time with Catalina,” Henry began to snicker, but coughed, ending his enjoyment quick.

  “You heard that, did ya’?” Maxson questioned at the end of his bodily reactions too concerned for the old man’s health to find humor initially.

  “I may have been eavesdropping a minute or two before I joined the conversation,” Shrugged Henry, now just wheezing.

  “And? What do you think?” Maxson asked.

  “You’re right. We can’t just leave yet. Not until we’re stronger. Not until I’m stronger,”, Henry said bluntly. Maxson enjoyed his allegiance only momentarily until he spoke back up, “But she’s right too. This place is just waiting to topple over.”

  “Well what then?” Maxson asked wondering what his point was.

  “Maxson. I’m old enough to know that when two people are right about an issue, then there is probably an answer somewhere in the middle. And I’m also smart enough to know that a woman with a head on her shoulders like Catalina isn’t going to give up to the likes of you,” Henry began to cough and Maxson leaned over the bed to rub at his back. The old man slapped Maxson’ forearm away out of pride as he continued to hack up his lung while covering his mouth with a closed fist.

  “Hey, cough a little louder, I don’t think the flesh-eating-fucks heard ya,” Maxson gave him a hard time due to disliking his answer.

  “Shut it, Maxson” Grumbled Henry. “And don’t sit there and pretend you didn’t hear what I just said.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Maxson waved him off.

  “Hear what?” Catalina said reentering the room with a glass of water to give it to Henry. Henry’s silence was assisted by the water he was drinking leaving Catalina’s eyes on Maxson. She repeated herself. “What did he say?”

  “He said that he can’t wait for you to give him a sponge bath,” Shrugged Maxson before standing up.

  Catalina’s eyebrows wrinkled, but Henry spit the water right out of his mouth creating a mist over his own legs in the bed. Maxson was already walking towards the door while Henry choked on the water.

  “I said no such thing!” Henry’s voice boomed under his wet mustache as he glared over at Maxson. His look retreated back to Catalina hoping she believed him over the younger man. Maxson could hear Henry’s voice calling out at him, “Don’t brush off what I said, kid.”

  Maxson made sure to the shut the door and slowly walked down the hall. Entering his own bedroom, he sat on the bed with his feet on the ground and waited. It didn’t take long and just as expected, he heard the knock on the door to his bedroom. The door creaked slowly open, but not all the way.

  “Maxson?” Catalina’s voice called into his room through the cracked door in a hushed tone.

  “Come in,” Grinned Maxson.

  Catalina’s large chest entered the room just before the rest of her hourglass figure. Her slim waist, wide hips and feminine curves would have made any man welcome her eagerly into their bedroom. There was no way to ignore Catalina’s beautiful Latina face and even though Maxson wasn’t proud of it, had fantasized about her before. Even prior to the whole end of civilization.

  Shutting the door gently behind herself and looking around the room she asked. “She’s not in here with you?”

  Maxson knew she was referring to Belle. “Don’t be that way.”

  “What?” Catalina asked in coyness to disguise her own amusement.

  “There’s nothing going on between me and the girl,” Maxson said.

  “Hmph. For now,” She shrugged and pursed her lush lips.

  “You sound like your sister.” Maxson knew that would ruffle her feathers.

  “I do not! Besides, Belle-Lyanna is a young and pretty little thing,” Catalina began empathetically, but it was obvious she hadn’t let it go yet. “I just have to ask. Do you make her call you daddy?”

  “I’m not that much older than her!” Maxson barked. Catalina simply glared back at him back with a sinister smile. The beautiful angel to Henry, but right now she was the devil to Maxson.

  “What are you doing here, anyway?” Maxson knew the answer and used it take the offense.

  “You know what I’m here for,” Catalina crossed her arms together making her large natural breasts push together. Maxson knew her words w
ere not intended to sound as erotic as they came out.

  “Oh. That’s right. These,” Maxson brought his hand up with his trigger finger hooked into the black thin fabric laces of the garment.

  Of all of the panties Maxson could have grabbed, he chose the sheer fabric thong design that added an extra provocative element. Maxson let them dangle in his finger and made no effort to hand them to her. A grin planted on his lips as he stared through Catalina.

  Catalina snatched them from his finger as fast as she could. She pulled them towards herself and had both hands smashing the thong to hide it from Maxson. She looked into her hand and then back up to Maxson, “Only one?”

  “No, the rest are in the bottom of the medicine bag,” Maxson said with a dominant smile. “Don’t forget’em. Especially with Henry.”

  “Whatever,” She rolled her eyes and walked to the door. Maxson expected her to leave, but she twisted the lock.

  “Turn around,” Catalina said when she stepped into the corner. She turned away from Maxson so her back was to him and didn’t bother to look back after that. Maxson was a good man, but he was still a man.

  Watching her dropped her tattered jeans and tugged down her granny-panties to unveil her beautiful plump rear. As she bent at the knees and bent forward, Maxson could see the full shaped backside that belonged to Catalina. While Belle-Lyanna’s was in the shape of an apple; Catalina’s was proportionately shaped like that of a pumpkin. A very smooth, healthy and firm pumpkin.

  The further she bent down, the more that the entrance of her womb came into view. There were short dark hairs that looked recently shaven. As she pulled each legs out of her pants she stepped into each black loop before pulling it up her strong legs. The piece of fabric was engulfed by her firm cheeks and disappeared until the small of her back where it reappeared. She pulled at the side straps and adjusted it long enough for Maxson to wonder if she was attempting to seduce him. The idea filled him with conflicting feelings of guilt, but also arousal. Maxson finally turned away and put on an artificial chivalrous act for her when she turned back around.

  “Alright. You can look,” Catalina said after stuffing the old ugly panties into her pocket. She stood over him with her hands on her hips and looking down on him now. “I don’t care what that old man just said to you, but I do expect you to find us a new place still. Otherwise… I’m going to get Konrad to do it.”

  She leaned down far enough for Maxson to look down her shirt to see her large breasts covered by a bra and they blinded him to her manipulations. Catalina put her beautiful face close enough to his that he could smell her flowery scent and feel her warm breath when she whispered.

  “And you and I both know Konrad will do what I ask him without question,” The content of her words was savagely seductive as she brought up Konrad’s attraction to her as a form of motivation to Maxson. He tried to fight it, but the animal inside of himself yearned to do as she was asking of him out of competitive spirit.

  “Okay,” Maxson submitted.

  “See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Cooed Catalina as she ran her soft palm against his rough scruff covering his cheeks. Her lips came to press against the part that she just brushed her hand over softly and sensually until she pulled back. She titled his chin up to her eyes before winking at him to rub in her victory.

  “You win,” Maxson’s eyes narrowed. “This time.”

  She abruptly stood to take up space above him as he sat on the edge of the bed still.

  “I win every time.”, She would say before waltzing out of the room with her chin held high. She stopped at the door and without turning snipped, “Have fun with her tonight.”

  She laughed while walking out Maxson’s bedroom in confidence and without any shame. Shamelessly acting like she wasn’t wearing the sheer black panties that she had just put on in right in front of him.

  Similar to last night, the beautiful storm had left the calmness. In Maxson’s case, it came in the form of solitude as he sat on the edge of the bed staring at the shut door. Maxson wasn’t often at a loss of words, unsure or incapable of knowing what he was feeling.

  But he knew he was feeling something.

  Belle-Lyanna

  A hearty bowl of stew with deer meat and vegetables from the garden was just what Maxson needed to feel recharged from the long day. Drinking down the broth, he had let Achilles lick the bowl clean. Other than Dustin and the Essex brothers, the rest of the group had fallen in love with the animal. Belle had become smitten with the pooch and seeing her happy made Maxson’s heart smile just like Catalina had.

  The group was all sitting around the unlit fire and Diego was strumming his acoustic guitar. He was a hardworking nice guy that Maxson enjoyed. The Latino man’s prior landscaping experience gave his naturally tan skin an extra bronzed glow that went with his innocent personality. Diego had been busy digging a new hole for an outhouse and would be filling the old one afterwards. It was a simple, but labor-intensive job that the youthful Diego had the strength and stamina to handle. Reliable and humble, there wasn’t much not to like about the guy.

  Singing softly to the group was Mabel Jarret, who was closer to Henry and Howard’s age than the rest of the group. Her hair was a dirty blonde with thin silver highlighting stands. She walked amongst the group as she sang in her free-flowing dress that was stitched. She wore a shawl over her shoulders that she clung to and draped off of herself twirling it off her back like a cap. Maxson thought she looked like someone’s cool hippy aunt that also had a sweet heart like Diego. She was a free spirit that believed in the same voodoo nonsense that Catalina did and he would overhear them talking about spirts and forces more than he cared for.

  The Richardson’s were a newlywed couple that were thriving before, and worked nice tidy office jobs. Tyler worked for some financial firm and the way he talked about himself always came across as arrogant. He was fit guy who was a jock in school and his new wife, Krystal, was the pretty party girl that had snagged him. She drank as much as either of the Essex men and was a bit of a princess. Both of them were younger and closer to Belle in age, but at least in their mid-twenties. Maxson thought of them as pretty useless and was not surprised to see them hanging out with Dustin, Eddie and Konrad. Tyler may have been capable and certainly boasted that he was, but Maxson wondered if he knew how truly dangerous things were nowadays by the way he befriended the two brothers so openly.

  Slug had approached Maxson about his pawn shops and told him about all of the items that could have be useful to them. The information was helpful, but they had more pressing issues and they had most of what they need for the meantime. However, it was information that still could be useful down the line somewhere.

  The sun was almost gone and it was time for everyone to start packing up soon. Darkness was on the horizon and even if they were only rumors, the threat of something else being out there was enough to force the survivors inside. The spread of the infection happened so fast, that none of them had any real answers besides word of mouth from the rec center. Some said the dead evolved, while others said that animals and mosquitos carried the infection. None of them truly knew the answers.

  Outside of the bedrooms, the group had all made makeshift beds in other places like the bus, the basement and even in the attic. Maxson had secured him a modest sized bedroom and was ready to lay in the bed. Standing up and beginning to leave the group he was stopped by Belle who made sure to let him know that she would be up in a minute. He kicked off his boots and took off his socks and put them on the other side of the room. His fresh stick of deodorant slid under each of his arms to coat his musk before he put his shirt on and laid in bed. It was dark inside the entire house without the sun besides the occasional flickering flashlight or the dim luminescence of a lantern.

  By the time Belle had gotten there she had to wake him up, but his eyes jolted open when he saw her. She was wearing a tight white t-shirt that wasn’t made for her and only covered her breasts exposing her perfect midriff.


  Her flat stomach and tiny waist amplified the plumpness of her behind and her protruding perky chest. Belle’s tight shorts were hot pink and were so short that they left the bottom half of her cheeks exposed. Her long and smooth legs went on forever and looked like they were covered in a moisturizer. The light from the candle she had lit and captured her youth and firmness of her oiled thighs and calves all at once. Her bare feet were on display and covered in the same oil with a silver toe ring and toenails that matched her shorts. She was far too tall and fleshy to be considered petite, but instead athletically tight.

  “Belle,” Maxson sat up on his with his eyes having a hard time leaving her legs.

  “Now let’s get this off you,” Belle’s fingers hooked under his shirt and pulled it up. His shirt taken up his shirt and he was easily nudged back down. Not by her strength, but by his own compliance.

  “Lay back down, Mr. Devereaux. I told you I was going to give you a back rub,” She then straddled his lower back and her oil legs clamped down on his sides. “And I intend to keep my word.”

  “Well I better just do as you say,” He said, justifying his lack of choice.

  “Like totally,” Belle-Lyanna agreed.

  Her gentle hands were nice on his back and spine. The firmness of her flat palms before they slid over his aching shoulders. Her delicate fingers kneaded and worked out the stress that had been building from lifting heavy objects repeatedly.

  “I’ve been reading the book of Greek mythology that you gave me,” She said.

  “What’ya think?” Maxson enjoyed the loosening of his aching muscles.

  “It’s way different than I thought, I guess. It’s like, kind of dark,” Belle said.

  “Were you expecting different?”

  “Yeah. Like nerdy, different, because they like, taught it in schools growing up, but I don’t remember them teaching us things like Zeus was such a horn-dog,” Confessed Belle. “Not just Zeus either, it seemed like they were all gettin’ it on.”

  “Well, it sounds like it exceeded your expectations,” Maxson observed.