by Tinnean
Lyncoln had been there to let him in.
* * * *
Adam pillowed his head on his arm. He had gotten himself together, though, and had helped, after he’d seen how calmly Lyncoln faced the situation. And although he wouldn’t admit it, he’d found satisfaction in racing through the little grocery store with a shopping cart brimming with supplies that could very well save their lives. Hadn’t Lyncoln been impressed Adam had thought of toilet paper? He wasn’t so sure what Lyncoln would think of some other items he’d stuffed in the voluminous pockets of his overcoat. The situation might not warrant them, but if it turned out the occasion arose, it paid to have them available.
He bolted upright when he realized the sound he’d been drowsing to was the radio suddenly gone to white noise. “Lyncoln?” His voice came out a hoarse whisper, and he swallowed, but before he could try again, Lyncoln was at his side.
“What’s wrong?”
“The radio.”
Lyncoln became still, and then he shivered. “Maybe the radio tower went down?”
“Maybe.” But Adam didn’t want to say that wouldn’t affect the communications satellites that circled the globe. “Would you…I’m sorry to ask this, but would you sleep with me here?”
“No.” Lyncoln pushed away from the bunk and walked away, and Adam felt his heart sink.
“I…I didn’t mean…” How were they going to survive this if he’d fucked things up?
Lyncoln didn’t respond. He had gone back into the storage room. Apparently he couldn’t even bear to be in the same space as Adam, and Adam buried his face in his pillow.
“We’ll be more comfortable on these.”
“What?” Adam’s heart lurched when he realized Lyncoln had returned.
“Take the mattresses off our bunks. I’ll lay out these sleeping bags on top of them. We can zip them together and make a more comfortable bed.”
“I thought…” He couldn’t bring himself to confess what he’d thought. He dragged the mattress off his bunk, then pushed the bunk up against the wall before he crossed to Lyncoln’s bed and did the same. He watched as Lyncoln unrolled the sleeping bags and zipped them together.
“What’s wrong, Adam?”
And he found himself admitting, “When you said no, I thought I’d ruined everything.”
Lyncoln sat back on his heels. “You didn’t. These bunks are just too narrow for two, and I didn’t want one of us to wind up on the floor.” He smiled at Adam. “Which side of the bed do you prefer?”
“The right?”
“All righty, then, I’ll get in first.”
As Lyncoln crawled into their makeshift bed, Adam couldn’t take his gaze from the firm globes of his ass as the muscles shifted under the blue and green plaid boxers. He felt his mouth go dry at the shadow of those heavy balls hanging between Lyncoln’s legs, and his fingers twitched to stroke them. Instead, Adam climbed in after him.
Lyncoln was right; this was more comfortable. Or maybe it was having a companion with whom to share the dark of this endless night.
Adam lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling of the shelter, but he just couldn’t fall asleep. He was hard and twitchy. All he wanted was to nestle up to Lyncoln.
Lyncoln turned over to face him. The emergency lights gave enough illumination that Adam could see his eyes gleaming. All the same, he started when he felt Lyncoln’s warm fingertips caress his cheek.
“Come here.” Lyncoln stretched out his left arm.
For a second, Adam didn’t move. He should protest he didn’t need the comfort. But then he found himself shifting over until he was flush against his companion, because the thing was he did need the comfort.
“Thank you, Lyncoln,” he whispered as he pillowed his head on Lyncoln’s shoulder.
“You’re welcome,” Lyncoln replied, and Adam was willing to swear Lyncoln had nuzzled his hair.
Adam didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky as to share a bed with someone as hot and nice as Lyncoln Ryland, but he wasn’t going to do anything to blow it.
Blow it. Might there come a time, if it turned out it really was just the two of them, that Lyncoln might let Adam blow him?
No, he had to stop thinking like that. The best thing to do would be to start making plans for their future instead. They’d wait three weeks before going topside, as Lyncoln had said, and seeing what the damage was. If things were really bad, they could stay here in the mall. Adam knew that Thursday was truck day for most of the stores here, so down the road there would still be supplies for them. And as Lyncoln had told him, they could grow a garden.
Adam just hoped it was a good thing he’d brought his car into the mall. If…when…it came time to evacuate, at least they’d have transportation. His BMW didn’t have a full tank of gas—the mad dash from the capital had used up half a tank—but he was sure if they were able to find a gas station that hadn’t run out, Lyncoln would know how to get the gas out, or even siphon gas from abandoned cars.
He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. And then they could…
But before Adam could think what else they could do, he was sound asleep.
Chapter 5
The next morning, Lync woke up to find Adam nestled against him. He liked the feel of the other man’s leg thrown over his. He’d have stayed that way as long as he could, but his bladder was starting to object. He eased out of Adam’s grasp and made his way carefully to the cubicle that contained the toilet.
Adam was awake when he returned.
“Good morning,” Lync said.
“I’m sorry.”
“What? What for?”
“I chased you from the bed.”
“Nah. I had to take a leak.” He’d have stayed longer otherwise, but he wasn’t going to tell Adam that. It wasn’t something such a wealthy, classy man wanted to hear. “Why don’t you go take care of business, and I’ll see about finding us some breakfast.”
Lync didn’t bother pulling on his jeans. He padded into the storage room in his shorts, flipped on the light, and searched for a couple of breakfast MREs.
“Can I help?”
“Sure.” Lync was glad Adam had joined him. “Look into this box and see what you can find.”
“Aye aye, captain.” Adam neatly removed the contents of the box, then crowed in triumph. “Eureka!” He held up two MREs. The labels read maple pork sausage patty. “Um…is this okay?”
“You bet. Let’s eat.”
They went back into the living area and sat down on the mattresses.
“What do I do?” Adam asked.
Lync showed him how to heat up the sausage patty. “Shoot. There’s no cappuccino.”
“Cappuccino? Seriously?” Adam’s surprise was evident.
“Yep. The army treats its people well. Only it looks like this MRE is missing coffee.”
“So is mine. Well, we’ll manage.”
“We will.” Lync finished the sausage patty in three bites, then grinned at Adam’s surprised expression. “I’m a pure carnivore.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s a good thing most of this can be eaten with our fingers.”
Adam studied his package. “Should there have been utensils?”
“Yeah. Well, at least a spoon. It looks like they’re missing those as well. I’m sorry,” Lync said. He’d been in such a major rush he’d totally forgotten utensils.
“It’s okay,” Adam insisted.
“It isn’t. If my dad realized I’d done such a boneheaded thing—”
“Would he have struck you?” Adam looked horrified.
“No,” Lync hurried to assure him. “Dad never raised a hand to me, not ever. But geez, Adam. He was a prepper, and he taught me better.”
Adam shifted over to sit closer to him and draped an arm around his shoulders. “You did much better than I did.”
Lync liked being so close to the other man, but if he didn’t want his hard-on to poke out of
the fly of his shorts, he’d better distract himself. “If two packages are missing the hot beverages and spoons, it’s possible the entire box might be like that.”
“We’ll be able to make do, won’t we?”
“Oh, sure. I’m wondering, though. It might pay to set aside the MREs for down the road.”
“For when we evacuate?”
“Yeah.” Lync liked how positive Adam was that they’d be able to leave the mall in a few weeks. “They’ll be easier to transport than all the cans.”
“So we’ll use up the canned food first?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever you say, Lyncoln.”
Lync ducked his head to hide his pleased grin and took a bite of the cinnamon scone that came with this breakfast.
* * * *
The first week was okay, except for the lack of coffee. Lync hadn’t realized how much he’d relied on his daily caffeine fix until he had to stop cold turkey, because as luck would have it, this lot of MREs were not only missing utensils but a hot beverage as well. Next time, he’d double check.
Wait. Next time? What was he—
“Lyncoln? Is something wrong?”
“No,” he lied, unwilling to worry his companion. But by the second day he had a low-level headache and felt generally lousy. It hadn’t taken Adam long to figure out what was wrong with him, and he’d handed Lync a bottle of ibuprofen and a bottle of water, which had helped a lot.
They passed the time in games of Clue and Monopoly—Lync decided it might be a good idea to stay away from cards at this point, since all he wanted to play was strip poker, and he was pretty sure Adam would have preferred bridge or cribbage. He’d never learned the former and they didn’t have the board for score-keeping for the latter.
And they talked a lot, sharing stories about their friends and families. Lync loved hearing about Adam’s adventures in college, and Adam seemed interested in the tales Lync told of the days he’d spent in the forest, hunting with his dad.
“Nick’s has some shotguns and ammunition, so if animals have survived, we should do okay.”
“When we leave here, your experience is going to be more useful than mine,” Adam murmured as he tipped up the can of soup he’d chosen—vegetable beef—and that made Lync feel top of the world.
The second week, though…
They prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast, using their fingers and then licking them clean. They ate a lot of cold soup and canned spaghetti and the occasional packet of tuna, washed down with bottles of water. Adam was such a good sport about it.
But still…no coffee.
“I really am sorry I forgot spoons and forks,” Lync said. “And bowls.” They had to drink the soup from the can and scoop the spaghetti out with their fingers.
“It’s okay.” Adam assured him again, and while it seemed like he meant it, Lync was still unhappy. Adam shifted over to sit closer to him and once again draped an arm around his shoulders. “You did much better than I did.”
Okay, this wasn’t a good idea. Sitting so close, being able to breathe in Adam’s scent—even without soap, something else Lync had forgotten, Adam still smelled nice, while Lync was sure he could be smelled clear across the shelter—just made Lync want to tumble Adam down to the mattresses they sat on and rub their dicks together until they exploded in a cascade of fireworks.
He let himself stay there for just a minute more, promising he wouldn’t overstep the boundaries he’d laid out.
The thing was, after two weeks of eating cold soup and canned spaghetti and tuna that tasted really fishy—and no coffee—Lync had had enough. Not that he hadn’t eaten out of a can before, and not that his companion in this disaster had complained, but a man like Adam shouldn’t have to eat like that.
“I’m going topside,” he said as he licked off his fingers and set aside the half-finished can of cold SpaghettiOs.
“You can’t. It’s not safe.” Adam looked pale. Lync didn’t want him alarmed, but he liked the fact that Adam cared.
“I’m not going outside. I just want to go up to Nick’s.” The sporting goods store stocked camping equipment, and Lync was pretty sure he’d be able to find a camp stove and maybe even a jar of freeze dried coffee—not his favorite, but at this point he was desperate, and he had the feeling Adam might be, too.
“Then I’m going with you.”
“You don’t need to—”
“I’m aware of that, but I’m not staying down here while you take a chance like that.”
“I won’t be taking any chances, I promise you. I’ll check the roof, and if it doesn’t look like it’s damaged, I’ll make a dash for it.”
“And how are you going to ascertain it isn’t damaged? There could be tiny holes that escaped detection. Radiation could get in that way.”
Lync scowled at Adam, although secretly he’d be pleased to have the company. And he did love the way the other man spoke. Ascertain. Escape detection.
“I’ll bring the Geiger counter with me.” It was bulky and old-fashioned, the sort that could be looped around his neck, and it must have been an original artifact. Lync had checked earlier in the week, relieved it worked in spite of its age.
Adam stood there, his arms folded across his chest, a stubborn twist to those luscious lips of his.
“Okay, fine.” Lync couldn’t resist a quick glance along the lines of Adam’s lean torso and long legs and swallowed before he started drooling. “Put on your pants and shoes.” He followed his own instructions, then handed Adam a flashlight. “Just stay close and don’t go wandering off.”
“I won’t, I promise. We can take one of the carts from the basement—”
“Do we really want to be lugging them up to the main level and then back down again?”
“But—”
“Nick’s has carts. They’re smaller, but we can use them.” Lync had some other things in mind to bring down. He would have the night everything had fallen apart, but there just hadn’t been time. Speaking of time…He glanced at his watch. “Let’s keep this to fifteen minutes, tops.”
“Yes, Lyncoln.”
He did like the way that sounded. Would Adam say “Yes, Lyncoln” if Lync asked him to strip down and get on his hands and knees? Like clockwork, his dick got hard, and he would have groaned—not only didn’t he have the time for any of this, but he also didn’t want to make Adam uncomfortable by making sexual advances. Why would the sophisticated man agree to an affair with Lync? And if he said yes, just because Lync was the only man available—or worse, because he didn’t want to cause tension—that would make Lync feel even worse. He turned so Adam couldn’t see the bulge in his jeans. No, it was best if he kept everything businesslike.
He looped the Geiger counter over a shoulder, climbed up the ladder, and unfastened the hatch. When he shoved it open, he could see how pitch-black the rest of the basement was—the batteries that powered the emergency lights had long since lost all their juice—and he flipped on his flashlight. It might be small, but its beam covered a broad scope of terrain.
He got out, pleased Adam was on his heels and hadn’t wasted time closing the hatch. A quick glance showed the carts they’d moved to the side were still in place and hadn’t moved, so things must have been quiet up here. They crossed the space to the stairs, jogged up them, and hurried to the doors. Lync turned on the Geiger counter, shoved the doors open, thrust out the wand, and held his breath, but the amount of radiation the machine ticked off wasn’t much more than it had recorded in the shelter.
Lync stepped out into the mall and waited for Adam to join him. The security gates were still locked down, and the amount of light they let in was minimal, even though it was early morning. The glass section of ceiling wasn’t letting in as much light as usual either, but Lync didn’t know if that was because of debris, a result of fallout, or if it was just cloudy because it was a rainy day.
“Okay.” He touched Adam’s arm. “Come on.”
They d
ashed around the fountain and Adam’s car and headed to Nick’s. Lync pulled his keyring off his belt and unlocked the door to the sporting goods store. As he’d known, two rows of carts were inside, neatly tucked one into the other. Adam went to the second row and freed a cart, but it took Lync a little longer, since whoever had lined them up had done it with enthusiasm.
“The clothes are in the center of the store,” he told Adam. Their clothes were getting a bit whiff, and it would be nice to change out of them into something clean. “Go for the large and extra-large—we might need layers.”
“I’ll get underwear and socks also,” Adam called over his shoulder, not waiting for further instructions.
Lync headed for the side of the store where camping equipment was stocked. He put a propane-powered camping stove into the cart, along with the lamented utensils and all the bottles of fuel on the shelf. There were probably more in the storeroom, but just then they had enough for another few weeks, so he’d leave those for when it was time to evacuate. And instead of including a percolator, he chose a stovetop coffeepot and a kettle that would heat water over the stove.
Food specifically suited for camping was right next to the cooking gear, and better than instant coffee, there were boxes of ready-to-brew drip coffee, similar to teabags. He added all of them, as well as the bags of raisins and jerky, which would make a nice addition to what they already had.
“Lyncoln!” Adam sounded nervous, and a glance at his watch showed Lync why. They had to leave.
“I’m over here.” He gathered the last few items and hurried to find Adam.
“We have to go.”
“I know.”
Adam pushed his cart out of the store, and Lync followed right behind him. He locked the door, and together, they raced across the mall.
They worked the carts down the stairs in a repeat of their actions two weeks before, but this time, before Lync opened the hatch, he ran the wand over them, almost crying with relief when it didn’t reveal a high radiation count.
“God, I was worried about that.” Adam threw his arms around Lync and hugged him tight, and Lync could have sworn, because his dick was so hard Adam couldn’t have missed it.
