Nina wanted to tell Creed thank you, tell him he’d done a great job with Charlie. But she didn’t want to wake the child up, and she didn’t want to sound condescending. She closed her eyes to sleep, hoping to drift off quickly so morning would come soon, so they could begin what she hoped was the last stretch of their journey to find her family.
“Hey.”
Nina opened her eyes at Creed’s whispered voice. She could see him looking at her over Charlie’s small body.
“Hey,” she responded.
“This is fucking hard, Nina. The kid… Charlie… it’s fucking sad.”
“I know.”
“He needs us, though, doesn’t he?” Creed’s voice was a low whisper, a rumble in the dark.
“He does.” And I need you, Nina thought. But she wasn’t sure where that thought had come from.
They were silent then, but Creed reached out his hand after a few minutes and found Nina’s. Across Charlie they held hands as they fell asleep.
* * *
In the morning, they were up early. Creed went outside before Nina and Charlie to load Trigger into the truck, then move the stuff he’d stowed in the cab to the bed so they’d have room to sit. He told Nina he’d siphoned enough gas from other cars so they had a full tank. Enough gas, he said, to get them all the rest of the way.
The thought that they might make it to her grandmother’s house that day left Nina’s heart thumping, and though she tried to fight the excitement—because she knew things might not be what she was hoping for—it was impossible not to smile as she packed things up and helped Charlie change into a clean set of clothes.
He was excited about the trip. “Does your grandma have any pets?” he asked.
“She has a dog,” said Nina.
“Does he bite?”
“No, he doesn’t bite. He used to work at hospitals.”
Charlie giggled. “The dog has a job?”
“Sort of,” laughed Nina. “My grandma took him to special classes so he could be a therapy dog. He used to visit people in hospitals to make them feel better.”
“Did he quit his job?”
Nina realized Charlie had picked up on the past tense she was using to talk about her grandmother’s dog. “I think he’s taking a break,” she said, unable to think of a better explanation for the fact that hospitals were probably all filled with dead bodies right now.
“What’s his name?” Charlie stuck his feet into the brand new sneakers Creed had found.
“P.J.”
“Like pajamas?” Charlie laughed, his big brown eyes filled with genuine happiness, maybe for the first time since they’d found him.
“Just like pajamas.”
“Can you tie my shoes for me?”
“I can. But watch me do it, OK? We’ll teach you to do it yourself soon.”
“OK.”
“Charlie, are you ready for our big trip today?”
He nodded.
“It’s a long way still, and there might be some dangerous... situations. I need you to always listen to what Creed and I tell you to do, without asking questions, all right? Sometimes we might have to do things really quickly and we won’t have time to talk about it first. So can you do the things Creed and I ask?”
Charlie nodded again, his eyes serious. “Promise,” he whispered.
Nina’s heart broke. “Come here,” she said, holding out her arms. When he moved closer, she hugged him tightly. “I’m glad we found you, Charlie,” she whispered into his hair.
“Me too,” he said. “The store was really lonely. And smelly, too.”
Nina laughed. “Yeah. It was.”
She heard Creed’s knock on the back door.
“You ready to go?” she asked.
“Ready.” It sounded like Weady, and Nina smiled as she took his small hand in hers.
* * *
They drove steadily, though slowly, for about an hour. The roads were clear enough that they could navigate around the few cars blocking their way. Only once they had to veer off the country road and onto the gravel on the side to get around a small grouping of cars in the middle of the street.
“They look like they’re having a meeting,” said Charlie.
Nina laughed, and she saw Creed crack a smile, though he kept his eyes on the road.
“I have to pee,” said Charlie, and with a sigh, Creed said they’d pull over soon.
“Oh my god, look!” Nina sat upright, pointing at a sigh for a motorcycle shop. Mama Maddie’s Motorcycles & More.
“Horrible name. Nice alliteration,” said Creed.
“It’s better than Pete’s Hunting and Fishing Emporium,” said Nina. “But they might have jackets. You need a new leather jacket.”
“We don’t have time to stop,” said Creed, but Nina could see a glint in his eye.
“What’s alliteration?” asked Charlie.
“Good question,” answered Nina. “It’s when a bunch of words sound the same. Like a silly snake named sally. Silly, snake, and sally all have the ‘ss’ sound.”
“Wow. You really are a teacher, huh?” drawled Creed, glancing at Nina with a smirk.
“Shut up,” said Nina good-naturedly.
“Shut up is not an appropriate word or action,” said Charlie. It was clearly something he was repeating, probably from school.
“You’re right, Charlie,” said Creed. “Nina did say an inappropriate word.”
Nina glared at him, but she felt like bursting out laughing. This was fun, joking around with Charlie and Creed. And even though she didn’t know what lay ahead, what dangers were in store for them, it felt good, for these few minutes, to have something to giggle about.
They pulled into the parking lot of the motorcycle shop. “Wait here,” said Creed.
Nina began to object—it was much safer for the two of them to check out the store together—but he gave her a look.
“You stay here with Charlie,” he said. “I don’t want him getting out of the car to follow us. And I don’t want something to happen to both of us so he’ll be alone again.”
Right. It reminded Nina of how, when she and Logan were younger, her parents never flew on the same plane. Her mother admitted it was ridiculous but said she was afraid that the plane would go down, leaving Nina and Logan orphans.
As Nina and Charlie watched Creed approach the store carefully, Charlie spoke in a small voice. “Guns are dangerous, Nina.”
“Oh Charlie,” she said, “they can be. You’re right. They’re very dangerous. But right now, there are some bad people out there who have guns, and we wouldn’t be able to protect ourselves if we didn’t have them too. Does that make sense?”
“I guess.” Charlie was playing with the zipper pull on his jacket. His too-long black hair hung down into his eyes, and he stuck out his lower lip and blew upwards to move the hair out of his eyes.
“But you should never, ever play with a gun or even pick one up. You know that, right? If you see one, what should you do?”
“Tell someone?”
“That’s right, Charlie. You could tell me or Creed about it, OK?”
He nodded.
“Someday when you’re ready we’ll teach you how to use one. But until then, I don’t want you to ever touch one without permission.”
Creed had disappeared inside the store, and Nina felt her heart thumping, hoping nobody was inside, lying in wait to attack.
Minutes passed. Nina grew more and more anxious.
“Why’s he taking so long?” asked Charlie. “I have to pee bad, Nina.”
“I don’t know why he’s taking so long,” responded Nina, her eyes glued to the front door. The thought of something happening to Creed terrified her, and not just, she realized, because she didn’t want to be alone. It terrified her because she didn’t want to lose Creed.
Once again she was forced with the truth of her feelings for him. She loved him. When exactly it had happened she wasn’t sure, but some time, during the course of their fe
w weeks together, she’d fallen deeply and insanely in love with Creed.
“I’m going to go find him, Charlie. Can you wait here for me?” she asked, fear rising up inside of her as she realized she couldn’t leave Charlie alone. If something happened to her, he’d be alone. But she couldn’t leave Creed in the motorcycle store, potentially injured or surrounded or worse.
Then Charlie’s happy voice announced, “There he is, Nina!”
She looked up to see Creed walking back toward the truck, nodding his head.
“Let’s go, Nina. Let’s go!” Charlie was bouncing up and down, and as soon as Nina opened the door of the cab, he climbed over her and down to the ground. “Is there a bathroom, Creed? Did you find a new jacket? Can I get one too?” He grasped Creed’s hand, and the sight of Creed’s huge rough hand holding Charlie’s tiny one almost melted Nina’s heart. Almost.
“Why did you take so long?” she hissed at Creed, anger suddenly and inexplicably surging through her.
He looked at her, his eyes shocked at the anger in her voice. He shrugged. “I was checking it out. I didn’t want to bring you and Charlie in if it wasn’t safe.”
They were at the entrance to the store now, and they continued in, Creed lighting the way with his flashlight.
“I thought something had happened to you, Creed!” It was foolish to get mad at him right now. Nina knew that. But she also knew that this anger was building for some weird reason, and she couldn’t hold it back.
“I was fine. Everything’s fine, Nina.”
“Whatever,” she muttered.
“Right back atcha, sweetheart,” said Creed casually, but there was an undertone of something—anger? annoyance?—in his words. “Come on, buddy,” he said to Charlie. “Let’s find a place for you to pee.” They headed to the back of the store, where there might be a bathroom they could use, or maybe he planned to take Charlie out in back to go.
Nina tried to fight the tide of rage that still threatened to overtake her. To distract herself, she browsed through the clothing. Surprisingly, the shop hadn’t been ransacked. It looked untouched, like they were the first people to come through since everything started. Behind the counter she found a shopping bag, and she stuffed it with candy bars from the display near the checkout. There was also a fridge with a glass front displaying soda and waters, and the plastic bottles inside were still good. She filled another two bags with soda and water. By the time she’d placed all three bags by the front door, Creed and Charlie were back.
“Wanna help me pick out a new jacket?” Creed asked Charlie.
“Yeah! What’s wrong with the one you’ve got?” Charlie asked, and Nina smiled, despite her bad mood, when she looked at Creed in the thick flannel.
“Nothing,” said Creed. “I’m just looking for a new leather jacket. Come on. We can’t stay here too long.”
Nina watched them head to the racks of jackets, heard Charlie insist that Creed get the one with skull on the back. She headed back to the front of the store to wait for them.
About fifteen minutes later, she heard Charlie’s voice, filled with glee. “Nina! Look!”
“Charlie. That is so awesome.” Nina laughed as Charlie ran toward her, wearing a kid-sized leather jacket and looking unbelievably proud.
“Do you like it?” he asked, his big eyes looking at her and seeking affirmation.
“I love it. You look really cool.”
“I look just like Creed, don’t I, Nina?” If he’d sounded proud before, he was beaming with pride now.
“You do,” she answered. “Check this out, Charlie. I got a whole bag of candy bars, and I’ll let you eat one in the car. How does that sound?”
“Awesome!”
Creed emerged from the back of the store in a brand new leather jacket, and for a moment Nina couldn’t breathe. She’d been with him for weeks now. She knew he was hot and built and sexy as hell. But somehow the way he looked right now, the way he walked with just the hint of a swagger, the hard set of his scraggly jaw as he looked into her eyes, unsure of how she would react, made her pulse quicken.
He tilted his chin at her. “You ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Nina said I can eat candy in the car!” said Charlie as they walked outside.
“Do you think she’ll let me have some too?” asked Creed, but he was looking into Nina’s eyes as he responded to Charlie.
Nina thought her heart might stop. “You can have anything you want,” she whispered, but the wind took her words and carried them away, so she cleared her throat and said, “I think we should all have as much candy as we can eat today.”
Charlie scrambled up into the truck, and Nina was about to follow him in when Creed grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
“What’s going on, Nina?” He put his hands on her shoulders, turning her so she was facing him, staring directly into his chest. Gently he reached down and, with one finger, tilted her chin upwards so she was looking into his eyes.
“Nothing,” she managed, but that was a lie. Emotions filled her body, a wild mess of them, all warring for space. Love, anger, fear, frustration. It was too much, and she felt tears building, the kind that couldn’t be stopped. A single drop traveled down to her cheek.
Creed wiped it away with his thumb. “Nina, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. Are you OK? Are you hurt? Or sick?”
“No, I’m fine. I just...” Her voice trailed off.
“You what? Tell me, Nina.” Creed’s words were filled with frustration.
“I just... I thought I was going to lose you, Creed. Before. When you took too long in the store. I thought you were dead, and I’d never see you again, and I can’t deal with that if it happens, OK? That’s what’s wrong, Creed. That I love you and I don’t want to lose you.”
Shit. She’d said it. She hadn’t meant for it to come out like that, standing in a parking lot while Charlie bounced up and down in the seat, waiting for them.
They stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like forever. If she could take back the words, she would. In an instant. Because she realized he wasn’t going to say them back. His eyes looked stunned, like a deer in headlights, and his silence was answer enough for her.
Hope flitted in her stomach as he opened his mouth to speak. But instead he shook his head slightly.
“Get in,” he said. “We gotta go.”
* * *
As soon as Nina began to recognize landmarks, she couldn’t contain her anxiety and excitement.
“We’re going to pass a white house on the right in a few minutes,” she said after they drove by the Shorey Chapel, the small Unitarian church that was tucked away in the woods. “And then a jewelry shop and a really small convenience store. And then a cow crossing sign...”
“Cow crossing?” asked Charlie.
“I think it’s a joke. But yeah. And then the stop sign with bullet holes in it.”
“That’s bad.”
“It is. Kids out here get bored, I guess.”
“Do you promise the dog won’t bite me?” asked Charlie.
“What dog?” said Creed.
“P.J. Like pajamas?”
“I promise. I don’t even know if he’ll be there, Charlie.” Nina’s heart was pumping hard. They were close, maybe only five minutes away. What if nobody was there? What if the farm was empty, abandoned?
“Hey.” Creed’s voice, deep and low, interrupted her rambling train of terrifying thoughts.
When her eyes met his, they were filled with rare compassion.
“It’s going to be OK,” he said. “Whatever happens, it’s going to be OK.”
“Right. I know.” But Nina’s heart still hammered in her chest, and she took a deep breath, trying to stop the lightheaded feeling from taking over.
“Are you excited to see your grandma, Nina? And your brother?” Charlie seemed eager to get there, and Nina supposed he wanted a destination, a place they could stop and live for a while.
“I am, Charlie.
I really am.” Just please let them be there.
* * *
Nina hadn’t been to her grandmother’s “farm” in over a year, but she was still surprised at how many changes there were. The most obvious was a ten-foot barbed wire fence, chain-link but outfitted with privacy slats so it was impossible to see inside the area. Her property was relatively large at twenty fairly square acres, and as far as Nina could see, the fencing was up all around it. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? At least they didn’t arrive to find a burnt-down house and nobody around. Of course, there was no guarantee anyone was alive inside the fencing, or if people were alive, no guarantee it was her family.
As Creed parked the pickup truck, Nina reached for the handle to jump out, but Creed stopped her.
“Wait, Nina.”
“Why? Creed, we’ve spent weeks trying to get here! If you think I’m going to postpone this even a few seconds, you don’t know me at all.”
“We don’t know who’s in there, Nina. We don’t know for sure if it’s your family. Let’s be safe, OK?”
Nina growled. “I hate it when you’re right,” she said, pursing her lips.
“You’re so sexy when you pout like that,” teased Creed.
“Ew,” said Charlie. “What does sexy mean anyway? Like pretty?”
“Close enough,” said Creed with a laugh. He reached for his door handle, but Nina stopped him this time.
“I’m going to the gate. You and Charlie stay here. And don’t even try to argue with me, because you won’t win this time.”
“Fine,” agreed Creed, but there was tension in his face.
Nina knew he wasn’t happy about letting her go alone, but it was her turn. Her family. She got out of the car, gun drawn, and approached the fence.
They’d parked where the fence turned into a gate, which looked wide enough to drive a car through if it were opened, and Nina walked closer, wondering if it would be possible to peek inside if she got near enough.
“Stop now! Drop your weapon!” a harsh voice commanded, and Nina froze, unsure what to do. The voice came from inside the fence, she was pretty sure, but she couldn’t see anyone.
Afterglow: An Apocalypse Romance Page 18
