Cities of Rust

by Ariel Bonin

  They sat in silence for a minute or two. Andrew could feel the wine taking effect. He tugged at his shirt collar and took another sip of his wine. Feeling a prickle on the back of his neck, he turned to see Lindsey watching him. He figured she must have been buzzing, too, because she didn't immediately look away. Finally, she did and shivered. He felt bad it had taken him so long to realize that she must be cold. It wasn't really noticeable in his wool-collared coat, but surely her dress wasn't enough to keep her warm. He set down the wine bottle and tugged off his coat. Without asking, he slipped it around her shoulders. His left hand slid across her back and lingered for a moment before he let it drop to his side.

  "Thank you," she said, flicking her gaze toward him.

  His breath caught in his throat. Under the moonlight her skin looked flawless and milky white. Her eyes were darker than usual, almost black. He felt hypnotized by her beauty and struggled to keep himself focused. Kelly had not been gone for that long. It was absurd for him to feel this way so soon. He took another gulp of his wine and stared across the dark wasteland. From where they were sitting, they could just make out the songs playing inside. The music sounded quite eerie, partly because it had been so long since they had heard any.

  Suddenly, Lindsey let out a small gasp. "Oh, I love this song," she whispered, closing her eyes and smiling.

  Andrew listened and could just make out the chords to "Ready for Love," a Bad Company song. He found it kind of ironic that it was playing, and here he was, fighting his romantic urges.

  Lindsey hummed along quietly, her voice smooth and surprisingly lovely. Who was he kidding? Lindsey was lovely, in every way.

  It was then that he got the courage to do something he hoped he wouldn't regret.

  Andrew stood and offered her his hand. "Would you care to dance?" he asked, trying not to show his nervousness. It had been so long since he had tried to "woo" a woman; it made everything feel like the first time again.

  Lindsey gave him a shy smile and slipped her hand into his. He lifted her easily, their hands staying linked as he slid his other hand under the thick coat and around her waist. He didn't want it to feel like a middle school dance so he pulled her close until her body was flush with his.

  As she continued to hum along, Andrew tried to remember the lyrics he had heard a lifetime ago. They spoke of paying dues and overcoming hard times. It was with those words that he decided to take things to the next level.

  Andrew tightened his grip on her waist slightly, causing Lindsey to look up at him. He watched as she glanced at his mouth, and he closed the space between them. Just as their lips were about to touch, her eyes widened and she stared down at their feet. Her movement caused Andrew's lips to brush against her forehead.

  The electricity between them continued to crackle as they were both silent for a moment. Their bodies swayed softly with the music. Andrew could feel her thundering heartbeat against his own. He realized he was waiting for her to make a move, but then a thought crossed his mind: He had managed to survive eighteen months of hell on earth…and couldn't get the courage to kiss a beautiful woman?

  Cursing himself, Andrew lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger, and kissed her.

  Chapter 5

  Lindsey was surprised for a moment, but it quickly wore off as she returned Andrew's kiss. It started out soft and achingly sweet. She grasped the front of his shirt as he threaded his hand through her silky hair. His other hand still tightly gripped her waist under the coat. Lindsey opened her mouth and Andrew slipped his tongue over her bottom lip. He took full possession of her mouth as the kiss became more heated. His hand moved down from her waist to grip her firm backside. He ground his hips against hers and she could clearly feel his arousal. She moaned into his mouth, her insides turning to jelly. His fingers had been lingering at the hem of her dress and that sound was all it took to push him over the edge. His hand slid up the back of her thigh, under the dress, and, just as he was about to touch her where she most wanted him to, the music stopped.

  They heard a chorus of disappointed groans, which included the exclamation: "Stupid piece of shit!"

  Charlie.

  Clearly, the CD player had stopped working, which meant the party was over.

  Lindsey stepped back from Andrew, her trembling fingers touching her stubble-burned lips. He was breathing heavily, his hands once again resting on her waist. She watched as it slowly dawned on him what he had just done. It didn't matter that she had wanted it, too. She saw the expression all over his face.

  Guilt.

  Andrew dropped his hands from her waist and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. It's been a while for me. I guess I'm feeling a little—"

  "Lonely?" she whispered, referring to their previous conversation. His blue eyes flicked up to meet hers and she could still see desire simmering beneath the surface. "I know, because I'm right there with you."

  Andrew swallowed hard, his gaze dropping as he visibly tried to regain his composure. He looked at her again and the lust was gone. "Still. It shouldn't have happened." They heard the roof door open and the sound of approaching footsteps. Andrew stood with his hands on his hips and tossed Lindsey a sideways glance. "You should get back inside."

  Lindsey looked at him with sad eyes. He had once again built that wall of protection around himself and there was no way she would get through anytime soon. She pulled his coat tighter around her shoulders to fend off the cold; from him or the wind, she couldn't say. Finally, she shrugged it off and handed it to him without a word. As she walked toward the roof door, she passed Charlie.

  "I was just comin' to find Andy. Damn CD player kicked the bucket. Figure it's time to lock up for the night," he said as he adjusted the strap of the hunting rifle on his back.

  Lindsey nodded and gave him a weak smile. "I'll see you in the morning." She walked downstairs and into the common room to find everyone still cleaning up. She was anxious to help, as it would be a good way to keep her mind off Andrew. Noticing that both Robert and Caren were helping clean up the tables, she strode toward them. "What do you think you guys are doing? Shouldn't you be locked up in a classroom somewhere, having drunk sex?" she whispered.

  Caren grinned. "I know, I know! We just wanted to help. I can't thank you all enough for making tonight happen. We really needed it."

  Nadie put an arm around Caren's shoulder to give her a small squeeze. "Thanks for coming up with the idea, honey. We pulled together, did what we could, and I think everyone had a great time."

  Lindsey nodded in agreement.

  "Now get out of here. We've got this."

  "And try not to keep us up all night!" Lindsey added, winking.

  Robert's cheeks turned red and Caren just giggled. Holding hands, they walked down the hall to their room.

  A few people stayed behind to finish cleaning up the tables. As Lindsey was washing the final dish, she heard the common room door open. Hoping that it was Andrew, she was disappointed to see Ana and Darius coming in from their watch.

  "You in for the night?" Nadie asked as she wiped down a clean plate.

  "Yeah, Andrew insisted he was ready to take over. I think Charlie offered to stay as well. Works for me! I'm ready to hit the sack. See you all tomorrow!" Darius said.

  "Good night!" Nadie dried her hands and stared thoughtfully at Lindsey. "Are you all right, honey?"

  Up until Darius’s arrival, Lindsey had been wondering where Andrew was and what he was thinking about. Surprised, she looked up at Nadie. "I'm fine."

  Nadie smirked. "You, my dear, are not fine. You don't have to tell me what's bothering you if you don't want to but, please, don't lie about that sort of thing," she scolded gently.

  "You're right. I'm sorry..." Lindsey paused. She was about to say that all the festivities had made her nostalgic, but realized it would have been another lie. Well, a partial lie. She had teared up a bit during a slow dance, but she'd escaped with a bottle of wine before it could bother her too much.

&nb
sp; "Is it Andrew?" Nadie whispered.

  Lindsey stared at her. "My God, woman. Are you a mind reader?" she breathed with a nervous laugh.

  "It's not that difficult. I've seen the way you look at him and, if we're being honest, the way he looks at you. When you walked into the party this evening he couldn't tear his eyes off you," Nadie replied with a wicked grin.

  "I doubt that..."

  "I know what I saw. Now the question is: What happened to make you so sulky after such a wonderful evening?" Nadie sat down next to her and waited.

  "Please don't get me wrong, I did have a wonderful evening. Actually, this was the best day I've had since..." Lindsey hesitated. "Well, since before the world went to shit. I just, I don't even know what happened. One second we were innocently dancing and then..." She bit her bottom lip. "He just laid one on me and it's been so long since I've felt anything like that, and I've been so damn lonely," Lindsey said, her voice cracking as tears clouded her vision. The floor wavered in front of her and then straightened out as the first drops hit the cold linoleum. "What did I do wrong, Nadie? Please tell me, because I don't remember how to do this."

  "Oh, honey, you are asking the wrong woman. You were fortunate not to meet my poor excuse for a husband. But I have been around Andrew for the past year and I can tell you that you shouldn't take it personally. He lost his wife only a few months ago. I don't know if he's even ready to start over, but I can tell that when the time comes, you'll have his complete attention."

  "Let's hope I live long enough to see that," she joked darkly.

  "Oh, don't talk like that. He'll get it together. Just be patient."

  Lindsey nodded and let out a huge sigh. "Thank you for being so awesome." She leaned over and gave Nadie a hug. "I think I'm going to go to bed now. All that wine made me sleepy."

  Nadie chuckled. "Sounds good. I'll see you at breakfast."

  "See you then. Good night."

  _____

  The next morning, Lindsey awoke in a daze. She lay on the lumpy cot and tried to remember why she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  Oh, yeah. Andrew.

  Everything from the night before zipped through her brain and she tried to stop it by grabbing the front of her aching forehead as she sat up. She rubbed her bleary eyes and gritted her teeth to fend off the throbbing in her head.

  I'm never drinking again.

  Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet and began to get dressed: tight jeans, black boots, and what was once a soft pink racer-back tank, now dingy brown. She checked her Glock, secured it, and slid her sheathed knife onto her belt. After taking a deep breath, she walked to the common room.

  Almost everyone was at breakfast. Robert sat at the closest table to the doorway and noticed Lindsey walking by. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked with a hint of humor.

  "I'm never drinking again," she said, groaning.

  "I can give you some aspirin—"

  "No way. This was self-inflicted. Someone will need it more than me," she said, and managed a smile.

  Robert just chuckled.

  Lindsey picked up a bowl and filled it with her share of oatmeal. She found a seat next to Ana and they exchanged good mornings as she sat down. She hadn't talked to Ana a lot in the four weeks she'd been at the school but, luckily, conversation didn't require much effort for them.

  "I'm sorry you and Darius missed the party last night. It was pretty fun," Lindsey said as she took a bite of food. Ugh. Plain oatmeal is so nasty.

  "Who said we didn't have any fun last night?" Ana replied slyly.

  They both exchanged a look and snorted, trying not to laugh. For a few minutes, they sat in silence as they finished their food. Lindsey looked around the room and saw Charlie sitting near the back, cleaning his rifle. She couldn't help but wonder where Andrew was. Obviously the men were done with their watch, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  Coincidentally, he happened to walk in at that moment. He stopped and leaned against the wall as he talked to Charlie. He had to have come in sometime this morning, because he was no longer wearing the nice clothes from last night. Donning his usual attire of tattered jeans, worn boots, and navy blue t-shirt, Lindsey thought he looked ridiculously handsome in anything he wore.

  Andrew must have felt her eyes on him, because he unexpectedly looked over at her from where he was standing. He barely acknowledged her, just a glance in her direction, and then went back to talking to Charlie. Lindsey looked down at the bottom of her bowl. She closed her eyes as her headache took a turn for the worse. She felt a nudge on her back and looked up to see Ana motioning for her to come along. Not knowing what she was expected to do, she quickly set her bowl in the plastic bin by the sink and joined Ana next to Andrew and Charlie. Lindsey made it a point not to look at Andrew, even as he spoke up to explain that they were repairing the fences today. He said that too many turners had weakened the barrier over time, and quite a few spots were starting to show some wear.

  Just as they were about to walk outside, Caren appeared in the doorway.

  "You guys will want to see this," she said in a hushed voice.

  She led them to the front gate and motioned to something on the other side. Lindsey didn't know what, because Caren blocked her view, but when the woman moved aside, she was surprised to see that it was a box. Charlie opened the gate and Andrew approached the box with cautious steps. It was about one-foot across and one-foot high, and topped with a red bow. He lightly kicked it with the tip of his boot and they all jumped when the box began to shudder. Andrew started to remove the bow, and, while averting his face, opened the box. Lindsey couldn't see what was inside, but it couldn't have been good. He glanced at it and looked away with disgust.

  Charlie stared over Andrew's shoulder. "What the hell? Who's that?"

  Lindsey, Ana, and Caren finally came forward and gasped. Inside the box was a human head, its eyes open and teeth snapping away. By the lack of rotted skin, it looked fresh.

  "It's Mr. Parker," mumbled Caren, "or was..."

  "Mr. Parker?" Charlie asked.

  Caren nodded. "He was an older gentleman from the last large group we took in. I know I saw him last night at the party, but he didn't come to breakfast this morning."

  "Obviously," Charlie grumbled.

  Lindsey watched Andrew close his eyes and clench his jaw. She decided to interject.

  "I think the most important question is: How did he get here? Who would do something like this? Everyone here seems so nice—"

  "Marcus," Ana spat out, the name bitter in her mouth.

  Lindsey glanced at Ana and tried to remember where she had heard that name before. Some of the residents had mentioned him in conversation, but she couldn't say that she knew anything about him.

  "Do you really think he's still around here?" Caren challenged.

  "I'm sorry, but who's Marcus?" Lindsey asked.

  "He's the bastard that shot you," Andrew replied, his voice frosty.

  Lindsey stared at him in shock, as did everyone else. "You knew who did this to me—?"

  "And didn't bother to tell any of us?" Ana growled.

  Andrew grasped his gun belt with one hand and swept the other over his hair, stopping to scratch the back of his neck. He dropped his hand and looked at them. Lindsey felt bad they were ganging up on him, but it wasn't okay that he'd kept them in the dark.

  "Robert and Charlie knew. Honestly, I'm not even a hundred percent sure it was Marcus. All I know is that we didn't want to cause a panic," Andrew said. He glanced at everyone, stopping on Lindsey. His bright blue eyes pierced her gaze. She was embarrassed when it knocked the breath from her body. She looked down, but then back up when he came toward her and said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry, Lindsey. I should have told you. You were scared, and I guess I was just worried that once you found out our connection to the man that hurt you, well, I was afraid you'd leave..."

  Lindsey wondered if he hated admitting something so personal in front of his strongest a
llies. Shrugging, she said, "I understand. You were just trying to protect me. But don't keep things like that from us in the future. We deserve to know."

  Slowly, Andrew nodded. "Absolutely."

  "So, what do we do about Mr. Parker?" Caren asked.

  Before anyone could reply, Ana wielded her hatchet and jammed it into Mr. Parker's skull. Then, using the tip of her boot to hold down his head, she pulled it out. Dark blood bubbled to the top and oozed down the front of his face.

  Caren watched, muted, as Ana walked back into the school.

  Andrew didn't address the mercy killing. "Just stay on your guard and we'll fix the fences like we had planned. Tonight, I'll tell everyone what's going on, at least, what we think is going on. We still don't know for sure if it was Marcus."

  "Come on, Andy. You remember what he and those pisswads did. This has gotta be him," Charlie argued.

  Andrew nodded thoughtfully. "I guess we'll find out sooner or later."

  The four survivors stood in ominous silence for a moment, and then Charlie interrupted. "All right, people, we're wastin' daylight. Let's get this done. Come on, Caren."

  Before anyone could oppose, Charlie and Caren had gone to take care of the fences on the right side, leaving a wearisome Andrew and Lindsey with the left.

  The twosome worked quietly to mend a small hole in the fence. All the while, Andrew's face was in close proximity to Lindsey's. She had to restrain herself from staring at him every chance she got.

  Unable to stand the awkward silence for another second, she said, "No one has told me the story of this Marcus guy yet…" She left it open-ended for him, hoping he'd take the bait and put her out of her misery.

  Andrew cleared his throat and continued to work as he said, "Marcus and his buddies were members of Ana and Nadie's group before they joined ours. At first it was great to have extra muscle helping out, but that changed pretty fast. As we got more desperate for food and other resources, they got more aggressive. Charlie and I heard about them attacking traveling families for their gear and leaving the people for dead." He paused. "When they came back from a run with severed heads attached to their SUV, we'd had enough. I told them they needed to leave the school and find their way someplace else. Marcus looked to Ana and Nadie, hoping they'd side with him, but it was actually Ana that gave him the final kick. The guys made a big fuss—Charlie and I had to pull our weapons and force them out. We hadn't heard from them since…"