I had no idea how to pitch a tent. I’d never been camping before in my life, so the instructions may as well have been in a different language. I looked from the diagram to the sticks to the thin fabric with absolutely no hint as to what I was expected to do.
“Want some help?” Jim took my paper from my hands and read through it. He pulled out the two support poles and put one inside of the other. He grabbed the stick and put it in the fabric, threading it through a top loop. All of a sudden, the tent popped into place.
“Well, that was easy,” I muttered as I threw the sleeping bag inside. I grew tired of Jim showing me up, acting better than me. I needed some recognition.
“I’m uh—sorry, for getting mad before,” he said with his eyes trained on the leaves beneath our feet. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his torso. He stiffened, but when I didn’t let go, he returned the hug.
By the time I walked back to the center of our group of tents, Gabe had started a fire. Kev sat on a rock beside it, poking the bright orange embers with a thick stick.
“Let’s get some sticks,” I said to Scarlet. I wanted to check in with her, see where her head was at. While I didn’t want to break my promise to Kev, Scarlet had to know something was up.
I checked over my shoulder and saw that the guys were out of earshot.
“So, how are you feeling?” I asked her as I bent down and grabbed a stick. She paused with her arms around her stomach.
“Eh. I’m tired and grumpy and depressed. I’ve never had to live like this.”
“Where were you before all of this?” I asked, waving my arms around at the dark trees and camping situation. I had never had to live like this either. While I never had money, I could always scrounge up enough for an apartment or shelter.
“I told you I lived with my husband.”
“I know, but like, what did you do? Who were you? I only know you as Scarlet, the red-headed terrible driver who loves to slap me.” She shoved my shoulder and laughed.
“Well, I am twenty-six. I lived in a huge mansion with two cats. My husband was a lawyer. Truthfully, he never was around during the week and on weekends we had to go to all these events. Looking back, I was shallow and loved having money. It took me losing Brett to see what’s really worth living for.”
“Did you work at all?”
“No. I never had to. I went to college just to get a husband.” She laughed, but from the exhale of her breathe, I knew it was sarcastic. “I didn’t even have hobbies. I went to lunches, dinners, manicures. Hung out with my fake friends. Pathetic, right?”
“Not at all. At least you had friends. I pretty much stayed at home alone all the time.”
“Why?”
“It’s easier to be strong when there are no outside forces shoving you down. I learned early on that relationships are negative triggers. I try not to trust anyone. Of course, that was before. Now we don’t have a choice.” I hated having to rely on others when most of my life I dealt with what I had to alone. I didn’t work in groups well, preferred to get projects done alone. It was just how I worked.
“I know we don’t talk as much.” She pauses as she lifts a big log and balances it on her forearms. “But I hope you still have my back. I have yours.”
“Of course I do.” I nodded.
“Do you still trust Jim?”
“Yeah…” Did she know something? “Why?”
“I just get a weird feeling. There’s something about him that’s off. He’s dangerous.”
“I don’t think so,” I told her with a frown.
“Just promise that if something happens, we’ll run together. We stay together. Always.” She held out her hand towards me, her red fingernails chipping.
“Promise, Scarlet.”
We walked back to camp and unloaded all of the dry sticks and logs near the fire. Kev had passed out not too long ago, according to Gabe, who checked in with Scarlet in their tent. We had a nice warm spot to congregate around and that’s what we did. The fire had begun to die as the night crept around us. Jim and I stood to gather more wood before turning in for the night.
A branch snapped from behind us somewhere. Jim shoved me backwards behind him and tore out his knife like it was second nature. I pulled out the knife from my back pocket and stepped up beside him.
“Guys,” Jim whispered. It was hard to see through the darkening woods, the trees creating a cover from the dying sun. Scarlet and Kev shared a tent, and I heard it rustle to my left.
“Who’s there?” Gabriel asked into the otherwise quiet afternoon. Nobody answered, not that an eater would. My fingers trembled as I held the long knife in front of me, right in line with my chest.
Another stick broke, something rustled and then snapped, and I thought for sure that we were about get ambushed. I shuffled forward, but Jim cut a glance towards me, halting me from moving.
“If you’re not infected, show yourself so we don’t hurt you.” Jim’s tone commanded. I knew that if I was out there, I would listen to whatever the hell he had to say. That or run in the opposite direction.
“We’re not infected,” a deep voice rang out. “We just need shelter, or food. I have kids.”
My breath caught in my throat at the sounds of someone new—human. I glanced over at Scarlet, whose eyes were wide with alarm. She shrugged, her knife still raised like mine.
“How many?” Jim asked next.
“Four. Two adults, two children. I’m with my wife and kids,” the man said. We still couldn’t see him through the veil of the trees. I didn’t know what to think. Only that we had to take them in, let them stay.
“Grab the light from my pocket,” Jim whispered to me. I reached around his side into his back pocket and pulled out the flashlight. I flicked it on, the soft yellow glow blinding me for a second, and handed it to him.
“Step forward so we can see you,” Jim commanded again.
When the family came forward, I leaned towards Jim, our sides pressed against each other. Not because they were scary. Just because all at once four new faces appeared out of nowhere. We remained silent, the sound of an owl hooting up in a nearby tree.
“I’m Michael; this is my wife Margaret,” the man said. They arranged themselves in a ‘V’ shape, the man in front, his wife slightly behind, and the two kids behind them, yet close enough to touch.
I didn’t have much to go by other than my initial observations. His features were plain, brown hair and light skin. I couldn’t really tell what the kids looked like. He reached behind himself, and I tensed up, lifting my knife, thinking he was pulling out a gun. But his wife stepped forward to be in line with him, distracting me.
I don’t know why I was surprised, but when I saw the dark woman, my jaw fell. Her eyes popped even in the awful light of the flashlight. The greenness stood out against her dark skin and brown hair. She didn’t smile at me. What caught my attention were the two kids that stood by her side.
The girl and boy looked to be around the same age. They were tall, up to the mother’s breasts, and stood with a confidence that screamed misplaced. They were spitting images of their mother, only with slightly lighter skin, but those green, green eyes that pulled you in.
“These are our kids, Marcus and Maggie.” Michael nodded at Jim, as if sensing that he was the leader of our group. Gabriel stepped forward with his hand outstretched towards Michael.
“I’m Gabriel,” he said with a welcoming tone.
“Mike.” The man took Gabriel’s hand and shook it and then stepped back. He wrapped his arm over his wife’s shoulders and tugged her and the kids closer.
Jim hadn’t said a word in a long time. Tension radiated off his back in heavy ripples. I put my hand on his forearm.
“Scarlet,” I whispered over, nodding back.
“Where are you from?” Gabe asked Mike.
I tugged Jim backwards so we were out of earshot from the new group. Gabriel spoke to them and I used the distraction to whisper with Scarlet and Jim alone a few yard
s back.
“We can’t—”
“We don’t have a choice,” Scarlet said at the same time Jim started to speak. I shook my head because I should have known that they wouldn’t agree. My head swarmed with various scenarios. What if this was a play on our weakness? What if they were bad people? Yet what if the children died because of us? It just wasn’t the same world I once knew, and the possibilities of who these people could be worried me.
“The positives: more people, more protection. Negatives: we have no food as it is; I don’t trust them. But they have kids.” I shrugged my shoulders because it didn’t seem like we had a choice. Children didn’t deserve to be alone, hungry, without a safe place to sleep.
Even in the real world—before the bombings—children were always put first. We couldn’t turn them away. We’d have to risk it. I glanced over my shoulder at Gabe and the new man. But my eyes trailed to the children behind him, all wide eyes and dirty faces. I wouldn’t let them go back into the woods alone.
“We need rules then,” Jim growled, his eyes softening when they met with mine.
“I agree,” Scarlet said, nodding her head in the narrow beam of my light.
“How many are we willing to take in before it’s too much?” Jim asked. I didn’t think I was ready to answer his question. It would definitely change based on who we were faced with. He made an important point, though. How many was too many? Or when would it finally bite us in the ass? I didn’t know the answer to that, but I knew that this group needed us.
The man had a plastic bag over his shoulder, the mother a little purse on her left arm. It didn’t look like they’d eaten, their faces droopy. The children were covered in dark stains. Who were we to turn them away? We didn’t have some exclusive rights to live.
“Can we decide that another time?” I asked.
“Where are they going to sleep?” Scarlet asked, swaying onto her hip.
“If Lana will let me bunk with her, they can have my tent. It’s the largest and could fit the four of them.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Fine,” I muttered even though I didn’t really want to sleep with him every night. While I enjoyed the safety and comfort Jim brought, his moods and erratic behavior were too much sometimes. I wasn’t sure I could handle him twenty-four-seven. Sleeping was the one time in the day that I could decompress and calm down.
But I wanted this group to tag along. They deserved to be protected. I wanted to save the children, before they saw too much. Although, I was sure by the way they held themselves with a confidence that could only be crafted by killing that they’d seen plenty.
Scarlet nodded and broke off from our mini huddle. She walked over to Kev and wrapped her arm around his slender waist. Jim shot me a half-smile and then walked toward where Gabriel conversed with Mike. I trailed behind wanting to listen in.
“My tent is just up just over there.” Jim pointed between two large pine trees where he had set up shop. “You’re welcome to use it. We don’t have extra food, but we try to stop as frequently as we see something with possibility.”
“You’d let us use your tent?” Margaret asked. She didn’t ask in a hopeful way. From the inflection in her tone, it was almost like she expected there to be a catch. Like she didn’t trust us.
“Don’t worry. I get the better end of the deal.” He cut a glance my way, and I averted my eyes to the ground, my face heating. “We have one person keep watch at night in shifts. Not women.”
“I can take a first shift,” Mike immediately offered, stepping forward.
“We can go together,” Jim said. “We’ll talk. Just give me a second. You all get settled, and we can meet back here in a few minutes.” Jim never asked, just told. I holstered my knife in my back pocket now that there was no threat.
Everyone dispersed in separate directions. Scarlet and Kev walked over to their tent, the quick zipper squeaking. I didn’t see where Gabriel went—too dark to see much more than a few feet in front of me. Jim followed me to my tent, climbing in behind me.
“Aren’t you keeping watch?” I asked as I scooted back so my head hit the roof. I twisted the knob on my lantern, illuminating the small orange tent. His body took up most of the space in the small one-person tent I had taken. It was like fitting a grown man into one of those play houses children had in their backyards. He’d have to sleep in the fetal position to conform to the space.
“I wanted to make sure you were good with this first.”
“You mean with you commandeering my tent?” I lifted my eyebrow as I rummaged through my bag, searching for a long-sleeved shirt that was softer than the one I was wearing.
“I can sleep outside if you’d rather—”
“Stop.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Obviously I wasn’t going to do that. “I’m not going to make you stay outside. It’s fine. I feel safer with you here, anyway. Do you think they’re good people?” I asked him.
“Hopefully. I can get a better gauge when I talk to Mike during watch.”
“How’d you get so good at judging people?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m good at it. Jury’s still out on them.” He pointed his thumb back towards the group as he crouched down. “We all know your judgment is piss poor.”
“Hey!” I leaned forward and smacked his chest. “I’m alive, aren’t I?”
“That’s because of me?”
“You help.”
“I won’t always be here, Lana. You have to learn to take care of yourself. I’m not just a weapon for you to use.” His dark blue eyes bore into me through the orange-tinted light in the tent like knives.
“You think I’m using you?” My chest ached as he nodded, his eyes falling to the sleeping bag. “Who fucked you up so bad?”
He didn’t respond.
“Listen, I don’t know what happened to you, but not everyone is out to get you. Trust me, I’ve seen enough shit in one lifetime, but if you focus on the bad, it kills you.”
“You’re naive.”
“You don’t know me,” I shot right back.
“And you don’t know me.”
“So give me something!” I wanted to throw my hands in the air but refrained, sitting on them instead as I pursed my lips. “Truth for truth. I give you something, you give it back.”
He shook his head and shut his eyes. “You want to know something?” he asked with sharpness in his tone. I nodded, my eyes widening, eager for his secrets. “I have more purpose in this fucked-up world than I did in my real life. I feel right in this state of chaos,” Jim said.
His confession didn’t surprised me because the truth was, he did fit into this. He thrived protecting people. I didn’t know how to respond, though. I bit the inside of my cheek, readying myself to open up.
“I don’t know who I am in this world.” I laughed to myself at how true that was. I’d never said it aloud, voiced my doubts, but there it was, out in the open. “I used to pride myself on my independence and the fact that I emancipated myself at sixteen. Now, I feel weak and lonely and inadequate. So, you’re right.” I stared down at my trembling fingers. “I rely too much on you, and I hate it, but I can’t change it because I suck at being strong.”
“Nobody should be good at it, Lana. That’s my point. I’m the fucked up person for thriving in such a shit world.”
I turned my face to the side so I could compose myself before he saw. I pulled in a ragged breath. “Go talk to Mike. Figure him out. Make sure we’re safe, Jim.” Despite the fact that I had lost myself along the way, Jim had a job to do, and my insecurity kept him from it.
I didn’t realize that Jim inched closer to me until his arms tugged me against his chest. The sentiment only made it harder to hold back my defeated tears. He pulled back, his hands still on either one of my shoulders.
“I’m sorry you’re so sad.” His words stumbled out so awkwardly that I actually laughed. His brows furrowed as he looked down at me. “What?” he questioned.
“Have you ever said the
words ‘I’m sorry’ before?” I covered my mouth with my palm as I quelled my laughter.
“Sure. I said ‘em to you just last night.” His voice trailed off. He shrugged, the corner of his mouth tugging up. “I’m glad that my uncomfortableness with your emotions makes you smile, Lana,” he drawled, narrowing his eyes.
“Thank you.” I pursed my lips and winked. I closed the space between us and pressed my lips against his. His body tightened, his lips squeezing together. As my tongue swiped against his lower lip, he relaxed and let me explore him, both with my hands and my mouth.
His hands gripped my shoulders hard as he matched my pace with his tongue. My skin shivered as his tongue expertly maneuvered with each kiss. My passion began to build in my gut and I lost myself. I scooted closer to him without breaking our contact, moaning as his hands squeezed my ass.
I pushed onto my knees, trying to get closer and closer to him. Even as our chests touched, both of us panting and kissing, it just wasn’t enough. He tore his mouth away from me and immediately, my body felt the loss. I shivered at the coldness and reached for him.
“You’re killing me, Lana.”
“More,” I begged him, shutting my eyes and pulling him close.
“I don’t do this.” His dropped his forehead against mine, sighing as we caught our breath together. I didn’t know what he meant by this, but I didn’t want to pry. He could kiss the shit out of me anytime.
“Go help Mike,” I said as we broke apart.
“See you in the morning?”
I nodded as he crawled out of the tent, zipping it behind him with finality.
Two days ago, Kev had gotten a fever. We hadn’t left our camp in the woods since, extending our stay and hunkering down in the relatively safe cover of the trees.
In the early morning light, Scarlet sat by the low fire with Kev’s head resting on her lap. His face was white as a sheet, his skin glistening with the sheen of sweat. Yet he shook as if he was shivering. Scarlet soaked the bottom of a tee-shirt in an old waste bin of dirty water and placed it on his forehead.
The Last Legacy (Season 1): Episodes 1-10 Page 20
