by Bale, Sarah
Kat replied, “Yes. Thank god. The guys are out looking for supplies. I told them we’d head out in thirty minutes.” She gave us an apologetic smile. “They said Theo had told them to leave and that you were coming today. We knew you wouldn’t want us to wait around forever if you didn’t show up.”
She was right, we wouldn’t want that. Thank god we found them before they left. I knew we might not get lucky a second time if we were all separated again.
Grey added, “Even managed to find a new ride thanks to Theo. That was smart sending him out here to tell us your plan.”
He pointed to a motorcycle that even I could appreciate. The chrome finish was blinding and I shielded my eyes with my hand.
Kat said to me, “I tried to tell him the biters would see it coming a mile away, but he wouldn’t listen.”
Grey shrugged, but didn’t look apologetic at all. “A man’s gotta have a ride.”
The rest of the men and women came back one by one. Some were empty handed. Some had a few goods. All were happy to see us.
Finally Elijah said, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Grey pulled us aside and said, “Please don’t tell me you left that bitch alive.”
I replied, “We had to. My mom said it was better this way. But we had some help getting out of here, so maybe things are changing.”
Elijah scrunched up his nose. “Unlikely.” To everyone he said, “We leave in ten. Get your shit packed up.”
I added, “And we have extra room in our car, if you need it.”
“Enough room for one more?”
Spinning around, I came face to face with Cooper. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and pulled a wagon filled with canned goods and bottled water behind him.
“How did you get out of there with all of that?”
He grinned. “Everyone was too busy trying to put out the fire that Theo started.” He glanced over his shoulder, “But I wouldn’t waste much time here, if I were you.”
Elijah stepped forward and, for a moment, I was afraid he was going to punch Cooper.
“What makes you think we want you to come with us? You’re the reason Grey and Kat almost didn’t escape.”
“I know I made mistakes, but I’m not the only one. And I learned my lesson.”
I said, “Why do you want to come with us?”
“Because this place is never going to change. When Theo told me he was getting a car for you I knew this was my only chance.”
I glanced at Elijah, about to speak.
“Don’t even say it. I can tell what you’re thinking.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Fuck! Fine. You can come with us, but only because you’re handy in the kitchen. And where we’re going we could use someone like you who knows how to cook for a lot of people.”
This was the first time he’d mentioned our destination out loud. And I wanted to weep in joy.
“Does this mean what I think it does?”
He smiled at me, nodding.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, brother?” Concern made the lines in Grey’s face deep.
Elijah replied, “I keep thinking about something that Daisy said to me - about fighting for what mattered. I should’ve done the same back in Oklahoma.”
I had to say it. “But what if Wyatt is there? Lilly said…”
“Then we’ll face him head on and get that hospital back.” He looked around at the men and women standing there. “I’m not asking you all to do anything that you don’t want to. I get it – this might not be your idea of home. But it’s mine. And I’ve got to try.”
I linked my fingers through his. “You know I’m with you.”
Grey and Kat glanced at each other. “Figure we better drive like hell to get there. We have a lot of work to do before winter sets in. Plus, my Kat’s going to need a safe place real soon.”
Kat’s face beamed. She couldn’t hide her news even if she wanted to. Part of me envied her. I shoved the feeling aside. Now wasn’t the time to think about starting a family. Besides, who knew what the future held for me? Maybe once we got to a safe place I could entertain the thought of a child with Elijah’s good looks and my personality.
Elijah slapped Grey on the back. “Congratulations.” To everyone else he said, “Let’s load up and hit the road.”
People moved around strapping things onto their bikes and loading the things that wouldn’t fit into the car. Cooper loaded the items he’d brought and settled into the backseat.
“Thank you for giving him a chance. I know it’s hard after everything you’ve been through.”
Elijah cupped my face. “After everything I’ve been through? Hell, you’re the real champ, Daisy. Your strength amazes me.”
My cheeks felt warm. I leaned in, ready to kiss my man when someone cleared their throat behind me.
“I’m so sorry to bother, but we’re a little lost. Do you know how to find the highway from here?”
A woman with long, brown hair stood by the large pecan tree. Her hands were up, letting us know she wasn’t armed or, at least, not that we could see.
“We?” I asked.
There wasn’t anyone with her.
She glanced over her shoulder, sighing. “Guys, come on so I don’t look crazy.” To me, she said, “We haven’t met too many friendly faces in these parts. They thought I was nuts to come over here, but when I heard your voices I knew I had to try.”
Their boots crunched on the leaves, so I heard them before I saw them. A man and a woman came toward us. The man carried some kind of carrier with him.
“I’m Jo. That’s Norman and Faith. And Percy is in the cage.”
There was a meow from the carrier. So Percy was a cat. I bit back a smile at this very unusual group.
Grey squinted at the man. “Anyone ever tell you that you look like the guy on that one show?”
Norman’s lips twitched. “I’ve heard it a few times.”
I was like ninety-nine percent sure that this Norman was the same actor from the show, Jurassic Zombies, which was really freaking ironic.
Norman went on, “But things like that don’t matter anymore. Not since the dead walk amongst us.”
He was right. And, for the record, that line confirmed he was the actor from the show.
I smiled at Jo. “Where are you headed, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“We’ve been in Dallas with my Dad. He- he didn’t make it. So now we’re heading up north. Dallas is overrun and the people who are alive are worse.”
I glanced at Elijah, who rolled his eyes and sighed. Loudly.
“We’re heading to Oklahoma. Do y’all want to travel with us? Safety in numbers and all that.”
Jo glanced around, looking at each member of our group. I’m sure we looked rough – or rougher that we really were.
“You can talk it over, if you need to. And we’ll understand if you don’t want to come with us. You’ve got to do what’s best for you.”
She replied, “Give us a second.”
The three of them stepped a few feet away, talking quietly amongst themselves.
“You going to take in every stray we meet?” Elijah asked, nibbling my earlobe.
Goosebumps popped up on my skin and I turned into his embrace. I’d learned that there were worse things than dying. And I needed to listen to my gut instincts more. That started now.
“I might. What are you going to do about it?”
He grinned. “Let you ride me again. I liked that. A lot.”
“I’m sure you did. And I’ll be happy to do it again.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
Again, Jo cleared her throat. “Sorry.”
Her face was bright pink. I laughed and stepped away from Elijah.
“We’d like to travel with your group, if you’re sure it’s okay. We have our own supplies and we’re more than willing to jump in and help wherever.” She hesitated. “There’s just one thing
. Percy has to be able to come with us. We can’t leave him behind. He’s- he’s saved our lives more than once.”
I must have had a look on my face because the other woman, Faith, said, “Percy is like a zombie detector. He can smell them and he’ll start hissing, letting us know something is coming. He saved my ass when we left Houston after the outbreak began.”
As if to prove her point, Percy’s black face pressed against the door of the carrier and hissed.
Jo glanced around. “There’s one close.”
The leaves behind me crunched as a lone biter stumbled through the trees. Grey pulled his knife from his belt a took care of it.
He said to Jo, “That’s one handy critter you have there.”
She smiled. “We’re fond of him.” She bit her lip. “So… do we have a deal?”
I looked at Elijah, who nodded.
“Yes. You have a deal. Do you have a car nearby?”
“My car is just down the hill, by the road.”
I nodded. “We’ll meet you there.”
Everyone got in their vehicles, but Elijah stopped me.
“I love you.”
“And I love you.”
He said, “Thank you for going back to Oklahoma with me.”
“Elijah, you’re my home. I’ve known it for a while. There’s no place I’d rather be.”
Grey rolled up next to us on his bike. “For fuck’s sake come on. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
Elijah laughed. “You heard the man.”
We both knew the journey would be tough and getting our home back even tougher. But we would meet any challenges that we faced together. And that made us unstoppable.
I kissed Elijah. “Let’s go home.”
1
Daisy
Elijah prowled toward me, a sexy smile on his face.
“Well. Well. Well. What do we have here?”
My heart missed a beat as I backed into a tree. The bark scraped my skin through my too-thin shirt.
“I thought I told you to stay at the campsite with the others.”
Cool air whipped around us and I shivered, though it wasn’t entirely because of the weather. He was so close that his chest brushed against mine. My nipples hardened at the contact.
“I needed to go to the bathroom.”
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Not good enough, Daisy. It’s dangerous out here. You know that.”
He took another step and pressed himself against me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. Our lips brushed against each other in air-light kisses that I knew drove him crazy.
“You worry too much, Sir.”
A smile played at his lips. “Is that so?”
I nodded. “Yup.”
He nibbled on my lower lip and said, “Sounds like you need to be reminded who is in charge.”
Heat pooled between my legs. God, it had been too long since we’d done this and I was more than ready.
Since escaping my family’s home in Fort Worth, we’d been traveling the long way back to Oklahoma City. We’d been on the road for nearly a month now and just made it a hundred miles to Henrietta, Texas. I prayed the rest of our journey went smoothly, but I wasn’t counting on it.
Elijah reached between us, slipping his hand under my shirt. Air hissed through my lips when he grazed my breast, toying with my nipple.
“How long do you think we have before we’re missed?”
He grinned. “My dirty girl, always thinking ahead. We have some time. Grey is going to make sure the others give us some privacy.”
He continued to rub his thumb over my nipple until I was moaning.
“Thank God for Grey,” I said as I crushed my mouth over his.
Our kiss was frenzied like we were both afraid of losing each other. Maybe we were. Maybe that’s what this all boiled down to. We’d nearly lost each other more than once and things didn’t seem to be getting any better.
“Stay with me,” he said against my lips.
I reached down, fumbling with his belt. He pulled away and unbuttoned his pants, letting them drop to his ankles. In another time and place we would have a bed to fuck in. But for now, I was more than willing to let him take me against this tree in the middle of nowhere.
His hands went to work on my pants. I shivered as the cool air hit my skin, but I didn’t have to wait long. He held onto my hips as he thrust into me. The tree bark bit into my skin, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my legs around him, taking him in even further. Our movements were frenetic as we tried to get enough of each other.
I bit his shoulder through his shirt and moaned. “God, I’m so close.”
He nipped my earlobe. “Stay with me.”
I lifted my head and met his gaze. His lips parted as he thrust. My body responded and heat spread through me like wildfire. Reaching between us, I rubbed my clit until I shattered around him. He continued pumping until he came, filling me with his seed.
Moaning, I kissed him deeply.
“God, I love you,” I said.
He kissed me back. “And I love you, Daisy.”
He pulled out of me and I missed him right away. In an instant, his eyes clouded with memory. He wasn’t aware of the look he got on his face when he thought of Oklahoma, a thought that took him a million miles away from me. I wanted to tell him to let me in on his fears, but I knew he wouldn’t. My Elijah would do anything to protect me. Even if it meant bearing this weight on his own.
So, as much as I wanted to pull him on the ground and toy with him until we were ready for round two, I knew what I had to do.
Pulling up my pants I said, “I need to help Cooper with dinner. You okay?”
He nodded as he dressed. Taking my hand, we went back to the campsite. Cooper stood by the campfire opening a few cans. We were trying to ration our food supply, which meant Cooper had to get creative with our meals. Luckily Kat and Grey had been able to catch wild game the farther we’d gotten from Fort Worth. Unfortunately for us, most of the game hadn’t been very meaty.
Elijah kissed my knuckles before going to Grey. I went the other way to Cooper.
Coop glanced up at me. “Just in time. Jo and Faith are gathering pecans. If they get enough I’ll add it to these canned yams.”
Jo was quickly becoming my best friend. She was a bright light and made things seem better. I loved Kat to death, but she never let me get too close to her, though I had a feeling it was her way of protecting herself. If you didn’t have friends, then it was one less person to worry about. Jo, on the other hand, was like a sister. I wished Faith would open up, too, but that would hopefully come in time.
“Where’s Norm?”
Norman, or Norm as we called him, was a former celebrity, pre-apocalypse. Of course, the way Grey treated him, you would think he was still one.
“He’s out scouting for supplies with Grey’s men.”
Several of Grey’s men had abandoned the group over the past month, making those of us left vital. We each had chores and responsibilities. Kat, who was pregnant, was the only one who didn’t have chores, though she still helped out. Probably more than she should, really. I frowned. She pushed herself too hard and wasn’t eating enough food. That couldn’t be good for the baby.
I asked Cooper, “Are we having squirrel with the yams?”
He cringed. “God. I think my Grandma just rolled over in her grave. I bet she would have never guessed that the culinary degree she funded would be used to cook rodents!”
I laughed. “Coop, nobody makes squirrel quite like you.”
He grinned back at me. “Thanks, Daisy. And yes, we’re having squirrel. They’re nice and fat, too. Must be gearing up for winter. They’re hanging in the tree over there.”
“I’ll get to work on skinning them. Maybe Faith can do something with their skins.”
Before the apocalypse Faith had been in school to become a fashion designer. Her sewing skills had come in handy on more than one occasion and she rea
lly could make amazing things out of random objects.
Cooper snorted. “I’m sure she will.”
I grabbed the squirrels from the tree and took them to a tree stump. Skinning and gutting animals had taken some getting used to. Okay, a lot of getting used to. No one ever warned you how strong the scent of blood was. It’s something that stayed with you for a while. But, it was my job and I did it well.
I’d just finished when Jo and Faith came back with a basket full of pecans.
Jo said, “We hit the motherlode out there. We’re going to empty our basket and go out for more.”
There was an angry meow from the cage Faith carried and she put it down with a sigh.
“He’s been acting weird all day. It’s getting annoying.”
“Percy can stay with me. I have some scraps for him.”
Norm hated it when I fed his cat, Percy, scraps. These days cat food was hard to come by and he had to eat something.
Jo winked at me. “Better feed him quick. I could hear Norm and the guys talking in the woods.”
Faith put the carrier next to me. I shoved a few scraps though the bars and Percy ate them as fast as I could feed him. Elijah hadn’t been too sure about having a cat around camp, but Percy was an asset. He would hiss and freak out when he caught a whiff of a biter, letting us know to be on guard. His warning had saved our butts more than once. Plus, he was cute and cuddly.
When I pushed the last piece of meat through the bar, Percy licked my finger and rubbed his face against me. I’m sure he wanted out, but it wasn’t safe. Maybe when we got back to Oklahoma-
Gunfire rang out in the distance and we all became alert. Our men knew better than to fire unless something bad was happening. Elijah and Grey rushed past me, guns out.
Cooper came to my side. “Let’s put Percy in the back of the car, just in case.”
What he really meant was just in case we had to pack up in a hurry. Norm would never forgive us if something happened to his cat. I grabbed the cage and put it on the backseat. Percy meowed at me, but didn’t hiss, which meant there weren’t any biters nearby. Cooper grabbed the items closest to him, packing them away.
