by Thomas Baker
"Sure you don't want to open a practice, Gus?"
"There is only one thing I like to open." Gus made a gesture like he was parting something and then stuck out his tongue like he was licking an ice cream cone.
"You're disgusting."
"That's not what she said. It was more like 'oh, don't stop'."
They both were wailing now. Someone walked by and looked at them like they were crazy. Maybe they were. When they stopped JT's face hurt. He realized then what he had been missing out on. How good he could feel. He was lucky to be alive he realized, he should enjoy it.
"I'm happy for you, boy. I always thought you and Hannah should be together. Don't screw it up this time, either of you. I don't think my old heart could take it. Guess that means your fun days with Lindsay are done for."
"Yes, sir. I'll tell her tonight. Not that I've seen much of her lately, anyway."
"Be straight and be nice about it. Lindsay, I like her too. I better get my butt in gear. Linda gave me a honey dolist. You know we're back on the brink of civilization now. The women are back in charge again."
Gus continued on his way. JT thought he might as well track Lindsay down now and get it over with. He liked her lots; she was a cool person and hoped this wouldn't hurt her too badly.
After looking around and asking some people, he found her at the makeshift guard shack, build quickly while repairs were being made on the front gate. The dump truck still sat where it was left right after the attacks, on the other side of the hole it had made. She looked bored as she sat there, staring off, absently petting her husky at her side. She brightened up when she saw JT. JT had a sudden bubbling in his stomach.
Several people were up on ladders of varying heights, hammering away at the wall even this late with such little light. Their work ethic didn't seem to even quiver. Henry was thereas well, walking back and forth, inspecting it. JT hoped he could get Lindsay away from the crowd.
"JT, come to relieve me?" Lindsay said, a little breathy.
JT smiled. "I was wondering, if you could get away from here for a few minutes. I wanted to talk to you, with somemore privacy than this." He had to speak up over the noise.
"With this many people here, I'm not even sure why the hell I'm here. Come on, Parka."
They walked off, the frozen snow crunching under their footsteps. Parka bounded along beside Lindsay, tongue hanging out the side.
"Let me guess, it's bad news," Lindsay started before JT could even begin.
"Why do you say that?"
"I've seen enough chick flicks to know a guy only comes to a woman like you just did for two reasons. I don't see you getting down on one knee and whipping out a ring."
JT sighed. "You're right. I'll just come right out. Hannah and I are getting back together."
Lindsay side glanced at JT then looked down at her dog. "I kinda guessed that's what it would be. I haven't seen such a bounce in your step since the first night we hooked up. JT you're a good guy. We had some fun. I wasn't looking for anything, yet I was feeling like maybe you were the person I would change my mind for. Oh well, I guess it's not meant to be."
"I'm sorry," JT said, feeling lame for saying such an empty statement. What the hell was he supposed to say?
"JT, don't be lame now," Lindsay said, mockingly. "If you start saying things like' I'm a wonderful girl' or 'some guy will be lucky someday', I will take this rifle and shoot you. You remember what that feels like right?"
JT put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay, I got it. Friends?"
"You tell your princess I expect to hang with you still, jealousy free. No drama."
JT nodded. "No drama."
"I better get back. Good luck with Hannah...but JT if things don't work out, come find me."
She turned and headed back. JT stood there until she rounded out of sight. He could tell she tried to mask wiping at her face. Still, he thought things would be okay between them.
Feeling drained, JT headed for home. For the first time in a while he didn't feel like he needed a drink. Or to vent some deep rage. He felt like he was back in the driver's seat of his own vices.
JT happened by the clinic after another busy day of restoration duties. He wanted to visit with Gus and let him know how things had gone with Lindsay. As he neared the front of the clinic he saw Linda outside, she gave him the friendliest wave JT could recall her ever giving him.
"I seem to of heard some good news about you and Hannah, Mr. JT." Linda said with a proud mama like smile.
"Gus has been spreading the news has he? That old man gossips like an old woman!" JT found his own comment hilarious.
"No sir, not Gus this time. Hannah herself, she's inside with Gus now visiting."
JT became sheepish with embarrassment.
"Well, don't blush now," Linda said, "get in there and see your girl."
JT entered to find Gus and Hannah sitting in rocking chairs near the fireplace.
"Well hello, Romeo!" Gus called out with an over zealous tip of his hat. "Pull yourself up a chair."
Before JT had a chance to react Hannah stood to greet him with a kiss.
"Awe shucks, aren't you two just sweeter than my MeMe's strawberry pie." Gus ribbed.
"Gustafson Theodore Wright! You best not be poking fun at these two kids of yours or you will go to bed tonight without your supper!" Linda jokingly barked as she entered the room.
"Gustafson!?" Hannah teased.
"Theodore!?" JT chimed in on the action.
"Well, would you look at that. We can embarrass Gus!" Hannah continued as Gus tried to hide his now red face behind his hand.
"In my defense pleasetake note ofmy perfect last name. You can allfeel free tocall me Mr. Wright whenever you would like." Gus's comeback brought the whole room into uproarious laughter.
From there the four of them sat and chatted about a little bit of everything. Mainly about the big town council meeting coming tomorrow. It wasn't long before Hannah announced she needed to go home and get some things in order and then hopefully relax a little before the meeting tomorrow, which promised to take up most of her day.
JT offered to walk her home, and she gladly accepted, they said their goodbyes and left holding hands the entire way to Hannah's.
Back at Hannah's, JT mostly kept her company while she worked on preparing things for the next day. At one point he forced her to take a break and made her a simple dinner of rice and beans over the fire. He even gave her a much-needed shoulder massage before she convinced him to let her get back to work.
JT sat across from Hannah now. Out of the blue he got up and went into the kitchen. When he returned, he threw a dried bean at her. She looked up at him with a tempting stare and went back to writing on her notes. JT threw another.
"JT!" Was her only reaction.
On his third attempt to get her attention he threw an entire handful of beans at her.
"Oh my God, that's it!" Hannah shouted as she jumped to her feet.
JT took off running around the house, tossing more beans from his other hand at her as she chased him. She cornered him in the bedroom. He tried to jump over the bed and hit his shin on the protruding footboard. Hannah pounced on her injured prey and the two started wrestling around the bed, tickling and playfully hitting each other. When Hannah attempted to give him a wet willie he grabbed her hands, spun around on top of her, and pinned them to the bed.
Feeling overcome he dove in and kissed her, there was no resistance from Hannahwhatsoever. JT left her lips and kissed her neck, his hands found the hem of her hoodie and he slid his hand under her shirt with no protest. JT felt like maybe he was getting too carried away as they had never been this far before and pulled back.
"Wait, what? What's wrong, JT?" Hannah breathlessly asked.
"I just didn't want to be too aggressive or anything because-."
"Don't finish that sentence." Hannah was stern. She responded by grabbing the bottom of his shirt and helping him guide it over his head
before taking hers offin turn.
JT was stunned at how good she looked laying there topless and returned to kissing her, their hands wandering all over each other's bodies. JT shivered with anticipation as his hands worked down her purple leggings. Hannah now completelynaked under JT pushed at the waist of his sweats, JT stood up and pulled down his sweats and boxers exposing his now rigid self to her.
Neither of them could deny the electricity between them and their naked bodies making out in the middle of the bed. JT could feel Hannah's readiness as she arched her hips to allow him to enter her.
Hannah couldn't believe herself confidence or how good it felt with every thrust JT gave her, right now it was her and him, no zombies, no cabins, no churches, no anything but the two of them and it felt incredible.
The next morning Hannah woke up feeling better than she had in what felt like years. She had never had sex like the kind her and JT had last night; it was probably a culmination of massive amounts of stress but the release was indescribable. She felt like she was walking on sunshine.
Hannah was in the living room when JT awoke. She was fumbling with some papers, stacking them up neatly wearing only JT's shirt. When JT entered the room and saw her he felt like seeing his shirt on her was like seeing your armies flag on a conquered castle.
He couldn't stifle his excitement as he walked over and wrapped his arms around Hannah from behind, spinning her around to kiss her before carrying her back to the bedroom and making love to her again, this time just as fiery as their previous encounter.
After round two Hannah had to convince JT to let her get up and get ready for the council meeting. He eventually agreed and helped her prepare before he ran to his place and grabbed his bag of clothes to bring back go Hannah's before heading to the meeting himself.
"We're getting deep into the winter season now but we need to think ahead to spring." Henry was standing at the end of the rectangular brown table. At the other end sat Dr. Childs, who had emerged from hiding when he wasn't at the clinic, surrounded by at least ten armed people. In between the two, all on one side of the table, were Hannah, Josh, and Bruce.
They were inside one of the conference rooms of the casino. This is where they always held their council meetings. Henry didn't want to run the power in the casino for this, so several battery powered lamps were lined down the table, casting harsh shadows on the wall.
"Our stores will last until then by my calculations, as long as we get no sudden influx of a large group of people," Henry continued.
"I wouldn't put money on that happening. By now all the roads have got to be nearly impassable," Bruce spoke in his squeaky voice. He was a small, round man with a tiny nose and tiny lips.
"Let's not count on it though," Hannah interrupted. "We've been surprised before. If people are desperate enough, they will find a way toget things done."
Childs glared at her but she ignored it. Childs had become increasingly belligerent towards her as the meeting went on. It had to be jealousy, since she had become so revered by the town. He acted like that way to most of them, but she got the brunt of it. She had no desire to be the head of this place but she wanted to help.
It was funny, this talk of spring.The snows had been coming on strong in the past week. Eight inches had just been dumped on them yesterday. Cold, sub-zero temperatures, too. She thought two degrees above absolute zero was about right. It was hard to even imagine spring coming.
"Henry, I didn't know you were in charge of agriculturetoo," Dr. Childs said, in a reproachful way.
"I have been checking in on every part of the town's functions. As I would have thought any of us would be." Henry sounded as hard as iron.
Dr. Childs rubbed his eyes. "I've been a little busy these past few weeks. I didn't think training farmers and planting crops was a high priority right now. Not when I still have patients in the clinic who may never walk or have use of their arms again. On top of that, a nasty cold virus is going around."
"Don't think we aren't grateful for all you have done, Doctor," Josh said.
"I was just bringing up a point that should be on the horizon," Henry said. Hannah could still tell there was animosity there, even though Childs wasn't responsible for what happened to his son. "Food and shelter is up there in importance with health. No food, then you won't have any patients, Doc."
"What are you suggesting Henry?" Josh said, trying to soothe the bickering. "Planting would have to wait, if we can find anyone who even knows how to do it. There's like a foot of snow right now. How about hunting? We can do that. We have one of the finest shots in town right here." He thumbed towards Hannah. She blushed.
"Meat will be the first thing to go bad," Henry nodded in agreement. "Even in cold storage I wouldn't trust what we have much longer. That would be a good idea. Hannah, you think you could find a few people and lead some hunts. Maybe even combine hunting with the exploration teams?"
"JT and myself, we could do it. We're about the only ones who drill ourselves every day." She smiled. She was beyond happy JT and her were together now. She felt like this goofy smile was never far from her face now."I could find another one or two people."
"Good," Henry said. "We will let you know when we decide togo that route. We will need a team to go get some canned fruits and vegetables as soon as there is a break in the weather."
"Can we move on to something else now please? Like our medical supply situation, which is important too you know. A party will have to go out soon. Weather be damned. I am running low on some important meds. Those ignorant fucks with the dump truck reallyscrewed my clinic up."
Hannah rubbed her temples again. In the first few days after the attack, the community had come together. Childs was so busy treating the wounded and then hiding, he missed several meetings. When he was at work, he was fine. Outside of the clinic he acted more whiney and jealous, like he was now. Now that the threat was over, the people were falling into their old patterns again. She had heard from Josh that Childs and Henry butted heads all the time before she got here.
She questioned if it was a good idea to even be on this council. She thought it would be a way to have some control over what happened to her. If she couldn't leave now, then at least she would have some say. That was not how things were working out though. What would happen as the community got even bigger? Someone calling her name snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Hannah, are you with us?" Henry asked.
Hannah shook her head dramatically. "Oh sorry, spaced off there. What were you asking me?"
"Update on the repairs and security?"
"I would say two days then the front gate area will be done. Unless weather turns even worse. Won't hold off anyone with a dump truck," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. She got nothing but stony faces staring back at her. "That reminds me. I've had several people ask me if they can take from houses or businesses that no one is living in right now to fix up their homes. I told them all that would be a council decision."
"Good for you," Bruce complimented her. "We can't have people just taking things apart without some direction or set of rules. What do you think, Henry?"
It went on, back and forth between them. Hannah tried to pay attention. She would have failed a test of what they said as her focus wavered.At the end of the discussion, they resolved nothing. "Hannah, for any who ask, tell them to hold tight," Henry said. "When the council decides how to handle it, I'll inform them."
There were a few others things and then the gavel dropped. She got up, stretched, and then put on her parka over the hoodie she was already wearing, over the top of the two layers of clothes beneath. When she was all bundled up, she said her goodbyes and left.
"Hannah," Josh called out to her, stopping her at the casino main entrance. "You doing anything now. Would you like to come over, have some coffee?"
"That's sweet, Josh. I will have to say no, I have plans. Thanks for asking. See you around."
Josh seemed clipped by her answer even though he
knew JT and her were together. She had told him and word had been circling around town that her and JT had been spending steamy nights together. Small town gossip, she laughed to herself. People will be people.
She didn't want to be mean to Josh. They could still be friends. She turned before going out into the winter wonderland. "Lunch tomorrow, though?"
Josh smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
The shoveling crews couldn't keep up with the snows of the past week. It was one huge storm after another, so Henry had them implement something like the emergency route system. Only the area around the casino, and the main road through town down to the front and back gates had a path cleared through them. She followed the path home. The packs were so high around her, she could imagine herself walking through ice tunnels, like something out of a fairy tale.
When she got home, JT was already there. He had a roaring fire going. It looked like heaven to her. She stripped down to her regular clothes, flopped on the couch, and curled her feet up under her. She sighed as the heat washed over her.
She was enjoying her and JT shacking up together. It was a blessing coming home to him instead of an empty house. She had started having these strange feelings, like she was a ghost, haunting this place that wasn't hers. It got so bad, at one point she had taken all the pictures and decorations of the previous owners and packed them all up. They were boxed up in the garage now. She tried not to look at them as she had done it. The smiling faces of the family looking back at her had hurt her heart too much. Turning her thoughts from that tangent, she wondered what JT was up to.
"Hey JT, where are you?" she called out.
JT popped around the corner. "I didn't hear you. I was just making some hot chocolate. I just about froze my twig and berries off, working on the wall all day. Want one?"
Hannah nodded. "You're the best."
JT came in with two mugs steaming. He sat down beside her. She sipped it and watched the marshmallows bob on top.
"Look at us, pretending to play house," she said.