Scarlett sat herself beside her daughter and Colin handed her a plastic glass before opening a bottle of red wine and pouring a generous helping for her. Scarlett quaffed it down gratefully, happy to be able to relax again.
Travis had assumed that Colin had agreed to the evening because he thought it the right time to tell Scarlett the truth. It didn’t take long for him to realise that Colin was not going to break the news tonight and Travis felt angry and dejected for Scarlett. There was nothing he could do but reinforce what he’d said previously; to tell her or keep away.
As the night progressed, Scarlett’s group were dropping like flies; Jack had had too much and left to throw it all up, Riley and River were exhausted and found an aisle to sleep in, away from the noise of Chino’s drunken vocals, while Colin and his group, along with Scarlett and Travis, being that they had become accustomed to not sleeping, were still going strong.
Colin finally allowed himself to look at Travis, who was already glaring in his direction. He couldn’t sit with the man any longer, knowing what he knew.
“Helena,” he called as he stood, “you mind watchin’ Hope for a while?”
Helena smiled and nodded her head. She’d have walked into a room full of Biters wearing a bag over her head if Travis was the one telling her to do it. Scarlett giggled drunkenly as she observed Helena’s infatuation.
“Where you going, Travis? We’re supposed to be relaxing,” she pointed out.
“Need to do a safety check. Get up,” he responded gruffly.
Reluctantly, Scarlett followed Travis into the back rooms of the warehouse, stumbling from her level of intoxication. She knew that he wasn’t concerned with the security; it had already been carried out by Riley the day they arrived. No, Travis wanted to talk about Hope. Still, he led with his knife by his side and Scarlett shadowed him dutifully. He peered through a glass panel in the door to an office and, upon seeing it was empty, let himself in.
He closed the door once Scarlett was through and turned around to see her, already sat on a swivel chair, looking at him expectantly.
“So?” she began, “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
“What?” Travis asked, confused.
“I know you’re itching to criticise, Travis. I thought I’d be a peach and let you get it off your chest. Maybe then you can stop looking at me like it’s all my fault.”
Travis perched on the edge of a cheap wooden desk which still looked purposeful, with a corded phone, pens, paperwork and a computer monitor, keyboard and mouse on top. He looked at the floor.
“That ain’t why I brought you here,” he stated, “I just… I wanted to thank you.”
Now Scarlett was confused. Here she was expecting a lecture on why she was a terrible mother, and he was thanking her.
“You want to thank me?” she repeated, staring at him, “What the hell for?”
Travis cleared his throat and once more became the timid boy who Scarlett barely recognised anymore, not since Hope was born. He crouched down in front of her and finally looked her in the eye.
“For everythin’. For not slitting my throat when I’d been ordered to beat the shit outta you; for not leavin’ me at The City to be executed; for lovin' me.” Scarlett smiled, memories of what seemed like a lifetime ago flooding back, “Most of all, for Hope.” Scarlett began wondering if someone had slipped something in Travis’ drink, “I know things have been shitty for the last few months, but you’ve done right by everyone, especially our little girl.”
Scarlett surveyed him for a moment and allowed herself to giggle a little as she pulled the lever on the chair and it slowly lowered. Travis couldn’t help but snigger. The girl he met all those years ago; the feisty, smart, witty nineteen-year-old girl, who’d somehow managed to meld them together, was still in there somewhere.
“Sorry,” she started, “I’m pretty wasted. But, I will say this… You’re welcome.” Travis looked at her, she grinned at him and they both laughed, if only very briefly, “Seriously, can you imagine where I’d be now if I had cut your throat or left you there?”
“Jimmy’d still be alive,” Travis stated.
Scarlett tilted her head and looked at him like he should know better.
“No, he wouldn’t. If anything, Jack saved me the agony of watching him being ripped apart by the Biters. You’ve saved my ass on more than a few occasions too, and let’s not forget that you got your knife back and held it to my gullet. You could have killed me. I’m sure you probably would have if Riley hadn’t been there. Nevertheless, I want to thank you.”
“No problem,” Travis replied dryly.
Scarlett realised how drunk she was and that this was probably the last opportunity for them to be alone. She also remembered that they hadn’t been close since a few days before leaving the cottage. She leant forward and looked intensely into his piercing blue eyes before grabbing the collar of his shirt and gently pulling him closer to plant a soft, slow kiss on his mouth. She drew back to look at him again and gauged his response. He slowly opened his eyes and licked his lips, shooting her a smirk.
“No, Travis. I want to thank you,” Scarlett said smoothly.
She stood; leaving Travis crouched down, admiring her form. She offered her hand, helping him to his feet before removing her vest, revealing to Travis her thin body. He hadn’t realised just how small she had become. As she stretched her arms over her head, he could clearly make out her rib cage poking through her skin and he felt guilty; like he hadn’t been doing his job properly. He began unbuttoning his own shirt before Scarlett slid it down his arms and onto the floor.
Travis leant forward and gently moved her head to the side for better access to her neck, kissing from her right ear down to her collar bone before moving back up to find her lips. He grasped the back of Scarlett’s head and started exploring her whole mouth with his tongue. Scarlett felt her skin start to prickle as he kissed her. When Travis pulled away he caught her bottom lip with his teeth and growled.
They both kicked off their boots and, looking her directly in the eye, Travis unbuttoned his jeans and slid them down as she took the hint and followed suit. Travis put his hands on Scarlett’s backside and hoisted her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Turning around, he used his free arm to brush the old world items from the desk to the carpet-tiled floor, causing an almighty crash as the monitor screen smashed. Laying Scarlett on the desk, he positioned himself between her knees and leant in to kiss her again.
* * *
Sniggering quietly to each other, Scarlett and Travis dressed, replaced the now broken items on the desk and left the small office.
“You’re welcome,” Travis stated.
“Huh?” Scarlett said, lifting her head to look at him.
“You said you wanted to thank me… You’re welcome,” he smiled, brushing her hair from her face.
“Oh, I plan on thanking you more often from now on,” she laughed, kissing him tenderly on the mouth.
They began heading back down the narrow corridor, Travis peering into the other offices as they went, planning on claiming one as a bedroom for himself, Scarlett and Hope, when Scarlett decided to broach the subject she originally thought he was going to raise himself.
“You know she’s going to be okay, right?”
“Huh?” Travis grunted, still distracted and a little hazy.
“Hope. She’s going to be fine. She’s going to have to defend herself for real one day, so it’s important that she sees the things we have to do.”
Travis stopped in his tracks and spun around to face her, his foggy and completely relaxed disposition fading quickly.
“I just wanna protect her.”
“We both know that one day we won’t be around to do that.”
“You saw how she reacted today. She thought she was gonna die,” Travis quickly became irritated. “She’s a three year old girl, Scarlett. She’s just a child – a baby!”
He began pacing, his mind tormenting him wit
h the thought that his daughter would one day be alone in the new world, or worse, that they would have to watch her die or turn.
“I’m sorry, Travis, but as much as I hate to admit it, she doesn’t get to stay a child much longer. She has to toughen up if she wants to survive!”
“Maybe we could stay here now.” Travis reasoned, “That way, she could have a childhood.”
“Are you deluded?!” Scarlett hissed, “It’s about survival; life skills, self-defence, being able to feed herself. This place might not be forever. We thought the same thing at Bluehaven – at the cottage! It was bad enough before, but now those things can see? It’s not about you, Travis. Sometimes I wonder if you really do have our daughter’s best interests at heart.”
Travis halted with his back to Scarlett and he felt his blood begin to boil. His face turned red and he revolved on his heel, marching over to her. For the first time since they’d met, Scarlett felt a twinge of fear spread through her body as she observed the fury in his eyes. There was nowhere for her to go and her back was literally up against the wall as he stopped, barely an inch away from her face. She could see that she had hurt him badly.
“All I think about, every minute of every fuckin’ day is Hope and what’s best for her.” He spat, “You and that beautiful little girl are all I have to live for. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doin’! Jesus, I wouldn’t have had the first clue about what to do if she’d been born before the world went to shit, let alone now!” he backed off a little as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration before getting back in Scarlett’s face again, “All I can do is my best, just like you, and that’s exactly what I have been doin’.”
“I’m sorry, Travis.” Scarlett whispered as a single tear ran down her cheek.
She hadn’t meant what she said and now she realised what it had done to him it killed her. She wanted to take him in her arms, but was too afraid that he might lash out.
“I am a good father!” he barked, “I’m sure as shit better than the one you had!”
Now, Scarlett could feel her own anger start to bubble; she’d never even mentioned her father to Travis before.
“How dare you.” She said, her voice low as more tears formed in her eyes, “How can you say anything about a man you know nothing about? Least of all a man who died long before all of this!”
Travis tried to stop himself, but he couldn’t; she’d hurt him and he wanted to hurt her back.
“I know plenty about him.” he growled. “And that piece of shit sure ain’t dead.”
“My father died before I’d even started school,” she snarled, “I was only f--”
“Four years old?” Travis interrupted. Scarlett just stared at him, awaiting an explanation as to how he knew, “Your Daddy has been sharing a meal with you and our daughter all evening. Pretty sure you had a nice chit-chat over a bottle of wine with him too.”
Scarlett just stood there, mouth agape as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Travis’ face softened as he realised what he’d said. He tried to put a hand on her shoulder only to be batted away.
“Why are you saying all this?” she asked, shocked and confused.
Travis sighed and realised that he now had no choice but to explain.
“When we got here - when he introduced himself… I followed him after he ran off to see what his problem was. He just said that he thought you’d be dead,”
Scarlett couldn’t move her gaze from him as he spoke, her eyes glistening as the unrelenting tears lingered, stinging. She listened intently to what he had to say, hoping he would mention something which meant Colin must be lying.
“He told me not to say anything. Told me he was gonna do it himself as soon as he had the chance. Fucker even had a picture of you in his pocket. I’m sorry, Scar. I shoulda’ said somethin’ sooner and not done it just ‘cause I wanted to hurt you.”
Scarlett’s gaze drifted slowly toward the floor as she tried hard to take in the information, blurring out the sound of Travis’ apology. She realised that Colin was still in the warehouse, maybe even talking to Hope. Her heart started to race as rage and confusion took over her mind.
Travis could sense the change and tried once more to touch her, this time attempting to embrace her. She shoved him backwards as hard as she could and he thumped into the wall behind him. All Travis could do was watch as Scarlett stormed back through the narrow corridor; fists clenched as she prepared to confront the man she thought had been dead for twenty years.
Colin was busy chattering to Hope when Scarlett returned. He looked up in time to see her racing toward him. He quickly stood and began backing away slowly as she approached, red-faced and furious.
“Get away from her!” Scarlett screamed.
She shunted her father backwards and drew the pistol from her boot, holding it to his temple, while all he could do was raise his arms in surrender.
“Is there something you wanna tell me, Colin?”
She turned around to see Travis standing with Hope, subtly shaking his head. Scarlett looked at her daughter, who was horrified, and slowly replaced her weapon.
“Scarlett, I’m sorry, let me explain,” Colin pleaded.
Scarlett grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him toward her.
“I think that’d be a great start, Dad.” she spat.
Scarlett led her father to one of the small empty rooms, pushing him backwards onto the chair, once again retrieving her gun, this time attaching the suppressor, and locking the door.
“Please, please, sweetie, you don’t need that.” he cried.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes and closed the space between them, holding her muzzled weapon to his forehead.
“Sweetie?” she hissed, “Are you fucking serious?” Colin had no words as he saw the wildness in her eyes, “Is it true?” she demanded.
“Scarlett, I--”
“I asked you a question,” Scarlett snarled, “If the next word out of your mouth isn’t either ‘yes’ or ‘no’, the last thing you see will be the barrel of my shiny .45 Colt.”
“Yes, it’s true,” he whimpered.
“I’m listening,” she demanded, “My mother told me you died.”
“I died?” Colin repeated, “No, I left.”
“She said you died!” Scarlett screamed as tears began to form and her pistol, still pressed firmly to Colin’s head, shook in her hand.
“She lied to you, Scarlett!”
“I’m running seriously low on patience right now, Colin, and my trigger finger’s getting awful twitchy,” she growled, cocking her weapon.
“Oh God, please, don’t!” Colin begged, “I talked to Travis; I told him what happened--”
“And when were you going to tell me?”
“I was going to tell you tomorrow, Scarlett, I swear! I just couldn’t find the right words. Look, your mother was trying to protect you.”
“From what?” Scarlett commanded, pushing her pistol hard against his head.
“From me! I was a different person back then. I was vile and I wasn’t interested in being a father. When I tried to come back, she wouldn’t let me see you, it was too late. She said you didn’t remember me, so I gave up.”
Scarlett stared at him and for a moment and even she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Eventually, she lowered her gun and stood against the wall, slowly slumping down to the floor.
“Get out.” she quietly ordered.
Colin stood and moved toward her, reaching out his hand.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett,” he implored.
“I said get out!” Scarlett shrieked, slapping his hand away and bringing her knees up to her chest.
As Colin left the room, Travis entered and looked at Scarlett. She was sobbing audibly and Travis’ chest ached, wanting to fix her. He slid down the wall next to her and just sat; waiting for her to confirm that she wanted company. Scarlett slowly lifted her head to gaze at him. She allowed her body to gently slump into his and he thankfully took her in his
strong arms.
“Well he’s still alive. That’s a good sign.” Travis observed as he stroked her hair, “You alright?”
“I was ready to kill him.” Scarlett wept. “The thought actually crossed my mind. Is Hope okay? She shouldn’t have seen me like that.”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She wanted to go to sleep in the Wendy house that’s on display, so I left her to it.”
“What is wrong with me? He’s my dad; I should be happy, right?”
Travis stood and helped Scarlett to her feet, pulling her close for an embrace. He held her head to his chest for a moment before lifting her chin and kissing her.
“You hear me?” he said. Those three little words were all Scarlett needed to hear for relief and comfort to wash over her and it seemed like years since either one of them had said it.
“I hear you,” she confirmed, returning his kiss.
They were interrupted by Henry, who looked harassed. He looked sadly at Scarlett and her heart sank as she began thinking about what else could possibly go wrong.
“Scarlett, I’m really sorry to intrude, but…” he trailed off and looked at the floor.
“What is it, Henry?”
“It’s Number Six. He’s really in bad shape. I think he’s got pneumonia.”
Scarlett’s feet were heavy with angst as she entered another office. Number Six was on the floor and, smiling sadly at her old friend, she sank down next to him.
He’d been a devoted and loyal companion to Scarlett from the moment she freed him from his cage. She had known for a while that he wouldn’t be with her for much longer, but she hoped the old boy might be around for at least a few more weeks.
Six found the drive to lift his head and shuffle closer to his master, whimpering softly. Scarlett helped him to lie across her lap and noticed that he wasn’t as heavy as he used to be.
Roamers (Book 1) Page 23