Roamers (Book 2): Fear. Loss. Survival. Hope.

by Viper, Velveteen

  Riley nodded and the group dispersed to go on with their day.

  * * *

  “Sorry I’m late,” Scarlett panted as she closed the door behind her. “Where’s Riley?”

  “He’s a no show,” Travis shrugged. “Maybe he forgot.”

  “How well did you know Grey, Scarlett?” Piper investigated.

  “Well enough to know that he’s a dangerous letch.”

  Piper looked to Travis, silently requesting that he explain.

  “You need to make contact with him,” he revealed. “You need to see him, face-to-face.”

  “Why?”

  “He needs a distraction from this place; something to hold up his plans while we fortify and arm ourselves,” Piper answered.

  Scarlett sat herself down on the beige couch and sighed heavily. After spending time alone with Ethan, she was genuinely afraid of him and the way he’d been able to manipulate her so effortlessly. But she also knew that it was their only option.

  “I’ll do it. But I want someone close by when I meet with him.”

  “Of course. We’ll decide on a meeting place with lots of cover. Travis?”

  “Yeah, I know a place. And I’ll go with you, Scarlett. If he tries anythin’ I’ll put a bolt through his eye.”

  “Are you sure that’s wise, Travis? We might need you here if--”

  “I’m goin’ with her,” he rumbled.

  Piper nodded with a tight-lipped smile and handed Scarlett a radio.

  “Bill says he’s been taunting us on this thing since the fire,” she said. “He comes through on channel three, so that’s what you’ll need to use when you speak to him. How’s your acting?”

  “Oscar-winning.”

  “And you know how to push his buttons?”

  “I’ve got this, Piper. I’ll do it now. I’m going to need a few days to convince him before going anywhere near him, okay?”

  “Fine. I’ll leave you to it.”

  Piper made for the hallway and padded up the stairs, still visibly annoyed at Travis, who sat down next to Scarlett on the sofa.

  “We need to get back to Newhill and do a little recruiting of our own. At the very least, they deserve to know that we’re all alive. We need to tell them about James too.”

  “Do you think they’d help us?”

  “I don’t know,” Scarlett shrugged, “but it’s worth a shot, right?”

  Travis nodded, and Scarlett took a few short, laboured breaths before bringing the radio to her mouth. “Can anyone hear me?” she sobbed. “I should never have come here and now I can’t leave. I don’t know what to do.” Travis was impressed with her false hysteria. “Hello?”

  Scarlett released the button and waited. When there was no response, she tried again:

  “Please! There must be somebody listening. I can’t bear it in this place any longer!”

  When she released the button again, the radio began to crackle.

  “McKenzie, is that you?”

  It was him. He sounded hushed and concerned. Grey was taking the bait.

  “Ethan?” she tried to sound surprised.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Are you at Homeside?”

  “Yeah. Riley brought me here after he destroyed the base. I couldn’t stop him, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about that right now. You need to--”

  “I have to go,” Scarlett whispered. “There’s someone coming, and I need to make sure I keep hold of this radio.”

  With that, she switched it off and gave a long sigh.

  “That’ll do for now,” she said. “It’s enough to get him checking in tomorrow.”

  * * *

  Night had fallen, and Scarlett was back in the lounge after settling Hope and James in the cabin. She was waiting for Travis, who’d been out to see if anything remained alive in the woods. It was doubtful, but everyone knew that if there was something to be found, Travis would be the one to find it.

  A light tap on the door signalled his return and he quietly entered the room. His clothes, face and hands were bloody and Scarlett quickly stood.

  “What happened?”

  “It ain’t mine,” he said gruffly, referring to the mess he was in. “Piper wasn’t kiddin’ when she said the Headhunters are tryin’ to pick us off slowly. Don’t worry, they didn’t get a look in. I did manage to work out that they only come from the south. They ain’t even tryin’ to surprise us.”

  Scarlett gave a quick nod.

  “Was there anything left?”

  “Nah. Everythin’s gone.”

  Scarlett paced the room while Travis slid his blood-stained jacket onto the carpet.

  “I know that look,” he said. “You’re havin’ second thoughts about stayin’.”

  “We have a four-year-old and a three-week-old, Travis. How the hell are we going to be able to fight – let alone win – some sort of war?”

  “Scarlett--” he tried.

  “I know why Piper and the others want to stay and defend this place. I get it, I really do. But is it worth risking our kids for? Especially now that the forest is gone. And Riley, I don’t know what’s crawled up his ass, but he’s definitely not up to a fight--”

  Realising he was getting nowhere, Travis made his way to the sideboard and pressed play on a timeworn CD player. He stood in front of Scarlett and took her hands. She looked up at him, confused; he was smiling. Pulling her close, he whispered smoothly in her ear: “When in doubt, dance it out.”

  Scarlett couldn’t help it, she smiled back at him and her arms found their way around his neck while he placed his around her waist.

  With the music playing; All My Days by Alexi Murdoch, they revolved slowly on the spot.

  “I’ve been waitin’ a long time to do this again,” he rumbled in her ear.

  “What, you suddenly like to dance?”

  “Only with you.” Scarlett rested her head on him. “We’ll work this out,” he soothed. “We’ll go to the base and see if anythin’ survived; take whatever we can. I spoke to Bill about fortifyin’ this place. It can be done; we just need a few days.”

  As they turned, Travis’ hands came to rest on the small of Scarlett’s back, and she ran hers along his chest, over his stomach and back up to his shoulders. She made no secret of the fact that she was admiring the muscle he had gained since settling at Homeside, and her fingers explored each delineation and contour as he placed his lips on hers.

  He was kissing her delicately, as though he was afraid of hurting her, or that he was concerned it was too soon; that she wouldn’t want it. But Travis couldn’t have been more wrong. Scarlett smiled against his mouth, and he instinctively pulled her closer. Resting his forehead against hers, he looked her in the eye.

  “You hear me?” he rumbled.

  Those words, from his mouth were all it ever took to calm her. She began to wonder how she’d survived without him; how she’d stayed relatively sane without hearing him speak.

  “I hear you.”

  She kissed him again, and Travis growled fiercely into her mouth as he tasted her. His hands moved down to her legs, up her thighs and to her waist, holding tightly and drawing her completely against him.

  Scarlett buried her hands in his hair, grabbing the brown lengths and pulling. She dragged herself away from him to try to catch her breath and let her head drop back, while Travis brought one hand to the back of it, his hungry lips falling to her throat, sucking on it roughly. He slid her hair tie out, tossing it aside and pulling back to watch her hair fall past her shoulders.

  “You are so fuckin’ beautiful.”

  Scarlett was sure that it was the first time he’d ever told her that. He dragged her toward himself, claiming her mouth with his again.

  Scarlett finally pulled her hands off him and reached blindly for his shirt, trying to unbutton it. She fumbled with the buttons and quickly gave up, desperately wanting to feel the heat radiating off his chest. She tore it open, ripping most of the buttons clean off the material, and
yanking the thin shirt away from his broad torso.

  He snarled against her lips before breaking the kiss.

  “You’re gonna pay for that. That was my favourite shirt.”

  Scarlett smiled at him seductively, “Fuck you and your shirt.”

  She leant on him, pushing him toward the couch. He took the hint and, reaching down to the backs of her thighs, he hoisted her up and placed her down on the beige fabric, continuing his amatory assault on her mouth.

  Scarlett tried, but she couldn’t hold back any longer. She was aching for him to be inside her. She pulled Travis’ hips as close as she possibly could and attempted to tear open his jeans. The button gave way and Travis stopped her before she could yank them down. Her desperation appeared contagious and Travis thrust her shirt over her head, exposing her breasts. He kissed her again and trailed down to her neck.

  “Fuck, I missed you so much,” she breathed.

  Finding her mouth again, Travis gave one long, deep kiss before growling right next to her ear, “I missed you too.”

  In one movement, he ran his tongue all the way down to her chest, causing Scarlett to emit a husky moan. Travis smirked; he enjoyed tormenting her, and he continued to her stomach, unbuttoning her jeans and sliding them onto the floor.

  Scarlett gripped the cushion behind her and couldn’t hold back from whimpering loudly when Travis buried his head avidly between her legs. He had a job to hold her still; she was fast overcome by waves of pleasure and began trembling under the movements of Travis’ warm tongue. His arms were wrapped around her thighs while her fingers tangled in his hair. She tried to keep her noise to a minimum, but her efforts were useless. She cried out and Travis gripped her legs tighter as she instinctively tried to scoot away.

  When Scarlett’s ecstasy subsided, Travis released her and crawled back up to her mouth again, kicking off his jeans. Scarlett’s legs automatically wrapped around his waist. He found her core and kept his gaze fixed on her face while he entered her slowly.

  In the sigh of release Scarlett emitted, the sensation of her naked body pressed against his, her breasts against his chest, her breath on his skin; the pleasure radiated from Travis’ pelvis to every part of his body, giving him a sense of completion.

  Scarlett began trying to raise herself up on her elbows and Travis had no choice but to back up, supporting her with his hands on the small of her back. She forced her lips onto his again and her arms snaked around his neck.

  Travis managed to shuffle onto his back, releasing a long groan when Scarlett lowered herself on to him. His hands came to rest on her hips, taking great enjoyment from the feeling of them rolling back and forth, and studying Scarlett’s body while she rode him.

  It was a matter of minutes before he couldn’t hold back any longer. Pulling Scarlett forward so that he could taste her mouth again, he quickened the pace, bucking wildly underneath her.

  Scarlett whimpered as the gratifying ache started to build within her. In that moment, neither of them was concerned about the upcoming fight, the world outside, or in fact the clearly audible creaking of the worn old couch beams.

  * * *

  Scarlett got to her feet and started to dress, leaving Travis lying on the couch catching his breath.

  “You’re taking a lot of risks in your old age,” Scarlett smirked.

  “Nah, everyone’s outside around the fire. It’s not like before anyway; we ain’t got nothin’ to hide.”

  “That’s really sweet. But I’d say doing the deed on a communal couch is an overshare.” Travis sniggered and Scarlett approached him.

  Leaning over him, she swept the sweat-drenched hair from his face and laid a lingering kiss on his mouth. She could feel him smiling before she pulled away.

  “Oh, according to Piper, when you first showed up here, she asked you about Hope’s mother and you told her you had a wife who died.”

  Travis looked at her and shrugged.

  “Well, Kate assumed I was married, I just didn’t correct her. And it was easier to call you my ‘wife’ than keep sayin’ Hope’s Mama. I find the word ‘girlfriend’ cringey at my age.” Travis looked away before continuing, “Is it such a bad thing to be called, anyway?”

  “No, I just thought it was odd.”

  “It’s how I see you,” he said honestly. “You’re the mother of my children… and my wife. At least, you could be.” Scarlett chuckled at him. “What?”

  “Oh, you’re serious, aren’t you?” she said, her smile fading. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, why not?” he sat up. “I’ll make you a deal: after we’re done shootin’ the shit out of Grey and his assholes, I’ll go out and scavenge you a ring… and you marry me.”

  Scarlett looked at him with an open mouth. She had no idea what to make of the things he was saying or how some sort of ‘wedding’ would even be performed.

  “Travis, are you proposing to me?”

  “What if I am?”

  “Then I’d say that you should probably get dressed,” she stated. “I can’t accept a proposal from a naked man... Well, not that kind of proposal. But, if you were clothed and down on one knee, I guess I’d have to think about it.”

  Travis smirked at her.

  “I can hear voices out there; someone’s bound to walk through at some point. I’ll be in the shower if you’d care to join me,” she winked and left the room.

  Travis grinned contentedly and gathered his clothes. All the fear, uncertainty and anger he’d felt over the last year had suddenly vanished. He could feel it ebbing away with each time Scarlett touched him, with every word that left her lips. He was finally home.

  He pulled on his jeans and torn shirt, bundling the rest up and leaving through the back door into the garden. No one was manning the laundry tent, so Travis threw his bloodied jacket and shirt into the basket and quickly scrawled a note to leave for Joel who was first on shift in the morning. He simply wrote, ‘Sorry. T’, placed it on the table, and made his way to the cabin.

  * * *

  Travis raced to put on a pair of clean jeans when he heard tapping on the cabin door. His hair was soaked and flat from the shower, and droplets of cool water ran down from his hairline. He quickly checked behind himself and opened the door to Piper. She had an armful of clothes.

  “Oh, sorry, T,” she said. “Am I interrupting something?”

  “Huh? Oh, no. I was just takin’ a shower.”

  She barged in and stood by the bed, dumping the clothes down. Travis realised that the garments were a mixture of his, Scarlett’s, Hope’s and James’.

  “Alright, I need to ask--”

  Piper was suddenly distracted by Scarlett emerging from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Piper raised her eyebrows at Travis knowingly.

  “Hey, Piper.”

  “Hey, Scarlett.”

  “So, uh, what can I do for you, Piper?” Travis blushed, praying that she didn’t say anything to embarrass him further.

  “I don’t think you should go to Morven tomorrow. The timin’ is shit and I need you both here.”

  “It’s all set. We’re still goin’ as planned. We need to give everyone somethin’ to look forward to after we deal with Grey. Somethin’ to keep morale up. And these books would be a great start.”

  “I can’t risk you both leavin’.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Travis said.

  “What about the Headhunters? What if they attack and two of my best fighters ain’t here?”

  “I’m going to keep in contact with Grey,” Scarlett promised, rubbing the ends of her hair with another towel. “If I get so much as a sniff that they’re moving, we can be back in time.”

  Piper took a moment to think before finally responding, “Okay, if you’re sure. What about the kids?”

  “I’m sure I can count on Riley,” Scarlett said. “I’ll express milk for James before we leave.”

  “Alright then,” Piper sighed. “It appears that you’re both as stubborn as each other. God help you whe
n your kids are teenagers.”

  Piper promptly left, and Scarlett looked at Travis. He glanced back at her and the two of them smirked roguishly at the thought of going out on a run together, just like always.

  “We still stayin’ there for the night?” Travis asked, turning toward the bed.

  “Fuck, yes. I know that the timing could be better. But, tonight, you reminded me of all the things I’ve missed out on.” Scarlett admired his naked back and took a step closer. While Travis organised the pile of clothes, Scarlett slid her arms under his, reaching up to his chest. She pressed her body against his and rested her cheek on his shoulder blade. “The way you make me feel… I don’t know, I just want a taste of what it used to be like before we all potentially die horribly.”

  “Alright,” he chuckled. He turned around and pushed her towel to the ground, wrapping his arms around her. “We could probably wait until late afternoon tomorrow to leave. Gives us more time with the kids.”

  “Sounds great. I guess I’ll go to the milking shed first thing.”

  Travis struggled to keep his eyes open with Scarlett’s head on his chest and her body pressed close. He could feel her warmth, her steady, deep breathing and her head growing heavier. Carefully reaching under his pillow, Travis pulled out a short piece of string. Scarlett’s hand was resting on his abdomen, and he carefully tied the string around her ring finger. He slid it off quickly when she began to stir, and shoved it back under his pillow. She relaxed again, and Travis smiled to himself, his mission accomplished, and finally allowed his eyes to shut.

  Chapter Sixteen

  After a surprisingly uneventful drive, Scarlett brought the car to a stop in the centre of Morven. A short distance away, they could see that their destination was surrounded by Roamers.

  “Shit,” Scarlet sighed. “There’s too many for us to deal with.”

  Travis was one step ahead of her, observing the nearby buildings.

  “Drive up there,” he said, pointing down a narrow road between two structures.

  When the vehicle stopped, Travis immediately stepped out, silently taking out a lone, shuffling cadaver at the entrance to an office building. He signalled to Scarlett to follow.

  “What are we doing here?”