Surprised, she fought it at first, but she took a quick breath and his aroma filled her lungs. Her mouth parted the slightest bit and his hot breath flowed in—then she was lost. Hands flung around his body, her head tilted up to meet his, her tongue greeting his own with a fierce passion she had never felt before. Her whole body was tingling. She could feel a flutter in her stomach and all the nerves in her limbs lit up. Her brain shoved out everything but the feel of him and she embraced it with all she had.
Then he was gone.
“I’ll come back,” he told her and she stood there, mouth slightly open, stunned by what had just happened, still not fully processing what he was saying.
“Okay, Arnold,” she replied before her brain caught back up with her.
He smiled and placed a hand on her cheek, giving it a light stroke, “that’s better. Don’t lose that. Now, I really do have to get to the chopper.”
“You’re such an asshole! Kissing me like that then flying away! What kind of shit is that?” she reacted, her heart thudding in her chest. “I’ve never—.”
Putting a finger on her lips, he pressed down against whatever she was about to say and forced an embrace. “If I have to cross the entirety of the United States, I’ll get back here, okay?”
“Well, that’s good. If I’m going to have to eat Todd’s cooking, I may die of starvation before you do,” she snarked and then felt his chest vibrate with laughter. “Why the hell did you wait til right now?”
“It wasn’t until I was about to leave and you came running out here—just—wait for me, okay?” he finally managed, obviously not good at conveying emotion.
Well, that made two of them.
She nodded, embraced him one last time, then he turned and walked towards the waiting helicopter. There was a presence at her shoulder. She quickly brought her arm up and wiped a tear away. “What the hell do you want? Should be your ass on that chopper!” Todd’s face dropped a smidge and her heart suddenly hurt. “Sorry. Just—I hate this.”
“I know, Saint,” he commented, putting an arm around her and holding her while the helicopter slowly began to rise, the twin rotors ramping into high-gear. “Believe me, I want to be there in his place, but he’s a stubborn ass and refused to let me go.”
“You’re such a pussy,” she snarked with a grin, trying to relay the humor rather than the anger she felt.
“You are what you eat,” he remarked quickly, then his smile died. “Crap, that was just in bad taste. Shit! I keep doing it!”
She began laughing, her sides splitting as she bowled over, tears flowing from her eyes. He remained in place and smiled, patting her back; it only made it worse. “That was just wrong.”
His grin grew, “what can I say? I’m probably the only one doing stand-up at the moment. I doubt there’s much laughter left in the world.”
She watched as the helo began to fade on the horizon, then turned to look at him. “Then we find ways to bring it back. We may die at any time, so why not make the most of it?”
“Woah, someone got her groove back!” he snorted, giving her a playful shove.
“If he gets back, I might just get laid! So yep, all groove baby!” she giggled, giving him the finger and walking back towards the main building. The world might be ending, but at least now she had something to look forward to, and that apparently made all the difference in the world.
Chapter 26
Divided
Monica
Malmstrom AFB, Montana
Blair set his phone down, then leaned back in his chair, grinning. “Mr. Flaggerty is in the air. That should take a load off.”
She snorted, “not really. Nothing is going to do that until he’s in the ground. I don’t care what he has to offer, nor what he claims he’s hiding; the man cannot be trusted.”
The young man leaned forward, his tie tapping the desk, “and that’s why you’re going out there. Though, if you would prefer to stay here, you’re more than welcome. They have someone with them to verify and help with the ins and outs of the compound structure. I’m sure we can find a tech savvy enough to send along for an assist.”
Her heart stopped. “Are you telling me Todd is with them?”
The man had seen her pause, then a smile spread upon his face as he realized her mistake. “Not at all. He was convinced to remain behind by one of your mates, a Joseph of Arkansas. He’s ex-SWAT, isn’t he? I think I have his folder here somewhere,” he finished, fingers rummaging the surface of his desk.
“You roped Joseph into this shit? How many have to die before that man gets what he deserves?” Mark snapped. He and Joseph had grown close and it had never occurred to either of them that he would be the one to escort Sean north. Matt maybe, he was ex-military, but the injuries had probably excluded him from the excursion to the Ninth Compound.
“Woah there big boy, the man volunteered. We had you, we didn’t need him. He insisted on going,” Blair responded defensively. “He wouldn’t take “we got this” for an answer.”
Mark’s eyes blazed, “we don’t have a choice. He did. You could have left him there. Why the hell did you need him when you’ve got us over a barrel here.”
“A barrel? What the hell are you talking about?” Blair asked, eyes wide. “Who said you don’t have a choice? All of you are more than welcome to stay, none of you are required to go, now that we have the guide we need. In fact, it’ll save us on fuel and possibly a pilot if you remained here.”
Naima shook her head, “we don’t want to be here. You forced us here against our will and now what? We have to either go off to our deaths at this medical facility where all this crap started, or stay here surrounded by the hordes of undead trying to eat all of you alive? Those are great choices! What if we wanted to go home? I have a husband and daughter that need me there. I agreed to go after Sean. That’s good, he’s been got. I didn’t sign up for anything else!”
Blair’s eyes danced away and Monica knew that there was something that he was hiding, some other knowledge had yet revealed, but the firm press of his lips meant that he wasn’t about to give anything else up; at least not without a fight.
“She has a point. What do you expect her to do, fight her way south?” John chipped in, pushing at the man who was starting to realize just how badly he was outnumbered.
“Are you and Mrs. Whaley going east?” Blair finally managed.
She knew that there wasn’t really a choice; she had to finish what she started. She glanced at Jenn and got an answering nod. “Yes, we are both going.”
“As am I,” John offered, a flash of teeth appearing as he gave her a smirk and nodded as well.
Mark looked like he wanted to say something, but was having a hard time finding the words. She put a hand on his knee, “I know, but you should try to find a way home, Deborah is going to need you. It’s hard enough raising the kids in a world like this with two parents. You can’t orphan her and leave her destiny to the fates. They haven’t been that kind to us lately.”
The larger man ground his teeth and his fingers tensed on the arm of his chair, then he gave a long exhale and slowly nodded, “you’re right, but how the fuck am I supposed to get back to her? Walk?”
“Well, now that I have a commitment from the three of you, I can safely tell you that you won’t have to rely on us for transportation, your ride showed up a half hour ago,” the man behind the desk informed them, tapping his hands on the desk and getting to his feet. “You’ll be able to hitch a ride home with him.”
“Him? Him who?” she asked, confused. What the fuck was he going on about now?
Jenn’s eyes lit up, “Raul? He’s here?”
Holy crap, she had totally forgotten about him. They had left him back at the Colville Airport and with everything that had happened; she’d never— “And you waited until now to tell us this so that we thought we had no other choice.”
Blair looked away.
“That’s what I thought,” she sneered.
“I told you, can’t
trust these peeps,” Vitarius snarked and she sent him a dirty glare. “Keep on staring at me like that, I don’t care. You know I’m right.”
Blair’s eyes danced towards the clock, then back down to them. “If you’re going to rendezvous with the other helos, then you’re going to have to get going now. That is, if you haven’t changed your mind?”
She slightly jiggled her head back and forth, “you really are amazing. No, we’re not going to change our mind, just as long as you honor our agreement for what comes after.”
“Damn straight,” Jenn tossed in with a quick jerk of her head.
“I have been given assurances that your request will be granted. The rest of you can head out to meet with your compatriot and begin your journey south,” Blair told them as he walked towards the door. He opened it and waited patiently as they all started filing out and headed back in the direction they’d come. “Can’t say it’s been a total pleasure.”
She rolled her eyes, “think the feeling is mutual.”
“I’m just glad this shit is almost over,” John muttered as they walked back into the sunlight, the chaos of the world around them even crazier than when they landed.
She turned and gave the man a long good stare, then shook her head. “You don’t know the man like I do. Trust me, this is only just beginning.”
Chapter 27
Cell
Todd
Compound 2
“Monica?” he asked as the call finally went through. He’d been trying to dial her for an hour and it had consistently gone to voicemail. He was standing in his kitchen as if lost on what to do next, and the microwave suddenly beeped that his TV dinner had finished heating up. Samantha had offered to cook something up for him, but he told her he’d take care of it. She was in her room next door and had her hands full.
They suddenly had a lot of kids to contend with and not a lot of parents.
“Hello?” Monica’s voice returned over the line and he felt a wave of relief strike him. “Todd? Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you just fine, are you okay?” he asked, putting a finger in one ear; like that was somehow going to make a difference.
There was a light static on the line and a lot of noise on her end; it was louder than hell.
“I’m okay; we’re okay. Just a lot going on right now. They’re saying that a large herd is moving in from the southeast, following a large caravan of survivors heading in. The military is mobilizing to head it off. It’s kind of loud right now! Woah, watch out!” she suddenly yelled and he nearly jumped out of his skin.
His heartbeat slowly increased, his fingers throbbing with how tightly he was gripping his cellphone. “I think it’s time you got the hell out of there! Come home!”
“Naima, get over here! They’re not paying attention to who’s in their way!” she yelled even louder. He could hear voices in the background but they weren’t clear enough to understand what was being said. “What did you say?”
“I said come home!” he nearly yelled himself and he heard a door open on the other side of the room. Michelle’s head poked through a doorway and slowly she stepped through it, watching him with fearful eyes. Mom, he mouthed at her and she nodded. Skye peered around the back of Michelle’s right thigh, her eyes wide and fearful. It looked like she had been crying.
There was the sound of a slamming door and the background noise immediately dialed down. “You know I can’t do that.”
“The hell I do! They’ve got Sean, they know where to go, let them deal with it now! It’s no longer our problem!” he returned hotly. His heart was aching; this was not an argument he would win and he knew it. But he had to try.
“Yeah, let’s head to the plane and drop them off first,” she told someone faintly. “Babe, this is hard enough as it is without you giving me a hard time about it. You know I have to go. If I wasn’t, then you would be. Either way, we started this, one of us needs to finish it. Your ride is already gone, so you’re stuck, but mine is about to leave. Okay, I’ll ask. Naima wants to know how Michael and Ali are doing.”
Crap.
He reached for a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water, taking a quick drink as he thought furiously for what to say. “Is she going with you?” he finally inquired, deciding he needed more information first.
There was a pause on the other end. The two of them had been together long enough that she instantly knew something was up by the way he answered. That’s why she was rarely surprised by what she got for Christmas, she knew him too well. “No, she’s coming home.”
“Then tell her everything is fine, Ali is doing great and misses her Mommy,” he replied and knew that the last bit would tell Monica all she needed to know. He heard her relay that to Naima, then she was quiet once more. “I’m serious,” he tried again, “let the military handle it. If Naima can get a ride home, so can you. We need you here.” Michelle had moved closer and was hovering near the back of the couch. Skye was sitting in the center of it, hands on the back, peering at him with mournful eyes. It was breaking his heart.
“What’s going on?” he heard from across the room and Nick was standing in front of his door, arms wide.
“Dad’s talking to Mom,” Michelle hissed back.
“Quiet, the lot of you. It’s hard enough to hear her as it is,” he snapped, turning away from them. “Your kids want you to come home.”
“Let me talk to them,” Monica returned and his frown deepened; she was not relenting.
He held the phone out for Michelle and when she snatched it away, he turned and opened the fridge. There were a few Cokes in there, left untouched since his arrival, and now he pulled one out, popped the lid and tossed the rest of his water in the sink. Using the icemaker on the fridge, he let it fill his glass while he listened to his daughter’s conversation. Filling the glass half-full of Coke, he opened a cabinet on the top and grabbed the bottle of Bacardi, then topped off the rest of his drink. Taking a huge gulp, he refilled it once more, then turned to look at his children.
Skye was talking on the phone now, having turned to sit on the couch, hidden from sight by the large cushions on the back, but her voice was low and full of tearful pleas for her mother.
Michelle walked over to him and embraced him, her long hair a mess, her fingers digging into his back. “She’s not coming back, is she?”
“I don’t know Hon,” he answered truthfully. He could lie and tell her everything was going to be okay, but to what end? Best to face the truth now then try to explain why he lied later on.
Michelle pushed away from him, tears streaming from the corner of her eyes, “I should go get Caleb.”
“Yeah, do that,” he responded quickly. He hadn’t even thought of his other son, who had been locked up in that computer room nearly the entire time since Ben had died. “Tell him to hurry.”
As she rushed out of the room, he watched as Skye got up and handed the phone to Nick. His son turned and walked from the living room, the door to his room slowly closing behind him. Whatever he wanted to say, he didn’t want to be heard.
Skye was standing on the couch now, her eyes swollen. “Daddy.”
Setting his glass down, he went to her and pulled her off the couch and into his arms. “It’s going to be okay, Sweetie. Mommy just has a few things to do before she comes home.”
“I want her home now,” Skye sobbed.
He put his hand on the back of her head and held her close, “I know Honey, but there’s nothing we can do about that. Mommy has one last thing to take care of and I know that if there’s a way to get back to us, your mother will find it.” He stood there for a minute, just rocking her, trying to believe in his own words, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Nick was holding the phone out and he reached up to take it. “Take her,” he told his son.
Skye turned and threw her arms around her older brother’s neck as he relinquished her over and turned to talk on the phone once more. “Caleb is on the way Babe. Are you sure about this?�
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“Todd, drop the act. We both know it has to happen and why. You saw the man, tell me you trust anything that son of a bitch had to say.” She tried to sound angry, but he could tell that she had been crying and was trying to snap herself out of it; to refocus.
“I’m not going to say goodbye,” he told her firmly.
“I’m not asking you to,” she said near a whisper, “but I can’t make any promises either. Chances are, we are worried over nothing. If this compound was built the same as ours, then I know how to get around, and its most likely in one piece and not overrun. I can’t imagine Sean putting together a place like that without making sure it was secure.”
He shook his head, then realized she couldn’t see it. “It’s not the dead I’m worried about.”
“We are going with two Seal teams and three attack helicopters for support. They aren’t holding anything back here,” Monica told him, trying to sound reassuring. “John and Jenn are going with me; the rest are coming home. I thought Vitarius would want to see this through, but he’s been itchy ever since we touched down. Oh, shut the fuck up, yes you have. Think he misses his mommy.” There was light laughter and a curse in the background, and when she spoke again it was with a lighter tone. “Just think of it as I’m an advisor, nothing more. I have no intention of actually taking part in any fighting, if there is any. I’m a guide in their ear, Jenn’s their eyes, and John, well, he’s moral support. Yeah, yeah, yeah, stroke that shotgun big boy.”
He didn’t want her spirit down when she got off the phone, it might affect her reaction time to whatever came next, but there was so much he felt he needed to say.
The door opened and Caleb came into view, Michelle close behind.
“I love you Hon,” he told her, “Caleb is here.”
“I love you too, I really do,” she replied, as if she’d never say it again. “Let me talk to him, then I have to go. We’re almost at the plane and you should have them back home in a few hours.”
The Rotting Souls Series (Book 4): Charon's Coffers Page 15