Taoree: Taoree Trilogy #1

by Michele Notaro

  Colt asked, “You found it, right?”

  I knew he meant the watch, so I said, “Yep, I already put it in.”

  “Good. Let me get him a sweatshirt,” he said, going over to the closet.

  We were just about done when Devon said, “Do you think…”

  When he didn’t finish, I prompted, “What?”

  “Do you think I can walk out of here with you guys?” he finally asked.

  I didn’t blame the guy for not wanting to be stuck in here by himself with crazies outside or for not wanting to face the crazies by himself, so I said, “Of course. Get your shit together so we can get back to Nol and Cal.”

  Colt and I leaned against the desk, side by side, waiting for Devon to pack a bag. Colt’s shoulder was pushed against mine, and after about a minute of standing there, I widened my stance so my leg was up against his too. He didn’t move away, so I chanced a look at him. He was facing forward watching Devon move around the small room, but when he felt my eyes on him, he turned to face me.

  He reached up and gently brushed his thumb over my cheek, quietly asking, “Are you doing okay?”

  I closed my eyes for a quick second at the sensation, then looked at him and said, “Yeah. I am. Are you?”

  He dropped his hand, but instead of letting him escape, I grabbed it and linked our fingers together, earning me a sweet smile from him when he answered, “I’m good.”

  Devon cleared his throat. “I’m ready.”

  We both stood and I felt him squeeze my fingers before letting go and walking to the door to slowly open it.

  I turned to Devon. “Stick close to me, okay? And, um, try not to look at them. They don’t look normal.”

  He gave me a short nod and I pretended not to notice how much he was sweating, then I followed Colt out the door. We followed the same path, but in reverse, up against the wall. We crossed to the other side of the hallway, pressed against that wall, and slowly slid down it. It took a few minutes, but we eventually made it to the stairwell door that Colt slowly opened before disappearing inside. I passed the creepy, crazy lady and followed, with Devon still behind me. After quiet hellos to Devon, we all made our way down the steps, then out the front door.

  “Devon,” Nolan said, “Do you need a ride? We’re heading back to Virginia if you want to come with?”

  “Thanks, man,” Devon answered, “but I’m gonna try to make my way to my parents up in Maine.”

  “Do you have a car?” Colt asked.

  “My sister’s somewhere on campus and she does. Thanks, guys.” He waved and headed down the street.

  “Good luck,” Nolan yelled after him.

  “You too.”

  We piled into the SUV again and made the short distance to my dorm. When Colt parked the SUV, no one got out right away. A few blocks down, there were a bunch of guys slamming shit into car windows and just being destructive to anything they passed.

  “New plan,” Colt said. “You two,” he pointed at Nol and Cal in the back, “will stay with the car to make sure no one messes with it and we,” he pointed to me and himself, “will run inside to get Jeremy’s stuff.”

  “We can just go,” I suggested.

  “You’re the only one without a change of clothes and I’m sure you have some food up there, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, then let’s go.” He jumped out of the SUV without waiting for an answer, so with a glance at my friends, who both nodded at me, I jumped out after him.

  Colt was walking in front of me inside the building, so I pointed out, “You don’t actually know where you’re going.”

  He stopped walking and gestured for me to take the lead, so I went in front of him and walked to the stairwell. My room was only on the second floor, thank god, so we didn’t have far to go. As we climbed, Colt said, “I like this view much better, anyway.”

  I turned to him, surprised he actually said that. “Like my ass, huh?”

  “It’s a nice ass,” he said with a smirk. I turned around and headed up the second flight of stairs. Colt added, “Sexy as fuck.”

  I almost tripped on the stair in surprise, but managed to laugh and say, “I guess I can’t blame you. I’ve been checking your ass out since the ninth grade.”

  “Only ninth, then?”

  I laughed again. Despite the terrible events we’d found ourselves in, I was so incredibly happy that Colt was acting more like the guy I first started crushing on when I was younger than the reserved guy that didn’t talk to me. I was thrilled and so relieved that he was feeling more comfortable around me again.

  Luckily, we made our way into my dorm room without running into any crazies. We shut the door—my roommate wasn’t in—and I retrieved a suitcase and duffle bag from the closet. I told Colt where the food was and handed him the duffle so he could fill it while I got my clothes. I packed a few changes of clothes, then found my stash of flashlights, candles, and lighters. My mom had made sure I’d be prepared in a power outage. I thought she went a little overboard at the time, but now I was grateful.

  Once we packed everything up, Colt headed for the door, but I grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned back to me as I dropped my suitcase on the floor and stepped up to him. I took the duffle bag out of his hand and dropped it on the floor too, then grabbed his hips so he was facing me.

  I quietly said, “I don’t know when we’ll get to be alone again today, so I want to take advantage of this.” I pressed my body up against his and brought my mouth just an inch away from his. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” I whispered before lightly pressing my lips to his.

  I waited, holding the kiss gently, to give him a chance to pull away, and when he didn’t, I pressed a little harder. I was surprised when his tongue traced my lower lip, but I quickly opened my mouth and met his tongue with my own. I moaned into the kiss which seemed to give him courage because he reached up and put his hands in my hair, holding me against him so I couldn’t escape—not that I’d ever want to. I gripped his hips tight, probably hard enough to bruise. I could feel his erection through his pants just as surely as he could feel mine.

  He walked me backward until I hit the back of the door and he ground his hips into me, causing us both to moan. I savored the taste of him. He tasted like mint and something that I could only describe as Colt and it was fucking delicious. Our tongues danced as I slid my hands around his hips and onto his sweet, tight ass, pulling him even closer against me.

  We made out for a few more minutes before he pulled back, panting, “Please tell me you have condoms and lube you can pack?”

  I laughed. “I already packed them.”

  “Good,” he said, resting his forehead against mine. “I wish we could stay here, but…”

  “I know,” I replied, placing a chaste kiss on his lips, “but at least now, I can kiss you anytime I want.”

  “Is that right?” he asked with a smile.

  “Definitely,” I said before giving him a scorching kiss that I never wanted to end, but had to cut short. “They’ll come looking for us if we take too long.”

  “I know,” he said before pulling away a little. “We should go.”

  I grabbed his hands, lacing our fingers. “You’re not going to freak out if I kiss you in front of your brother, are you?”

  He gave me a mischievous smile. “Not at all.”

  I knew that look, so I said, “You’re going to enjoy teasing him about this, aren’t you?”

  He leaned in and kissed me again. “Oh yeah.”

  I laughed and we eventually broke apart and made our way to the door of my building. When we walked outside, I was surprised to see Nolan and Cal talking to a couple of girls by our SUV. As we approached, I recognized one of the girls as Cindy, the girl Nolan had a crush on for the past few months. Colt and I threw my suitcase in the trunk, but I threw the duffle with the food in the front seat and figured I’d just have to deal with it at my feet or throw it in the back with Cal and Nolan, since I u
nofficially had shotgun. I thought we might want easy access to some food for the drive.

  Colt grabbed my hand as we walked over to the group and I laced my fingers through his, marveling at the feeling of skin on skin. I saw the moment Cal noticed us holding hands. He looked right at them, then up at me, and instead of looking angry like I thought he would despite what he’d said, he flashed a genuine smile at me.

  The group that was destroying cars had moved farther away from us, so we decided to talk for a minute before heading back on the road.

  The girls were heading west together and were swapping stories with us about the events of the day. I noticed that Cindy kept rubbing her temples, as if she had a headache, but I didn’t pay too much attention because every time she spoke, I had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing at Nolan. He looked like a puppy staring at his favorite toy. It was fucking hilarious.

  Now that I knew I had the go-ahead—from both Colt and Cal— I had my normal confidence back and ended up stepping behind Colt, wrapping my arms around his waist so my chest was against his back, and resting my chin on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder at me with a grin as he hugged my arms to him. Whenever I looked at Nolan’s face, I used Colt’s shoulder to block my smile.

  I knew Nolan was loath to leave, but we really needed to leave while we could, and now was the perfect opportunity because a lot of the students had already left or were inside since it was starting to get dark.

  Colt read my mind when he said, “We really should be going, guys. I want to get a few hours driving time in before it gets too late.”

  I nodded my agreement since Colt could feel my nod, and Cal and Nolan agreed, albeit reluctantly. We said our goodbyes to the girls and I started walking Colt back over to the SUV without letting go of him, which made him laugh. I kissed his cheek at his door and was pulling away when someone close by started screaming at the top of their lungs. We both turned to see who it was.

  I wasn’t prepared for it to be someone I knew. I wasn’t prepared for the dread and fear to take over my body so suddenly like that. In the last hour, I had all but forgotten our little problem, being so wrapped up in Colt, so the fear, dread, and guilt hit me like a ton of bricks.

  I snapped out of my daze when Nolan rushed past me, yelling, “No no no no no.”

  Colt, Cal, and I all followed him over to Cindy who was grabbing her head and pulling her hair, screaming at the top of her lungs. Nolan grabbed onto her, trying in vain to calm her down and pull her hands off her head. Colt and I got to him first, so we were already trying to get him to let go when Cal caught up to us.

  “Nolan,” Cal was yelling, “there’s nothing we can do. Let her go, man.”

  “No no no no no,” Nolan was yelling and crying. “Please. No… no… please…” he was holding onto her arm so tightly I was having trouble getting him off her.

  Then, just as suddenly as the screaming had started, Cindy stopped and started chanting. I noticed a little blood coming out of her nose and one of her ears.

  “Oh god, Cindy,” one of the other girls was crying. I glanced at them. Actually, they were all crying. “I’m so sorry,” the one said as her friends pulled her down the street. They obviously knew there was nothing they could do for her and accepted her fate.

  Nolan was still pulling on Cindy’s arm, so I wrapped my arms around his chest, pulling his back against me and just hugging him, saying, “I’m so sorry, Nolan. I’m so sorry.”

  He started to slump into me a little, so Cal took advantage and pried his fingers off of Cindy, allowing me to pull him back a little. Cal and I dragged a crying Nolan away from the chanting Cindy, and Colt opened the back door of the SUV and helped us get him inside.

  Cal walked around to the other side, but I immediately stepped into Colt and accepted his hug. I buried my face in the crook of his neck and inhaled his masculine spicy scent while fighting back the tears. We had our arms wrapped around each other, and his warmth calmed me enough that I was able to let go and walk to my side of the SUV and get in without actually letting any tears fall. I didn’t want Colt to think I was weak, anyway—not that I thought any less of Nolan for crying, not at all.

  Nolan was quiet in the car. I glanced back and saw that Cal had scooted close to him and put his arm around his shoulders, offering a silent comfort. I was grateful Cal was back there with him. We drove for about two hours, making it only as far as we normally would in a half hour because there were so many abandoned cars and people walking around or crazies standing in the middle of the street. When I felt myself nod off, I jerked my head up and looked over at Colt.

  I tried to take in his appearance. His blond curly hair was messier than usual and his shoulders were slouched over. It was pretty obvious that he was just as exhausted as the rest of us. I glanced back and was amused to find Cal and Nolan both asleep, resting against one another.

  I looked back at Colt and noted, “You need to get some sleep.”

  “We don’t really have any place to rest. I don’t even know of any hotels around here,” he responded.

  “So, what? Are you planning on driving all night, then?” I asked sarcastically as he stifled a yawn.

  “I don’t know what else to do.”

  “Why don’t we pull off of the main road and just park somewhere. We can sleep in the car,” I suggested.

  “That’s not going to be very comfortable,” he said.

  “Probably not, but that’s better than crashing from exhaustion,” I noted.

  He blew out a long breath before saying, “You’re probably right.”

  “I know.”

  “You’re also a dick.”

  “I know,” I said again, making him laugh softly.

  He pulled off the highway and we found a remote road where we couldn’t see any other cars or people. He pulled the SUV right next to a few trees, which somehow felt safer than being out in the open.

  When the SUV stopped, Cal asked, “Where are we?”

  “We pulled over so we can sleep. Colt’s exhausted and I’m too tired to take over right now,” I answered.

  He yawned. “Good plan.” He stretched a little then nudged Nolan. “I’m gonna sleep on the floor,” he told him. “You can lie down on the seat.”

  I chimed in, “Can I put my seat back so I can lay down some?”

  “Sure,” Cal answered with another yawn as he climbed onto the floor of the SUV.

  Without a word, Nolan lay down across the seat and turned his face toward the back of the car so I couldn’t see him. I frowned at him, but didn’t say anything. I fixed my chair and was glad that both Nolan and Cal had their heads on Colt’s side of the car, so I was able to push my seat all the way back. When Colt looked back and realized his dilemma, I almost laughed at him.

  Instead, I suggested, “Do you want to move all the bags up here and we can lie in the trunk? It might be more comfortable.”

  Without missing a beat he said, “Are you suggesting I sleep with you?”

  I snorted. “Yes, yes I am,” I said with a wink.

  He huffed out a laugh. “Well, come on, then.” He got out of the car and went to the back.

  I followed and after a few minutes, we had the trunk cleared and Colt even laid out the blanket from the music festival. We climbed in, he locked the car with the automatic lock on his key ring, and we lay down on our backs next to one another with our feet flat and our knees up, since we were both too tall to fit properly. After an awkward minute, I leaned my bent legs against the trunk door, then reached out and grabbed him, pulling his head onto my chest. He wrapped an arm around my waist and draped his knee on top of my hip. I hugged him close and put my free hand under my head since I didn’t have a pillow. That would’ve been a smart thing to grab. Damn.

  I leaned down a little and kissed the top of his head. “Goodnight, Colt.”

  “Goodnight, Jeremy,” he whispered back as he lightly kissed my neck, sending shivers all over my body. I had to take a deep breath because it w
as definitely not the time to get a boner with my two best friends only inches away from us.

  Colt fell asleep a moment later, so I kissed his head again and marveled in the fact that I finally had him in my arms, after all these years. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

  Chapter Four

  I was walking in the woods behind my house, sneaking my way to the edge of the Taoree camp. Cal and Nolan were too chicken to come with me, but something was telling me, no, calling to me to check it out. I thought that once I started walking my friends would follow, but the little chickenshits stayed behind, telling me I was crazy.

  I was sure they weren’t wrong.

  Once I got close enough to see the fence, I slowed down to remain as quiet as possible. It was so dark outside, but the light spilling out from the alien camp made it a little easier to avoid tripping and face-planting. Once I got to the last tree, I paused, unsure if I wanted to cross that final precipice. I looked all around me, but I didn’t see or hear anything.

  That’s strange.

  The crickets weren’t even chirping.

  I took a final big breath and stepped out of the tree line. I looked around. Still nothing. So I slowly took another step. There was only about ten feet to go to the fence now. I crept along silently toward a spot that looked like there was a hole in the fence cover. It was almost as if my body was on autopilot, taking me to a place that was calling for me.

  Once I was only a foot away, my arms automatically reached out to touch the fence. The fact that the government had told us that the fences were electrified didn’t even cross my mind. When my fingers first brushed the metal, nothing happened. I supposed the fence was turned off… or the government had lied about it.

  Once my palms were flat, I leaned into them, placing my eye up against the hole to look inside. It took a minute for my eye to adjust to the lighting change. It was so bright in there, as if they were all awake when us humans would be asleep. Who knew? Maybe they were.

  There was a small building about twenty feet away from me that I could only describe as a hut. It was at least fifteen feet high, round, and made of planks with little holes cut out for windows. The roof was made of some kind of metal, but still peaked in the middle. There were lights flashing from the inside, as if a TV was on in there.