Taoree: Taoree Trilogy #1

by Michele Notaro

  Colt shoved a water bottle in my chest, I grabbed it, nodding my thanks since I still couldn’t talk and gulped it down. I passed it back to him and he drank, bringing my attention to his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed. I couldn’t help myself, when he capped the water bottle, I grabbed him and sucked the skin at his throat into my mouth, popped off, kissed his shocked lips quickly, then kept moving, panting the whole way.

  I heard Nolan chuckle next to us.

  Considering how terrifying our lives had become, I figured it was important to do little shit like that whenever I could. If I could make someone forget for even one second what we were all running from, I’d call that a win.

  Of course we ran into several groups of Ferals throughout the day, but I was feeling completely back to normal, better even than I had been all week, so I was able to do my share of killing the stupid bastards. And we actually knew where we were going now. We had to keep running towards the road to check landmarks, but we knew the way home. All of us were buzzing with excitement, knowing we would get to see our families soon and knowing that we were so close to our destination after such a hard and trying week… or almost two weeks, as it were. As we walked, we figured out that we’d actually been walking for twelve days straight. If we had had regular nutritious meals the entire time, we’d all be in great shape. Unfortunately though, we hadn’t, so all of us had lost a lot of weight and were looking quite thin and shaggy, with overgrown head and facial hair, but since we’d done nothing but walk and fight for our lives the entire time, at least we’d gained some muscle along the way.

  We passed a group of real live humans just outside of our home town, and I was surprised to see that we knew a couple of the people. There were some girls and a guy that went to school with us. Apparently they wanted to get farther away from the Taoree camp. When we told them about the Taoree controlling the Ferals and collecting the bodies of the humans, they told us that the Taoree in the camp by my house hadn’t even left their camp yet… at least, not to their knowledge.

  That seemed seriously odd to me, but it gave me even bigger hope that my family was okay. We let the group know everything we could. How to kill the Ferals, how they were attracted to sound, but we weren’t sure about light yet, and we told them everywhere we traveled and who or what we came across so they could avoid certain areas. Then we said our goodbyes and made our way into the town we all grew up in. We were getting close to needing to eat something—I guess you could call it dinner—but we were so close that none of us stopped or even said anything. There weren’t too many Ferals around, so the ones we ran into, we took out fairly quickly.

  By some unspoken rule, we all slowed down to quiet our footsteps once we were about ten blocks from home. The Taoree camp was only about fifty yards away from our homes, and no one knew how good—or bad—Taoree hearing was. We crept along as the sun inched lower in the sky until we finally made it to our street.

  I reached out and grabbed Colt’s hand as we headed toward our homes with hope and worry in our hearts. We were on the right side of the street, so we wordlessly headed toward Nolan’s house first. I figured our families would all be together in one house, so we would try his, then move next door to Colt and Cal’s, then to mine if need be.

  Nolan’s front door was wide open, not giving me much hope of finding anyone inside, but we still had to check. We walked into the living room to find a mess of papers thrown all over the floor and furniture. I couldn’t keep the shock from my face at the mess. Nolan’s parents would have freaked out if they saw it. That right there proved to me that they weren’t home, but we still searched each and every room, coming up empty. We did get all the food and supplies we needed from the house, packing them in an extra bag Nolan had in his bedroom. I squeezed his shoulder, offering comfort, before we moved on to Cal and Colt’s house.

  Amazingly, Cal still had his house key in his pocket. He must’ve had it in his pocket the night we had to run from the spaceship and left all our stuff behind. So we had an easy time getting into their house. The house looked untouched and felt empty, but we still searched it thoroughly, just in case. We didn’t find anything, so we packed up what we could—Colt and Cal got extra clothes and things from their bedrooms—and left. Cal locked the door behind him, like he couldn’t stand the thought of strangers getting in and destroying his family’s things.

  When we got to my house, the doors were locked and everything seemed quiet, which made my heart race with fear. If our families weren’t here, I had no idea how we would find them. I was so sure we would find them at home that I hadn’t even considered any other option. I was so sure that they would wait here for us. They had to have known that we would make our way back home, right? But it took us so long to get here, maybe they left, thinking we weren’t coming. I was shaking with anxiety at the thought of us coming all this way only to discover that our families left without us. God, what if they were trying to come up to us? What would become of them?

  Nolan had become our go-to guy at breaking windows, so we let him do his thing, and soon we were walking into my living room. Everything looked pretty normal in that room. The couch, armchair, and coffee table were all in their rightful place, but the throw blanket that was usually on the back of the couch and the decorative pillows were missing.

  We walked through the dining room that looked like normal, and then into the kitchen. The kitchen was a bit of a mess, with some dirty dishes on the counter and in the sink, and even a dirty pot on the stove. There was a trash bag next to the trash can instead of inside it, but it didn’t smell too bad, so I was hoping that meant it hadn’t been sitting there very long.

  We made our way upstairs to check, even though we couldn’t really hear anything. Upstairs was a little messy, but mainly because most of the blankets and pillows were missing off the beds, and my brother and sister’s dressers were open with clothes hanging out of the drawers. It made my stomach clench because it seemed like they had been preparing to leave… like they were packing their bags.

  Colt held my hand tightly as we went back downstairs and moved to the basement steps. When I went to pull the door open, I found that it was locked. I twisted and turned the doorknob a few times, but couldn’t get it open. Then I realized that it only locked from the other side of the door, and suddenly hope bloomed in my chest again.

  If the door was locked from the other side, that had to mean my family was down there. Someone had to have locked the door, right?

  “Mom, Dad,” I spoke quietly into the door and waited, but no one answered. “Hello? Mom? Dad? You guys down there?”

  I waited again, but no answer.

  I knocked on the door. I didn’t want to make too much noise, but I didn’t know how else to get their attention. When no one opened up, I banged a little harder and spoke a little louder, “Mom? Dad? Wesley, Mina? Open the door.”

  Finally, I heard soft footsteps coming up the stairs and I grinned at Colt, Cal, and Nolan with a huge, goofy smile on my face, and they smiled right back. Our families were down there. There was no way their families weren’t with mine.

  A soft voice said, “Jeremy?”

  “Wesley? Open the door, dude,” I said back.

  The sound of the lock unlocking was a beautiful thing. We all took a step back so the door could open, and before I could take in his appearance, Wesley was falling into my arms. I caught him and hugged him to me. I had never been so happy to see my little brother before in my life.

  I felt Wes shaking, and it took a moment for it to register that he was crying. I started patting and rubbing his back as I looked over his shoulder at Colt with furrowed brows. Colt stayed upstairs with me and Wes, but Cal and Nolan went downstairs to see everyone else.

  “It’s okay, Wes. We’re here now. It’s okay,” I whispered.

  Wes eventually calmed down enough to pull away from me and look at my face. His voice was shaky, “I didn’t think you would make it. I… I knew you’d try, but…” He shook his head
as fresh tears fell from his face. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Me too, Little Bro.”

  Before he could say anything else, Nolan came back up the steps with Cal behind him carrying Mandy, Cal and Colt’s little sister. Both Cal and Nolan looked like they had been crying.

  “What’s going on? Where’s Mina?” I started to head for the basement steps, but Wes grabbed my arm, stopping me.

  “We’re all that’s left,” Wes told me.

  “What? ...What do you mean?”

  “I’m sorry, Jeremy, but Mandy and I are the only ones here.”

  “Where’s Mina? Where’s Mom and Dad?”

  “They…” he took a shuddering breath. “They started screaming and chanting. We were all over at Mandy’s house and all our parents and… and Mina started freaking out.” His eyes glazed over as he stared at some unknown spot in the distance. “Mom was the last one to start… she made me take Mandy and run. She… she told me to lock ourselves in the basement… and to wait for you to get here.” More tears fell down his cheeks.

  I just stared at him, not understanding what he was telling me. “No… no… but Mina, she’s down there, right? She’s okay?” I asked. Even though I knew the answer, I didn’t want to believe that my beautiful baby sister was…

  “I’m sorry,” Wes whimpered.

  Nolan grabbed Wes in a hug as I fell forward. Colt was right there to catch me. We wrapped our arms around each other and started crying for our families.

  “My parents and Cal’s parents too?” I heard Nolan ask Wes.

  Wes whispered, “Yes, I’m so sorry.” I could hear the tears in his voice.

  I gripped onto Colt, fisting his jacket in my hands as I sobbed. I sobbed for Mina, I sobbed for my parents, and I sobbed for my friends’ parents who were just as much a part of my family as my own, they were my aunts and uncles, even if it wasn’t by blood. All of us cried for a long time. I ended up hugging each and every one of them, and when I pulled little Mandy into my arms, I was reminded so much of my sister that I cried even harder. I was so thankful that Mandy was okay, but I really missed my sister too. Mandy was the same age as her—ten years old—and they’d practically been best friends since before they were even born. Mandy was like a sister to me.

  When I was holding her in a tight hug, I whispered, “I’m so glad you’re okay, Peanut.” Everyone always called her Peanut because she was so tiny for her age, although she’d definitely had a growth spurt since the summer.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, too,” she whispered back before crying lightly into my neck.

  Some part of my heart shattered at the thought of never seeing my baby sister or my parents again. There was a hole there that would never be filled. But I also knew that I had a responsibility to Wes, Mandy, Colt, Cal, and Nolan. None of us would be able to grieve the rest of our family members like we should. I knew this, but we still needed to have a good cry together. We had to accept them as being gone from our lives forever, and I knew we would need to suck it up and protect one another, to keep each other alive.

  For now, though, we cried and hugged and grieved for everyone we had lost.

  Chapter Eleven

  Once everyone was sufficiently cried out, we moved into the living room. Nolan and Wes cooked something on our gas stove while the rest of us sat in silence on the couch. Mandy ended up sitting in my lap and her brothers were on either side of me, both sitting close. Colt had one arm around my shoulders and the other hand was playing some weird finger game with Mandy. Cal was sitting way closer to me than he normally would. He was pressed up against my side with a huge space left on the other side of him, and he was staring straight ahead with his hands resting on his knees. He clearly needed some comfort, so at one point, I put my arm over his shoulders. At first he didn’t move or even seem to notice, but when I tugged him toward me, he fell into my side and almost sagged in relief.

  The four of us sat on the couch in a weird cuddling huddle until Nol and Wes came in with the food. Wes looked at us and raised a brow, but didn’t say anything. They set the food on the coffee table and the four of us scooted apart as everyone gathered around the tiny table to eat. I thought about suggesting moving to the dining room, but I didn’t have the energy to move that far.

  Instead, I looked over at my sixteen-year-old younger brother. He had light brown hair and brown eyes like me, but he was still a few inches shorter than I was. He had grown very skinny since I last saw him and he had dark circles under his eyes. He was an athlete and usually looked like it, but now he looked way too thin. I felt terrible that he had been dealing with everything basically by himself, while taking care of a ten-year-old little girl. I couldn’t imagine how hard the last two weeks had been on him. The poor kid had to deal with the loss of his parents and our little sister while keeping himself and Mandy alive.

  I looked over at Mandy, who was now in Colt’s lap. Her normally bright blue eyes were a little dulled and her dark blond, curly hair was a mess of knots. Her clothes were filthy, but she was smiling. She had the same bright smile as Colt, and with them smiling at one another right now, they both looked happy and content. I actually smiled when I noticed how both of them had curls sticking out every which way.

  Colt must’ve felt my stare because he looked over at me and grinned. Then he leaned in and kissed my lips sensually. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it made me feel how much he cared for me all the way down to my toes and helped heal something in my wounded soul.

  When we broke apart, he whispered so only I could hear him, “You are so amazing, Jeremy.”

  “Likewise, Sweet Talker,” I said before giving him a small kiss.

  We broke apart and Mandy was staring at us with a cute smile, so I winked at her and she giggled. Then I ate a bite of my food and noticed Wes staring at me.

  After swallowing down my food I asked, “What? He’s my boyfriend now, so I can kiss him anytime I want.”

  I felt Colt nudge my shoulder with his and I smiled, but was still looking at Wesley. Wes just shrugged and went back to eating his food, like he was just curious and needed the confirmation that Colt and I were together, but didn’t actually care too much.

  When we were finished eating, we packed our bags up, making sure we had everything in case we needed to run in the middle of the night, and we brought all of the blankets and pillows up from the basement. We also got to change clothes, and I was excited that I had a leather jacket in my closet from a couple of years ago that still fit me now that I had lost weight from lack of food and constant walking. Leather was easier to wipe blood and stuff off of than my sweatshirt was, so that was a definite plus.

  We moved the coffee table out of the way and scooted the couch and armchair against the walls to make more room in the living room. Wes had wanted to sleep in the basement like they had been, but we explained that we needed a way to get out in case we needed to run. He reluctantly agreed—not that he had much of a choice since there were four of us and one of him—but we eventually set everything up and got ready for bed.

  Colt, Cal, Nolan, and I decided that we would have Mandy and Wes sleep in the middle of us so they would be as protected as possible. We discussed this without Wes, so he couldn’t argue. And we also decided that just the four of us would take turns keeping watch through the night. I had the second shift and Colt had the third.

  Mandy and Wes both fell asleep in the middle of our blanket nest while the four of us were discussing where to go next. Nolan and Cal had snuck back over to Nol’s house when he remembered that his dad always kept a couple maps and compasses in his truck, so we had them open and were planning where to go next.

  They were all old maps, so the Taoree camps weren’t marked on them, but we filled them in where we remembered. Some of the roads were wrong, too, because a lot of stuff had changed since the aliens arrived over two years ago. I was really surprised that Nolan’s dad hadn’t replaced his maps. That seemed so out of character for him, but what could we do?
It was better than nothing.

  “What if we go towards the mountain? Maybe we could find a place to hide out there?” Colt suggested after we’d been arguing for an hour.

  “That might work, but I’m worried about having enough food. Right now we’re living off of crap we’re stealing out of houses,” I stated. “If we go somewhere without a lot of houses, how will we feed ourselves?”

  He shrugged. “We’ll have to hunt or something.”

  I stared at him in disbelief. “It’s too dangerous to use a gun.”

  He grinned at me. “We’ll have to use bows and arrows, then.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Do you know how to shoot a bow?”

  “Uh… no.” I swear he started pouting.

  “Do you have a bow?”

  He pouted further. “No.”

  He looked so adorable with his lips like that that I had to grab him and pull him in for a kiss.

  “Ugh,” Cal groaned, “If you guys are gonna make out, I’m going to bed.”

  I released my boyfriend. “But we didn’t decide on anything.”

  He was walking toward the blankets, but looked over his shoulder. “I think my brother’s idea is the best one so far. We’ll just have to teach ourselves to shoot after we rob a hunting store or something.”

  “See, I’m right.” Colt poked me in the rib.

  I smacked his hand away and huffed, earning a little chuckle from him. “Fine,” I relented, “we’ll try it your way.”

  “Good,” he said as he put his arm over my shoulders and started pulling me to the blankets.

  “Guess I’ll put the maps away,” Nolan said behind us.

  “Let’s go to sleep, Dumpling,” he said into my ear with hot breath, giving me chills and making me wish we could sneak off to be alone together.

  We sat down and made out for a while. I could feel all the affection pouring out of him and I poured my own right back. Every little thing he had done for me that night had started pulling the pieces of my heart back together after finding out about Mina and all our parents. I pushed the thoughts of them out of my head as I refocused on the hot-as-fuck man in my arms. Jesus, I wanted to fuck him again. Damn siblings all over the place, cock blocking me.