“Okay everybody, let’s move!” Nick shouted skipping his feet together before kicking his movements into a run.
Bronx and Blair were ahead of us, but only by a few steps. The others were behind, but we were all running at nearly the same frantic speed.
After a few minutes, I spotted a gas station we’d passed not that long ago. I pointed, and Nick nodded.
“We’ll go inside the gas station,” Nick shouted as if he’d read my mind. Not that it mattered because it seemed as though everyone was already headed in that direction.
I glanced over my shoulder, and the fog-cloud was moving even faster than I had originally thought. In fact, I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it inside the gas station before it overtook us, sucking us inside.
“Keep moving,” Nick said with a slight shakiness to his words.
My feet hadn’t pounded out more than ten steps when I heard labored breathing coming from behind me. I turned and met Jamie’s reddened, wide eyes for only a second when I knew something was wrong.
Monica was wearing a similar expression, but she kept moving as if her life depended on it.
“Go on,” Jamie said slowing his pace. “I’ll catch up.”
“What?” I said after a sharp breath.
“The hell you will,” Nick said as he slowed and dropped back to Jamie’s side. Nick met my eyes for a brief second. “Keep moving!”
I watched as Nick wrapped his arm underneath Jamie’s and used all his strength to haul him along with him. It surprised me, but Nick wasn’t going to leave him behind.
Bronx leaped over what was left of a blistered, decaying body and pulled open the gas station door. He circled his hand over and over again as though he were directing traffic.
I followed Blair inside. Danny and Shannon were right behind us.
I stepped up next to the big window with faded advertisements and pressed my palms against the dusty glass. The cloud was already devouring the gas pumps out front hiding them completely from view.
“Holy shit!” Blair said clutching the invisible pearls at her neck.
“Run!” I shouted as I pounded on the window with my fist. The cloud was right at the heels of Nick and Jamie.
As Nick pushed Jamie through the door, Monica tripped over the body lying on the ground near the door. She fell hard on the pavement, her face flopping forward and cracking against the hard concrete.
“Crap,” Danny said as he pushed past Nick and Jamie.
He stepped out just as the thick cloud wrapped itself around Monica’s feet. He hastily scooped his hands under her arms and pulled her into the gas station. Shannon quickly closed the door once they were both inside.
I stared out the window watching as the cloud encapsulated the building. Everything around us disappeared. It felt like everything had been wiped away… erased, and we were all that was left.
“I… can’t… breathe,” Jamie said lowering himself down to the ground.
“What is that shit?” Bronx said frantically flapping his hand at the window. He drew in a breath as if he were having trouble catching his breath after the narrow escape. His eyes widened. “Is this another attack?”
Nick’s eyes were on Jamie as he crouched down next to him. “Might just be the weather… fog.”
“That’s some thick ass fog,” Blair said crossing her arms. “Never seen anything like that before. Why was it making it hard to breathe?”
“Humidity can feel that way,” Nick said offering a shrug.
I shook my head as I looked at Jamie struggling to draw in each breath. “Humidity doesn’t do that.”
I knelt down next to Jamie and rubbed my hand on his back as if that would somehow help. He flashed me a weak smile.
“I’m starting to feel better already,” Jamie said, and I couldn’t help but smile back. Nick narrowed his eyes. “No, really I am.”
Jamie leaned back against one of the shelves, running his fingers through his hair with one hand and clutching his chest with the other.
“That was no fog. Not the regular kind anyway. Whatever that was, it was like some kind of poison,” Jamie said, his eyes shifting toward the door. “But it’s not seeping in through the cracks… almost like it’s too thick.”
Nick shook his head. “Why would they need to launch another attack? The last one practically wiped everything away.”
“Maybe their slate wasn’t clean enough,” Bronx said with a shrug. “There were still people left… animals… who knows what they’re doing.”
“Maybe they’re testing their weapons, and somehow we’re just trapped in the middle,” Blair said.
“We can speculate all we want, but the truth is we may never know. Who is left out there to tell us?” Nick waited for a response, but no one answered. “That’s right, nobody. It’s just the other random survivors and us.”
Shannon sniffed as she hugged herself tightly. “Help could be out there. We don’t know.”
“Sure, maybe,” Nick said, but it didn’t sound even a little convincing.
There was tension in the room, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of what everyone was feeling or if it was because the hair was heavy with whatever the cloud was carrying.
After several minutes, Jamie tried to stand. Nick reached out to help, but Jamie held up his palm.
“I feel better,” Jamie said with a heavy breath. “But it still feels like it’s trying to get inside me. I hate to think what would have happened if I wouldn’t have gotten inside.”
Jamie’s eyes landed on Nick. There must have been something in his eyes that I hadn’t seen, but Nick gave him a nod.
“Maybe we should go in the back,” Nick said turning toward the door at the back of the room. “If it’s coming inside let’s make it harder for it to reach us.”
Jamie nodded.
Shannon and Bronx helped Monica to the back. She looked as though she was struggling just as much as Jamie had if not more.
Nick opened the door and gestured for the others to go inside. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side before I could pass.
When the others were inside, he finally spoke. “How do you feel?”
“Fine, I think,” I said swallowing hard. Maybe there was a minimal tightness in my chest but nothing that overly concerned me. It didn’t feel any different than it would have from walking through a thick patch of humidity filled fog. “How about you?”
“I’m fine,” Nick said letting go of my arm. “The only ones that seem affected are those that were touched by the cloud.”
“Jamie wasn’t touched,” I said.
Nick’s head bobbed up and down. “He was close, really, really close.”
I hadn’t been that close, but close enough to know what the cloud was capable of. If it had overtaken us, we probably would be lying out on the parking lot suffering or maybe dead.
Nick slowly turned toward the window, and I followed his gaze. The blue and gray particles of the clouds swirled around the glass.
“Come on,” Nick said placing his hand on my back. “Let’s join the others.”
In the back room, there were boxes everywhere, most of which were unopened. There were two open doors, one of which was a bathroom door, and the other which opened to an office.
Monica was lying on a sofa inside the office, and Shannon was pacing back and forth in front of the door. Bronx and Blair were opening one of the boxes while Danny stood there watching with his arms crossed. Nick joined them.
“Where’s Jamie?” I asked.
“Down here,” he said, and I turned sharply. He was sitting on the ground, his legs pulled up to his chest.
I crossed my arms and walked over to him. My eyes moved up and down as they scanned him.
“I’m fine,” he said with a thin-lipped smile.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Bronx glance our way for a split-second. The muscles in my neck tensed.
“Really, I promise,” Jamie said.
My knees weakened, and all
I could think about was how badly I needed to sit down. To relax.
I lowered myself down next to Jamie and stretched my legs out in front of myself, crossing them at the ankles.
“Wonder how long we’ll be stuck in here,” Blair asked softly. It was obvious that the question had been intended for Nick.
“Probably not long. It’ll pass, and we’ll get back out there,” Nick said with a shrug. “Just a little hiccup in our plans.”
Blair twisted her shaking fingers into her hair. She chewed her lip as Bronx sorted through the box of orange drinks.
“Hey,” Nick said placing his hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to be okay. We all wanted a break anyway, right?”
“Yeah,” Blair said forcing a smile.
Jamie placed his hand on my thigh, and I quickly shot up. Bronx and Nick both glanced in our direction. He’d only been trying to comfort me, but I reacted as though he’d placed ice cubes down my pants.
“I should look for some candles,” I said running my hands down the sides of my thighs. My skin tingled where he’d touched me. “It’ll get dark soon, and we won’t be able to see at all.”
I dashed out of the room before anyone could stop me.
Chapter 11
I looked up and down what remained on the shelving units carefully. Gas stations probably didn’t even stock candles.
If I could have changed how I’d reacted to Jamie’s touch, I probably wouldn’t have changed a thing. I couldn’t let him get close, no matter how much I liked the feel of his hand on my leg.
“Hey,” Bronx said stepping up beside me. “Can I help?”
“Sure, if you want,” I said shrugging.
“You know,” Bronx said as he moved some of the items around on the shelf, “we still have candles in the backpacks.”
Busted. I scratched my head, and my shoulders slumped down. “I just needed a break.”
“What kind of a break?” Bronx asked, his eyes slightly narrowing.
“Just… um… my mind needed a break.”
“Okay then.” He was wearing a smile, but it looked as though it had been cut from someone else’s face and pasted onto his.
I crossed my arms and turned to him. “Try to understand, I’m someone that really kept to themselves, and now I’m constantly around people… strangers really.”
“I’m a stranger?”
“Well, maybe not you, but the others.”
“Jamie?”
“The other others.”
Bronx looked down at his feet and then into my eyes. “You know, I just want you to be happy.”
“I’m not going to be happy. How can anyone be happy? Have you taken a look out the window?” I asked throwing my hands into the air.
“I don’t mean about that,” Bronx said. “I’m talking about Jamie.”
My eyes closed and I sighed. Jamie was one of the last things I wanted to be talking about.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Bronx said holding up his palm. “If Jamie makes you happy, then I’m happy for you.”
He was giving up easily. Too easily. He didn’t even care to fight for me. God, I was losing it.
I chewed my cheek realizing that maybe he really did have an interest in the new girl. He wasn’t going to sit around waiting for me when I couldn’t make up my mind about anything.
How was I even still alive?
It was okay though. This made everything far easier. I wouldn’t have to worry about any hearts getting broken if he was kept at a distance.
There was a part of me that wanted to explain. To tell him that there wasn’t anything going on between Jamie and me, at least not any more than there was between Bronx and I. But I knew it was better to keep my mouth shut.
“But hey,” Bronx said placing his thumb on my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. “I’ve always got your back.” He leaned closer. “Always. No matter what.”
I forced a tight-lipped smile trying to hold myself together. Before I could say anything, he backed away. He kept walking, stopping and placing his hand on the door frame.
“When you’re ready, we’re in there… with candles,” he said before leaving.
It was weird how even though there hadn’t been all that much between Bronx and I, it still felt as though my heart had been broken. My hands covered my face as I dropped down to my bottom. Everything caught up to me, and the tears started falling. There didn’t seem to be anything I could do to stop them.
After a solid ten minutes, I pulled the fabric of my shirt from my shoulder and wiped away my tears. I pushed my shoulders back and got to my feet. It wasn’t like I had a lot of time to sit around feeling sorry for myself. In fact, I shouldn’t have allowed any time for that.
I walked over to the window, but nothing had changed. The cloud was just as thick as it had been when we arrived. If I would have stuck my hand out of the window, I wouldn’t have even been able to see it.
I felt awful about what happened between Bronx and me even if deep down I knew it was for the best. My back was sore, but I stiffened my spine and headed back to the join the others.
They were discussing why someone would bother to launch another attack. I was tempted to turn and go back into the other room.
It didn’t matter why, we were far beyond worrying about the why of any of the attacks, what mattered was that we were stuck and we didn’t know for how long. The bright side was that the gas station had more than enough supplies to keep us alive for months without digging into our backpacks.
Nick and Bronx found some tarps and some extra blankets. They set up two sleeping areas, one in the office near the sofa and the other next to a pile of boxes.
Shannon, Monica, and Blair were in the office, and Nick and Bronx went to the front of the gas station to make sure all the doors were locked. Danny was already zonked out on one of the blankets near the boxes. Jamie was staring at me, and even though there was a slight curl to his lips, I could see the concern in his eyes.
“How are you feeling?” I asked before he could talk to me about whatever it was that was on his mind.
“Oh,” Jamie said looking down at his chest. “Fine. Mostly. Still feels a bit heavy when I take a deep breath.”
Jamie took several steps closer, looking over his shoulder as he approached. His eyes landed on Danny on the ground and then at the mostly closed office door before turning back to me.
“I feel much better now that you’re next to me,” Jamie said. His grin faded slightly. “What happened earlier?”
“What do you mean?” I asked swallowing hard. I was pretty sure I knew what he meant, but he was so close my mind was a jumbled mess.
“When you went looking for the candles. You left pretty abruptly,” he said looking into my eyes. “Did I do something wrong?”
I shook my head. “Of course, you didn’t. I just got overwhelmed, I guess.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Jamie lowered his gaze. “I probably didn’t help with any of that either.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Again, what do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
“No, really, what did you mean by that?”
Jamie drew in a deep breath. “Just back when we were at your place, I was pretty overwhelmed myself, but I know what I want now.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “I want to be there for you. Remember, we’re in this together. Me and you since the beginning.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Jamie had come to my door when I was at my worst. And he hasn’t left my side since, even if he was good at sending mixed signals, he’s always been there.
The other problem was I couldn’t let myself go there with Jamie any more than I could have gone there with Bronx. But I couldn’t stand to have another cold shoulder around me either.
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re in this together, but we can’t forget that we’re not alone.”
“I screwed this up once maybe even twice, but I’m not going to make the same mistake again,” Jamie sai
d cupping my face with his warm, silky hands.
Before I could stop him, he pressed his lips to mine. My eyes squeezed together feeling both the pleasure and the pain of his kiss.
I wanted it, but I knew it shouldn’t be happening. I should have put a stop to it, but I couldn’t.
Jamie’s lips hungrily moved over mine. His tongue sweetly smoothed over mine wrapping me in warmth.
My body relaxed. Every single nerve and muscle in my body turned into jelly. Even if my mind was fighting it, there wasn’t any other part of my body that was.
The floorboards creaked from the other room, and Jamie pulled back. His eyes were focused on my lips as a smile curled his mouth upward. My eyes closed briefly for a few additional seconds just so I could absorb the last feelings of relaxation.
I opened my eyes just as Nick and Bronx walked back into the storage area. My heart was still racing as I looked over at Bronx wondering if he could hear it. He didn’t even look in my direction.
“We’re all locked up tight for the night,” Nick announced. “I still think we should take turns keeping watch just in case, but I doubt anyone could find their way here in that fog, mist, poison or whatever it is anyway.”
Bronx and Nick exchanged a glance. Bronx covered his mouth as he let out a small cough.
“And if they did,” Bronx added in a low voice, “we probably shouldn’t let them in.”
“Right,” Nick said nodding his head as he looked in our direction. “In case they’re contaminated with whatever that cloud is carrying.”
“I’m on the first watch,” Bronx said as he lightly punched Nick on the upper arm. “Get some sleep, eh?”
Nick chuckled. “I’ll try.”
That night we all tried to get comfortable on the hard floor, but it was a challenge. The blankets provided little to no padding underneath us. Not to mention it was hard to sleep in the strange gas station. I would have much rather been alone inside my half-blown away apartment than laying on the storage room floor.
The others did better with sleeping than I did although from time to time I could hear them as they shifted their weight. In the office room, the sofa springs creaked occasionally when Monica moved around always with a soft, almost non-existent whimper.
The Red Sky Series Box Set Books 1-4: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Series Page 22