by M. L. Giles
The thought of being bound up with duct tape – while possibly quite kinky – didn’t appeal to me, so I came up with a suggestion. “Or you could take the keys to the green car I used to get here? In exchange for those lovely handcuff keys, of course.”
The man took a few seconds to think over his new option. “What stops me from simply taking the keys off you then leaving you here?”
“Nothing,” I said. “But consider the following: by taking our car and leaving us here, you’d be a dick. Don’t be a dick.”
The man had another small laugh at my joke. I could tell there wasn’t anything truly malicious about him. He wasn’t aggressive or threatening to do us in yet. Whoever this was came over as a sane survivor, hardened by experience.
“We ain’t givin’ him the car,” Colton stupidly blurted out.
I felt compelled to remind him of our situation. “We are tied up. Bethany looks unconscious over there. He has a sledgehammer and a dog who looks ready to tear our balls off. Given the circumstances, I think we can spare a car in exchange for our freedom!”
Colton grunted submissively.
“You’re a smart guy,” the man said. “Well then, I wouldn’t want to be a dick.” Taking my suggestion, the man walked over to me and knelt down, rummaging around in my pocket. Interestingly, he only took the keys from me, nothing else.
“Great! Now you’ll free us?” I asked the man as he walked back to his dog.
The sound of metal hitting the floor multiple times echoed around us. “Keys to your handcuffs are on the ground. Don’t follow me. I won’t follow you.” The man walked away from us, taking the only source of light with him.
“Wait! What about my torch?” I called out. “You can’t leave us here in the dark!”
“It will take you longer to find those keys in the dark, which works out better for me,” he yelled back. As he walked off with his dog, I saw three numbers written in yellow on the back of his blue overalls.
“Who was that guy?” I asked quietly once we were alone.
“Dunno,” Colton answered. “When I asked for a name, he just called himself a lone wanderer. Think you can find them keys in the dark, Gray?”
“Nope.”
The “lone wanderer’s” plan had worked beautifully. By the time I had found all three keys, removed the cuffs from us all, found something sharp enough to cut the duct tape with, and helped a waking Bethany walk out of the supermarket (all that in the dark, by the way), the man, his dog, and our small green car was gone.
Colton and I went back a few times to grab more supplies, just so the trip wasn’t a complete disaster. We loaded them into the back of the van, along with a few blankets that we piled up to let the mildly disoriented she-hulk rest on.
To my surprise, my slim torch had been left for me in the back of the van.
I guess Mr Wanderer didn’t want to be a dick after all.
Once finished, Colton retrieved the keys he had slid under the supermarket shelves when they were ambushed. Soon after, we set off for the hotel, with me sitting up front next to Colton.
“Why’d you come?” Colton asked me as he drove the van out of the supermarket’s loading area.
“I came to say sorry for comparing you to Aiden.”
“Guessin’ Pearl changed your mind, then?”
I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing a few strands that had come loose back into place. “Yeah, she did. Your father helped too. Did you know he uses her ‘services’?”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “My old man’s a bit of a pervert. Loves his time with Pearl.”
A small pang of jealousy reared its ugly head, compelling me to ask a question. “Have you… ever done anything with Pearl?”
“Nah. Considered it once, but I gotta feel somethin’ for a person before I do stuff with ‘em. Not done anythin’ with anybody since my wife died.”
“That so? Evan painted a very different picture. He told me you got caught, and I’m quoting him here, ‘balls-deep in different soldiers’.” I poked Colton playfully in his side. “Have feelings for a lot of people, do you?”
He chuckled, probably out of embarrassment. “Thanks for that, dad… Yeah, I fooled around with a few guys in my early days of trainin’, y’know how it goes. Grew out of it after realizin’ how empty it left me feelin’ afterwards, though.”
“Oh, I imagine having your balls drained frequently can leave you feeling very ‘empty’.”
“Damn straight.”
We both laughed. It felt great being able to enjoy each other’s company again, especially after the events at the supermarket.
However, his statement a moment ago did make me wonder about something.
“So, is this your way of saying you feel something for me, hmm?” I asked coyly.
Even with the low lighting from the van’s dashboard, I could see Colton’s face blush slightly. “Er, you might say that. I’ll admit, you reminded me of my wife at first, that’s what attracted me to you: the personality. But the more I got to know you— …I dunno.”
“Go on,” I urged, curious to see what he’d say next.
“When I first see folk, they’re always so broken from what happened,” he explained. “Some of ‘em try to hide it behind false smiles. You were different, though. All it took was a little push for the real you to come out. It was like all the shit last year didn’t change you. Fuck, even the hospital didn’t change you! I dunno what you were like before the virus, but I got a strong feelin’ you weren’t much different from now. You’re somethin’ special.”
Memories came back of how much trouble I’d had trying to sleep after seeing the bearded guard burn. “If I’m honest, the hospital almost did change me.”
“But it didn’t,” he insisted. “When I woke you up this mornin’, an’ you made that joke ‘bout the pink shirt—ˮ
“That wasn’t a joke. That thing was awful.”
Colton smiled, his attention still on the road. “When you wisecracked ‘bout the shirt, I was so goddamn relieved. I was scared, Gray. Didn’t want you losin’ that spirit you got.”
His words meant so much to me. Simply knowing that someone cared enough to not want me to change was the most uplifting feeling in the world.
I felt rotten for ever doubting him.
Silently, I shuffled closer to Colton, resting my head against his arm. We drove the rest of the way back without saying a word.
It must’ve been the early hours of the morning by the time we got back to the hotel.
Colton helped Bethany to her room, insisting she get some rest from whatever had happened to her before my arrival. Meanwhile, Tyrone, Evan, and I unloaded the supplies from the back of the van.
Tyrone was pretty moody about us losing the small green car. I wasn’t exactly thrilled either. I really liked that car. Simple, inconspicuous, green (my favourite colour), and easy to drive.
Perfect, really.
After unloading all the supplies from the van, I ended up in the bar, sitting at a candlelit table with Colton, Evan, and Tyrone.
Evan had snuck a bottle of vodka out from his room, pouring all four of us shot glasses of the stuff. Although drinking wasn’t technically allowed under Colton’s own rules, no other people were in the bar or lobby because of how late it was.
I guess even leaders can break their own rules sometimes.
Colton filled them both in on the details of what had happened at the supermarket. When Evan asked if we would ever see that lone wanderer again, I told him I didn’t think so.
There was one more interesting subject we talked about that evening.
Evan drank his shot of vodka, refilling the glass immediately afterwards. “Are you going to tell everyone about this virus?”
Colton nodded hesitantly. “Yeah. Don’t feel like the right time, though.”
“Why not?” Tyrone asked.
“Two reasons.” Colton drank a shot of vodka, then let his dad fill up the glass again. “Firstly, once folk learn
‘bout the doc’s health, they won’t believe anythin’ he has to say. An’ secondly, I promised everyone I’d find out everythin’ to do with what happened last year. So far, I got info on what it was but no clue how it happened.”
Evan and Tyrone went quiet, almost like they agreed with Colton. It seemed stupid to think people would react badly, yet their silence seemed to suggest otherwise.
“…When are you going to tell them?” Evan asked his son.
“This mornin’, once folk get up. Need some rest afterwards.”
Evan laughed, taking another shot of vodka. “I see what you’re doing, you little shit! You’re going to drop the bombshell, then leave Carl to deal with all the angry people!”
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” I said, also drinking down a vodka shot. “Let Carl take on the firing squad.”
We all had a laugh, raising a glass to the safety of Carl.
“Well then, boys,” Evan stood up, using his palms on the table to support himself. He had drunk far more than the rest of us. “I’m off to bed. Don’t bother waking me for the meeting, can’t be arsed to hear what I already know.”
“Night, dad,” Colton said. Tyrone and I also said goodnight.
“Oh, yeah, one more thing, Colt.” Evan turned around drunkenly on the spot, still walking backwards towards the bar’s exit. “If you and Grayson decide to screw around tonight, keep the fucking noise down. Last thing I want is to be woken up by the sound of my own son having an orgasm.”
“DAD! Don’t talk like that!” Colton shouted. He sounded like a teenager telling off his parents for embarrassing him in front of his friends. A deep, gravelly voiced teenager.
“You might be thirty-five, but you’re never too old to be humiliated by your father! Remember that, my boy,” Evan shouted as he stumbled out of the bar.
Colton looked back at me and Tyrone. We were both laughing hard. Tyrone almost fell off his chair, partly due to the alcohol. Even Colton managed to see the funny side eventually.
You’d think I would also be embarrassed by Evan’s words, but I knew what the man was like already. Plus, I was too tipsy to care.
Just before the sun started to rise, Colton thought it might look bad if everyone saw their leader drunk, especially since drinking wasn’t allowed here. He decided to go to his bedroom to freshen up.
I did the same.
When I reached my room, I got undressed to give myself an all-over wash in the sink of the bathroom. After that, I threw on some new clothes; a red t-shirt and black shorts, all kindly picked out for me by Wendy.
While waiting for everyone to get up, I took some time out by lying on my bed, eating a bar of chocolate that I had pilfered from the supplies we’d grabbed earlier – a little reward for myself.
I wanted to be there when Colton gave his group the news. Although Colton believed it wouldn’t go down well, I thought otherwise.
For the second day in a row, everyone was gathered in the bar. Colton was sitting on the bar, wearing a casual green and white tank top with blue jeans. He looked sober, or was faking it really well.
I stood in the crowd next to Wendy and Thomas. They both seemed in good spirits. It’s strange but, in a short amount of time, it felt like we had all found our place amongst these people.
Wendy had taken the time to get to know everyone by being as sociable as possible. Whereas I had earned my place through my own deeds. Thomas… wore a suit, which some people thought was neat, probably.
With a single loud whistle, Colton grabbed everyone’s attention. The room fell silent.
It was time.
He started by explaining that a virus similar to rabies had been the cause of the madness that ensued one year ago, and that we were immune because of our blood type.
Each person hung on Colton’s every word, taking it all in with a solemn sense of satisfaction. By the end, the bar was filled with contented conversations. This was the news they had been waiting for; the news Wendy, Thomas, and I had all come here for in the first place. They all now had the answer to what happened to their families. It felt oddly satisfying to have helped bring some comfort to us all.
However, once the room had quieted again, Colton delivered the next bit of news. He explained that Doctor Hugo Witherson, the man who had discovered this news, was mentally ill.
This piece of news threw everything into chaos.
“You can’t seriously expect us to believe what Witherson told you if he’s not mentally sound,” one lady in the crowd said. Many nodded their heads in agreement with her. “And if he is ill, why would you keep that from us? Unless you have something to hide.”
“Yeah!” a man yelled out from right behind me. “This is bullshit! You are making this up because you promised to find answers and you got nothing!”
“I promised to try, which I have done,” Colton replied. “This don’t mean—”
“Where is Doctor Hugo?!” A frantic lady in the corner of the room shouted at the top of her lungs, interrupting Colton. “Let’s hear this from him!”
“Told you already, the doc ain’t well right now. He needs—ˮ
The crowd drowned Colton out with their uproar.
“We shouldn’t have listened to you, Colton!” A young woman stepped forward at the front. “Aiden never promised us anything except a safe place to do whatever we wanted, so long as we followed him! You won’t let us drink, smoke, take days off, or even have children. Aiden allowed all those things!”
Not everyone was happy to hear Aiden’s name mentioned, but a few people did seem to agree with the woman.
Wendy tugged on my arm. I looked into her desperate eyes as she asked me, “Is that true? Does this Aiden allow us to have children?”
“Put it out of your head, Dee. He’s too dangerous.” I spoke sternly to put my point across.
“What if—ˮ
“Wendy! He burnt someone alive just for sleeping on the job,” I interrupted her, hoping to quell any thoughts she might be having. “The guy is nuts.”
Poor Wendy fell into the arms of Thomas, crying against his chest. All Thomas could do was stroke her hair. I wanted to console her somehow, only I didn’t know what to say.
Everyone was still in a frenzy, one that showed no signs of dying down anytime soon. These people were obsessed with the past, which made me wonder if the over-the-top reaction was because of Colton’s promises.
He had given them a goal to stay focused on, but it looked like that same goal was now backfiring.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Carl stepped in front of Colton, shouting in his thick American accent. “The rules are in place for a reason! Alcohol impairs your judgement, nicotine is addictive, day’s off won’t help our survival situation, and we don’t want any women getting pregnant yet in case we need to get out of here in an emergency. Once we are absolutely safe these rules can be lifted.”
“BOO!” a man called out from the back. “Why should we listen to you? We only followed these stupid rules because Colton promised us answers; answers he has failed to deliver!”
“You’re wrong… I didn’t fail.” Colton jumped off the bar. Carl stepped out of his way. “The doc’s research was done before he got sick, not after. That makes it valid. But if you folk want more proof, then all I can ask is for more time to think of somethin’.”
Half of the people seemed to calm down thanks to those words. The other half still vocalized their opinions by claiming the information was, to quote the man yelling behind me, “bullshit”.
With everything done, Colton whispered a few words to Carl, then walked out of the bar looking miserable. On the way out, he nodded toward me. I walked through the emotionally confused crowd, going after him.
I found Colton holding the door to his room open. He slammed the door shut in frustration after I’d past him and sealed it with a bolt lock.
“Wow, you were right! They didn’t believe Hugo’s words. What about if you let Hugo explain all this in front of them?” I suggested.
I walked over and sat down beside him on the bed. “Nothing yet. You should get some sleep first. We can worry about all this tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I guess,” he grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.
“Hey, things will be okay. I’ll help with whatever you want,” I said, smiling as best as I could for him. He weakly smiled back at me. “Right, I’ll leave you to get some sleep. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“Rather you stayed with me.”
I perked an eyebrow. “Oh really? After all that, you’re feeling amorous?” I joked.
Colton shook his head tiredly. “Nah, nothin’ like that. I just need…”
“…Yeees?”
“Just need someone to hold. Maybe it sounds a bit sappy, but I don’t wanna be alone right now.”
His request sounded sappy because it was sappy. To be honest, I never did that kind of stuff very well. Holding hands, cuddling on the sofa with a movie, making cute noises to each other – those sorts of acts weren’t me. I was more the type to meet a guy, have as much pleasure as possible, then bugger off. Friends with benefits, so they say.
This time, however, I was willing to make an exception.
We both stripped down to our boxers and got into his bed. Colton grabbed me from behind, pulling me right up against him. It seemed I was going to be his teddy bear while we slept.
The whole cuddling thing was an interesting experience for me, yet not an unpleasant one. I must admit, the feel of his hefty arms tightly wrapped around my entire body did feel good.
As we drifted off to sleep, with the morning sunlight bleeding through the curtains, I honestly found myself feeling sorry for the big guy. He had delivered these people exactly what they were promised, only to be labelled a liar.