by M. L. Giles
It was kind of like a scavenger hunt to gain insight into people’s lives, and I wanted to share that experience with Colton. Our break-in spree netted us all sorts of interesting stuff, none of it useful in a survival situation but that wasn’t the point. This was purely for fun, much like how it used to be for me in the past.
One of the many houses we came across belonged to a drag queen. From a promotional poster, we discovered her name was Outrageous Lidia. Just for a laugh, I made Colton wear this blond, pineapple-shaped wig with butterflies attached. He laughed so hard upon seeing his own reflection with the wig on, but when he tried (and failed) to speak like a woman, I couldn’t stand up from the laughter.
Some men are born to be fabulous women, Colton is definitely not one of them.
Our trip around town made me realize that, for a long time after the outbreak, I’d had to babysit Thomas and Wendy, mostly due to their lack of experience. With Colton, though, it was different. I didn’t feel like I needed to babysit him. I think he felt the same way about me.
As harsh as it sounds, we meshed better together when it was just the two of us. Without the burden of others, we were able to connect in a way not possible before.
Once we returned from our entertaining trip around town, we spent some time playing Scrabble before having a bit more fun with each other.
As night turned to day, we both retired to bed. It was then that my mind wandered to Wendy and Thomas, asking myself if they were still all right. When I mentioned my concerns to Colton, he told me each group was instructed to return after two days to resupply and drop off any equipment, meaning that they were probably coming back soon.
With Colton’s reassurance, I managed to push past my worries, falling asleep in his arms.
The final day came. It was time for us to return to the hotel. Deep inside, there was a part of me that didn’t want to say goodbye to what we had by returning to the hotel. Interestingly, I think Colton felt the same, even if he wouldn’t admit it directly.
Truth is, we were both tasting the true freedom of doing whatever we wanted; to explore and discover; to have as much fun as we wanted, whenever we wanted; to live without the responsibilities of other people weighing on our shoulders.
I jokingly suggested running away from it all, just packing up and leaving for another town.
“Y’know, that sounds kinda nice,” he said in response. “But these folk need me, an’ you got friends here. Hell, I got family here.”
I pulled a non-serious sulking face. “Awwww. Can we at least have more time off like this?”
“It’d be a crime if we didn’t.”
We both knew that this was our last day of freedom with each other for a while, but rather than going out to explore, or doing anything sexual (well… that’s not completely true), we instead decided to have some quiet time.
I’d never had the chance to do what people call “pillow talk” before. Even with Roman, we never truly spent a full night together due to the secrecy of our meetings. Strangely, I found myself liking it! Who’d have thought you could be in bed with a guy and not end up with your legs in the air? Not me, that’s for sure.
At the end of the third day, just before we fell asleep in bed together, Colton asked me a question that took me by surprise.
“Wow! I mean, are you sure you want to do this?” I asked in response to his question. “Won’t people talk?”
Colton had a good laugh at what I’d just said. “Don’t worry ‘bout that. Guessin’ most folk know already after our first night together.”
“Oh yeah. Wendy did mention something about gossip spreading easily in a small community.”
“…Well?” he said, looking at me with eager eyes.
“Don’t rush me! I’m thinking about it,” I lied. The answer was obvious, I just wanted to make him sweat a bit first.
“Come on!” he whined. “You’re doin’ this on purpose, Gray.”
I stayed silent, feigning deep contemplation. “Hmm…”
“Right!” Colton sprung himself on top of me, pinning me down to the bed. He brushed his beard around the side of my neck to tickle me – a devious tactic he had discovered on our second night here.
“Okay! Okay!” I laughed my words out. “I give up! I give up!”
Colton lifted his head up, looking down at me. “That a yes I’m hearin’?”
“Jesus Christ, Colton! Are you going to do that every time you want things your way?” I asked in good humour. Colton went in for another beard attack against my neck. “IT’S A YES! IT’S A YES!”
Wearing a smug look on his face, Colton rolled off me, landing beside me on the bed. “That’s more like it. It’ll be nice sharin’ a room with you. Kinda like we’re a couple gettin’ our first place together, y’know what I mean?”
“Nice for you maybe. I’m the one who can’t say ‘No’ under threat of death by beard.”
Colton grinned at me, lifting his arm up for me to come in closer for a hug. I shimmied over towards him, resting my head on his chest.
We both fell asleep in each other’s arms, feeling happy at how close we had grown over such a short space of time.
“…Son… Grayson! Wake up!”
My eyes opened slowly to find Colton whispering and shaking me. He was out of bed, still naked.
“Urr… It’s too early for a—ˮ
He interrupted me by covering my mouth with one hand. With his other hand, he placed a single finger against his lips, silently hinting that I needed to remain quiet.
I nodded to show I understood, allowing him to remove his hand from my mouth.
In silence, Colton signalled for me to get up.
As I slid my legs out of bed, the sound of muffled voices came from outside.
Colton peered through the window behind our bed, staying crouched low enough to avoid being seen. I did the same from my side.
In the middle of the street, just a little farther up from the pub we were in, stood two men and a woman. All three were wearing yellow and orange clothing, with hair shaved short – the signature look of Aiden’s people.
They were arguing about something.
After spending a couple of minutes trying to hear what was being said, one of them pointed down the road, in almost the same direction as the hotel.
I glanced over at Colton, whispering to him, “That’s got to be a coincidence, right?”
“No such thing,” he whispered back, staring intently at the intruders.
Chapter 15
Confrontation.
Fight and Flight.
Colton and I had planned to have a relaxing day before heading back to the hotel. We could’ve done a little scavenging for food on the way, picked up some nice new clothes, maybe even a quick hand job in the car to tie it all together. Those plans were ruined by the arrival of Aiden’s people arguing outside the pub we were staying in.
To reach the three individuals quickly, we had rushed to get dressed, gathering only our basic equipment. Everything else would need to be left behind for the time being.
Yes, even the Scrabble set.
We made our way down the stairs at a brisk pace, exiting the building via a large, shattered window at the rear of the pub – probably broken by the man whose bones lay at our feet on the other side.
“What should we do?” I asked Colton once we were through the window.
“Depends if they’re headin’ for the hotel or not.”
Down at the side of the building were four wheelie bins. Two were knocked over, the other two were still standing. In order to gain some cover, Colton and I quietly pulled two of the bins to us, so we could hide behind them.
Aiden’s three lackeys were still up the road from us, arguing.
I closed my eyes to focus in, listening to hear what they had to say.
“Bullshit! You had one job, Terry, and you screwed it up!” One of the men yelled in anger.
“Don’t blame this on me! We were all asked to remember the way,�
�� the second man shouted back. “It’s not my fault you two couldn’t be bothered to memorize the route.”
The female of the group was next to speak. Her voice was just as loud and angry as the men. “Shut the fuck up, Terry! You’re the one that boasted about having a great memory. That’s why Aiden picked you at the gathering.”
“I do have a good memory! I even wrote down the directions as soon as I got back to my room!” the one they were both arguing with snapped back.
“Yeah? Then where the hell are the written directions now?” asked the female.
“They’re— I left them in the car…”
“Oh, Bravo! Well done.” A sarcastic clapping accompanied the female’s voice. “What a brilliant fucking memory that is… Now how are we supposed to find this hotel, huh? All we know is its general direction.”
Immediately, I looked over at Colton. His eyes were wide, teeth gritted tightly together, even his breathing became erratic.
“What should we do?” I whispered.
After taking a few seconds to think, Colton looked up at me. “You gotta get back to the hotel, Gray. Tell Carl to get folk packin’ up.”
“I’m not leaving you here! What about—ˮ
“Just do it!” he whispered back using an authoritative tone.
Reluctantly, I flipped my hood up and set off back down the side of the pub, not looking back.
I jumped over fences, ran through gardens, balanced my way across walls, and even saw a big black dog in one of the gateways between houses.
It ran off when it saw me.
The sun hadn’t fully set yet. It was still light enough for me to be spotted, but I didn’t care about that. My goal was to get back to the hotel quickly, and I had confidence in my abilities to outrun anyone.
While I was balancing on a flimsy wooden fence, about to jump over to the next overgrown garden, I heard voices in the distance behind me.
One of the more desperate yells had come from Colton, I was sure of it.
If he had been busted, he could potentially be in danger. Every urge told me to go back. However, he had given me an order. If I went back to him now, I would technically be disobeying his wishes.
My mind was more on the fence than my feet were.
“…Screw it,” I thought.
With my hands firmly on the fence, I dropped down into the garden behind me, making my way back to Colton.
With every step I took, I prayed he was still safe.
About halfway back, all the voices stopped. The sound of silence scared me more than Colton’s cries.
As I stepped out in to the middle of the street from beside the pub, only three words involuntarily slipped out my mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Colton was standing in the middle of the road, covered in blood, taking deep breaths. But that was nothing compared to the blood covering the road, all of which had come from Aiden’s people.
Each one lay on the ground, with cuts and deep wounds of varying severity all over them.
One of the men was still twitching slightly, gurgling out his last few breaths. Another had his arm almost chopped off at the elbow. The woman’s face resembled something more akin to a pulpy mess.
The instant I was able to fully see the bodies, I spun around to vomit on the ground. The sight was too ghastly for me.
Memories of the night I’d witnessed everyone tearing in to each other came rushing back to me, as did the images of the aftermath.
This was why I hated death so much.
“Why’d you… come back?” Colton asked. He sounded out of breath.
I went to turn around to answer him, only to turn away again the second I clocked eyes on those bodies.
“Why?! Why did you—ˮ I spat out a bit of lingering bile, “—kill them? Was it in self-defence? Did they attack you first?”
“Saw an opening… Took ‘em by surprise…” Colton paused, taking in deep breaths between words. “They said… they were lookin’ for… the hotel… Couldn’t let ‘em.”
“You attacked them first?!” I shouted, still looking away from all the death.
“Yeah… An’ I’d do it… again… to protect the group…”
Very slowly, I turned around on the spot, mentally bracing myself for what I knew was coming. I can handle the bones of those who are already gone, just not the bodies. The fleshy, crimson bodies reminded me too much of the outbreak victims.
“Can we go, please?” I asked, keeping my sight away from the ground.
Colton shuffled over towards me, still breathing heavily. It was only after he got close enough that I noticed a deep cut on his arm pouring out blood.
Instantly, I pulled my entire hoodie off, ran over to him, and pressed it against his bloodied wound. “Shit! They got you?!”
He nodded once. “Yeah…”
It was imperative that I got Colton back to the hotel – the scolding for attacking first would have to come later. His arm was slick with his own blood. There was a good chance he might pass out at this rate, and I couldn’t carry him on my own.
Colton took a hold of my hoodie for me, keeping it pressed against his arm. Meanwhile, I rummaged around his pockets for the keys to the car we had used to get to the pub.
With key in hand, I got Colton into the passenger side seat, then ran around to the other side to get in myself. When I opened the door, Colton asked me to do something I wasn’t too thrilled with.
“Wait… can you get… Misha?”
I leaned down to talk with him. “What? What’s a Misha?”
“My machete… She’s on the floor… back where I was standin’…”
“You named it? WHY?! Ugh, never mind that now. I’m not—ˮ
Colton looked over at me with big, desperate eyes. “Please… She was a gift from my wife.”
It was a memento from a lost one. My sister had taught me how important those were with the earring she gave me.
In frustration, I kicked the side of the car, leaving a dent in its back door.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d have done almost anything for Colton at that point, but what he wanted me to do was go back over to where the fresh corpses were just to get a weapon.
That wasn’t a very appealing idea.
“For fuck’s sake… Fine,” I mumbled.
With a slam of the car door, I made my way back over to the bodies. My eyes were kept up to look at the sky, making sure to only look down for a fraction of a second if needed.
The closer I came to the bodies, the more I could smell the metallic scent of blood.
Using my foot, I tapped away at the ground below, trying to feel around for this machete. Every gentle pat disturbed me more than the last, as each time it made a squishy noise that seemed to get louder. In my head, I tried hard to pretend I was gently tapping a puddle of water.
Before long, my foot hit something metal. I reached down to feel for the handle of the blade. My fingers gently brushed against the slick surface of something warm, wet, and sharp, making me shiver. I lifted it up using two fingers, taking a brief look to confirm what it was.
This was Colton’s machete all right – red handle with a black blade, both covered in blood. The sheath for it was missing, though.
Turning on my heel, I ran back to the car, keeping the blade away from me. Once in the driver’s seat, I tried to pass it to Colton, but when I realized one of his arms was damaged and the other occupied, I quickly tossed the blade onto the back seat.
“Thanks, Gray…” he mumbled. Colton was starting to look a little gray himself.
“Was this your plan all along, you big, bald-headed bastard!?” I asked while getting the car started. “To send me away so you could go on a killing spree?”
“Nah… I just wanted… to follow ‘em.”
I drove us forward, trying to pick up speed quickly. “Then you should’ve let them go past! Killing them wasn’t necessary.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to… keep my group safe.” Colton pla
ced his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. I was finding it hard to keep my eyes on the road rather than on him. “Wouldn’t you do the same… for Wendy… Thomas… or even your sister, if she… was still around?”
Evan had told me that my issues with death were exactly that, my issues. He had told me, “We need to protect ourselves, and those we care about, from all the assholes out there.”
My mind was fighting to keep his words repeating in my head, only it wasn’t easy when my own hands were covered in blood.
“I don’t know if I would. Even for Gloria,” I answered truthfully.
“What about me, Gray?” His head flopped to look over at me. “Would you kill… to protect me?”
The question was harder to answer this time. I wanted to say yes, to tell him that I’d protect him from anything, just like he would me.
Would I, though?
Simply saying you would do something so extreme as taking a life and knowing you would are two completely different things. It didn’t feel right to say I would, if there were doubts that I could.
Despite a large part of me wanting to tell him yes, I didn’t answer his question.
Colton was almost unconscious by the time we made it back to the hotel. Tyrone and Carl had to help me move him from the car. We wanted to go to the top floor to get medical attention from Doctor Hugo or his assistant, but Colton was too weak to make it up the stairs. Our best option was for two of us to take him to his room, while the other fetched Hugo’s assistant.
Tyrone left.
As Carl and I moved through the lobby of the hotel with Colton in such a mess, people gathered around us, asking all sorts of questions. Colton wasn’t in any state to answer, and I certainly didn’t feel like being chatty.
“The cut on his arm won’t be a problem,” Hugo’s white-coated assistant explained. “It’s the blood loss which is the primary concern.”