Jules (Big Easy Bears Book 2) by Becca Fanning (38)

“That’s different.”

“How? How’s it different, Dean?”

“It’s deep in the woods. Surrounded by wilderness. No one in any direction for a hundred miles.”

“And how are we getting there?”

He hesitated, like he so often did. But he continued, “We head north to Marshall Mountain. There’s an old hunter’s game trail that hasn’t been used for half a century. Once I find it, it should be easy going. Once we reach Marshall Mountain, we’ll have a choice. Either left and we keep following the trail north, or we go right and end up near North Williamstown.”

North Williamstown? Gina had been there, once, a few years ago. It was a big city. “Why would we go there?”

“It depends on how much food we have when we get to the mountain. If I can forage, or hunt, we may be able to take the trail around the mountain and stay out of the cities altogether. There’s a lake up there, but I would hate to rely on that if we’re already low on food.”

“How good are you at hunting?” she asked.

Dean shrugged. “It’s been a little while. I’m a little…”

“Rusty?”

He nodded.

“Dean, you should sit down and rest.”

“No. I need to keep a lookout.”

“Dean, you’re exhausted. You’ve hardly rested since this morning. If someone is coming close to us, don’t you think both you and Petey will be able to smell him?” Gina asked. That was something she’d heard – that Shifters were able to smell as well as a bear would – but she’d never confirmed it.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he admitted, though she could tell that he wasn’t happy about it. Carefully, he lowered himself to the blanket, wincing. He was a fast healer, but she could tell he was still in pain. Gina could see where some blood had soaked through his new set of clothes.

“You’re bleeding.”

“It’s nothing,” he answered, but she was lifting his shirt up, looking at his wounds. He fought back at first, pulling away, but then he let her lift the shirt over his head. The only one that concerned her was the one in his shoulder. The exit wound in the back was hot and inflamed.

“Dean, this could be infected,” she said. She was worried for him. What would happen if he got sick? Would he be able to fight off the infection? More importantly, what would happen to her?

“It’s nothing,” he said, though he winced when she poked around it. “Honestly, don’t worry about it. We Shifters are tough.”

“I have some extra pills in the med kit,” Gina said, searching for it in the bag.

“Don’t.”

“Too bad,” she said, pulling the kit out and unzipping it. The bottle was half full, but there were more than enough pills left to clear him right up.

“Save them for someone who will actually need them.”

“Dean, this isn’t up for debate. I need you at the top of your game, and you definitely won’t be if you’re sick. I know you think you’re fine, and you probably will be, but now isn’t the time to take any unnecessary risks. So take the damn pills.”

“Fine,” he growled, but there wasn’t much conviction behind his voice. She handed him two and he tossed them into his mouth, swallowing quickly.

“Now,” she continued. “You need to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Dean, this isn’t up for debate, either. Eat some food.”

“Fine!” he said, grabbing the other duffel bag and ripping it open. He pulled out one of the meal packs and tore the covering off. He dug in.

“I knew you were hungry,” she teased. The look he shot her only made her laugh. For once, since everything had started happening, she truly felt at ease. She didn’t know what it was – maybe a combination of sitting outdoors on a warm summer night, with a gorgeous man by her side and her dog at her feet. The stream below gurgled softly as the sun started to go down behind a distant mountain. It almost felt like everything was normal, in that moment.

“This isn’t so bad, right now.”

Dean grunted in answer, swallowing a mouthful of food.

“It could be worse,” she offered. He grunted again; whether he agreed or disagreed, she couldn’t be sure.

After that, they didn’t talk much more. The exhaustion of hiking through the mountains all day was taking its toll on Gina. Petey was already fast asleep at her feet. She looked over at Dean, who was sitting up, back straight, watching for signs of anyone approaching.

Then, she looked a little bit closer – he was sitting up, but he wasn’t watching for intruders. His eyes were closed and she noticed he was rocking back and forth, as if he was trying to stay awake but failing.

“Dean,” she whispered. No response. She reached a hand out, carefully, and put it on his shoulder. He jerked his eyes open.

“What?”

“Lay down,” she told him.

“We need someone to keep watch throughout the night,” he said back. It made sense… but…

“There’s no one out here, Dean. One night. Get some rest. Plus, those pills aren’t helping.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” he mumbled. With that, he lay down on the blanket and curled up. He was back to sleep within seconds. She had to make sure he didn’t exert himself too much – he would be no good to her dead.

Gina lay down next to him, making sure to keep her distance. There was a cool breeze blowing in off of a distant mountain, carrying over the cold water in the stream below. She shivered. All around her, she could hear noises: bugs, animals, twigs breaking. But both Petey and Dean were already fast asleep, and she knew that they wouldn’t let anyone get close to her. She felt somewhat safe as she pulled a cover over herself.

She considered, then threw the blanket over Dean, too. Dean’s heavy breathing was putting her at ease, and her thoughts became groggy. Gina decided it was time for bed. There was nothing she could do, anyway. She was as safe as she could be.

***

After a few moments, Gina slid close to Dean. She justified it by telling herself it was so they could share each other’s body heat, something she was sure was important in survival situations like this. She felt as Dean’s arm wrapped around her body, pulling her even closer.

“Gina?” he whispered.

She wanted to tell him not to talk. She wanted to tell him not to ruin the moment — there was something there, between them, and ignoring it was impossible. Right? Or was she crazy?

“Gina, we shouldn’t,” he said, but his hands said differently. She felt one against her stomach and the other running a finger through her hair. She turned on her back, his hand moving against her bare skin, just below her navel.

Then she was leaning her head up, not sure why she was doing it, and she pressed her lips against his. For the slightest of seconds, Dean hesitated, then he kissed her deeply. His lips were extremely soft — not something she would have expected in a man as hardened as Dean. His social skills had suffered while he was in his bunker, but his kissing skills hadn’t.

Gina let his lips wash over her, let his hands explore her. One danced through her hair, tickling the back of her neck, just behind the ear, while the other started to move across her body. He moved it slowly — hesitantly — as if he was unsure of what he was doing. His large fingers moved across her skin, one dipping underneath the waistband of her pants and underwear ever so slightly. She gasped, wanting him to pleasure her, but he pulled it away.

Instead, his hand slid underneath her shirt, over her stomach and towards her breasts. He paused again when his hand reached one, his entire palm cupping it easily. He squeezed and Gina let out a slow moan. How long had it been? She couldn’t be sure, but this felt right. His fingers moved just above her bra, warm on her skin, and then dipped down underneath the fabric.

Another gasp, their lips still locked together, came out of her mouth. She moaned as his finger touched her areola, just slightly, then down to her nipple. She felt it harden underneath his touch; felt him harden against her leg. She wanted him to take her right now, here in this forest, on this warm summer night, the stream roiling quietly by them.

Gina rolled over, now facing him, and propped herself up on an elbow. Using her free hand, she started to pull his shirt off. In a split second, Dean had yanked it over his head and tossed it to the side. Gina’s heart was hammering in her chest, as it always did whenever she saw Dean like this, but now — now she could touch him.

She reached a hand out, running it along his toned stomach. It was firm and she could feel his muscles tighten underneath her touch. Then she was running her hand over his chest, sliding across one of his nipples, wrapping it around his muscled shoulder. Dean was a man that took care of himself, and it showed.

Then her shirt was coming off. In a move that even surprised her, his fingers found the clasp of her bra and undid it in one smooth motion. She caught her bra as it fell off of her body, covering herself for just a moment longer. Then she let it fall, revealing herself to Dean.

Even in the darkness, she knew he could see her, even better than she could see him. She heard his breath catch in his throat, saw the color rise in his cheeks, saw his eyes widen. He pressed his face against her neck, kissing and sucking. Goosebumps exploded across her body with a shudder.

Then he was kissing her collarbone, passionately, then her shoulder, and then her forearm before jumping back towards her chest, just above the tops of her breasts. His lips left little wet marks across her body as he went. Slowly, he started kissing down her chest, a trail of kisses down one breast until he reached the nipple. When he did, his lips locked around it softly, pulling it into his mouth. Gina felt his tongue making a wet circle around it.

And then he moved on to her other breast, one of his hands taking his mouth’s place. His fingers squeezed the nipple slightly. She moaned and kissed one of his ears, sucking it between her lips.

This is it, she thought, her fingers starting to unbutton her pants. As she did so, her finger pulling on the zipper, Dean’s hands found hers and stopped her.

“We shouldn’t,” he growled, looking down at the blanket and avoiding her eyes.

“What?” she asked, dumbfounded. What had happened?

“I… I… can’t,” he said, still looking down.

“You can’t?”

She rolled over, turning to face him and pulling herself away from him, if ever so slightly. In the darkness, she couldn’t see much, but she could see enough. She could see the emotion on Dean’s face. She hoped he could see the anger on hers.

“Why not, Dean?” she asked harshly. At her feet, Petey looked up in alarm and moved slightly away. He knew that tone and he was smart enough to get some distance. Dean wouldn’t be so lucky. “What is your problem?”

Dean stuttered, unable to form any words.

“That’s what I thought,” Gina told him. “You’re pushing me away. Why? And don’t even try to say it was because I started the fire in the bunker, because we both know that no matter who you blame, it wasn’t my fault.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s it, Dean? ‘I’m sorry’? That’s not good enough. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Gina, it’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

Gina didn’t say a word, instead, she was content to let him figure out what he was going to say next. He looked up, sheepishly, meeting her eyes for just a few seconds. Then he looked back down.

And suddenly he deflated. “You’re right.”

Gina was taken aback. Of course she was right — that was the whole point of this — but hearing it from Dean was something she hadn’t expected. She sputtered out a hesitant, “What?”

“I’ve been pushing you away. I’ve been afraid of letting anyone get close to me. So I blamed you for what happened. Tried to justify it. Tried to avoid the blame and find a way to keep you away.”

“Dean, why? Why would you do that?”

He looked as if he wanted to tell her, but instead, he said, “I don’t want to talk about that. Not yet.”

She reached out a hand and took his. “Dean. Dean, look at me,” she said. When he did, she continued, “You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”

“I need some air,” he said, getting up. He grabbed his shirt and disappeared into the darkness. Petey watched him and hesitantly made his way back to Gina’s feet. Gina watched him, too, longing to chase him down like she would have if she were in a movie — but this was no movie. This was real life. This was dangerous.

She knew she was attracted to Dean. She couldn’t help it — he was smart, resourceful, and drop dead gorgeous, if a little rough around the edges. She had never met a man like him. He had saved her life, even at the cost of his own safety, twice. Most others wouldn’t have bothered at all.

She knew that Dean was attracted to her. The way he looked at her was undeniable. But she knew he was afraid of getting too close, and he’d pushed her away, using the fire as justification. She wanted him, and he wanted her.

But she couldn’t blame him for what he had done. Things were dangerous now. If they didn’t keep a clear head, they could run into problems. No, more than that: they could get themselves killed. So, as much as she longed to chase Dean down, make him realize that even with everything going on, they could be good for each other, she let him walk away.

She needed him to have a clear head. And more importantly, she needed to have a clear head, too. She put her clothes back on and curled up in the blanket, feeling more alone than she had felt since this whole apocalypse had started.

*

Dean walked off, farther than his sense told him he should have. But what he’d said was true: he needed space. His life was growing more and more complicated as the minutes passed by. He leaned up against a tree, and slid down it to a crouch.

What was he going to do?

The answer wouldn’t come to him, so he asked himself another question: What do I want to do?

That answer was clear. He wanted Gina. In a way, he had since he first pulled her out of her crumpled car, even with Petey shredding his hand. It was more than the fact she was the first woman — the first person — he’d seen for nearly two years. She was smart, resourceful, and determined to make it out of this situation alive.

He imagined that most others wouldn’t be the same. She’d had the foresight to gather supplies, more than she could ever use. That meant she cared for others. She’d used valuable supplies to care for him. It wasn’t just about her.

So, yeah, he admitted to himself. He was attracted to her. More than he should be, considering the situation. But he couldn’t help it.

And…she was attracted to him. It was a dangerous combination, no matter when, but especially now. She wanted him, and he wanted her. Was it possible that they could be together, with everything going on, and keep their wits about them? His grandfather would have said no.

And what if she knew who he really was? What if she found out why he’d been hiding in his bunker for nearly two years? He’d been raised as a survivalist, but he hadn’t always been one. The bunker was great for the apocalypse. But that wasn’t why he was really in there; not entirely.

What would happen if she found out the reason he’d been hiding for two years?

He didn’t think she would be falling for him anymore. He didn’t think she would be okay with traveling with him anymore, no matter how safe he kept her. She would think it would be safer to travel alone, and she would probably be right.

He wouldn’t blame her.

But he also couldn’t bear the thought of falling for her, making something with her — something real — and having it ripped away from him because she found out who he’d been before the apocalypse. Before she had come along and changed him.

Before that man, Jayce, had shown up at the bunker, Dean had vowed to himself that he would never kill again. Never shift if it meant harming someone else. He had broken that code, and he suspected that he would have to break it again before they were safe.

Gina hadn’t had a problem with that. He’d done it to protect her, Petey, and himself.

But if she ever found out he was wanted for murdering a senator’s son in cold blood nearly two years ago, she would run the other way. He didn’t think he would be able to convince her that he wasn’t a bad man.

Hell, he couldn’t even convince himself.

Dean made his way back towards their camp.

***

*

The chirping of birds and warm sunlight on her face woke Gina. She came to easily, basking in the experience. The bunker had been cold and distant - oppressive - and she hadn’t even realized it while inside. Being outside was a wondrous thing.

The next thing she noticed was that Dean wasn’t by her side any longer. She remembered him coming back to the blanket some time during the night. She hadn’t been sure how long he had been out in the woods, but it had seemed like a long time. Had he gone back out?

She sat up and looked around. With the bushes blocking her view, she couldn’t see much except for the stream below. But a quick glance up and down the stream showed her that neither Dean nor Petey were anywhere to be found. For a second, panic flooded her body before she heard Dean’s voice on the other side of the bush.

Getting up, Gina made her way around the bush. On the other side, she watched as Dean threw a stick far into the distance, Petey dashing off after it. She couldn’t help but smile. Petey grabbed the stick and brought it back as fast as his little doggy legs would carry him.

“Morning,” she said. Dean looked at her and gave her a light smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” he answered.

“Can I look?”

Dean nodded and peeled off his shirt. As always, Gina found herself looking at his body for just a bit too long. She checked his shoulder, relieved to find that the infection was gone. His wound was healing perfectly.

“Looks like you were right,” she told him. At that, Dean actually chuckled.

“We’d better get going soon. I picked some more berries, they’re over by the blanket.”

Gina went back and scarfed the berries down. They weren’t especially filling, but it was better than nothing, and she knew the importance of rationing their remaining food. After she finished, she packed up the blankets and filled her water bottles up at the stream.

“Is it safe to drink?” she asked Dean before she took a drink. She expected that he could drink from any water source he desired, but she wasn’t so sure.

“Should be,” Dean answered.

“Meaning?”

“The stream is a mountain stream. It comes straight from the mountain itself. Unless there are some pollutants upstream, which is unlikely, then you should be fine.”

“Should,” Gina repeated, but what choice did she have?

Now that the survival formalities were out of the way, Gina wanted to talk about last night. She wanted to clear the air, to let Dean know that she would respect the boundaries of their relationship, but he seemed distant. She could tell he wasn’t in the mood for discussing their relationship, or whatever it was, so she let it be.

She grabbed her duffel bag, Dean grabbed his, and the three of them moved off. The going was slower than the day before. The path was harder to follow and they weren’t in a rush to get away from men that could harm them, so they took it easy.

For that, Gina was relieved. It was just what both of them needed. She knew there was a reason to go fast, especially with their small amount of remaining food, but she couldn’t help but enjoy the leisurely walking. The duffel bag was an annoyance; she found herself switching arms every mile or so. Still, she would rather have its contents than not, so she gritted her teeth and kept walking.

She thought it was about noon when they came to a highway. Dean made her and Petey stay back in the foliage as he crept up to the road and watched. After nearly ten minutes of waiting, he made his way back to them.

“It’s clear, for now. Stick close and follow me. Once we get to the road, wait for my signal to cross. Okay?”

She nodded, then looked down at Petey. They were ready.

Dean got up and made his way to the road. Gina was next, followed by Petey. When they reached the road, they paused. Then Dean gave the go ahead and climbed onto the road. He moved fast. Petey ran ahead of Gina, crossing the road to safety before even Dean.

Gina was halfway across before she stopped. Standing on the center line, she looked to her right, then to her left.

“Dean, wait,” she said.

“Move, Gina!”

“Dean…”

Without thinking, Gina was running to the left as fast as her legs could carry her, the duffel bag dropped in the middle of the road. Dean dropped his and sprinted after her, trying to stop her, but it was too late.

She reached the crest in the road and looked down. Haysberry, or what was left of it, was below. A few puffs of dark smoke billowed up, but the fires were mostly out. Many of the buildings were nothing more than black husks. Some still stood: the old school, half of the massive city building, a few others. Most in the old factory district had escaped the worst of the fire.

“I have to go down,” she said. She didn’t know why, but she felt she had to. She was being drawn there.

“Gina, it’s too dangerous.”

“Dean, that’s my home. There could be survivors down there.”

“That’s the perfect reason to avoid it.”

“There are supplies down there. Stuff we can use.”

***

“No,” Dean said. He turned and made his way back down the road. When Gina didn’t follow, he turned back, pausing long enough to say, “I’m not risking my life to go down there. Not when we have a good chance of avoiding towns all together.”

Gina knew that Dean was right. Going down was dangerous. She could die down there. But she wanted to go home so badly, even though she knew that her home was gone. She took one last look down at Haysberry, knowing in her heart that she would never see it again.

She turned back and followed Dean. She could see him up ahead, moving off towards an overturned van half-buried in the ditch. She hadn’t noticed it when she was going towards Haysberry, but that wasn’t surprising: she’d been so focused on getting a look at the town that she wouldn’t have noticed a man with a gun approaching her. She chastised herself. That was dangerous.

“Stay back,” he cautioned her, as he made his way around the van. As she got closer, she could tell that it was one of the news vans from Haysberry. From the looks of it, they had flipped coming into town, but it wasn’t clear why. The front of the van was crumpled up where they had finally come to a rest in the ditch. She could see a man hunched over the steering wheel, his face an echo of the pain he must have felt. “It’s safe.”

Gina inspected as closely as she could. The man wasn’t anyone she recognized. In the passenger seat, a woman was slumped against the window. Gina gasped as she came closer. She recognized this woman: she was the main newscaster on the local news channel.

She heard a grinding noise and went around the back of the van to investigate. Dean was wrenching on one of the back doors. With a grunt, he pulled it free and stepped back as it swung open. Then he ducked inside. Gina couldn’t see what he was doing, but she heard him rooting around.

After a few minutes, Dean made his way back out, holding a small, black box in his hand.

“A radio?” Gina asked, her eyebrow raised. “What good is that going to do?”

Dean shrugged. “It can’t hurt to listen in.”

Gina nodded. It couldn’t hurt, but she didn’t think it would help. “Well, let’s hear it.”

“Let’s get off the road, first,” he said. Together, they moved back down the highway. Gina grabbed her bag from the middle of the road and followed Dean into the woods on the other side of the road. 

They walked for nearly 15 minutes until Dean was satisfied they were far enough away from the road. Gina thought that he was being a little too paranoid, but she kept her mouth shut. Dean was the survivalist, not her.

They found a fallen log and sat down on it. Gina reached down and petted Petey as Dean turned the radio on. There was a loud burst of static for just a moment. Dean turned the volume down, then began turning the dial slowly. Station after station full of static crackled.

“This is pointless,” she told him. “Dean, there’s nothing—”

Between the waves of static, a voice came through. Dean twisted the dial back, even slower than before. The static faded...and a voice came on.

“—ING THIS, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. THIS IS GENERAL HARRIS, LOCATED NORTH OF MARSHALL MOUNTAIN. WE’RE ATTEMPTING TO REBUILD. NORTH WILLIAMSTOWN IS LOST. REPEAT, NORTH WILLIAMSTOWN IS LOST. THE BOMBS HAVE ENDED. OUR GOVERNMENT HAS FALLEN, BUT WE HAVE NOT. REPORTS STATE THAT ALL OTHER COUNTRIES ARE FALLEN. IF YOU’RE HEARING THIS, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.”

The message repeated. Gina and Dean sat in silence for a few minutes, processing what they had heard. So, Dean had been right, after all. The government had bombed their own cities, for whatever reason. Now, it was defunct. And the news of the other countries falling was a shocker. Somehow, she had expected the rest of the world to be fine. Still, there were survivors, looking to rebuild.

“Dean, we have to go there!”

“No!” he growled, getting up. He looked angry, angrier than she had seen him before.

“What?” she asked, confused. “Why not? Isn’t that where we were going, anyway?”

“Not anymore.”

“Dean.”

“It could be a trap! I’m not walking into a camp led by a General of the United States army! What if he shoots me? Takes you for himself?”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Gina said, though internally she admitted that Dean had a good point. If the government had bombed their own cities, then his idea wasn’t so far-fetched. She shivered, thinking about the man that had shot her and then the man that had attacked them outside of the bunker. If society had really crumbled that fast, what made this place any different?

Still, she had to believe that there was something left. Some hope of humanity and society. There had to be others like her and Dean. There just had to be.

“So, then. What do we do?” she asked.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “The plan doesn’t change, much. We still head north. To Canada. Maybe Maine. We just won’t stop at the cabins.”

“Okay,” Gina said, but it wasn’t okay. She’d been with Dean since almost the beginning, and he’d been right nearly every moment of being out here. He’d known that man outside of the bunker had ill intentions. He knew what berries were safe to eat. He knew which water sources were safe to drink, and he was excellent at moving through the forests and mountains. He’d excelled in the bunker on his own.

But was he right here? She wasn’t sure. She thought of going to Canada with Dean and Petey, but what then? A cabin in the woods, living alone until the end of their days, undisturbed? She almost laughed to herself. It didn’t seem likely.

But an actual society… that was something she could see. Something she could help build. She was a doctor. She didn’t have any supplies, but she could help so much more in a new society than she could out in the woods, away from everyone else.

Dean grabbed his duffel bag and gave her a look. She got up and picked hers up, as well. Together, they set off, trying to find the trail Dean had talked about the day before. Right now, they were together. But when they passed Marshall Mountain, she wasn’t sure if it would stay that way.

And would she want it to?

*

They were making decent time; as well as could be expected, anyway. Dean wanted to move fast, and he knew that Gina wanted to move fast, too, but she wasn’t prepared for the trail that wound up and down the Appalachians.

It wasn’t easy going, but she did her best, especially when weighed down by her duffel bag full of supplies. A duffel bag that was getting lighter by the meal.

The day after they’d found the radio, they’d done just over 10 miles. It wasn’t as much as Dean had wanted to do, but he could tell that Gina was sore. The last thing he wanted to do was to push her, or have her push herself, so far that she got injured. An injury out here could spell worse than disaster. It could mean death.

The second day, they’d done just over eight. It had been an easier day than the one before and he could tell that both Gina and Petey appreciated it. He admitted to himself that taking it a bit slower was nice, too.

At every break, Dean turned the radio on, hoping to hear more from General Harris. The message that repeated was always the same, and they couldn’t pick up any other radio stations. Dean didn’t know whether that was good or bad.

He recognized what that radio message meant. For Gina, it was salvation. For him, it was death. He knew that they would recognize him in that camp. He was a wanted man. 

What he’d told Gina could be true, though. It could be a trap. He didn’t think it was, though. Maybe it was his Shifter intuition telling him that. Maybe it was him rebelling against what his grandfather would have done.

So the plan had changed. He would continue on, past that little spot in the woods that was to be his salvation. He’d continue on to somewhere more secluded and start his new life there. On his way, they would swing close enough to that camp for Dean to check it out. Make sure it was safe. And then, if she wanted to, Gina would stay.

And he knew she would.

She would be a fool not to. She could help others. She was a doctor, after all. She could be one of the major pillars of rebuilding society as they knew it. With Gina there, they might even stand a chance. But it wasn’t for Dean, no matter how much he wanted it to be.

So they continued on, 30 miles from the mountain where they would have to make their decision. Their food situation was dwindling, though not alarmingly so. With Dean’s foraging, and maybe a little bit of luck hunting or fishing around the lake, they would make it to that camp hungry, but alive. He was going to avoid going into the city now more than ever, considering the warning that North Williamstown was lost.

After they’d listened to the first broadcast after passing Haysberry, Gina had brought it up. She thought it was destroyed, probably by a bomb blast. Dean didn’t bother to correct her, but he knew better. When the General said that it was lost, he didn’t mean destroyed. North Williamstown was probably a cesspool; a major location of trouble and death.

One of the ideas his grandfather had instilled in his mind was that in an apocalyptic survival situation, humanity would quickly fall. That didn’t necessarily mean that society would crumble immediately. Rather, civilization would crumble. Men would give in to their baser instincts. Dean knew, in his gut, that that’s what had happened in North Williamstown.

Gina hadn’t said much to him for the past few days, beyond the usual. He didn’t know whether that was good or bad. He didn’t know what was going on between them anymore. He had wanted to talk to her, to articulate his feelings towards her, and why it wasn’t a good idea. He hadn’t done it, though. He didn’t know if he would ever get the chance.

By his estimation, they had maybe three days of walking before they would get around the mountain. After that, it should be an easy day or two to where he imagined the camp was set up. In five days, he would part ways with Gina. With that amount of time left, he didn’t think it would be important to let her know his feelings. They didn’t have much time left together, so why did it matter?

There was one small mountain before they reached Marshall Mountain, and that’s where Dean’s plan absolutely collapsed.

The ascent was gradual, but the descent on the northern side of the mountain was absolutely brutal. It was less hiking and more scrambling down thick, massive rocks. Nearly every few feet, Dean would have to make his way down a rock, then turn back towards Gina and help her down. After that, he would grab Petey and they would repeat the process.

On one of the smaller rocks, Gina went to climb down. Her foot caught between two boulders and she fell. Her ankle twisted between the rocks. Behind him, he heard a scream of pain and his plan shattered.

*

“It’s not broken,” Gina reassured Dean, though the reassurance was as much for herself as it was for him. But it wasn’t in good shape. She felt around, poking and prodding the joint lightly. Bolts of pain shot through her leg at the slightest touch. “It’s not broken. Just sprained. Bad.”

And she knew in some situations, like now, that could be even worse.

Petey was barking next to her, lapping at her face. She tried to tell him it was going to be okay, but she knew it wasn’t. This was bad. Even Dean’s calm exterior had shattered. He looked like a panicked mess.

It had all happened so quickly. He’d been helping her and Petey down the mountain and she’d went to climb down one of the rocks and slipped. As she had fallen, her foot had got caught between the rock and another. When she’d struggled, she had wrenched it and fallen forward, hard.

“How’s my face?” she asked, trying to make the best of a bad situation.

“Pretty as ever,” Dean told her. Whether or not that was true, she didn’t know, but she appreciated his response just the same.

“This is bad, huh?”

He nodded sagely. “Yeah, we’re in trouble.”

“Dean, what do we do? You’re the expert.”

“Give me a minute,” Dean told her and took a few steps back to think. Gina grabbed Petey and embraced him. He could tell when there was trouble, but she didn’t think he understood the gravity of this situation. It was possible that this accident could lead to her death.

After a few minutes of silent thought, Dean came back and opened up the duffel bags. He rummaged through their food. They had enough for a week’s worth of meals each, unless they wanted to eat Petey’s dog food. Then they would have a few more days, at best, and Petey wouldn’t have anything.

“Okay, we have a week left,” Dean said. She could tell he was doing some calculations in his head. “Normally, we would be past the mountain in three days. We’re only about 20 miles away from it. Now, we’re not going to be so lucky. You can’t walk. I’ll have to make you a litter. That’s going to eat up a few days, at the minimum. So we’ll have five days of food left when we get you down the mountain and get moving. Then we’ll still have two, maybe three days of walking until we’re past the mountain. So, when we come out the other side, we’ll have two days of food left. If we’re lucky.”

“We won’t,” Gina told him. She knew it was the truth. “There’s no way you can survive off of that kind of food if you’re lugging me through the forest. And you’re certainly not leaving me behind.”

Dean crouched down on the balls of his feet. He nodded again. “You’re right. We’re going to run out of food, way before we can get to our destination. We’re expending so much more energy than we’re taking in. It’s not going to work.”

“What do we do, Dean?” Gina asked. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“We’re going to North Williamstown,” he said. It was said without any gravity, as if it wasn’t a big problem.

“Dean, it’s been destroyed.”

“No, it hasn’t,” he said. His golden eyes glinted. Gina could tell that he knew something she didn’t.

“What?” the question had a bit of venom in it.

“When the broadcast said ‘lost’, the General didn’t mean it had been destroyed. It’s probably a breeding ground for the worst of mankind right now.”

Gina felt her heart turn to ice. She had expected most of the town to be leveled, littered with dead bodies and rubble. But she had imagined it would be possible to find some food, somewhere. Dean had a good nose and sharp eyes. She had believed they could get food there.

She had never imagined it to be full of the dregs of what remained of society, but it made sense. She’d seen some of them in Haysberry on that first night — they had already started looting within hours. What would they be doing a few days after the fact? She thought she knew, but she refused to dwell on it.

“Is there any other option? Can you hunt?”

Dean looked unsure. “I can try, but if I fail, I’ll burn up even more of my energy. This is a serious situation, Gina.”

“I know.”

“Well, then let’s get you down the mountain.”

Gina swallowed and reached for a bag, but Dean shook his head. “We can’t leave them, Dean.”

“I’ll come back up here later,” he told her. He packed up most of their food, with the exception of two meal packs and a can for Petey. He also grabbed a blanket. Then he stashed the duffel bags underneath a rock overhang, hidden from view.

He came close to her, bending down. Gina felt his warmth enveloping her, felt his hands wrapping tightly around her body. She wished it was for something else. Tears were rolling down her face.

“Dean, I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her with a smile. She knew he was saying that for her sake. Things were bad. “You’re going to have to carry our food and blanket.”

Gina reached out and grabbed them, pulling them onto her stomach. Petey jumped up on her, and then Dean lifted them both up, one arm under her knees and the other under her shoulders. He took a few steps and Gina could hear him already wheezing under the load.

He was beat, though she hadn’t noticed how badly until now. His wounds were healed, but the low food intake and the constant hiking had taken its toll.

Getting down the back side of the mountain took hours, but finally, they reached the bottom. Dean was dripping sweat and Gina was wincing in pain at every step Dean took. Petey whimpered the whole way down.

Once they reached the bottom, Dean deposited them in the bushes, hidden from view if someone was out in the woods. He laid out a blanket for Gina, gave her two meal packs, and then headed back up the mountain.

“Wait,” Gina said. “Dean, you can’t go back up there tonight.”

“We need our supplies, and we can’t spare that time in the morning. Get some rest. I’ll be back soon.”

“At least take a meal and eat while you’re going up.”

“You’ll need them more than I will,” he said, then he came over to her, and kissed her on the lips. Gina was so surprised that she didn’t immediately kiss back, but then she was, their lips moving together. When Dean pulled away, even he looked surprised, but he gave her a smile and disappeared into the forest.

The sun was going down and the gloom was darkening. All around her, she heard the sounds of the forest she was growing accustomed to. That didn’t mean she had to like it, though. She heard a few bird chirps, the hoot of an owl, and another stream gurgling. Petey, on the other hand, was relaxing, face buried in his food. Gina looked down at her own meal pack, feeling her stomach turn at the thought of eating another.

Still, she had no choice. She was starving and her body needed the nutrients. What little the meal packs could offer, anyway. She peeled the first one open and dug in, eating it in only a few minutes. The taste of the food helped keep her mind off of her ankle. She looked at the second meal pack, and shrugging, opened that one too.

After eating two entire meal packs, Gina felt a bit better. She wasn’t in good shape., not yet, anyway, but the food helped. She lay back on the blanket, lacing her hands behind her head, and thought about what was going to happen next.

Dean was a strong, powerful man. But even he had his limits. She hoped that he wouldn’t reach them while trying to get her safely out of the woods. She couldn’t even imagine how he could keep his energy up. He was going back up the mountain tonight, then coming back down, and then tomorrow he’d be chopping down trees and building her a litter.

After that, he’d be dragging her through the woods, all while most likely starving himself. It was going to be tough.

Gina sat up and poked at her ankle. Flashes of pain jolted through her body. The sprain was bad, but she thought in maybe as little as a week she could be walking again. It hurt, but she thought it was just a grade one sprain. If it really was a grade two, then it could be an entire month before she was walking again. She would never survive.

Gina tried to keep her mind occupied and off of her injury and Dean, but it was pointless. She couldn’t think of anything but. Her thoughts mainly focused on the kiss he had given her before he had gone up to the mountain. What had that meant? Was he coming around?

*

Why did I do that? Dean had been asking himself that question over and over as he climbed back up the mountain. He couldn’t find the answer.

Kissing Gina hadn’t been planned, but once it had occurred to him he’d been powerless to resist. It wasn’t like he had tried to fight it, though. 

He enjoyed it more than he would admit.

Now, he was using that thought to keep his mind off of the grueling climb in front of him. But getting their supplies was only the first step. He’d have to make his way back down, carrying the heavy bags of food, and then start working on the litter to drag Gina through the woods.

The litter was the only idea he could think of, and it made sense. But they had no traditional tools, so Dean was going to have to shift. He’d have to really exert himself cutting down all of the trees and branches they would need, and that wasn’t even the hard part. The hard part would be shifting in the first place. It was never easy, and now, in his weakened state, he wasn’t even sure if he could do it at all.

“Damn,” he muttered to himself. His grandfather would be more disappointed in him than he could express. He’d yell at him, berate him, and ask him what kind of a Shifter he was. Ask him what kind of a survivalist he was. He wouldn’t have an answer.

Dean growled, pulling himself up a rock. He pushed the thought away. His grandfather was dead; he had been for years. He was good at surviving and embracing his Shifter tendencies. But that didn’t make him a good man, as Dean was finding out. They had never butted heads in life, but now that Dean was with Gina, he was finding out that he was clashing with his grandfather. He was learning some things about himself every day.

He was realizing that he would do nearly anything for Gina. She’d stuck by his side, even when he had blamed her for starting the fire. She hadn’t abandoned him, even when his temper got the best of him or he drove them hard through the woods.

She had taken care of him and brought him back to the world. So he would take care of her, no matter what the cost.

He found the bags easily and picked them up. They were heavier than he was expecting, but he reasoned that was a good thing. They still had food. Without even waiting for a break, Dean started back down the mountain. He made good time going down. Instead of carrying the bags down each rock, he just tossed them in front of him over and over.

Still, the moon was already going down when he finally reached the campground. Gina was fast asleep when he returned. Petey looked up and gave him a look, then came over and stood with him. Dean set the bags down as quietly as he could, then he unzipped one bag, pulled out a meal pack, and took it a few steps away before digging in.

It wasn’t much, but he felt a little bit better. Just a little bit. Then he carefully peeled off his clothes and sat them next to the bags. It was time to get to work.

*

Gina’s ankle woke her up. It was a dull throb, now. She hadn’t been having much luck in this apocalypse. Well, besides meeting Dean. She sat up and looked around. One of the duffel bags was on the ground, a few feet from the blanket. Petey was lying next to her on the blanket.

Where was Dean?

In answer, she heard a grunt behind her. She turned and looked. The first thing she noticed was that Dean was absolutely, completely, nude. Her eyes flew open, watching his body as he crouched down, working with some felled trees.

He was covered in dirt and skinnier than the last time she had seen him naked in the bunker, but he was still a sight to take in. His legs were like tree trunks in themselves, his chest was heaving up in down in exertion, and he was covered in a slick sheen of sweat.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Dean jumped ever so slightly before he looked at her. “Working on your litter. What do you think of it?”

He took a few steps back, having the modesty to cover himself for once. Maybe he was remembering what it’s like to be around people again, she thought. He picked up a pair of his underwear and slid them on. When he was clothed, Gina finally turned her attention to the litter.

It was simple, but it looked like it would work. Two decent sized logs made the frame, which Dean would grab on to. Other smaller branches were at the top and bottom to give it some stability. She saw that the trees were held together at the joints by strips of one of the bags. A blanket had been laid across the middle of the litter. She could see other branches and tree limbs underneath it.

It certainly wouldn’t be comfortable, but it looked like it would get her from this mountain to the city in one piece.

“It looks good, Dean,” Gina told him, and she meant it. “Thank you.”

“It won’t be the most comfortable ride in the world, but I promise it’ll hold up,” he told her, with a smile. She could tell that he took pride in his work. She looked at his face and saw dark bags under his eyes. He was exhausted.

“Dean, you need to rest,” she told him. “You look beat.”

“I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head. “We should probably get going.”

“If you don’t rest and get some more food in you, neither one of us will ever make it. Please. It’s for your own good.”

He nodded wearily. “Just for a few hours, then. Then we go.”

“That’s fine.”

Dean walked over to the blanket, lay down, and was out almost immediately. Gina sat around, unsure of what to do. She could hear the stream, just a couple of yards away, but couldn’t see it. She saw that there was an extra branch that Dean had chopped down lying next to the litter. It looked sturdy enough to support her weight. She carefully pulled herself up and limped over to the stick on one foot. Using it as a crutch, she made her way to the stream.

It was only about ten feet across, but looked a couple of feet deep. She made her way to it and put her swollen foot into the cool water. She let out a sigh of relief, lay back, and enjoyed the feeling.

*

Dean awoke with a start. He looked up into the sky: the sun was halfway down the horizon. It was probably close to 3 o’clock. When he had gone to sleep, it was early morning. Why hadn’t Gina woken him? Was she okay?

He jumped up, clad in only his boxers, and looked around. Even Petey was missing. Dean turned his nose to the air and sniffed. He could smell Gina; she was close, down by the stream. He made his way to the stream at a run, crashing through the bushes and coming out the other side.

He came through, ready to fight or attack, and stopped immediately. Gina was below him in the water, swimming. He looked at her, her form rippling underneath the water. Then he noticed that her clothes were lying on the bank. He felt his face heat up.

She turned towards him and smiled. He had been meaning to ask her why she had let him sleep so long, but her smile erased all thoughts of that. “You look better,” she told him.

“I feel better,” Dean replied. He made his way down the bank, sitting down on the edge and dipping his feet into the water. It felt amazing on his tight muscles.

“Sorry that I didn’t wake you,” Gina said, swimming towards him. “But you looked so peaceful and I know you needed the sleep.”

“It’s okay,” he told her. She eyed him and he continued, “Honestly. I needed it. It was probably better for me to get some rest than to keep pushing myself.”

“Get in,” Gina told him. Dean hesitated. Then he shrugged and stood up.

“Look away,” he told her. Gina covered her eyes halfheartedly and he stripped down and jumped in.

*

Gina felt the splash as Dean hopped into the water. She turned towards him and watched as he swam on his back, an actual smile on his face. Gina hadn’t seen much of that since she’d met him. For once, she actually felt at ease — even though she knew their situation was dire. But now wasn’t the time to worry about it. Now was the time to enjoy a few minutes of relaxation before things got bad.

Petey barked from the bank and jumped in. She laughed, and next to her, even Dean was laughing. They swam in lazy circles for a few minutes. Gina kept catching Dean stealing glances at her, but she didn’t mind.

When he was looking at her again, she splashed him in the face. He came close to her then, swimming up until their bodies were nearly touching. Gina wrapped her arms around Dean’s neck, pulling her body to his. She wrapped her legs around his body, feeling the warmth of it even in the cool stream.

He buried his face in her neck, kissing her, and she felt goosebumps exploding across her body. She moaned low, letting his mouth cover every inch of her body above the water. It felt good. It felt great.

“Gina, I’m sorry,” he whispered between kisses. “About how I treated you before.”

“Dean, not now,” she told him. He gave her a slight nod, then pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back, floating in lazy circles in the stream; all of their worries: their low food supply, their trip to the city, Gina’s ankle, the apocalypse, all fading away.

Then Dean lifted Gina easily out of the water, one of his hands sliding under her knees and the other under her shoulders, just like the night before. With ease, he walked out of the water, climbing the bank without any problems. Gina felt safe in his thick arms.

He carried her back to their campsite, his mouth against hers as he did so. Carefully, Dean lowered her down onto the blanket, then lay down next to her. His eyes took in every curve of her body, and Gina found herself doing the same for him: her eyes couldn’t stop looking down at what he had between his legs.

His lips were on her neck again, then her earlobe, then her cheek, always sucking and kissing somewhere. Gina let out a moan and ran her fingers through his thick hair as his lips moved down to her chest, first kissing between her breasts and then moving towards her left one. His tongue traced her areola entirely, then he moved to the other and repeated the process before placing his lips on one and sucking.

Gina moaned, remembering how good it had felt the other night — and this was feeling even better. He started moving past her breasts, moving downwards, kissing the side of her stomach, then kissing her navel, and then the other side. His lips never stopped moving across her.

Finally, he moved down between her hips, below her belly button, but above her wetness. He kissed around, long enough for Gina to utter a, “Please, Dean,” and then he moved between her legs.

One of his kisses found the inside of a thigh, kissing all of the way down to almost her knee. Then he kissed back up the other thigh, a feeling that was both wonderful and maddening. Gina wanted him now, but he was taking his sweet time. He moved up her thigh and then placed his lips against her wetness.

She felt his lips work, slowly and tenderly, tasting her and drinking her in. His tongue slid out from between his lips, pressing against her own. Gina closed her eyes, her hands still running through Dean’s hair, and arched her back.

Gina felt as his tongue slid against her lips, spreading her wide. His tongue was like heaven inside of her, exploring deep and working parts of her she didn’t even know existed. Then she felt his tongue sliding out of her before it moved against her clit.

She squirmed in pleasure as he pressed his tongue against her. Her breathing was becoming hurried and hot. One of Dean’s hands came up and grabbed her breast, squeezing a nipple, the other squeezing her thigh.

His lips and tongue never stopped moving across her wetness, working her in the perfect way. She heard moans and realized they were coming from her – if she were anywhere else but in the woods, she would try to be quiet, but it didn’t matter, now.

“Keep…going…” she managed through breaths. Dean was hitting all of the right places and she could tell that he was going to bring her to orgasm quicker than she thought was possible. She lifted her legs, ignoring her ankle, and wrapped them tightly around Dean’s head. She couldn’t have him going anywhere. He had to keep doing exactly what he was doing. And he did.

Between her legs, Gina felt a warmth blossoming inside of her. It started off slow at first, then quickly built into a crescendo. Gina pushed it away as long as she could, trying to hold it at bay, but it was pointless. With a scream of pleasure, her orgasm hit her harder than ever before. She bucked forward in ecstasy, letting it engulf her entirely.

Gina didn’t know how long her orgasm lasted for, but finally, after what seemed like minutes, it was done. She unwrapped her legs from around Dean’s head, her breath still heaving. Her face was hot. The pleasure that she had experienced was unlike anything any other man had ever brought her. She had no words to describe it.

Dean came up next to her, his body hot against hers. One of his hands grabbed a breast, squeezing ever so gently, his lips kissing the side of her neck. Against her leg, she felt his hardness, leaving little trails of precum on her.

Without even a warning, she leaned down, grabbing it in one of her hands. She could barely get a hand around his girth, but that didn’t matter to her. She leaned down, tugging his thickness gently, and placed the head of his cock in between her lips. Dean’s moan was one of utmost pleasure.

She opened her lips wide, barely able to fit him inside of her, and then traced her tongue against the tip. She tasted him, realized how much she loved it, and then pressed her head downwards, feeling his thickness sliding into her wet mouth.

Dean moaned again, his hands running through her hair but letting her work him however she saw fit. She pushed down, her tongue running on the underside of his member, until the tip was hitting the back of her throat. Just when she thought she couldn’t fit anymore of him into her mouth, she pushed just a little deeper.

She continued sliding him in and out of her mouth, harder and faster until h is moans filled the forest. And she loved every second.

It wasn’t long before his breathing was labored, his body hot, and she knew he was going to cum soon. She happily kept going, bobbing her head, sliding her tongue along his length, and then his breathing went quiet and he arched his back.

She felt his cock jerk in her mouth, then felt the hot spray of his cum deep in the back of her throat. She pushed even deeper, swallowing his seed, the warmth filling her. She kept moving slowly, waiting for his orgasm to pass, then she ran her tongue along him and drained the last of his seed. Delighted, she swallowed, loving that she had brought him so much happiness.

Then she pulled herself up into his arms, and the two of them lay there naked together. Gina turned towards him and deeply kissed him. For the first time, the kiss wasn’t leading up to anything; it was just a kiss. They were content to lay there and just enjoy each other’s company. Gina felt herself dozing off, and soon, she was asleep.

*

“Do you see anyone?”

Dean didn’t answer right away. Gina looked over at him. She could tell that he was looking it over. Even with his advanced vision, she wasn’t sure if he would be able to see anyone below them.

They stood on a ridge overlooking North Williamstown, Gina supported by her stick. They were high above the city and Gina couldn’t make anything out except for the buildings, and even they were specks. They still had a few miles to go before they would descend into the town.

Dean shook his head. “We’ll have to get closer before I can see anyone below. But once we’re close, we won’t have the height advantage. We’ll be going in blind.”

North Williamstown, unlike Haysberry, was almost entirely whole. There were a few burned buildings on the outskirts of town, but other than that, everything looked normal up here. Gina knew that down below, it wouldn’t be the case.

“We need to find some food,” Gina stated. She knew it could go unsaid, but she couldn’t help herself. “Where do we go first?”

“We can check some of those houses down there,” he said, pointing. “Most of the looting was probably focused on the center of town, in the commercial district.” Gina followed his finger to where he was pointing. “With any luck, some of those houses on the edge of the city will have been ignored.”

“Then what if we can’t find any?”

“Then we go deeper into the city until we find enough food to get us through,” Dean said. “It won’t be easy, but we can do it.”

Together, they made their way to the highway. She could tell that Dean wished there was a different way into the town, maybe through the woods, but North Williamstown lay in a valley and going off the highway was a quick way to burn up valuable time and energy, neither of which they had. Plus, it would be a good way to get lost.

They made it down the highway to the outskirts of the city in a few hours. Gina winced at a crack in the road that the litter went over, but it was better than the forest trail. They were making decent time.

“I don’t see anyone,” Dean said. “Still…”

Dean cut off as the unmistakable sound of an engine rang through the air. Immediately, Dean was pulling the litter towards the nearest ditch. He helped Gina off of it and then pulled it in behind her. Petey lay silently next to them, all three of them barely peeking out of the ditch.

Within less than 30 seconds, an old truck came barreling down the highway into North Williamstown. Two men were in the front seat and three more were in the bed of the truck, hooting and hollering. They looked drunk, and were all firing weapons into the air with reckless abandon.

Then, in the back, she saw something that made her blood run cold: another man, bound and gagged, in the back of the truck. Gina couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead. She felt chilled to the core. These weren’t just men out having a good time. They were hunters.

When the truck was gone, Dean turned towards Gina. “Look, I can carry you back up the road and you and Petey can stay hidden in the woods. I’ll find us food and bring it back to you. You don’t need to come into town.”

“I’m coming, Dean,” she said. “Going straight through town is the quickest way to get to our destination. It would take us days to go around.”

Dean nodded, though she could tell that he didn’t like it. She didn’t blame him. He didn’t want to be leading her into this town of all places, and she certainly didn’t want to go in. But it was something that had to be done.

They climbed out of the ditch. Dean started to pull the litter out, but Gina said, “Leave it. There’s no way we can make it into town unannounced if you’re dragging me around on that thing.”

Dean nodded again, and he certainly didn’t like this, either. But it made sense: they would be slower, but they could hide much easier. Gina hoped that they would avoid detection altogether. If they didn’t, they would be in serious trouble.

In the distance, they heard gunshots ringing out through the quiet air. Gina shivered, and started walking. The going was slow, but her ankle was better and allowing her to support a little bit of her weight on it. Between her walking stick and Dean, they were making okay time.

When they reached the outskirts of town, Gina got a sense of just how bad North Williamstown was. Burnt out ashes from buildings blew across the streets in slow circles. Destroyed cars lined the streets. Glass crunched underfoot at nearly every step. The town was completely silent now, like a tomb. The feeling was eerie.

They reached the first line of houses without incident. Most of them appeared to be intact. Every other house had broken windows or a shattered doorframe, but other than that, they appeared undamaged.

“Looks like it hasn’t been touched,” Dean said, heading towards one of the houses along the street. He went to the window and peered in. “I can’t see much inside, though. Their curtains are up.”

“Let’s check it out,” Gina offered, hobbling up the sidewalk to the house.

Dean was leaning his weight against the door, testing it. It held for a while, but then there was the noise of wood splintering, and Dean pushed the door open.

“I’ll go in first,” he said, dropping the bag out front. Gina nodded and followed close. She couldn’t see much in the darkness, but she suspected Dean would be able to see without any hindrance. He paused inside, using his golden eyes to see through the darkness, and smelling for others, she suspected. After a few moments, he turned back to her and motioned her into the house.

Petey stood guard outside, but Gina didn’t feel he was safe there. “Come on, Petey,” she told him, and he obediently followed her inside.

“Can you see much?” she asked Dean.

“It looks to be in pretty good shape. Nothing looted, yet. We’re in the living room. I can see the kitchen up ahead. Looks like there might be some food over there. Open some blinds and take a load off while I check the place out.”

Gina stumbled around in the dark. Almost instinctively she reached out and grabbed Dean’s hand. He led her to a couch, where she sat, accidentally also pulling down the entire curtain rod, flooding the living room with sunlight.

“DON’T MOVE!”

Gina instantly froze. Next to her, Dean did the same, but she could tell he was ready to shift at a moment’s notice. Petey growled at her feet, but didn’t move.

“We’re not here to hurt anyone,” Gina said. She started to get up from the couch, but Dean motioned her back. She sat back down, waiting.

“Get on the ground!” the voice ordered. Gina sat dead still, and Dean stood tall. “Get on the ground, I’m not going to ask again, son!” Dean dropped to his knees. Petey ran back and forth, a low growl still in his throat.

Two people came forward out of the kitchen, each with a rifle trained on Dean and Gina. They were an older couple – in their 60s, as least. Probably the owners of the house, Gina thought.

“What are you doing in here?” the man asked. The only menacing thing about him was the gun aimed directly at Dean’s chest. The woman’s gun was aimed in Gina’s general direction, but not pointed directly at her.

“We’re sorry. We just needed food. We thought this place would be abandoned. Please, just let us leave. We’ll leave without a fight.”

“Now anyone can just bust right in,” the man said. He glanced over at the doorframe. “What the hell are we gonna do about that?”

“Let’s just let them go, Ernie,” the woman said.

“We’ll go, we promise. We’ll leave, won’t we Dean?”

“No,” Dean growled. “We need food to survive.”

“Dean,” Gina warned. Let me do the talking. That was what they had agreed on, so many days ago. She hoped that Dean remembered that talk, but right now, it didn’t seem as if he had. Or if he cared.

“We need food, Gina. And look, they have plenty to spare,” Dean said, pointing past the couple into the kitchen. Gina followed his finger and saw that he was right. There were stacks upon stacks of cans lining the walls. This couple was prepared.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to argue,” the old woman said. “We don’t want to hurt anyone, but we will.”

“Okay, we’ll leave. Right, Dean?”

Dean looked conflicted, but then he nodded. Thank you, she said to herself.

“Okay, we’re leaving,” Gina said, trying to soothe the two as much as she could. She got to her feet, wincing in pain. Dean got to his feet, as well. Petey was behind them both, growling at the couple, but not attacking.

“Do you know where we can find some food, or medical supplies?” Gina asked as they made their way to the door.

“There’s a supply warehouse downtown,” the old man offered. “Next to the old post office. It’s unmarked, most people wouldn’t have a need to go in there.”

“Thank you,” Gina said. “Thank you so much.”

“How do you know?” Dean growled. Gina could tell that he was worried it was a trap. She didn’t blame him, but for some reason, she trusted this couple. They could have shot them and asked questions later, but they gave them the chance to walk away unharmed.

“Used to work there, son,” the man said. “Now, don’t be coming back here. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”

They reached the door and Dean started growling. “Get down!” he whispered.

Gina immediately complied. The older woman backed off and the man came up to the side of the door, peering out. Dean crouched in front of the door, looking out.

“Well, shit,” the older man said. Gina lifted her head up just enough to see what they were talking about. Outside, the truck from before had pulled up. In the front seat were the two men, with the three in the bed. They were yelling and cheering as they climbed out. Their prisoner was nowhere to be seen.

They were coming right for the house. Gina had forgotten to shut the door. She mentally cursed herself.

“What do we do?” Gina whispered.

“Get back in the kitchen,” Dean ordered. “Take her to safety!”

The older woman grabbed her by her wrist, hauling her towards the back of the house. Gina wanted to fight back, but what good would it do? What could she do? She didn’t have a weapon besides her walking stick and she would do nothing but get in the way. As she was being pulled away, she saw that Dean was pulling off his clothes.

“What the hell are you doing, son?” the homeowner asked. Dean looked at him, his golden eyes glinting in the light.

“I want you to take a shot at one of those men. Kill one, then get back into the kitchen. I’ll handle the rest. Just be sure not to shoot me.”

*

The man, Ernie, looked like he wanted to ask what Dean meant, but he kept his mouth shut and obeyed Dean. He posted up to the left of the door, his rifle aiming outward. Dean was on the other side of the door, now completely naked.

“Get ready,” he said. Then he started to shift. The homeowner’s eyes went wide, but he must have realized what was happening, and instead of running or panicking, he held his ground. When Dean was completely shifted, the man looked at him and nodded.

“Here goes,” he said, aiming.

*

From the kitchen, Gina heard the gunshot go off, deafening her in the house. Already? That wasn’t good. She and the older woman were around the corner, the woman’s hands still as she held the rifle. She looked like she knew what she was doing.

Gina risked peeking her head around the corner. She heard screams from outside from a man that had been shot; obviously Ernie hadn’t killed him. And then there was a barrage of gunfire on the house. Gina heard the bullets impacting the walls, the windows shattering. One of the bowls of sugar in the kitchen was hit by a ricochet and was suddenlyed an explosion of white.

Still, Gina couldn’t look away. Dean was on the inside of the wall and he swiped at one of the men who came barreling in, unworried about his safety. Dean’s claws caught him squarely. The man screamed in pain, then his screams turned to gurgles as Dean tore into his throat.

“There’s one coming around back, honey!” the old man yelled. Just a moment later, the back door that led into the kitchen exploded inward, splinters of wood flying across the room. The old woman screamed and aimed her rifle, pulling the trigger as a man tried coming in. He fired, his bullet wildly flying through the air and hitting her in the leg. The woman went down, the rifle sliding across the floor towards Gina.

The man was coming in now, thinking that he had got his quarry. Gina jumped forward, grabbing the rifle, and aimed it up.

Could she do this? Kill a man? She would have to, or she would die. Dean would die. Petey would die. This old couple who had done nothing wrong would die.

The man aimed his rifle at the woman on the floor, who had her hands up pleading, and Gina pulled the trigger. He had never even seen her. The bullet took him in the side of his head. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The older woman looked at her with awe and relief. Gina dropped to her knees in front of the woman, tearing at her pants and checking her wound. It was just a slight graze.

“We have a medical kit in the bag outside,” she told the woman. “It was just a graze. We’ll get you patched up and you’ll be fine.”

The woman nodded, gasping in pain. Gina got up, careful of her ankle, and looked towards the living room. Dean was nowhere to be seen, but the old man was at the door, rifle aimed but not taking any shots.

“What’s going on?” Gina asked, limping up to him, hardly noticing the dead body at her feet.

“I can’t get a shot!” the man yelled. Gina looked past him and saw what he was talking about. Outside, Dean was in his bear form, standing on two legs, roaring. He was swiping at two men, who each held long knives in their hands. They were spinning around Dean, darting in and out, quicker than he could attack back. A third man lay in the yard, screaming in pain, his hands a red mess at his stomach.

One of the men darted in, scoring a good hit on Dean. He turned and swiped, scratching the man’s arm, but not disabling him. The man behind Dean launched, his knife outstretched, and Dean never saw him coming. Gina opened her mouth to scream a warning, but then she saw a brown blur at the man’s feet.

The man screamed at the same time Gina yelled, “Petey! No!”

But it was enough time for Dean to turn towards the man. He swiped a paw out, catching the man squarely in the chest. There was a spray of blood and the man was dead. The last man started to back up, trying to sprint away towards the truck, but it was pointless. Dean growled, and then Ernie aimed his rifle and put a round squarely through the runner’s back. Then he turned towards the wounded man on the ground, who was pleading, and shot him, too.

Gina watched as Dean shifted back, crouching down in the yard. She limped out, carrying his clothes with her.

“Dean! Are you okay?”

“Fine, fine,” he told her, giving her a tired smile. “Just worn out. They didn’t get me good.”

Gina ran her hands over Dean’s body. He was right. He was cut shallowly in a few places, but there was no serious damage done. This time. She handed Dean his clothes and he took them and started to dress.

Petey was at her feet, barking and wagging his tail. “Good job, Petey. But don’t do that again!”

Gina made her way back towards their duffel bag and grabbed the medical kit. She went inside, taking care to take it easy on her ankle, and then dropped down at the woman’s side. She cleaned the wound, stitched it up, and then bandaged it up as best she could. As she did, Dean came in and lifted the dead body, taking it outside.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Gina told the woman. “We had no idea you were still inside. We were desperate.”

“It’s okay,” the woman said, wincing as she got to her feet.

Together, they limped towards the front yard, where Dean and the man were loading up the bodies into the back of the truck.

“We need to leave, soon,” Dean told her. Gina nodded.

“They’ll come looking for these guys when they don’t check back in,” the old man said. “You guys need to be long gone before they start looking.”

“How many men are there?” Dean asked.

The older man shrugged. “Don’t know. A lot. They’re like some sort of gang. They come roaring up and down this road at all hours of the day and night.”

“I’m sorry we brought them to you,” Gina said.

The man shrugged again. “It was only a matter of time. But if you get out of here soon, then we might have some more time.”

Dean nodded and they firmly shook hands. “Good luck.”

The man nodded back and handed him a rifle. Gina and Petey made their way towards the truck and climbed in. Dean grabbed the duffel bag and followed.

“What now?” Gina asked when Dean climbed in and started the truck. “We’re going to be a target in this truck.”

“I know,” Dean said, as they started driving away. “But we owe it to that couple to get the bodies and truck out of their neighborhood. We’ll stash it somewhere out of the way and make our way towards the center of town on foot. With any luck, we’ll stay hidden.”

“I hope you’re right,” Gina said. Dean sounded confident when he said that, but Gina didn’t feel the same confidence that he did. They had barely been in North Williamstown for 30 minutes before they’d had a gunfight with some despicable people.

That gang. She shuddered. All things considered, the fight had gone as well as it could have. But how long would their luck last? Gina didn’t think their next encounter with these men would go as smoothly as this one had.

They had one gun, no knives, no food, and no idea where they were really going. She was injured, though her ankle wasn’t giving her as many problems as it had. And now, they were driving a truck through a dangerous city, loaded down with the men who had tried to kill them, and who undoubtedly had friends who would start looking for them.

They drove for a couple of minutes through the neighborhood, making their way towards the town proper. Dean turned down a side street and came to a screeching halt. Gina felt herself flung forward in the seat and Petey yelped in surprise as he landed on the floor mat.

“Dean?” Gina asked, looking over at him. “What’s wrong?”

Then she turned and looked towards the front of the truck. Things had just gotten even worse.

“Gina, get down,” Dean growled. She didn’t obey. Looking in front of her, Gina saw a scene of carnage. Bodies were strewn across the street, four in all, and above them, stood two men and a woman.

“Hold on,” Dean ordered her.

“Wait!” the woman screamed. She sprinted towards the truck, arms up, tears streaming down her face. “Please, you have to help us!”

Dean started to inch forward, but Gina yelled, “Stop!”

Dean shot her a glare. “It’s a trap.”

“How do you know?” Gina asked. Dean shrugged. “Something could have happened to them.”

Dean wasn’t happy as he grabbed the rifle, getting out of the truck and aiming it at the woman who was approaching his driver’s side window. He rolled the window down with one hand, bracing the rifle on it. Gina could tell it was for two reasons: the first was to keep the woman back and give him some cover. The second was to keep her away from the back of the truck.

“Our friends,” the woman started, her breaths hitching in sobs. She could hardly talk, tears were still rolling down her cheeks and snot was pouring out of her nose. “Something happened to them. They just dropped a few hours ago. Please, help us!”

Dropped? Gina’s warning sirens immediately went off. Was this some kind of virus? She wouldn’t be surprised. This was the perfect time for new viruses to sprout up, born out of the death and dirt of the new world. A new virus could even be the reason the bombs went off in the first place. Containment.

“Here, Dean, put this on,” Gina said, pulling a mask out of their duffle bag. She donned the second one. They were the only two that had survived the fire, safe in their single medical kit. She grabbed a pair of rubber gloves and pulled those on, as well.

Dean eyed the mask, but took it and slipped it over his face, never taking his eyes off of the woman.

“We’re going to take a look. I’m a doctor,” Gina said, getting out of the truck. Dean gestured with the rifle and the woman backed off, going towards her friends. Gina approached, looking at them first. They were dirty, their jeans ripped, but they didn’t appear to be armed.

“Hands up,” Dean ordered. The men glared at him and didn’t comply.

“Why? So you can shoot us?” one spat.

“Hands up, or I kill you all and we leave now. I’ve survived too long out here to take any chances with people like you.”

Gina wanted to tell him to calm down, but what he was saying was perfectly reasonable. She looked over at him. The first man nodded and put his hands behind his head. The second followed suit, then the woman.

“If they make any move, any at all, shoot them,” Dean told her and handed her the rifle. Gina nodded. She knew she could do that now. Raising the rifle, she watched as Dean patted down the three. When he was satisfied, he took a step backwards and took the rifle back from Gina. “Okay, they’re clean. Check it out.”

Gina, feeling safe, went over to the bodies on the ground. Three were men and the last was a woman.

“Tell me what happened,” she said. Her knees screamed in protest, kneeling in the street, but at least she was off of her ankle.

“We were out looking for supplies,” the woman said, kneeling down beside her. “They hadn’t been feeling good lately. And then they all just collapsed. We tried helping them…but…”

She was crying again. Gina tuned her out for a few moments, checking one of the men first. She pulled up his shirt. There were no wounds that would indicate a bullet wound or stabbing. He was wearing some ratty athletic shorts, one of the reasons she had chosen this man, so checking his legs was easy. There was nothing there to indicate any foul play, either.

“Help me roll him over,” Gina said. The woman managed to help, even through her sobs.

His back was the same case as the front. There was nothing there to indicate he’d been murdered. She checked the back of his head and his skull. There was no sign of blunt force trauma.

Had this man really died of a virus? Was there a new plague? What was the transmission vector? Airborne? If so, were she and Dean already exposed? Was it transported in the water supply? Maybe some type of animal?

Or maybe it was just some rotten food harboring some bacteria. The possibilities could be endless, and without a proper lab and testing equipment, she wasn’t sure if she could reach a conclusion.

“Did they eat anything specific?” she asked.

One of the men spoke up behind her, “We’ve been eating from the same supply of canned vegetables.”

Gina considered it. It was technically possible that they had eaten some bad canned food, but extremely unlikely.

“Do you think that could be it? Are we safe?” the woman asked. Her tears had mostly stopped, but she still sniffled every other word.

“I don’t know,” Gina said. She moved towards the woman lying dead on the ground. She inspected her, too. It was the same case as the first man. She heard footsteps coming up behind her and glanced back, seeing Dean come close.

“Give us a second,” he ordered the woman. She heard the tone in his voice and didn’t argue, scrambling off to join her friends. “Something isn’t adding up.”

Gina looked down at the people on the ground: ratty and torn clothing, to be expected from people in this town. Malnourished bodies.

She shook her head. Something was nagging at her. Dean was right: something wasn’t adding up.

She turned to the others and looked them over. Their clothes were ratty, too. And dirty. Extremely dirty, like they’d been living under a bridge. She looked back at those on the ground.

How had she missed it before?

The four on the ground had torn up clothes, but they were far from dirty. For the most part, they were clean. They were a stark contrast to the other three. It didn’t look like they’d been together. They looked like two separate sets of people. Still, it didn’t prove anything.

For one, there were no murder weapons. It was possible someone had fled with the weapons, but what reason would they have for that? She doubted they were expecting a truck to roll up and catch them in the act.

Plus, that woman was torn up. Gina turned to her. She saw the woman flash one of the men a smile. Was it all an act?

“What killed them?” one of the men asked, coming close behind them. Dean turned and aimed the rifle in his general direction.

“I don’t know,” Gina said. It was true, she couldn’t figure it out. She felt around the woman’s throat, checking for inflamed nodes. Nothing. She trailed her finger down the woman’s neck, baffled, and then something came to her.

She turned back, leaning close and inspecting the neck, and there it was. Just the slightest hint of bruising, still forming. Had these people been strangled? She suspected in a short while, the bruises would be evident.

She crawled over to another man. There was some redness on his neck, and just by his Adam’s apple, more bruising. The next man had even more bruising, though unless you were trained for it, Gina didn’t think anyone would notice this early.

These four had been strangled. She was kneeling on the ground, and turned around, face level with the man’s hips. Holding up his baggy jeans was a thick, black belt. She looked past him, the other two had belts, as well. So they did have weapons, after all.

“I think I have an idea of what killed them,” Gina announced, getting up. The three instantly became agitated.

“What?” the closest asked. He took a few hesitant steps towards her, trying to play it off like he was inspecting the bodies.

“It looks like a severe strain of the flu,” she lied. It was a flimsy excuse at best, but she didn’t think these people would argue.

“Oh, okay,” the man said.

“Let me get a kit out of the truck and we’ll test one of them,” Gina said. She started moving off, walking past Dean, and whispered, “Let’s go.”

Dean heard her and took a couple of steps back. The three started to close in, coming closer than Gina felt comfortable. She climbed into the cab, faking digging through a bag, waiting for Dean. Petey was looking anxious next to her.

“What’s taking so long?” the woman asked. All of her sadness, all of her tears, were gone. Dean was still making his way back to the truck, looking as calm as possible.

“Need help finding it?” he asked, coming around to the driver’s side.

Gina looked up, met the woman’s face with her own uneasy expression, and then quickly looked away again. She’d never been a good liar..

“She knows!” the woman shrieked, her voice lined with pure panic.

The two men immediately charged forward. Gina heard Dean’s rifle go off, and then one of the men was sprinting towards Gina’s door. She slammed the lock down. Petey was barking.

Gina looked towards Dean, seeing him wrestling with one of the men. “Dean! Climb in!” she screamed. She slid into the driver’s seat, and fired up the truck just as the man at the passenger’s side shattered the window. Petey lashed out, biting his hand, buying them a few moments.

Dean looked at her out of the corner of his eye, saw she was ready to go, and headbutted the guy in the face. He screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground, his hands grabbing onto the rifle and pulling it to the ground as he fell. Dean grabbed it back, tossed it in the bed, and piled in.

Gina gunned it. The woman was directly in front of her, screaming, trying to block the road. Gina closed her eyes and felt a thud as she hit the woman, then she opened them and was tearing away. Next to her, the last man was still holding onto the window, being dragged around with them. Petey was biting the man’s fingers over and over: he was bleeding everywhere, but he wouldn’t relent.

Then Dean came to the side and with one heavy kick, the man released his hold and tumbled away, rolling in the road. Dean climbed through the window as the truck was still moving.

“Good job,” he told her. Then he ruffled Petey’s fur. “Good job, Petey.”

“They strangled them. With their belts,” Gina explained. “We should never have stopped.”

“We never could have known,” Dean said.

“I should have listened to you. That’s what I said I would do.”

“Not everyone is bad. Plus, we had to know. What if there was some kind of disease out there? You had to check. Had to be sure.”

Gina nodded. His reasoning was true. Still. She had put them in a bad situation. She would never do that again.

*

Gina wasn’t sure how long they’d driven for. It was way longer than they should have, but Dean didn’t see the need to stop her. Everyone could be watching them now, but it didn’t matter. They had to get away from those people.

It was blind luck that carried them right past the post office downtown, and therefore also the warehouse where they would find all of the food they needed. By now, it was growing dark, so they stashed the truck a couple of blocks away and made their way to the post office to get some sleep.

The plan was to wake up early, grab as much food as they could carry, and take it back to the truck. If it was still there, great, if not, then they would make their way out on foot. But right now, it was too dark to do any good. Gina didn’t want to risk turning the headlights on, especially now that all of the power was out. If anyone was looking for them, they would be drawn to them like moths to a flame.

Dean managed to bust open the back door of the post office. Old mail delivery trucks sat abandoned out back, their tires slashed and the windows busted out. Dean took a few moments to scout the post office: his nose and eyes could detect no one. Upon further inspection, even the front door was locked and unbroken. Obviously, when things had gone bad in North Williamstown, no one had seen it necessary to go into the post office. It was a small blessing.

The post office itself was small, most of the floor space devoted to the back of the post office, where they did most of their sorting and packaging shipments. The front area was small. There were some lockboxes for people to pick up their mail, a bulletin board, and a small trash can. Luckily, no one would be looking for them in here.

“It’s not too bad,” Gina said, laying out their blankets.

Dean grunted, but then he said, “Yeah, you’re right. This place is sort of cozy.”

Gina made herself as comfortable as possible. The floor was hard, but the blankets helped, some, and Dean and Petey’s presence helped considerably. Dean pulled out their last two meal packs and handed one to Gina. Then he grabbed a can of Petey’s food and opened it up for him. Petey still had stacks of food left. The perks of being a dog, Gina thought.

They ate in silence and darkness, their only source of light the moon streaming in through a tall window. Gina would have loved some more light, but she knew the risk of attracting more people to their position. This was undoubtedly the most dangerous part of their journey so far.

She just hoped North Williamstown wouldn’t be their tomb, like it had been for so many others. They sat and talked in low tones for a good while, enjoying each other’s company.

Eventually, Dean said, “We’d probably better get some rest soon. We have an early morning. If we’re lucky, we’ll be up and out of here before anyone else in this damn town even wakes up.”

“Tomorrow is going to be dangerous, Dean.”

“I know.” He said it simply, as was his way. If he was nervous, he didn’t show it. Gina, on the other hand, was almost sick with nervousness.

“This town is dangerous. I can’t wait to get out of here and hit the road,” Gina said. “My ankle is even doing better. Soon, we’ll be crushing miles out in the woods again.”

Dean’s laugh was low. “I hope so.”

There was something in his voice, some…sadness that Gina picked up. She hadn’t told him that she was planning on staying in that community, but did he know, somehow? She knew that Dean was good at picking up on stuff like that.

She sighed. Those thoughts made her sad, too, but she couldn’t just run off to the woods with Dean and Petey. She was a doctor. It was her duty to help those that couldn’t help themselves. She could potentially be the only doctor in the community altogether. She could save lives. Restore humanity. Save the world.

Would Dean understand that? She thought so. He would understand it, but he wouldn’t be happy with it. She didn’t blame him. There was something between them, some bond that had formed ever since he pulled her out of her mangled car and saved her life. It was something she could never repay.

“Dean, stay with me. When we get to that camp, I want you to stay with me.”

He looked uncomfortable. “Gina…”

Dean didn’t answer for nearly a minute, before she prompted softly, “What? Dean, just spit it out.”

“You know I can’t. I don’t fit in with people. I’m dangerous.”

“You’ll fit in perfectly!” she said, crawling over to him and taking his hands in hers. “You’ve changed so much since I met you that I wouldn’t even recognize you from before. You can fit in. You can help. I can help. Together, we can make the world a better place.”

“You can make the world a better place. I’ll just get in the way.”

“Dean, don’t say that,” Gina said. She then took his head in her hands, looking deep into his blazing, golden eyes. “Dean, I need you.”

She pressed her lips on his, as if he needed the affirmation, and kissed softly. He didn’t move his lips for the briefest of moments, as if considering how much had changed in only a few short days, but then his lips started moving against hers. They found the rhythm perfectly, moving with each other and not against. Gina felt Dean’s tongue slide against her lips ever so softly before retreating back into his mouth. She followed it with her own, pressing it between his lips, feeling him suck it into his own mouth.

Gina didn’t know how long they kissed for, entirely losing herself in his lips and hands. His hands traveled over every inch of her body, running his fingers through her hair, dancing down her neck, cupping a breast, pulling her closer to him by her hips, squeezing her thigh. She shuddered in delight every time his fingers brushed her.

Their kiss of passion broke for just a split second and that was enough for Gina to reach down to his shirt, grabbing each side and pulling it over his head. She threw it far away into the darkness. Then she ran her fingers across his chest, his sides, and his back. She couldn’t help herself. He was perfection in every way.

It was her turn to kiss his neck, to nibble his ear, and to feel goosebumps break out across his skin underneath her hand. Moans escaped his lips as she moved her mouth down to his chest, kissing it, leaving her own little wet trails as she did so. Then she placed one of his nipples between her lips, sucking on it, running her tongue across it.

Without even hesitating, she moved down to his stomach, kissing one side of it, then the other. Her lips lowered to his navel, kissing around it and then directly on it. She fumbled to unbutton his pants, pull down the zipper, and then pull them off completely.

Dean was only in his underwear, at her mercy. She ran a finger along the noticeable bulge in the fabric, seeing a wet spot where the tip of his length was. She kissed along it, pressing the wet fabric to him, teasing him and making him wait.

Slowly, she wrapped a finger into the side of his underwear, and then slowly tugged them off. They caught for just a split second on his member, and then they were down past his knees. Dean kicked them off and lay there completely naked.

Gina trailed one finger along his length, twirling it on the head of his penis, then brought it back down the other side. She brought her head down, her tongue out, and licked him up and down. Dean growled, a loud noise of pure, bestial pleasure. When she had licked every inch of him, she brought her hand up, squeezing his girth and tugging gently. Dean leaned back and moaned again, running hands through his hair.

She went slow, working him just how she wanted, fast enough to bring him pleasure but slow enough to tease him completely.

After a few minutes, she leaned back on her knees and pulled her shirt over her head. Then she stood up, unbuttoning her pants, spinning around and bending over as she pulled them off. She gave Dean an entire look at her backside, clad only in underwear.

Then she undid her bra, letting it fall to the ground but not spinning around just yet. Gina gave him a devilish grin over her shoulder, loving what was going on, and the look on Dean’s face told her that he was loving it, too.

She hooked her thumbs in her panties, pulling them down inch by inch, making him wait for the entire view. When they were halfway down, she crossed her legs and bent down again, giving him the most perfect view of her that no one else had ever seen.

“Wow,” he muttered under his breath. She pulled down her panties and stepped out of them, leaving them on the floor. Then she dropped to the floor in front of Dean. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her close. Dean lowered himself to the floor, lying on his back with Gina on top of him. She felt the warmth radiating from him, felt his tight muscles against her skin, felt his length between her legs.

They kissed even longer, their hands running all over each other. One of his hands grabbed her breast, and at the same time he slid the other between her legs. Gina let out a loud moan as one of his fingers brushed against her clit, causing her to buck forward in pleasure. She moaned even louder when he slid two of his fingers into her, stretching her out.

Gina let him work her, bringing her pleasure she couldn’t describe. She pressed her lips down on his neck, biting, the pleasure working its way through her. She felt a wave building inside of her, an entirely different feeling from the other night, but no less amazing. Gina’s moans were loud against Dean’s skin; his fingers never stopped moving inside of her, hitting the right places perfectly.

With a gasp, Gina let her orgasm wash over her. It built and built and built, until there was nothing left but ecstasy inside of her. The feeling was perfect and she screamed out, pushing down on his fingers, feeling herself tightening around them.

When her orgasm passed, she rolled over off of Dean, both of them laying on their backs. The medical kit was lying next to her and she reached out to unzip it. She fumbled around inside blindly, and then found what she was looking for. With a triumphant grin she held it up to Dean.

Even in the dim light, he could see enough. “Are you sure?”

Gina nodded. “It’s the only one that survived the fire.”

Dean smiled.

Gina held the last condom in her hand. They were a standard issue in all of the medical kits she had had. They were supposed to be given out those in situations that needed them, but there was no one around that needed it more than they did right then.

Gina ripped open the package and pulled the condom out. She grabbed the base of Dean’s length with one hand, unsure if the condom would even fit over him as she rolled it down. It was a tight fit, but it would work.

Dean rolled over, his body warm and on top of her. He ran a finger through her hair and guided himself between her legs. She felt his tip pressing against her lips. She let out a moan, unsure if he would fit inside of her — she had never been with a man this large before.

But he went slowly, and her moans became screams of pleasure as he sank deeper into her, stretching her. Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more of him, he pushed into her deeper, filling her completely up. Then he pulled himself entirely out of her, leaving her feeling strangely hollow.

Again he pushed into her, just a bit faster than the first time, and pulled back out until only the tip of his cock was inside of her. He pushed again, faster, burying himself completely in her. He pulled out and pushed in, over and over.

They were both moaning loudly, working their bodies together in the dim light. Gina lifted her legs up, tightening around Dean’s backside, letting him hit entirely new angles. She started rocking her body, pressing against him just as he pressed against her, letting him go deeper than he ever had before.

His lips found hers and never left as they made love. Gina could feel his entire length inside of her, warming her. It was unlike anything else she had ever experienced.

They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, until she felt another orgasm approaching, faster than the first one. With every stroke, Dean’s length teased along her clit, bringing her closer and closer. She was pushing it away, trying to focus on anything else but Dean inside of her.

Then his breathing started growing ragged and his thrusts lost their rhythm and became more urgent. She could tell that he was going to cum, and soon.

“Cum for me,” she whispered between kisses. He let out a loud moan, more like an animal than a man, and thrust into her one final time. As he did so, Gina’s orgasm hit its final crescendo, and then they came together.

Gina felt herself tightening around him. She felt Dean’s cock twitching, shooting load after load into the condom. He pushed deeper and deeper; she wrapped her legs tighter and tighter, and then they collapsed together, utterly spent and covered in sweat.

Dean stayedy on top of her for a few minutes as they tried to catch their breaths.

“That was amazing,” Gina finally managed. “I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

“Me neither,” Dean whispered, and then he rolled off of her. Gina heard him fumbling with the condom, then he tossed it away. Gina turned onto her side, draping an arm and a leg across his body.

As bad as things were, they certainly felt perfect in that moment. Gina would never have imagined the sex could be that good. In fact, in the beginning she never would have imagined having sex with Dean at all. She couldn’t believe after everything had gone so badly, something had finally gone so right.

But then she remembered they would be leaving each other soon. She frowned and pushed the thought away: she had Dean tonight, and the next few nights too, so she decided she would make the most of it.

Wrapped in each other’s arms, they fell asleep.

*

Dean opened his eyes slowly. It was still dark out, but he could detect the first rays of sunlight creeping over the horizon. It would start to get light soon. He got up, carefully pulling himself out of Gina’s embrace, trying not to wake her. She mumbled a quiet, “Dean,” but that was it. He found his clothes and pulled them on slowly.

Gina had wanted to go to the warehouse with him. He knew that. She probably could. Her ankle wasn’t giving her that much trouble anymore. But he didn’t want to risk putting her in any more trouble than he already had.

This was something that he could do alone. He picked up the duffel bag, now almost completely empty besides cans of Petey’s food, and emptied it out. He opened up a can for Petey and made his way towards the back of the post office. Then he was out the door into the darkness; silent.

He stood outside for a few minutes, listening as hard as he could. The town was dead. There were no gunshots, no car engines, nothing except the sound of his own breath and the rustle of leaves. Right now, the city was still asleep. He didn’t think it would be for long, so he set out towards the warehouse.

As the old man had said, it was right next to the post office. Dean made his way through the alley, looking for an easy entrance. The doors were heavy steel and locked tight. He thought that he might be able to shift and knock his way through, but it would be loud and he could expend a lot of the energy he didn’t have. Right now, things were still dire.

So he looked around some more, walking along the back side of the building. There was an old ladder that led up to a platform. Probably used for maintenance, but it would do. He grabbed it and shook it. It rattled slightly, but held. It would do nicely if it took his weight. But he didn’t see any other way into the warehouse and he certainly wasn’t going around to the street to look, so up he went.

He busted open the small lock on the maintenance door with little problem, and then, on all fours, crawled through the opening and onto a small walkway high above the factory.

The building was pitch black, but Dean could see enough. The old man had been telling the truth: this was a distribution factory and there were hundreds — no, thousands — of boxes, crates, and pallets everywhere in the building. Dean followed the walkway and found a ladder down.

He explored for a few minutes and finally found what he needed. There was no shortage of food: canned vegetables and fruits, instant meals, sauces, anything he could think of. He found some that would satisfy his rumbling stomach and started to fill up the duffel bag almost to the brim, then went to find Petey some more dog food. He’d take the food back and then come back to get another bag. He felt good.

*

Gina woke up, her heart pounding in her chest. Dean was nowhere to be found. The duffel bag was gone, Petey’s food on the ground where it had been. He’d gone to the warehouse without her. But there was nothing she could do about it, now. He could have left 30 seconds ago or he could be on his way back any moment now. It was best just to lay low and wait for him to return.

While she waited, she got dressed and looked around the post office. It was much as she had expected, but at least now she could see her surroundings. Dean had left the rifle, propped up on a desk. She was thankful for that.

Unsure of what she should do, she decided to make herself useful and scout out the building. There could be food here, or useful tools, or any other number of things they hadn’t seen the night before. She explored the back room, finding nothing but old mail, never to be delivered.

She and Petey made their way to the front of the building, making sure that no one was looking inside first. When she determined the coast was clear, they went to explore. The front of the post office was much the same as the back: it contained nothing that would be useful to them. It had been a long shot, but not looking would have been a crime.

She decided it would be best to just go to the back room and wait for Dean. On the way she stopped at the bulletin board. Looking at the old posters reminded her of her old life: kids offering to mow lawns, cars for sale, community dinners. She wondered if they would ever get back to that.

And half buried under another ad for a garage sale, a picture of Dean. Dean? Gina reached out, having no idea why there would be a picture of Dean on the bulletin board. Had he been here before?

The text was big, bold and simple:

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?

WANTED FOR THE MURDER OF

SENATOR FOSTER’S SON

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED

Murder? Dean? Gina dropped the paper to the floor. She couldn’t believe it. Dean had a temper sometimes, but he wouldn’t murder anyone in cold blood, would he?

The paper finally came to a rest on the floor with Dean’s face looking up at her. He looked so innocent on the page.

And then everything hit her like a truck: he wanted to avoid the new community, he wanted to avoid all towns, and he had been hiding out in a bunker in the woods for two years. He’d been hiding out because he was on the run.

Gina thought she might be sick. He was a murderer, and she’d been falling in love with him. How could she be so stupid?

“Come on, Petey,” she said, moving towards the back of the post office. She found a cloth paper sack and stuffed all of Petey’s food, what remained of her medical kit, and the blanket inside of it. She grabbed the rifle and went out towards the front of the post office.

She looked both ways as best she could, then unlocked the front door and headed outside. She walked down the stairs, scanning up and down the road. It looked deserted. She turned north and headed off. She didn’t need Dean to survive any more.

*

Dean opened the door slowly, calling out, “Gina, it’s me! Don’t shoot!”

When he heard no reply, he carefully poked his head into the back of the post office. He didn’t see her or Petey anywhere, and that was enough. At least she wouldn’t accidentally shoot him. He was struggling under the load of food he’d brought in.

He had a plan: they would eat until they could hardly move, then he would find some extra containers in here, somewhere. Maybe a letter pail, maybe some bags. He’d make one last trip over to the warehouse and they’d hit the road.

‘Gina, I think you’re going to like what I found,” he called out, but there was no answer. Usually Petey would at least run up, checking out his voice, making sure it was him, but there was nothing.

What was going on?

He set the food down on the floor and made his way towards where they had been sleeping. Everything was gone: Petey’s food, the blanket, the rifle. What had happened?

He immediately took in the scene, smelling and looking around. Had she been kidnapped? He didn’t think so. Why would her kidnappers take dog food and blankets? Still, she wouldn’t have left.

He went to the front of the post office. He could smell her here. She wasn’t injured, but the scent of anger and betrayal was strong in the room. Why would she be feeling that? Dean quickly made his way to the door: it was unlocked. She’d gone out through here. He could smell her scent fading away outside, blown away by the wind.

Why had she gone out? Was she trying to find him? No, that didn’t make sense.

He decided he would simply grab the food and follow her. Halfway across the room, he paused. There was a piece of paper on the floor, her scent strong on it. He knelt down and picked it up.

It was his wanted poster.

His heart went cold. So, she knew. Or at least, she thought she did. He cursed, kicking a trash can and spilling the trash everywhere. He should never have kept it from her. He should have been up front with her since the beginning. It was too late now.

He had to find her. Instead of going back and grabbing the food, he ran out the front door into the sunlight. Her scent was fainter out here, but he could tell she went north. It made sense. She was going to that community. He had to stop her. He had to tell her the truth. He had to let her know that he had never meant to hurt her.

He started to run. He had no idea how much of a lead she had on him, but he refused to let that bother him. He would find her, no matter what. He couldn’t do this without her.

He ran for over ten minutes. He could tell that he was getting closer; her scent was much stronger. But she was moving faster than he thought she could; he wasn’t making as good of time as he had hoped.

He turned the corner and there she was: Gina was standing still, bag dropped on the ground, rifle aimed forward. Dean looked to the side and he saw what she was aiming at: another truck full of dangerous looking men, four with rifles trained on her.

He was too far away to reach them in time, too far away to yell, too far away to hear or do anything to help. He started running anyway, but she was blocks away. He’d never make it. Dean watched as she lowered the rifle and one of the men jumped out of the truck. The man struck her across the face and took the rifle from her, then grabbed her and hauled her to the truck. Petey leapt to attack him, but he kicked out hard and Petey shied away.

And then she was in the back of the truck, and it was taking off.

Dean screamed, but the roar of the truck drowned him out. Petey was chasing after it, but it was outpacing him and was soon turning down another block, leaving Petey in its dust. Dean ran even faster, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

He got to where the bag was and saw Petey’s food spilled everywhere. The half med kit was smashed open on the ground, its contents strewn on the pavement. Petey was barking. Dean paused for a split second at the bag, catching his breath, then ran on.

He caught up to Petey within a few moments. Petey looked up at him. Together, they ran.

The scent of the men wasn’t hard to follow; in fact, it was almost overpowering. But they were moving much faster than Dean and Petey could. They were both sucking air, but both refused to give up. Dean wouldn’t leave Gina behind and Petey wouldn’t, either.

Just when everything began to seem hopeless, the truck finally parked in front of a library. What a place for a gang to hide out, Dean thought.

The outside was deserted and utterly quiet. Obviously, these men weren’t worried about being followed. Dean wasn’t sure if these men ran this city, or if they were just one gang of many, but it didn’t matter. He was getting Gina back, no matter what.

Even if it cost him his life.

And it probably will, he told himself. Strangely, he was okay with that. After working so hard to stay alive these past two years, and after the apocalypse started, Dean was surprised to find that he was okay if he didn’t make it out of this. The only thing that mattered to him was getting Gina and Petey out of here safely.

What would his grandfather say? He found that he didn’t care anymore. Dean was his own man.

“Watch the front, Petey,” Dean ordered, and slunk off the best he could, trying to figure out what his plan of attack was. He had to be quick.

He reached a window at the side of the building by keeping low. Carefully, he liftede his head up, just enough to peer inside. The building wasn’t completely dark: they had flashlights aimed up at the ceiling, illuminating the room slightly. He could see two men inside.

The left a minimum of three more. He moved around the building, looking into windows, but he couldn’t see anyone else - including Gina. Around the back, there was a man outside the door, cigarette hanging from his lips. He was looking out at the alley, without a care in the world.

Dean waited patiently, though it was tough. His instincts told him to shift and rush the man; tear him limb from limb. Patience, he told himself. That’ll come, soon enough.

Finally, the man tossed his finished cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. He turned to go back inside, hand reaching out to open the door — and Dean rushed into action. He was a blur, grabbing the man before he had the chance to even touch the door. Dean grabbed him by the throat, one over his mouth, and pulled him backwards. The man thrashed, terror in his eyes, but Dean didn’t let go until the man was still.

He lifted the limp body, tossing it into the dumpster and heading back towards the front. As he made his way back, he was surprised to find that killing didn’t bother him. Not now.

Before everything had started, he had vowed he would never harm another person again. He realized how foolish that was. Someone that he loved was in danger. He would do anything to make her safe again. He would take out this whole city.

Out front, Petey was still there, watching the front door.

“I’ve got a plan, Petey,” he told the dog. He wasn’t sure how well he understood, but he told him anyway. “We’re going to draw some of these men out here. I need you to distract them. Then, I’ll move in.”

Petey just looked at him. If he understood, Dean didn’t know, but it was the only good plan he had. Dean stood straight, and tore off his shirt. He stripped down, then started to shift. Petey gave a yelp of surprise, but held his ground.

Dean made his way to the front door and rapped a paw on it. Then he backed off, moving to the left of the door. Within seconds, two men were coming out of the front of the building, rifles drawn.

“Holy shit,” the first one said.

“He found us! Come here, boy!”

Petey growled. Both men walked out from the door, and Dean moved to attack. The first man caught a flash of movement, managed a, “What??” and then Dean was on him. The second man turned, but he was dead immediately.

It was over within two seconds. Dean could feel his bloodlust growing. He tried to push it away — it was almost overwhelming, but he knew that he had to keep a level head if he meant to save Gina.

But he didn’t have much time, so he rushed into the building, Petey right behind him.

*

“Where are your friends?”

Gina gritted her teeth. She was tied to a chair in the back of some library, or what was left of it. These men had burned most of the books for warmth during the night. Idiots, she thought. Should have saved them for the winter.

“Come on, honey,” the other man said. “We found Bradley’s truck a couple blocks away from where we found you. He’s dead in the bed. So are some of our other friends. You have no idea about this? You did it all yourself?”

Gina didn’t say anything, just narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t going to give in to these men. There were only five of them left in total. It seemed that Dean and she had killed the rest of their group unknowingly.

She thought of Dean. The murderer.

Was that fair? She didn’t know. He’d saved her, more than once. And now, she found herself hoping that he would save her again. But she wanted nothing to do with him.

The first man pulled out a knife, bringing it close to Gina’s eye. “We don’t want to have to hurt you. You’re too pretty for that. What’s taking Jim so long? How many cigarettes is he smoking?”

“I’ll go check,” the second man said.

The knife came close, and Gina tried to pull back. Tears were starting to flow down her face. She couldn’t risk closing her eye, the knife was so close. This was it…

Boom! There was a sudden loud noise from behind the man with the knife. He was blocking Gina’s view; she couldn’t see what the noise was.

“Holy shit! A grizzly!” the second man yelled from behind her. Dean!

The man nearest to her turned and lunged for a rifle. She saw Dean roaring towards him, the door to the room shattered into a thousand pieces. Petey was rushing in behind him, going for the second man. Gina’s eyes flashed back to the man going for his gun, but he never reached it.

Dean made short work of him.

“Let me go, dog!” the last man yelled. Gina tried turning in her chair. She could see just enough to see that he was trying to run, but Petey was snapping at him, slowing him down just enough. Dean was moving in. Gina turned away and let Dean do what he had to do.

It was over within seconds. She heard Dean shifting behind her, then he was kneeling at the chair, undoing her bonds.

“Did they hurt you?” he asked.

“No,” Gina bit off. Dean undid her bonds and then pulled her out of the chair. He immediately grabbed her in a tight embrace. Gina let it go on for just a second: that was all she would allow herself. Then she pushed Dean away.

“I want you to stay away from me,” she said. “Thanks for saving my life, but Petey and I are going to the safe zone, and I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

“Gina, please.”

“I’m sorry, Dean.”

“I didn’t mean to kill that man,” he told her. She could see the sadness on her face. “I never wanted to kill him. But I had to, to keep others safe. To keep myself safe.”

Gina didn’t know if she believed anything he said. In her heart, she wanted to. Badly.

“It was two years ago, almost to the day. I was in a gas station, buying breakfast, when he came in. He was drunk and had a gun. There were a few others in the gas station with me: the clerk, a woman and her daughter, another guy. The senator’s son wanted the cash. It was some kind of thrill for him. When he didn’t get as much money as he wanted, he lost it.”

Dean paused. Gina could tell just how much it was hurting him to tell the story.

“He started firing, randomly. And he hit that little girl. I tried to stop the bleeding, but she bled out in my arms. She died, and I could have stopped it, if I had just acted sooner. When that man saw what he had done, he dropped the gun. He realized just how badly he had messed up.”

“Dean…”

“So I jumped on him. I attacked him. Tore him limb from limb. I thought he deserved it. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. But no one else saw it that way. The news didn’t mention the little girl that died because of him. They only focused on how I murdered a senator’s son. So I fled and never looked back.”

“I’m sorry,” Gina told him. What else could she say? She felt ashamed of how she had acted. She should have asked him about it, should have talked to him, instead of running away. She’d almost got both of them killed.

She didn’t know what she should say. So she just grabbed Dean and pulled him close, as he cried on her shoulder.

*

“So, this is it,” Gina said.

They were on the edge of the community. It was much larger than she had anticipated: tents as far as the eye could see, big military ones. She could see men constructing log cabins. Despite looking like a military camp, she saw no military presence. A few kids ran around their mother, who was carrying a basket full of some kind of fruit.

“This is it,” Dean answered. They had left the library in a hurry, taking the men’s truck back to the warehouse. They loaded it down, parking the truck in the alleyway out back. They had enough food for months, now, including enough for Petey. They had even gone back and picked up his extra food and the rest of the medical kit. It never hurt to be safe.

And then they had left North Williamstown behind, hopefully for good. Dean followed the road north, then turned off onto a nondescript service road through the forest. Gina thought he was crazy, but he had led them right towards the encampment.

They got out of the truck as a man started walking towards him.

“I’m General Harris,” he said, extending a hand to Dean, and then to Gina. He didn’t look much like a general to her, but now, it didn’t matter. “Pleasure to meet you two. You two look like you can help out around here.”

“He’s not staying,” Gina said. General Harris gave Dean a look, but then nodded. “He’s dropping me off here. And half of this food.”

General Harris looked around to the back of the truck. His eyes went wide. “Where did you find all of this?”

“There’s a distribution center in North Williamstown. Loaded with food. This isn’t even a fraction of it,” Dean said. Gina felt herself smiling. He had really come into his own. Then she realized he would be leaving and sadness threatened to overwhelm her. The smile dropped, but she worked to put the smile back on her face.

“I’d really like to know where it is,” he said. He looked Dean up and down. “Are you sure you don’t want to stick around, son? You look like you could be of great use around here.”

“Afraid not,” Dean said.

The General nodded and then called a few people over to help unload what supplies would be staying with Gina.

“Do you have a doctor?” Gina asked.

The General shook his head sadly. “Afraid not. We have one nurse. She’s doing the best she can, but it’s not enough. We have enough medical supplies, but no one that knows how to use them properly. That’s one of our few shortcomings.”

“You’re in luck,” Dean said, grunting as he handed a box of food to another man. “This woman right here is one of the best doctors I’ve ever met in my life.”

General Harris’ eyes went wide again. “Is that so?”

Gina blushed, but nodded.

“Looks like we’re in luck, then. You don’t know just how much that’s going to help around here.”

After the food was unloaded, Gina walked up to Dean.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” she asked.

He shook his head sadly. “It’s not my place. You’ll do fine.”

“Good luck, Dean,” Gina said. She wanted to say more: that she loved him, that she wanted him to stay more than anything, but nothing else came out. She kissed him lightly on the lips. Petey came up and jumped against Dean’s leg. Then he was climbing back in the truck. Gina watched him drive away, Petey at her side. They watched until the truck disappeared into the woods. Then she followed General Harris into the camp to see what she could do.

*

Gina was exhausted. She collapsed back into a chair, peeling off gloves and tossing them into the trash. It was over. It was finally over. She sat there for a few moments, catching her breath. What she had done was outside her realm of expertise, but she thought she had done an outstanding job.

She peeked her head back into the room. “Everything okay?”

“Wonderful,” the woman lying on the bed said. In her arms, she cradled a newborn baby. The woman’s husband stood next to her, looking down with pride as only a new father could. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Gina said. “Monica is going to come in here in a few minutes and get you situated. If you need me, just let her know.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

Gina smiled and left the room. As she left the building, she told her nurse to let her know if anyone needed her for anything — anything at all. Monica nodded and smiled.

Gina was exhausted. That was the first baby they had delivered, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. No fewer than four other women were pregnant, now. Her schedule would get much busier in the near future, but Gina found that was okay.

It had been nearly five months since Dean had dropped her off and disappeared down the road. The weather was cool, but not cold, yet. Luckily, the General was a smart man, and they were prepared for the winter. He wasn’t a general anymore. Now, he was the mayor, but his title of General had stuck, despite his efforts to get people to stop calling him that. He had men working around the clock, replacing the tents with actual buildings. He was an important part of this new society. Gina smiled: she was, too.

Things weren’t back to normal, not yet. But they were getting there. More and more important members of society were filing in, slowly. A few engineers had recently shown up. A water treatment specialist had shown up immediately after she had. Both professions were definitely in high demand out here. There were no other doctors, but Gina held out hope that there would be more, soon.

She made it back to her cabin quickly, her coat wrapped around her to fight off the chill. When she opened the door, Petey greeted her, happy as ever. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace, keeping the entire house warm.

Gina went immediately to the shower. She needed it, more than anything. The water was warm — not hot; they hadn’t perfected that technique, but it was more than she had ever thought was possible.

She stripped down, tossing her clothes in the hamper. The bathroom was truly amazing. The whole cabin was amazing. Since she was one of the more important members of their new society, the General had insisted that she get a real house. There was a living room, kitchen, small bedroom, and a bathroom. It was so much more than she thought would ever have again.

She felt the warm water washing away all of the sweat and grime from a long day’s work. The water felt amazing. She heard the door open to the bathroom, then the door to the shower opened and Dean stepped inside.

It had been nearly five months since Dean had disappeared down the road, and then come back a few minutes later. He had picked her up in an embrace, telling her he would never leave her again.

“How’d it go?” he asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her wet body. She collapsed against him, letting him embrace her.

“A beautiful baby girl,” she told Dean. “It went so smoothly. How was your day?”

“Tough. But good,” he answered, then he turned her around and planted his lips on hers. She lost herself in them, feeling the softness against her skin. He kissed down her neck as he always did, then moved down to her breasts. She let out a small moan, running her fingers through his wet hair.

He dropped to his knees, kissing down and down, moving down her stomach, past her navel, and then between her legs. Gina let out a moan as his lips found her, kissing everywhere around. She felt his tongue slide against her clit, then between her lips, then dip deep inside of her. Gina braced herself by putting both hands on the shower walls.

Dean’s lips expertly kissed her, his tongue moving inside of her. She closed her eyes as he slid one of his fingers inside, bringing an altogether different type of pleasure as he brought her to climax.

After such a long, exhausting day, it wasn’t long before Gina felt her orgasm building within her. She let it come, quickly, the warmth spreading entirely throughout her body and making her legs weak. She held out against it, briefly, then when she couldn’t hold it back anymore, she let it peak through her.

Her pleasure hit her like a truck. Her legs shook, and if it wouldn’t have been for Dean, she would have slid down onto the shower floor. Her whole body was hot, the warm water running over it, her nipples hard as her happiness streamed through her like electricity.

Her orgasm finally passed and Dean stood up, a smile on his face.

“Was that good?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Gina breathed out a quiet, “Yes.”

Dean came around behind her, gripping her breasts in both hands. He squeezed gently, cupping both in his large hands, pinching her nipples carefully between thumb and forefinger. Gina moaned, rubbing her body against his. Against her ass, she felt his stiffness and gasped.

One of his hands came down between her legs, brushing her clit ever so slightly. She bucked forward, still reeling from the pleasure of her orgasm.

Gina reached around, gripping his girth with one half closed hand, and she angled him towards her. At the same time, she pushed herself down onto him. Gina felt the tip of his wet cock pressing against her lips. Their moans filled the bathroom as his length started to spread her wide. She felt her lips stretch, and as always, she didn’t know if she would be able to take his girth inside of her. But he pushed, slowly, and she felt the warmth of his penis entering her. His heat inside of her was one of the best feelings she had ever experienced.

He went slowly, pushing in and out, his hands running over her body. She felt one grab her breast, then run through her hair, his lips on the back of her neck. He pushed and pulled his hips, Gina did the same with hers, working in a perfect tandem.

They made love slowly, enjoying being as one, moving together. Gina pulled herself off of Dean, then turned around until they were facing each other. She placed her lips against his, then raised her body up. He grabbed her underneath her thighs, lifting her with ease, and lowered her onto himself.

She screamed out in pleasure, breaking the kiss as she sank entirely onto him, burying him entirely inside of her. He spun her around, pressing her against the shower wall, holding her up and moving faster than he had before.

Their moans were loud, louder than the shower, but there was no one else around to hear them in their own house. Dean’s cock was stroking her clit with every thrust, and she knew that she was going to cum, again.

The pleasure built and built, and Gina let it take over her body entirely. She went weak as the warmth exploded throughout her, nearly blinding her with the utmost bliss, and she felt herself tightening around his thickness.

At that moment, Dean’s breathing went ragged. Inside of her, she felt him cum, his penis jumping at the same time she was tightening around him. She felt his warm seed shooting deep into her, flowing everywhere through her. They came together, kissing and moaning, until their pleasure finally subsided for both of them.

Dean lowered Gina to the floor of the shower carefully, then laid next to her. The warm water rolled over them. Everything was perfect.

It hadn’t seemed like it could ever be perfect again, but it was. She had Petey. She had Dean. She was finally important: she was an integral part of society. A doctor that people respected and looked up to. She was no longer just the morgue worker in an abandoned hospital.

Dean placed his hand on her growing stomach and looked at her, a smile on his face. More importantly, they were starting a family, something she never could have expected — especially not in the apocalypse.

“I love you, Dean,” Gina told him, and she meant it more than she had ever meant anything in her life.

“I love you, too,” he said back, kissing her on the lips, then kissing her on the stomach. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

They lay together until the water went cold. Gina knew that they would never leave each other again. By some odd chance, the apocalypse had turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to her.

The future was bright.