Eighteen

A shiver shook me from my dreams, and I curled tighter under my covers.  It took a moment to realize why I shouldn’t be so cold.  Drav wasn’t with me.  My eyes popped open.

I sat up and looked around frantically. Something on the floor beside the bed moved.  I looked down and met Drav’s gaze as he turned to glance at me.  He sat next to the bed, an earbud still in his ear.  A relieved breath escaped me. He was fine.  Why had I assumed he wouldn’t be? Not much out there seemed to match his strength.

I rubbed my forehead.

“Did you get any sleep, or have you been listening to that all night?”

“I’ve been listening all night.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, a small smile tugged his mouth.  I stared for a moment.  It was the first smile I could remember seeing.

“Hopefully, you weren’t too bored,” I said.

His smile changed slightly.

“I wasn’t bored at all.”

I glanced over at the clock on the night stand but it flashed twelve, leaving me with no idea of how long I’d slept or what time it might be. The subtle, muted light filtering through the blinds didn’t help.  I could pull them back to check, but a small part of me feared I would see an infected shambling around outside. Of course, last night I hadn’t even had to tell Drav before he’d left to dispose of our old neighbor.

Regardless of the hour, I didn’t want to spend more time here than necessary, not without knowing what had happened to my family. The note they’d left ran through my head. Before they fly us out.  Where would they be taken? So far, I had missed them every step of the way. If I didn’t get to Tinker in time, I feared I might lose them altogether.

“It sounds like it stopped raining,” I said, looking at Drav, who watched me steadily. “Are you ready to travel or do you need some sleep?”

“I don’t need any sleep before we travel.”

That was good. But, first, we needed to get some food in us and check the weather.

I climbed out of the bed and went to the window.  With Drav still nearby on the floor, I bravely nudged the curtain back.  Heavy grey clouds blotted out the sun’s midday rays, providing enough light for me to see. Remembering the way Drav’s eyes had watered, I tugged the curtain open a little more and glanced back at him. He watched me closely as his pupils adjusted to the slight change in light.  However, his eyes didn’t water.

“You’re watching me closely. What is it that you are trying to figure out?”

Wow. Those books really helped.

“I was seeing if the overcast light affected you the same way the sun did.”

“You could have asked.”

“Uh, sorry.”  The full conversation we were having seemed too weird after only days of broken ones.

Drav stood. He had changed his shirt. The new one still looked a bit snug.

“You can probably put that away for a while,” I said, motioning to the device in his hands. He made no move to remove the earbud still tucked inside of his ear.

“I have much more to learn and would like to bring it with us. Let’s get some breakfast. We can head out when we’re finished.”

More to learn?  He sounded just fine to me.  Hopefully he’d be willing to listen to me for a bit because, now that he could talk, I desperately wanted to ask him questions.

Drav followed me into the kitchen where I grabbed another bottle of pancake mix.

“Is it all right if I ask you some questions now?” I asked as I added water and started to shake the container.

His steady gaze held me for several long moments.

“Ask me anything, Mya.”

“Where did you come from?  Why are you here?  Not in this house, but here, on earth, destroying things?”

“I’m from a place called Ernisi.  I’m not sure what happened.  But something broke the barrier and a hole opened to the surface.  The hounds and two of my kind escaped first.  We followed to see where they’d gone and found this...” He looked around at the cabin.  “and you…” His gaze landed on me again.

I pulled out a pan and started warming some oil.

“Ernisi,” I said, testing the name.  “That’s where you lived?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s underground?”  It had to be if a hole opened from above.

“Yes, it would seem so.”

“What do you mean, seem so?” I asked as I poured some batter into the pan.

“It has always just been Ernisi.  I never thought there might be something above or below our dark sky.”

I turned the pancakes and thought about what he’d said.

“That had to be a shock then, having your roof open up.”

“It was.”

But it hadn’t been the only shock.  I thought back to when he’d first seen me.

“I have another question, but I don’t want to make things weird by asking.”

“Nothing will be weird.”

I stacked the first batch of pancakes for breakfast—or whatever meal this was. I set the plate on the table and watched him as I asked my next question.

“Why did it shock you that I’m a girl?”  I asked.

“Ernisi has no girls.”

“No gir—”  I closed my mouth abruptly as several thoughts collided in my mind.  He had a penis and testicles.  He’d shown me both during our first meeting.  What the hell were they for if they didn’t have girls?  That wasn’t a question I wanted to ask.

Instead, I finished making the pancakes and sat down to eat in silence.

After we were both fed, I started to wash the dishes.

“I’m going to take a quick shower,” Drav said.

He set my mom’s iPod down and went to the bathroom. As I listened for the water to crank on, I heard a tiny voice.  I glanced at the device and saw what had kept him so occupied all night.

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon.  The cover was a sultry image of a blue skinned male holding a very human female.

My mouth dropped open, and I slowly reached for the earbud and placed it in my ear.

“I don’t know if she’s humming or saying another one of her strange human words.  I lick her breast to distract her, and she moans. Then she reaches down and grips my cock in her hand and strokes me through the leather of my leggings.”

My breath choked in my throat.  Oh shit.

I immediately stopped the book and gazed down the hallway in shock. He’d gotten into my mom’s romance novels. I tugged the earbud out and scrolled through the last books he had listened to. Ruby Dixon. All the covers with bare-chested men. He’d only listened to three percent of the damn bee book.

I coiled the earbuds around the iPod and set it back on the table. Thankfully, Drav still lingered in the shower. My cheeks flamed hot at the thought of the things he’d been learning, and I was twice as glad I hadn’t asked anything more about why there were no girls.

Determined to pretend I didn’t know anything about what he’d been listening to, I went to the front closet where Mom liked to store everything. Although my bag had the clothes I needed, I wanted to be prepared for anything and knew Dad kept an extra pocket knife around somewhere, as well as a lighter and first aid kit.  I hoped to find both in the clutter.

Leaning deep inside the closet in my search, I heard Drav’s footsteps and tried not to cringe.

“Mya?”

“Here, in the closet.”

I was pulling down a small tote from the shelf when he crowded behind me.  He plucked the tote from my hands, and I turned around ready to thank him. The words died when I saw he wore his pants but no shirt. Why wasn’t he wearing his shirt?  I thought of the men on the romance covers, mentally cringed, and met his gaze.

“Did you want me to braid your hair before we leave?”  He spoke the words with such ease in his deep, gravelly voice

“No, I’m fine.” No way would I allow him to touch me after what he’d been reading. “Go ahead and finish getting dressed then we can go.  I’m almost done in here.”

Drav nodded and walked back down the hall.

I refocused on finding the spare pocket knife and any other supplies we could use. I found my old, sturdy hiking boots. My parents and Ryan had gotten me a new pair for my birthday the year before. I’d left these up here in case I ever forgot to bring my new ones.  Given the rain, boots might not be a bad idea.  I considered the room left in my bag and decided the shoes I’d worn here would fit.

I closed the door to the bedroom, changed clothes, and braided my hair. Once I finished and packed my new finds into the bag, I came out to the living room where Drav sat on the couch waiting. He stood when he saw me. He had rebraided his hair to look much like it had the first time we’d crossed paths. Had it only been a week ago?

Glancing around the cabin sadly, I kept reminding myself that it was only a place as I prepared to leave.  My family was what I missed, and because of the storm, we were already days behind them. We had to get to Tinker.

“Ready?” I asked, hiking the bag up on my shoulder.

“Yes.”

He held out the iPod.  Now that I knew what he listened to, I hesitated to take it.

“It’s probably low on battery.  We should leave it here.”

“Is there a charger?”

Seriously?  How did he know that?

Reluctantly, I nodded and went to grab the iPod charger along with the one for my phone.  I’d already tucked my phone into my back pocket, safe and sound. When I had everything, I checked the lock on the front door then led Drav to the back, the way we had come in. It might only be a place but it still held memories, and I didn’t want anyone coming in and destroying anything. My thoughts roamed to the men on the overpass.  Though our paths had crossed briefly, I now knew what type of people they were. No doubt there were more like them out there.

After locking the back door, Drav and I started off through the trees at a brisk pace. He didn’t seem remotely tired from staying up all day. I looked at the late afternoon sky, trying to find just how low the sun might be behind the thick clouds.  The consistent grey didn’t give me a clue.

From the corner of my eye, I caught Drav watching me. I glanced toward him, but he immediately focused on our surroundings.  I frowned but said nothing.  Twice more I caught him watching me only to have him quickly look away.  He was weirding me out.  Or maybe, my imagination was weirding me out.

The cold, damp smell of late fall tickled my nose, and I tried to pay more attention to where we were going than to Drav.  The ground, still wet from all the rain, squished under my feet.  Although my boots kept my feet dry, they were heavier than my running shoes, and it wasn’t long before my steps started to lag.  Drav didn’t say anything about the pace.  He stayed beside me no matter how slowly I walked. Night descended as we continued south.

Twice, he had me stop while he disappeared to take care of a nearby infected.  I used each break to lean against a tree or building where I sipped water from my bottle.  Each time he returned, I offered it to him as well.

Despite the breaks, I was getting tired. It was a couple of hours later when my feet went out from under me. I yipped and swung my arm out to grab something as I fell. Drav’s hand gripped my flailing arm, steadying me.  Before I could thank him, his steely arms slipped behind my back and under my legs, and he lifted me up. With me cradled in his arms, he continued to walk as if he hadn’t decided to randomly pick me up.

“Um, Drav? You don’t have to carry me.”

“I don’t want you to strain your ankle.”

“My ankle is fine now.  Seriously, you don’t need to carry me.”

“I don’t mind.”

He might not, but I did.

“I’d rather walk.”

“And risk injuring yourself if you slip?  Are you no longer in a hurry to find your family?”

I shut my mouth.  Stupid iPod.

Drav carried me like that a couple hours longer, going about the same speed I had while walking.  I couldn’t imagine how tired he must be.  A light sprinkling of rain gave me the perfect excuse to ask to be set down.

I pulled out the ponchos I had grabbed from the cabin and gave Drav his. Like I’d thought, it fit him snugly but did the job. I tugged mine over my head then slung the bag across my body again, determined to walk some more.  Drav didn’t argue.

Where the ground had been squishy before, mud now slicked the surface. He started slipping, too, and our progress slowed to a crawl.  The poncho kept me from freezing in the cold rain, although not by much, and Drav caught me each time I slid, preventing me from landing face first or ass deep in the slippery earth.

The rain eventually let up, but we didn’t stop to remove the ponchos. We kept walking, one foot in front of another. Sleep tugged at me, but with the sky still dark, I refused to quit before the sun rose.

My arms and legs felt like lead.  My blinks became longer until I realized I was taking steps with my eyes closed.

Drav touched my arm gently, and I knew I was busted.

“You need to rest. Come, there is a house nearby.”

“No, I’m fine.  We gotta keep going.”

Drav scooped me into his arms again, putting an end to my resistance.

“No, Mya.  We won’t make it there before sunrise.  We need to stop for the night.  There’s a house ahead,” he said, steering us toward what I couldn’t see in the dark night.

Giving into my exhaustion, I relaxed in his arms until he slipped and tightened his hold on me. I clung to him the rest of the way to the old farmhouse.

No lights were on when Drav set me down on the porch, with a stern “Stay here.” I watched him break the lock and slip inside.  Cold wrapped around me, and I tucked my chilled fingers under my arms, trying to warm them.

When Drav reappeared, his gaze dipped briefly to my poncho-covered chest before he met my gaze.

“Is it safe?” I asked.

“It is. Come.” He held out his hand for me to take.

I easily slipped my much smaller one into his grasp and let him lead me into the house.  The heat was on, and I shivered at the warmth.  Drav closed the door behind us, and we both struggled out of our wet ponchos.  He took mine from me and hung it on one of the many hooks near the door.  I moved further into the house, turning on lights downstairs as I looked around.  Another nice place.  This one thankfully empty.

Tiredly, I followed Drav upstairs, where he led me to a room with a queen-sized bed.

“Go ahead and change your clothes. I will go downstairs to find some food.”

I nodded absently, tugged my bag off, and rotated my shoulders to relieve some of the stiffness. Taking out the sleep clothes I had used at the cabin, I quickly changed.

I didn’t go downstairs for food but crawled under the covers and fell fast asleep.