Afterglow: An Apocalypse Romance (18 page)

Now she sat up, smiling at the boy and wiping her eyes with her fists. “Hey, Charlie,” she said. “How are you doing today?”

Charlie shrugged and kept stuffing animal crackers into his mouth.

“Do you need to get home to somewhere?” asked Nina. “Do you have a family?”

The boy nodded. “My mom and daddy are in the car. They were sick, and when we got to Target they told me to go in and ask someone for medicine. They gave me money.”

“When was this?” Creed asked. Maybe the boy’s parents were still alive, still out there in a car somewhere, or looking for him.

“A long time ago. The store went dark, and I went out to the car, but my parents didn’t open the door. They were asleep and they didn’t wake up even when I knocked and shouted.”  His voice trembled.

“Did you go back in Target?” asked Nina, putting a hand on his arm. She shot Creed a look full of pain.

The boy nodded, putting the bag of animal crackers down and gulping the water. He told them about how he lived in the store, eating food when he was hungry, hiding when people came through. The worst detail, thought Creed, was when he talked about playing with the toys. All alone. The poor kid.

“How long were you in Target?” demanded Creed, then softened his voice so he wouldn’t scare the boy. “Do you know how long?”

The kid shook his head. “A long time, I think. Lots of days and nights passed. I sometimes snuck out to try to wake up my mom and dad, but they—they never did.” His lip wobbled. “They never did. They were just lying there. So I stopped trying.”

“Did you get sick at all?” Creed was worried the boy might be contagious, that Nina might get sick.

The boy shook his head.

Creed’s best guess was he himself had immunity since he’d already been sick, though there was no guarantee. But the fact that the boy was skinny indicated a lot of time had passed, at least enough to ensure the incubation period was over. He knew the virus was deadly but fragile, unable to survive long outside the body, and with a very fast incubation period. So the danger, at least with the boy, was probably long past.

“Hey, wanna read a comic book? Do you like
Looney Toons
?” Nina sat next to the boy with a flashlight in hand—since Creed had blocked off the front doors and windows the night before it was dark inside the store—and he crawled into her lap and cuddled against her. Leaning with her back against the wall, Nina read to the boy while Creed watched. She was so gentle with Charlie, and after a few minutes the boy’s eyes drooped, then closed, his body growing limp.

“He’s sleeping,” whispered Nina. “He’s so worn out and thin. He needs to rest.” She gently laid him down on the sleeping bag, then covered him with the other bag, tucking him in to keep him warm.

“What are we going to do with him?” asked Creed, his voice sounding harsher than he intended. He’d meant the question rhetorically.

Anger flashed across Nina’s face. “What do you mean? We’re going to take care of him. We’re going to take him with us.”

“Nina, of course we are,” he said. “You really think I’d leave him here alone to fend for himself? Look, we’ll ask him more about his parents when he gets up, try to locate the car and check if they’re really dead, though we both know they are. Then we’ll figure out a way to travel with him. Any ideas?”

“I remember the drive to my grandmother’s house, and the last few hours were along country roads I think. I mean, there’s no guarantee we won’t have obstacles to go around, but what if we took a car, if we could find one that worked, and take that instead? All three of us won’t fit on your bike.”

Creed grunted. That might be the best plan.

“But it
would
mean abandoning Trigger,” teased Nina.

“Unless we hotwire a pickup, and then I’ll just load my bike in the bed.” The thing of it was, Creed was only half-kidding. If he could, he would. “I’ll go out in a bit and check on the kids’ parents, then see if I can find a vehicle that works.”

“Is it possible that the batteries in every single one are fried?” asked Nina. “I mean, one or two have to work, right?”

Creed shrugged. “Who knows? If that’s the case, I’ll ride over to the repair shop down the road and see if there are any spare batteries around. Though my guess is they’ll all have been taken already.”

“Look.” Nina stepped toward Creed, her body close as she reached up and touched his face, running her hand over his beard. “I know this wasn’t in the plans. Taking a kid with us. But we’ve got to do the right thing. There’s no way I could go on without Charlie.”

Creed pulled her to him fiercely. “Sweetheart, if you were the kind of person who’d abandon a kid right now, I’d take him and leave you here alone.”

“Asshole,” she whispered, but he could hear the smile in her voice as she nestled against his chest. She felt so good. So right.

“Let me make you breakfast,” he said. “I’ve got SpaghettiOs and Pringles. The animal crackers have been claimed.”

–Nina–

Nina hated that Creed had gone off alone, but she had to admit he’d be quicker in his search for a vehicle and more provisions without her and Charlie. Well, Charlie, mostly. After Creed left through the back door, she decided she was going to get Charlie cleaned up. He was filthy, so she gathered some paper towels from the bathroom and brought Charlie over to the water bubbler.

“I’m just going to clean you up a little, OK?” she asked him.

He nodded, his huge eyes staring into hers with such trust it made Nina want to cry. It was cool in the store, so she bathed him as quickly as possible, leaving a puddle on the floor by the cooler but finishing with a boy who was still grimy but not as bad as before. She hated to put his dirty clothes back on him, but there were no other options, and she hoped Creed was able to find some clothes for him when he was out scouting.

Nina bundled Charlie up in the sleeping bag, then handed him a few comic books to look at while she cleaned up a little bit and shampooed her hair. She’d have to use the hand soap in the bathroom, but even that sounded luxurious right now. Her hair was greasy, and she hated to think about how bad she smelled.

The small puddle from before was now a giant one, and Nina threw some comic books down to soak up some of the moisture. She felt a little bad about it, like she’d lost all sense of respect for other people’s stuff, but this was a new world. Things were different now.

Relatively clean, she sat down by Charlie, who looked up from his comic. Nina smiled at him, hoping to make him feel safe, and the smallest sliver of a smile appeared on his face.

“Do you have any kids?” he asked suddenly, his voice quiet and shy.

Nina shook her head. “I don’t.”

“Are you and that man married?”

“No. He’s... a friend.” It was funny, she realized, that she’d not even though about what they were to each other, as though this chaos they were living in had eliminated the need for an official designation on their relationship. Or as though they’d been too busy to stop to consider it.

Charlie nodded.

“Charlie, we were hoping you would come with us on a trip.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to find my family. My grandmother and my parents and my brother. We’ll be safe there.”

“What about my parents?” He looked down as he said it, his fist tightening on the comic book, ripping the page.

Nina could feel his entire little body tense up next to her. “Charlie, your parents were sick, right? When you went into the store for medicine?”

He nodded again.

“Well, the really sad thing is that most of the people who got sick didn’t get better.”

“Are they dead?” His question was so direct that for a second, Nina was taken aback.

“Maybe, Charlie. Probably. If they are, will you come with us?”

“OK. Can I take some of these comics with me?”

“Of course. My friend, Creed, he’s out looking for a car we can ride in. And some clean clothes and some more food. We’ll probably leave first thing in the morning. Do you have any brothers or sisters?” It occurred to Nina that there was a chance he had family alive, and how wrong it would be to just take him if there were people waiting or looking for him.

“No.”

“Did anyone else live with you? Like your grandparents or an aunt or uncle or anyone?”

He shook his head. “Except my cat, Liza.”

Nina smiled. “Well, I’m sure Liza is just fine.” Hopefully, she thought, Liza wasn’t stuck in the house with no way out, because in that case she wouldn’t be fine at all. But a cat was the least of their worries.

“Nina?” asked Charlie. “Will you read to me?”

“Do you know how to read?” she asked.

“No. I’m only in kindergarten. I can do some of the letter sounds, though.”

“You know what, Charlie? I’m a teacher. I can help you learn how to read when we get to my grandmother’s house. Would you like that?”

He grinned and nodded. “This one,” he said, holding out a
Tom and Jerry
comic to Nina.

She sat down next to him to read, but he crawled up into her lap, settling back against her and getting comfortable. Once again, Nina felt tears threatening, felt the urge to sob thinking about this small child and everything he had lost. But she took a deep breath and began to read.

* * *

A loud knock, followed by a break, then three quick knocks, woke Nina. She must have fallen asleep reading to Charlie. Gently she shifted his weight off of her and onto the sleeping bag on the floor, where he continued to breathe heavily in sleep. She was fairly certain it was Creed knocking—that was the agreed-upon sequence of knocks—but just to be safe she grabbed her gun from the camo backpack and hurried down the back hallway to the door.

“Creed?” she asked through the door.

“It’s me.”

“Password?” she teased, but she was already unbolting the lock.

“Let me the fuck in,” he grumbled, and as soon as he entered the hallway, he locked the door behind him and pushed Nina up against the wall. “I missed you.” His words were a whisper in her ear, and Nina shivered in sudden desire.

“Where’s Charlie?” he asked.

“Sleeping.”

“Good.” Creed ran a finger down her neck, then pulled her toward him suddenly.

Nina gasped in surprise, but he quieted her with a kiss. Hard. Needy. It was not a tender kiss. It was savage and raw, like he was fucking her mouth with his. His hands ran up her shirt, and he pinched her right nipple hard enough to elicit another gasp from Nina.

“This is going to be fast,” he whispered, pushing her into the small office, “and dirty.”

There was no time to respond, as Creed shut the door and pulled her over to the desk, clearing everything off it with a swipe of his arm. His hands were at her fly, unzipping her jeans fast, then pushing them down so she could step out of them.

One rough hand rubbed between her legs, which grew weak at his touch, while the other worked at his own jeans until they were unbuttoned and unzipped.

Without warning he lifted her up onto the desk, roughly pushing her legs apart and moving in between them. His raw desire left Nina breathless and wet.

He pushed his jeans down farther, revealing his rock-hard cock. Though it wasn’t the first time she’d seen it, Nina moaned as she looked at it, its sheer size making her pussy contract.

Creed smirked. “I like when you look at me like that,” he whispered against her neck as he moved to her.

“I like the way you look.”

“Do you like the way I feel?” he asked, biting her neck just hard enough to make her gasp.

“I love the way you feel.”

He grabbed her ass in both hands and pulled her forward so she was sitting at the very edge of the desk. “I want you just like this,” he muttered. “With your legs wrapped around me. I want to see your face when I’m all the way inside you.”

He kissed her hard, his tongue finding hers. She throbbed with need, her pussy drenched. It was the way he talked. The way he looked at her. The way she knew he’d feel.

With one hand he guided himself to her entrance, and Nina wrapped her legs around him, just the way he wanted.

“You ready, sweetheart?” he asked, his eyes filled with heat as he stared into hers.

“Yes. Always,” she murmured, her hips moving almost against her will, trying to bring him inside her.

“Nina,” he moaned. “You kill me, Nina. You fucking kill me.”

She didn’t have time to think about what that meant, because in one fluid movement he thrust inside her, spreading her wide, and her head fell back in ecstasy.

“God, Creed,” she murmured as he pulled out, then pushed all the way in again.

As he found a steady rhythm, his thumb pressed her clit, moving in small and glorious circles as he rammed into her over and over again. It was quick, so quick, but in only a few minutes she felt the orgasm building, her entire body tightening, hard, until ecstasy burst within her, exploding through every cell in her body.

She bit back her scream, knowing they weren’t alone in the comic book shop, and clung to Creed, gasping and panting as he kept going.

He growled in her ear and his movements grew more frantic, and then she felt his cock throb inside her, felt the hot release of his cum.

They held tight to one another as their breathing slowed.

“Here,” said Creed, stepping back and handing her a box of Kleenex from the shelf. He lay back with his eyes shut, breathing in and out while she cleaned up.

When she was dressed, he stood up and came to her, taking her face in his hands. “That OK?” He looked deep into her eyes.

“Why do you ask?”

“It was kind of quick.”

She shrugged, grinning up at him. “I think I like it fast and dirty.”

“God, Nina, you’re…”

“Nina?” It was Charlie calling to her from the front of the shop.

“Sorry,” whispered Nina to Creed. “I gotta go.” She hurried back into the store. “Hey, Charlie. Everything OK?”

He was curled up into a ball, his shoulders shaking.

“What’s wrong?” asked Nina, crouching down next to him and pulling his tiny body to hers. “What happened?”

Charlie flung his arms around her, clinging to her tightly, sobs shaking his body. Finally, he pulled away and looked into her face. “I thought you were gone. I thought you left me.”

“Oh my god, Charlie, no! I was just in the back talking to Creed. We’re not going to leave you. I promise. OK?”

Charlie sniffled. “OK,” he mumbled, his voice still shaky from crying.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” said Nina in a soothing voice, though deep down inside she felt guilty for making such a promise. “Listen, Creed’s back. He’s going to tell us about what he found out there, all right?”

Charlie nodded.

Creed stood in front of them looking, for the first time ever since Nina had met him, awkward. He was staring at Charlie curled up on her lap as though he were a strange animal or an alien.

“So, yeah,” began Creed, clearing his throat and then sounding more like himself. “I tried a bunch of cars and trucks before I found one that works and that will work for us. It’s a Dodge pickup, maybe about ten years old? It’s got good tires, rugged enough that I think we can go off road some if we need to. Plenty of space in the bed for supplies. I picked over Target and found some more stuff. Clothes for the kiddo...”

“Charlie,” interrupted Charlie in a quiet voice.

“Right. Charlie. Found some clothes for, uh, you, plus a few more cans of food, some cereal. A few packs of granola bars. And you know what the best part is?” He looked at Nina, a glint in his eye.

“What?” she asked.

“Walmart down the street had a car repair shop attached to it. I found a ramp to load my bike into the back of the truck.”

“So that’s why you chose a pickup!”

Creed shrugged, a grin on his face.

“Aw, you don’t have to leave Trigger behind after all.” Nina smiled.

“Who’s Trigger?” asked Charlie.

“His motorcycle,” answered Nina.

“Why does it have a name?”

“I don’t know,” said Nina.

“You’re the one who named it,” said Creed. “Remember?”

“Oh yeah,” said Nina. “I guess I did. That seems like a really long time ago, doesn’t it? When we first started out from your house?” It all came back to her in a rush, how far they’d come, how much they’d been through. She wanted to think they were almost there, almost done with their journey, but deep inside, she knew this was just the beginning. Even if everything went as planned, even if her family were all there, alive and healthy, it was still just the beginning.

“Yeah.” Creed took off his lined flannel shirt and tossed it aside, then sat down, legs spread out in front of him and back resting against a shelf of comics. Nina couldn’t help checking out his arms, biceps bulging, couldn’t help thinking about those very same arms on either side of her, trapping her while he fucked her. But now wasn’t the time.

“What’s that on your arms?” Charlie sat forward on Nina’s lap, staring at Creed’s tattoos.

“Tattoos,” Creed muttered, and Nina wished he could be gentler to Charlie.

“Can I see them?” Charlie got off Nina and walked toward Creed, who froze, as though being confronted by a gang of terrorists instead of a six-year-old boy.

What’s wrong with him
, thought Nina. She wondered if seeing Charlie brought back images of his niece, who was about the same age, of watching her die. She held her breath, though; Charlie needed them. He needed kindness right now.

Charlie looked closely at the ink on Creed’s arms, then said, “I like the cat one best. It’s like my cat Liza. Do you have a cat?” he asked Creed.

“No.”

“Then why did you get a cat on your arm?”

Nina saw Creed’s intake of breath, saw his eyes darken, and for a second she thought he was going to say something horrible like,
Shut up. I don’t want to talk about it
. Instead, though, he sighed. “My niece loved cats. She thought I should get this one.”