Surge (61 page)

I would have gladly spent the day wrapped in the comfort that is Olivia’s arms, but Cory pointedly cleared his throat three times, before I finally relinquished my hold on her. Turning slightly to glare at the asshole for interrupting my Livia time, I see him roll his eyes, and point at our van.

“Unless you want Captain Casanova to know that you’ve flown the coop, I’d suggest you get your burned assed back in the van, pronto,” Cory says. When I don’t hop to his orders, he continues. “Seriously, Jared, you look like Freddy Krueger.”

Olivia glares at him, and shakes her head to deny it. Now, I may not be vain, but if I look anything like that wrinkly leper; I’m finding a pair of Wolverine claws and a striped sweater to complete my new look, before hunting down that murderous bitch and welcoming her to my personal nightmare. Olivia grips my hand, and tows me over to the van. Steering me to the slider, she opens it, and points for me to get inside. I shake my head, I want to see the horror movie that is my face, and I’m sitting up front. Olivia crosses her arms, and gives me a stern look. Turning away from her, I take a few steps toward the side view mirror.

Crouching down, I take a look at my new mug. The left side of my face is the same as before, with just a little bit of smoke staining the stubbled skin, so I move on to where I can feel where the damage has been done. There are bandages blocking my view, so I slowly peel them back, to reveal the flesh. The first thing I see, is the blistering. The second, is that the area in between the blisters is a dark red. The last thing I notice, is that I’m damn lucky to have not lost my eye.

The fire burned away a four inch patch of hair on the right side of my head, my ear is covered in angry blisters, my right eyebrow in singed off along with my eyelashes and stubble; and the redness covers from my upper cheekbone, to my jaw, and around the back of my neck. Minor first degree burns, my ass. These are second degree, borderline third degree burns in any man’s book.

Feeling Olivia’s tiny hand pull mine, I quickly paste the bandages back on so she doesn’t have to look at it, before turning to face her. Olivia scowls at me and pulls her collar back to reveal her throat, but she’s not done there. Pulling her jacket off, she shoves it through the open door, slides up her sleeves, and rips her gloves off to show me her scarred wrists. Just for good measure, and to make sure her point was made, she shakily grips the bottom of her undermost shirt, and goes to lift it. Staying her hand, I fix her clothing back to rights.

“I get it, alright?” I ask. “You’ve had it a hell of lot worse than I did, so I shouldn’t complain.”

Shaking her head, she whacks the good side of my head with a dope slap. Olivia waves a hand at my face, and shakes her finger at me. Holding my gaze, she presses her hand firmly over my heart, and ticks her fingers off her thumb one at a time as if counting. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.

“It’s not the outside that counts, but what’s inside that matters,” I repeat and she gives me a firm nod. “Well, it looks like you’re a double threat. Beautiful from the inside out.” Olivia denies it with a headshake. Pressing a hand to her chest, she holds her nose with the free hand. “You are not rotten.” Raising an eyebrow, along with her machete, Olivia points to the blood dripping off the end. “When the fuck did you see a wheezer?”

“It wasn’t a wheezer,” Cory mutters and clenches his fist. “Now, get the fuck in the van.” Giving me a shove, he orders Leonard to vacate to the back so that I can reclaim my seat, but I’m not doing anything until I get answers.

“What was it, if it not a wheezer?” I demand. Olivia rubs her arm, and ignores me, as she climbs into the van to cuddle Morris. I look at Cory for the answer. He closes the slider door, and tips his head for me to follow him to the back. Following his lead, I walk behind him, until we’re about ten feet away from the van.

“Well?” Rubbing a hand over his face, Cory mumbles his response. “I’m sorry, I don’t comprehend mumbling, could you repeat that?” Cory glares at me, but hisses his answer louder.

“Some hillbilly assholes grabbed her,” he repeats. “I shot two of the mother fuckers, but Olivia hacked the one that touched her into pieces. Happy?”

“No, I’m not fucking happy,” I snap. “Where were you, and why the fuck were they touching her at all?”

“Olivia wanted to change into her new gear, and she didn’t want me to see, so she went into the bathroom,” he replies. “She was less than ten feet away, but when I heard glass breaking, I didn’t give a fuck about modesty, I cared about safety. So, I rushed in to find a half dressed Olivia kneeing one of them in the balls, another was dead on the floor, the one who had claw marks across his face was holding his bleeding throat, and the last one that was holding her arms back; was sporting a broken nose. I can only assume her injuries must have prevented her from finishing them herself, because as soon as I shot two of them; Livs chopped off the arms of the last one, and started hacking away until she finally fell over.”

“What is it about her that attracts men like flies to a bug zapper?” I ask. Cory gives me a pointed look.

“Why don’t you tell me?”

“That’s different, and you know it,” I say through clenched teeth. Sighing out a breath, he nods.

“Unfortunately, I do know it,” Cory says. “You look at her sometimes, just like Travis did. Sure, you get that deer caught in headlights look anytime she graces you with a smile, but it’s more than that.” He meets my eyes with his hard ones. “But there’s also lust, and that shit don’t fly with me. She’s damaged enough, and doesn’t a guy panting after her for a chew and screw.”

“I don’t just want to try her out for the night,” I snarl. “I care about her. Sure, she’s beautiful, but beauty’s only skin deep. Except when it’s Olivia. Anyone could see that she has inner beauty that radiates through her armor, if you just take the time to look. And I plan on looking for a long damn time, so you better get used to seeing my ugly mug; because it’s here, and it ain’t going nowhere.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, Freddy,” he replies. “I would have thanked you for the assist, by the way, but I think you got more than your fair share of payment when you stole a kiss from Livi. So, take the fact that you aren’t walking around with double shiners, as my personal thanks to you.”

“I think we’ll get along just fine, G.I. Joe,” I say with an unrepentant grin and pat his growling back on the way by. “Just you wait and see, I’ll prove myself to both you, and her.”

“Dream on, lover boy,” Cory says and pushes me out of his way. “Liv’s way too good for you.”

“She is,” I agree with a shrug, making Cory look at me a little stunned. “I was a lazy bum before the end, and a self-important jackass after; but now I’m trying to atone and better myself, so that I can eventually be worthy of her. Step one, was saving your ass. Step two, will be ridding the Earth of Cole, and step three will be begging for her to give me a chance.”

“And if she refuses?” Cory inquires.

“I grovel at her feet, until she finally gives in,” I answer simply, and don’t care in the slightest when I hear Cory laugh.

“You’re not too bad, Mouth,” he says and punches my shoulder. “Travis might have even liked you. Though if you looked at Livi like you do now, and he was around, let’s just say that you would have swallowed a few teeth.”

“So, he was one of those control freak, jealous boyfriends?” I ask, and can’t keep the bitterness completely out of my voice.

If there’s one thing that pisses me off more than anything, it’s a man that treats a woman as nothing more than a piece of property. Maybe it’s because I was a momma’s boy, or because I have a sister; but for whatever reason, it gets on my nerves. And don’t call me a hypocrite because I used to sleep around like I was test driving every new model, before committing to the final purchase. I never claimed to own any of those women, and they knew what they were in for
before
they dropped their skirts.

“No,” Cory snarls. “He wasn’t a controlling bastard, or I would have broken his fucking fingers. Travis had no problem with men looking at Olivia. It was when they were disrespectful, or overstepped their bounds, that the fists started flying. And only then, if Livi wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.” That makes me feel a hell of a lot better. “Travis lost two of his asshole friends because they made comments about her. Something along the lines of her being
‘nothing more than a skirt to lift, and ditch as soon as they were spent.’
Above all else, Travis was her best friend first, and anything more came after that.”

“Good, because Olivia deserves someone who would cherish her like a queen, not treat her like a prized pet.”

“How would you treat her?” Cory asks. His tone is conversational, but I know that if he doesn’t like my answer, he’ll feed me to the nearest wheezer.

“Seeing as how I can’t lavish her in worldly goods,” I begin. “I can instead shower her in friendly conversation, provide her with permanent shelter, give her my protection, and if she allows it; I might even build her a walk in closet to stow away her wicked machete and leather gear in, when she’s tired at the end of the day.” Cory laughs through more than half of it, but I think he gets the gist of it.

“Just admit it already, Jared,” he says. “You’ll be Olivia’s lap dog, who will warm her feet whenever she wants you to.”

“If she treats me like Morris, I’m alright with that,” I say with a careless shrug. “He gets kisses, and close cuddles, plus he shares her bed.” Cory steps toward me, so I pick up my pace and reach the car door, before I hear his reply.

“You’re a real smartass, Mouth.”

I bow to him in thanks, and grin when he flips me off. Hopping into the passenger seat, I turn and face Olivia. Knowing that she would smack me if I asked if she’s okay after her ordeal, I motion back and forth between us and mouth that she and I will be talking later. Olivia crosses her arms around Morris, but nods her consent.

Seeing the shadow that descends over her features, I reach back and offer her my hand. I feel her gloved fingers wrap around mine, but I don’t want her hiding anymore, so I roll her glove down and rub my thumb over the scarring. If I could, I’d probably kiss them, but this is enough.

For now, at least.

<~~~<~~~
~~~>~~~
>

It was almost an hour after they left, that Oscar and Tommy came back with bags full of supplies. They both carried three duffels each, all full of hunting, fishing and camping gear from the trading post next door, so they had a good hit. The other group still hasn’t shown up, and the carload is getting restless.

“They should have been back by now,” Mike says and you can read the stress on his face. After all, his wife is one of the members of the missing group.

“They’ll be back soon,” I say with complete confidence.

I know from experience that you can get held up due to unexpected circumstances, such as wheezers you have to avoid or fight, and sometimes blockades you have to work your way around. That’s not including the fact that women are the slowest goddamn shoppers known to man. Actually, I can’t say all women since Olivia got in, got what she needed and killed a group of grabby assholes all in under half an hour. But we’re talking about the designer duo, who were let loose in the first mall in over a year without a credit limit to restrict them. That’s just begging for trouble, so I’m not worrying over it too much just yet.

“If they aren’t back in twenty minutes, I’ll go looking for them,” Oscar offers.

That seems to appease Mike, so he sits back and continues staring out the window. Leonard is sitting back with his eyes closed, taking a nap like he complained about earlier. Akio’s reading some medical pamphlet from the first aid kit Tommy brought back, while Tommy’s pointing out specific things on the paper as he motions at Olivia. Akio nods and
‘um-hms’
 his way through it. Oscar is trading out his club for a scoped crossbow that he straps to his shoulder, and Cory’s going through the duffels to see what kind of goods they acquired. I look to Olivia and find her still cuddling Morris, but now she’s holding a feathered toy on a string.

“Where’d you get that?” I ask and point to Morris’s prize.

Olivia gets a light bulb in her eyes and holds up her finger. She starts digging through her backpack and pulls out a few plastic bags that read,
‘Pets Supplies Plus.’
Reaching inside one of them, she comes out with a handful of dog whistles. Separating five of them, she passes them around to the back, slides one around Cory’s neck and gives it a tug to make sure it stays; before walking over to do the same to me. I look down at the offer and smile.

“That was a great idea. What else did you find?”

Olivia points to the bags full of cat supplies. Food, a new mesh pet carrier, toys, and treats are amongst the items, so the bastard got the royal treatment in spades. She immediately sets Morris up in his new pet carrier with a treat and a few new toys. Once she’s thinks he’s content, Olivia zips him inside and sets the mesh bag carefully underneath her seat, wrapping the strap around the metal frame so he won’t be thrashed during the drive.