Lovin' in the Apocalypse Ch. 01

Tom watched with hooded eyes as Rachel licked her lips and her fingers clean. He fell back and relaxed against the other door, trying to catch his breath in the humid truck. Rachel finished her sultry clean up and gave Tom a satisfied smile. There was finally enough light coming through for them to make out details in the truck.

"It's been quiet for a while," Tom whispered. "I think we're okay to get out."

Rachel sat up and removed the soiled shirt. She used it to wipe herself clean and tossed it on the floor. She dug through her pack and found a clean one. "God, I wish I could take a shower. Any idea how long it's been?"

"I try not to think about it. But this is a fire station. If the area is calm, maybe we can rig something up. There's bound to be water here."

Rachel beamed at Tom. "That would be amazing."

The sound of Tom's stomach growling was loud enough for Rachel to hear. "You want to eat? We got that other can you found yesterday."

"No, we should save it. We just ate." His stomach protested his refusal. "We should have saved our energy."

"Saved it for what? For more running? No thank you. If I have to give up showers, food and sex, I'd rather be dead. What else do we have, Tom?"

"I guess I can't argue that." Tom said as he pulled his pants up. "I think I'll poke my head out and see what's up. If it's clear, I'll hop out and look around."

"Okay. I'll be out in a minute." Rachel picked her pants up off the floor.

Tom's hand was on the release for the door when he suddenly froze. Rachel too became instantly alert with her pants only at her knees.

"Hello? Did you survive the night? We saw you last night. That was a hell of a mob on your ass."

Tom's eyes were wide with fear. He looked at Rachel and mouthed, "alive!" She nodded sharply and slowly reached inside her pack for the one thing they did not ever want to use. She pulled the 9mm pistol out, careful not to make any sound. Rachel passed the gun to Tom and began to get dressed as quickly as she could. Tom held the gun and waited, hoping the stranger would think they died and leave. That's when the second voice spoke up and a shard of ice pierced Tom's heart.

"Look, at the truck. The windows are covered." A woman tried to whisper but her voice carried in the silent area.

Tom gripped the pistol tighter, his palms were slick with sweat but he knew how to handle the weapon. He was confident, no matter how much sweat he gave. Rachel was fully clothed and was crouched behind Tom. She was ready to spring out of the truck with him. She held a 8" serrated combat knife in her left hand. Her eyes were focused and full of controlled fury.

"Alright, I know how it is, approaching strangers and all. Not much trust left in the world, I get it. But we mean you no harm. From the looks of it, you don't have much that we would really want. Not being hateful, just making a point. Look, that mob moved on but I don't like being out here long. We'll give you ten minutes to come outside and say hello or we'll move on without you."

"We should just go now! It was stupid to even come over here!" The woman sounded young and petulant.

"I've told you before, we can't just keep going without people. If they survived that mob, they're strong and we need them. Not every living person is dangerous."

"You're wrong, dad. Everyone left alive is dangerous."

The silence stretched on for a long moment before the man spoke again. "We'll wait 10 minutes. If you don't come out, we'll get the point and move on. If it matters at all, we're not alone. We live in a place with standing walls and safety. We got caught by that same mob that trapped you, otherwise we would have been there last night. If you come out, we might be willing to take you back with us. Just think about it, okay?"

Tom and Rachel heard the sound of crunching footsteps moving out of the fire station. They stared into each other's eyes for a couple of minutes, having a silent conversation about the offer. Without a watch, they would not know how fast the ten minutes would take to pass. 10 minutes did not seem like a long enough time to consider risking everything for this random chance. So far, these kind of gambles did not pay out for these two.

"See, I told you we should have just left. They didn't even want our help." Kelsey shook her heavy hair out of her face as she stood up from the ground. She used a leather strip to tie her dreads into a bundle that ran down to the small of her back. "They probably got eaten up, that mob was all over them."

The older man with grey peppering his short black hair and beard sighed and looked at his daughter with a skeptical face. "It's hard to trust strangers, Kel. But that doesn't mean we should just stop helping people." Cameron looked at his watch again. 12 minutes had passed and he knew that meant it was time to leave. If they stuck around much longer, it might be perceived as a threat. "Let's go. Grab the radio and -."

"Dad." Kelsey's voice was sharp.

Cameron turned and saw a man and woman step slowly out of the fire station. The man was holding a gun, not trying to hide it at all but also not aiming it at them. These days, that was a great way to start. Cameron showed his empty hands, "This does not mean I am unarmed." He noticed the knife in the woman's hand as well. The pair of them looked rough, thin and haggard as if they had been on the road for a long time. "What are your names? I'm Cameron and this is my daughter, Kelsey."

Cameron was a big guy with broad shoulders and arms that matched. He stood confidentially and had laugh lines near his eyes. Kelsey was younger, mid 20s at the latest. She was slim and radiated energy, like a track star. Her eyes were not as kind as her fathers.

After a couple of seconds the tall and lanky man answered. "I'm Tom. My wife's name is Rachel. You said there were more of you? Where are they?"

"Most of them will be in the safe zone. A few teams of scavengers and scouts leave from time to time but most of us don't leave the walls."

"Where is it?" The small, thin woman asked. "The safe zone."

"You gotta understand, I can't just tell you that. We can take you there and you'll have to meet some folks but I can't and won't tell you where my family sleeps."

"You want us to just go with you?" Rachel was trying her best to sound skeptical but she noticed how healthy these strangers looked. Almost as if they got to eat more than one meal a day. And they looked clean.

"As crazy as that sounds, yes." Cameron spread his hands. "Or we'll just load up and leave, no harm done. You can go your way, we'll go ours."

Tom and Rachel shared a quick look. Rachel gave a barely perceptible nod and Tom turned back to face the strangers. "Okay. We'll go with you."