Dying To Live & Fighting To Live-Book One and Book Two (Zombie Overload Series) (23 page)

Will gently washes me and every
time he hits a painful spot, (which really, there's not a part of me
that isn't painful at this point), I gasp and flinch. When Will has
me turn my back to him, I hear
him
gasp. Then I realize he
hadn't seen my back yet. When he came in, I had a blanket over me.
When he helped get the rest of my clothes off, I kept the blanket on.
I dropped the blanket just before I stepped in the shower and Will
was too close to get a good look at my back, probably wasn't even
worried about looking since he was more worried about me tripping
over the door frame of the shower. But now he's seen it and
apparently it's bad. It was bad before I went to the armory, I can't
imagine how bad it is now.

He washes and conditions my hair,
and then we get out. He dries me off and I actually feel a little,
very little, bit better. The heat of the water helped the muscles in
my back loosen some. He goes out and grabs my nightclothes while I
attempt to get a look at my injuries. My back is awful! Black, blue,
green, yellow, and even red. On top of the other bruising is a huge
bruise in the shape of a boot. My face looks absolutely disgusting. I
see an assortment of bruises on my arms, legs, and stomach, and yes,
even my butt!

Will comes back in and helps me
dress. He asks me if I want him try to comb my hair with his fingers,
I tell him thanks but no thanks, and remind him of my head trauma. He
shakes his head and tells me I'm just one big mess.
Ha Ha.
No
kidding!
And then he lightly kisses me on the tip of my nose.
After the way he's been acting toward me, that kiss meant more to me
than you could ever know.

He helps me back into the other
room and to the cot Mom has made up with blankets and pillow. Mom
comes in and stops me from lying down, instead having me sit on the
cot and examines my back. Finally, she thinks the trauma of the fall
and the boot pinched a nerve and I'll be alright after a few days
rest, pain pills, and medication for the inflammation. She and Will
then help me lay down. She doesn't say it, but I think she's worried
about the head trauma I have, as well. I suspect that's probably one
of the things she shares with Will when she asked him to step out in
the hall with her. Then again, it could be cause I can hear them.
Hello? Why even walk out if you're going to leave the door open
and still talk in a normal voice? Did that make any sense to you?
Doesn't to me, either.

I also hear her tell Will he is
to stay with me as much as possible and she will keep the kids with
her so that I can rest. I hear him agree and then her footsteps move
away. He walks in and comes over to me. Kneeling down, he tells me
what Mom said, excluding the head trauma part, which makes me
mentally roll my eyes. He says he's going to get cots for everyone
else since he discovered their hiding place, in a storage closet and
he will be right back.

I settle deeper into my pillow
and let myself relax. But it's not long before I hear footsteps
coming this way. I open my eyes and find Jake standing just inside
the door. He's holding one of the black canvas bags in one hand and a
couple pill bottles in the other. He sets the bag down near the door
and walks toward me, kneeling beside my cot.

"Hey, how you doing?"
He asks me softly.

"Hurting like hell. But I
got a shower and clean clothes so I'm feeling human, anyway. How are
you? And how's Greg?"

"I'm
ok. Greg was awake for a little while, but has gone back to sleep
since I gave him his meds. Finally got Sara to get dressed. I think
she preferred the towel." That made me remember what she had
said to me in the truck. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking he
did anything like that with her because I can't stand that nasty
woman!
That is the only reason it bothers me.
He's
just a friend and I care about him.
That's it!

"Well, from what I heard,
you preferred the towel, too." I was intending to just tease him
about it, but for some reason, it didn't come out as lightly as it
should have.

I see a look of confusion sweep
across his face, but before he can say anything, Will walks in and
freezes at the doorway. His features return to stone and it makes me
suck in a sharp breath. Jake hears and sees the direction I'm looking
and turns to the door. Seeing Will, he stands and holds out the pill
bottles, telling him Mom had asked him to bring them to us.

Will doesn't move, just stands
and gives him a hard, cold stare. After a few moments of
uncomfortable silence, his hand still holding out the bottles, he
finally turns to me and sets them next to me on the cot. I thank him
and he nods. Leaving the room, Will watches him until he's gone, then
slams the door. Hard.

Startling
me, I flinch, then cry out with pain. He walks past me to the other
cot, throwing out "Sorry" as he goes.
You don't
sound very sorry! But, again, smart enough to keep my mouth shut.

He pulls his cot over a few feet
beside mine and makes it up with blankets, placing his pillow at the
top. Then he hands me my meds and a bottle of water. I take them as I
watch him watching me.

"What's this?" He asks,
pulling the black bag to him.

"I
don't know. Jake brought it when he brought the meds." I watch
as he opens it and pulls out several sets of black fatigues in my
size, more black socks, and another pair of black boots. Setting
those aside, Will digs back in and pulls out...
GASP!
...a
stack of
camo
fatigues
that will fit Will. He pauses, looks at the black ones, then the
camos, then at me. I try to shrink my eyes back to normal size and
plaster on a fake smile before he notices. Like, everything's fine.
No big deal.
See my everything's-fine-no-big-deal smile and
innocent look?
He doesn't buy
it. He shoves the fatigues inside the bag, picks the bag up, and
throws it as hard as he can against the wall beside the door.

"Will! What's wrong?"

"So,
you and Mr. Military Man have to go off
alone
,
together, you both are constantly having
private
conversations, neither one of you
can keep your damn hands off one another, and now you have two are
the only ones allowed to wear the same outfits. Sounds like a cute
little couple to me!" He is fuming!

"Will,
you know why I had to go with him to the armories. Why we couldn't
risk anyone else going. We've never had private conversations. You
were more than welcome to join us, but when you come in looking like
your going to kill us, it kinda ruins the conversation aspect of it.
'm sorry if you think we touch each other more than we should. But
it's all innocent. And so are the clothes."
It is
innocent! Right? Shut up! Of course, it is!
"Maybe
he just didn't have any black ones in your size."

Will stops pacing abruptly and
turns to me. "So, are you telling me there is nothing going on
between you two?"

"Of
course there isn't. I love
you
,
Will."
And I do.
No question there.
He
comes over and sits back on his cot, facing me.

"If
that's true, then prove it."
What the hell?

"Ok. How do I do that?"

"No more missions with just
the two of you. No more private, intimate conversations. No more
touching unless it's life or death. Think you can handle that?"
His face shows every bit of the pain he is feeling and that makes me
feel like total shit. I realize now just how much time I
have
spent with Jake than I have with my own husband. Well, that ends now.

I reach for him and he slowly
comes closer to me. When he's finally close enough, I wrap my arms
around his neck and look hard into his eyes.

"Will, I not only
can
do that, I
want
to do that. I'm sorry I’ve hurt you."
He finally relaxes and kisses me.

He smiles at me and cups my
cheek. "Keep your shit together and we'll be alright." I
grin and playfully smack at him. He grabs my hand and kisses my
fingers before going to change into his fatigues.
Awww!
I'd
forgotten how sweet he is.
That
thought really brought me
down. I never should have had to
remember
it! I should always
know
that.
What the hell is wrong with me!
Just
after that thought, a man's face flashes in my mind.

Will returns from the bathroom
and catches me trying to quickly wipe away the tears and hurries to
my side. Kneeling beside me, he grabs my hand and asks if I'm in a
lot of pain. I nod. I am, but not so much the physical kind now.

He
gives me another pain pill and I take it. I reach for his neck and
pull him to me, kissing him, reassuring him
and
myself
that I only want him. He holds me as tight as he can without hurting
me and deepens the kiss. Everything else fades away but this moment,
this kiss, and this man.

We hear a female throat clear so
we slowly pull apart. Will turns and I raise my head toward the door
and see Mom.....and Jake. Jake's face is flushed and I feel Will
tense back up. I put my hand on his arm and give it a tug towards me.
He scoots closer and rests his hand on my stomach.

Moving inside the room and
standing close to the end of my cot, Mom says, "We have to go
get Grandma, now. You and Will should stay here."

Jake steps inside and starts in,
"But.."

I
interrupt him with, "We are
not
staying
here! What if something happens and you can't get back here? No. We
are
going."

Will looks from me to Mom and
says, "I have to agree with Canada, Mom. Anything can happen. I
can make the backseat as comfortable as possible for her, and I will
keep her safe, but we can't stay here.

Mom turns back to Jake, "What
were you going to say, Jake?"

Jake looks at her and grins,
"Just that they can't stay here."

Mom, "Oh." And with
that, she turns and walks back out the door.

Jake looks at me, grinning. I
look at Will. Will watches both of us.

Deciding the best thing for me to
do to keep out of trouble is to keep busy, I struggle to sit up. Will
is too busy giving Jake dirty looks to notice, and Jake is too busy
noticing me struggle to notice Will's struggle to keep control. Jake
steps closer and holds out his hand to help me get up, and I freeze.
I really do need help but if I take Jake's hand, who knows what Will
will do! I look at Will who has flared up in anger and I call his
name. He reluctantly looks away from Jake and notices me.
Finally!
Seeing me stuck with my forearms holding my upper body in a reclining
position, apparently brings Will back to his senses. He bolts into a
stand and snarls at Jake that he's got it, and then helps me sit up.

Will
drags the black bag closer and I see Jake, out of the corner of my
eye, let loose a big shit-eating grin. And I realize Will was right.
Jake feels the same way about Will wearing the black, just as we both
did about Sara wearing them.
Shit!

Before he can open the bag, I
stop him. "Honey, I think id rather stay in my nightclothes.
I'll just put on socks and my boots." Will nods and digs out a
pair of socks, pulls them on my feet, grabs my boots, and gets those
on me, too. Finished, he looks up and notices Jake is still standing
in our room.

Turning to him, Will asks, "Do
you need something?"

Jake, "Just waiting so I can
help you get her downstairs."

"I don't need your fu..."
He looks at me. Then drops his head back and sighs. Bringing his face
back down, he looks at Jake, "Fine. But unless we need you to,
Ill take care of her. Got it?"
Geez, Honey.
Calm down!

Jake grins, "Got it."
He's not taking Will seriously and that pisses me off. Will hasn’t
done anything wrong. But apparently,
we
did. For sure Jake did
when he kissed me.

I look around the room, looking
at everything we need to pack up, since Jake said we were not coming
back here, after all. My eyes slide past the windows and then jerk
back. I hear Will's voice from earlier when he simply said, "Window".

I wonder...
Wanting to
find out if my suspicion could be true, I ask Will to help me to the
window. Holding my right arm, he walks me to the window. He steps
back as I lift my hands to the windowsill. I look at him first. Arms
crisscrossed over his chest and leaning against the wall next to the
window, wearing a hard, cold smirk. That look tells me exactly what I
wanted to know. I don't even need to look, but I look anyway. And my
blood turns to ice.

The window gives a very clear
view of the Armory. Of the backdoor of the Armory. Of anything parked
outside the backdoor of the Armory. Of anything in the front seat of
something parked outside the backdoor of the Armory.
Oh, god!
My
head whips back to Will. I know my mouth is gaping open. I know my
eyes are wide in shock and fear. But I
don't
know what to say!
And he just stands there, arms crossed, with that knowing look etched
with the anger I couldn't understand before. But now? Now, I
understand. I understand
very
well.