Raven's Hell (10 page)

A
small rabbit moved fast across their path. It was gone before they could really
react, and then Collin motioned for her to follow forward with a curl of his
fingers, and they walked further into the thick covering of the trees. He
lowered his hand to the knife tucked in the back of his jeans. Collin held his
lethal looking knife, and she held her handmade one. But the way he was acting,
as if he were on high alert, had her growing conscious of everything around
them, too.

“Look,”
he said and pointed to the dirt road.

She
moved closer, saw what looked like a pond or lake in the distance, and this
little bit of excitement ran through her. Yeah, it was cold as hell, but she
was filthy, had grime under her nails, and the water sounded heavenly. It would
be the quickest wash off she had ever had, mainly because of the risk of being
seen by the infected or savage fucking humans, and the fact it was cold, but
she’d take it.

“And there.”
He pointed to
the other side of the body of water.

She
narrowed her eyes, trying to see straight, and then she spotted the small white
structure that was tucked into the woods.

“Stay
behind me, Rebecca.” Collin kept his voice low, but before she could take one
more step he curled his fingers around her waist and pulled forward until she
was flush with his body. Her chest was pressed to his back, and she had to look
around his arm just to see anything. It felt good to be this close to him, and
although this wasn’t the time to think about
sex, that
was what was on her mind. Ever since their kiss she had been having these lewd,
totally inappropriate thoughts about being with him. It was inevitable, because
she knew he wanted her, too, and that was on her mind as well. It fueled her
desire, her erotic images, and made her feel alive again.

They
continued to move through the woods, her steps crunching over the fallen, dried
leaves, and creating this echoing effect around them. And then she stopped,
gripped onto Collin’s arm so he would do the same, and lifted her hand to point
to the three infected walking on the road ahead of them. She could barely see
them through the break in the trees, but they were stumbling along, clearly
unaware that they were only feet from human flesh. And then the sound of
something moving close by, across from where Rebecca and Collin stood, had the
infected turning toward it. Rebecca could see a doe standing between two thick
oaks, her ears twitching, and her big black eyes taking in the three infected
moving toward her.

For
whatever reason, when someone turned into these disgusting walking corpses that
fed on human flesh, that was all they fed on. They didn’t go after animals, and
Rebecca was sure there was a reason behind it, but she had never heard the
details. After everything had crashed in on itself the government and the scientists
that had been working on all of this seemed to drop off the planet. They hadn’t
been prepared, that was for sure, and the idea that they survived, maybe
bunkered down in a hole somewhere, was totally plausible. But it didn’t matter
one way or another, because a lot of time had passed since the infection had
spread, and there was no more civilization. If the government or the scientists
were alive, they were probably suffering as much as everyone else was.

But
the movement kept the infected occupied, had them curious maybe, and so when
the doe ran off into the woods they followed her, slowly, but they still
followed.

And
then she and Collin were moving through the forest again, toward the lake and
that white structure in the distance. Rebecca just hoped there weren’t any more
surprises for them in the near future, because as it was since meeting up with
Collin it had felt like one thing after another.

****

Collin
stayed in the tree line, watched their surroundings, and only when he felt it
was safe to move forward did he take a step out of the protection of the trees.
He had a firm hold on Rebecca’s hand, pulled her behind him, and this wave of
possession filled him when Rebecca squeezed his hand tighter. The body of water
looked to be a manmade pond, and the small white structure across from it was a
church. The cross atop it was large, but the church itself only had two levels.
The single front door was open and hanging off the hinges. A grey shutter was
banging against the window.

“It’s
a church, but there isn’t a parking lot or anything, and it’s out in the middle
of nowhere?” Rebecca said, almost as if she as speaking to herself.

“Have
your weapon ready,” he said low, keeping his voice soft enough that only she
could hear. He looked at the structure, scanned the property, and when he moved
up the wooden steps to the front door and looked inside, the sight of a dead
body was what greeted him. The person was draped over the podium that was on
the altar, his body nearly rotted to the bone. Clearly the man had died shortly
after the infection hit nearly two years ago, judging by the state of
decomposition.

“Stay
close,” Collin said to her, pulled her forward with him, and stepped inside of
the church.

“Ugh,
yeah, I have no plans on going anywhere,” she said just as softly, and he
chuckled lightly. There were two sets of pews, with three rows each.

“Looks
like this was a private congregation, maybe even a backwater church or
something.”
Collin wasn’t familiar with happenings out in the boonies. He had lived in New
York all his life where it was busy with nonstop action and where everything
was out in the open. This could have been a cult, possibly, although right now
it didn’t matter. The pews were weathered and worn, but the only other windows
in this building, aside from the small one by the front door, were ones about
twenty feet high. They were stained glass and let in plenty of light, but what
really caught his attention was the second story. It was open, with beams
running parallel. It was very similar to the loft back at the warehouse, and he
assumed it was for storage.

“You
think someone is up there?” she whispered.

“I
don’t know.” He pointed at the corner toward the front doors. “Stay over there,
because although I know you can handle yourself, my mind will be at ease if I
know where you are and that you aren’t trying to hold your own.” Collin stared
at her, and pleasure moved through him that she stared at him with her wide
green eyes full of trust.

And
she didn’t argue, just nodded, looked back at the loft area, and moved over to
the corner. It was shadowed, and the back of the door blocked her from prying
eyes. Collin moved over to the stairs that he could see behind the altar. He
stopped when he was close to the man slouched over the podium. There was a
handgun beside the corpse’s feet and a bullet hole in the side of his head.
Collin knew enough to see that the wound was self-inflicted. He’d have to clear
the body out, use the podium and pews as firewood if need be, and as long as
this place was secure he could see them staying here. Moving away from the
corpse he walked over to the ladder, with his knife in hand, and slowly
climbed. Once at the top, he stared down at where Rebecca was. She watched him,
her knife at the ready, and pride and arousal filled him. This woman had only
come into his life yesterday, and as much as he wanted her, and had thought she
would have put up a fight, she had been just as lonely as he was.

Once
at the top he looked around. There were more pews stacked in the corner, even a
couple of cots, an outdated desk and lamp, drapes, and some religious
artifacts. He moved closer, moved away some of the dusty boxes, seeing if there
was anything of use up here, and noticed a small latch that had been covered.
He lifted the small brass ring, felt his adrenaline pump through his veins at
what was underneath this door, and then had his knife at the ready just in
case. The light from the stained glass cast a multi-layer colored illumination
around the floor and wall.

He
swallowed, and then just opened the damn thing. He stood, ready to attack, but
what he was greeted with was not a threat. In fact it was the opposite. “Well
shit,” he said under his breath. Collin made sure the upper level was clear and
safe, and then he called Rebecca up. When he glanced over the railing he saw
her slowly approaching, her attention on the corpse slung over the podium.

“Baby,
don’t look at that. I’ll clear it all out soon, but I want to show you
something first.”

She
moved quickly toward him, climbed the stairs, and then she stood beside him and
looked down to see the items in the hidden apartment. Her eyes widened.

“Seriously?”
She got on her
knees and started picking up cans of food, ran her fingers over the jugs of
water, and then crouched to open one of the plastic containers on the floor.
There were bags of dried food, beans and rice, and other items that were shelf
ready and nonperishable. When she sat on the floor beside the food, she glanced
over at him.

“There
has to be several months’ worth of food here.” She stared at him with this
wide, confused expression on her face. “But why is it still here?”
 
She looked at the food again, and ran her
fingers over the cans. “I can’t believe no one looted this stuff.”

“Well,
this place is pretty far off, kind of isolated, and this was hidden pretty
well.” He shrugged even though she was still staring at the food. “There were
boxes on top of the hidden door. Chances are, even after all this time, no one
ever found the place. I didn’t see any trails, and everything is pretty much
grown over by now. We lucked out, baby.” Here he was, saying endearments to
this woman that he’d just met, and felt territorial possession fill him. She
turned and faced him, and then slowly rose. When she moved toward him his cock
instantly got hard. He had a lot of shit he needed to do to get this place safe
and secure for them, but all he could think about was being with her. She was
right in front of him, lifting her hands and placing them on his jacket. They
were both filthy, but he had noticed a small tub behind the altar, probably for
baptisms, but for them it would make a great place to bathe.

“This
is kind of crazy, Collin.” she said in a soft voice, and looked at him.
“And a little surreal.”

“But
it feels right.” Collin didn’t state it like a question.

Rebecca
looked down at the ground, but kept her hands on his chest. The silence was
killing him, and Collin wasn’t used to that feeling. He had always gotten
things handed to him, because if not the repercussions were grave and deadly,
but with Rebecca he wanted to make sure she wanted this. He didn’t want to
force her into anything, but at the same time he didn’t want to let her go,
couldn’t let her go.
If she had refused him, fought him tooth
on nail on leaving with him, Collin would have pressed the issue.
He
never would have forced her to do something that she didn’t want to do, but
only if she was safe. If there was a situation that she wanted to be stubborn
about, and danger was close, he would have thrown her over his shoulder and
fought anyone that came close. He wanted her to be protected above all else.

She
looked into his eyes, so understanding, so open and curious, and his fucking
heart sped up right then and there.

“It
does feel right, and I think that is the craziest part of all of this.” She
licked her lips, and he watched the act. “I don’t know anything about you, yet
I feel so safe being with you.” She shook her head, and a moment of silence
stretched between them. “I shouldn’t though, not after the stuff that I have been
through, or the things I have seen.” She stared at him, and this anger rose
inside of him like a fucking sledgehammer needing to destroy something. Just
thinking about anyone wanting to hurt her enraged him.

“In
this world we have to take what we can get, especially when it feels right.” He
cupped her face, wanting to kiss her so damn badly. Why the fuck was he trying
to stop himself? Leaning in he pressed his mouth to hers, felt her open for
him, and knew that he had to have her tonight. He couldn’t wait, not when she
was so damn receptive. He stroked her tongue with his, groaned out when she
moaned into his mouth, and slid his hand down her back. He cupped her ass,
squeezing the mounds. She was wearing too many clothes, like all of them, but
before he could tear the fucking material way she broke the kiss and took a
step back. He lowered his head but kept his gaze locked on her. Right now he
felt pretty feral, but he’d let her call the shots and lead the way for this
first time.

Only
for this first time, though.

****

The
sun had set some time ago, and Rebecca had actually had a bath in the baptism
pool, although it had been frigid. They had gathered the pond water, filled the
tiny pool in church, and he had cleaned herself with the soap she had found at
the grocery store. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so clean
since the world had ended, and even her teeth felt minty thanks to the
toothpaste and toothbrush she had also snagged. Now she was watching Collin as
he finished bathing, too.

They
had found some candles in the loft storage area above, as well as several in
brass candleholders around the main floor. The clothes she had on were clean,
but she was already itching to have them off. She wanted his naked body pressed
against hers, wanted to feel his big, calloused hands moving along her flesh,
tweaking her nipples, stroking her pussy. God, she was so wet. Shifting on the
pew, she glanced over her shoulder once more after turning away, trying to give
him privacy. He stood, his back to her now, with the sight of his broad
shoulders and muscular back on full display. But the massive raven tattoo that
covered the width of his shoulders and branched all the way down to the small
of his back looked deadly as much as it turned her on. It was almost violent in
appearance as pieces of the big black bird’s wings broke off and covered his
sides and the back of his bulging biceps.