Surviving Day by Day (Book 3): Still They Come (19 page)

The soft glow of the flame gave a warm feeling in the room. Alden was sitting back with his .45 lying on the table along with his knife. Niz sat watching the flame as flickered in the glass.

“Alden, will those windows hold? I mean they’re just glass.”

Alden smiled, “you’ve never opened them, have you?”

Niz shook her head, “No, why?”

Alden took a sip, “Larry was just a tad bit paranoid. They’re not bulletproof per say but they are break resistant. He had them made from the same material a car's windshield is. The wanderers are not going to be able to beat through it, they aren't that strong. Plus with drop down shutters, we’ll be fine”

Niz laid her head back down as Alden watched her doze off.

“Yeah I kind of figured it was going to be a loner night for me.” he sighed. Getting up, he grabbed an afghan off the couch and laid it on her. Niz moaned a little as she turned, then was fast asleep.

Alden walked down the hall, as the clock on the mantle struck midnight. Walking into Charlie and Ceara’s room, he shined his flashlight on the two, seeing Ceara spooned up against Charlie. Alden knelt down by Charlie’s face, keeping the light shining down to the floor.

“C’mon cupcake, rise and shine, its fire watch time for you.”

Ceara popped her head up quickly rubbing her eyes, “What? What is it? Are we under attack?”

Charlie sat straight up, almost knocking Alden over. “Attack who, what, who’s attacking?”

Alden put his hand over Charlie's mouth and glared at Ceara. Then in a low voice, “Calm the fuck down, you two. It’s your turn to take watch. Coffee’s on and hot. Niz is sleeping in her chair, so just leave her be. She took that pill Beth gave her, and it knocked her right out.”

As he walked out, he turned seeing Ceara sitting up with the blanket pooled in her lap. Alden smiled and made a motion to her to cover up, “Those panties are cute but you don’t need to tease an old man like that.”

Ceara blushed as she grabbed the blanket and pulled it under her chin. Alden looked at them grinning, “One more thing, don’t be playing with the puppies.”

Alden closed the door behind him.

Ceara pulled her jeans on, still blushing at flashing Alden. She couldn’t look at Charlie either, every time she did he was grinning. “Ok, stop grinning, damn it.”

Charlie snickered, “Sorry, your look was priceless. You ready?”

Ceara nodded as she yawned. They headed out to the living room and noticed that for the first time in a long time that the shutters were closed. It gave Ceara an ominous feeling, she walked over to one of the windows as Charlie got them coffee.

Charlie came in to join her, handing over her cup. She took a sip and made a face; you know the one thing I wish was on the truck? Mountain Dew! That was always my coffee.”

Charlie smiled, “We can look for a Coke truck...later maybe”

Ceara took another drink, “Honey, Pepsi makes Mountain Dew.”

Charlie shrugged, “Whatever, you drank that crap, not me.”

Ceara plopped down on the couch looking at the puppies. All three were sleeping, Tonto was in with Alden. Ceara waited till Charlie sat down, she then leaned over to whisper so she wouldn’t wake Niz. “How do you think Tonto got away without the pups following?”

Charlie grinned, “Tonto probably knew that he had to wait till they were asleep.”

Tiger rolled over on his back as he kicked in his sleep. Ceara giggled, “So why can’t we play with them?”

Charlie looked over to Niz, “Well, it would wake Niz and Alden said to let her sleep.”

They played cards to pass the time that seemed moved slowly. When it was time to wake Colt and Beth, they headed down the hall, Ceara pulled Charlie back, “Let me go in, I don’t want you getting flashed like Alden got.”

Charlie smirked, “Ceara, I don’t think like that but go ahead. I’m going to bed.”

Curled up against Colt, Beth was sound asleep but when Ceara opened the door, Beth began to stir. She had always been a light sleeper, ever since she could remember, but since this had started, the slightest noise would cause her to wake up.

Opening her eyes Beth slowly sat up, “Everything alright?”

Ceara walked over to the side of the bed, “Yeah, it’s time for you guys to do the watch. It has been very boring out there since it has been so quiet.”

Beth rubbed her eyes, “Niz? How’s she doing?”

“Sound asleep. Alden said after she took the one pill you gave her, she was out like a light.”

“Well, thank you Ceara, for waking me up. I will get Colt up and we will be right out.”

Ceara turned to leave and just as she got to the door, she stopped, “I will go make a fresh pot of coffee and wait for you all then I will go hit the sack.”

Slowly Ceara closed the door but left it open just a crack to allow Beth and Colt to get up and about with some privacy.

Turning over to gently wake Colt, she noticed how peaceful he looked. Beth realized that they had not had the talk that she wanted to have. Maybe they would during their watch. Something down deep inside was gnawing at her because she did in fact love Colt, but with the world the way it was now caused her stomach to ache. Looking up at the ceiling, Beth said to herself, “Jessica, I know that he is and was your husband. I am so sorry this happened to you and if I could've stopped it I would have. Please don’t be mad at me cause I do love him so much but I don’t know what to do...”

Just as she was deep in thought Colt moved and began to wake, “Beth, you alright?”

Looking down at him she replied, “Yes sweetie. Ceara came in a few minutes ago and told me our time to take watch is now. I was about to wake you up but you beat me to it.”

Running his hands through his hair then shaking his head to wake himself up, Colt replied, “Well let’s get up and let those guys get some rest. Thanks for giving me those few extra minutes because I was having an awesome dream.”

Leaning over Beth placed a kiss on his forehead, “Care to tell me what it was about?”

Colt then softly caressed her shoulder, “Well you will have to get up and get out there then we can talk all you like.”

Pouting slightly then giggling, Beth flipped over and sat on the side of the bed while Colt was already getting up, making his way to the bathroom.

At the side of the bed, Beth saw that her jeans were on the floor so she got them on quickly and then went over to the mirror to comb her unruly hair.

By the time she was done, she noticed Colt had finished in the bathroom and left the door open. He was putting on his shirt that he had left on the end of the bed, “It’s all yours.” Colt said as he gestured to the bathroom.

Colt made his way out to the living room, Ceara had the fresh pot of coffee brewing and the smell was intoxicating. “Man, Ceara, that smells good. Where’s Charlie at?” he whispered.

Ceara smiled and nodded towards the bedroom, “He’s already back in bed and everyone out here is sleeping. I will see you all in a few hours. Everything has been pretty quiet so far tonight.”

Colt began to pour him a cup, “Well no news is good news and I guess that goes with the wanderers too.”

Ceara had turned to head to her room when suddenly she remembered what Alden had said, “Oh Colt, Alden said don’t play with the pups, just let them sleep so that Niz can get her rest.”

Colt tipped his coffee to her and nodded his head, “Will do... good night.”

Beth joined as she finished pulling her hair into a ponytail, “I can’t tell you the last time my hair was long enough to do this.”

Colt handed her a cup of coffee, “I like it; you look pretty cute like that.”

She kissed his cheek then sipped her coffee while going to sit on the couch, “Ceara said it’s been quiet, wonder if that is a good or bad sign?”

Colt joined her on the couch and glanced over at Niz, “Hopefully a good sign, maybe that herd changed direction. Her people should be back tomorrow... well I guess that is today now. Anyway, they should let us know more. The part I don’t like is that we are now counting on others to tell us what to expect. We have always done things ourselves, you know what I mean?”

Beth glanced out the windows, she could see a bit of moonlight through the cross openings. “I know what you mean, it seems we have had more wounded and casualties since we met them.”

She set her cup down, “Another way to look at it is, if we hadn’t met them, then we may have all died. We don’t know what the future holds and we can’t start second guessing where we have been.”

Colt went to the door and stepped out on the porch, Beth followed him. They stood in the moonlight; Colt wrapped his arm around her pulling her close as she shivered in the night air. “Are you cold? We can go back in, if you want?”

Beth shook her head, “No, I’m ok; let’s sit out here a bit. It’s nice.”

“Looking out at times like this, it just seems like the world is nice, safe, and just peaceful. One day those things will die off and we will have to rebuild this world... Maybe it will be done right this time.” Colt looked down at Beth, “I hope we both make it to see it, I hope our whole group makes it.”

Beth stood and walked down the steps, looking over at the area where she knew they had held Heath’s funeral. The ground showed the evidence of the fire still. “Colt, I very much doubt we will all live to see it, that isn’t to sound negative. The fact is that they may die off, but as long as there is any living for them to feed on, new ones will take the place of the old. By the time there are more survivors than the dead, I’m afraid we will be long gone. The part that scares me is, if we do, in fact, survive this.”

Beth saw his confused look, “Oh, not us, but the human race. Do you think many children survived this? What about people that have survived so far? Do you think any are thinking about having children of their own?” She waved her hand in the air, “In this? Just think what Alden said, he all but threatened us if we even thought about it.”

Colt looked depressed, “Beth, can we drop this, I am getting pretty damn depressed.”

Beth gave him a weak smile, “I’m sorry, what would you like to talk about?”

Colt fiddled with a loose piece of wood, avoiding her look, “Well, Ummm I was wondering about something that was said today.”

Beth knew what he was talking about but wanted to make sure, she sat back by him, “What was that?”

Colt bit his lip before he continued, “It was this afternoon when we got back, after my fight with Ceara.” Colt ran his hands threw his hair, “Well I said I loved you and you got this horrible look of fear. Is it so bad that I fell in love with you?”

Beth turned his face to hers, “Honey, noooo, the look wasn’t bad, well to be honest, it was shock. I never expected you to admit it. I guess I just never thought I would ever hold a place in your heart anywhere close to Jessica.”

Colt watched her for any trace of truth in what she said, “Beth, I will always love Jessica. I think you know that. The truth is that she is gone, I can’t bring her back. I have been with you for months and we have been through more together than her and I had been through in years. To be honest, I didn’t know I loved you til I said it today. Even then I just said it joking and when the words came out, I think they shocked me as much as you.”

Colt laughed just a little, “You want to know what Ceara said when we walked off?” Beth nodded, not wanting to interrupt him. “She said that everyone else already knew. Do you think that’s true? You know what, I don’t care what they think, I want to know what you think.... How do you feel?”

When Colt had finished asking his question, Beth looked out again to where Heath was. The night air was getting chillier but still quite nice. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she began speaking softly, “Colt..... I don’t know when the exact time I started loving you but if I was to take a guess, it had to be when you drove up in that Rover of yours and I gave you a bottle of water.”

Colt laughed, “Oh my; really?? You still remember that?”

Shaking her head Beth continued, “All of the death and violence that I had just gone through and seeing you, my knight in a black shiny Land Rover; I just was instantly attracted. Then when you told me about what happened to your sweet Jessica, it tore at me to have to tell you who I worked for. However a long story short, I really started feeling love for you when Heath passed away. It was clear that Tabitha had deep feelings for Heath and I don’t believe they ever acted on them. I never asked, for it was none of my business. Then when I saw you out there working and trying to come up with ways of making us safe, I knew right then and there, I wasn’t going to be like Tabitha and hold back those feelings. Then when Niz came along and Tonto and Alden got hurt, I had to put aside those feelings and take care of them. I just did what I knew I had to do, while you did the things that you had to do to keep us safe.”

Beth looked over to see Colt listening attentively to every word that she said. She remembered that he had asked another question. “Do I think the others knew? I can honestly say it never crossed my mind. I am not the type to be a nosey, busy body, snoop that has nothing better to do than sit around and discuss other people’s business. However, if I was to venture a guess of who actually knew, I would have to say Alden, because that man knows everything.”