Torn (31 page)

Darius pulle
d
his mouth to one side.

“You’re a scientist. Think of it as an experiment.”

He couldn’t help it. He chuckled and set down his drink.

“You aren
’t attracted to me in that way?”

“O
h, quite the contrary.” He brought himself down to the floor. He reached out and took her drink, softening his voice. “I saw you naked,
remember
?” After setting her drink on the TV stand, he trailed his index finger through the opening of her
v-
neck shirt.

“Look at you being the seducer.”

“
You
initiated
it
.”

“I did.
D
i
dn’t I?” Bret smiled as
Darius
raised his
e
yes to her. “So you like what you saw?”

“O
h, yeah.” Two finger
s
, three, he
felt
the skin on her chest, lightly trailing in
circles
. “You s
aid it’s been a while since you
. . .
”
He cleared his throat. “How long?”

“Long. Very long. You?” she asked, her eyes meeting his.

“Very long.”

“Kiss me.”

“You got it.” D
ari
us
brought
his hand up, sliding it
behind
her neck. Then pulling
her closer, he leaned into her and smiled widely
before he granted her request.

The hotel was going to have a billing field day. They called for room service before they closed for the night for more mini bottles of scotch
and food
.

Nine tiny
empty bottles
were
scattered in and
around
the
garbage
can.
The video game controllers lay w
h
ere they left them on the fl
oor by the television. The game
was
,
in fact, still on pause, with Darius in the lead and three levels ahead of Bret.

It took a while. A good half hour of timid kissing, then another drink, more intense kissing, followed by teenage
-
styl
e making out, until the adult
in them brought them to the bed.

Bret was on her stomach. She cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder as she reached for a fry from the plate on the night stand next to the bed. She’d reach, dip into the ketchup, then bite.

“Sorry, Colin, I didn’t realize it was three in the morning there.”

“We’re not sleeping yet. Everyone is still wound up from Night of the Living Dead,” Colin said.

“So it was a good time.”

“Absolutely, the Winslow treatment was second to none. Speaking of treatment. How is Blain?”

Bret giggled.

“T
hat’s funny?” he asked.

“Um
. . .
no. Not funny. He’s still the same. No better
, no worse. I laughed because
. . .
Darius was doing something.” Bret declined to
tell
him that
Darius
was playing with her back, l
ightly tickling it with his
fingers
and lips.

“Do I want to know?”

Bret
giggled again.

“Are you two drunk?”

“We’ve been drinking,” she answered.

“Then I probably don’t want to know.”

Darius breath
ed
ou
t
,
laying on his side next to Bret,
“
Time
’
s
up.” He
grabbed
the phone.

“H
ey!” she defended.

“Hey, Colin. We are
really
in the middle of something. She’ll have to call you back in the morning.”

“She called me, Da
ri
us, I didn’t call her.”

“I know. I gave her five minutes.”

“Oh my God.” Colin
explained
.

“What?”

“You did.”

“I did what?” Darius asked.

“You have gone and taken advantage of her
vulnerable
state.”

Darius crinkled a
brow
that Colin could not see. He shook his head, watching Bret
nonchalantly
eat the fries as she lay
on her
stomach
. “She is so not vulnerable.”

“You did. You male vixen.”

Darius laughed. “Stop.”

“Such a slut.”

“Colin, stop.”

“
Y
ou not her.”

“I am not,”
Darius
continued his laughing. “I gotta go.”

“Dare-Dare, I don’t think her emotionally
-
scarred children a
re ready for a middle aged rock
star wannabe for a stepfather.”

“I am not
a
middle age
d
rock star wanna
b
e.”

“Country, sorry, I stand corrected.”

Darius cleared his throat. “Better.”

“Dare-Dare, in all serious
ness.
Do you really think this was a good idea?”

Without hesitation,
Darius
answered. “Y
es, yes, I do.”

Pause.

“So do I. Have a good night.”

Over Bret, Darius extended
his arm
and hung up the phone. In
returning
, he
brought
his lips to her back again. “You have a great back.”

“That’s because it’s strong from people always being on it.”

He chuckled
. “That was good. But seriously
. . . .
”
He took hold of her hip and tucking his hand, rolled her onto her side. He scooted her closer.

Bret rolled to her back.

He kissed her and smiled “You taste like ketchup.”

Bret bit her lip. “Sorry.”

He shook
his head. “No, I’m joking. But
. . .
seriously
. .  . . .
”
Just as he leaned closer
to
her,
the phone began to ring.

Bret pulled back. “Phone.”

“
Let
it go,”
Darius
t
ried
kissing her.

“It could be important.
It might be about Blain.”
Rolling to her side, Bret retrieved the phone before the fourth ring. “Hello.” A pause. “Yes it is.” Another pause. “We’ll b
e
right there.”

Immediately, she slid from the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Darius asked.
“What
happened?
”

“We need to get dressed and get going. Blain took a turn for the worse.”

Surprised
, Darius sat up. “From a dog bite?”

“They don’t think he’s going to make it through the night. They want someone there.”

“Holy shit.”
Flinging, the covers from him, Darius, like Bret, rushed to get dressed.

It wasn’t
supposed
to happen.

It wasn’t rabies, e
ven though they were able to trace a case to bats in Texas. It was meningitis that raged through Blain, causing his fever to spike out of control, his body to convulse, and his young life to end so quickly.

I wasn’t suppose
d
to happen.

It didn’t take Darius and Bret long to get to the hospital, but
it
wouldn’t have matter
ed
if they had the ability to fly there. They were too late.

“We’re sorry, he’s gone,” the nurse informed them as they raced down the hall. “
He went fast.”

Bret turned into Darius for support and there he held her as she cried for a man who had become a friend and a huge part of the survival plan.

They stayed until his mother arrived so they were there for the news.

Another day lost in their journey home, but this
was
for a good reason.

There was little more they could do but return home, and they did at first light.

“I’m not liking this,” Virginia stated matter-of-fact
ly
, sitting at the console station in Colin’s home. “I’ve been following it for a week now.”

“I don’t like it either,” Luke said.

Virginia looked at him. “Do you know what it is?”

“Hot spot.” Luke shrugged. “H
asn’t changed, hasn’t moved.”

Virginia held out her hand toward Luke while speaking to Colin. “
There you
have it. He’s sixteen and he doesn’t like it.”

“Th
ere you have it,” Colin said. “He’s sixteen. What does he know?
”

“Dude,” Luke defended. “I’ve
been
researching on the internet.”

Colin rubbed his chin. “If it was goin
g to do anything, it would have, r
ight?”

“I study the sun. You study the earth. You tell me.” Virginia said. “Look, it’s not growing, but
I feel
it’s getting more intense.” She ran her finger over the screen
to the point of the hot spot which
seemed
to be in the
corner
of Missouri, Tennessee,
Arkansas
and Kentucky, heading straight up the
Kentucky
border
.

Colin swis
hed his mouth side to side. “Maybe I’m just not thinking
correctly
today. A lot is on my mind.”

“Blain?” Virginia asked.

Colin nodded. “I have to make arrangements for all
of us to travel to the funeral, i
f plausible. I have Bret’s ex ape calling every
two hours wanting in th
e
house
. Chuck
. . .
Chuck well I can’t figure him out. He’s been very anti lately.”

“Chuck is always a
nti,” Luke said.

“Well, now is not the time for him to be anti. We have a survival plan to work out.
Yesterday
we were
trying
to speak about the invitees to the shelter. He didn’t care.” Colin
sighed
. “I feel the catastrophic events are something
he’s
been waiting for.”

Virginia
spoke softly. “H
e lost his life. His wife and kids. He just needs something to live for. Right now, this is the perfect way to see his kids again.”

“Swell.” Colin said. “We just need every mind, every body
right
now, and
w
ith
enthusiasm.”

“What else?” Virginia
asked.
“Get it all out.”

Colin shook his head. “I just did. I just have a lot on my mind and every day that goes by is
a
day closer to the news getting out. Once that happens, our
preparations
and stocking are going to get difficult. Thank God, Winslow is doing his share.”

“You mean with
the
enemy
?” Virginia asked.

“And some. He called
this
morning to tell me he bought out
the Giant
Eagle
Warehouse. Giant
Eagle
is jumping for joy, and I suppose their suppliers are, too. Don’t ask me how he
pulled
it
off.”

“Don’t forget that old book stor
e
on 51,” Luke said.

“Yes, that too,” Colin replied. “Food and knowledge.”

“Now we
need
medical,”
Virginia
commented.

“We need
everyone together,” Colin said, “s
o we can have one big meeting and get our shit together and moving.”

“I agree. When does Darius get back?” Virginia asked.

“This evening.” Colin looked at the watch.

Virginia sat back. Her eyes moved to the computer and to the hot spot. “What route is he taking home?”

Colin’s eyes hit the screen. “That route
that leads to the hot spot
. . . .
”

Virginia
exhaled loudly
.

“What are you thinking?” Colin asked.

“I don’t know
. . .
call me
superstitious
, but
. . .
o
k
ay
. Think about it. Almost every single big event that has happened has evolved either Darius, Bret, or both. The
ants
, roaches, bir
ds, radiation, EMP, dog attacks
. . . .
”

Colin snickered. “Are you saying there’s
something
about those two that causes these thing
s to happen?
”

“Absolutely not, no.” Virginia said. “I’
m just saying that these two
. . .
well, they have bad
luck
with these events. And if anything is going to happen with this hot spot, wouldn’t
it just be their luck that it happens the second they cross into the hot spot at the
Arkansas
-T
e
nne
s
see b
order?”

“Good God, you’re probably right.” He handed her his phone.

“What?” she asked.

“You call them. If I do, they’ll laugh.”

Virginia flipped open the phone.

Darius spotted it in the window. They were
pulling
through the small town to get something to eat, and he had to pull over and buy it.

He justified the purchase as a need.

He hadn’t played his guitar in a week, and he was going through withdrawal.

His whole mood lifted, and that was helpful considering the gloom that hung over his head with Blain’s death. So with his new guitar from the hock shop, he and Bret picked up some
sandwiches
and followed the advice of the clerk who said there was a nice clearing just outside of
town
.

They’d have to go back
through
town to get to the highway,
but it didn’t matter. It was a n
ice diversion.

He played the entire time they were stopped. Played, ate, spoke, but never did
the
guitar leave his lap.

“This is so sweet. The action is
phenomenal
,”
Darius
said o
f the acoustic guitar. “Fuckin
’
vintage and I can’t believe th
ey had this in a small, no-name
hock shop.”

“You don’t believe what the guy said, do you?” Bret asked. “It wasn’t Elvis’.”

“You don’t know
,
Bret.
It could be. Di
d you see the price tag on this?
”

“Um
,
yeah, three grand.” She shook her head with a whistle. “That is one of the reasons we’d not be a good couple in the world if it wasn’t ending.”

“What are you talking about?” Darius asked with a chuckle.

“Your spending habits.” Bret bagged their garbage.

He
fluttered
his lips. “You
think
I spend this much normally? Nah. What do I have to lose? Put it on the credit
card
, I don’t have to pay it back.” After a shrug, he put his guitar in the case.

“Yeah, but aren’t you on the ‘save the
world
’ thing. You
have
a theory.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I do. But
the world is
s
till going to shit.”

“What do you mean?”

“I
mean even
if my plan would work, there’s still going to be chaos and destruction. I can’t
release
my theory
until
everyone knows
what’s going
on. And even then
. . .
Hell, you know the size of the blast I wanna set off.
We’re talking dust and clouds that will block out the sun and cause a mini ice age for two years.
Not to
mention, there could be a radiation danger.” He stopped when he saw her mouth aga
pe. He pushed up on her chin. “D
on’t say why bother. It’s a lesser of the two evil
s
thing.” He
crouched
down closer to her. “And even if the w
orld wasn’t going to go to shit, e
ven if my theory caused no
chaos
or damage,
I think you’re wrong.”

“About what?”

Darius dropped his voice to a whisper. “I think we’d
be very
good couple in any situation.”
Darius kissed her. “I’m really glad we decided to do this, Bret. I really like you. You’re a really good person.”

“I’m glad we did this, too.”

“Ready?” Darius stood and
extended
his hand to her.

“
Yep
.”
Bret too
k
his
hand and stood.

After
grabbing
his guitar and the garbage they headed to the car.

Immed
iately
after stepping from the
shade
, Bret
fanned herself. “Whew. Does it feel like it got hotter to you?”

“
Actually
, yeah it does.” He opened the car door for her, and chuckled when she grunted about the heat.
He
tossed his guitar in the back.

“Open the windows. God.”

Darius laugh
ed
, turned the ignition and wound down
all
the
windows
.

“Air.”

“Bret. Give it a second.”

“I
t’s so hot.”

“It’s weird.”

“You’re phone’s beeping.”

“Shit, we left it in the car. Hope it wasn’t important.” Darius reached down to the floor and grabbed the phone
next to
the gear shift. “Christ, it must be. Twenty-five missed calls.”

“How long were we out there?”

“Forty minutes tops.”

“Who called?”

“Colin, Virginia, Luke
. . .
.
”

“Oh my God, I hope
the
kids
are okay
.”

He
held
up a finger and dialed. “We’ll find out.”

Colin answered. “Where have you been?”

“Are the kids
okay
?” Darius asked.

“Yes, they’re
fine,” Colin answered.

“So what’s up?” Darius
asked. “Why is everyone calling?
” He put the truck in
reverse
and backed out.

“Worried,” Colin
answered
. “Virginia’s been tracking a hot spot that Luke found. It hasn’t moved. We think it’s getting intense.”