“Thank you,” Ken eventually said. His eyes diverted toward the toilet paper holder. “For, you know, dragging me here.”
Nancy found her mouth inexplicably twitching into a smile. “No problem,” she assured him. “I’m sure you would have done the same for me.”
Ken’s head whipped around as though he’d been waiting for that exact response. “Of course!” he said a little too loudly. His head lowered again, and Nancy found he reminded her of a sad puppy. “All I want is to keep you safe.”
The bar back at home and the countless nights they’d shared company seemed like a thousand miles and a hundred years away. Nancy found that here, in this small bathroom, she was really looking at Ken for the first time. Without a word she stood, moved over to him, and placed her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. “And why is that?” she pressed, her face still and serious.
Ken didn’t hesitate. It seemed that he’d been dying to say the words for some time. “Because I love you.”
It was what she’d wanted to hear, though in hindsight she thought that the exact words wouldn’t have really mattered. She straddled Ken’s legs, set herself down on his lap, and kissed him gently, savoring the taste of his lips. When she began to pull away she found instead that he was pulling her closer. She allowed it. His kiss was more fierce, passionate, and intense. It was just as sweet.
A moment later they were in the bedroom. Nancy had no idea how they’d arrived there, but it didn’t matter. Ken had blocked the single window with an ugly painting of an old fishing vessel and closed the door so that they were in darkness. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but from her vantage point on the bed Nancy could see Ken’s muscular outline as he pulled the shirt from his body and leaned toward her. He placed his hands on the bed on either side of her body and bowed down low to kiss her neck, her collarbone, her chest. Not wanting to stop for even a second, she adjusted enough to raise her arms and tear off her top, discarding it to the rough hardwood floor.
A short time ago they’d both been beyond exhaustion, hunger, thirst, and fear. For the moment all that was forgotten. Nancy could feel Ken’s hot breath as his lips moved down her stomach. Ken could feel every twitch and pulse of her body beneath his hands and lips. Nancy longed to moan, but bit her lip instead. She reached out with her foot and gave a little tug at the waist of Ken’s pants. He obeyed her silent command immediately. Nancy wriggled out of her jeans while his hands were busy, and in a rush of hormones she reached for Ken’s hair to pull his head to hers. Their hands were everywhere, their bodies warming with each passing second, and for just a little while there was no apocalypse, no blood-thirsty predators outside, and there was nothing else in the world except for him and her.
Chapter Fifteen
Nancy woke because she was chilly. Her mind was still half asleep as she reached blindly for a blanket and instead found the soft skin of a muscular arm. The unexpected touch made her jump before she realized whose arm it was. She opened her eyes and propped herself up to look at the gently sleeping form of her lover in the bed beside her. He was snoring, just a little. Before she knew it she was giggling like a lovestruck school girl. The knitted quilt was just barely covering Ken’s bare body, which made Nancy’s skin flush with the memory of the previous night. At that she realized why she was so cold; she wasn’t wearing a strip of clothing. For a moment she considered getting dressed, but while watching Ken sleep she opted to pull the quilt up around them both and snuggle into his body instead. She wanted to savor every second with him that she could before reality inevitably crashed back down upon them.
As they lay there, him sleeping soundly, her enjoying the feel of his skin, she thought about everything. Her world had changed beyond recognition, and not just because of the obvious. Before the zombies came she had been all alone in her one bedroom apartment. The only family member she’d ever known had been gone for several years, and her only real friend had almost nothing in common with her. She’d had a very simple life: go to work, save money, try to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life.
It was all so different now. She could barely remember a time when getting into a decent school program was the most important thing to her. It was a pipe dream now, a faded memory of different times. Everything she’d known was gone; her apartment left behind, her one close friend dead, all of her neighbors and people she’d come to know on a daily basis gone in a way she couldn’t even stand to think about. She’d found she could be strong for the right reasons - to protect her honorary brother and adopted daughter - but fear was still a constant part of her life that was not likely to ever really go away. These situations weren’t getting any easier to deal with. She just kept forcing herself through them.
Ken stirred. Nancy looked at him, but he hadn’t quite woken just yet. She smiled and stroked the stubble on his chin with the tips of her fingers. Comparatively, this was a small change to her life, but it felt like a big one. Regardless of all that had happened around her - all the pain, misery, fear, and frustration - one night had changed her view of the world in a very significant way. On one hand it was such an amazing high to have found love - and she truly believed that this
was
love - under such crazy circumstances. On the other hand, she found herself even more terrified than before. Here was yet another thing that she was scared to lose. Could they really protect each other in this brave new world? Eventually something would happen to one of them. Whether it came down to sacrificing herself for him, or being forced to watch as he was taken away from her, Nancy didn’t know if she would be able to handle it. Again, she found herself thinking of Greg and Sarah and wondering with a heavy heart whether they were okay and if she would ever get to see them again.
“You look sad,” Ken whispered. “I guess I’m not as good as I thought I was.”
Nancy pushed her thoughts away and forced herself to smile. “Nonsense,” she told him. She pressed her naked body closer to his. “I’ve never felt anything so amazing in all my life.”
“Careful,” Ken admonished. “You’ll give me a big head.” He was struggling not to grin.
Unable to resist, Nancy peeked under the covers and then looked back at Ken with a smirk. “Too late,” she said.
He laughed, rolled to his side, and gave Nancy a soft kiss. “Have I mentioned lately that you are unbelievably beautiful?” he asked.
Nancy stuck out her tongue. “Not that I recall,” she told him. “But then, I’d know you were lying because we’ve been running from zombies for weeks and I’ve had an average of about one shower every nine days.”
Ken chuckled. “You could go get one now,” he suggested. “It might make you feel better.”
Nancy wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled him tight. “
This
makes me feel better,” she insisted. “I don’t ever want to leave your side.”
He smiled and humored her for a while, but eventually he had to point out that her plan wasn’t reasonable. “I think that maybe we should get moving again soon,” he suggested.
She was so surprised that she found herself gaping at him. “But they’re still out there!” she hissed.
Ken nodded. “And they’re probably not going to go away any time soon,” he pointed out. “And there’s not much food here. We’ll be lucky to ration it for a day or two and after that we’re just sitting here, getting weaker and weaker. In the meantime if that demon bitch realizes that we’re in here they’ll start busting their way in and we won’t have any way to run.”
Nancy couldn’t argue with his logic, though the idea of running out there again filled her with dread. They’d been so lucky to find this shelter, but the next time...
“What do you suggest?” she asked, miserable and resigned.
He propped himself up on one elbow and stroked her arm. It had a calming effect, though not quite calming enough. “Those rifles in the other room?” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ammo for them. Whoever owns this place must have been hunting god-damn
bear
or something because he’s got enough ammo to run his own army. I realize that there’s only just the two of us, but there’s enough firepower here that I think we can make a good go of it by climbing out onto the roof, taking out everyone we can see, and then making a run for it with as much ammo as we can reasonably carry.”
It sounded insane to Nancy, but not quite as insane as simply sitting and waiting to be found or to starve.
“Where will we go?” she asked.
“We know where Greg is heading,” Ken reminded her, “and there’s some gear in the trunk in the living room, including maps and a compass.” He ran his fingers through Nancy’s hair. She could tell that he was trying his best to look strong and confident for her. “I think we can make our way through the backwoods and meet up with Greg in a couple of days.”
She wanted to believe him, and God knew she wanted to see Greg and Sarah again, to know that they were okay. “But I’m scared,” she whispered. She nuzzled her face into Ken’s chest so she wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. “What if we fail? What if we get lost or the zombies overtake us? What if we can’t find Greg? What if...what if...” She couldn’t voice her fears about Ken getting hurt because putting it into words made it feel somehow inevitable.
Ken wrapped his arms around Nancy and squeezed hard. “We could play the ‘what if’ game until the end of time,” he pointed out in a gentle tone. “We don’t have the convenience of knowing what will happen. We can only keep doing our best to survive, and in this case staying here isn’t going to help us survive for very long. I’m sure you know that. And I’m sure I know you well enough at this point to know that you’re going to drive yourself insane wondering what’s happening with Greg and Sarah. I know that at least a part of you
needs
to try to get back to them as soon as possible.”
Nancy refused to reply for a while, preferring instead to dig her nails into Ken’s back. It was a rebellious attempt to get him to give in and change his mind, but eventually she sighed and released her grip. “Of course you’re right,” she admitted, mumbling into his chest. “But that doesn’t make me want to do it any more.”
Ken’s lips twitched slightly, though he didn’t quite smile. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll protect each other.”
Nancy eventually agreed to take a shower. She worried that the running water would be loud enough to attract the attention of the zombies, but Ken was certain that it would be fine. He won the argument by pointing out that the hot water would relax her muscles and make it easier for her to run. She had to admit that the water did feel amazing. She rummaged through the bathroom cupboards and was childishly overjoyed to find unopened soap and shampoo. The water wasn’t what she would have called hot, but it was plenty warm and cozy. It was with a great deal of willpower that she managed to drag herself from the comfort several minutes later.
Wrapped in the fluffiest of the three towels that had been under the sink, she stepped out into main room where Ken was sitting at the small table. She gave him a sheepish grin. “I don’t suppose there are any clean clothes here as well?” she asked.
Ken chuckled and leaned back to admire her towel-wrapped form. “I’ll take a look,” he said after a long few seconds, and then wandered back to the bedroom. He came out soon after carrying an armful of various articles of clothing. “This is everything that was in the closet,” he told her. “No underwear, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to go commando.” He winked and Nancy stuck out her tongue.
“You should get a shower too,” she suggested while rummaging through the pile. “You don’t know when you might get another chance.”
Ken looked wary. Nancy realized that he didn’t like the idea of leaving her to defend the cabin while he enjoyed himself for a few warm minutes.
“I’ll be
fine
,” she insisted. “Did they hear anything while I was in there?”
Ken shook his head, but he was frowning and still looked uncertain. Nancy walked up to him with a stubborn set to her jaw and shoved him toward the bathroom. “Go
on
,” she growled. “You reek!”
He was laughing as he submitted. “Fine, fine,” he told her, and shut the door behind him. “But no peeking!”
“I don’t need to peek,” was Nancy’s reply. “I just need to close my eyes.” She grinned and returned to the clothing options. Everything was much to big for her, but she improvised as much as she could. She chose a pair of cargo pants that seemed to be the smallest size available and took a kitchen knife to the bottoms to remove the extra length. A thin leather belt tightened them enough to be manageable from there. To compliment her fashionable pant-wear she chose a dark green t-shirt and slid a sweater with the logo of a football team she didn’t recognize over top of it. All in all she felt minuscule in the too-big clothes, but they would serve their purpose and at least she would be warm if they got caught outside during the night.
Ken came out of the bathroom fairly quickly; a pair of jeans and a sweater later and he was dressed and ready to go. Nancy found herself falling down into a bout of panic again. She tried to contain herself for Ken’s sake, and for Greg and Sarah.
Ken found a duffel bag and a large backpack in the bedroom closet.. He divided the remainder of the food (mostly some single-serve boxes of cereal and a couple of cans of soup) between the bags, then moved onto the ammo and did the same. Nancy was surprised to see just how many boxes he had found. Whomever owned this cabin must have enjoyed hunting a
little
too much. By the time Ken had both bags loaded Nancy was seriously starting to be worried about the weight of hers.
With the ammo that was left unpacked, Ken loaded all six guns.
“We’re not taking all of them?” Nancy asked, incredulous. She’d never be able to carry three rifles through the woods, along with the giant backpack of ammo.
“We’re taking two each,” Ken explained, loading round after round. Nancy wondered if he’d picked that up just since the zombies first arrived, or if he’d actually been a hunter himself beforehand. “These two,” he said while holding up the two oldest-looking guns, “have the least ammo, so we’ll use them to take out as many as we can from the roof, and then we’ll just leave them when we take off.”
Nancy examined the remaining rifles with a raised eyebrow. “I...I don’t know if I can carry two of them,” she mumbled.
Ken smiled a smile that Nancy couldn’t help but return. “You’ll manage,” he insisted. “I’m going to set up one of each for us to sling over our shoulders; there are some straps in the closet.”
Nancy nodded and began taking deep breaths, one after the other. This was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon, so she began to prepare herself.
In no time at all she found herself crouched beside Ken in the tiny attic compartment of the cabin. They were peering out the exhaust vent that they planned to use to climb out onto the roof. They could see at least a dozen zombies just from this spot, wandering around in circles, groaning their eternal question, wondering where their two tasty morsels had gotten to.
“Are you ready?” Ken asked.
Nancy choked up on the gun in her hands, shrugged against the backpack full of ammo and the second rifle slung across her shoulders, and shook her head. “Not even the teeniest, tiniest little bit,” she told him. “But I never will be, so we may as well just get it over with.”
Ken leaned over to kiss her. She returned the affection fervently, desiring nothing more than for the two of them to forget this plan, return to the bedroom, and never leave each other’s arms again. But the kiss ended all too soon.
“Let’s go,” Ken said. He leaned back and kicked open the vent. The second the hunk of plastic and screws came crashing down to the ground, a crowd of undead faces turned to the source of the noise. Their moans of discovery sent chills down Nancy’s back as Ken climbed out onto the roof and took his first shot. He missed the head, but sent a zombie stumbling back into a tree. Nancy began to climb out after him, but found that the roof was at a much steeper incline than she’d been expecting. With a yelp of fear she tumbled backward against the weight on her back. Ken’s arm shot out and snatched her, yanking her down into a sitting position.