Vile Wasteland (A Post Apocalyptic Novel) (14 page)

She trailed after Grent before running to catch up, matching his
fast pace rather easily despite their size difference, "Fuck,
I’m so glad you were there. And really sorry at the same time."

The large man didn’t say much, but he led her on towards the
market street again. As they neared a shop he reached over, putting a
hand at her shoulder blade, "You’ll need a good travel
jacket. Something that’ll keep you warm at night, but that
breaths," he looked down to her. "C’mon, your people
don’t have a lot of time for more nonsense."

Without delay he took her in to peruse the shops wares.

When they left, only a bit of time had passed. She had been
exceptionally quick to put together her survival kit, ensuring they
had bandages and water, and her new jacket was far less attractive
and far more practical for what they were going to do. She kept
taking excuses to touch him, her hand grazing against his as she
ordered what she needed, but she wasted no time.

When she got the last of what she needed, he excused himself to
get his own things from the inn. When he returned he was looking
almost like another man. His hair was tied back in a ponytail, a
heavy pack over his shoulders and strapped around his torso, gun at
the ready and a serious expression. "We’ve only got a few
more hours of travel left before we’ll have to stop," he
explained, taking her out of town without delay. "We’ll
make some time at night, I know the way well enough, and it’ll
help hide our approach at least."

Her own hair had been tied up and stuffed under a dark green
beanie, hiding the long, beautiful tresses and helping to conceal her
a bit. Not only that but she purposefully bought a light sweater and
the jacket about a size too big, giving her a boyish figure. She’d
remembered all too well what the Viles did, and she obviously felt a
bit less vulnerable when she didn’t look like an attractive
young woman. Her own hunting knife was strapped to her hip and her
gun was in her hands as she kept pace.

When they were away from town and heading up the light slope of
the valley towards, but just eastwards, of their destination he
stopped a moment. Resting his gun down he took a look around then
turned to her. Resting his hands on her shoulders he bent down on one
knee, "Alex, I wanna ask somethin’ about back there,"
he said in his gravelly voice.

She flinched, her eyes staring at him intently, "Go for it."

His look was firm, but a bit troubled as he eyed her. "You
know you don’t gotta do anything for my help, right? If you
spat in my face now and told me it was all just a lie, I’d
still go on and do what I said." His brows relaxed, unfurrowing
slightly.

"Yea, you proved that," her look softened as she moved
towards him. "Look, those guys were selfish assholes. At first I
thought you might be like them, but you aren’t. I know that."

Nodding to her slowly he said, "When this is done, and we
help your folk... I wanna chance at being with you. For good, I
mean." Clearing his throat a bit he squeezed her shoulders, "I
know it’s sudden, but I believe you, and I trust you." The
large, collected man seemed to have trouble getting to what he really
wanted to say, even she could see that.

She smiled, but her eyes drifted from him as she cleared her
throat. "Look. You weren’t my first. I said that ‘cause
I was scared you’d be like him and that maybe if I said it,
you’d back off. He didn’t, I don’t know why I
thought it’d work on you if you were like him, but then... you
did just what I hoped. You backed off, and were still awesome. I
wished it wasn’t that ass, and the fact that it was really,
really sucks for me."

After just telling her he believed and trusted her, the oddly
timed confession seemed to send him for a loop.

With a furrowed brow he looked away, then rose up. Taking one hand
away from her, he squeezed her shoulder. "C’mon," he
said, his voice soft, or as soft as his hard way of talking ever got,
"we’re wastin’ time here that your people don’t
got."

At that he took off at his brisk pace again, over the grassy
ground towards the ridge that ran along the whole of the valley.

Her stomach churned, but she was exceptionally diligent as she
followed him, her eyes cautious no matter where they went, always on
the lookout for danger. Still, she stuck close to him and she tried
to keep her voice low, "So where you think they’re gone
to?"

Grent preferred to travel in silence it seemed, which only made
sense with the mission they were undertaking, but he answered her in
a low voice. "Back to their hive. New Atlantia," he said,
pointing off towards the white mass of circular and oval colony
buildings that looked so deceptively civilized from this distance.
"The only place they’d go."

She nodded, thinking on it before allowing them to continue on in
silence, her thoughts roiling. Why was she so hooked on this guy
anyways? He was just a guy, and someone twice her age, and it wasn’t
like she hadn’t had men be nice to her before. Marim was always
nice to her. But Grent… She wondered if she was falling for
him too.

Still, she tried to push the thoughts away, focusing instead on
what mattered - her people. Finding her stuff. Saving them.

They made a fast pace, but the route Grent took them in definitely
slowed them for this portion, taking them almost as much away from
their target as towards it. Though as night fell and she found
herself having to adjust to the moonlight for travel, the path only
got worse. Rocks started to litter the way, hindering progress
forward.

Her sneakers helped her find them, though she kept scuffing her
toes more loudly than she had during the day, and she kept having to
mentally curse herself to remain silent. Fear was rising in her and
she became less certain of her own abilities, her eyes glancing
around more desperately.

Looking back to her and noticing her issues, Grent cautioned,
"Step careful, but don’t scuff. Scuffing leaves an obvious
trail." With a deep intake of breath he offered, "And on
the Viles..." returning to the topic from their lunch, "if
you gotta fight ‘ em, they go down like anyone. Shoot ‘em
from a distance, go for the torso." He was in instruction mode
now, his voice filling the quiet night air. "Unless you’re
an excellent shot, goin’ for the head is a waste. They don’t
stand still. And once they’re up in your face, you’re
better off hittin’ ‘em with your gun than takin’ a
shot."

She nodded, her steps growing wider and longer, apparently
learning quickly. "Thanks," she whispered.

The lessons continued on for another couple hours before the
veteran mercenary came to a halt beneath a small overhang. Moving in
she could see it made an excellent spot to avoid being seen, but
would allow them to see down the slope at anyone coming. "The
sunrise’ll hit us first thing in the morning to wake us up,"
he explained, unclasping his backpack and settling in.

She didn’t want to admit it, but she was exhausted. The
constant walking, on top of her fear, was agony. She wanted to feel
safe out here with him, but she knew she couldn’t – and
shouldn’t. She was even starting to understand how he could eat
so much as she let her own backpack down gingerly. "So I guess
you’ve done this a lot, huh?"

Down on one knee he began unpacking. Removing a thick sleeping bag
he nodded to her, "All the time," he said. The ground
beneath the overhang was soft and comfortable, and the bag unrolled
smoothly before he then took out some food. "Spend more time out
here than in towns," he added.

"Like it?" she asked, seeming quite curious, if not
affectionate. She was so close to him as she unpacked her own things,
looking at the food ravenously, "I mean. You seemed at home
there."

The sleeping bag was large, big enough for two of them, and he sat
back on it opening a plastic bag full of dried meats and vegetables.
Reaching over to her, he put a hand on her waist and pulled her in to
him. "I only feel at home out here," he said huskily in
response.

It was a strange thing. When he pulled her in, it was as though he
could feel the tension in her muscles dissolve, and she pushed back
against him so eagerly, her arms wrapping around him as she plucked
out a dried vegetable, "I’m so fucking hungry."

Rubbing his hand over her side he began to eat as well. It was a
hefty sized sack, but the dried nature required him to eat slower
than normal. "You and me both," he responded, his back to
the smooth stone of the cliff behind him.

"You’re not pissed, are you?" she asked curiously,
though she couldn’t bare looking at him. The difference in
their age seemed so much grander at that question, but she felt so
needy for that sweet, tender man she’d known only a few hours
ago.

Kissing the top of her head he rubbed her side. It took him a
while to answer. "I’m sorry you had to sell yourself to
that jackass," he said at last. "I don’t like bein’
lied to. Not at all. And I normally don’t forgive it, but..."
he hesitated, looking down at her in the dim, moonlit night, "You’re
a young woman. And you only recently had to give it up. And it was
probably somethin’ you’d rather forget. I understand how
shitty that was. Or I try to."

She rested her head against his arm, feeling very low, but her
hand felt along his knee as she continued eating. Even through her
self-pity, she couldn’t stave off the hunger. "I didn’t
want to keep lying to you. Not after you said that stuff," she
nuzzled her nose along his bicep, her dark eyes glancing up at him
sheepishly. "I’m going to pretend it was you anyways."

He paused, something about that last statement touching him deeply
it seemed.

Reaching over, he wrapped both arms around her, hugging her
firmly. He kept her in that position long before breaking to let her
eat some more, a smile on the man’s broad face.

She eagerly went back to the food, cutting her mouth just a little
in her hurry before finally having her fill and resting back against
him. "They most active at night or what?"

Resuming eating with her he responded, "Kinda. They got an
advantage at night, because they don’t always use guns. And
they don’t care about stumbling around in the dark. Not that
they see better than us or anything, they just fuel on chaos it
seems. But the morning is the worst time for them typically."

It surprised her and she looked at him curiously, "Why do you
think that is?"

Munching on a piece of jerky he took his time before responding,
"Stay up all night partyin’ and you see how good you are
in the morning." With a wry grin he bit off another piece.

She tittered, kissing his arm through his jacket, then moving up
to his cheek, "I guess we better be good out here, huh?"
she lamented as she backed away once more, settling in at his side.

The two of them done with the travel food, he closed it up and
tossed it back into his bag before bringing both arms around her and
pulling her against him tight. "We’re safe up here,"
he said, giving her lips a kiss, "I took us this way because
it’s safest. It’s the hardest path, and it don’t
take you anywhere directly they’d ever wanna go."

"Even if they’re being erratic," she asked as she
felt her breasts soften against his chest, her head tilted back as
she craned up, brushing her lips against his chin, "I like you,
but I don’t wanna die just for one go of it."

Rubbing her side and giving her lips another tender kiss he
smiled, "S’okay then. We don’t gotta do nothin’
if you’re afraid. I’ll even keep watch while you sleep
for a bit. But don’t let the fear get to you. We’re way
off their trails, and I’ve travelled these paths many a time by
my lonesome." His voice was deep and soothing, the man obviously
wanting her to be calm so she could rest.

The way she licked her lips insinuated she wasn’t quite
done, and as she shifted from his grasp and lay low on the ground,
her hands parting his thighs, it was obvious. "Just keep watch
over me," she requested, her fingers both trailing along his
inner thighs.

Grent licked his own lips in response to her automatically, his
own loins twitching. "You don’t have to do that," he
reminded her, their eyes accustomed to the dim moon light so he could
still make out a faint sight of her, and he was still smitten.

"Shut up, Grent," she teased with good humour as her
hand ran along his package, caressing it like some prized possession.
"Just make sure we live to the end," her finger found the
button on his pants, dragging down the zipper and shifting herself
closer to his body.

That beast of a cock he sported bulged beneath the thin layer of
black spandex, it wasn’t fully engorged yet, but she could see
it was well on its way already from her titillation. "Damn right
we will," he husked, "I plan to make you fall in love with
me when we’re done," he said, his thighs wide, brushing
the backs of two fingers over her cheek.

She hid her smile against his cock, licking over the tip the
moment she unveiled it. Though it was still a tease, it was something
different from her prior actions. It was somewhat amazing that she
could make it feel completely unique, yet still so exquisite. The new
angle helped, of course, as did the risky venue as she began suckling
him eagerly.

Grent was good; he kept his quiet and his head up on the watch.
With his two arms draped over his knees and her mouth wrapped around
that sensational girth of his, she could hear his breathing growing
heavier. The swollen tip throbbed and leaked its precum into her
mouth as she worked it, the older man obviously straining to hold in
his approval of her expert ministrations.

She didn’t mind him holding back. This time, she wanted him
to, and she kept drawing him closer to the edge before she changed
her pace and tempo, letting the sensation subside before teasing him
to the top again and again. Her mouth was tired, her lips numb and
her jaw sore, yet still she sucked him off. Her hands ran against the
inside of his thighs, over and over again as she bobbed, the saliva
drooling down and pooling atop his sac.