Something to Die For by Kaye Blue

Twenty-Eight

Angel

“You ready?”he asked the next morning.

“Yeah,” I responded.

I tried to project confidence, but I wasn’t as sure as I seemed.

But I wouldn’t show him that.

I probably shouldn’t have been so adamant about going with him, but the thought of doing otherwise was unacceptable. The very idea of being alone freaked me out more than I cared to admit. And plus, even though he wouldn’t want to admit it, Lucas could use the help.

I knew it was probably grief, my attempts to rationalize what was a completely insane circumstance. Or maybe it was just the general caretaking that had led me to my profession, but I couldn’t let him go out by himself, risk himself, while I sat at the homestead twiddling my thumbs.

So at dawn, after we had traded precious hours of sleep to be together, we set off.

He drove, the truck he taken from the compound the best option.

I had suggested my father’s truck, thought that maybe if we found enough stuff we would need the space, but he had nixed the idea. Said that the vehicle from the compound had a stronger engine, would be better if we needed to use brute force, or try to get away.

I hadn’t argued.

I was a good doctor and an even better shot, but I knew absolutely nothing about cars. My father had tried his hardest to teach me, but those lessons definitely hadn’t stuck.

“This is a turnoff for that back way I told you about,” I said after we had been on the road for about fifteen minutes.

The day before, we had talked, and I had given him three options to reach the bait and tackle shop.

One involved driving straight down the main road; two others were more circuitous.

He took the longest of the three.

Which made sense.

As we discussed, his walking up to the front door idea was a dumb. Taking a longer, more cautious, and more hidden route was the best plan.

Before I knew it, before the sun was even really completely up, we had made it about a mile away from the shop.

“You got what you need?” he asked.

Yeah,” I said. I had dressed in the thickest pair of canvas pants I could find, and I hoped to find more at the shop.

I also found a fanny pack that my mother used on her innumerable cruises. I’d had no idea that shotgun shells would fit so neatly, but I was happy they did.

I secured the pack and then looked over Lucas, who flashed a quick smile.

“Look. Faux alligator might not be the height of fashion, but my mother loved this thing. And it can hold a lot of stuff,” I said.

He huffed then tightened the belt he had around his waist.

The cargo pants he wore had plenty of places to stash ammo, and I had watched him stash it, a couple of knives, and my father’s revolver before we set out.

As we left, any humor that had been there faded, and he was all business.

As we walked through the woods, me trying to be as quiet as I could possibly be, him seeming completely oblivious, though I knew he was aware of absolutely everything. I couldn’t help but think back to the prison.

It felt like a lifetime ago, even though it hadn’t been a week.

But in that time, I’d seen things that seemed impossible, and even more, had learned to understand him, if only a little bit.

Trusting him was something I still couldn’t believe I had done, but I was glad for it.

He hadn’t let me down.

Not once.

And for some reason, I trusted that he never would.

So it was on me to make sure I held up my end of the bargain, and that was something I intended to do.

He glanced at me and I nodded toward my left, pointing out the way we should go. The bait and tackle shop was really an old house that had been converted, and we had decided to approach from the back, walking through the woods in the hopes that we wouldn’t be spotted.

The trees started to thin and then eventually clear, and I spotted the shop up ahead.

It was quiet, eerily so, but had I not known what was going on, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. The place had always been peaceful, calmness punctuated by visitors to the store.

But I did know what was going on, and I went on high alert, the adrenaline rushing through my body, my heart beating so rapidly I took deep breaths to try and calm it, swiped at the small of my back where sweat had started to gather.

No freaking out,I whispered in my head.

It wouldn’t do to lose my cool, so I tried to be as calm as he was and walked slowly, not more than one step behind him.

He was cautious, seeming to look everywhere as we approached the shop.

When we reached the back porch, he looked to his left and then started to walk that way.

I followed, looking behind us making sure no one caught us unaware.

We circled the whole perimeter that way, and then, finally, after we had covered the entire outer area, stopped in front of the porch.

“We still have to check this out, but remember what I said. In and out. Five minutes. No more,” he said.

I nodded then carefully climbed the wooden stairs after Lucas had done so.

The sign on the door said Closed, but after he looked at me to make sure I was in sight, he turned the knob, and we both breathed a sigh of relief when it pushed open.

And then I, at least, gagged when the smell wafted out.

I knew it well, piss and shit and death, as strong as I had ever smelled it before.

We stepped in quickly, and my eyes immediately landed on the corpse that lay to the left of the door.

Could see from a quick glance that it—I couldn’t tell whether it was a man or woman—have been dead several days.

The telltale bite marks covered it, and I could see down to the white of bone, the crescent shape of teeth unmistakable.

I pulled my gaze away when I heard Lucas move and then watched as he quickly took in the store.

It was small for a store, less than two thousand square feet, but in that moment, it felt enormous.

Still, it was eerily quiet, and I couldn’t shake the unease.

Knew that I wouldn’t, not until we were back at my parents’ house.

Lucas looked around, then, as we agreed, we each grabbed one of the bins that the owner had kept out for shoppers and went around filling them up.

I got dried meats, dehydrated food, extra coffee, sugar, salt. Then, I moved to the back and grabbed socks and a pair of pants that looked like they might fit.

Lucas moved to sporting goods, filling up on ammo, knives, a bow, and arrows.

In less than two and a half minutes, we had filled the carts to capacity, and after looking at him, we made our way to the front where the register was.

The radio was still playing, or at least the static was coming out.

He looked at me, and I nodded, and he began to turn the dial.

I couldn’t speak for him, but I was hoping to hear something, anything, but there was nothing but static.

He went through the dial again, then froze, looking back over his shoulder.

I followed his gaze, even though I hadn’t heard anything.

But when I did, I saw a shadow fall across the dusty wooden floor. Then, I heard that sound, that groan that I knew would always haunt my nightmares.

It had been days since I had heard it, and somehow the horror of it had started to fade.

But in less than a second, the memory of it, the knowledge of what it meant, was back with full force.

We both stood, frozen, and watched as one of those…things shambled into the store. This was definitely a woman, which made me think the corpse by the front door had been a man, probably the proprietor, or one of the four sons he was always so proud of.

She approached slowly, though I could tell she was excited.

Lucas reached for the revolver, but I lifted a hand to stop him and gently put my overfilled basket down. He looked at me, his brows knitted, but didn’t act to intervene, at least not yet.

He probably wondered what I was doing, and I wondered what I was doing.

But we had come here for supplies, and I didn’t want to waste anything I didn’t have to.

I put the shotgun at my side, ready to use it in an instant.

Then, I grabbed one of the hunting knives on a shelf.

I approached slowly, unsheathing the knife as I went.

The thing reached for me, but I easily sidestepped its grasp and got closer.

Then closer.

Then, I turned, moving as quickly as I could, and buried the knife in the base of the thing’s skull.

It dropped, the give of flesh and bone easier than I’d thought it would be, the weight of the now dead for sure body heavy on the knife.

I withdrew the knife quickly, then dropped it and looked back at Lucas.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice a whisper, though I didn’t miss the tightness. I grabbed my basket, a couple of other things, and then followed him out of the store.

We practically sprinted back to the truck, deciding that speed was more important than stealth, at least now.

After we unloaded the supplies and then set off, he looked over at me.

“What was that?”

“Conservation. And an experiment to make sure I know how to kill them. We need to know because we might not always have ammo.”

“You enjoy getting up close and personal with those things?”

“No. But if I have to, I want to know as much as I can.”

“Well, I’m glad your experiment turned out, Doc,” he said.

Back to “doc,” which meant he was pissed, but he’d get over it.

But apparently, it would take a while.

We were back at my house by noon and he was still angry.

He was never particularly talkative, and the distant, icy edge that I had always seen had thawed.

But it wasn’t thawed today.

His anger was real, almost tangible, and by the time dinner was over, I’d had enough of it.

“How long are going to keep this up?” I said finally, not bothering to hide my frustration.

“What?” he said on a grunt.

“You’re pissed and being a brat about it,” I said.

“I’m not pissed,” he said, his brows drawn down, his eyes flashing.

“For some reason, I’m not convinced,” I shot back.

He did the most surprising thing. He smiled. But just as quickly, that smile dropped, and he stared at me intently.

“You went off-script,” he said. “I don’t like that, and that shit is dangerous.”

“I know, but we need information just as badly as we need supplies, so I took a chance, and it worked out.”

“This time. Who’s to say about the next?”

He didn’t look as angry as before, but his body was still tense, and on instinct, I moved closer to him, casually looping my arms around his shoulders. It felt…nice to touch him like this, easy, and from the way his body shifted, some of the tension leaving him, I knew he felt the same.

“You’re right, and I’ll be more careful,” I said.

He nodded but still looked disgruntled, so much so that I couldn’t stop myself from smiling and then quickly kissing his lips.

He huffed out a breath and stared at me intently. “I think I know of a way for you to make it up to me,” he said.

I smiled. “Why don’t you show me?”