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Something flashes in Griffin’s eyes, something I can’t quite read, but he doesn’t scream out like I expect.
I let out a sigh. “Thank you for coming after me, even if you were stupid about it.”
He opens his mouth to retort, but then clenches his teeth together against the pain. He stays that way until I’ve finished stitching him up.
“There, that should do it. Now don’t do anything to rip these open again, or I’ll make sure the next time I stitch you up is more painful.”
“Don’t worry, princess, I can control myself.” His words come out harsh and he pulls himself into a seated position. His hands fist against the cushion and he looks down into his lap, his shirt falling down to hide the wound.
“I’m going to go make sure you didn’t draw that herd back toward us.” After repacking the first aid kit, I grab the needle to cleanse it in the fire, leaving Griffin alone to annoy himself inside. I look around and see only William. “Where’s Max?”
William is sitting in front of the fire, and he looks up at me when I approach. He holds out his hand to me and I accept it, allowing him to pull me down and onto his lap. “He went to get some more wood to get us through the night, and do a perimeter check. We’re all concerned about that herd coming back, but we’ve got it under control.”
I let out a sigh. “We really have to talk about you guys going out on your own to check for rotters. There are four of us.”
“What if one of us has a really good reason?”
Holding the needle with a pair of thongs, I hold it over the flames until I decide it’s been long enough. “What reason could be good enough?”
He grabs something from the ground beside him and lifts it up. In the light emanating from the flames, I recognize it as my compass. I realized I must have left it in the car when I was checking the direction we were going before the flat tire, but I didn’t think it was safe enough to go back for it yet. “You didn’t…William.” I grab it from his hands and place it in my lap, quickly setting the needle back into the first aid kit so it doesn’t get lost. “How?”
William moves my hair over to one side and rests his chin on my shoulder, watching me turn the old object around in my hands. “I wanted to do it before sundown. Before too much time passed. I was worried that other survivors or dregs might come by and raid the vehicles, our car included. I grabbed this plus one bag of food before a couple of rotters spotted me, so I took them out on my way back.”
Closing my fingers around the compass, I place the chain around my neck before turning to cradle his cheek in my hand. I lean down and kiss him, pouring my thanks, appreciation, and disbelief into one kiss. His arms wrap around me and hold me against him while he kisses me back.
“Thank you,” I whisper against his lips. “I’m sorry I keep endangering you over my things, but?—”
He cuts off my words with another kiss. “Don’t you ever apologize for that. We don’t do anything that we don’t want to do, Em. Ever.”
I touch my forehead to his and close my eyes, basking in the feeling of being cared for.
“Ah, I see Willie-Boy has finally told you why he disappeared and almost missed all the fun earlier.” Max tosses another piece of wood onto the fire before dropping an armful onto the pile nearby.
William briefly presses his lips to my forehead before turning me around. “Come on, Griffin still needs to eat. And I brought back snacks.”
Griffin appears and carefully lowers himself to the ground and takes the food offered to him. A can of beans, the same that we had earlier. I almost tell them I’m not hungry, but then William pulls out a bag of chips that he snagged from the car along with a chocolate bar, and I greedily tear into it.
“Hey, save some for the rest of us.” Max swipes the chocolate bar from my hands and Griffin snatches it right back, then hands it to me.
“Thank you, but don’t go tearing open your stitches again.”
He smirks at me. “If I do, then you can fight for your own damn chocolate.”
“Hey, I was going to share,” Max pouts.
Breaking the chocolate bar in half, I offer one half to Max, who turns it down. When no one else wants any, I shrug and enjoy every bite.
We sit there eating in the firelight and talking about our past lives. I tell stories about working in my flower shop and the neighborhood cat that liked to sneak in and knock plants off the shelves. Stories I haven’t told to anyone else other than Zoey, not since the dead rose.
With a yawn, I snuggle against William’s chest and let my eyes droop closed. It’s been an exhausting day and right now nothing feels better than sitting by a fire with a full belly and with William’s arms wrapped around me.
For a moment, everything feels perfect.
Only for a moment, though. It could never last.
Something moves beneath me. Something hard and soft at the same time, but comforting. I groan in protest. “It’s me, Em. I’ve got you,” a soft voice whispers in my ear.
Strong arms band around me, and we move. We don’t go far. I think I was vertical for a moment and now I’m horizontal.
