“Did you hear that?” Hannah stands just at the entrance, wrapped in my woobie. Her stomach is sticking out, and her hair is all over the place.
She’s incredibly beautiful.
“Yeah,” I say, “I heard it.”
“What was it?”
“Dunno.” I point off in the direction of Georgia Tech. “Came from over there. Looks like a fire or something.”
“Do you think it was them? I mean, Caesar and everyone?”
“Maybe they blew themselves up,” I reply with a smile. “Come on. You need to get back inside.”
I’m not going to tell Hannah what I saw any more than I’m going to tell her about my original encounter. I really don’t know how she would react, and I don’t care to find out. I haven’t forgotten about the other women held prisoner in that compound and she won’t have either. She’s under enough stress with the move to Katrina’s house and the baby nearly ready to be born. She doesn’t need additional heartache.
The invasion has passed us now. It’s time to rebuild.
I lean in and kiss Hannah softly, then turn her around and take her back into the shelter.
Tomorrow we can start a new life.
*****
“What happened to those little flavoring packs?”
“Which ones?” I look over at Hannah’s ass as it sticks out of the storage room door while she rummages through the shelves. I like the way her ass wiggles when she moves.
“The ones for water!”
“We might be out of them.” I know damn well that she used them all up, but the idea of going over there with the pretense of helping her look and then ending up fucking her on the floor of the storage room is really tempting. Unfortunately, there isn’t time.
“Dammit!”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “We can look for more along the way.”
It’s been nine days since I parted ways with the rest of the group, and I told them I would check back with them in a week. We really need to get going, or we won’t make it there before dusk.
I had initially planned to make the trek without Hannah, but I just can’t. I can’t leave her alone for that long. Besides, the longer we wait, the harder it’s going to be for Hannah to travel. She’s already starting to waddle a bit, but I value my balls, so I don’t mention it.
She’s still fucking around in the supply room.
“Really, Hannah, we have to go! We’re going to run out of daylight before we get there.”
“Ugh! All I want is a fucking iced coffee!” She slams whatever she’s been holding against the bottom shelf and pulls herself up to her feet.
I have no idea where the iced coffee thing is coming from. That’s a new one.
“Isn’t coffee bad for the baby?” As soon as I start to speak, I know they’re the wrong words to say. Her icy glare nearly throws me against the wall.
“Are you ready to go?” she asks, ignoring my comment.
“Yeah, sure.” I’ve been ready for hours.
The trek to Katrina’s house isn’t that far. We could have used the bike and cart, but that would mean sticking to the roads, and I don’t want Hannah out in the open for that long. I could have made it there on my own in a couple of hours, but we have to keep stopping so Hannah can rest. I’m nervous each time, constantly watching in every direction each time we stop and wishing I’d gone with the bike anyway.
I keep telling myself that Caesar’s camp was destroyed—I went to check it out the day after the fire. There was nothing left of it, and I have no reason to believe anyone survived. However, I’ve learned to trust my instincts. I don’t exactly feel like we’re being watched, but something doesn’t feel quite right either. It takes six hours to reach our destination, and I never quite shake the feeling.
The house is dark and quiet as we approach. I look around for the other bicycles or signs of a cooking fire, but I see nothing.