Chapter 14
“How do you know Star Wars so well?”
I follow Aerin through the dark hallways of Rock Mountain. We’ve been searching for a way to get to the compound’s lower levels for days without luck, and I wish I had tried harder to convince her to just stay in bed this morning. The room where we have been living is much cleaner than the rest of the complex. Though I’m enjoying the lack of ash in the air, I’m beginning to lose track of time without the dim orb crossing the ashen sky and marking the passage of the days.
“I had it on a magnetic cassette tape,” Aerin says. “My brother recorded the audio when we watched the movie, and we had a crank-powered cassette player. I used to listen to it over and over again, trying to remember what the scene looked like.”
“Where did you get the recorder?” I ask.
“My father was in the military.”
“What did he do?”
“Communications.”
I wait for her to elaborate, maybe even tell me what happened to him, but she doesn’t offer any additional information. I look over at her, and her mouth is drawn down in an involuntary frown as she stares at the floor in front of her.
My chest tightens. I didn’t mean to upset her, and I clearly have. I wonder if I should reach out and…I don’t know…stroke her arm or something. Isn’t that the sort of thing I should do to console her?
I have no clue. I’m way out of my comfort zone here.
The fact is, I’ve always thought I was pretty suave around women. I could laugh and joke and flirt with them easily. I also knew nothing would ever come of it, so there was never any pressure. With Aerin, everything feels completely different.
Despite the daily—and sometimes twice daily—sex, I’ve become more and more awkward and anxious around her. Every time she walks close to me, brushes against my arm, or laughs at my stupid attempts at humor, my dick throbs, my heart pounds, and I feel like a complete moron. Even walking around in the dustiest and dirtiest areas of the complex, I want to take a step closer to her in hopes of getting a little more “accidental” contact. I want to say something else to make her laugh. Instead, I freeze up in mind and body, sure that the next thing I do or say will ruin whatever it is we have going on here.
I don’t know what to call whatever it is that’s been happening between us. Aerin is obviously far more experienced with such things than I am, and I don’t know how she actually feels about me. Though she initiates sex whenever we lie down for the night, she doesn’t offer any affection or romantic words while we’re combing the corridors for access points. I don’t know if she considers me a boyfriend or just a casual fuck, and I’m afraid to ask.
I let out a sigh as I wave the flashlight over the walls, down the floor, and up to the ceiling. Everything looks exactly the same—smooth metal and seamless corners.
We pass a junction, and I quickly shine the light down the passage to the left. I’m expecting more of the same, blemish-free, dusty metal, but a shadow catches my eye.
“What’s that?” I ask, pointing.
“What?” Aerin turns and takes the flashlight from me.
“There.” I point at the area where four distinct shadows mar the otherwise smooth floor near the wall. “Are those bolts?”
Aerin illuminates the area and then moves closer.
“Four bolts,” she says. “It looks like an access panel. Do you have those tools?”
“Sure.” I crouch down beside her and hand her a wrench.
Aerin removes the bolts while I hold the light for her. When she removes the front panel, we’re staring at a hole in the floor.
“Too narrow for a person,” Aerin says, “but look—there’s wiring back there.”
“Wiring means power. It looks like the wires are leading toward our room.” The whole idea of calling the place where we’ve been living “our room” warms me.
“They are.” Aerin sits up and nods in the opposite direction. “They’re also going in that direction, which means there has to be another entry point.”
“It might be another small one like this though.”
“Maybe, but eventually one of them has to be big enough to allow a person to get below.”
Aerin shines the light farther down the passageway, and another anomaly becomes visible. She jumps up and rushes over while I grab the wrench and shove it back into my pack.
“Holy shit! This is it!”