Chapter 19: Cue and the Strangers pt 4

“We had scientists, the proper equipment to create airlocks and suits to go in them,” Trigger explained.

Cue rolled her eyes and started pacing the Dome in a wide circle.

“They’re as human as you and me, just more.”

“More insane? More dangerous?” Cue snapped.

“Some of them, sure. But some others? They were just trying to survive like we were.”

Cue shook her head, hands on her hips, and refused to look at the pair.

“I’m telling you, chicka. He’s out there, and he’s watching over you. How you feel about that is up to you, obviously, but now that you know you can choose to do with the information as you will. As for me, I need a nap… May I use the cot?”

“Yeah, sure… I think I’ll…stand guard or something.” Cue tried to smile at the pair as Gunner picked Trigger up and carried her to the cot. He lay her on her side and then sat on the ground in front of the cot and watched Cue watch him. “I’m going up top, make sure they left…”

Gunner nodded and grunted, but made no other move to speak to her.

Cue gingerly took the stairs up to the top of the dome and opened the hatch. She hauled her body out of the hole and sat on the edge. From her vantage point, she could see Zero and the rest of them as they left through the extremely large hole in her barricades.

Zero turned around, as if sensing her looking, and waved.

Cue didn’t return the gesture. She wanted them gone, all of them.

Joker noticed that Zero stopped and he turned to glare at Cue from across the park. He mimicked a huge stomach with his hands and then pointed at both his eyes before pointing back to Cue.

They’re watching, they’re waiting. That’s what that look said. They’ll be paying attention to see if and when Cue’s stomach starts to swell. Cue swallowed hard, hands gripping her stomach. If she missed a period, she knew what she had to do. She would not bring a baby into this world. Not for anything.

Cue sat up there for hours, watching for the Scrapers. Watching for Zombies. She mulled over what Trigger said, about how a Cretin was watching the Dome. She thought for sure Trigger had to be wrong. There’s no reason whatsoever for a Cretin to be watching her.

When the sun started to set, Cue pulled herself back through the hatch. There was no sign of zombies, no sign of the Scrapers, and definitely no sign of a Cretin. As Cue locked the hatch, her eyes fell on the sleeping bags of the four men that they’d kicked out. Part of her hoped they would be cold tonight, but part of her hated the idea of wishing them ill. Even after what they did. They were the last people she had, except for these two new ones.

A moan made Cue’s attention snap over to her cot and freeze. Gunnar was on his knees, Trigger bent over the bed, and they were having sex. Cue tried to look away, tried not to watch, but seeing people willingly mate was something she’d never seen before. Something she’d never really experienced. Sure, she and Raider had sex, but out of necessity. To scratch an itch. What Trigger and Gunner were doing…

Trigger moaned again, standing up on her knees and leaning her head back against Gunner’s shoulder as he continued to fill her time and time again. Cue only knew the act as something painful, something she didn’t like, but the way the two of them were acting it seemed as if they were enjoying it.

Gunner’s hands traced down Trigger’s body. They slipped under the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her stomach. His hands slipped down again, and he hauled Trigger’s large stomach up. The sound of relief coming from the woman is almost as shocking as her desperate mewling moans as she trembled in Gunner’s arms.

“I love it when you hold the baby up,” Trigger moaned, her voice tired and sated. She kissed Gunner’s helmet and slipped her hands over his.

Baby…

Trigger isn’t fat, so having a belly that size… Suddenly, her oversized clothes made more sense. Gunner’s protectiveness of her. The way she moved to protect her front more than she watched her own back.

“You’re pregnant…” Cue breathed, the shock in her voice plain to hear.

Trigger and Gunner reacted quickly, tugging her shirt down and pulling her pants back up before they turned to face Cue at the top of the spiral staircase.

“Is that a problem? Because I really fuckin’ liked you, chicka. I would hate to have to kill you,” Trigger warned.

Cue watched in stunned silence as Gunner’s arms bulged. He lifted his hands to his helmet and took it off, his bright blue-lit eyes turning red in warning.

“An EHEC?” Cue said incredulously, a moment before Gunner blasted a hole through the top of the Dome.

“That was a warning shot. Think about your next words very, very carefully,” Trigger hissed.