Chapter 24: Cue and the Never-Ending Road Trip pt3

Cue sputtered, surprised, and food drooled down her chin. “I-I’m alright,” she lied, knowing damn well that was the best sleep in her life. She’d never felt so warm and safe in as long as she could remember. Even though she felt like they were unprotected and in the open, she didn't have an EHEC at her dome, and she did here, so maybe she was safer than ever before?

“Do you guys do that every night?” She blurted, unable to stop herself.

“And sometimes in the morning, in the afternoon, whenever I want, really. Why? You wanna join?” Trigger wiggles her eyebrows at Cue suggestively.

“What? No, I—” she stutters and fills her mouth with another bite, looking away.

“Well, come on, spit it out, what is it?” Trigger nudged her, looking between her and Gunner, who was just now putting his pants back on.

“It looks like you like it,” Cue whispered, avoiding eye contact. “I didn't know it was something a woman could like.”

“Oh, you poor sheltered woman,” Trigger wails, throwing her arms around Cue dramatically. “I can teach you when you’re ready, but just know that Gunner and I would never do what those assholes did to you. If you want us, or just me, or just him, you just have to say so, alright?”

“A woman and a woman?” Cue asked, shocked.

“It’s the post-apocalypse baby, who cares?”

Gunner grunted and nodded, taking the empty bowls from the women and crawling into the bed between them.

Cue jerked away, surprised, but whatced curiously as Trigger laid her head on his shoulder and threw a leg over the EHEC. “He sleeps with us?”

“He actually doesn’t sleep, but he’s a great heater. Come, feel.” Trigger reached out and tangled her fingers with Cue’s to pull her down.

Gunner wrapped his arms around both of them protectively, turning his heating core up.

“Wow, he’s so warm…” Cue whispered, trying hard as she could to relax.

“Just get some more sleep, Gunner will watch over us.” Trigger said with a jaw-cracking yawn.

Cue obeyed, laying her head on Gunner’s other hard shoulder. At first, she couldn’t sleep because she could hear his gears turning and buzzing inside him. Horror stories passed down for years by her family ran through her mind about the slaughter that these monsters had committed. They had been worse than the zombie plague, and now here she was, cuddling one to sleep. It took a while, but eventually the warmth emanating from Gunner was enough to make Cue drift off into a dreamless sleep.

Gunner wrapped his arms around his women possesivly. Not truly understanding why he was capable of feeling possessive, but not questioning it. They were his to protect, his to serve, and he would kill anyone or anything that got in the way of that.

Cue’s pet rat seemed to know that Gunner meant them no harm because the creature came and lay right on the center of his chest, spreading out to soak up the heat. Gunner grunted at it, but made no move to shoo it away. This, too, was also under his protection.

The women slept until dawn, and he roused them gently as he slipped out of the bed between them. The sunrise was red, dousing the land in the hue of blood. The morning was colder than usual, so he relit the fire and heated water for them to warm up before they set out.

He scanned their surroundings and found him. The Cretin was hiding several stories above them, looking straight down on where the women were sleeping. Gunner growled low in his throat, his eyes going red, and shot his lasers straight at him. The Cretin did not budge, his dreadlocks hanging in front of his face. He knew the lasers couldn't reach that far.

“He’s an old one,” Trigger said, coming up beside him. “He remembers the days your brothers were active.

Gunner grunted, swinging his gun straps over his shoulder and aiming his rifle for a shot.

Trigger grabbed it and pointed it down. “Don’t. You'll wake her and drag all his creatures down on us.”

Gunner growled and turned his red eyes on Trigger, angry.

“I don’t know why he’s following us either,” she said calmly, cupping his face. “But for whatever reason, he’s keeping the zombies back. For that, we can almost be thankful.”

Cue sat up in bed with her short brown hair almost sticking straight up and a dried line of drool dripping down her face. “Are we going?” she asked, before leaping out of bed and throwing her jacket and boots on in record time.

Both Trigger and Gunner stared at her with wide, surprised eyes, then Trigger shook her head and pointed up, “You know him?” she asked.

Cue crawled out of the tent and looked up just in time to see the dark-skinned man scale down the building and flee, his face never turning to face them. “...no,” she whispered, terror, making her voice shake. “I’ve never seen a cretin so close before.”

Trigger and Gunner exchanged a look of pity. “Unfortunately, on this trip you’re probably gonna see ‘em a lot closer,” she told Cue. She paused for a beat and then smiled, “But don't worry, they will be dead before you get close enough to see the blacks of their eyes.”

“The blacks?” Cue asked, confused.

“Yeah,” Trigger started, pulling down her lower eyelid. “Where ours are white, theirs are black. All black. I think it was evolution; they can see in the dark better than a cat.”

“Creepy,” Cue wrinkled her nose at the thought. “Or maybe they rot too, just takes much, much longer.”

“Maybe,” Trigger mused. “Are you ready to go? We can pack up camp real quick and keep heading out.”

“I’m ready,” Cue said. “Let's go find some people.”

They packed up the tent and mattress, which rolled nicely into a tight cylinder in Gunner’s hands. Once everything was secured to the trailer, the women got on the tank, Gunner got inside, and they began to drive again.

For four more days.