Chapter 39: Gunner and the Reunion pt 1

They were silent as they walked past the hospital sign right inside the 23rd Street subway station exit. The beams of light coming down the stairs were filtered through wild plant life. They didn’t speak as they climbed the stairs, nor did they speak when they emerged into the blinding light of day.

Cue shielded her eyes, and Rat tucked his head into her armpit from where he sat in her arms. After so long in the piercing darkness, the sunlight was painful to behold.

“The signs said the hospital is about a mile away,” Trigger said.

Cue staggered on her feet, exhausted.

“We rest first,” Gunner growled, his voice a grating of gears.

“Rest…yes…” Trigger agreed, leaning on his arm and closing her eyes.

“Stay here, I will find a place,” he promised them.

They sat on a fallen concrete beam, arms around each other, as Gunner walked into the wilds of the city alone.

Cue sighed and leaned into Trigger, twining their fingers together as she looked down at their blood-stained hands. Both of their hands were shaking as Cue closed her eyes tightly.

“I wish I were right about there being no other survivors but us. These men are crazy. How could it be that they all only think about one thing?” Cue asked, her voice small and scared.

“As far as I know, the urge to keep humanity alive has always been around. Just never this demented.’ Trigger kissed the top of Cue’s head and sighed. “They can’t all be like this. There has to be women somewhere.”

“If there are, there’s no wonder why they’re hiding.” Cue sighed heavily and slid down on the ground, laying her head on Trigger’s thigh and kissing her pregnant belly gently. “I hope your baby is a boy.” Her eyes fluttered closed, no longer able to keep them open.

When Gunner returned, he found them leaning against the pillar together, cuddled up and asleep. For a moment, he just stared, taking in the serenity of the moment. Surrounded by ferns and on a bed of moss, they would look more like fairies were it not for the blood and gore they were covered in. Trigger even had a piece of zombie guts tangled in her curls.

They would be pleased when they knew what Gunner found for them. He lifted them in his arms, smiling, because he knew that Cue had freed his mouth, as they snuggled together and didn't wake up.

He mentally adjusted his leg alignment before he started walking, to keep the ride as smooth as possible. He walked, zigzagging the debris-filled roads, until he came to an area that was completely overrun with foliage.

There was a natural spring here, popping out of what appeared to be an old children's play castle. The metal of the swings and slides was rusted, the climbing towers almost completely eroded, but beneath the water bubbled up endlessly and ran into a small pond. The pond looked like a bomb scar, the water probably responsible for flooding the sewers below.

Flowers of every color grew along the edge of the water, and large maple trees created a natural roof overhead. The sun beamed down in streaks of light, bathing the pond with just enough light to heat it beyond freezing this early in the morning.

He laid them gently near the water and let them sleep as he went back for the supplies still in the subway. He even smiled at the large rat as it curled up between them, its silken fur soft on their chests. He thought that he would smile a lot more now that he could; hell, he might smile all the time. He fingered the place where Cue accidentally split his cheek and winced. It would heal, he knew; he would just need to sew it up.

Trigger didn’t wake up until he returned with the cart, its wheels being for rails and not roadways, which made a lot of noise. She looked around, confused only for a moment before excitement filled her eyes.

“Where are we?” she asked Gunner. She stroked dirty hair away from Cue’s eyes before standing, making sure not to jostle poor Rat too much.

“About halfway to the hospital, I think,” Gunner answered.

Trigger’s jaw dropped, “I thought I was hallucinating!” She said, throwing her arms around Gunner’s neck and pressing her body against his gently. She looked in his mouth at the speaker and the tongue in fascination.

“How did this happen?” She asked him, tracing his open mouth in awe.

“Cue did it,” he said simply, leaning down and kissing her gently on the mouth.

“Thank goodness we found her,” Trigger said, tears filling her eyes.

“Yes, thank goodness,” he repeated.

Trigger choked on a sob, her mouth pulled into a bright smile. “It’s so good to hear your voice,” she said, kissing him again.

“It’s good to speak with you,” he answered. “We should get you clean.”

Trigger nodded, allowing him to strip off her layers of stuck-on clothes. She was bloody from head to foot, her pregnant body trembling with exhaustion.

Gunner helped her into the water, stripping naked as she entered the water slowly. He grew hard watching her soak her hair and remove the blood and guts. Slowly, he slipped into the water behind her, his exposed wires, circuitry, and gears built to be submerged in water if need be.

He came up behind her and slipped his hand beneath her stomach and lifted gently.

The groan of sheer pleasure that came out of Trigger as his cock twitched against her back as she leaned into him. “Thank you,” she mpaned, letting her feet up off the floor of the pond so she could float in his arms.

Slowly, he moved one hand under her rear end to balance her and began washing her with his free hand, scrubbing away dirt with gentle, soothing motions. His hand caressed her, gliding over her breasts like a breath before he cupped them and expressed some milk into the water.

“I want to taste you,” he said, his voice a growl of grinding gears.