Chapter 44 Cue and Trigger in the Safe Zone pt 2

Chapter 44 Cue and Trigger in the Safe Zone pt 2
They strip immediately, throwing their clothes on the floor and kicking them towards the door before sliding under the hot water together. 

Trigger sighed as the water touched her skin, running rivulets of clean streaks down her skin. “I thought we just bathed,” she laughed, pulling Cue into the stream of water and holding her close.

“This feels amazing!” Cue gasped when she ducked her head under the water. “Rat would love this. We shouldn’t have left him with Gunner.”

“They might eat rats,” Trigger said before ducking her face under the water. “And he’s a big juicy one!” She laughed as Cue pushed her gently. “What? If he wasn’t your rat hed have been my dinner day one. Rat is delicious.”

“Probably better than human,” Cue said, trying not to gag.

“Much, much better than human.”

They had a moment of silence, thinking about the women they must have eaten while in the Vertical Village. Their joy at the ‘shower’ was forgotten for a moment.

“Shall we try the bottles?” Trigger asked, turning and pouring some of the first bottle in her hand before turning back to Cue. “May I?”

Cue nodded, turning around and bending her neck backwards to keep the soap out of her eyes like Hunter told them.
Trigger gently massaged the soap in her hair, watching as the white suds quickly turned brown and then almost black. “Do me?” Trigger asked, handing Cue the bottle and turning.

It took a lot longer to wash Trigger’s hair and pick out all the sticks and gunk still stuck inside. When they rinsed, they laughed at how weird their hair felt. 

When they put in the second bottle, they were in awe at how easily their fingers could slide through Trigger’s hair as if there were no tangles at all. When it came to washing their bodies, they both laughed out loud at how dirty they had been. Their skin was so pale it was hardly pink by the time they finished.

When they were fully clean and all rinsed off, they sat at the bottom of the shower in the spray. Cue sat between Trigger’s legs, cuddled up to her chest with her eyes closed. “I’ve never felt anything so warm and comfortable.”

Trigger watched the last of their grime swirl down the perforated hole at the bottom of the shower. She traced her fingertips up and down Cue’s arm as her eyes grew heavy. “I think I feel safe…” she whispered, not believing the words coming out of her own mouth.

“Me too…” Cue said with a yawn.

When the door creaked open and closed, they were both on their feet instantly, reaching for their weapons. What they found instead was a pile of fresh clothes. All their stuff, their clothes and weapons, were gone.

“Fuck!” Trigger snarled, racing for the door naked.

Cue grabbed her and pulled her back with a yank. “Don’t give them what they want!” Cue whispered fiercely. “We will get our stuff back, but not naked!”

Triggered growled and stalked to the pile of clothes they left near a basin with another metal pipe sticking out. She scowled down at too clean clothes, one pile with underclothes and a blue dress with little white flowers on it, and jeans and a black t-shirt and underclothes for Cue.

They dressed in silence, the dress they gave Trigger barely fitting over her large baby belly. The shoes they left were slip-on things that only covered the toes and had a strap on the back. They were like walking on clouds, but Trigger and Cue were too angry to enjoy the feeling.

They stormed out of the bathroom and right into Hunter, who had his hands up defensively. 

“Now, before you kill me with your bare hands,” he started, backing up a few steps. “Let me explain why we took your shit.” His smile slowly faded until the last word was a cold, hard snap.

“Talk!” Trigger said, her intimidating presence out of place in the pretty dress.

“First off, the only reason I didn’t demand you leave your weapons was that you’re women, and as much as I despise the cults for collecting you, we have to do the same to protect you.”

“You couldn’t protect shit!” Cue growled low.

“Now that we have your tank, we can protect a lot of shit, even protect against your EHEC,” he said fiercely, each word a bite. “Now we are willing to help you, but not at the cost of our own safety, and by the looks of it, that machine outside is ready to jump at a moment's notice. So how about this,” 

He lowered his hands bravely. “You meet our doc, let us help you, and if you still want to leave when your baby is born, then we will return your weapons and your clothes, and you will be free to go.”

“Take us to the doctor then,” Trigger said coldly. “Let’s see if he’s on the same page as you.”

He led them silently deeper and deeper into the hospital. The walls were still stark white, but the deeper they got, the more wires on the floor there were. It was starting to look like a hospital in a war zone. 

People were groaning in beds, people were dead, and people were just suffering.

“What happened to them?” Cue asked.

“Came across a horde,” Hunter said, spitting on the floor.

Cue looked at them with pity but kept walking. 

“Was it after the village fell?” Trigger asked, and Cue shivered at the memory of the Horde that had tried to follow them.

“How did you know that?” He asked, turning a suspicious look on him.

“They were after us, too, underground.” She paused, looking at Hunter cautiously. “Soeday, if I can trust you, I’ll tell you what I know. But for now, you should know there aren't likely to be any attacks on your base. Not while we’re here.”

“That’s bold to assume—”

“I’m not assuming, I know. You will see the horde, but they won't come close. Tell me when you see the dark-skinned Cretin, then we’ll talk.

Glaring, Hunter pushed open a final pair of double doors.

Cue screamed.

Inside was a doctor, yes, but blood sprayed from a thrashing patient on his table. A thrashing patient with no jaw that was thrusting its face at the air, with crazed eyes rolled in its head. Its body cavity was open, and the doctor was laughing madly as he removed organ after organ from the zombie, completely ignoring the screaming woman behind him.