Chapter 57 Cue and Acceptance

Chapter 57 Cue and Acceptance
The bullet that took down Shepherd had only grazed his skull above his left ear and knocked him out. The wound wept, even still hours later, as they all hunkered down in a densely packed park. They sat in a circular shelter made by the trees and completely shielded from the outside with vines, ferns, and saplings.
“I thought you were dead,” Cue said, bandaging Shepherd’s head.
“Preternatural speed can really save a guy,” he laughed.
“Still cocky after taking a bullet to the dome?” Trigger rolled her eyes as she walked by, but she dropped a canteen in his lap. “For the pain,” she told him.
He opened the canteen and sniffed, jerking back from the alcohol smell. “For the pain indeed.”
“Thank you,” Cue whispered.
“Don’t mention it,” Trigger said as she folded herself into a seated position between Gunner’s outstretched legs.
The cyborg watched Shepherd with serious eyes, the blue lights in them whirring in different shades as he studied the other man.
“I really did think you were dead,” Cue repeated.
Shepherd met her gaze for a second and then looked down at his hands, “There was a time I’m sure you wished I was.”
“Maybe, but, Shepherd?” She tilted his face back up with nervous, trembling hands. “You can't die. You can’t leave me now.”
Shepherd reached up and held her cheek, Barrows' dried blood flaking off as his thumb rubbed. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised.
For a second, they stared into each other's eyes. It was Cue that broke contact, sitting back on her heels before standing and walking away.
Trigger watched this like a hawk, seeing maybe even before Cue and Shepherd what the chemistry between them would bring. She leaned back against Gunner, slowly coming to terms with the fact that if they paired up, she’d either lose Cue or gain Shepherd as a lover.
Gunner dropped his face to Trigger’s shoulder and nuzzled in to whisper in her ear, “They will become mates.”
Trigger nodded, “I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Will you take him as a mate as well?” he asked.
Trigger turned and faced him a little better. “Would that bother you?”
“You deserve a real man, not just what was made for you.”
“You,” she cupped his face and kissed him “Are a real man.” She sighed. “If she wants to share, and I can get over sharing her, I will take him. He is a powerful man, and a protector. But mostly, I don’t want to lose Cue to him. I will take him as a lover before I lose her.”
“As I assumed. You have my support.” he told her, giving her a quick kiss back.
Shepherd got up and followed Cue to a small stream that babbled near the little alcove and found her crouched beside it, washing her hands and face.
“What was that?” she asked, not turning around to face him. “How was I able to bite through his neck like that? My teeth are still sharper.” She ran her tongue over her teeth in wonder.
“Something about the transformation. We become more beast than man, yet not dead like the zombies. I don’t know what that makes us, but we are killers nonetheless.”
“Killers…” Cue thought back to all the people they have killed since they left her dome. Even before she new she was a Cretin she knew she was a killer. But what makes someone bad, truly? The people who kill to survive are still killing people with families. To them, they were the bad guys. To them, maybe they were in the right and the visitors were just crazed murderers?
She shuddered at the thought.
No one was good or bad in this world, there was just alive or dead, and nothing inbetween. They did what they had to survive, and beyond that nothing else mattered. They just needed to remember not to leave any loose ends. Barrow coming back into their lives was a mistake Cue would never make again. 
No mercy.
“What about your community, won't you miss them?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I spent most of my time watching you, they are just a community I knew of, not my community.” He crouched next to her, their thighs and shoulders brushing. “You are the only one I care about.”
Cue looked up at him slowly, watching him through her lashes.
He smirked, watching her from the corner of his eye.
“Is…is there anything else I should know about us?” she asked shyly, cheeks blushing with embarrassment.
“Besides the preternatural speed, fast hjealing, mind control of the zombies and ability to ren a mans head off with your teeth?” he laughed, bymping into her shoulder playfully. “Not really, except maybe that we have really strong nails.”
Cue looked at her hands, finding them still stained red, and started washing again.
“I like the look of you bathed in the blood of your enemies,” he said, his voice growing darker and more raspy.
She splashed water on her face and looked up at him, blood dripping down her lips.
Before she could stop him, he leaned in and kissed her blood red lips, letting his toungue lather over her bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth.
Cue gasped, freezing but not moving away as he let his tongue delve into her mouth and really taste her. She moaned, surprising herself, and let her mouth go soft against his. “Shepherd?” she whispered.
He shushed her  gently, moving his hands to her hips and picking her up. He straddled her across his lap, bbucking up between her legs as he pulled her down on him. “You are so beautiful, covered in blood,” he moaned into her mouth.
“Shep—”she whispered again, her voice hitching as he bucked up against her again, his hard shaft pressing against her from beneath his pants. She was kissing him back now, her hands moving through his dreads and holding on at the nap pf his neck.
“I want you, Cue,” he admitted huskily. “I’ve wanted you since I knew your man had taken you to bed. I’ve been so fucking jealous,” he growled, the rumble vibrating into her, “watching you fuck Gunner and Trigger so openly.”
“You were watching?” she gasped.
“I’m always watching my girl,” he growled again, pulling her so close it hurt.