THE ALPHAS Box Set (9 page)

VIII.

Matt had heard the voices and had slipped inside the shed to listen. When Damian left he almost came out again but then Eddie and Violet started talking. Now he moved as quietly as possible around the shed.

Eddie was breathing hard as he swung the axe, neatly splitting a large log in half. He picked up one of the halves and split that next.

“You don’t waste time, do you?”

Eddie looked up, pretending to be surprised. “I really want to be here, Matt, I’m not going to slack on my first job.”

“Look, I don’t know you, none of us do, and you don’t know us. You don’t know how things are here, so I’ll fill you in. Violet is my girl and I don’t appreciate you making a play for her.”

Eddie split another log and then put the axe down. As he gathered the wood he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw her walking away just now and I’m warning you, she’s taken.”

Eddie pinned Matt with a solid stare. “Does she know that?”

“Just watch yourself.” He turned and stalked off.

IX.

After an hour spent violently hoeing weeds from one of the gardens and snapping at everyone who came near him Matt was joined by Ryan.

“How’s the gardening going?” Ryan said.

“Fuck off.”

“I heard you were in a foul mood.”

“What are you? My babysitter?”

Ryan grabbed a rake and started pulling the loose weeds into a pile. “No, I’m not. You’re a grown man, Matt, you don’t need a babysitter.”

“Could have fooled me. Haven’t I been good enough? Don’t I follow the rules? Don’t I work hard enough?”

“I haven’t heard any complaints, except about your temper today.”

“Well I think I have every right to be pissed off! I did what you said, I grew up. I’m not stirring up trouble. Hell! I just took the new guy on a tour, didn’t need to be asked, didn’t get pissy that no one asked me to help with the situation on the wall. I just stepped up and did it. No thanks from anyone. What else to I have to do to get somewhere in this place? Or am I supposed to be happy being nothing but the fall back wall guy? Is that my entire future?”

Ryan had stopped raking and watched Matt through his whole rant. When it was obvious Matt had run out of steam Ryan said, “You’re right.”

Matt just about dropped his hoe. “I’m right?”

“You’re right. Everyone has been taking on new jobs and responsibilities and you’ve stepped up every time you’ve been asked to help with something. I don’t know that there are any big flashy jobs available but I’ll talk to Damian.”

“Really?”

“Matt, I don’t hate you. Damian doesn’t hate you. Don’t ask me about Anne, I have enough trouble deciphering Pauline, I’m not about to try my hand at another woman. We were all under a lot of stress while we were walking and that didn’t bring out the best in anyone. No promises, but I’ll talk to him. Just don’t throw that hoe at someone for wanting to help with this garden, okay?”

“Yeah, fine, okay,” Matt said. He was a little shocked. He watched Ryan leave and stared across the empty yard for a long time after that.

‘That’s exactly what I need. A better job, more responsibility, a new position, it will all prove that I’m a mature, responsible, provider. Violet will see I’m not some snot-nosed kid. I’m a man, a man who can protect her and love her.’

X.

After dinner and a very quick shower Eddie jogged over to the orphanage where a yard full of kids was running around in the fading light. Violet was sitting on the back deck with an older woman. “It looks like they’ll sleep well tonight,” he said.

“You’d think after weeks of walking they’d be tired of it,” Sue said. “But their favourite thing is running around. Marianne will be over soon to help me put them to bed so go on, have some fun for a change.”

Violet smiled and they headed back towards the road.

XI.

Matt’s path took him parallel to the road but inside the yards. He was hidden from sight by bushes and shadows but could see the backs of the two figures just ahead of him. More importantly he could just hear their conversation. For now it was innocent enough, family details, school experiences, where they had worked, but it was more than Violet had ever told him and the resentment and anger was building in his chest.

There was a quiet place out at the back of the empty pasture and that’s where they appeared to be heading. That made following harder since the pasture was just wide open space. He fell out of earshot a few times as he tried to find the safest way to stay on their tails. Finally he found a safe spot just inside the bushes on the other side of the pasture fence where he could sit without being seen.

Violet sat on her rock staring up at the night sky. “You know,” she said. “I never really noticed the stars until we got here.”

“You don’t see them in the city,” Eddie agreed. “But you didn’t notice them while you were walking?”

“We always stopped before full dark and I was too busy with the kids and my own misery to look up at the sky. The only things I noticed were the rain, the heat, and the ache in my feet.”

“Survival is like that,” Eddie said. He shifted on his rock, trying to get comfortable. “I was thinking about your mom. You know that village you first tried to join? Maybe they still trade with Bismark, maybe they could take a message to the city for you. I’m sure other people are trying to find relatives and loved ones.”

“Maybe. I’ll ask Damian about it later. I miss movie theatres, and bars. I miss dancing.”

“Would you like to dance with me?”

She laughed. “With no music?”

He hopped down and grabbed her wrist. “Come on, Sue told you to have some fun.”

She resisted but he kept tugging, being extra careful not to dislocate her wrist, which would be all too easy for him. Finally she gave in and let him pull her into an awkward dancer’s hold.

“Now what?”

He started moving as if waltzing to some unheard music.

“I feel dumb.”

“No one’s watching us. I can hum.” He started humming some tune she didn’t recognize, still swaying back and forth. She relaxed a little and moved with him. Her hands settled lightly on his shoulders and she smiled.

“The stars are prettier than the lights at the bar,” she said looking up.

“You’re prettier than the stars,” he replied.

She dropped her hands and took a step back.

“I’m sorry. You just said you didn’t want a boyfriend. I’m sorry. I’ll walk you back.”

“No,” she said, catching his arm as he walked by. “It’s okay.” When he turned she stood tiptoe and kissed him.

He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss. Her heart was racing and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He was a good kisser and Violet was starting to feel hot and tingly with each kiss. He pulled off his jacket and his shirt, spreading them on the grass. Smiling shyly she sat on the makeshift blanket with him and let him run his hands up her arms. She felt shivering trails of excitement under his fingers. The air was cool and it was making him shiver so she tucked in closer to him. He kissed her again and the shivers moved through her, down her tummy and up her neck.

She pulled her shirt over her head, adding to the blanket.

“You don’t have to,” he said.

Her kiss was hungry. “I want to. I want this.”

He couldn’t wait any longer and started running his hands up and down her body. He cupped her breasts, massaging them and rolling the nipples between his fingers. It had been too long, for both of them apparently. While he touched her she tried to remove her jeans but only succeeded in getting tangled. She giggled and stood. He stood too and they stood for a long moment staring at each other’s naked bodies.

“You’re amazing,” she said and reached out to touch him. It was all the invitation he needed and he drew her close and down to the blanket in one motion.

It was erotic and terrifying all at once. She was beautiful and soft but the fear of hurting her almost ruined the mood. He handled her as though she was glass but he couldn’t contain all of his passion and still his fingers pressed into her skin. From the moans and sighs she was enjoying what he was doing so he pushed worry aside and tried to enjoy her as well.

She moved to straddle him and slid her wet pussy onto his rigid cock. She moved slow but steady, kissing him the whole time. Soon they were moving together, the stress and fear of their new lives forgotten in the heat of the moment. Believing themselves alone in the field they called out in their passion, saying each other’s names over and over again, when there were words at all.

Though it was not the first time for either of them there was something special, something intense, in this act. Like two teenagers coming together in the secret dark of the basement, they threw themselves into the sex with full reckless joy and abandon.

She ground against him until she was panting. Her climax was a quiet thing compared to her earlier shouting but there was no mistaking it for anything else. Her whole body shuddered. She gasped against the side of his neck and whispered his name.

The feeling of her body tightening like that was enough to put him over the edge and he lifted her up and off him so that his cum covered her thighs and his stomach. She groaned.

“Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t think you’d want to risk getting pregnant.”

There was a pause and then she nodded. “It is messy though.”

“I’ll just use my jacket.”

She was shivering now. “We should get back. The girls I room with will be getting worried and I don’t want Ryan or Sean coming looking for me.”

XII.

Matt watched in horror as the girl of his dreams gave herself to another man. There was nothing he could do unless he wanted to incur the wrath of The Goons. He watched even though it was wrong. His cock was hardening as he watched the scene of passion unfold before him. Only after they had dressed and started back across the field did he dare move.

He reached the end of his driveway as Damian was coming down from the wall. “Matt! Is that you?!”

Matt stopped and waved.

Damian jogged over. “You’re a hard man to find. Look, I’ve been talking to Ryan.”

Matt stiffened.

“And we agree, you’ve really been working hard since we settled here. I know you had some disagreements with Anne while we were on the road but that was a hard time for all of us. So I wanted to let you know that there’s a spot in the next trade envoy for you, if you want it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. We need someone with sharp eyes to help guard the caravan and you’ve handled watch just fine. You’re a man, not a child, you deserve the chance to do real work, not just odd jobs. They leave day after tomorrow – guess it’s actually tomorrow, isn’t it since it’s midnight already, but you know what I mean. Will you go?”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go. What about Eddie? He must know the roads pretty good.”

“Maybe. I’d rather keep him closer to home until we know more about him.”

“Is something making you suspicious?”

“A little, actually. But it’s probably nothing. Just stress, you know. See  you in the morning.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Damian jogged back to his own house where Anne was keeping the bed warm for him. He hadn’t really thought about Eddie all day but Matt’s question had renewed that line of thought.

He found Anne in bed, reading.

“What’s troubling you?” she said, sticking in a book mark.

“What do you think of Eddie?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t see him at all today. Why? Was there a problem?”

“No, not unless you think working too fast is a problem.” He told her about the wood pile and how much bigger it had been than the last time he’d gone to check.

“Maybe someone else has been going back there to work off some frustrations,” she said.

“Maybe.”

“Or what?” she teased. “He’s some sort of super-human nuclear mutant?”

Damian just shrugged. “Okay, it sounds stupid.” He yawned.

“We could always ask him in the morning.”

“I don’t need people thinking I’ve gone crazy, thank you though.” He kissed her. “Good night.”

XIII.

There was no way Matt could turn down the job with the trade caravan, not after losing his temper with Ryan. He, Evan, and four others, riding double on three quads pulling trailers, headed north to trade surplus supplies for a few goats.

Violet watched them go with excitement.
‘Goats! Okay, it’s not cows but you can get milk from a goat!’

Eddie came up behind her. “Hey, could we talk?”

She smiled at him. “Sure. Is something wrong?” She’d been busy with the kids and her chores and they had hardly seen each other since that night in the field.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I just thought …”

She nodded. “The wood pile,” she said and started off.

Once they were alone he said, “I’m sorry for losing control the other night.”

“I’m not. Eddie, there’s no one here for me but you or Matt and Matt has never been interested in listening to me. Here you are, with your own problems, surviving on your own through god only knows what, and you’re more interested in helping me find my mother. If you don’t want to do it again …”

“I didn’t say that!”

She laughed.

“You said you didn’t want a boyfriend.”

“I guess maybe I was wrong. I don’t want Matt but I want you.”

And then reality butted in and ruined the mood. “You don’t even know me,” he said.

She touched his arm. “We could get to know each other.”

He pulled away. “Violet, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“I wasn’t just running from gangs or looking for a safe place, not the way you were. There are dangerous things out there, dangerous people …”

“We’re safe here. Damian, the guards, they keep us safe from all of that.”

“They keep you safe from what’s out there!” he shouted. Out of frustration he kicked a stray chunk of wood. It flew past her head and hit the plywood wall of the shed with enough force to leave a crack.

“Holy shit.”

“I should go,” he said. “I should leave. I’ll tell Damian I’m moving on.”

“Wait. How did you do that?”

He paused, studying her.

“That was amazing. Was it just fluke or what? Can you do it again?”

“It would be easier to do it than not to,” he said and then sighed. “Violet, I’m not normal, I’m very dangerous.”

“You were so sweet the other night, and gentle.”

“If I lose control I could break your arm with a twist of my wrist. I’m not safe.”

“What are you?”

“We got hit with a nuke, we were trapped in a building only blocks away from ground zero. When it became obvious no one was coming to get us we tried to get out. We found out we’d changed. As the radiation fall-out spreads more and more people will be affected but we were so close to the bomb it happened fast for us, fast and severe.”

She closed the gap between them and kissed him. “My own personal super hero.”

“Violet …”

“I don’t know you but I think I love you and I know I trust you. I won’t tell anyone else, but please stay. Please?”

“All right, I’ll stay.”

“Stay with me.”

“All right.”