8. Micah

8

MICAH

Afaint scent of strawberries filled my nose as I inhaled deeply, and my eyes opened to Tori tucked between Nathan and me—both our arms snug around her waist. My flannel hung loose on her, but she was still covered and looked beautiful. It had ridden up in the middle of the night, so I avoided looking down, but her skin was so soft.

Amusement tugged at my lips as I stared at her. Her face was free of worry as she snored with a sweet smile on her face. She must’ve gotten scared last night, and Nathan brought her to bed. I was glad she felt comfortable enough to get in bed with us. The ruckus from the horde outside seemed like white noise now. I’d gotten used to it after the first horde went through without issue.

Slipping my arm from around her waist, I took another breath before dragging myself out of bed.

It had been so long since I’d laid in bed next to a woman. Not since Kelly.

I swallowed the hard lump in my throat and turned to force myself out of the room.

I didn’t like thinking about Kelly, but my heart ached at the thought of her even now. She deserved so much better than what she got in this world. The only bright side to her death was that she didn’t have to see the shit show the world had become.

It wasn’t that Tori reminded me of Kelly—it was the opposite really.

Kelly was soft and timid, she refused to kill a bug, and she despised showing emotion. From what I’d seen, Tori was harder, didn’t hesitate to kill when it was needed, showed her emotions, and she was honest.

Yet something inside of me compared the two of them, and that wasn’t fair of me to do to either woman.

Calix paced the length of the kitchen, socked feet making dull thumps against the wooden floor as the wood stove crackled. His black hair stuck up in every direction, and he moved his mask to cover his face completely when he noticed me.

“Making something?” I yawned as I stopped in the doorway of the bathroom.

“Soup,” he replied. “Make sure you—”

“Wipe down the toilet. I know.” I shut the door and finished my morning piss before disinfecting the toilet, wiping everything down, and washing my hands. Then I sprayed the sink and wiped it down before leaving the bathroom to find Calix still pacing.

I leaned against the wall next to the wood stove. The aroma of chicken noodle soup hit me, and my stomach growled.

We had plenty of canned soup and foods, but we were also running against the shelf life of them all. Canned foods were perfect for the winter months, but we managed to can our own food too. There was a field a few miles east that we planted crops in during the spring months and harvested as we could. Sally, Benjamin’s wife, knew a lot about canning foods so she and Ava did that.

Jack, Charles, Nathan, Calix, and I also hunted as well as scavenging. Benjamin handled everything water—which meant purifying it, building and maintaining water filters, and making sure there was enough for drinking water and enough in the tanks for the sinks and toilets as well as the shower outside.

Ava, Jack, and Charles were the throuple in the Oasis, and I always admired the love they held for each other.

The Oasis was our community, and everyone played a part in keeping us going. I loved everything about it. I’d originally moved into the forest to get away from people, but I think I needed the interaction more than I’d thought. They saved me in ways I hadn’t realized I needed saving—and that woman curled up in bed beside Nathan was going to save me again.

“I was surprised to wake up and find the pull-out couch still pulled out without our guest,” Calix mumbled, pausing his pacing before ambling back to the soup and stirring it.

“She woke up in the middle of the night. I woke up to her between Nathan and me in bed.” I smirked. “She probably woke up and got scared of the horde.”

“Probably,” he agreed with a wince. “The first time a horde came through, it freaked me out. The thought of their dead, walking, diseased-ridden carcasses below us…” His face paled before he shook his head of the thought.

“I see you put away the covers and pushed the couch back in.” My gaze scanned over the living room, cleaner than it had been when we came in last night. “Thanks.”

“The mess was getting to me.” He shrugged before turning around in a whirl, and his eyes snagged on my bedroom. “What’s her story?”

My brows rose in surprise. “You’re actually interested in it?”

“She’s living with us for a few days. Of course I am.” He blinked at me with a huff. “Besides, she’s sweet. I feel sorta bad for being so harsh on her last night, but I don’t like people coming into my space unannounced.”

“I know, but that’s our fault. Not hers.” I frowned.

“I know.” He sighed, pinching the mask over his nose tighter. “So who’s Daisy and why is she keeping that woman from staying in a treehouse with her own family?”

I snorted, and he glared at me. “Sorry, but you picked up a lot for knowing so little about the situation. From what I can tell, Daisy is her ex-best-friend and Jay is her ex-boyfriend. She caught them sleeping together the day the apocalypse started, and they’ve had to survive together ever since.”

His eyes widened before he turned back to the soup and stirred it. “Wow.”

“Yeah. She’s tough, though.”

“How’d the ride here go? The dynamic between them really that bad?”

“It’s tense,” I confirmed, crossing my arms in a huff as I thought back to the confrontation Daisy and Tori had. “Daisy went off on Tori to start drama, and she mentioned some pretty personal things in Tori and Jay’s relationship. I don’t know the whole story there, but it’s clear it’s a sensitive subject. So Daisy isn’t above hitting below the belt, so to speak.”

“Then this Daisy’s a mean girl.”

“Seems so. The only thing I can say is she had enough sense not to speak to Tori much after her horse was bitten.”

His shoulders stiffened, and his green eyes slid over to meet mine. “She lost her horse last night?”

“Nathan had to put him down before he turned. She didn’t know the virus had spread to animals. None of them did. They were in a bubble on that ranch, Calix. A damn good bubble.”

A beat of silence passed between us as he nodded. “Must’ve been nice to live in a bubble through all this.”

“Yes and no. Now they have to face reality after that bubble has popped. Their ranch is going to be nothing after this horde comes through.” I shook my head, thinking of the animals still in that barn and coop. “I’ve never seen a horde this size, and I don’t want to think what would’ve happened to them had they stayed at the ranch.”

My gut churned at the thought of them bunkered down in that cellar.

“Every year it gets bigger,” he muttered bitterly. “I swear they migrate like birds.”

“They do.” I rubbed my beard with a groan.

Every year just as fall hits, they run through. And every year, it grows.

I assumed the zombies would decline in numbers due to decay, but instead, they were rising. It didn’t make any scientific sense, but it was happening regardless. It had to have something to do with the fact these zombies didn’t eat. They only spread the virus through a bite then moved on. I didn’t like to concern myself with the logic behind it like Nathan and Calix did.

“I was glad to see her in the bed with you two. I thought she tried to leave or something.” He set the spoon down and began pacing again.

I flinched before trying to force my muscles to relax. “That would be a nightmare.”

“No kidding.” His dull steps filled the room like a lull, and I focused mostly on that sound. “We’re going to have so much to do when this horde passes through. How many days do you think it’ll take to rebuild this year?”

“Not as long as last year. Benjamin, Jack, and Charles reinforced the hell out of the sheds. I’d be surprised to see them torn down again, but you never know.” I frowned, despising the groans that came from underneath and around us. “At least we have more survivors this time.”

“Unless they don’t decide to stay,” he added, and my chest ached at the thought of Tori leaving.

I didn’t even know her. It shouldn’t have mattered to me that she may not be staying—but it did.