Asher, on the other hand, seemed far friendlier out of the two of them, and the few times she saw him smile or show emotion, she could see that if she was to penetrate any of their hard exteriors, it was going to be through him. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t as frighteningly powerful or dominant as Mason. When the two of them stood side by side, they looked like hardened warriors ready to kick some ass.
“How did you survive so long after the infection broke out?” Asher grabbed the half-empty bottle of water Mason handed to him and took a swig. He held his hand out for her to take the bottle, and when she did, their fingers brushed. She quickly snatched her hand back, thankful for the darkness that hid her cheeks, since she knew she was blushing.
“I was with a group of four when the infection really started to spread. But slowly, they were picked off until I was the last one standing.” She glanced between them and then drank a mouthful of water. She never thought water could taste as good as it did when you were scrounging for it. When she took her share, she passed it to Mason, but he shook his head.
“You go ahead and finish it off.” The offer was kind, but his expression didn’t show any emotion.
“You sure?” she asked, and he nodded and turned his attention to the candle. “Thank you.” He grunted once in response, but before she finished it, she looked at Asher.
“You go ahead. I’m good.” Asher gave her a warm smile, and Sparrow found herself smiling in return. God, it felt so good to do it. She hadn’t realized the small, almost insignificant things that she had taken for granted until she just didn’t do them any longer. She handed the now empty bottle to Mason, and he tucked it into his bag. “I ended up finding a couple that took me in for a while, but then I started noticing the way they looked at me.”
“Looked at you?” Asher leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. She watched the tendons flex beneath his skin and swallowed down her irrational desire. Sparrow hadn’t felt this way with anyone else she had been around since the fall of civilization, but being with these two men turned something on inside her.
“Yeah.” She glanced down and twisted her fingers together. Sparrow didn’t want to think about it, but they wanted to know. “They didn’t know I was watching. I was getting some wild berries we had just found in the woods, and when I made my way back to their place, I saw them beating a man to death.” At their blank stares, because she knew death wasn’t new for any of them, she said, “And then proceeded to cut him up.” Bile rose from her belly at the image of them slicing open the man. “They shoved the meat they cut off in bags around their waists. And then I knew that those ‘looks’ I thought I was getting from them, the ones that made me feel uncomfortable and uneasy, meant they were sizing me up for dinner.”
Chills raced up her spine. “I don’t know why they didn’t kill me right away, but I’m thankful they didn’t. Even though this is the apocalypse, I don’t want to die, least of all like that.” She glanced at each of them after she said that. “I ran. I ran as hard as I could until I collapsed from exhaustion.” It had been one thing after another, and humans no longer held compassion or integrity. Well, she thought that… until she met these two men. “And then you found me, saved me, and here we are.” The silence stretched between them, and she cleared her throat.
“Yeah, people sure have gotten fucked up since this shit happened, but that’s what happens when the world collapses, I suppose.” Asher’s words were pitched low, and there was a hint of depression in it. “I have seen a lot of shit on the road since this whole thing started, and only one percent of it was decent.” He looked at Mason, and there was a silent communication between them. She knew, without either of them saying anything, that meeting each other had been a light in all this darkness. Maybe one day she could have that. It was a farfetched desire and honestly so miniscule compared to the bigger picture.
“It is in our nature to go after one another.” They both glanced at Mason when he spoke. He didn’t lift his gaze from the candle that was slowly starting to dwindle down to a puddle of wax. “This was inevitable. With greed, power, and war, it is in our nature to destroy everything around us, including each other.” He leaned back and scrubbed a hand over his face. Although she knew they had one disposable razor, had seen Asher using it just this morning, Mason sported day-old stubble. It looked good on him, but it also made him seem even more menacing.