Taron snorted and hugged Colin tightly. “You’re perfect the way you are.” So it came out sappy. Fine. He was allowed that much after orgasm.
Colin hummed, and while Taron couldn’t see his face, he could sense his partner smile against his flesh.
“How big is this place?” Colin asked in the end.
Taron groaned. “Tomorrow.”
Chapter Fourteen
The bunker was enormous. Whether it had been planned as a retreat for the local government in case of war or old McGraw’s underground luxury villa, Colin didn’t know, but his eyes got bigger with each room Taron led him through. The structure was made of retired shipping containers with walls reinforced from the outside and insulated to boot. There was some sort of ventilation system in place, and the labyrinth of corridors and rooms contained not only supplies, but also fully equipped bedrooms, a game room, as well as a large kitchen and canteen.
Despite Taron living there on his own, the huge complex had clearly been meant to house multiple people, including children, as evidenced by boxes of old-timey toys and a playroom with a slide, swings, and even a small carousel, and cartoon characters painted on the walls.
Colin had been silent for most of the time, but when Taron showed him into a room that held two cars, one of which had wooden panels on the sides and a distinctly 1970s look, the dam burst. “I heard some cultures buried their dead with boats or carriages, but this is ridiculous. Is this where you’re keeping my car too?”
Taron shook his head.
Colin should have suspected as much, but then his mind stalled. “With the body?”
Taron gave a curt nod.
Colin scowled. “Just great. They’ll probably assume I murdered him if it’s found one day.”
The silence on Taron’s part told Colin that this was exactly what Taron had hoped for when he’d gotten rid of the evidence. Fantastic. Ladies and Gentlemen, the guy Colin slept with.
Taron spread his arms with a silly grin, as if it was all beyond his control.
Colin rubbed his face in disbelief. “Why? Why would he hide his cars underground in the first place? Because this wasn’t your idea, was it?” he asked, shocked by the sheer amount of work put into this ridiculous place.
Taron spelled out ‘faraday’ when Colin didn’t understand it.
Colin knew who Faraday was, but the cage thing? He had no idea what it was about, and he told Taron so. Taron turned Colin so that they faced each other when he explained slowly how a solar flare or a nuclear bomb could induce an electro-magnetic pulse that would render all electronic devices, including cars, worthless, unless they were stored in a container that was resistant to such a pulse. It was a far-fetched worry, considering that, to Colin’s knowledge, such a thing had never happened, but he still listened, because he was getting a glimpse of a world he had no idea about.
Taron chewed on his lip.
Colin’s brain came to an abrupt stop. “Yellowstone? What? You’re not local?” Come to think of it, even when he whispered, Taron didn’t have a distinguishable accent.
Taron stared at him, as if assessing whether he should tell Colin where he was from. Why would it be a secret? Was he running from the law? Colin wouldn’t be surprised.
Colin watched Taron lean against the wall. Despite the warm-up after their return, Taron’s health was in decline, as evidenced by the way he kept clearing his throat and the blurry look in his eyes. At least Colin had talked him into wearing two warm sweaters.
“Okay. Yellowstone is mostly in Wyoming. Did something happen there that you wanted to get away?” he asked softly.
He knew he’d hit a nerve before Taron even spoke, because of how his body language turned tense. He spun around and waved for Colin to follow.
There was more?
The next few rooms were empty, and walking through them felt like being in a world beyond this one. “Why? I don’t get it.”
Taron turned around, and despite the tender night they’d spent together, the strangeness of the scenery had Colin’s heart skip a beat in fear at Taron’s sheer size.