“To Hell,” he replies with a grin as he glances at me in the side-view mirror.
I nod as I purse my lips.
“I guess that’s only fair. Since we fucked in front of Dad, now we get to finally fuck Mom. Just not in the way she’s probably hoping.”
Tieran laughs and shakes his head as he leans to the left and shoots down a semi-abandoned street.
What I said just now is kind of careless, but it also formulates an idea in my head.
We can show her that we’re better than her. At everything,I muse as a smile curves my lips up into a mischievous grin.
___
Tieran pulls into a gas station as night falls over the ghost town we’ve stopped in for the evening.
He gets increasingly frustrated as each pump he attempts to get petrol from is either broken or doesn’t seem to have anything left.
“God damn it!”he hollers after slams the pump on the sixth attempt back into its holster.
“Don’t get mad,” I tell him quietly as my eyes turn into saucers. His anger, while far and few in between, is more terrifying than anything that wanders the Earth in a diseased state of mind. The things that decay as they attempt to find survivors to feast on would run scared if they ever saw his temper like I have.
“Wait here and be careful, okay?” I say as I reach up and swipe the hood off my hair. “I’m gonna go inside and check it out.”
I nod at the store attached to the gas station and he sighs as his mouth becomes a tight, angry line, then leans against the pump, arms crossed over his chest.
“Yoube careful, Hens. If anything seems off, get out of there or call for me, okay?”
Leaning up on my tiptoes, I rest my hands against his forearms as I press my lips softly against his. Even the slightest touch from Tieran—taken or given—always sends a shiver of encouragement through my body.
Or maybe that’s just the X finally starting to wear off,I wonder with a smile as I wink at him then turn around and head for the front doors.
My boots crunch against the ruined pavement, crackling over shards of broken glass from the busted out windows.
If this place has already been ransacked, that means that there are actual people nearby.
I whistle the last song I remember hearing on a radio quietly as I push the doors open and wander inside the seemingly abandoned building. As I wander down what used to be one of the snack aisles, I gently run the tips of my fingers along the dirty, metal shelf.
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” I sing out in a soft tone.
Thereareothers here.
I can tell by the dirty footsteps that still appear so faintly against the yellowing floor tiles.
As soon as I crouch down to inspect the footsteps, I hear something being shuffled the next aisle over.
Hm.
Getting up slowly, I creep down my aisle until I reach the end, then peer around the corner.
I step back out of view just in time.
How fun!
Rubbing my hands together, I pull the hood back up over my hair, tucking in one of the strands that fell out, then prepare myself.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly inch around the corner before I raise both hands, miming claws, then shout, “Boo!”
The little girl with the dark brown eyes and straight black hair doesn’t even flinch.