“You can sleep on the buses if you want, or sleep under the stars but don’t wander too far,” he cautioned the passengers. “We’ll be leaving at dawn.” He’d refused to allow a fire, not seeing any reason to broadcast their presence. The terrain here was wide open, stretching flat to the horizon and the far distant mountains. Any human predators would spot a fire or the smoke easily. He didn’t delude himself into believing he and his few armed passengers could fight off marauders.
Devora bemoaned the fact she couldn’t cook a hot meal but handed out the rations and drinks and then took her portion and Jenny’s and she and the little girl sat on a big flat rock fairly close to the bus to eat. When he had things under control, Les gathered his dinner ration and walked to the rock.
“May I join you ladies?” he asked.
Devora scooted over and returned his smile but Jenny kept her attention on the plastic horses she was playing with. “Not a bad day,” Devora said as he unwrapped his survival ration. “We covered a lot of miles.”
“Yeah, these old school buses are doing better than I’d have expected,” he said before taking a bite of the unappetizing but nutritious ration. Devora’s thrown together meal of the night before had been a feast compared to this.
Devora offered Jenny her drink. “You need to take a few sips, honey,” she said.
The girl made a face but sipped obediently.
“She’s not her usual cheerful self tonight, is she?” Les asked.
Devora shrugged. “It was a long day for all of us but especially an active toddler. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the backpack you filled with toys and books for her at our first stop. You have nieces and nephews?”
He shook his head. “No family. It just made sense to me she’d need diversions and the stuff was right there.” He picked up one of the gaily colored miniature stuffed animals spilling from the backpack and made a face, which did get a giggle from the child. “I mean, you could hardly miss seeing these.”
“I don’t have kids or any close relatives either,” she said. He heard a touch of regret in her voice. “But I used to babysit in high school, for Sheriff Davis’s grandkids and a few others, so I know the drill. I’ve been trying to remember how many other children were at the compound but people came and went. Jonny was lax about that until recently and then his guards started keeping us in as much as they were watching for the infected. And none of it did any good ultimately.”
“Hey, you and Tamsyn saved Jenny so be happy about that,” he said, covering her hand with his and giving it a gentle squeeze. He hated to see the sadness on her face. “Every life we manage to preserve is a victory nowadays.”
There was a companionable silence for a while as Les put his energy into chewing the dry survival ration and washing it down with the drink. He tried to assure his stomach it was a meal fit for a king but his gut remained uneasy.
“So what’s your story?” Devora asked. “I mean, you know mine pretty much already but all I know about you is you drove Lally O’s tour bus. What came before?”
“The military,” he said and could tell she was surprised. “I’m not from Randal Four originally but after I did my stint in the Sectors ground pounders, I wanted to get as far away from the war as I could. This place was nice. Enough people to have a good level of civilization, not so many a man couldn’t have elbow room. I figured I’d bum around taking driving jobs, see the place, find a spot I liked and eventually use my veterans’ acres and settle down.” He gave her a grin which he knew was rueful. “Of course if I’d known the damn infected apocalypse was coming I’d have gone with my second choice of retirement destination.”
“You seem young to be retired,” she said with an appraising glance.
“Enlisted in the Sectors military straight from high school,” he said. “I couldn’t see any other future where I was. I planned to make it my life but events dictated otherwise.” Les didn’t feel like elaborating. He didn’t need nightmares tonight about the hellhole he and his team had been dropped into, nor how he’d gone to the surface on the transport as a lance corporal and had been the only person with a stripe of any rank to survive the barrage at landing. He’d taken command of the other survivors and they’d fought their way through the ensuing combat engagement. He’d gotten a battlefield promotion to sergeant, skipping right over corporal, had been awarded medals which were in his gear in Lally’s lost bus, and plunged right into his next deployment. Eventually, several campaigns later, as a staff sergeant, he’d been too broken to continue and had gotten his honorable discharge, the thanks of the Sectors and a certificate for his allotment of veterans’ acres.
Used up and cast out.
“Hey,” Devora said softly, hand on his arm. “I’m sorry if I stirred up bad memories.”
He realized he’d been sitting there silent for a few minutes, lost in his past. With an effort he straightened and slid off the rock. “No problem, always a lot on my mind.” Looking into her upturned face he couldn’t resist planting a kiss on her lips. “Including you, pretty girl.”
“What about me?” Jenny asked.
He lifted her high above his head and swooped her through the air like a miniature flyer. “I’m especially thinking about you, sweetheart.” Placing her in Devora’s arms, he said, “I’ve got to go check up on the rest. See you later.”
* * *
She was pleased he didn’t mind showing his attachment to her openly. She’d been a little afraid he’d want to keep what had happened between the two of them quiet, secret, so as not to draw the interest of the other refugees. The fact he was openly affectionate to her and sought her out made her happy. Sure this whatever it was between them was going to end at Glastine most likely but in the horrible world where they were living now it was wonderful to have made a deep connection and know someone cared about her. Devora intended to enjoy every moment. This happiness might have to last her the rest of her life the way things were going.
Jenny was cranky and hard to keep amused and Devora was happy the girl drifted off to sleep early. She took Jenny inside the bus to their big bench seat and made her as comfortable as possible, using her backpack for a pillow. The rest of the passengers were still outside as it wasn’t full dark yet, talking or simply sitting in solitude. Devora relished being alone. She leaned her head on the headrest and drowsed.
A light touch on her arm woke her an indeterminate time later and she decided it must be late at night. The bus was dark except for the tiny emergency lights along the floor, showing the way to the door. Finger to his lips, Les stood there.
“What’s the matter? What’s wrong?” she said in a soft whisper as she got to her feet, adrenaline flooding her system.
“Nothing,” he said, drawing her out into the aisle and then into the empty seat behind her normal one. She saw the dim shadows of other refugees scattered here and there throughout the bus and realized quite a few must have decided to sleep outdoors after all. The night was mild and people got sick and tired of being cooped up on the bus all day.
Les set his back to the bus wall and his feet up on the bench, maneuvering her into his lap, where she could feel his hard cock pressing against the fastening of his utilities. “I figured we could at least cuddle a bit,” Les said against her ear in a whisper making her shiver with desire.
Devora was in favor of the idea and made herself comfortable against him, although there was barely room for two. “Everyone asleep?” she asked.
