I reached over and squeezed his hand. “But Bane had you in his life to comfort and love him. That’s not Bane.”
“I know.”
“Tori!” Spencer’s voice was the first to greet us as she rushed through the snow and threw her arms around me, stumbling us back a few steps as she hugged me. “We weresoworried about you guys with the snowfall.” She pulled back, and her gaze widened. “Woah! That’s a lot of supplies. That’s good. We definitely need some good news here.”
“Rebuilding seems to have started,” Micah commented, glancing at the now rebuilt shed and still-being-rebuilt treehouse of Ava’s.
“Yeah, but there’s a lot more happening,” Spencer murmured sadly as Benjamin came over.
“You’re back early with supplies.” He clasped his son on his shoulder and regarded us with kind eyes. “I’m glad. Did the other two cause issues?”
“Not quite,” Nathan said with a rattled sigh. “Daisy was killed by a zombie, and Jay was bit but even after an amputation, he succumbed to the virus.”
Benjamin’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but he nodded. “I’m sorry. We had the same luck here. Charles hid a bite from that infected mountain lion until it was too late. We realized what had happened just before he passed, and Jack had to put him down. Ava’s a wreck.”
“Damn it.” Micah ran a hand through his hair.
“Ava’s up in the treehouse with Sally,” Benjamin explained with a sweep of his arm. “Jack’s been doing any and everything to keep his mind off it. He’s almost finished with the treehouse.”
“Wow.” My voice cracked.
Life was never guaranteed, but so much death around us made me realize just how true it was.
“We need to shower,” Calix said, and the group agreed.
Spencer knocked her shoulder with mine. “Come up to our treehouse for a bit after? I’d like to catch up.”
“Sure, Spence.” I gave her a soft smile as she bounded up to the treehouse.
“She’s a good sister,” Micah told me, and I nodded.
“She really is.”
“I’ll help Dad get these wagons into the shed then come back with clothes. Go ahead and shower. We’ve had a tough trip.” Nathan cupped my face in his hands and kissed my lips softly.
Calix, Micah, and I made our way to the shower shed and discarded our clothes as we let the water warm up.
Goosebumps pebbled my skin even as we stepped under the stream of warm water, and they grabbed the soap before lathering me up.
Their touches were gentle and caring, and while Micah washed my body, Calix washed my hair. When I was rinsed, I did the same for Micah.
As I washed Calix, Nathan stepped in with a pile of clothes in his arms. “Hey, can you wash me too?”
“Get in here.” I leaned Calix’s head back slightly and rinsed the suds out of it, threading my fingers through his hair until it was soap free.
Nathan stripped out of his clothes and came into the shower as Calix and Micah left it, and I soaped my hands up before washing and rinsing him clean. He backed me up against the shed wall before leaning down and kissing my lips as he turned the water off and pulled away. “Thanks, killer.”
Calix handed me a fluffy towel, and we all dried off before getting dressed again.
They walked me to the bottom of my parents’ treehouse, each kissing me on the head before heading back to ours.
“We’ll be waiting for you!” Nathan called after me as I climbed up the tree onto the deck.
I waved back at them before taking a deep breath and opening the door to the treehouse I realized I hadn’t even been in.
It hadn’t been that long since we came to the Oasis, but even so, I’d been so wrapped up in Calix, Micah, and Nathan that I hadn’t had much time with my family. I knew it was normal, especially with everything we had to do, and at that time, I had been avoiding Daisy and Jay, but I still missed my family.
Spencer’s eyes lit up as she jumped off a beige sofa and came to drag me to sit down. “You need some sister time, Tori. Fess up. I know everything’s been getting to you.”
