“My daddy’s land was in the middle of nowhere. I could have survived hunting and fishing, but I was lonely as hell. Especially after he was gone. Damn near went nutty from the isolation.” His blue eyes shined with sincerity. I knew exactly what he meant.
“We need other people,” I said.
“Right as rain, short stack,” he said and gave me a fist bump.
“If Promised Land doesn’t exist, maybe we could start our own commune?”
He nodded and flashed a boyish grin. “Not a bad idea. But hey, if you want to know what big city living is like, you should ask your boyfriend, after you go and wake him up.”
“Me?” I protested. “Why?”
“That’s part of your new duties.”
“You never told me that.”
“Your boyfriend, your problem.” He slapped my back and nodded to where Cipher was currently buried beneath a pile of sleeping bags like a bear in hibernation. He hadn’t thrown his leg at me yet, but he was awfully cranky upon waking.
“Go on, get to it,” Macon said. “We gotta get moving soon.”
I dropped off my wood in the pile and made my way over to our sleep spot where I infiltrated Cipher’s fortress by squirming my way into his tunnel of bedding like a rabbit. It was cozy in there, and it smelled like my boyfriend, sleepy and warm. Cipher hardly stirred, so I cuddled up against him, relishing his body heat and lack of defenses. He was wound so tightly in the daytime, hyper-alert for any sign of danger. Like this, he was soft and almost sweet. He was also unconscious, which helped. I hooked one foot around his bionic leg and angled my groin so I could rub up on him. I figured it wasn’t the worst way to be woken up.
“Ci-pher,” I sang and blew on his face. His nostrils flared, eyes still closed, so I leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose. His sleep-swollen eyes opened a crack with a look of impending doom. He saw that it was me and continued to glare.
“Good morning, boyfriend.” I gave him a great big squeeze around the middle. He unclenched enough to open his arms and embrace me.
“Be quiet and let me sleep for another half hour,” he croaked, probably hoarse from smoking too many cigarettes while on watch the night before.
“I can’t. Macon wants everyone up.”
“Shhhhh.” He placed one hand over my mouth and dragged me to his chest.
I removed his hand and said, “What is it like?”
“What iswhatlike?”
“Atlanta?”
He sighed. “Like any other city, I’m guessing. Dirty, weirdly desolate, and crawling with pigs.”
“They have bacon there?”
He chuckled. “Not the animal, Kitten. Police. Pigs is a rather rude name for them, on account of them being fascist and full-bodied from eating too many donuts.”
“What does fascist mean?”
“Shhhh, my little Padawan. Save the questions for when I’m awake.”
I gave him a few more minutes to rest, then kissed the tip of his nose again. He groaned and pinched my sides. “You’re a menace.”
“Teresa said there’d be ice cream in Atlanta.”
“Maybe.”
“Where will we stay?”
“Government housing, most likely. Hopefully there won’t be too many roaches. That’s one advantage to having a cat, I guess. She can catch the vermin.”
“Will they let her in?”
