Blackbird's Fall (7 page)

In
and out, keeping the same pace, and experiencing the buildup of orgasm, Marius
closed his eyes and finally let himself surrender to his pleasure.

He
didn’t want to worry about the infection, about the world ending, or the part
he played in it all. He just wanted to be a man being with the woman he cared
about.

He
felt his orgasm rise up violently. It started as a tingling at the base of his
spine and moved quickly through him. “I’m coming, baby.” He gave three more
pumps in her and pulled out, gripping his base as he looked at her face.

 
His orgasm tore through him, making him come
harder than he ever remembered doing in his life. Hot, white and thick jets of
his spunk covered her belly in ribbons. The pleasure sucked the air from his
lungs, stole his sanity, and he knew that he would never be the same.

Maya
was his, and nothing would ever change that.

He
groaned once more and stilled as his pleasure finally receded. He lay beside
her, and for a few minutes they didn’t speak, just breathed heavily. She
reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward her.

“Will
you hold me, Marius?” she murmured sleepily.

Damn, this woman is going to be
my everything
.

“Yeah,
baby.”

He
pulled her close and held her tightly. Turning his head and kissing her temple,
he breathed out as pleasure and warmth filled him, the kind that had nothing to
do with what they’d just done.

For
several moments all they did was lie there, not moving, neither saying
anything.

“Do
you think this will change things, Marius?” she asked softly, the candle
flickering as a small breeze moved by it.

“I
do, but I only think for the best.”

They
turned and faced each other, and he reached down and grabbed the blanket off
the foot of the bed. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

He
smiled and kissed her forehead. “I have no plans on going anywhere.”

Chapter
Eleven

One week later

The
chill in the air was noticeable now, and Maya zipped up her jacket. Sherman was
running after a leaf that was blowing around the property, and across the way
Marius was getting some hunting things ready for a small excursion into the
forest. They needed to stock up on some meat, and although they didn’t have
electricity for freezing it, they were going to use the small, rustic smokehouse
that had been built by her grandfather. Up until Marius had seen it she hadn’t
known what it was, and even if she had known she didn’t know how to smoke meat
to preserve it.

But
Marius knew, so she hoped he was able to find some game when he went out.

She
lifted up another log and placed it on the block. She would have gone with
Marius, but they had a lot to do on the farm still, and with winter approaching
rapidly they couldn’t afford to stop one project to do another. They both had
to be working on different things at the same time.

She
looked over at him, and she felt that warmth that she got whenever he was near
fill her. There was just something about Marius that changed her, that made her
see this fucked up world a little differently. She could see herself having a
future, could see them having one together.

Turning
back toward the wood, she grabbed the handle of the ax, brought it up, and
swung it down on the wood, splitting it in two. She did this over and over
again until her arms ached, and sweat lined her brow.

“Maya,
baby,” Marius said from behind her.

She
turned, not stopping the little smile that crossed her face. She couldn’t help
it. She loved hearing him call her that.

He
had on his pack, several layers of clothing under a bulky jacket, and his short
dark hair brushed his forehead. After she’d seen what he’d done to his hair
with the scissors she’d helped him fix it up. She had to admit he was damn sexy
with longer hair, but when it was trimmed … he was a different man altogether.

“I’m
heading out.”

She
nodded. “How long do you think you’ll be?”

“I
don’t want to be away from you longer than I have to be.”

She
cocked an eyebrow at that, but smiled. He was sweet to think about her, even if
she could handle herself.

“But
we need meat. If I can’t find anything in the next day or two I’ll head back
here. Worst case scenario is I come home with a few rabbits and some
squirrels.”

Not
the best meal, but these days, people couldn’t be picky, especially not with a
Colorado winter coming on.

“I’ll
be okay, and I know you’ll be okay,” she said, adding the last part to let him
know that she had faith in his skills. Marius was a big man, and since the
weeks had passed and his wound was healing very well, surprisingly well and
fast, she knew that he wasn’t a man that could be taken down easily. But of
course there was that little voice in the back of her head that worried, that
said out there wasn’t safe anymore.

She
felt protected with the trees surrounding her, feel like she had a wall of
safety because she was so high up. The fence surrounding the house wasn’t
anything that could keep someone out if they truly wanted in, especially not a
healthy human. It would stop an infected because they had no reasoning, no
common sense anymore. But they could find a way through, with enough time, she
was sure.

“Come
here, baby,” he said after a moment of neither speaking, both just looking at
each other.

It
had been an unspoken agreement that Marius wasn’t leaving, that they’d stay
here together, fighting to survive, and be with each other. It was the way he
looked at her, the way he touched her, spoke with her, that made Maya feel like
she didn’t have to take the weight of her worry and this world on herself. It
was a wonderful feeling to have someone else with her, someone else that could
smile genuinely. Marius didn’t want anything from her that she wasn’t willing
to give, and she was the same way.

She
set the ax down, that tingling in her body intensifying. When she was only
inches from her he reached out and pulled her close. A soft sound left her at
the feeling of his hardness to her softness. Marius pushed away a strand of
hair from her face that had gotten free from her ponytail, and smoothed his
finger along her cheek and down to her mouth. He stared at her lips for a long
while, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, and she didn’t feel like he was
scrutinizing her. Maya felt like he was taking in every aspect of her,
memorizing her.

“I
know it’ll only be for a day or two, but I really don’t want to fucking leave
you,” he murmured, seeming distant.

“I’ll
be here when you get back.” She smiled. “Or you can stay and we can figure out
other things to eat.”

He
shook his head. “No, baby, I need to find some protein for us, especially since
I know winter is going to be a bitch.”

Yeah,
winters in Colorado were hard below the mountains, but being this high up she
knew it could be brutal.

He
leaned down and kissed her softly, and just when she was feeling that warmth
rise to a fever pitch Marius pulled back. “Watch yourself,” he whispered and
ran his thumb along her bottom lip.

“You,
too.”

He
nodded, and with one more look he turned and started heading into the woods.
She stared off after him even when she couldn’t see him anymore. Finally she
turned around and finished chopping the wood. She gathered some of the wood and
made her way toward the house. As she set the logs on the porch and went to
head back to get more, something caught her eye. Making her way toward the
fence on the far end of the property, she saw that one of the posts was rotted
at the bottom, which led to the wire coming loose from the wood.

Glancing
up and around, she took note if anything was out of the ordinary, just in case.
She didn’t get any weird feelings, which usually were her instincts telling her
things weren’t right. But she didn’t know how long this post had been like
this. If an infected came wandering through
they
would
have no trouble pulling this fencing right out and walking onto the property.

Sherman
came running up to her and sat down beside her.

“We
need to get this fixed, Sherman.” For a long time talking to her dog was the
only conversation she had, even if it was one sided. Lifting her head she
stared out into the woods again. The sound of birds above her head could be
heard, and of trees swaying, the bark creaking.

The
fence temporarily forgotten, Maya really hoped Marius was okay, and that their
luck at not having any infected roaming this high up lasted. She was afraid
Marius wouldn’t come back, or if he did he’d be injured again. And then there
was the worry about the man that had stabbed him. Then again that last part was
furthest from her mind because it had been weeks with no sign of him.

God,
this changed world had the worry and fear people tried to keep at bay rising up
and being paramount. But it was necessary in order to survive.

Chapter
Twelve

Marius
had been hunting for the last day, and aside from a rabbit and two squirrels
that were tucked in his pack, he hadn’t come across any deer … until now.

He
crouched low and breathed out slowly. The buck was about twenty yards away,
grazing but aware it wasn’t alone. Marius tried to calm his breathing and heart
rate, tried to relax so he didn’t spook the animal.

Lifting
his gun, he trained it on the buck. He didn’t want to shoot too soon, didn’t
want to miss this one shot he had. The buck could feed them for the next
several months if they rationed it well enough.

Inhaling
deeply, he kept his gaze trained on the buck. He’d make the death painless,
shoot the animal where it would die instantly. No point in making the animal
suffer. And when he exhaled slowly that was when he fired.

The
buck fell to the ground, dead instantly. A thrill went through him, not because
he’d killed the animal, but because he’d be able to bring meat home for Maya. He
was providing for her, and to him that meant a hell of a lot.

Grabbing
his things he headed over to the animal. He’d dress it in the field and then
carry it back to the house. It would be a hike, but he’d walk all night if he
had to. He had this bad feeling in the pit of his gut, had it since the moment
he turned his back on her and headed into the woods. It could just be him not
wanting to leave the first good thing he’d found.

As
he started cutting open the buck and removing the organs that weren’t exactly
edible, he thought about the few times he’d gone hunting with his father. It
had been the reason he even knew how to do this. His dad had wanted Marius to
be more of a “guy” and not the type of geeky kid that wanted to do science
projects in the garage. Hunting hadn’t gotten rid of Marius’s desire to do
things that didn’t involve killing an animal, but instead made him appreciate
what he wanted to do in life.

He
was just about finished with cleaning out the buck when the sound of groaning
and of twigs snapping slammed into Marius. He instantly stood and grabbed his
gun, his hands bloody, his eyes focused on his surroundings.

There
was another crack of a twig in the distance, and Marius tensed. He grabbed his
knife with his other hand, and held still, waiting and listening. He was ready,
his entire body poised and prepared to attack. He backed away from where the
sound had come from, closer to a tree, making sure at least his back wasn’t
vulnerable. He listened again, harder this time, and held his breath. His heart
beat slowly, steadily, and he kept alert.

More
sounds of twigs breaking came closer, but the trees were thick, and it was hard
to see around them. And then he spotted the infected moving out of the forest
and toward him. The female’s steps were slow, languished, and she dragged one
foot behind her. The closer she got, the louder her moaning became.

When
she was just a few yards away, Marius saw that her foot was broken and bent to
the side, the bone protruding from the darkened, crusted flesh. The female was
hungry, softly groaning and raising its hands toward him.

The
infected female lifted her head and parted its lips in a silent cry. Black
blood oozed out of her mouth and nose, dripping down her shin and landing on
her torn and tattered shirt. She’d been dead a while going by the amount on
decay on her. The black blood covering her was old, congealed and dead, just
like she was. Once contaminated the infected had a lifespan of about seven to
fourteen days. The two-week mark was rare in most cases, but he’d read reports
on it. Once they died that’s when they came back as living corpses. They had no
rationalization, weren’t the loved ones people once knew. They only wanted to
feed, and that was on living flesh.

The
corpses were no longer living, but rotting from the inside out, literally. The
female shuffled toward him, and the fluid and necrosis in her lungs made this
wet, gurgling noise. She lifted her hands again at Marius, groaning, black
blood spewing from her mouth.

Her
flesh was black and rotting in most areas, and he’d gauge she’d been infected
for a while because of the amount of decomposition. Her cheeks were gaunt and
sunken, and her eyes were now cloudy. She wore what was once a dress, but all
that now covered parts of her body was brain stained and torn material. Her
breasts were visible, or what was left of them.

She
then turned and saw the buck. He pushed his thoughts away, and just reacted.
Moving those last few feet toward her, she didn’t even register him as the
scent of the buck obviously had her enthralled. He put his gun away, knowing he
didn’t want to waste a bullet when a knife would have the same efficiency.
Knife raised high, he plunged it into her temple. She turned around, her lips
parted, her gums receding, and the black blood continuing to spill out of her
mouth.

She
made one more gurgled sound before falling to the ground. His knife came free,
but also with it a chunk of her flesh. For a second all Marius did was stare at
her, but then he snapped out of it. He grabbed a clean knife and finished field
dressing the deer before slinging it over his shoulders, and heading home.

Home.
That’s where Maya was.