Grace Lost (The Grace Series) (16 page)

 “I can stop, Zo,” he said
with tenderness in his voice.

 “I’m just scared…I’ve never
done this before….” I whispered.  “Don’t stop, Boggs,” I said, almost
begging.

 “Zoe, as long as I live I
promise I won’t hurt you.”  He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me
deeply again.  With a free hand he sought out my panties.  He slid
his hand underneath, still kissing me.  He caressed me gently, twisting
his fingers through my pubic hair teasingly.  I found myself responding by
opening my legs to him, wanting more.  It caused him to moan quietly and
search deeper with his fingers.  I felt a brief twinge as his fingers
entered me and gasped quietly, pulling my hips away slightly.  My reaction
seemed to excite Boggs even more and his fingers searched for me almost
frantically.  I bit my lip while he pulled my panties down over my knees
and finally my feet.  He kissed my left ankle, then my knee, and smelled
my inner thigh until he got to the place he craved the most.  He kissed me
gently there, and spoke quietly against me.  “Don’t be scared, Zoe.” 
I felt his tongue enter me, searching wildly.  I brought my hips up,
inviting him to continue pleasuring me.  As his tongue searched deeper and
his mouth sucked wildly, I moved my hands to the top of his head and gently
grabbed his hair.  My breathing quickened and I pleasantly felt myself
losing control.

He moved up toward me, mirroring
my body with his own.  He unzipped his jeans with one hand while holding
his weight with the other.  He met my eyes with his own, then leaned down
and kissed me hard.  He whispered softly into my ear.  “Are you sure
you want me to do this?”

I nodded and whispered back,
“yes.”

I spread my legs and felt him
press into me.  His erection was sliding between my legs, searching for
entry.   My breathing was heavy, and my hips searching longingly for
him in return.  His manliness was hot as it finally found its target and
entered me deeply.  He started gently by thrusting in short strokes. 

I put my hands on his biceps and
squeezed firmly.

His voice was breathy.  “Does
that feel ok?”  He grunted lightly after he said it.

I gripped his arms harder and
answered quietly. 
“More than ok.”
 My hips
continue to thrust against him in eagerness.

He looked at me tenderly and I met
his eyes in return.  He started making love to me with long, deep
thrusts.  My grip on his arms tightened more, which seemed to drive him
wild.   He never took his eyes off of me.  The headboard began
thumping against the wall as our demonstration of love and passion
escalated.  Boggs finally closed his eyes as he let out a long intense
moan and I felt a flush of warmth mix with my own rippling pleasure where our
bodies were joined.

As Boggs collapsed onto me, I
fought to catch my breath.  He rolled off and we lay next to each other
until we regained ourselves.  He stroked my hair, and kissed me
lovingly.  “I love you,” he whispered.

We joined the others downstairs at
the kitchen table where they had set out a breakfast of dry cereal.  I sat
down, now wearing a pair of baggy sweat pants and a t-shirt I had found in the
armoire.

Emilie had just shoved a handful
of cereal into her mouth and spoke when she was almost done chewing.  “You
guys sounded like you had fun!”  Gus nudged her with his arm, making her
choke slightly.

I blushed and Boggs grinned,
making my cheeks redden even more.  Gus was kind enough to change the
topic, while Emilie worked to contain her smile.

“We need to board up the outside
of the windows today,” said Gus. 

“Why?” I asked.

Gus took a deep breath.  “We
need to worry about two things now. 
The dead and the
living.
  If survivors come by and see we’re boarded up on the
inside it’d be a dead giveaway. Pardon the pun.  If it’s boarded up on the
outside it’ll look more like a vacant building.  At least it might buy us
some time.”

Emilie looked at him
quizzically.  “But don’t we want to help survivors?”

Boggs answered.  “Not
everyone is going to be looking for help.  Some will be looking to take
from us, or to hurt us.”

“I suggest we board up the
exterior main floor windows today, but just leave the upstairs drapes pulled
shut.  That way we can use the upper windows if needed.  Extra light,
defense, or escape,” Gus advised.  “We should assume that anyone and
everyone that might happen upon us is an enemy until we know otherwise. We need
to stock up on supplies within the next few days. Infrastructure is likely
already collapsing.  We aren’t sure just how widespread this is, so we
should assume it’s everywhere and that this is just how things are
now.”   We all listened intently to the ex-military man. “Eventually
roads will become impassable, we’ll be out of fuel for the cabin, and even food
and supplies we might scavenge will be harder to come by.  We also need to
work at getting the car closer to the house.”

“Shouldn’t we just leave the car?”
asked Emilie.

Gus shook his head.  “We
should never leave anything if we can help it.  It’s full of supplies but
can also be torn down and used for tools.”

Boggs spoke up.  “So what’s
first?”

Gus looked thoughtful. 
“Today we secure the place better, and scout out the surrounding area. 
Today or tomorrow we work at getting the SUV closer, or at least getting our
supplies from inside it.  Eventually we’ll add more security here at the
cabin. 
A safe room of sorts.”

I was bringing a spoonful of
Cheerios to my mouth when I heard a shrill scream.  I froze, dropping the
spoon to the table with a clatter.  My three companions looked at
me.  I didn’t understand why they were just looking at me instead of
reacting to the scream from outside.

“Zoe? What’s wrong?”  Boggs
asked with concern in his voice.

I looked at him, my eyes wide, but
didn’t speak.

“Zoe, what is it?  You’re trembling,”
said Emilie as she stood from her seat.

The hairs on my arms and neck were
standing on end.  I heard the scream again.  No one else seemed to
hear it.  “We have to get to the attic,” I said as I stood from my seat at
the table, knocking my chair over.  My heart was racing, and my palms were
sweaty.

“Zoe?” asked Gus sternly. 
“What’s wrong, darlin’?” 

“Don’t you hear her?”  I
asked.  My voice was full of panic.

“Hear who, Zoe?” asked Boggs, now
standing beside me.

By the time I heard the scream for
the third time, I realized it was within my own head.  I covered my ears
with my hands, willing it to stop.  “God, no,” I moaned.  “It’s one
of them.  I can hear it in my head…the
screaming
.”

Gus was on my other side by now,
and took my face in his hands.  “Zoe.”  His voice was full of
authority.  “Look at me, Zoe.”  He looked into my eyes, studying
me.  “There’s no screaming.”

My breathing had quickened, and I
was shaking.  “Listen to me,
please
,” I begged.  “We have to
get to the attic.”   Tears were starting to fall down my
cheeks.   I turned to face Boggs.

“Zoe, Honey, what’s wrong?” asked
Boggs.  “Gus?  Is her fever back?”  I heard Boggs asking the
questions but it was overpowered by a fourth scream in my head.

“No, she doesn’t feel hot,”
replied Gus. 

“Shhhh!”
Interrupted Emilie sharply.
 
“Listen!”

Gus had his hands on my shoulders,
and everyone stopped to listen.

“Do you hear it?” asked the
redhead.  “It’s faint, but I can hear it.”

“Ya,” said Gus as he looked back
at me.  His face held an expression of unease as he studied me.  “I
do.  Boggs, grab your gun. 
Now.”
  He
didn’t break his focus on me until he was done speaking.

Within moments Gus and Boggs both
had their firearms readied.  Boggs walked to the boarded up kitchen
window, which he had cleverly fashioned so a small corner could be turned back
for easy viewing of the grounds around the cabin.  Gus went to the front
door, which also had a small opening for surveillance.  

“I don’t see anything on my side,”
said Boggs.

“Me either,” answered Gus.

Emilie was standing beside me,
holding my right hand in both of hers.  The scream came once again,
inhuman and ear-piercing.  This time it wasn’t only inside my head. 
I felt Emilie’s hands tighten on mine and knew she had heard it too.

“I see it,” said Gus flatly. 
“Coming out of the trees behind the shed.”

“That’s out of my view,” said
Boggs.

“It’s slow. 
Really slow.
  I only see one.”  Gus paused, and we
all waited for him to continue.  “I suggest we go out and take care of
it.”

“Are you
crazy
?” squealed
Emilie.  “Why?  When we can shoot it from here?”  Her voice had
lowered to a strained whisper.

Gus answered her.  “It’s
moving so slowly I think we can walk right up to it, Emilie. 
If we can kill it without the noise of the guns, even better.”

“No,” I whispered, almost
inaudibly.

“Zoe?”  Boggs had moved from
the kitchen window and was walking toward me.  “What do you mean ‘no’
? ”

I blinked and looked at him. 
“No.  You can’t go out.  It’s a trap.”

“Zoe, what the fuck are you
talking about?”  Gus sounded annoyed with me.

“I don’t know exactly.  Don’t
get angry with me!”  I was getting irritated, along with confused, by what
was going on in my head.  My hip was throbbing and I felt sick to my
stomach.

“Zo, just tell us what’s going
on.”  Boggs was in front of me, looking me in the eyes.  “No one is
angry.”

“There’s not just one.  She’s
just the bait.”

Gus left his position at the front
door and was behind Boggs now, looking down at me.  “How do you know it’s
a ‘she’?  Zoe?” 

“The creature you saw, the slow
one.  She’s bait.  There’s two more circling out back, waiting for us
to come out.  They’re very different than the slow one you saw.  I
don’t know how I know.  I just do.”  I started crying softly

Gus and Boggs looked at each
other.  Emilie took a step back from me and whispered “
shit
.”

“We need to listen to her,” was
all Boggs said.

Gus looked thoughtful for several
long moments.  My head spun with fragments of thoughts that were not my
own. 
Thoughts that didn’t make sense.
  I
knew how badly the creatures outside wanted us.  How badly they craved our
flesh. I fought to keep vomit from coming up my throat.

“All they want to do is eat us,” I
moaned.  Boggs wrapped his arms around me.  “I can feel how much they
want to tear us apart and eat our flesh.”

“Zoe.  I have no idea what’s
going on, but I need you to tell me where they are.  And are you sure
there’s only two others?”  Gus looked ready to fight.

I nodded.  “There’s the two
behind the cabin.  In the woods, I think.  They’re different than the
one you saw.  They sent her out to draw us out.”  I looked up at
Gus.  “They know we’re in here.”

He looked down, deep in
thought.  “Since they’ve set a trap we need to play along.  I’m
headed out front to be bait of our own.”

“No, Gus, you can’t!” cried
Emilie. 
“Absolutely not!”

Gus looked at Emilie.  “We
have no choice, darlin’.  I can kill the slow one with a spear. It’ll draw
the other two out, and I’ll need you and Boggs ready at the upstairs
windows.  You’ll need to shoot the two Zoe’s talking about.”

“Fuck, Gus,” said Boggs.  “I
think it’d be better if I come out with you and Emilie can shoot from
upstairs.”

“I disagree, Brother.  We
need to make sure one of us stays with the girls.  I don’t want them left
alone, just in case this goes bad.”

Boggs hung his head.  “Ya,
ok.  Emilie, I’ll need you to come upstairs with me before Gus heads
out.  Zoe, are you listening?” asked Boggs.

I looked up, my vision blurred
from tears.  “Yes.”

“Can you watch from our bedroom
window, let me and Emilie know what’s going on out front while we’re positioned
as snipers in the back two bedrooms?”

“Ya, ok.”

“Head upstairs and pull down the
ladder to the attic.  Use it if the creatures breach the cabin,” said
Gus.  “And put a couple spears up there, in the attic, just in case you
get stuck up there.”

The dead woman out front wailed
again.  It echoed in my head.

“They’re somehow telling her to
make a lot of noise,” I said.  “We have to hurry.  They suspect
something’s up.”  The realization that some of the creatures were capable
of thought and communication terrified me.

“Ok, go.  Now,” instructed
Gus.  “Emilie, you take whichever of the fuckers is closest and Boggs you
aim for the farthest,” he called back as we began ascending the stairs to the
second floor.