Chapter 15 Nico
Chapter fifteen
Nico
Iglared at the idiot pointing a gun at me.
He had absolutely no idea who the fuck he was messing with.
Or the grave mistake he made by putting Emery and her parents’ lives in danger.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Miguel slowly step in front of Emery while Luis blocked Felix and Camila.
They both gave me tight nods without taking their eyes off the dead man in front of me.
They were ready.
I shifted to the side to cover Mr. Higgins as my eyes returned to the gunman.
I noted the slight tremor in his hand as he held the gun and the waxy look of his skin.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he was sweating more than he should be.
The fucking tweaker was either on something or coming off a high and starting to go through withdrawal.
He shouldn’t be a threat, but in his current condition, he could be unpredictable.
“Are you deaf?!” he yelled. “I said, give me all of your shit! Now!”
I crossed my arms and laughed. “And if we don’t?”
“I’ll shoot you! I don’t want to, but I will if you don’t stop fucking around and do what I say!”
“I bet you don’t even have any bullets in that gun,” I scoffed. It was a risky move, but I was willing to bet the idiot was more concerned with proving himself than keeping control over us.
“Oh, no?” he laughed. He raised the gun to shoot it in the air and prove he had bullets. As soon as I was clear from the line of sight, Miguel and Luis fired. Both bullets went through the druggie’s head before he even knew what was coming.
“We need to move, fast!” I yelled as I ran forward and took the gun from the man’s dead hand.
I had no idea if this guy worked alone or if there were more druggies inside the building, but I did know for a fact that any zombie within hearing distance would be making a beeline for us right now.
We needed to be out of this tight alley before they got here.
I ran for the other end of the alley, trusting Miguel and Luis to get the group moving and watch our backs.
As I neared the mouth of the alley, a zombie stumbled into view. I aimed the would-be robber’s gun at it and pulled the trigger.
Click.
That fucking moron. I threw the gun at the zombie’s head and swung my crowbar at it.
The zombie fell to the ground, and I quickly stabbed the end of the crowbar into its eye socket, the impact of steel against asphalt reverberating up my arm.
I looked up and down the street and saw that, while our path forward was clear for now, a small group was approaching from the other direction.
“Move faster! Miguel, take the lead!”
Miguel ran ahead of everyone, including me, while I stood guard to ensure everyone made it out.
“We’ll discuss your stupidity later,” Emery hissed as she ran by.
I grinned after her. I looked forward to that discussion.
Even more if I could arrange for it to end with her begging.
I followed after them, and for the most part, we didn’t run into any trouble.
Most zombies were headed toward the sound of the gunshot, so as long as we kept out of their sight and quiet, they continued past us.
At one point, we had to hide on the subway stairs to let a slightly larger group go by.
As much as I loved taking down as many as we could, sometimes the smarter strategy was to evade, especially when not everyone in the group could fight.
Once the coast was clear, we were able to continue our trek to the tunnel at a slower pace. We’d made it about halfway from where we’d stopped for lunch when another transmission came through the radio.
All parties, please be advised that all personnel are accounted for.
Copy that. Commence Operation Night Night.
“What the fuck is Operation Night Night, and why do I have a feeling it isn’t as cozy as it sounds?” Miguel asked. Before any of us could hazard a guess, another message came.
Attention all citizens still residing in New York City. Please be advised that to contain the virus, all bridges and tunnels from Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs will be destroyed at zero-six hundred hours. Any remaining survivors within those areas should evacuate by any means necessary.
The message repeated itself on a loop.
“Holy shit,” Emery said. “They’re going to bomb the bridges and tunnels.”
“Let’s make sure we’re on the other side when they do,” I replied.
“Does anyone have the time?” Luis asked. “My phone’s been dead for a while.”
I checked my phone and then looked at Emery, who shook her head. Our phones were dead now, too.
“You kids and your technology,” Mr. Higgins scoffed. He held up his arm to show off the analog watch on his wrist. “We have about thirteen hours until it’s bombs away. Plenty of time to get out.”
“Even so, let’s hustle,” I ordered.
We started moving again, everyone moving a little faster than before, now that we had Operation Night Night looming over us. Clever name. If we made it out of the city, I might even chuckle at it. When we arrived at the tunnel, the sun was already setting.
“I propose that we find somewhere to eat and get some rest before we tackle the tunnel. We’re going to have to do it in the dark no matter what, so we may as well rest first.”
“We don’t have time,” Emery argued.
“Being worn out won’t do us any favors, Em,” I replied, looking pointedly at Mr. Higgins and her visibly tired parents. “I’m not saying a full night’s rest, just a few hours to let us recharge.”
“Plus, we still need to find flashlights,” Miguel reminded us. “Why don’t Luis and I do that while you guys settle in and rest. It shouldn’t take us long to find a place.”
“Good idea,” I replied. “Let’s find a place first.”
We settled on a mattress shop a few blocks from the tunnel.
It would give everyone a comfortable place to rest, and the chances of other humans finding us were slim.
Not much to loot in a mattress shop. Camila demanded that Luis and Miguel eat before they went out, so we ate the rest of the food we had.
Food would be another challenge we’d have to face, but if we didn’t make it out of the city, it wouldn’t matter much.
We could swim the Hudson if push came to shove, but it would be unbelievably risky.
The mattress dipped beside me as Emery joined me at the front of the shop. “What’s on your mind?”
I shrugged. “Just thinking through our next moves. Food. Shelter. Ya know, the usual stuff.”
“Things might be different outside of the city. Why else would they spend the resources to cut the city off from the rest of the world?”
She had a point. “Do you think everything outside of the city is normal?”
“It could be, though, for how long, I’m not sure.
I think this could be the beginning of the end of civilization, or at least society as we know it.
Even if it hasn’t touched all corners of the world yet, I don’t think it can be stopped.
I mean, we’ve seen this infection firsthand.
If it were containable, they would have already done so. ”
“So what do we do?” I asked.
Emery side-eyed me with a smirk. “You’re asking me, fearless leader?”
Her teasing made me crack a smile. “I won’t pretend to know everything.”
“Oh my God!?” Emery’s eyes widened in horror as she looked around. Her reaction had me looking around as well, expecting to see a threat to deal with. “What do you mean you don’t know everything!” Emery’s laughter echoed around the room when she realized she’d gotten me.
“Such a brat!” I growled, tackling her to the bed and tickling her. “I thought something was actually wrong!”
“I know,” she gasped as she tried to wiggle away from me. “That’s what made it so funny.”
I shook my head as I rolled to my back and pulled her with me so that she was lying across my chest. “You’re insufferable sometimes, you know that?”
“Yep!” Emery said proudly.
I tipped my head back to check on the others and saw they were all sleeping.
With a sly grin, I turned my attention back to the beauty in my arms. I cupped Emery’s face and tilted it up so that I could kiss her.
While we kissed, I slid my hand down to palm her breast. Her quiet moan spurred me on, and once her nipple had stiffened, I continued my path across her stomach.
When I got to the waistband of her jeans, I pushed my hand inside.
“Nico!” Emery scolded quietly, nervously glancing toward her parents.
“What?” I whispered back as I rubbed her pussy over her panties.
Emery gasped quietly as her eyes fell closed. I felt her hips rotate slightly against my hand, seeking more friction, a stark contradiction to her words. “I don’t think now is the time for this.”
“I’ll never pass up the chance to get handsy with my girl,” I replied, rolling her to her back and nipping her shoulder. “You’re just going to have to learn to keep quiet. Do you think you can do that, Princess?”
Emery immediately shook her head no, making me chuckle.
No, I wasn’t sure she could, if last night and this morning were any indication.
I slipped a finger through her folds to probe her entrance and felt the arousal already pooling there.
Fucking hell, turning her on was its own turn on.
I positioned my hand down further, preparing to enter her, when the familiar sound of a zombie growl reached us.
We froze, looked through the glass, and saw a zombie stumbling past. Beyond him in the street were a couple more.
I sighed and slowly removed my hand. Even if she could stay mostly quiet to keep from waking the others, the risk from outside was too great.
One stray moan could catch the wrong attention, and then we’d be in trouble.
It just wasn’t worth it. We cuddled up together on the bed, watching the zombies pass by quietly.
“What do you think her story was?” I asked quietly as a female zombie trudged by. She was an older woman with bright red, frizzy hair, dressed in an off-the-shoulder shirt over black pants, artfully ripped and adorned with chains.
Emery observed her for a moment before answering.
“Her favorite thing to tell people was that age is just a number and that she was young at heart. That translated to the much younger clothes she wore and the friends she kept. She surrounded herself with younger people to convince herself she was still young, too.”
“Like the mom from that movie where they only wore pink on Wednesdays,” I agreed. “She lived vicariously through her children.”
“And they let her because she bankrolled all of their desires without question. She was probably in their prom pictures,” Emery giggled.
“Oh, check out that guy. Even dead, you can tell he was a little dumb. Not like, debilitatingly, but just enough that it caused people around him to wonder if anyone was home upstairs on occasion.”
I looked at the man she was referring to. He had a buzz cut and a hat with his favorite sports team’s logo. “He looks like the kind of man who abused his wife and then was confused when she’d had enough and left with the kids.”
“He became a part-time father at best, blaming her for his lack of involvement in their lives because she broke up the family, not him. He probably stalked her whenever she went out, all while begging her to come home with promises that he’d changed.”
“Three years later, and he is still accusing her of cheating on him because she found someone new and moved on,” I laughed. “Fucking pathetic loser.”
“We’re a cynical pair, aren’t we?” Emery commented. “Those people were probably lovely.”
“Meh, who cares?” I replied. “Coming up with the worst story possible is what makes the game fun. Otherwise, it would just be depressing.”
“That’s true,” Emery conceded. “What the hell was that?” We both sat up and listened to the series of explosions in the distance. “You don’t think they started bombing early, do you?”
I shook my head. “Not loud enough for that,” I assured her.
The zombies near us all turned and headed toward the explosions, clearing the street. Understanding dawned on me. “Luis and Miguel. They set up a distraction to clear a path for them to come back.”
“That was smart.”
“We’re more than just pretty faces and sexy bodies, Princess,” I teased.
I went to the door to look out for them, and a few minutes later, I saw them coming from the opposite direction, loaded down with bags.
I unlocked and pushed the door open for them, and they ran inside.
“Smart move with the explosions. What was that?”
“Firecrackers,” Miguel grinned, holding up an entire plastic bag full of them.
“We hit the jackpot,” Luis said. “We’ve got headlamps, flashlights, flares. We found a survival shop that somehow hadn’t been looted.”
“It probably had something to do with the shotgun-wielding owner,” Miguel commented. “We found what was left of him behind the counter.”
“My point is, we got a bunch of Lifestraws, emergency blankets, first aid kits, fire starters. Everything we might need in the current state of the world.” As Luis spoke, he rifled through the bags, holding up the items as he listed them.
“You did well, guys,” Emery said, climbing back onto the bed. “Now, why don’t we all try to get a little sleep before we have to tackle the tunnel?”
I locked the door while they put the bags aside, and then we all joined Emery on the bed. After standing guard all night and the long day we had, I was more than ready to shut my eyes for a spell.