Chapter 5 #2
“It sounds weird. I mean, chicken, cheese, bacon, and ranch are all good. But pickles?”
“Yes! They give it just the right amount of tartness. Don’t knock it until you try it. What about you?”
“Steak.”
“That’s such a guy answer.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but I am a guy.”
“True.”
“Your turn. Ask me anything.”
“Um… What do you like about flying?”
Chaos laughed. “How much time do you have?”
She looked down at her wrist, as if checking a watch that she wasn’t wearing. “I’m thinking we have plenty of time.”
“Right.”
Chaos launched into some of the hundred reasons he loved being behind the controls of an aircraft. How freeing it was. How he loved operating such a huge machine. How he enjoyed serving his country. Helping the men and women he and his team shuttled in and out of dangerous missions.
When he was done giving her about a dozen reasons, he realized that he’d been talking for at least fifteen or twenty minutes. “Sorry, I honestly didn’t mean to go on and on.”
“It’s okay. It’s fascinating. And I think it would scare the crap out of me. It’s interesting that it does the exact opposite for you.”
“Yeah. What about you? What do you like about accounting?”
“Nothing.”
Chaos blinked. “Nothing?”
“Nope. Wait, that’s not true. I like the paycheck. And I’m good at math, so it’s not hard.”
“Why do you do it then? Why not write full time?”
“It’s not as easy as that. Do you know how many books are published every year?”
“No.”
“Millions. And most books sell less than fifty copies a year. And it’s not cheap to publish either.
Editors, proofreaders, covers…and that’s all before you throw in marketing.
These days, you have to pay out the nose to get ads on social media, and it can be a time suck to try to entice readers to pick up your book out of the millions of others they have to choose from.
I enjoy writing, but it doesn’t pay my bills. ”
“I’m sorry.”
Kara shrugged again. “It is what it is. I get a kick out of each and every sale I make. I actually sold ten books last month!” she said with a huge smile. “That’s ten people who I entertained with my words for a couple of hours. And I even got a good review posted as well. Made my day.”
“That’s awesome,” Chaos said quietly, all the more determined to find out what her pen name was and buy one of her books.
“Yeah. Your turn to ask something.”
The day passed pleasantly enough as they took turns asking questions and getting to know each other.
Some of the questions were silly and easy, and others were more serious and introspective.
By the time the sun was setting, Chaos had gotten to know Kara pretty damn well.
And he was even more sure of his decision to invite her back to Virginia as a result.
He knew without a doubt that she’d get along great with Penny, Laryn, Zita, and Mandy. And even Jen. If there was ever a woman in need of a girl tribe, it was Kara.
But as relaxed as the day had been, Chaos was upset that they hadn’t been found.
Intellectually, he knew the team was doing the best it could, and that the region was in complete chaos.
He’d seen that for himself when they’d first gotten up in the air.
Even in the dark, he could see the area was a disaster zone.
That there were hundreds of people who needed help.
He assumed Casper and the others had prioritized helping those who were in danger of losing their lives over finding him, exactly as they should. But it still sucked.
“Looks like we’re going to have to spend another night out here,” he said, as the sun began to inch its way to the west.
Kara nodded. “I figured.”
“They’re going to find us,” he said firmly.
“They might think you didn’t make it out of the floodwaters alive. Most people don’t.”
“I’m sure they’ve considered it. But I know my team. They aren’t going to be satisfied until they see my dead body for themselves. Until that happens, they’ll assume I somehow survived. Just as I would if it was one of them who’d gone into the water. Have faith, Kara.”
“That usually doesn’t work out well for me,” she admitted.
“Well, this time it will. And it’s okay if you don’t believe they’ll find us, because I have enough faith for both of us. I’m going to scrounge around and see what kind of branches I can find to make us a shelter.”
“I can help,” Kara said, moving off the log to stand.
Chaos wanted to tell her to stay seated.
That he’d do it himself, because he didn’t want her to hurt her feet any more than she already had.
Point out her hands were still too damaged to do what needed to be done.
But he knew more than most that feeling useful could be a big mood lifter. That she probably needed to help.
“Okay. If you can look around and gather leaves, pine needles, and anything else that might be soft enough for us to lie on, that would be great.”
She nodded eagerly, and he saw the pleasure in her face that she’d be contributing.
For the next hour, they worked together to put together a lean-to. He wanted to make it big enough that Kara wouldn’t have to be smushed up against him, but that was easier said than done. In the end, it was a bit bigger than the rock shelter they’d had the night before, but not by much.
Once again, Chaos wished he had the tools to cook them something for dinner.
He could probably get a fire started, even though making fire with sticks and determination was one of his least favorite things to do, especially with all the wood around them currently soaking wet.
But he would’ve done it if he had anything to cook over the flames.
But Kara being the person he was learning she was, she didn’t complain about being hungry or thirsty.
In fact, she hadn’t complained about anything.
Not what she’d been through, not the bruises on her body, not the scrapes, and definitely not having to spend another night in the wilderness.
They were both filthy from sweat, mud, and sleeping on the ground last night.
But as she’d said earlier, they were alive. It was good enough for now.
“Go ahead and climb in and get comfortable. I’m going to sit out here for a while,” Chaos told her, as it got dark. He really hoped that his team had spent the daylight hours rescuing citizens, and could therefore spend the night looking for him. Working in the dark was what they did best.
But he also didn’t want to crowd Kara. Not after knowing what she’d been through at the hands of a madman.
He didn’t want to bring back any bad memories for her if he could help it.
And now he knew that lying next to a stranger in the dark couldn’t be comfortable for her by any stretch.
No matter how much he might enjoy it, he wouldn’t subject her to anything she didn’t want.
“You aren’t going to sleep?” she asked.
“I will. Just not yet.”
She was quiet for a long moment. Then said, “It’s okay, Arrow. I know you aren’t him. You’ve had every opportunity to hurt me. To force me to do things I wouldn’t want. And you haven’t. In fact, you’ve been nothing but kind. I’m not going to freak out if you come in here and lie down next to me.”
This woman. She had a spine of steel. Chaos admired the hell out of her.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Moving slowly, Chaos scooted into the small lean-to and settled on his side. Lying on his back hurt his shoulder, and lying on his side hurt his ribs. But at the moment, his shoulder hurt more. And besides, being on his side gave Kara a bit more room.
She turned on her side to face him, copying him by resting her head on her arm. “Tell me about them? Your friends that you’re so sure are coming.”
“My copilot is Edge. He’s the oldest of our group, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he acts. He’s the fastest runner, the strongest out of all of us, and secretly I think he might be a vampire because he looks damn good for his age.”
Kara smiled at that.
“Casper’s our team leader. He’s a great man and an even better pilot. He’s engaged to our head mechanic, Laryn. And they’re pregnant. Right before we were sent to Asheville, we were all supposed to get together to find out if she’s carrying twins—because Casper’s a twin—but here we are instead.”
“Oh, twins. I bet they’re excited.”