Save Me (23 page)

I could hear Will and Janet talking in low voices from the lobby of the dental complex. I wasn't trying to spy this time, but honestly, I wasn't trying not to listen either.

"It doesn't have to be this way Will. You can come with me. I told you, it's not like the other place."

Well, I wasn't going to stop listening after that, for sure.

"It's not just me anymore Janet. I can't make a decision like that without talking to Andi, even if I wanted to go."

"You know that girl would go anywhere with you, Will. You want her to be safe, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Will grumbled.

"Well then this is the most logical choice."

"Unless it's not. Janet, you know what I went through at the last place. I could never risk bringing Andi someplace like that. I know you say it's different, but that's what I thought about the last place too and we both know how wrong I was." Will's voice was strong, insistent, not the usual 'anything you say, Janet' attitude he normally had with her.

"I talked to Mike earlier. He wants to take Rose and Nikki and come with me. I'm set to head out tomorrow if they are ready. It's time to quit trying to survive and actually start living, Will."

The floor creaked under me, forcing me to keep walking or risk being caught eavesdropping.

"Hey babe, why are you up?" Will walked over, wrapping his arms around my waist and looking me over. He always checked me over, making sure I was all right.

"Just seeing where everyone is," I answered, rubbing my eyes trying to adjust to the LED light.

"Wasn't Dan with you?" Will looked confused.

"No. I woke up and he was gone." I leaned against Will, still sleepy and wanting to feel his warmth against me.

"I... uh... saw him with Rose a little while ago." Janet said, clearing her throat.

Will rolled his eyes. It didn't take a genius to know what those two were probably up to. She was practically trying to sit in his lap at dinner. He seemed to pay no attention to her so I figured he wasn't interested. I guess I was wrong. From the look on Janet's face, I could tell she knew more details than she was offering up. I was grateful for that. I wasn't into Dan like that, but I didn't need to know the details of what he did with other women either.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed. We have a long day tomorrow," Will said, nudging me toward the hallway.

"We have to talk about this, Will," Janet called after him.

"In the morning, Janet."

"She wants you to go to that military base with her?" I asked him as we climbed onto the mattress in our makeshift bedroom.

"You heard that huh?" Will asked, turning on his side to face me.

"You don't want to go."

It was a statement really. I knew he didn't want to go from the few conversations I overheard between him and Janet. I use the word 'overheard' here and I'm sticking with it. It makes me less of a creeper.

"It's a long story," Will sighed.

"Please tell me."I took his chin in my fingers, as he so often did to me, forcing him to look at me.

He was silent for a moment, as if contemplating whether or not he could tell the story. Then he closed his eyes for a few seconds and nodded, as if to say okay.

"When I first lost my family, I ended up with a group, military run, near my home. They took me in, no problem. I thought at first that it was some sort of safe haven. There were probably almost two hundred people there, families, children and the elderly. The children who lost their parents were being raised by people who volunteered. Everyone stepped up and did their part."

Okay. Sounded like a great place. Whatever happened must have been bad for him to leave there. Will pulled me against his chest, keeping me from looking at him while he told the rest of the story.

"They trained me, weapons, fighting, military stuff. Everyone there over ten was put in the training program. The training was eight weeks, fourteen hours a day, even for the little kids. Anyone who couldn't cut it was brought to the 'retraining' facility."

Will's voice caught in his throat and I could tell this was a painful memory.

"This place," he paused, "was bad. I got brought there right before my eight weeks was up. They were being excessively hard on this little kid and I told them to lay off him. I was dragged off to retraining and I found out later, they threw the kid outside the fences with nothing and told him if he was still alive in the morning, he could come back. The next time I saw him, he wasn't alive."

"Oh Will, I'm so sorry. That's awful!"

I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him closer into me. My eyes welled with tears for what he has been through. I wanted to take the pain away from him as much as I wanted to breathe.

"A few nights later couple of the kids and I came up with a plan and made it out of there. Well, four of us made it out of there anyway. Four others were killed trying."

Tears escaped down Will's face, landing on the top of my head.

"That's why you're afraid of going to another place like that. You worry it will be like that?"

"Yeah. Janet assures me it's not like that but honestly, I thought the place I was at was paradise when I first got there too. She was only there a few weeks before she left. She could be wrong."

"Will?" I pushed myself back from him a bit to see his face.

"Yes?" he answered, wiping the tears from his face, locking the memory back away.

"If you did want to go with Janet, we can ya know?"

He looked me over, a small half smile on his lips, and kissed my forehead softly.

After thinking about what I said for a moment, he asked, "Andi, do you
want
to go?"

Did I? Before I met Will, my answer would have been an emphatic no. I heard stories similar to Will's about large group settlements over the last year. They were either heaven on Earth or a total hell, depending on who was telling the story. I never met anyone I trusted enough to give me the honest truth, so I didn't know what to believe. It just seemed safer to avoid taking the chance. Now though, well life was different. I almost could see myself thinking about the future now, maybe even imagining that future with Will in it.

"Andi?"

I decided to take Dan's advice and just tell him what I was feeling.

"I want to be where you are."

I guess that was the right answer.

Will leaned down, softly kissing my lips. The warmth of his breath spread over my skin, warming me to the core. He slid one hand up behind my head, tilting it up to meet his waiting mouth. I brought my hands up, finding his hair, pulling him closer into me. His tongue slid in between my parted lips, dancing against mine. I could feel the whole world fade away, leaving behind only sensations. Nothing existed outside of him and me. Kissing Will left me breathless and lightheaded. I had to remind myself to breathe.

"Then we won't go," Will whispered against my lips.

~Chapter Twenty-One~

During breakfast, Janet brought up the subject of going back to the military base in the south. She had already easily convinced Mike last night so it was more about getting the girls on board. Rose wasn't happy when she found out that Dan wouldn't be going. He wasn't coming back with us either though. He was looking for someone when we met up with him and he was going back to that. I guess she figured after last night they were some sort of couple or something, but Dan was back to ignoring her. Typical guy, not what I expected from Dan though. She even asked if she could go with him. He must have made quite an impression last night. Unfortunately for Rose, he laughed and said no.

Nikki was going to be harder to convince. She was thrilled to have me back in her life and she wasn't about to give up so easy and walk away. Honestly, it was nice to see her again but I was actually hoping she would go with them. It would be nice to get back to just Will and me again. It was selfish, but it was true.

"Why can't you come too Andi?" Nikki whined, bringing her shoulders up and dropping them in a huff.

I don't remember her being this much of a whiner. I guess things change, especially after this long.

"I'm sorry Nik. Maybe someday, but right now, we aren't going. You need to do what's best for you though."

Nikki sighed loudly, leaning her head softly against Mike's massive arm. I couldn't tell if she had something going on with him or not. One minute she was laying against him or holding his hand, and the next she was ignoring him completely. From the way he looked at her longingly, my guess would be that nothing was going on, but it was an odd sight to see them together. I probably should have just asked her about it, but honestly, I just didn't care that much.

"Look hon, without the rest of our group, we can't stay here. You know that. This could really be good for us. I won't go without you," Mike said softly, trying to convince her.

"Well I guess I'm in," Rose said, still looking at Dan, licking her lips.

Dan was staring into space, oblivious of her attention. I couldn't blame the girl. Dan was more than hot. As much as I cared about Will, even I couldn't help but feel a fluttering in my belly when he looked down at me and smiled.

"Will, I know you aren't coming, but, I was thinking, maybe it would be a good idea if you and Andi came with us, at least most of the way. This way, you will know where we are in case you ever change your mind or ever need help. Like I've told you, they have a medical facility and everything you might need, just in case," Janet mentioned cautiously, trying to appeal to Will's logical side.

Will looked at me. I could tell he was seriously considering her plan. It wasn't a bad idea. Even for Janet. It did make sense and from the look on Will's face, I could tell he wanted to say yes. I didn't want him to turn her down just because I was selfish and wanted him to myself.

"Is that what you wanna do, Will?" I asked him, trying to keep my expression neutral.

"She's right. It would be a good idea to go with them just to know the route and all. If, you want to. If not then that's okay too." He sucked his bottom lip into his teeth, waiting for me to answer.

"It's okay with me." I smiled, trying not to let him see my disappointment.

"Dan?" Janet asked, waving her hand across Dan's face trying to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Dan's head snapped up, breaking him out of deep thought.

"What about you? You wanna come along just to see where the place is?" Janet looked hopeful, but at the same time, I don't think she expected him to say yes.

"Nah, I already know the way. I went up there with a buddy awhile back." Dan smiled at her, but it was forced, not the typical glorious, melt my heart smile that we were used to seeing.

Well, even Janet didn't know that. Dan was preoccupied with something on his mind. I had no idea what, but he seemed distant, sad.

"Okay, it's settled then. We will find what we need for the trip today and leave at dawn," Janet said, rising to leave the group.

Janet wanted to find a decent vehicle and enough fuel to get us there, as well as get Will and me back to the house. There was no shortage of vehicles around for the taking. That wasn't the problem. Finding something that could drive over all the junk everywhere, that either had keys in them or didn't need that dumb chip in the key so it could be hotwired, was a bit more tricky. Fuel was the real issue though. You couldn't exactly drive over to the local gas station and fill up the tank.

Janet, Mike, Dan, and Rose decided to go out to find something to drive and gather enough fuel for the trip. I was hoping they would take Nikki, but Mike insisted she stay behind. It wasn't that I didn't want her around, I just knew she was going to try to convince me to come with them. No sooner did they walk out the door and she was headed in my direction. Some things never changed. Nikki had always been the one to come up with bad ideas that she would try to convince me to go along with. I always did find it amusing that her parents kept her away from me as if I was the bad influence, when in reality, it was Nikki.

"It's so great to be with you again, Andi!" she practically exploded, wrapping her arms around me in a huge, crushing hug.

"You too, Nik. It's been too long."

"Yeah," her smile faded. "I'm really sorry about the way things went down. I hope you know none of that was my choice."

I knew it wasn't. Not that I didn't feel a little hurt that when she was older she never did try to find me. None of that really mattered anymore now.

"So, you and Will, you're like a couple, right?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling.

I really couldn't believe it myself when I thought about it. It was certainly going to take me more than a couple days to get use to that!

"What about you and Mike?"

"Mike? Meh, I mean, I know he's into me and all but I dunno."Nikki waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss the thought.

"I mean I guess the way the world is, I shouldn't be so choosey, but, I dunno, I guess I just want more. I want someone who looks at me the way Will looks at you."

"Nik, Mike does look at you like that."