Chapter thirteen
Cora
N ervously, I leave my safe haven and venture into the kitchen. All four men are staring at me with varying excitement and interest. I try to remind myself that while I’ve known of them for what felt like ages now, they only just confirmed my existence. This is new for them. My eyes raced around the kitchen, making sure I wasn’t walking into a trap. I knew I wasn’t. I had been watching them the entire time. Even so, I began to feel a little self-conscious as they studied my every move, and a warning tingle went down my spine. I stopped and was ready to dart back behind the wall and forgo the offer to share their rabbit stew with them when Trent patted the empty seat between him and Derrick.
“We won’t hurt you, Cora.”
His sincerity felt genuine, but my eyes bounced around again to assure myself it was safe. When they locked on Derrick’s, I felt my cheeks warm at the memory of our scuffle, and his body pressed against mine. Inwardly, I winced at the two black eyes he sported, though I didn’t feel the least bit guilty for giving them to him. He smirked at me, oozing sexual confidence, and my knees nearly buckled. Holy hell, what was I getting myself into?
Clutching my iPad tighter, I took another step and then another until all there was left to do was sit. I slid into the vacant chair, and the second the smell of the stew wafted beneath my nose, I dropped the iPad onto the table and scooped up the bowl, shoveling the stew into my mouth at an embarrassingly fast pace. When I set the empty bowl back down and looked up, I turned bright red again when I realized they were all staring at me in amusement. That wasn’t very ladylike. I grabbed the towel beside my bowl and wiped my mouth daintily in an attempt to course correct. I knew it was futile, but a girl could try.
Derrick reached for my bowl and moved it out of the way before sliding his in its place. I looked at him in confusion. Didn’t he want his stew?
“Go ahead, Ghost Girl, eat,” he urged.
I shook my head, pointed at him, and then pushed the bowl back toward him. I wasn’t going to eat his food.
“I’m not hungry,” he said, pushing it back.
I rolled my eyes and growled silently as I reached for my iPad and pulled up the notepad. “NO!” I wrote. I flipped it around to show him and put on my best glare. He couldn’t force me to eat his food.
“Just eat your stew, Derrick,” Isaac ordered. “You’re just going to upset her.”
I nodded, pointed at Isaac, and then touched the tip of my nose— what he said!
“Fine,” Derrick said. “I’ll eat, but you have to answer my questions.”
I contemplated his demand briefly before nodding. Those seemed like fair terms.
Derrick took a bite and chewed thoughtfully before speaking. “Have you always been mute?”
I shook my head.
“Did something happen to you to make you mute?” Isaac asked.
I looked at him and then pointedly down at his abandoned bowl of stew. He wasn’t following the terms of the agreement. Isaac looked confused for a second before rolling his eyes and taking a bite of stew, causing the other men to snicker.
I shook my head again but picked up the iPad to give a more in-depth response. “Sometime after I went into the bunker, I lost my voice due to not using it. I didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.”
Isaac nodded thoughtfully as he read my response. I then held it so the others could also read it.
“Cora, could I see your iPad for just a quick second?” Trent asked. I reluctantly handed the tablet to him, and he went into the settings and did some things. When he handed it back, he smiled at me reassuringly. “When you’re finished typing, double-tap the screen, and Siri will read it to us.”
My eyes widened. It hadn’t occurred to me that that was an option. Not that I had use for it until now. “Thank you.” I smiled brightly when Siri spoke the words. It was almost like I had a voice again.
“Have you always been here alone?” Remi asked, taking a bite of his stew when I looked in his direction.
“Before the zombies, I lived here with Daddy. We were in town when it reached our area. Granny Sue bit Daddy when he was saving me. He jumped out of the truck and over the side of the bridge on our way out of town. I came home and went straight into the bunker and haven’t left it until now.” The cold way Siri delivered my words didn’t match the sadness I felt when I thought about that last day with Daddy.
Trent squeezed my arm comfortingly. “I’m sorry about your Dad, Cora. I’m sorry you’ve had to be alone all this time.”
“So you haven’t been outside in three years?” Derrick asked.
I shook my head as I typed. “I haven’t so much as opened a door. Scared of what’s out there. In here, I’m safe.”
“Has anyone else come here before us?” Isaac asked.
I shook my head again. “You’re the first humans I have seen since Daddy died.”
They ate their stew quietly for a few minutes, and I felt weird sitting with them when Derrick asked a question, which made me freeze.
“So, how much have you been watching us?”
I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that as my eyes darted to Remi and Trent, and my cheeks burned. Derrick chuckled as Remi and Trent groaned.
“That’s fucking hot,” Trent said as he reached under the table to adjust himself.
“What else have you seen, you naughty Little Mouse?” Remi asked.
I swallowed loudly, typed a single word, and double-tapped the screen.
“Everything.”
They all groaned in response this time, and I felt the air in the room thicken as the tension grew.
Derrick leaned closer to me and twirled a lock of my hair around his finger, tugging it gently as he lifted it to his nose and inhaled. “Well, that seems a little unfair that you’ve seen so much of us, and we’ve only just met you, doesn’t it?”
My body trembled as he exhaled my scent, his warm breath caressing my cheek. I didn’t know the first thing about the road I had started down, but I couldn’t wait to get to the end of it.