Cora (Love in the Apocalypse #2)

19. Cora

Chapter nineteen

Cora

A ll of my nervousness about having the guys in my space melted away as they buzzed around the bunker, discovering everything I had down here. Their excitement made it feel like Christmas morning times a million.

Remi was in the greenhouse, planning the garden he wanted to plant as soon as possible, and Trent was in the pantry checking out everything I had there. I went back down the hall to check on Isaac and Derrick, who were in the armory.

“With the potential continuing threat, I think we should be armed at all times and travel in pairs,” Isaac said.

Derrick nodded in agreement. “I didn’t even realize there were other people out here besides us. It always felt relatively safe, but now we’ll have to look over our shoulder more.”

“Do you have any thoughts on the matter, Cora?” Isaac asked, turning toward me.

I swear that man always knows where I am. Do I smell? “My only thoughts are not to forget that I am capable of helping to defend the house, and a mile off the ridge is good big game hunting. I have a couple of deep freezers down here we can fill.”

“We’ll check out the ridge then, thanks,” Isaac replied. I turned to leave when I caught Derrick reaching for my hunting rifle out of the corner of my eye. I quickly moved to the wall and slapped his hand away.

“Hey!” Derrick protested.

I took the rifle off the shelf and held it to my chest while glaring at him.

“Is that one yours?” he asked with amusement.

I nodded.

“Ok, then I’ll make sure nobody uses it. Of course, if you want to use it, you realize that means you’ll have to leave the house, right?”

I rolled my eyes with a small sigh. Yeah, I knew that. Eventually, I’d leave the house, but right now, I was getting used to people in my space again.

“Princess, are there any other guns that are off-limits?” Isaac asked.

I nodded and studied the wall. I placed my rifle back in its slot and pulled another one of my handguns down. I pulled out a holster for it and slid it in, then secured it to the waist of my jeans.

Sighing sadly, I pointed to one more gun that was further above my head. That was Daddy’s favorite pistol. I didn’t want anyone using that either. When Isaac reached for it, I touched his arm to stop him. I shook my head and made a staying motion with my hands.

Isaac nodded in understanding and then clarified with me verbally. “You want that one to stay on the wall and not be used because it’s special?”

I nodded and smiled brightly at him.

“Then we’ll leave it there,” he assured me.

I patted his cheek. When I turned to do the same to Derrick, he grabbed my hand and yanked me against him for a kiss. When he released me, he had to steady me before letting me go because I was feeling a little light-headed. I hadn’t expected that. Smiling like an idiot, I waved goodbye to them and left the armory. There were definite perks to being around people again.

“Oh, Cora!” Trent called as I passed the pantry.

I returned to the pantry and found him inside with a little shopping basket.

“Do you want to help me figure out what to make for dinner tonight and then cook it with me?”

I nodded. That sounded like a lot of fun. We “shopped” and chose a Southwest chicken and rice bake casserole dish. Since we didn’t have fresh chicken, we would use canned chicken. For dessert, we were going to make a pretzel Jello thing. I wasn’t sure about it, but Trent assured me it would taste good.

Although the canned chicken was already cooked, I drained the can and dumped it into a frying pan to heat it up and season it so it didn’t taste gross. While I was doing that, Trent worked on putting the rest of the casserole together.

“Hey, I didn’t thank you for saving Remi,” Trent said. “I appreciate it.”

I waved my hand at him dismissively. He didn’t need to thank me for saving Remi.

“No, I mean it,” Trent pushed, stopping what he was doing to wrap his arms around me. “I know you’re saying that thanks isn’t necessary, and I know you would have done what you could no matter what, but Remi’s been a little distant since we had sex, so I appreciate that you didn’t hold it against him.”

I looked at Trent with a horrified expression. Why the hell would I have allowed him to be hurt?

“Sweet Cora,” Trent sighed, leaning down to rest his forehead against mine. “The world isn’t the same place you remember. You’d be surprised by what a decent person would do now without blinking an eye. Right and wrong isn’t as black and white as it used to be.”

I stroked Trent’s face, trying to smooth away the sad lines gathered around his eyes. We kissed softly as I leaned into him. The kiss wasn’t urgent and wasn’t meant to lead to anything more. It might have been my favorite kiss so far.

When I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, I ended the kiss to see who it was. When I saw it was Remi, I quickly jumped out of Trent’s arms. While Remi apologized, I wasn’t sure where he stood on Trent and me together. Until he talked to Trent and got that sorted, I didn’t want to rub it in his face and potentially make him feel worse.

Trent looked surprised and saddened by how fast I moved away from him. Remi grimaced when he saw Trent’s face.

“Cora, wait!” he said quickly. “I might not have had the best reaction to finding you and Trent in bed together, but that has nothing to do with either of you. It’s my issues that I need to work through.” Remi held his hand out to me. I took it and let him pull me between him and Trent. He pressed himself against my back tightly, wrapping his arms around us. “This here is right for all of us. I can’t promise I won’t have any more freakouts, but I promise to try and manage them better.”

Remi kissed my neck, sending a slight tingle down my spine, and then he and Trent kissed over my shoulder. I squirmed between them as I watched. Seeing them together will always be a turn-on for me. Remi grunted softly as he pushed his stiffening cock against my ass harder.

“Behave, Little Mouse,” he said in my ear, his voice thick with desire. “We don’t have time for that right now, and when I finally get between your thighs, I don’t plan on leaving for quite some time.”

I shuddered at his words and the promise they held. I’ve had a front-row seat to Remi in the bedroom numerous times. I could only imagine what it would feel like to have all of that sexual energy directed at me.

“Dinner is burning,” Derrick said with amusement from the doorway where he leaned.

I pushed out of Trent and Remi’s arms and leaped to the stove. I lifted the pan from the burner and quickly stirred the chicken. Crap! It was a teensy bit charred. My shoulders drooped as I turned off the burner and set the pan back down. We had more chicken downstairs that I could make, but I was annoyed that we wasted this can; plus, I burned it the first time I tried to cook for them.

“No worries, love,” Trent said, hip-bumping me out of the way to look at the chicken. “We’ll just have Blackened Southwest Chicken and Rice. You know, three years ago, you would have added ten dollars to the price of this dish at a restaurant.” He winked at me as he added it to the casserole dish.

Isaac joined us in the kitchen, looked at the casserole, and then at me. “Come on, Princess. Let’s let Trent finish up dinner before more things become blackened.” Isaac took my hand and tugged me away from the others. “You’re such a pretty little distraction; we may have to ban you from the kitchen while cooking.” He chuckled when I stuck my tongue out at him. I followed behind him until I realized where he was taking me. I stopped walking and yanked my hand from his. When Isaac turned around, I shook my head emphatically at him. I was not going outside.

“Come on, Cora. It’s time. I’ll be with you the entire time, and you have your gun. You’ll be perfectly safe,” Isaac prodded.

I shook my head and pointed at the floor. I was perfectly safe right where I was.

“You can’t stay inside forever, Cora.”

Oh yes, I could. I pointed toward the stairs to the bunker. Daddy made it so I could stay indoors indefinitely.

“It’ll be good for you,” Isaac continued as he stalked toward me. “The sunshine will do you good.”

I stomped to the window where the sun shone and gestured toward the sky. I could get plenty of sun right here.

“Stop being stubborn, Cora,” Isaac said more firmly. “I’ll carry you out there if I have to.”

I glared at him and lifted my fists as I shifted into a fighting stance. He could fucking try.

Isaac growled in frustration as he scrubbed his hands down his face.

“I’ll bet you five Cosmic Brownies that Cora will take him,” Derrick whispered.

We both looked toward the kitchen to see all three men watching us with obvious enjoyment.

“Nah,” Trent whispered back. “I gotta bet on my brother. He used to beat on me as a kid and is far more agile than you give him credit for.”

“I’m going to have to side with Derrick,” Remi stated. “I’ve seen our girl in action. She’s scary as fuck.”

“You wanna fucking help me out here?” Isaac asked, “Or are you three girls going to continue standing there and gossiping?”

“Sorry, bro,” Trent said, “we’re not getting anywhere near this. You’re on your own.”

Isaac stared at them for a few more seconds before turning back to me. His irritation melted away, replaced by puppy dog eyes. “Please, Cora? If you get used to going outside again, you can help us hunt. You know these woods better than we do. You know the habits of the animals. I don’t think I’ll be able to get us enough meat for winter without your help.”

He was good. Really good. My hands fell to my sides as I considered his words. He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t doubt that I was better at hunting than him, but that didn’t mean I had to go outside right now. I skirted around the back of the couch to stay out of arm’s reach of him and slipped through the wall of men to get my iPad. As I returned to the living room, I typed my message to him and pressed play.

“You have a point. I will try to start getting outside more, but not today. I’ve already had a full day of new and not entirely fun experiences today. I’m not interested in having any more.”

Isaac smiled and nodded his head. “You’re right, Princess. You have had a full day. Promise me you will try over the next few days, though.”

“I promise.”

“Good girl,” Isaac replied. He approached me and briefly kissed my lips before turning to Remi and Derrick. “And as for you two fucks who were betting against me,” he growled playfully as he lunged for them both and managed to get them into a headlock.

I squealed with glee, laughing as I ducked out of their way before I got caught up in the scuffle. Looking back at them, I saw they were frozen in shock as they stared at me. It took several seconds to realize why. My hands flew over my mouth. I had made a noise! Actual, proper noise! It wasn’t much, just a squeal, but it was huge compared to the standard!

“You all heard that, right?” Derrick asked, his head still trapped in Isaac’s arm.

“We heard it,” Trent confirmed. “Try to say something, Cora.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. What was I supposed to say?

“Anything you want,” Remi urged.

Hi. My entire body drooped when nothing came out. For a moment, I thought I was cured, that I could be normal again. But I can’t. It’s just a sick joke the universe played on me. I dropped to my knees and hung my head, my tears falling freely into my lap. It wasn’t more than a few seconds before I was surrounded by my men and lifted into their laps.

“Don’t cry, Princess,” Isaac crooned, pulling my head to his shoulder and gently rocking me. “This is a good thing. It means there is hope. That you’ll be able to speak again one day; it’s just going to take some time.”

“He’s right, Cora,” Derrick said, linking his fingers through mine. “Your vocal cords are out of practice. Keep trying to use them, and you’ll get your voice back.”

I snuggled into them. I knew they were right. I just had to be patient.

“We can sit here all day, Cora,” Derrick said from outside. He had pulled out a lounge chair from one of the sheds and was laying on it in his boxers in the sun. Trent sat beside him on a blanket in the grass. On a small table between them sat a giant bowl of freshly picked blackberries. I hadn’t had a blackberry in three years. I loved harvesting wild berries from the surrounding forest growing up. My mouth watered as I watched Derrick toss another one into his mouth.

“We can,” Trent said, selecting a berry from the bowl, “but I don’t think the blackberries will last that long. You better come get some before we eat them all.” He bit into the plump berry, its juice trailing down his chin. “They’re the perfect amount of sweet and tart, too.”

Jerks. The both of them! It had been a couple of days since I promised Isaac that I would work on going outside, and in my defense, I had, but with little progress. The blackberries were Trent and Derrick’s idea to bait me into coming outside. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t annoyed that it was working. Because I was standing in the doorway, teetering on the edge, just about ready to take my first step.

“Come on, Ghost Girl,” Derrick urged. “I know you can do it.”

With a deep breath, I took my first step toward them. I was outside! I was still under the porch covering, but I was outside. I slowly moved toward the sunlight and those berries, feeling increasingly proud of myself. Just as I was about to step off the porch, the growling sound of a zombie reached my ears. I froze as it came around the corner of the house, headed straight for Derrick and Trent.

“Shit!” Trent said, jumping to his feet and grabbing his knife. “He has friends!”

I looked on in horror as two more came into view. Derrick stood beside Trent in only his boxers, and together, they moved toward the first zombie, working as a team to take them down. When three more appeared, I was able to force my limbs to unfreeze and ran back into the house for my gun. This is why it isn’t safe to go outside! I grabbed my pistol off the kitchen table and stomped outside and into the yard. All timidness left me when faced with losing my men. I aimed at the closest zombie.

“No, Cora!” Trent shouted as I squeezed the trigger.

The bullet blew through the zombie’s neck, but, to my horror, it didn’t kill him. It felt like they were moving in slow motion as the remaining three zombies turned toward me, including the one I had just shot. Oh, fuck me. Time resumed its normal speed as they stumbled toward me.

“Headshots, Cora!” Derrick shouted. “Shoot them in the fucking head!”

That I could do. I aimed at the first zombie again, and this time, when I fired, he crumbled to the ground. I quickly shot the remaining two, putting them down as well.

Derrick and Trent were rubbing their chests and breathing heavily as they looked at me with slightly panicked looks.

“Never bring a gun to a knife fight unless there aren’t any other options,” Derrick rasped. “And always shoot or stab them in the head. It’s the only way to kill them.”

“They’re attracted to sound,” Trent continued to explain. “Knives are much more quiet and just as effective.”

They could give me as many pointers as they wanted. I wasn’t coming back outside. I waved my arm at the bodies littering the yard and then at the outside in general and shook my head. I stomped to where the berries still sat, undisturbed, picked up the bowl, and went back inside, slamming the door shut behind me. As soon as I was out of sight I stuffed a handful of berries into my mouth and moaned silently as flavor exploded in my mouth.

Trent said, “At least we got her to come outside. It’s a start.”

And the end, I huffed to myself.