I’ve Got You

CHAPTER 17

The group had well and truly sacked what little provisions remained at the service station. Mostly bags of chips, cookies, and various types of jerky. Hardly a nutritious meal. But food was food. Power had long since shut off, so the sodas in the fridge were warm and flat. But that didn’t stop them from passing around energy drinks to give them all a little bit of extra pep in their step. Eris encouraged them to fill her bag with water and snack foods. As her eyes drifted to the cupboard behind the counter she chewed her lip thoughtfully. Leaping over the counter and prying open the cupboard she grinned. “Thank god” she breathed, as her eyes rested on the many cartons of untouched cigarettes. “You smoke?” Jared asked, scrunching up his nose at her. Eris shrugged, taking five packets and bagging them. “Only when I’m stressed. And what more stressful times than these?”.

“Toss me one” Riley called, Eris complied, grabbing a lighter for him from the counter. “Give me one too” Grimm laughed “If I’m gonna die of something it might as well be something good”. Riley went to light the smoke in his mouth and Eris waved him off. “Not with my kid in here! I don’t want him breathing it in! Smoke it outside!” Riley groaned, but complied. Eris dismissed Grimm with a flick of her hand. “You go. I’ll have mine later. I wanna see if the staff bathroom has running water”. Grimm didn’t need to be told twice.

Eris hunkered down next to Dorian as he continued to eat his fill. “If the staff bathroom has running water we’re gonna have to wash up a little in the sink” she told him

“We reek” Dorian nodded in agreement, sniffing his armpit, then turning his face away in disgust.

“I know I’ve said it before but I’ll keep saying it... I miss home”. Eris took one of his cookies and popped it into her mouth “But it’s nice seeing you happy”. Eris rested her head on Dorian. “As long as you’re around, I’m always happy, mate.”

“What’s going to happen to dad when we get to the safe zone, mum?”. Eris sighed

“I don’t know”

“I don’t want him to be locked up again... I want him around”. Eris grimaced, relenting to her sons unspoken wish almost instantly.

“I will ask the Lieutenant General, when we arrive if he can just arrange for your dad to be kept in a room instead of a cell. But kept away from me until he cools off. That’s all I can do, is ask. I can’t promise anything. But I want you to be able to be with your Dad. He is a good Dad and I want you to have that time with him... I want you to be happy as well. That matters more to me than anything else”.

It was with sheer dumb luck that the staff bathroom had running water. Eris took her clothes off and hastily scrubbed her body down by splashing water on herself from the small basin. She risked a look at herself in the mirror above the sink as she scrubbed the dirt and grime from her face. The bruising from James’s attack on her had gone down somewhat, the swelling over her eye was barely noticeable, taking on a yellow hue. She examined the gap left by her missing bottom tooth and cringed. There was a large, red bump on her forehead from where she had headbutted the host, but surprisingly, her skin hadn’t split with the force of impact. Her fave was far from healed, but at least she resembled something a little closer to human now. Probing the sickly yellow/grey bruising on her cheeks and eyes, Eris wondered how Grimm could even stand to look at her like this, much less want to kiss her. Then she thought, -considering the deep Glasgow smile scarring on his cheeks- that perhaps some bruising was the very least of his concerns when it came to looks.

Wetting her hair, she ran a brush through the tangled mess, tugging away at knots until they came free. As she was about to call Dorian in she heard a shout from one of the men outside. Thinking they had been set upon by more hosts, she pulled her hunting knife free and tore out of the staff bathroom.

It wasn’t a cry of fright, she soon discovered, when she stepped over the corpse that propped the service station door open. But a cry of joy, as the Lieutenant general ran towards them, waving his arms madly in greeting. Grimm discarded his half finished cigarette, Rushing to meet Lieutenant General Yarran. His hand to his forehead in the clumsiest and informal of salutes. Yarran’s dark skin was stained with dirt and his face was streaked with sweat. “You made it, Sir!” Grimm exclaimed, throwing his arms about Yarran’s shoulders as he sagged, dipping towards the pavement in exhaustion. “Water!” he gasped. “Need water!”. Noticing his weakness in the way he dragged his feet, Eris put her knife away and rushed to help Grimm, Looping Yarran’s arm around her neck and letting him lean on her as the pair dragged him inside and let him slide to the cool, tiled floor. Despite the joy of seeing their commander alive, the company of survivors held a somber air about them as they tended to Yarran. He had been part of the last and largest group to leave the facility, and now it was only him. Sasha opened a bottle of water and held it to Yarran’s dry lips, he gulped greedily. His long navy coat with his medals of service and rank was missing. His white shirt was filthy and torn, and his grey pants were stained with the dark maroon of dry blood. “Gone!” Yarran gasped between gulps of water. “All gone!... One got bit... Turned on us!... Contaminated the whole Jeep!”. Sasha immediately jumped back, fearing the Lieutenant General had also been contaminated. Her thoughts plain for him to see, he shook his head and held his hands up to placate her. “I was driving... Not in the back with them... Escaped before they fully turned... Got lost for a bit but found the highway... Followed it...Saw Grimm”. The group as a whole breathed a sigh of relief. “We were just about to leave to continue to the safe zone” Riley stated.

“Have you got enough left in you to continue on, Sir?”. Yarran’s head lolled back “Rest” he mumbled, motioning for his water bottle to be refilled, Sasha didn’t hesitate, taking it from him before he could even vocalize his need for more water. “Rest?!” James growled pinching his nose “We have been traveling on foot for a day and a half trying to reach this place, with another day or so to go, and you want rest?! I want to get to safety! I say we keep moving!”

“Good thing nobody cares what you have to say” Sasha snapped, returning with more water. “You are a civilian, he is our commanding officer. We take direction from him, not you. The Lieutenant General says rest. We are resting.”

***

And so they rested, resolving to wait until the next morning to set off again. They did paired watches as they had done the night before, though Eris had decided not to patrol with Grimm again to avoid further issue with James. She was sleeping furthest from the door, next . Dorian when a warm hand rubbed her shoulder.

“Your turn” Grimm whispered in her ear as she stirred. He helped her up as she stretched, trying to ease the stiffness in her body. Grimm glanced over at James, checking that he was still asleep before brushing his lips against hers. “Careful, okay?”

“Always” she whispered back with a grin “Sasha’s a badass, I should be safe enough”. Grimm’s large arms circled her waist and he leaned in, inhaling the skin of her neck before letting her go. She smiled at him, careful not to smile too wide, suddenly self conscious of her missing tooth. She stepped over the sleeping bodies around her, taking great care not to wake anyone up, and waited by the door for Sasha to join her.

Eris and Sasha circled the service station a few times before meeting at the entrance and hunkering down on the ground. They sat in silence for a while before Eris tried breaking that silence. “You’re really strong” she started awkwardly. Sasha offered her a crooked smile.

“Thanks for noticing. Lot of work went into it”. Eris nodded, turning to her

“Do you think you’d be able to help me?” Sasha laughed

“I saw you last night. You don’t need my help.” now it was Sasha’s turn to look at Eris. “You gave everyone quite the surprise. Here we were, thinking you were some meek little mouse who couldn’t even stand up to her own husband. Only for you to absolutely annihilate two contaminated hosts all by yourself while barely being able to walk... You’re quite frightening for a little mouse when you get going, you know that?”. Eris found herself blushing. “I just wanted to keep Dorian safe”

“and Grimm?” Sasha added, smirking. Looking away she added “I don’t know the man well, but I was in training with him when he joined as an officer, Before he got his medical degree. And in all that time I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man act even slightly human.” she laughed “We all had a running joke that he was a robot. Seemed nice enough, brutal in unarmed combat... But nice. And he never seemed to show any care or emotion for anyone passed being civil. Then you came along and I saw you holding hands in the Jeep and I wondered what this little mouse had about her that could possibly breathe life in to the robot.”

Eris wasn’t sure if she should feel offended by the name ‘little mouse’ or not, she tried to ignore it. Sasha patted her on the shoulder. “But I get it after last night. You’ve got a fire in you. And I don’t know exactly how that good for nothing, pig headed maggot of a man you call a husband kept it in check for however long... But it’s there. You don’t need my help. Trust me. You just need to be confident. Stop keeping the fire in check. Let it burn anyone who touches you.” Eris shrugged

“Never been good at confidence”.

Sasha smiled, handing Eris a cigarette and lighting it for her. Eris offered her one and she declined. Absentmindedly running her hand over her flat stomach. “You’ll get there, little mouse.”