State of Decay✔️

Chapter 22: The Cold Light of Day

Marcus came awake slowly.

He was immensely warm, immensely comfortable. Waking up and moving around were the last things on his mind. Then he realized that he was lying against someone. There was someone in the bed with him. Someone slim and curvy who smelled good. Not good in the way that loads of shampoo and perfume made you smell, but good in a natural kind of way. About the same time that he remembered that it was Maya and everything that had happened last night, Marcus realized that he had his arm around her and he was snuggled up against her. He slowly, carefully began to disengage himself from her, but suddenly she grabbed his arm.

"Don't move," she murmured sleepily. "You're warm and comfortable."

"Oh...okay then," he replied.

They continued laying there for a moment, Marcus feeling an odd mixture of comfort, arousal and awkwardness. Suddenly, Maya shifted and heaved a sigh. "Oh great," she muttered.

"What? What's wrong?" Marcus asked.

"I just had a really clear thought. Everything we said last night...it was over the radio. So a lot of people out there probably know that the Kirkman residence is up for grabs, and we need that supplies if we're going to last longer than two weeks." She sat up abruptly. "Come on, it's probably still early. We need to get there before anyone else does."

"Great," Marcus muttered.

They both got up out of bed. It still was early, probably around seven in the morning. Marcus was grateful that he was in good shape with a good sleep schedule. It meant he could hop up at a moment's notice in the early morning without suffering too much. He was still sleepy, but he could already feel it disappearing as he pulled his shoes on and grabbed his holster. He slipped his pistol into it and glanced over: Ed and Jacob were still asleep.

"Go grab breakfast, I'll get these two up," he said.

"Thanks," Maya replied.

She finished getting her own gear together and walked out of the tent. Marcus watched her go. He'd been worried that she would act all awkward and strange around him their sharing a bed together, but she didn't seem the slightest bit put off. What did that mean? Did it mean she was just extremely confident in herself and her emotions? That she was good at hiding them? Or that she had enjoyed the experience? What if it was just no big deal?

Marcus shook his head. He was being an idiot. Who cared? They had more important things to do. He set about waking the two guys up. Jacob was up pretty quick, but Ed, again, took a lot of coaxing. Finally, as soon as the two men were actually out of bed, standing upright and moving around, Marcus left them to it, moving across the yard to join Maya in the kitchen. The sun was up, but the cloud cover persisted, painting the day and the landscape in shades of miserable gray. He supposed it was appropriate, given what had happened.

He wondered how Danica was doing.

Marcus marched up the back steps and came into the kitchen. He found Maya and Sam eating out of cans, talking quietly. He nodded to them, crossed the room and scrounged around until he came up with a fruit cup, a bottle of water and a Nutigrain Bar. As he started eating, Jacob and Ed came into the room, followed shortly by Lily, who looked exhausted.

"How is she?" Maya asked.

"She's better now. It wasn't as bad as we thought, thank god...she's still pretty shaken up, pretty upset, but she's coherent and she understands what's happened, and that she's safe. I don't really think we need a whole town meeting over it but...I'm guessing we'll accept her into our enclave?" she asked, staring at them all.

"Yeah," Maya said.

The others were nodding.

Lily let out a short breath. "Good...now, I need a nap, just for an hour or two. I spent the whole night with her and I didn't sleep too much."