Life After Z

Chapter 9 - Cooper

Everett gave me the side-eye telling me without words he thought this whole thing was fishy. I agreed, but what could we do? Ivy had handed over a huge supply of what we wanted without asking for anything in return. That bought her more than a little trust. We would play this her way until we got more info.

"Diesel," I told her and watched Ivy's reaction. She was starting to loosen up around us. Large part due to Jen. I would need to keep them together as much as possible because Ivy clearly felt safer around women than men. I didn't want to think about the possible reasons for that type of reaction. "We were going to head into the neighborhoods looking for trucks to siphon from."

Ivy nodded her head and pushed up her glasses with a single finger as she surveyed us, looking like she was making some sort of decision. After a few moments, she met my eyes and said, "There is a farm not far from here. It has a tank of diesel. The house burnt down and the tank is out in the fields so people usually miss it. The last time I checked, it still had fuel."

Wow, if that were true it would be a huge score. We could possibly fill all of our reserve tanks along with the main one. It also wasn't something that anyone would give up. The inhalers were one thing. They were only useful to someone with asthma. But fuel was a finite resource that was getting harder and harder to find as the remaining survivors used up what was left after Z-day.

"Are you sure your group would be okay with us pulling from a tank like that?" Lucas asked, having the same questions about this as Everett and I did. "We don't want to cause any trouble. Do they know that you are here and giving us access to your resources?"

"Are you suggesting that I am going behind my group's back and stealing from them?" Ivy asked with a defensive tone.

"Yes," Everett said at the same time that I said, "No, we are just trying to fully understand the situation. The last thing we want to do is start something over a little gas."

Ivy ignored me and locked eyes with Everett. I could see the challenge within both of their gazes and prayed that this didn't go sideways.

"Explain it to me, Darlin'," Everett drawled. "Explain why you or your group would go out of your way to help us. Why are you here? Why are you alone? Where are the rest of your group?"

Without looking away from Everett's gaze Ivy answered and a zing of jealousy coursed through me. I wanted her to look at me like that.

"What is the point of simply surviving Everett? What would be the point of hoarding supplies that others need in the hope that someday they will be useful for us? If I did that then I would no longer be the woman that I once was. And I don't want to survive as a selfish, violent, and cruel person. It isn't who I am. And what would be the point of living as someone who wasn't me? Mine as well allow myself to become one of the dead if that is what life is going to be reduced to."

Well damn. Now I feel bad. I had definitely allowed the apocalypse to change me and I had done things that made my stomach turn in the name of survival. But it wasn't just about me. It was about Sebbie and Lucas. Jen and Everett. My family. The ones that were left anyway.

"We have access to solar panels and the generators that we do use run off gas, not diesel. Same with the cars that we are using. Your safety depends on having fuel. Ours does not. I don't see a reason not to share with you. It's not like it is ours anyway. We are all living off stolen goods."

Ivy paused and looked at each one of us, seeing if we would respond. When we didn't she righted her bike and held onto the handlebars as she said, "Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me. If it makes you uncomfortable then I will leave. I will make sure none of my group bothers you as long as you don't go looking for us."

"Wait! Don't run off. I am sorry we are being difficult. We have just run into a lot of very territorial people on the road and have learned to be careful. But we don't want you to leave," Lucas said, looking at her with his big green puppy dog eyes. "Have you had breakfast? We have food and coffee. Would you like some?"

"I have kool-aid. You can have some!" Sebbie added as he flew his transformer in the air near Lucas' head.

"I already ate, but thank you," Ivy stated, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. I could tell she was still thinking of leaving. We couldn't have that. Whether for good or bad, I think that we all needed more time with Ivy. The unanswered questions we have about her would drive us crazy if she simply rode out of life as suddenly as she had appeared in them.

"Alright then. It will take us just a few minutes to pull up camp and then you can show us the way to this farm. There is plenty of room in the back for your bike. You can ride up front in the cab with me and Jen," I told her, and hated how her shoulders tensed.

"No. I will ride my bike. You can follow me in your truck."

None of us said anything for several beats. Not trusting a group of strangers and refusing to get in their vehicle was a smart thing to do. Part of me was glad that she was careful and taking her safety seriously. But the bigger part of me was angry and hurt at her level of distrust. We were willing to follow her to a possible trap set by her people and yet she thought we were going to kidnap her the moment she stepped in our vehicle.

It was a hard pill to swallow.

"You still scared of us, Darlin'?" Everett challenged, always the one to push.

Ivy shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I have learned to be careful too."

"But don't you want to see my bunk? I have a dump truck and a race car. I can show you and then we can race," Sebbie said, fingering his new toy and looking at Ivy like she would break his heart if she didn't go see his living space. I usually felt proud of what we have put together to make our mobile sanctuary but by the sound of things, Ivy's group may have something that put our truck to shame. Somewhere with power and possibly even hot water.

Ivy obviously didn't know how to respond to Sebbie's plea so I came to her rescue, hopefully earning some brownie points. "Not right now Bud. Go help your father put away the chairs and put out the fire."

"Okay," Sebbie easily agreed and I pulled Jen aside. Hopefully, Everett wouldn't run Ivy off before she led us to the location of that tank.

"Good job with getting her to be more comfortable with us," I told Jen as we packed up the few items we had removed last night. "Keep that up. We want her to trust us. That is goal number one. Goal number two is to get more information about her group."

"Yeah, okay," Jen replied in a hostile tone, throwing me for a loop. What was the problem now? "I'll get the information but just know that I am not doing it for you. I am doing it for me. I am going to find out where this group is so that I can finally be rid of you lot. I am sure they will actually treat me like it isn't some chore to keep me around. They will appreciate me. The second that we find them, you can consider me gone. Then there will be plenty of room for my replacement."

After dropping that bomb, she turned on her heel and jumped into the back of the truck.

Well fuck. I hadn't seen that coming.