Life After Z

Chapter 10 - Everett

I had done some fucked-up shit in my life. Existing in an honest to god zombie apocalypse only served to increase the fucked-up in my life. However, I was feeling all sorts of wrong over this situation. We were sitting up in the jacked-up cab of our big rig and slowly creeping behind Ivy as she peddled the dinky-looking town bike.

It felt like we were stocking her. And not in a fun, foreplay kind of way. It felt creepy and wrong. We were safe and sitting on our asses while she was exposed to any old Z that happened across her path.

I rolled down my window and palmed my piece. I was going to shoot the shit out of anything that even looked in her direction.

"She wants to leave us," Cooper growled, distracting me from my stalkerish feelings. I glanced over to see that he was damn near strangling the steering wheel.

"Well, she doesn't know us yet. We will change that and then hopefully she will choose to stay with us over the shady as fuck group she is with now," I murmured, allowing my eyes to fixate back on Ivy's backside. That bike made her ass look completely biteable.

"Not Ivy. Jen," Cooper shot back. "She said she wants to find Ivy's group so that she can leave us and join them."

"Good riddance," I clipped back. Jen leaving would make my fucking week. "Maybe we can trade her for Ivy."

"God damn it Everett! How can you be so cavalier about this? Jen has been with us since the start. Hell, you are the only reason she was with us when the convoy split. You had a relationship with her. For god's sake, you are still fucking her. She is not a thing that can be traded like cattle because you found someone new you want to play with."

I raised my eyebrow at him and bit my bottom lip to stop what I really wanted to say from coming out of my mouth.

"What the fuck, man? You know better than anyone what Jen is to me. If I had any of the feelings that you are trying to push on me then you would be a dead mother fucker for touching what was mine. Jen was always a means to an end for me and she knows that. Hell, I am the exact same for her. Do you really think a high-class broad like her would ever want a tatted-up felon for anything other than sex and protection? We make eachother feel good physically, but I can't stand that high-maintenance bitch. And if you are honest with yourself right now, neither can you.

"And comparing Ivy to Jen or calling her a plaything is just fucked up man. It is as clear as day that Ivy is a different level of woman. She is the type that men will go to war over and her group would have to be fucking blind not to see that. It wouldn't be a fair trade and even a shady as fuck group like Ivy's will see that. So I wasn't serious about the trade shit but can you honestly tell me that you want Jen to stay? That you would fight for her? Because you don't give a flying fuck when she comes crawling back to me for a different type of fuck."

Cooper ground his teeth together as he allowed the truck to crawl along in first gear. "Yes I want Jen to stay with us. I like what we have. It works for us. You're right, she isn't the love of my life but it isn't like we are drowning in options here. It's either Jen or my hand. That's why I don't care that you two still get eachother off. I'm not selfish enough to take that away from you. But I am selfish enough to not want to go completely without," Cooper said while glancing back to make sure the door between us and the trailer was closed.

"What if there was another option?" I asked and my eyes traced the line of Ivy's neck as she kept vigilant, looking for Zs or other trouble

"You are really stuck on that aren't you?" Cooper asked, but I could hear the intrigue in his voice. "You out right asked her if she wanted away from her group. If she wanted to come with us and she said no. I think you need to drop the idea that she is some damsel in need of a white knight. Ivy doesn't seem like the helpless type and the last thing you are is a white knight."

I tapped my piece against the door of the truck and considered his words. "She didn't answer my question about why she was alone or where the fuck the other people of her group are. It doesn't feel right to me. Her fear doesn't sit well with me," I admitted, giving voice to some of the thoughts that have been taking up space in my head. "Ivy isn't afraid of the Zs or about being out alone. She is afraid of us. Even if she is doing her best not to, she is."

"Okay, say she is in some sort of fucked up situation. What are you going to do about it? For all we know they could have a dozen guys all armed to the teeth," Cooper asked as we followed Ivy down a dirt road to the left.

"Take her the fuck out of here. There is a reason why being mobile works for us. We can be nothing but a memory before they even know that she is gone. If there really is a fuel tank here, even better. We could be hundreds miles away by the end of the day. Problem solved," I quipped, my eyes searching the fields of alfalfa. Too bad this farm didn't grow corn or potatoes. I haven't had fresh vegetables for over a year.

"There is a glaring problem with that plan," Cooper was quick to point out. "Ivy won't get within ten feet of this truck. She doesn't want to come with us. And we aren't about to kidnap her to get her away from a hypothetical problem. What if she is completely happy where she is and we are just reading something into this situation that isn't there."

"Then why the fuck won't she tell us about her group?"

"Maybe she thinks she is protecting them from us. You already want to roll up on them because of some imagined wrong they have done to a woman we have known for less than twenty-four hours. Ivy is probably just being smart and protecting the resources that they do have," Cooper reasoned. It made sense logically but that answer didn't feel right to me.

We passed a burnt out husk of a house and I figured this was the place that Ivy had told us about. But she didn't stop at the house. Instead she kept on peddling towards a stand of trees to the right of us.

"And if we did figure out a way to convince Ivy to come with us, how are you going to deal with the fact that Lucas is already more than halfway in love with her when you can't keep your eyes off of her?" Cooper asked seriously and put the truck in park when Ivy stopped and hopped off her bike.

He was right. Lucas was just as gone for this chick as I was, not to mention that Sebbie lit up like the fourth of July when she rode up this morning. I didn't know if I was enough of an asshole to take something that my brother wanted. Lucas was the good one. He deserved happiness a fuck ton more than I did.

And wasn't that thought a bitch.