Life After Z

Chapter 13 - Everett

I didn't want to hash out our past. Shit had happened and we had lived through it. End of fucking story. I wanted to know what our little spitfire had been through and I wanted to know who this Rio character was.

I didn't care if that made me a hypocritical ass.

"How about you, Darlin'? Where were you on Z-day?" I asked, snatching the vodka from Jen who had been refilling her glass.

"Indianapolis," she replied without elaborating. I couldn't get most women to shut up but the one that I am dying to know more about keeps things sealed up tight.

"Do you know where we are now? We were in a mad dash trying to find an inhaler for Sebbie that we got a little turned around. I know that we are in Missouri but not what town this is," Jen asked, pulling the conversation away from where it needed to be.

"Middle Brook," Ivy replied easily.

"And how'd you find yourself in Middle Brook when you started off in Indy?" I asked and a dark look crossed over Ivy's features. She looked down at the ground for several moments before taking a large gulp of her drink.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Lucas relayed in a soft voice.

Like hell it was.

I stepped away from my chair and knelt in front of her so that I could see into those beautiful brown eyes of hers. "What happened, Darlin'?" I asked in a soft voice that still had a core of steel.

Ivy's eyes locked with mine and within their depths, I saw so much pain that it took my breath away. I instinctually wanted to flinch back from whatever had caused her to feel something so deep that it still haunted her to this degree, but Ivy deserved more from me. She deserved to have someone reach out and help her carry this soul-crushing load.

"I got caught up with a bad group," Ivy whispered after several moments and I somehow knew that this was the first time she had spoken about this. When I find her god-forsaken people, I was going to show them exactly what I thought about how they were neglecting her. This woman had been suffering with this for too long. She needed me. Needed us. Because clearly whoever she was with now didn't give a shit about her.

"We've come across a couple of those," I murmured while maintaining eye contact. I wanted her to know that anything she told us wouldn't shock me. We had seen it all over the last year and a half. Didn't mean that it didn't sicken me every time we had to bear witness to exactly how low humanity had stooped.

Ivy remained silent, keeping the floodgates of her pain locked up tight only allowing me to glimpse the shape of it through her unwavering gaze.

"This group, it's why you are scared of us," I stated, not really needing confirmation. Ivy visibly swallowed and then broke eye contact to scan everyone else. Hypervigilant. Never letting her guard down. Ivy may have a place where she had the time and security to wash her clothes regularly but she didn't believe she was safe. She was way too jumpy for her to really feel safe.

Ivy's eyes caught on Jen and stayed there while the wary pain in her eyes turned into something more like curiosity. I hated that she was looking for something that I couldn't give her. But there were some things in life that only another woman could relate to.

"I'm not scared of you, I am just being careful. You know as well as I do that the living can be more dangerous than the dead," Ivy replied, finally returning her whiskey gaze to me. She was lying. Not to us, but to herself. Action told the truth of the matter and Ivy's actions told me she was damn near terrified of us. Or at least she had been. Hopefully, we were changing that.

"Aint that the fucking truth. So, are you going to tell me who this Rio character is?" I asked and sat back on my heels, giving her slightly more space. I wasn't going to get her story now. Hadn't earned it yet. I was going to make it my mission to change that fact.

A genuine smile graced her full lips and the shadows cleared from her eyes. "Rio is my best friend. But don't tell Milo I told you that. He is the jealous type," Ivy said and jealousy sank into my stomach. She had said she wasn't involved. Had she been lying? Or were these two assholes fruitlessly chasing after her like we were? Maybe she gets off on that shit.

"Ah, and when do I get to meet this Rio?"

"Are you guys sticking around? I figured that you would head out once you had restocked," Ivy said once again deflecting me like a mother fucking boss.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that," Lucas said, surprising me. I had an idea where he was about to go with this and he hadn't mentioned anything to Cooper or me. "You said it was pretty safe here and you have been here for a long time in post-Z terms. Staying mobile has its advantages but it takes its toll. More so on Sebbie than us. Would you be open to talking to us about the possibility of us staying around here? Maybe you can introduce us to the rest of your group and we can try to figure something out."

I caught Cooper's eye and raised my brow. I didn't know how I felt about this. We had tried to set down roots a couple of times and it never ended well. Larger buildings were too hard to secure from Zs with just the four of us and all other groups we had come across either didn't want to share resources or we couldn't stomach their way of doing things. Keeping on the move in our truck meant that we could take a little from here and a little from there without pissing anyone off too much. And if we did, we could just make tracks and disappear into the night.

Plus, our truck was completely safe from Zs. We could and had sat in the middle of a herd crossing our path and came out the other side safer than if we had a house to defend.

However, this might be a good way to learn more about Ivy's people.

"They might be open to that," Ivy hedged and I bit my tongue, not wanting to screw this chance up. "I will talk to them and let you know."

I am going to call that progress.