Page 14 of Dusk & Desire

“They could be dangerous,” his sister adds.

I slow down and let them catch up. I already forgot about our most recent encounter with the human race. Heck, it seems like everything is out to get us since the invasion. The only people we’ve seen were corpses, other looters, or highway bandits.

“Let me go first and have that gun ready, kiddo,” Axel says lowly.

“I’m barely younger than you,” I mutter, my priorities misplaced.

When we turn a corner, we see a family of four packing up whatlooks like the remains of their dinner off the picnic table. They’re putting everything into a car. I gasp again and call out to them. They can’t be a threat to us with little kids, right?

“Hey!” I yell, waving my hands. “Wait up!”

They freeze for a moment and gape at us, then spring back into action, taking what they can carry to the car.

“Hey, we won’t hurt you!” Noa shouts. “We’re heading to the base!”

The family doesn’t stop to listen, though, all but throwing everything onto the seats and jumping in after it.

“Please, wait!” I whine, my tired legs giving me their last pathetic amount of strength to jog after the car.

“Don’t bother, Winnie,” Axel grumbles. “They’re too afraid. I can’t blame them.”

“I can,” I grumble, plopping my ass down on the bench at the picnic table and slumping forward until I’m half lying across it.

“Why did they stop this close to the base?” Noa wonders, letting her backpack slide off. Once her hands are free, she reaches for mine. Oh, right. I got so used to the weight, it became a part of my tortured body.

“Maybe they had the same idea as us,” Axel muses. “Finish off the food before they have to share.”

I whine into the weathered wood before straightening so Noa can relieve me of the extra weight.

“Hey, bro, is there a shower nearby?” Noa asks with an even voice. My ears perk up like a Labrador’s at that. It’s only been a week since I had one, but the concept feels like a cherished memory.

“Ah, sure,” he mutters. “They have solar cells too, so it should be warm.”

“Amazing,” I breathe to Noa’s great amusement.

She tugs on my ponytail. “Come on. Ladies first.”

Chapter 9

Noa

I feel my lips stretch into the widest smile as I watch Linda’s round ass flounce ahead of me to the campground’s showers. I love seeing her happy. I don’t know how many little joys I can offer her during a freaking alien apocalypse, but whatever I can find in whatever amount of time we have, I’ll give to her. I haven’t said out loud that I don’t think we’ll survive as a race, at least not for very long. Just look at the destruction the aliens wrought in only a few days. I wonder what percentage of the human population is already gone.

I shake my head and disperse the negative thoughts with the motion.Focus on the here and now, Noa. And right now, you’re about to see the object of your desires gloriously wet and naked.I bite my lip hard to stop myself from moaning out loud.

“What’s that?” Linda asks over her shoulder.

“What? Nothing.”

She gives me a strange look. Did I actually moan? Or are my thoughts that loud?

When we enter the building, we first look at every corner, like an alien would bother to wait in ambush. Once we see the coast is clear, I drop our stuff and start stripping. “I think we should share a shower, just to be safe,” I say, avoiding her eyes.

“S–safe?” she stutters.

I bite my lip and try to stop my shoulders from shaking. “Yeah. And, you know, conserve water.”

“Uh-huh.” She sounds skeptical. Just as I’m about to turn around to prod her along, I hear the rustling of her clothes. Mybreathing turns choppy, and by the time I bend over to take my socks off, I've worked myself up into a quivering mess. Fuck, I need to come so bad.

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