Page 85 of Dating After the End of the World
“Well, yeah. I mean, what did you want me to do? Pull it off into the woods, cover it in branches and leaves? It would ruin the paint job.”
“Not sure that matters anymore,” I say, rolling my eyes.
Nate pulls the single branch away and hops in the car, firing up the engine. He rolls down his window and says, “Hop on in,” patting the front passenger seat with his hand.
I sink down into the low-profile vehicle and fasten my seat belt.
“Ready?” Nate slips on a pair of Gucci aviators and gives me a cheesy smile.
Before I can say anything, he pulls out and makes a U-turn. He revs the engine, and the tires squeal as he quickly accelerates. It jolts me back in my seat, making my stomach feel like it dropped and I lost it back on the road.
“Where are you going? Did you already get turned around, city boy? The house is back that way.” I chuckle, pointing my thumb over my shoulder and waiting for him to stop abruptly to correct his mistake.
“I know,” is all he says, staring straight ahead at the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel.
“What? Then where are you going?” My tone is a mixture of confusion and panic.
Nate has no idea what’s around this area, so where else could he be driving us to?
“We’re leaving.”
My eyes search his profile, looking for any sign that he’s just messing with me, trying to pull my leg before he brings the car to a stop, but there is none. He just continues staring forward, looking like a man on a mission.
“Nate, turn the car around.” My tone is calm yet firm.
He ignores me, revving the engine as he increases the car’s speed even more, the trees flying by in a blur of green along the sides of the road.
“Nate! Turn the fucking car around right now!” I slam my hands into the dashboard, popping open the glove box.
“No, Casey! There’s nothing to go back to.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I had to make a deal.”
My heart drops into the pit of my stomach, splashing acid all around as the gravity of the situation sinks in.
“What did you do?”
“They were going to kill me. I had no choice.”
“What did you fucking do!?” I scream, causing Nate to recoil into himself.
“They were gonna kill me, Casey. So I made a deal. I told them about your father’s compound, that they’d be safe, and they’d have supplies for years. They said if I showed them where it was and I helped them get inside, then they’d let me and you go.”
“You did what?” I’m seeing red right now, and my breaths come out fast and hard. I can’t believe him. I can’t fucking believe him. I should have known something was off just by the fact that Nate showed up with all his limbs still intact. He’s not cut out for an apocalypse, so of course he made a fucking deal to save his own ass.
“It was the only way. Did you not hear me? They were going to kill me!”
“Where are they?”
“Where are who?” he asks.
“You know who! The fucking burners! The ones you made a goddamn deal with. Where are they?” I slap at Nate’s arms, wanting to take my rage out on him in ways he could never imagine.
“They’re probably heading into the compound as we speak.” His voice is soft, delivering the death blow as calmly as he can.
“Stop the car,Right Now!”
