Page 53 of Citadel

Cole takes us deeper into the woods, following the stream until he finds a protected cove blocked off by jutting rocks on one side and trees on the other. There he clears out the ground until it’s nothing but soft dirt with some scattered grasses.

Without a word, he starts collecting fallen branches to build a small campfire.

While he’s working, I step over to the stream to scoop enough water to fill the small pot from Cole’s pack so we can boil it as soon as he gets the fire going.

Water is the most important provision we need right now. Eventually we’ll need to find more food, but we can make do with the little food we carry with us for a while.

Cole starts the fire with an old match from the box in his pack. He’s probably capable of starting a fire even without the match, but the help sure makes it easier. After a few minutes, the fire is crackling nicely, and he rigs the pot to heat up above it.

We’re far enough away from the other gang that I can no longer hear their voices, but Cole claims he can still hear them, and I have no reason not to believe him.

Neither one of us have eaten since a very early breakfast. Between us, we have a bacon sandwich, a couple of tomatoes, some pork jerky, and a couple of cans of baked beans Cole scavenged somewhere. We split the sandwich and heat one can of beans up over the fire and share those too.

If we’re careful, we’ll have enough for a couple more days. Surely we’ll be able to find something else to eat along the way.

When we finish eating and filling our bottles with water, Cole rinses out his pot and returns it to his pack. In the process, he pulls out a towel. It gives me an idea.

“I’m going to clean up some at the stream if you don’t mind.”

“Why would I mind?”

“Can I use this?” I reach for the towel.

“Sure. Got some soap in here too if you want it.”

That’s more than I would have hoped for. I take the towel and soap over to the stream and lean over to peel off my socks and shoes.

A couple of the guys from town came back from a trip last year with a cartful of scavenged clothes, and there was a pair of hiking boots in the haul that fit me perfectly. So far, they’ve held up pretty well, managing all this walking without tearing up my feet or falling apart. Hopefully they can handle a lot more.

I start to shimmy out of my jeans when I realize Cole is still sitting by the fire, watching me in the flickering light.

When he sees me notice him, he says, “You want me to look away?”

He would if I asked him too. I’m entirely sure of it. “I don’t really care. I’m not planning to get naked right now.”

It’s not his presence that would keep me from such a thing. It’s the creepy dark woods all around us.

I do take off my jeans and the hoodie I’ve been wearing all day and lean over in my tank top and panties to scoop out water and rinse off my face, neck, arms, and legs, using his soap to lather up before I rinse off again.

I’m not particularly self-conscious about my body. It’s skinny but fairly toned from all the exercise I do. While I don’t have much going in the boob department, my ass is nicely rounded. At least, I’ve always thought it’s one of my best features. It sure feels like Cole might be staring at it.

I glance over my shoulder to check.

His gray eyes gleam weirdly in the firelight, and they’re definitely focused on me.

“Shouldn’t you be keeping watch?” I ask him.

“I am.”

“It doesn’t seem like you are.”

“I can hear if anyone approaches. No one is going to catch us by surprise.”

I shrug, figuring he’s telling the truth. “Do you want to wash up too?”

“I will after you finish.”

I hadn’t realized he was waiting for me. I speed up my ablutions, satisfied that I’ve taken care of the dirt and that I don’t stink quite as much as I did before.

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