Page 25 of A Wilderness Within

“For that man. It’s all over your face—and his, once you get past the beard.” Joanie stirred the creamed corn, her expression full of amusement.

“We’ve only just met, really.”

“Sometimes that’s all it takes. You two look like you could start a fire with the sparks between you. He barely takes his eyes off you.”

Caroline looked back to Lincoln, and she realized Joanie was right. He was focused on his discussion with Glenn, but his eyes still turned to her every few seconds. And that single look made her body flush with feminine awareness. He looked damned sexy standing there, his tall muscled body relaxed for the first time since she’d met him.

“Well…he’s protective. It’s dangerous out here.”

“Uh-huh… Men protect only what they want to protect. He’s not being noble. He wants you.”

She knew that—he’d said as much—but Caroline didn’t want to think about it right now.

“Well, I don’t know if I want him,” she replied, even though it felt like a lie. After that kiss last night, she’d been forced to admit, at least to herself, that she wanted him bad.

Joanie didn’t argue, but her face said she didn’t believe her. Caroline didn’t either. Her body wanted Lincoln, wanted to be claimed, protected, mated, but her rational mind reminded her that they weren’t wild beasts. They were human, and she was going to cling to civilized behavior as long as she could before it was ripped away from her.

“Food’s ready!” Joanie called out. The men turned and came over. They all filled plates with creamed corn. Joanie produced a box of Twinkies, and Caroline laughed at the look of horror on Lincoln’s face. She hadn’t been the only one to discover the shelf life of Hostess products was forever.

“So where you all headed?” Glenn asked as he opened some beers that had been cooling outside.

“South,” Lincoln replied. Caroline frowned at him and clarified.

“Joplin. I’m trying to see if my family is still alive. They were there when I last spoke to them. I was supposed to be there for Christmas.” Her throat tightened as she thought of them, wondering if any of them were still alive.

Glenn and Joanie exchanged a worried glance.

“What is it?” Lincoln asked.

“But that’s so far south,” said Glenn. “The roads are dangerous. What if your family is gone? Maybe you should stay with us. We’d be safer in numbers. Got a decent setup here in the store. It keeps the bad weather out, and there’s plenty of supplies.”

“For now.” Lincoln set his clean plate down on the ground and rested his forearms on his knees. He looked so rugged, and a little scary. “You’ll run out of food soon. There aren’t likely to be any more places nearby that haven’t been heavily raided. You’d be wise to move south until you can get to warmer weather to start farming and irrigation.”

“I’m a hunter, not a farmer,” Glenn replied.

“Hunting alone won’t cut it. The only people who will survive the next year are those who adapt.” Lincoln stood and looked at Caroline. “We’d better go. We have more stops to make.” He focused on their host again. “Thank you for the food and rest.”

“Yeah, of course.” Glenn offered a hand, and Lincoln shook it.

Caroline didn’t want to leave, but she had to stay with Lincoln. She stood and hugged Joanie and shook Glenn’s hand. She wrote down her parents’ address in Joplin and gave it to them.

“If you can, join us in Joplin,” she said and hugged Joanie a second time.

She didn’t want to leave—it felt wrong to walk away from them like this. She wanted to be with other people. It was important to remind the other survivors that they were all in this together. People were not the enemy, the virus was, and those of humanity still left were possibly immune, the lucky few who had a duty not only to survive, but to rebuild their world.

The one thing humans had that set them apart from other animals was the ability to build communities, to delegate responsibilities, and share in the work of not just getting by but developing and thriving. Caroline knew that if she could just get enough people together where they could work alongside one another, it could be a new beginning. That was why walking away from Glenn and Joanie made her heart ache.

“Goodbye, hon.” Joanie squeezed her hand. “Take care with that one,” her new friend said with a wink. “He still has that untamed look about him.”

Caroline nodded, her eyes burning with tears. It was crazy. She had known them only a few hours, but already it felt like she was abandoning lifelong friends. Glenn helped them load the rest of their supplies in the SUV before they waved goodbye and left the strip mall.

“I didn’t want to leave,” she said.

“I know, but the more time we waste, the more we risk not finding your family. We can’t operate off the assumption that all survivors are immune. There could be pockets of people who have escaped exposure, andifthat’s the case…we need to find them and assure their survival,” Lincoln said, keeping his eyes on the road. She didn’t miss the way he’d stressed the wordif. He didn’t believe they were still alive. His lack of faith shouldn’t have hurt—it was pragmatic, logical. But it did hurt. It left a burning ache inside her that only seemed to grow as they put miles on the road. At his heart he was still a cynic, believing the worst in things, even now.

She hoped it hadn’t been a mistake to trust Lincoln.

Lincoln knew he was a fucking asshole. He could see how much Caroline was hurting inside. But they couldn’t stay. Glenn and Joanie were facing hard times, harder if they didn’t move south like he said. Everyone had their own choices to make.

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