Page 35 of Purgatory
I suddenly can’t wait ‘til morning.
Chapter 24
Alessandra
Today, Cole and I are going back into town to check out some more houses for supplies. Not quite sure what we’re looking for since the pantry seems to be stocked to the rafters but I’m not going to complain.
I have to say, this man has an ass that could rival Captain America. Bounce a quarter off of that and it’ll give you back a fifty-dollar bill. Need to crush some walnuts? He’s got you covered.
I stay back a little bit on our way to town, just to admire the view. I play it off that I'm slower because I have shorter legs but it’s simply because I'm enthralled in my viewing pleasure back here. I mentally salute him.
God bless America
“We’re gonna just do these three and head back, ok?” Cole looks over his shoulder as he speaks and grins as he catches me staring at the best thing since marshmallows. Yea, coming from me, it’sthatgood.
My face flushes at getting found out and I nod, rushing up to his side as we step up to the first house.
“Stay downstairs until I give the all clear, yea?” I nod again, and he goes through checking the rooms for anyone or anything that may or may not go bump in the night. Or day in our case.
After a few minutes, he comes sauntering down the stairs, saying, “all clear!” and we get to work going through the items left behind. This particular home looks like the quintessential bachelor pad. It’s smaller than some of the other homes on this block with minimal decorations. Just a huge T.V. with an entire wall dedicated to housing various gaming systems on the side, some of which I've never even heard of, and not much else. I turn my gaze away from gamer heaven and find Cole ransacking the kitchen.
“What are we looking for anyways?”
He shrugs as he continues to look through the room, “medicines, first aid supplies, nonperishable food, weapons. Plus, Jax likes to read, as I’m sure you know, so we try to pick up any books we might find. Hawk likes to listen to music but we have to stay relatively quiet so CDs, portable CD players, batteries, you know. Stuff like that is big for him.”
I pause to process. “What about you? What’s on your doomsday list?”
He stops his search and sighs, putting his hands on the island as I walk up to the counter beside him. “You’ll think it’s weird...”
I bite my lip and look at him with a mischievous smile. “Want to hear mine?”
He takes a second and nods. “Sure, what-ya got?”
I giggle at myself. “It’s stupid and you’ve probably already guessed it but it’s marshmallows...”
“Seriously? I mean I know you like them but, really? Out of everything you have at your fingertips? Come on... You’re kidding right?”
“Everywhere I go. I love the little bastards. I rarely find them too. Not sure why because they last forever. Must be because everyone else thinks they’re awesome too and gotthere before me. I don’t know what it is about them but I close my eyes and eat one and it’s like I'm back on summer vacation with everyone I love, hanging out by a campfire next to a lake, catching fireflies. It’s simple and freeing. They bring me to my happy place.” I lift a shoulder and shrug.
He smiles at that. “That explains the metric ton of them in your backpack when we found you...”
I throw my hands up, laughing back, “YES! I found the motherload at that store and couldn’t let those puppies get left behind.”
Our laughter dies down a little and I give a pressing look. “So...?”
“Argh... ok so don’t laugh... I like to look for journals, diaries, things like that. I know you’re not supposed to look at other people’s stuff like that, their inner most secrets and personal thoughts, but I don’t read them for that. I like to learn about the people that used to be here. Who they were, what they liked to do, their daily stressors that they couldn’t speak to anyone else about, struggles that consumed them so deeply that they felt the need to purge them onto paper. It gives me a chance to remember who they were, pray they’re still out there somewhere living as best as they can. It gives me hope that we’re not completely alone in this fucked up world. That somewhere out there, these people might be continuing their lives instead of drifting in the wind, soulless and empty.”
Oh, shit... that’s deep...
The intense turn of conversation overwhelms me and I'm unable to do anything besides just stare at him. His emerald eyes boring into mine revealing his soul to me and all I can do is bask in it as it envelops me entirely. Cole is absolutely beautiful, inside and out and it is breathtaking, making my chest heave with shallow breaths.
“It gives me hope for a future... for all of us.” He adds,as his tone drops an octave. He slowly takes a step forward towards me, and then another, stalking me like predator to prey. When he’s close enough, he lifts his hand, taking a loose strand of hair and places it behind my ear. “It gives me hope... that anything is possible...” His hand lingers on the juncture between my neck and shoulder, squeezing slightly.
He’s so close now, chest to chest, his lips only inches from mine. Slowly, he plants his hands on the countertop behind us, one on either side of me, boxing me in. Our collective breaths mingling, allowing me to taste his essence. Mint and strawberries. He stays there for what seems like hours and it feels like he’s about to kiss me. I want him to kiss me. Fuck, what am I waiting for? I should just kiss him. At that thought, he breaks his intense gaze away to something behind me.
“But this...” He lifts his arm up and grabs something off of the counter behind me, bringing it between us. “Is something we all tend to enjoy.” I reluctantly look down to see a bottle of rum in his hands.
“Rum?” I laugh, releasing the breath I didn't realize I was holding and turn around, still encased in his strong arms, and see there’s about a half dozen bottles of liquor stashed against the wall. “Holy shit, we should bring all of this home.” Cole doesn’t respond to that.
