Hope you all like this chapter of Overdue! Enjoy!

Life and Love

"This is AWESOME!" Rex threw his fists up in the air. The forest was likely to be temperate, though it was too humid possibly to be that.

"Follow me." Without waiting for a response from anyone I ventured further along the trail. The sounds of the forest reached me and was…familiar. The leaves and branches hung low and I ducked under them. The comforting woody smell came with the gentle breeze that cooled my skin. The soil was damp and slightly spongy. The calm and serenity…

"Six?" I snapped out of my sensory world and turned my head halfway to look at Doctor Holiday.

"Where are we going, if you don't mind me asking?" She looked rather impatient.

"Here we are." I stood to the side and gestured towards our destination. It was an old fashioned cabin large enough for a family of 4 to live in.

"Cool! I've never been camping before!" Rex, like the big kid he is, ran over to the door and threw it open. I reached to house myself and walked in. The place was fully furnished and even a TV set. There was a stair well that lead upstairs and there was a short hallway that leads to another room. There was no electric light, so there were many candles strategically placed on tables and planted on walls.

"How long are we gonna be here, green bean?" Bobo crossed his arms.

"A long time."

"How long?"

"Decades."*

"What! Why?"

"The ash in sky will block out the sun, plunging the entire world into an ice age. The Earth's oceans' pH will lower down to that of battery acid. All over the world, rain will turn acidic. Very acidic. If you want to go out in that, that's fine with me. "

The monkey looked pretty shot down. "Well, if ya put it that way…"

I walked up the creaky stairs. There were only two bedrooms.

"Hey Six, where are the restrooms?" Rex shouted up the stairs.

"Out back."

"What, they don't have flushing toilets?"

"No."

"*sigh*I'm going to the back yard!"

"This place is wonderful. How did you find out about it?" Holiday spoke drawing my attention away from Rex's now distant thundering feet.

"I'll just say this: My parents were a little paranoid." I pushed up my sunglasses. She stepped around in front of me.

"There's much more to it than that." She gave that knowing look. She knew that I knew more than I was saying, but also knew that I didn't want to tell her, I wouldn't.

"Holiday, I'm going to be gone for awhile."

Shock entered her face. "Why? Where are you going t-?"

I was already out the door.

…

Three days later, I finally walked back into our cabin. Holiday was sitting on the couch reading a book from the wooden bookshelf. She was wearing a bright orange, yellowed flowered dress that went down to her knees. She also wore a white headband and white sandals. When she saw me out of the corner of her eyes, I could see relief fill her face. She ran up to me and hugged me.

"Where have you been?" Her voice was a soup of sadness, anger and other scattered emotions. She released me and looked me hard in the eye.

Too tired to fight with her, I relented. "I picked up as many people I could think of to bring to Nec Terram. That includes White, your sister, and Noah. They lead me to other people they wanted to come along. I only planned to be gone for a day."

Holiday's face lit up. "Where are they? "

"I led them to different cabins similar to ours. They need to be left alone for know since knowing that they may never see be able to go up to the surface for a very long time is a traumatic experience. "

Holiday nodded knowingly.

"Where's Rex?" It was strangely quiet.

"Out searching for EVOs. He couldn't stand sitting in on place for more than a day."

"The stone around this place kept most of the corrupted nanites out. This place is so environmentally stably because of the 'purifying stone' completely surrounding the place."

You're chatty today."

"I'm in a good mood now that I've seen you again." That was a huge slip of the tongue.

The reaction she gave me was not what I expected. Her face softened and she smiled gently. Now she really knows how I feel about her. But, she may have known all along.

…

It was nighttime and I still hadn't heard from Rex. Holiday said he crashed on the couch from being out all day. I have no real reason to not believe her. I went into my room upstairs and changed into a pair of blue jogging pants. I's prefer if they were green. I chose to stay shirtless. Right as I was about to fall asleep under the white sheet of the soft bed, someone opened to bedroom door.

It was Holiday! I remembered that there were only two bedrooms in the cabin and I know Holiday was not going to share a room with Rex. The closer she stepped towards the bed, the more fearful I got. It didn't help much that the silky black gown she wore was a bit low-cut in the front. I tried so hard not to stare at her…uh…

"Hello, Six."

"What are you doing, Doctor Holiday?"

"Same as you. Going to sleep."

Nothing more was said between us for a minute or two. She blew out the candle light and opened the bedroom window. Simulated moon light leaked into the room, giving the room a gentle glow. A white light glinted off my sunglasses on the nightstand.

Holiday climbed into the bed, so close I could smell her hair as the strands lightly brushed my nose. She snuggled in close to my bare chest. Strangely, my first reaction was not to move away from her or leave. I wrapped my arms around her body, feeling her breathe. The time seemed to stop as I ran my hand along her body. She was facing away from me but didn't move away from me. I could feel Holiday's muscles relax.

"…Six?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. "

I gave a confused look. Though she couldn't see my face, my confusion was implied.

"Thanks for staying with me, even throughout all that's happened."

"Why are you thanking me for that? I'm there for the people I care for, no need for thanking."

"But still had I never left, you wouldn't have had to rescue me. This is my fault."

"Rebecca, Yellowstone would have blown, regardless of where you were. Besides, we were 40.000 years overdue for an eruption."

I didn't get a verbal response but the positive air around her grew. The closeness of her being was not tempting, as I originally thought it would be. It seemed to mend a piece of me I never knew was shattered.

Suddenly, Holiday rolled over to face me. Her eyes were half closed and the creases on her forehead, I have now become used to, had smoothed out completely. She placed her soft hands on my bare chest. She was holding something back.

Just then, something forced me to lean in closer to her smooth face. My lips brushed hers in the moonlight. Holiday returned the kiss, more passionately. Naturally I followed suit. Holiday broke away, smiling at me.

"For someone who's so stiff, you're a good kisser."

"...Thank you."

For the rest of the night, we lay there, holding each other. I ran my hand through her hair as she pressed her face into my chest. I listened to her soft snoring as I slowly slipped into sleep.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! How was that Six and Holiday moment?

*When the super volcano underneath Yellowstone National Park erupts, the sun can be blocked out for as much as 40 years.