September 19th, 2010

BANG!

I woke up with a startle to see that Magna was already up, her eyes wide with worry.

"What was that?" I asked.

She didn't answer.

BANG! BANG!

I knew those sounds well enough to know what they were gunshots. So many of them, coming from the streets.

I had to know that my family was okay. I shot out of bed and through my door, out into the living room. Before I saw them, I heard the kids crying in the living room, Jeff and Melody holding them tightly.

Shane had his shotgun out, his back to the wall by the window, peering out of it.

"Need to keep those kids quiet!" he warned.

"They're scared!" Melody replied.

"You all wanna come sleep with Grandpa?" Grandpa appeared in the doorway to my mom's room that he was sharing with Grandma.

"What in God's name is goin' on?" my Mom appeared in the doorway of Carl's room, the latter peaking out from behind her.

"Same thing that's been goin' on for a week now," Shane replied. "Everyone needs to stay calm and quiet. It's gonna be okay, we just got to wait it out. It's almost mornin'."

"It's 12:30AM," Mom scoffed.

"I want to sleep with Grandpa!" Lana cried out.

"Okay, let's go," Uncle Jeff ushered the kids forward towards the master bedroom.

He picked little Garrett up in his arms and grabbed his wife by the hand.

"We should all sleep in the same room," Bryson suggested from between his tears.

"Go on, Carl," Mom ushered Carl towards the master bedroom.

I could see when he walked past her that his eyes were wide with fear, but he wasn't crying like the little kids.

"Isn't everyone else comin'?" Bryson asked in his little Kentucky accent.

"We'll be right there, buddy," Mom assured him.

Carl put his hands on his cousin's shoulders and ushered him into the room with everyone else.

Magna did almost the same to me, putting her hands on my shoulders, a sensation that calmed my still fast beating heart.

"Go on and take my spot," Grandpa told the kids. "Me and your dad are gonna grab some extra blankets and pillows."

Grandpa and Uncle Jeff exited the master bedroom, leaving Grandma and Melody in there with the kids, closing the door behind them.

"How many guns you got in the house, Lori?" Grandpa turned to my mom.

"I don't keep guns in my house," Mom reiterated.

Something she said often.

"Come on, now, my son has got to have some guns stashed somewhere."

"There's no guns in the house besides what Shane's got on him," I backed my mom up.

Dad always respected her boundaries when it came to firearms. Despite him being a cop, Mom wasn't the biggest fan of guns.

"You think this is a good idea?" he threw his hands up to Shane. "With all this goin' on for us not to be properly armed. I'm trained, Jeff's a hell of a shot. Hell, even Jack can hit a target."

Shane looked at him wide-eyed then over to Mom.

"Come on," she shook her head. "This is my house."

"Yes, Lori, and I respect that, but your father-in-law is right. The kids are scared. I know I'd feel a lot better if we had more protection than just a handgun and a shotgun. People are wild right now. Fear does that to people. They ain't gonna mess with us if they know we're armed."

"God," she threw her hands up in defeat.

"I reckon ain't no one has tried to loot the gun stores," Jeff inputted, "Unless they're fixin' to get shot."

"I don't want my son around a bunch of guns," Mom insisted.

"He won't be," Jeff assured her. "I don't want mine armed either. Hell, I've just started takin' Bryson shootin' and he can't shoot for shit. Don't tell him I said that though. I'm just talkin' about a few arms for me and my dad."

"The more guns the better," Grandpa said. "I think the boy should be armed."

He gestured to me. It was nice agreeing with him on something for once.

"You know I can handle myself, Mom," I said.

"If Carl- or any of those kids so much as touch one of those guns, I want them gone," she crossed her arms.

"How are we gonna get them if we're boarded up in here?" Magna asked.

"We're gonna have to go out there," Grandpa said.

"I agree that we need more protection, but we got to think about that," Shane said. "I don't want to go out there when it sounds like a warzone."

"Gunshop's just around the corner basically," I said.

"You ain't goin' anywhere, son," Grandpa said to Shane. "I need you with the guns here protectin' the women and children with your guns."

Magna scoffed only audibly enough for me to hear at the implication she needed protection.

"So, what? You're gonna go get 'em?" Shane asked him.

It was a rude thing to say. Grandpa was old, but he was still in decent shape for a sixty-three-year-old.

"I am," he held his ground. "I'm takin' my son and my grandson with me."

"My son is not goin' anywhere," Mom stated.

"Mom, I can do this."

She shook her head then looked at Magna, "how do you feel about this? About him goin' out there?"

She was quiet in thought for a moment before she answered, "if it were me, I wouldn't want him to stop me."

Mom shook her head in disbelief again before stepping forward to Grandpa.

"If anything happens to my son, anything, I swear to God, Arthur, I will-"

"Nothin' will happen to him," Jeff stepped in and put his hand on her arm. "Not to my nephew."

He offered her a reassuring smile.

Jeff was good like that. Like Dad. Always the mediator, maybe even better at that than Dad.

"Dad? Are you comin'?" Bryson's voice appeared in the doorway.

The boy had cracked the door open and peered out.

"I thought y'all were just gettin' the blankets?"

"We're comin', buddy," Jeff confirmed.

"What about Aunt Lori and Jack?" he asked.

"Someone's got to stay up and make sure this place is safe," I smiled down to my little cousin. "Me and Magna are gonna stay up with Shane."

I looked at my Mom and gestured for the door. She obliged and joined the others in all camping out in the master bedroom.

The room got quiet when it was just Shane, Magna, and myself.

Magna walked past me and over to the coffee maker as I approached Shane.

"We need to keep noise to a minimum," Shane said to her.

"They ain't gonna hear a coffee maker," I defended before Magna could bite back.

He didn't reply, just looked back out the window, his brow tense.

He was more stressed than I ever saw him before. I couldn't imagine his position, and I knew I'd contributed to that stress. Shane had always cared for my family more than anything. He grew up best friends with my dad, and in my dad loving my mom, he loved her too- in a brotherly way, of course. He was here. He was always here for us. Hell, he practically raised me like a third parent. To move out of state with none of your own family just so your best friend and his new wife didn't have to do it on their own. That took a man of honor. And here he was again. He could be boarded up in his spacious house across town, not worried about any of us while waiting for all this to blow over, but here he was. And it wasn't even just Rick's wife and kids. It was the whole family. He was the odd man out, but he was the one making sure everyone was safe.

"Thank you," I spoke to him.

"For what?"

"You know. For this. You're here. You don't have to be."

"The hell out of here, man," he scoffed. "He would be. I ain't doin' nothin' he wouldn't do."

"I know. You did somethin' though."

"And what's that?"

"Went to church," I chuckled. "Dad ain't done that in a long time. Mom always wants him too."

"You did too. I know you don't like to."

"Ain't it Sunday? You think O'Hara's throwin' a service today?" I meant it as a joke, but he wasn't laughing.

"Don't even give your Mom that idea," he shook his head. "I'll tell you what, you and your girl, y'all go on to bed. I stay up 'til say four, then I'll wake y'all up and y'all take cover and let me get some rest."

"Sounds good to me," I agreed and looked over at Magna across the room in the kitchen to see her nodding her approval.

I couldn't lie and say the thought of cuddling back up with her in bed wasn't the most attractive thing in the world to me right now, so I got up eagerly- trying to not look too eager and headed back towards the bedroom. She grabbed her coffee and followed suit. I closed the door behind her and crawled back into my bed, looking at Magna and waiting for her to do the same.

"He called me your girl," she recalled.

"Ain't you?"

"Am I?"

"Truth be told, I ain't thought about the label of it since back in college. I just want you in whatever way I can have you."

I reached forward and snaked my arm around her back, pulling her close to where I sat against the edge of the bed.

"Careful now," she warned, setting her coffee cup down on the headboard, "you're starting to sound desperate."

"Only for you," I hiked her wife-beater up and began planting kisses on the hard muscles of her stomach.

She let out a groan of contentedness as I continued to kiss her abs, my kissing becoming increasingly slower and softer.

"I can't go with you in the morning," she said.

I was about to say I was glad for that, but I didn't think she'd take it the right way.

"You gonna be okay here with all the other women?"

She chuckled.

"It's alright, you can say it," I went on. "My grandpa's an asshole. I think so too."

"You're grandpa's an asshole."

"Hm."

"No wonder where you get it from."

"That's what you think of me?" I said playfully.

"Yep," she popped the P. "You're my asshole."

I laughed. "Didn't come out the way you intended?"

"No," she shrugged and looked down on me, a perfect smile plastered on her face.

My heart went crazy at this. She didn't smile often. I enjoyed her smoldering broodiness, but God, when she did, it was all the more rewarding.

She cupped my face with her right hand, planting a kiss on my top lip, her teeth biting down on it in the way that turned me on so much.

I took a deep breath into her mouth and began to grow hard at the way she breathed deeply back. I slid my hands down and over her firm glutes, pulling her closer to me until my right and left hands were on the backs of her respective thighs. In one swift motion, I lifted her up and pulled her on me.

She took control of this motion, jumping up so her knees were planted on the bed on either side of me. She lifted her left hand now, cupping my neck with her other hand on my face, leaning into the kiss she was smothering me with. She slid her knees forward slowly, and my hips began to swivel as she got closer to my dick.

I savored her teasing move, smiling into the kiss as she lowered herself until she was grinding on my swollen dick, moaning softly into my mouth.

I couldn't take the friction anymore. I slipped my left hand under her head, and my right arm around her waist, pulling her up and setting her down on the bed so that I was on top of her, grinding into her body. Even through our clothes, I could feeling the rising heat between her legs.

She snaked her hand through our bodies and grabbed firmly onto my pulsating dick, her hand moving up and down in slow and gentle strokes through the fabric. As good as it felt, I had something a little different in mind.

I grabbed her wrist- then the other one- and pinned them above her head. Her body arched to close the gap I had created. Holding her wrists up still, I trailed my kisses- hard kisses now- down her neck, lingering there for a long while, enough time so that I knew I'd leave my mark of claim on her, before going down to her well-defined collar bones and leaving kisses there too. I noticed her hard nipples poking out from the fabric of her shirt, and I wanted my mouth on them. I pulled her right wrist over to my left hand, holding both of them in one firm grip, using my free hand to hike her shirt up, exposing her breasts. I took one in my mouth, swirling my tongue around, smiling when she arched her back in pleasure.

She really was the most stunning woman I'd ever seen, and the only one I'd ever needed. I wasn't just saying that because she was mine. It was the God's honest truth. She had a face like a model, a body like a swimmer, and a voice like a siren. There was nothing else I needed more in this world. And if there was a God, he must have some favor on me to let me have her the first time, then get her back the second time. And I was never, never letting her go again. There was no way in hell.

I left her breasts wet with my saliva, beginning to trail down the center of her abs muscles, leaving a kiss straight on her navel before sliding my hands over her hips, pulling her pants- well, my pants that she was wearing- off of her, exposing her wet rose and planting a kiss on the throb of her clit before slowly bringing it between my lips, swirling my tongue around it there.

She let out a moan that I swear made me even harder, and I pulled her pelvis into my tongue even harder as it flicked up and down over the slick swell. She responded by sending her now free hands into my hair pushing my head down against her vagina as her hips buckled and swirled.

There was something so hot in doing this to her. The power I got in knowing I was the one who could make her feel this good. And the kick I got out of serving her in this way. Knowing my tongue could make her so wet and satisfied. She was my goddess, and this was how I worshiped.

I still remembered the way the buckling of her hips sped up when she was about to cum, and I knew how she liked me to give it to her when her orgasm had just started.

I retightened the grip I had under her legs, then slowed down my movements. I pressed my tongue down hard on her clit, licking it slowly, and she put a pillow over her face to muffle out the cries as she came until her body fell slack.

I rested my head against her thigh, taking a deep breath. My beard was wet with her fluids. I looked up at her, admiring her from down here as she reoriented from the high that was her orgasm, sparingly placing kisses along her inner thigh, making her shiver from the post-coitus sensitivity.

I had an urge to be close to her- closer to her, so I crawled up over her body, laying half on top of her half on the bed, grabbing her face and bring it to my still-wet one, kissing her roughly and passionately, pulling her closer to me, and throwing the blanket over her.

"You think they heard us?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper.

"Over the gunshots? No."

She offered a playful backhand against my arm. I caught that backhand, and held it gently in my own, leaving a kiss on it before tucking it between our two bodies.

She shifted her body until I was off of her, her laying facing me, her big brown eyes looking deep into my own eyes.

"Would I still sound desperate if I said I can't believe you're here again?"

She looked like she contemplated the words before gently shaking her head no.

"I can't believe that you looked for me."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"There's a lot of girls in the world," she said. "I ain't nothin' special. Plus, you had a future. College and stuff."

"Yeah, I dropped out," I confessed.

Her eyebrow furrowed and she almost looked mad.

"Why?"

"Doesn't matter. I didn't wanna go anymore."

She was joking about the desperate thing earlier, I got that, but I feared she might really think that of me if I told her really why I did.

"You're stupid."

"My family ain't got money like that. I don't."

"You should've made it work."

"Doesn't matter anymore. Can always go back. I don't want to though."

"What do you want to do?" she asked. "With your life?"

I looked up and smirked as if I was thinking about it before saying, "have sex with you."

She rolled her eyes but lowered her hand down to my waistband, my still hard dick throbbing at the promise of contact.

I closed the gap between us with a kiss, pressing my body up against her. Her bottom half was still bare, and she sought to make the same true for me, tugging down at the front of my waistband until my erection sprung free.

I reached down to hold it in place as I met my tip to her still wet opening, moving my body until it was on top of hers, pushing down slowly into her.

She gasped with equal parts shock and pleasure, her tight cavern closing around my length as I pumped into her. She moved her hands up from my ass and onto my shirt, tugging on it until I raised my body for her to take it off of me.

I wanted to see more of her too, so I tugged at her shirt until she lifted herself up and I could take it off of her, exposing her flesh to my sight. Seeing it was amazing. Feeling it was something else. I lowered myself back onto her and felt our skin together as I thrusted in and out of her.

For only a moment, I felt nervous at the sounds of the bed creaking underneath us, but I didn't much care if anyone heard.

Her walls got tighter and tighter around me until her body began to tremble with pleasure. I was doing my best to muffle the sounds of her moans with my mouth, but every time they escaped, my seed threatened to come out. But it wasn't time for that. Not yet. Not until she was done.

At the height of her body's trembling, I gave it to her the way she liked it. Slow. Still keeping the energy, I swiveled my hips around in a rhythmic, circular, slow motion, and she let out a series of cries of pleasure until I couldn't take it anymore. After I was confident she had ridden her orgasm out, I pulled my sensitive dick out of her, spilling my seed over her abs.

I brought myself down in another kiss before getting up to grab a towel and wipe her off.

I always thought she was cute when she was riding out the high after an orgasm, feeling a sense of pride that I tried not to show too much at knowing I was the one who did that for her.

With one more kiss on her forehead, I shoved her over and spooned her, falling asleep to the sweet music of her breathing.

A knock at my door awoke me. I opened my eyes to the sun peering in the window, and I knew it was at least three or four hours past 4AM. So much for Shane letting us take the second half of the night. It was fine by me. I sure got something out of it. I think Magna did too.

"Yeah?" I called out to whoever was on the other side of the door.

"You ready to go?" it was my grandpa's voice.

"Umm… I can be in thirty minutes."

"I'll be waitin'."

Magna's hand snaked up under my shirt, her fingertips brushing through the short hairs on my abs.

"I hate you going out there without me," she confessed.

"You know I'll be fine."

She nodded like she was trying to convince herself that what I said was true.

There was no use in trying to use anymore words in trying to convince her. All I could do was leave and come back unscathed. I couldn't lie and say that the thought of separating from her didn't make me nervous too. I wasn't scared of something happening to me; I'd be fine. I was worried about what might happen back at the house while I was gone. Magna could take care of herself, and Shane would be here too, but those rationalities didn't fully calm my worrying heart.

But worrying never did anyone any good.

I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before crawling out of my bed, leaving her tucked in there.

"I'll be as fast as I can," I promised. "Got my phone on me, so have Shane or my mom call me if anything goes wrong."

She just nodded again.

I changed into some jeans and a black t-shirt before lacing up a pair of brown work boots. I kissed Magna again- a quick peck to her lips and a few on her forehead- before heading out of my bedroom to see my grandpa and uncle dressed and ready to go.

Jeff swung the keys of his rental around in his hand, looking between me and Grandpa Arthur.

I nodded, confirming my readiness, and Arthur looked like he was on the verge of exploding with impatience.

Shane and my mom exchanged a worried glance which wasn't lost on me. My mom took me into a hug, and I saw Shane hand over his handgun to Arthur, who took it gratefully.

"Make it back safe, okay?" my mom said, and I nodded, following my grandfather and uncle out of the house.

Jeff's rental was a black Chevrolet Tahoe, a newer model from what I could tell. Chevys were always Jeff and Arthur's vehicle of choice, and they laughed at my dad for buying a Ford, laughing even harder at him every time an issue came up with it.

Jeff got into the driver's seat and Arthur the passenger's, leaving me in the middle row in the back.

"You ain't got yourself a gun yet?" Jeff asked me.

I scoffed, "my Dad's a cop and my mom still won't have guns in the house. Dad keeps his at the station."

"You ain't been livin' with your mom though," Jeff countered.

"I just didn't think to get one," I shrugged.

"Can't have a gun on a college campus," Grandpa reminded him.

As we pulled up to the nearby gun shop- Allen's Arms- I noticed that things were different. Luckily, the gun shop was still up and running- unlike some of the stores around here- but it was being heavily guarded. Four men were patrolling the front of the shop, armed and in armor, and I spotted a few women on the roof- sharpshooters.

"Maybe we should turn around," Jeff said at seeing the small army out front.

"It ain't us they're on guard for," Grandpa disagreed. "We ain't looters. We're honest men with money, just lookin' to protect our families. They'll sell to us."

Jeff looked unsure, but he let out a sigh, parking the vehicle in the small parking lot out front.

I could understand Jeff's hesitancy, but my gut ultimately told me to agree with my Grandpa.

A few of the men began to walk up to our vehicle, holding their automatic rifles ready in their hands.

Jeff opened his car door and got out slowly, Grandpa and I doing the same. We held our hands out to show them that we weren't armed, but the guards looked upon us suspiciously.

"We're honest men, just lookin' to buy," Arthur called out. "We ain't looters."

The two men exchanged glances- something barely discernible as they were wearing facial coverings- a gas mask for one and a bandana, sunglasses, and a cowboy hat for the other.

"That's Rick Grimes's boy," gas mask said to the other guards, nodding his head towards me.

I was a little shocked at them referring to me, but I supposed everyone in King County knew who my dad was, so they ought to have known his immediate family.

"That's Rick Grimes's brother and father too," I spoke up.

The guards nodded to each other and then to us, and we took this as permission to enter the gun shop.

As we did, I noticed that the displays and wall mounts were half empty, like they'd been picked through. Four more men and a woman were inside the shop, all of them armed up their asses as well.

"We're lookin' to buy," Arthur announced himself before anyone had the chance to speak up.

"I see my son trusted that enough to let you in here," a man said- this one I recognized as Mister Allen, the owner to the shop.

"He knew a Grimes was a man to trust," Arthur replied.

"Ah," Mister Allen nodded. "Rick's family?"

"We sure are," Arthur said.

"Well, I was sorry to hear about him."

"We all were," I said, looking around at the small selection of guns on the wall and behind the glass.

I had to admit that Jeff, Arthur, and Shane even would know what was most practical for our situation, so I wasn't really going to be picking out any firearms.

After some friendly but hyper masculine bartering, Jeff and Arthur got four guns out of the Allen's. They didn't have any semi-automatic rifles left available, but Jeff got himself a side by side Bobwhite double barrel shotgun, a Mauser pistol for me, a colt 1911 and a marlin rifle for Arthur. We stocked up on ammo too- plenty of it.

We were just ready to leave the store, when gunshots erupted from the front.

Mister Allen picked up a handheld radio- "looters again?"

The voice over the radio crackled, "no. The other assholes. The dead ones."

"You boys might be here a while," Mister Allen cocked a pistol and rushed outside of the store.

"Should we help them?" I asked. "What are they talking about, dead ones?"

I wondered if I misheard.

"We need to get back to our family," Jeff disagreed. "We should go out the backdoor while we can. It ain't far from here on foot. Fuck the car."

"You're right about needin' to get back to our people," Arthur said, "But we need the car with us. With whatever's goin' on out there, we might not make it on foot, and that's just the reality of the situation. I need you boys to go out that back door, and make sure it's clear, can you do that?"

I nodded my head.

"What are you doin', Dad?" Jeff asked him, Grandpa already loading up his pistol.

"The car is just right out front. I can make it to it, and swing around back and grab you guys."

"You ain't goin' out there," Jeff argued.

"Goddammit!" Arthur slammed his hands down on the table. "My son put himself on the line and got shot with no thought for himself, and you're cowerin' away in here! Quit whinin', Jeffrey. I'm your goddamn father, and you'll listen to me and do what I say, you understand that?! Go out that back door and wait for me. I won't be five minutes!"

Jeff lowered his head in shame before lifting his gaze back up and nodding at my grandpa.

He and I walked over to the backdoor, and peaked out. I gazed back to see Grandpa sneaking out of the front, raising his pistol to fire at someone or something.

My heart was pumping fast in my chest the longer we waited for him to reappear back around this corner where he said he'd pick us up.

Behind the gun shop was a strip of forested area. It didn't go very deep before it became farmland, but it certainly reminded me of back at that campgrounds where I found Magna and where those bounty hunters had killed each other. I couldn't remember their names anymore- those two bounty hunters. It was unusual for me- I was good with names. James and Robert was it? I think that was it. I couldn't remember which one was which. I wasn't sure, but I remembered their faces. And their screams. I tried to blink them away.

"What the hell's wrong with this guy?" Jeff's voice snapped me out of my flashbacks and I looked up to see someone stumbling towards us- the same way the sicker bounty hunter had stumbled towards the other one- before eating him.

"Stay away from him," I pulled my uncle's arm lightly.

Much to my relief, the Tahoe came zooming around the corner before Jeff could inquire any further. He and I jumped in, and Arthur took off back to the house.