Chapter Five – On The Road
Sleeping in a car sucked, big-time.
They deemed it their best bet for now, as once they hit the roads, the long, houseless stretches between towns were more or less entirely deserted. It made sense to just find a suitable spot and sleep in the car, rather than drive tired until they found a possibly unsafe house.
The downside that both men found, but never voiced, was that this meant sleeping with a space of at least a foot or so between them, what with the well between the seats to hold the gearstick and handbrake. It wasn't until their first night sleeping in the Honda that both Ellis and Nick realised with a pang how much they'd become used to proximity with one another. For Ellis, this wasn't so huge a surprise. He quite liked being close to other, be it crashing out beside Keith or another of his guy buddies, or falling asleep with one of his female friends in his arms after a particularly late party. He was quite well-known for how comfortable he was to sleep on, and as such was popular with the girls when those early hours of the morning showed up, and people starting looking for a soft place to rest their heads. Luckily for them, Ellis was always the perfect gentleman..
For Nick, however, it was a strange turn of events. The man was self-confessedly solitary, only sharing beds when something was in it for him. The idea of laying with someone just for the comfort of the situation was quite alien to his mind. Yet, as he lay on his side with the back of the driver's seat rolled back as far as it could go, he couldn't help but watch the gently snoring hick, and feel the slight desire to move just that little bit closer to him.
Nick reluctantly shared the task of driving, the two men taking it in shifts for two days, the third resulting in them finally coming across an abandoned house. Unlike the others, there were no dead bodies anywhere nearby. Nick had slowly pulled up outside the house, both men peering out of the car windows, watching for any sign of movement. "Risk it?" Ellis asked, turning his eyes to Nick, who gave a mute nod before climbing from the car, pistol in hand. Ellis followed with the shotgun.
The door was locked, though that was no problem from the con-man. Despite Ellis's kind offer to kick the door off it's hinges, Nick opted for the more subtle approach of picking the lock, allowing them a much quieter entry. Once they were inside, the two of them were stunned into momentary silence, before Ellis let out a low whistle.
The house was untouched.
It was the first one either man could recall, since the Infection really set in, that had not been destroyed. It was so surreal that it took a while for the two to even comprehend that it was possible! They'd walked straight into the main living area, a large square room with thick red carpet that cushioned their footsteps, with two large three-seater couches placed at an angle in front of a modest TV set, photographs and portraits breaking up the patterned wallpaper. A family home, it seemed, judging by the smiling man and woman featured alongside two young girls in most of the pictures. Ellis wandered on in in awe, the gun now hanging loosely at his side as he glanced over the walls. Nick snapped out of the daze rather swiftly, and was moving with much more meaning to his step, taking himself straight to the kitchen.
Hot water, check. Electricity... check?
"Hey Nick! Check this out..."
The hick was peering out of the window to what could be called the 'back yard', though in fact there was no fence or indication as to where the yard ended, and the rest of the world began. Though Nick didn't need any further assistance in being told where to look, the younger male pointed nevertheless towards several large, sleek black objects. "Some'a them solar 'lectric thingies..."
"Well, that explains why the refrigerator is still humming."
For once, goddamn hippies had proven useful to the con man.
This was a damn good place to set up for a while, they decided. With hot water, Nick actually stood a chance of getting some of the shit out of his suit... and hell only knew Ellis could do with a damned good scrub-down. Further investigation revealed a reasonably well-stocked kitchen, some shotgun rounds in a hallway cupboard, and perfectly-made beds. No car, however. Nick figured the family must have upped and left when news of the infection reached them, probably to go be with family or something. Either way, the house hadn't been touched for some time, owing to the thin layer of dust that lay on top of all the smooth surfaces. After the ordeal they'd been through, however, neither Nick or Ellis were about to complain about the cleanliness of the place. Besides, dust aside, the place was reasonably spotless.
Living room, kitchen, two bedrooms (one master, and one containing bunk beds) and a single family bathroom. Big enough to house the two men more than comfortably for a few days, but small enough for them to keep an eye on it. They spent a short amount of time making sure the windows and doors were secure, not wanting to take any risks despite the apparent lack of infected in the area, before checking out the food supplies. Ellis surprised Nick that evening when he began pulling various containers from the cupboards, throwing a pan onto the electric stove and starting to boil up water. The kid could cook? Well, if you could count pasta as cooking, then yes. Nick was far from about to complain though, even as Ellis started defrosting frozen mince in the microwave (like some kind of goddamn college student, Nick sneered to himself) before throwing it in the mix. Of course, the conman could have easily brought up the fact of how substandard this was to... well, just about everything he'd ever consumed in his lifetime, but after taking his first mouthful of the slap-dash bowl of bolognaise that Ellis had dumped unceremoniously in his lap as he sat on one of the couches, a proud, goofy grin on his face, Nick found himself quite unable to berate him.
It tasted pretty good.
"So...?"
Nick settled with rolling his eyes and continuing to eat, but the lack of insult was more than enough for Ellis to know he did a good job, and he practically bounced back to the kitchen to fetch his own serving.
Neither needed to even bring up the matter of sleeping arrangements, as each man was very aware that there was no question to be asked regarding them sharing the master bedroom. Nick had opted to let Ellis shower first, so he could continue snooping around the house without the hick staring over his shoulder the whole time. Ellis had no arguments with this, and had happily gone off to the bathroom, allowing his companion free rein to rummage through drawers and cupboards. He found some jewellery, good stuff, which he pocketed ('When all this shit is over, I'm gonna be rich,' he told himself after every diamond looted and every cash register raided on his travels) but aside from that, the family were clearly far from rolling in it, and even he wasn't about to stoop so low as to smash open the ceramic piggybanks in the children's room. Walking back down the hallway to the master suite, he couldn't help but peer at the bathroom door as he passed it, which was left quite widely ajar. He curiously found himself leaning up to it, peering through the foot-wide opening and into the bathroom.
The shower stood in the far corner, constructed from lightly misted glass. The water was running and steam filled the air... But neither the steam nor the patterned glass were quite enough to block the sight Nick now found his eyes unable to tear away from.
Now, Nick worked at keeping his figure. He didn't eat crap, and he made an effort to move around a lot, so as to not pick up the pounds from the restaurants and bars he used to love so much. The hick, however, had led a totally different life. When you combined hearty meals to an active life of work, labour, and walking, you ended up with... Well, you ended up with Ellis.
Even frosted glass was not enough to hide the sculpted dips and curves of the younger males body, his back to the door as he rubbed shampoo into his short, curly hair. Nick took full advantage of the hicks obliviousness and allowed his gaze to wander freely, half-wishing the young man would turn just a little more side on... but beggars couldn't be choosers. The smooth planes of his back, the just visible curves of his ass (damn glass was frosted most heavily in that particular area) and the visible dull-blue tattoo on his arm, shoulder blades shifting as he lathered up. The kid may not have had much in the brains department, but boy did he make up for it with the body. The more he looked, the more he could feel his heart rate increase in speed, hammering against his chest. It wasn't long before his pants, loose as they were, were beginning to feel uncomfortable tight.
The kid had been in the shower for fifteen minutes, and had only just started washing his hair. He'd be at least another ten, right? That was more than enough time. Nick kept his gaze on the mechanic for several more long seconds, burning the image of him into his mind, before walking down the corridor to the bedroom, locking the door behind him.
More than enough time, he figured, as he unfastened his slacks.