Thanks for all the reviews and favs. Hope you're enjoying the ride through my daydreams. I have no beta. Like a great writer once snarked in another FF genre, 'you don't get someone to read this crap for ya, do ya?'
Reparata
Chapter 12
It was still dark and cold but the rain had stopped and he woke up and untangled himself from Penny and eased out of bed, kissing her hair and vowing to find a shower facility so she could leisurely wash her hair more thoroughly. He missed the scent of her conditioner. Sheldon made coffee, poured himself a cup and slipped out of the coach to greet the day and to think.
Bomber was asleep on the couch, buried in blankets and Sheldon almost laughed out loud imagining Winkle's frustration at not being able to lure her into her lair and then have her way with him. A thought skittered across his mind and he did chuff a laugh: it would be ironic if Bomber were gay.
Sheldon sat at a picnic bench on a section he'd cleared the ice and snow from. He liked the silence of this place. He could hear nothing that hinted at civilization and somehow that seemed appropriate to his mood. He was slowly becoming addicted to coffee as an excuse for his mental absences from any group conversations while he turned his mind inward.
Based on Bomber's information, they'd decided to go to Las Vegas after all and then continue north to Salt Lake City and the east on I70 until they hit the outskirts of Denver. They would spend as much time as possible on the road but take one day in three to scrounge and search for fuel. Sticking to the interstates would hopefully provide a steady supply of diesel fuel from abandoned 18-wheelers.
Penny had suggested that they might find more 'loot' in smaller towns since anyone traveling the interstates would have already gone through the towns on the interstate routes and pickings might be slim.
"Small towns well off the interstate are more likely to have escaped looters or refugees and we might even find pharmacies and boost Bomber's insulin supply."
The suggestion was batted around and approved. Sheldon smiled at Penny's excitement of going 'off road' to seek out new stores and items for their larder. Bomber had looked away when Penny talked about how important it was to find more insulin, obviously touched by his new friends' concerns.
"Sheldon, is something wrong?" He'd watched Winkle's careful journey from the coach to the picnic area, a cup of hot coffee in her hand and trying not to slip. She sat down beside him, almost indecently close.
"Chill, dumbass. I'm not trying to get into your shorts, just don't want to plant my ass in snow. Seriously, Shel, why aren't you inside where it's warm? Have you realized something terrible and come out here to ponder a solution, oh great wise man?"
"Sarcasm, Leslie?" He was never sure about some of her rhetoric. Sometimes he thought she just liked to hear her own voice.
"Maybe a little, Sheldon, but more like humor but I know it's too early for it. Why the isolation? Even the Buddha would have meditated inside where it's warm."
"Just enjoying the quiet and my morning coffee. Penny's still asleep and…and I was just mentally preparing a scrounge list for you two. Cinnamon, Leslie, can help reduce a diabetic's dependence on insulin. Won't eliminate it but a daily dose helps control the blood sugar levels. We need to find some."
She sipped her coffee and wondered if he had always been this nice, caring fellow and just never showed it or if the plague had made him more human. Either way, she kind of liked the new Sheldon. He was much easier to deal with except for those monumental funks brought on by something he 'forgot' or didn't consider in their flight planning.
"Warmer clothes for sure. Blankets and maybe sleeping bags. I was thinking that Penny and I could use the 4-wheelers to conduct our foraging. Be easier than driving the bus all over town and would conserve diesel fuel," said Winkle.
"They're loud and until we work out some kind of routine for security, I wouldn't want either of you risking your lives for blankets or skittles, y'know?"
"I never thought I'd say this in a million years, but since you took the stick out of your ass, you're almost…nice. Too bad it took the end of the world to do it, Shel. But I'm glad you're here with me, us, I mean. And the way you took in the flyboy without a single hesitation…you might even be a human being under all the crap you've layered yourself with."
"Don't push it, ya frizzy-headed Loopist. I still think you wasted your time – "
"Oh, just when I think you're…you start up with your idiotic String Theory. Jesus, dumbass, Loop integrates relativity and – "
"Coffee's getting cold, Winkle, just like you ideas about Loop Theory. Let's agree to disagree and I'll continue theorizing and you can continue to waste a wonderful mind on groundless theories."
'Wonderful mind' took the wind from her anger sails and she abruptly looped her arm through his and leaned her parka-covered head against his shoulder.
"Okay. Deal. Let's get back. The others might think we're engaging in sweaty coitus in the supply shed."
Sheldon just shook his head and marveled at how Winkle's sex drive and uninhibited innuendo never seemed to be too far beneath the surface.
"There's a heater in the shed, Leslie. We could always – "
She stopped and gaped at him, wondering if for just one second he was being serious. He had a strange look on his face and when he slowly licked his lips she felt a flush of heat sweep over her.
"Bazinga, Leslie. You're so easy sometimes."
Penny was still asleep but she needed to be up so he awakened her according to the newly established social protocol of 'the kiss'. He'd forgotten, however, about his cold hands and when he ran a palm up the back of her naked thigh she almost ruptured his eardrum with her shriek.
"COLD HANDS DO NOT BELONG ON MY THIGH, SHELDON!"
In the galley, Winkle laughed out loud and then muttered, "I should be so lucky."
Bomber looked elsewhere, already figuring that there might be the littlest bit of unresolved sexual tension lurking in the woman seated across from him. Women were never high on his list of priorities.
Sure, he had his dates and overnights and once he had a 'friend with benefits' but never anything remotely serious. He flew. It was his life. It had been his life. Until now.
"Sometimes those two are so…normal." Again he thought he heard something implied but chose to ignore it. If the Doc and Penny were happy, who was he to pass judgment? If he didn't figure out some way to handle his disease, he'd be dead in 3 months, 6 months, tops.
Winkle looked over at the man sitting across from her and began unconsciously categorizing him by passing his known qualities and behaviors through 'Winkle's Checklist of Potential Partners' and computing a ranking.
Leonard had been a 41. Wolowitz had ranked a 60 until he started getting serious and then he plunged down the rankings to a questionable 30. Sheldon Cooper had been an 80 when she first met him. One bitter confrontation regarding her purpose in life (a housewife and mother) versus her career (not worth mentioning according to Dr. Dumbass) and he plummeted down to the low teens.
Bomber was in the 60s. She had insufficient data to render a rank higher or lower at the moment. Besides, she had all the time in the world to figure things out.
"More juice, Bomber?" She'd found some orange juice and hoped it would be acceptable. She poured another glass for him and asked the obvious question.
"Leave anyone special behind?" She watched his face for signs of deception but he just laughed at her questions.
"Nope. Had a lady but she got promoted and transferred overseas a year ago. No one special or long term since then. How about you?"
"Nothing permanent. I haven't found the right man to meet my requirements. Um, that's not exactly what I mean. It's more like no one can measure up to what I want."
They bypassed Las Vegas and followed Penny's suggestion that 'off the beaten path' might prove more productive and less hazardous.
Sheldon had them stop near a restaurant and he and Leslie went in, armed of course, and emerged, both smiling broadly. They climbed back into the coach and Winkle said they should head north and continue for a few exits until the surroundings looked deserted.
"Cooper scored a phone book and Yellow Pages and now all we have to do is let our fingers do the walking when we get to the next few small towns."
Sibleysburg, NV [Population 635]
Sheldon consulted his downloaded atlas and gestured for Leslie to pull into a Flying A filling station. There were 4 bodies lying in the main street, the only major street, as a matter of fact. That seemed to suggest that either the population had either succumbed to the Choker or abandoned the town for someplace else.
Bomber and Penny eased out of the coach and Penny covered Boomer with a shotgun while he checked out the filling station office and two service bays. The both disappeared inside and Sheldon stood on the lowest step of the coach and watched them. Winkle had already gone out the back door and was watching for anyone who might be sneaking up on them. It was the plan for all such stops.
Sheldon smiled when he saw the office lights come on. That meant that there was power to the pumps and if there was a diesel tank, they could top off their fuel tanks and auxiliary storage drums.
Bomber and Penny came out carrying full trash bags while Sheldon and Winkle began the fuel transfer. Sheldon had rigged up a hose and pump to 'lift' the fuel to the drums on the roof. It wasn't the best way to do it but he hadn't considered the length of the pump hoses being too short to reach the tanks on the roof.
They managed to fill one drum. The station's diesel tank was empty now but they'd gained another 440 miles on their auxiliary tanks after topping of the internal tank. All in all, they could expect to cover 1,000 miles before running dry.
The team piled back into the coach and Penny took over the driving while Sheldon and Leslie went back and got cleaned up. Penny mentally added 'waterproof gloves' to her scrounging list. Their gloves were now ruined because of leaks in the hoses and she was selfish. She liked his soft hands on her bits.
Small-town Penny knew there were only two major sources of swag in small towns: the local feed & grain and the local church. The feed store typically carried farm work gear while the church stockpiled donations for distribution to needy folks.
Barnette's Feed & Grain
Sibleysburg, NV
The girls had their shopping lists and after Bomber made a quick check for any signs of habitation, they started gathering items. Penny honed in on boots and gloves. She had all their sizes and wanted several pairs of rubber-coated or leather gloves for all of them.
Penny found some cute Olathe waterproof boots with pink uppers and she fell in love with them and dumped them into her shopping cart. She was in the middle of a shoe-lovers' fantasy when Leslie screamed and called for help and then started screaming really loudly.
Penny ran through the rows of aluminum display shelves and saw Leslie on the ground, being beaten and bitten by a crazy woman she could smell yards away. She took a deep breath and shot the woman in the head and then pushed her off Leslie with a foot, not wanting to touch the filthy carcass.
Bomber was beside Leslie in an instant and scooped her up and carried her bridal-style back to the coach with Penny covering them with her 9mm pistol. She hadn't given her actions a second thought but now she was beginning to 'feel' her natural sympathy for people.
'What kind of person am I becoming? That poor creature was someone's grandmother and mother and wife and – '
Sheldon took one look at Penny and plucked the cocked automatic pistol from her hands and safed it and then wrapped her in his arms murmuring his standard 'there, there, Penny, Sheldon's here'. She pushed him away a few seconds later and said, "thanks, Shel, but I need to check on Winkle."
Winkle had bites on her fingers and one of her fingers was obviously broken. She'd shoved her fingers into the woman's face, aiming for the eyes but had been bitten badly.
Penny cleaned up the bites and put antiseptic ointment on them and then suddenly shouted, "Look, out there!" When Winkle tried to look out the window, Penny reset her finger. Leslie whimpered in pain and then shot Penny a 'Die, Bitch' look but it soon softened. Sheldon smiled and patted Penny's back in appreciation of her deception.
"I'm going to find something to splint it. You'll be good as new in no time. Unless we find some mittens, Les, you're our official coach guard. You won't be able to wear a glove."
Sheldon and Penny finished scrounging for boots and gloves but couldn't find any mittens. Penny picked up a couple of pairs of cute boots for her and Leslie, real girly, while grabbing two pairs of Durango's for each of the guys. The Fatboys would be her surprise for Leslie. The heavy farm boots for the guys were plain and utilitarian.
Penny found exactly the gloves they'd need and she emptied the rack of all of them. She had a feeling that they might join up with others eventually and these might come in handy. If not, they could be used for barter.
"Sheldon, let's eat something before we hit the churches, okay? I think we need to figure out better security for our scrounge teams. We need to start putting Halo tactics into our operations, don't you think?"
Once again he smirked at his foresight. He wasn't above enjoying the proof of his logic. Penny had street smarts and was a natural leader. He'd follow her anywhere – especially in her tight jeans.
They skirted the aisle where the old woman's body laid but Penny insisted on wrapping it in a tarp and 'showing some respect'. Sheldon didn't like the idea of touching the body but followed her lead.
They were almost at the double glass doors of the feed store. Sheldon told Penny, "wait a second. There's something I have to do." She looked up at him with a question in her eyes but his soft kiss answered her.
"You need to be more careful, my Queen. I can't lose you." She recognized his fierce hug for what it was: fear of losing her. His words said 'I love you' more than anything else.
"I love you too, Moon Pie."