Chapter 5 Him

Chapter 5

Him

When Riley finally got off the freeway and saw that everything was safe, she jumped for joy inside her head, and felt a wave of relief wash over her. She made her way swiftly across the street to the gas station. Riley found it strange that there were so many cars parked there and at the gas pumps, waiting in line for some gas that would never come. They looked like something out of a horror movie and were frozen in time. She rolled her eyes, because Riley looked down at herself and realized she looked like she was out of a horror movie too.

She quickly looked around the cars for any motion. She debated whether to start by cleaning out the store or go searching for each car. She figured the store would be the most productive and might be able to hold off on searching through each car until a later time. She did not look forward to that, looking at all the cars that had been left behind. She counted at least eighteen.

Quickly, she maneuvered her way through the burnt-out parked cars to the front doors of the AMPM store. They call it the AMPM because it's always open. She quickly grabbed a knife out of her right boot, and before she pulled open the door, she tapped the glass with the end of the knife.

Knock, knock, knock. The glass made the knocks sound so hollow. She knew anyone, living or dead, would be able to hear them if they were inside. She scanned through the glass windows for any movement. She watched and waited. She took another second to knock again, a little harder this time. She held her breath to see what happened.

Knock, knock, knock. She quickly looked around the outside of the store at the cars, not realizing how loud they hit the glass.

'Great job Riley. Just alert everyone in the area that you are here.' She could have kicked herself.

Finally, satisfied there was nothing inside that could catch her off guard, she grasped the handle with her left hand, her right still holding her knife. She swiftly pulled on the handle, and it opened begrudgingly, like it had been stuck for so long, with nobody opening it. She grabbed her little flashlight out of her backpack and held it in her left hand. She swept from right to left and up and down, looking everywhere before feeling safe enough to continue forward. After a minute, she released a breath that she had no idea she began to hold. Sensing no movement, she continued forward. She at once looked behind the counter, and when it was empty, she moved forward.

The shelves were half empty, food and trash littered the store floor, and the refrigerated shelf doors were barely holding on, but they looked like they were going to crash to the floor at any minute. The refrigerated food stunk like rotten food and spoiled milk mixed with old garbage. The air was stale and smelled like death and mold.

Riley wrinkled her nose and went ahead to find the restroom area. She could use a real restroom for once. She walked to the door, and when she pulled the door open, it would not move. She tried again, but nothing happened.

"Dang it," she groaned, and she could not help the frustration coming out of her, so she kicked the bottom of the door as she groaned. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to regain her composure.

"Keys," she said. All the gas stations used to lock their bathrooms before; that's why it won't open. Riley spoke to herself, something she found herself doing more and more of. She turned and went back to the counter in the front of the store and climbed over to look for the keys.

She stood up on the other side and looked around, her eyes scanning the shelves, and she caught sight of a gleaming piece of silver wrapped in a towel and hidden beneath the register.

"No, freaking way," she said. "What are the chances, out of everyone that's been here, that they didn't bother to look under the register?" She quickly bent down and reached under the shelf and pulled out the towel that was used to wrap a very shiny colt revolver, the type of revolver Clint Eastwood used in Dirty Harry

"Go ahead, make my day, Punk." Riley said as she grabbed the gun and turned and pointed it at the bathroom door.

Little did she realize the door was not locked because she had not grabbed the key. It was locked because someone was inside using it.

As she was finishing her best dirty Harry impersonation and pointing the gun at the bathroom door, she screamed and dropped it when the door swung open, revealing only the silhouette of a man.

Riley quickly reaches around for Mary Jane, as it is slung across her back, and grabs the stock of the rifle, and in less than the blink of an eye, she has it in position, fitting into her body like it was made for her.

"Don't move," she says calmly.

All she heard was a sigh, and for a split second she thought she heard him trying to cover up a laugh with a cough.

"Okay, dirty Harriet, I won't move," the silhouette says with a slow, deep drawl that vibrates somewhere deep within Riley. Surprised at her own reaction to hearing his voice. She didn't dare let him know that. She kept her face set, eyes squinted, trying to keep him in her line of sight, but with him in the dark bathroom and the lights out overhead, it was hard to tell what he was doing, if he was standing still or moving around.

Riley thought she should take him out where she could see him and have something to aim at except the darkness.

"Slowly walk out of there, keeping your hands up. Drop whatever weapons you have in your hand, on your legs, on your ankle, behind your back, in your waist, and don't forget your pockets," she said firmly.

"I want to hear them hit the ground when you take them off," she finished.

"Well now, dirty Harriet, that's not being too fair now, is it? How do I know you are not going to shoot me as soon as I come out of here all defenseless and unarmed?

" He asked her in that slow, deep voice with a hint of an accent. Riley had to focus. She could not let herself get caught up in a voice, for goodness sakes.

"Well, it looks like you don't know, now do ya? So, you're just gonna have to trust me," she replied. "The weapons, drop them now."

"Hmm, I have to trust you, but you can't trust me." He responded.

"No, you snuck up on me, intentionally. You knew I was here, trying to get in there, and you stayed silent. Instead, you attempted to catch me off guard, so therefore, I don't trust you." Riley said in a no nonsense tone.

"Therefore?" He snickered again. "So, therefore? Did Ya just use the word "therefore" in that little speech of yours? Who uses thebword, therefore? Besides teachers? " He chuckled.

"Well, obviously, I do, so don't change the subject, drop the damn weapons, or I'll drop your ass! How is that? Is that better gun-fighting talk?" She asks him.

He barked out a laugh but tried to stifle it, and he shuffled his feet. Riley thought for sure this was going to be a waiting game. That's when she heard it. His shuffling feet, his clinks and clanks of weapons hitting the floor. She counted each as they landed, seven in total hitting the floor.

"Okay, keep your hands up and slowly walk out of the bathroom. Five steps only. Then stop. "She commanded. She reached for her flashlight that she had placed on the counter by the register. She attached it to the scope of the rifle with a piece of Velcro that was already perfectly placed. She kept the rifle at the ready, aimed for the general head area. With a slow, deep breath, she told him again,

"Come out five steps now."

She braced herself for another argument or excuse, because why would he freely listen to her? Surprisingly, the arguments did not come, and all she heard was the sound of his footsteps on the floor, as he took the five steps out of the bathroom towards her.

In the last step, it brought him into direct light, and she needed to see his face. She was looking straight at him, and he kept his eyes cast down, like he couldn't look her in the eyes, or he didn't want to look at her directly. Riley wasn't sure which was true yet.

When he stopped moving, he was in the center of a stream of sunlight that was cascading through a window. The beam of light was trying to illuminate his face perfectly, if he would just raise his head to look at her.

"Look at me, please." She asked in almost a whisper. She wasn't sure why suddenly she was speaking way more gently than before. Riley bit her bottom lip and steeled herself for whatever was going to come.

Nothing she would have ever imagined could have prepared Riley for this.

When he lifted his head up and brought his eyes to meet hers, it was like time had stopped for the two of them. They did not speak, as if words weren't even needed. Riley felt as if the instant their eyes met, some invisible connection sprang out of her chest and attached itself to him. Not understanding anything she was feeling, all she could do was stare at this unbelievably gorgeous man across from her, and so they just stared at each other, from head to toe. They both scanned each other's bodies up and down, taking this moment to look over every inch of each other's presence like they were memorizing each other in case they never saw each other again.

When Riley looked at this stranger, who had a voice like smooth honey, her breath caught in her throat, her mouth went dry, and her heartbeat quickened.

Riley had never felt any of these things before. She had dated and had a boyfriend once before, but Riley knew, any guy she had ever met before, had paled in comparison to the man that stood before her. It was like there was never any other man that even existed before she laid eyes on this man before her. And when Riley says "man," oh, she means "man". He was a man, as nothing about him said boy. Riley knew that right off the bat, this man had seen some things and done some things that would make Riley blush ten shades of red. But she could not, for her life, make herself look away.

Finally, he broke the spell when he cleared his throat and said, "You don't look like any dirty Harriet I know." He smiled a bit after he said that, not a full-on smile, but a half-grin smile, that made Riley feel that the smile he gave her alone should be illegal in all fifty states. But she didn't care; she was hooked already and all she could think of was how something like this could happen now. She thought she was definitely crazy, because there was no way a man like this could even come close to feeling what she was feeling.

Riley finally forced herself to look away, and she cleared her throat and swallowed thickly, trying to take away the dry feeling before trying to speak.

"Um, what's your name?" She squeaked out with a voice that sounded like it belonged to Mini Mouse instead of her. She instantly slapped her hands over her mouth, looking right at him with wide eyes, wanting the floor to swallow her whole. She was completely embarrassed, not understanding why her voice sounded like a squeaking toy. She could feel her face getting hot as her embarrassment grew.

"Aiden. Aiden Hernandez, and you? What is your name? " He asked, looking at her like he didn't care about everything that she just did, and that she was a prized gift he had found. It made Riley weak in the knees, and she was not sure why or how he was able to do that.

Riley looked at this man, standing in front of her, with no weapons, hands up in surrender, completely vulnerable, and he was looking at her like she had set the moon and placed each star one by one in the sky. She studied his features, and the look he had on his face spoke deep into her soul. He was open and appeared to be interested in whatever she was going to say.

Riley never believed in fairy tales or love at first sight, except with her parents, but that was what happened in the old days, not now. Not in this time of zombies and death. Could something even come close to looking like love in this day and age? Riley wondered why she was thinking like this when she only saw the guy for five minutes.

"Hello? Are you okay? " Aiden said, waving his hand in her face to get her attention back to the present.

"Oh my. Wow, yes. I'm sorry about that. I don't know what just happened or where I was. " Riley rambles on.

"No, worries." he whispered. "I just don't want anything to happen to ya, now that I found ya." He mumbled too quietly for her to hear, but she did anyway.

Riley snapped her eyes up to meet him, and he locked his eyes on hers and held her gaze for what seemed like way too long and not long enough at the same time. Eventually, Riley had to break contact, as the intensity was giving her some sort of feeling that she was not sure the meaning of.

Blinking and shaking her head slightly, she looks away and lets out a shaky breath.

"Ya sure you're, okay?" Aiden asked with eyes full of more concern and a worried look came over his face. It instantly melted Riley into a pile of girly goo on the floor.

"Yeah, yes, I'm good. I'm still tired from not getting much sleep lately. " She answered.

"Oh, yeah, that'll make anyone off their game, although I must say, you're not off your game at all. You're one of the best survivors I've ever run into. ,,,You're quick, ya don't miss anything, you have your head on straight, and you're not emotional," he told Riley with a look of awe in his eyes.

Riley wanted to laugh at that last part, because she felt like an emotional wreck at the moment.

"Oh, wow, um, thanks." Riley replied, suddenly feeling extremely shy and nervous. Riley is a lot of things, but shy and nervous, she is not. The words "shy" and "nervous" are not even in her vocabulary. She turned away again and looked towards the restroom, at the weapons that lay strewn on the ground, instantly feeling bad for putting him in danger.

"Grab your weapons. I'm sorry I made you discard them and put you in danger. " she said, pointing to the pile on the floor. Aiden looked at her, and that is when Riley finally stopped fidgeting and turned and looked back at him, noticing his hands were still up, showing his willingness to do whatever Riley needed to feel safe. She stared at him, and he stared back, with the connection she felt earlier strengthening and zapping to life again like someone plugged them into a socket.

Riley blinked again, let out a puff of air, and walked to the restroom, picking up all the weapons laid out on the floor. She gathered them in her arms, and as she did, she examined them carefully. They were nice, sturdy, dependable weapons. He had sharp knives and loaded guns, and if she counted them right, there was the same amount as what Riley had on her. She let out a little noise. It could have been a laugh. She just could not believe what was going on.

As she turned and walked back to where he was, she looked at him, and he stood there with his hands still up. He had been looking at her the whole time, and she didn't turn away when she met his eyes. He held them, and it was Riley's undoing. She did not know how or why, but she was falling for this stranger already.

Given how intently he was observing her, she gave him a small smile, feeling awkward and exposed. She does not shy away, though, and continues to walk up to him, offering him his weapons back.

"Here," she said

"Nah, I am good right now. Don't need 'em" he whispered back. Eyes the color of rich chocolate, smooth, silky, and mesmerizing, held her gaze. What made

Riley dare to look back at him? She was not sure, but she liked the things he was doing to her. She liked the feelings she was getting from him.

She placed his weapons on the counter in front of them.

"Are you ever gonna tell me your name, or should I just call you Angel?" he asked her.

"Angel?" she asked back. "Why angel?"

"Because I haven't seen anything but rotting corpses or crazy ass bitches lately, and you are so goddamn different and so fucking pure and innocent, you have to be an angel." As he finished talking, he swallowed, and his Adam's apples bobbed slightly in his throat, like he was nervous.

"Riley. Riley Reese," she said, offering her hand to him to shake his.

"Beautiful," he replied, as he took her offered hand and just basked in her soft touch.

Riley fucking blushed. She legitimately blushed. She wanted to slap herself. She makes fun of girls like this, and laughs as they throw themselves at every guy, having no shame.

Still holding her hand, Aiden is struggling to comprehend what has happened to him. He was prepared to give up because of the miserable life he was living. She at once became the source of illumination he needed to help him navigate this dark place. She exuded strength and beauty; the power she possessed just seeped out of her. She didn't realize how powerful she was. He held her hand while examining each facial feature in detail. Despite the braids holding her hair back, he could tell her hair was long and curly and he wanted to know if it felt as soft as it looked He wanted to comb his fingers through it. He wanted to pull her close to him, entangle his hands completely in her hair, and kiss her to declare her to be his. His. He thought.

The silence between the two was intense, and the tension was building with each passing second. He could sense the burning desire coming from her, it radiated off her like a furnace. He could tell she was young just by looking at her. He wasn't. By any standard, he could not be considered a young man.

He was aware that the next thing he had to ask was how old she was. He knew he was going to admit his age, and Aiden was aware that he was unquestionably older than she is. He is certain of this. Aiden only hoped that she was of legal age. Even though it has lost all meaning. For him, it has significance. He still upholds moral principles, so he will not give in to anything he feels if she is underage.

"How old are Ya, Riley?"

Riley did not want to answer Aiden's question right away, but finally broke the silence. She was aware that if he discovered her age, he would leave, and even if he stayed, he would keep his distance out of concern for her safety.

Riley visibly winced and she looked defeated.

"Fuck", thought Aiden, his heart already breaking at the thought of not being able to experience what this goddess tasted, felt, or looked like when she had him inside of her.

She said softly, "19."

He reiterated, "You're 19?" He had to make sure he heard her right. "You're young, but not terribly young. Still Legal "

"Why? It doesn't matter. " She said, "The things I've seen, not to mention the things I've done, should make me around eighty. So, please don't treat me like I'm a child. " She finished by removing her hand from his, and Aiden at once felt the absence of it and felt cold.

"No, no, Riley, calmate Mija, it's not like that. I asked because it matters to me. I'm not some animal that preys on kids. Even though the Lord knows you don't look like a child, your age matters to me. " He replied. "I know you are definitely not a child, Mi Angel." He whispered the last words in Spanish as he closed the distance between them, wanting to reach out and grab her by the hips and pull her close to him, but stopped himself. He wanted to slow down, and enjoy this, whatever it was. He stayed close though, his body brushing up against her.

Aiden knew that he should wait and take this slow, but it was a fucking apocalypse. Zombies walk the streets, and they might have another chance to experience each other.

"Oh," she whispered, as Aiden's body brushed up against hers. She felt him coming closer to her. She looked into his eyes and did not once break contact with him. When his body brushed hers, she couldn't help the moan that escaped her mouth. Her eyes grew wide in embarrassment, and she went to cover her mouth.

"No, Mija, don't cover any part of your beautiful face. I like seeing every emotion that you show; it's beautiful." Aiden said as he gently grabbed her wrist to move it away from her face.

Riley couldn't believe what was happening, but she had to know if he was doing this because they were in the apocalypse and women were exceedingly rare, or did he really feel everything that she had been feeling?

"Aiden?" She whispered; Aiden couldn't help the groan that escaped his lips as she said his name. It was like an angel singing Hallelujah to his ears.

Riley stopped what she was going to ask, and Aiden's eyes were smoldering with heat and desire, and Riley knew in that very second, that it absolutely did not matter what his answer would have been, just to experience this kind of connection with another human being, the absolute desire radiating through her blood for this man, she would be right here with him, no matter what.