Revolution

Carrie

A week went by, and then two weeks. Before I knew it, nearly a month had passed. I managed to charge my phone while we were using the generator during the day, when needed. I sent Clarise messages every few days, and then shut my phone off. I just wanted to let her know that I was alive.

Every night since I got to the bar, I had slept deeply and peacefully. And vividly.

So vividly in fact, that I woke up with those same bruises every morning. Oddly, they were where I dreamt Deacon was giving me hickeys. I was pretty freaked out the second morning, when I found new ones. More so that he would be mad, than anything else. He was very possessive and insistent that nobody touch me, period.

I waited and waited. But nothing came.

Every morning, Deacon fixed me breakfast. Every morning he greeted me with a kiss, and then stepped back. Same with every night. He kissed me good night at the door, and then backed off. Not once has he pushed for more.

At first I thought maybe he didn’t see them, then he started kissing them. I even caught him grinning at them in the bar, lightly stroking them with his finger. Like he was proud of his handy work. Which made me wonder if my dreams were not actually dreams, but real.

I didn’t see how I would sleep through something like that though. Those dreams were fairly intense. No one could sleep through that if it were actually happening to them.

I’d gotten the hang of things down at the bar. Deacon didn’t do mixed drinks in his bar, thankfully. So far, Deacon was the only person to touch me, although a few have come close. Carter just liked to push Deacon’s buttons.

I knew this, he knew this, Deacon knew this. But it didn’t stop Deacon from hitting the roof every time. The nights Carter comes, the dreams increase in intensity, and I wake with more hickeys than the other mornings.

We’ve both been listening to the vamps talk at night. Many of them have been helping build the wall. Deacon doesn’t seem all that concerned about it, even though our supplies were beginning to run low. Mike had been having a harder time finding what we needed lately.

I heard the movement Friday morning, 28 days since the freeways were blown up, signaling that Deacon was already here. I swallowed the giggle as I climbed out of bed. I loved how he liked to take care of me all the time.

That and I was a really crappy cook. My mom wasn’t. Sometimes, I would sneak out of my room at night, and would see her helping a few other women learn to cook something in giant pots. It was always on nights they had their “book club” meetings. They read some pretty big books.

I ran into the bathroom and cleaned up, checking for new marks. It was routine by now. Sure enough, there were two new ones. A few inches below the collarbone. One day I was going to catch him or figure out how he was doing this.

I walked out of the bedroom, took two steps, and then froze.

Deacon was not alone.

For one awkward second, I thought about going back and getting dressed first. Then I remembered that my pajamas covered more of me than my work clothes did.

“Um. Hi?” I said to the new man, who sat at my table, staring at me.

“Good morning, angel.” Deacon gave me his usual greeting as he walked around the still unknown stranger and kissed me. It never failed to ease my anxiety and fears.

“Morning. Who’s your friend?” Hint, hint.

Deacon turned, like he was noticing him for the first time. “Oh! That’s right, you two haven’t officially met yet. Carrie, this is my friend Colton. Colton, Carrie.”

I just gave him a small wave as he said “hi.” I sank into my usual chair at the table, feeling awkward under the new man’s intense gaze.

Colton was similar in height to Deacon, but stockier. His hair was dark brown, and his eyes two shades lighter than his hair. He was pretty good looking himself. If we survived all this, I might just introduce him to Clarise so we could double.

A light bulb went off in my head, later than it probably should have. “You bought my clothes. Well, what little there is of them anyway.”

Both of them started laughing. And kept laughing until Deacon carried our plates of homemade waffles over.

“Are you joining us, Colton?” I asked as I began to pour a generous amount of syrup on my waffles, only to be stopped by Deacon.

“Angel, you are sweet enough. Besides, we don’t know what the stores still have.”

I pouted as I let him take the syrup back. “But I like syrup.”

He just laughed and shook his head. I scowled at him and turned to Colton. Still waiting for an answer.

“I have already eaten but thank you. Deacon, have you talked to Eric?”

“We’ve messaged a few times. He says he can meet me at the gate in Mojave in a couple weeks. I have that long to come up with a supply list. I want to see what they have in the stores around here first. After that we will need to set up a regular meeting time.”

My first bite didn’t even make it to my mouth before I set it back down. “You’re leaving?” I didn’t like that idea. Not at all.

“Just for a few hours, a day at the most. Normally that trip would only take half a day, but I don’t know what kind of shape the freeways, roads, and smaller towns are in. Or how long it will take me to get through the gate.”

“You will be gone at night, and the vamps are guarding those gates. There aren’t very many of them for a reason. That’s too dangerous, Deacon. Can’t we get supplies another way?” I was in pure panic mode now.

Deacon slid off his chair next to mine and sank to his knees in front of me, holding both my hands. “I will be just fine, trust me. I don’t have everything worked out yet, plans may change. But, angel, you have to believe I know what I am doing.”

I believed that he believed, that much was clear to me.

“And what about the bar while you are gone? I can’t do it all by myself. What about vamp hour? Those buggers push the limits as it is.”

Deacon stood back up and kissed my forehead, before sitting back down. “Anytime I am gone, Colton will be here with you. How long are you staying this time?”

“I can stay for a week or so. Just let me know when you need to leave, and I’ll come back each time.” Colton’s eyes drifted to me and then back. “I thought you took care of the problem with the vampires? Are they not following the rules?” He was skirting around something, it was obvious, both verbally and powerly to me.

Deacon handed me my fork again. He was always so pushy about me eating enough.

“They are, but many of them like to walk the line. I worry about them crossing it altogether when I leave.”

Colton cleared his throat awkwardly. “Have you thought about double teaming?”

I had no idea what he meant, and I didn’t care. It was taking all my willpower to force a few bites down. It didn’t matter what Deacon said, I still thought the supply trip was a bad idea. Deacon set his fork down slowly, his eyes on his best friend as he leaned back and crossed his arms. He looked at me, and then back at Colton.

“I hadn’t. We’re talking about you, right? Because there is no way in hell I would trust anyone else to do it.”

Colton shrugged. “Who else would I be talking about? We can keep it surface level. Just enough to let them think she has double the protection.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. I picked up both our plates, mine still half full, and carried them to the kitchen. Deacon was right behind me.

“You didn’t finish.”

“I’m not hungry. I’m a big girl, Deacon. If I want to stop eating, then I will.”

He sighed and pulled me in for a hug. “I’m sorry. I’m being pushy. You’re right.” He pinched my jaw and tipped my head up. “Everything will be fine, I promise. And Colton’s plan should work, to make sure you are protected.” He turned to look at his friend again. “You want to start today, let it build so they know you aren’t trying to sneak around behind my back?”

Colton stood up too. “Yeah, that should be fine.”

“What are you two talking about?” I had zero patience for this today. All I could read from them was that they had good intentions and believed in whatever plan they were hatching. Besides the desire I read off both of them. Deacon’s was spiking pretty high too.

“Do you remember how I was going to claim you in front of everyone, making sure they knew you were mine?” Deacon asked carefully.

I blushed. I remembered that morning very well. It had been after my first dream, or not dream, of him. It had left me very sensitive to his touch.

“Yes, I remember. Why?”

“Colton is going to do the same thing.”

“I’m sorry, say that again. It sounds like you just said your best friend is going to be touching me while I work. Something you don’t let anybody do.”

Deacon shrugged and nodded toward Colton. I didn’t look to see what he was giving him permission for because my eyes were on Deacon.

“Colton is different. I trust him not to hurt you or try to cross any boundaries we set.”

“Deacon… woah, hello!” I jumped when I felt two hands coming from behind me, wrapping around my waist.

The jerks thought it was all very funny.

Colton bent down and kissed my neck, right on top of a fading hickey. “We wanted you to get the shock out of your system now.”

I barely gave out a few forced laughs, verging on hysteria. Deacon gripped my sides tighter and laughed.

“Relax, angel. This is for your protection. You know vampires have a thing for groups and sharing partners. They will see Colton with us, and they will know your protection just doubled. They wouldn’t dare go against the two of us.”

See, comments like that were what confused me. Deacon fully believed what he was saying, but that wasn’t possible. Vampires were stronger and faster than humans. One of them alone would be more than enough to take down both Colton and Deacon. At the same time.

Still, as usual, the assurance in his eyes had me calming. When he kissed me, the anxiety melted away completely. Even though his friend was still kissing along the back of my neck and sliding his hands under my shirt. At least he stayed on the stomach. I did feel a small tingle of desire for him to move up, but I was putting that to the way Deacon was kissing me.

Yeah, this was getting beyond weird.

I pushed Deacon back and started swatting Colton’s hands. “Aright, that’s enough. I got the point. Thank you. Can I go get ready for work now?”

“Actually, I was thinking of going to a few stores this morning. And maybe swing by a shelter or two. Do you want to come with me? Get out of the bar for a bit?”

I squealed and jumped on him, my arms and legs wrapping around him when he caught me. He chuckled and held me tight, sniffing me again.

“I take it that’s a yes?”

I pulled away enough to look at him. “Yes, please. Why are we going to the shelters?”

A few of the human customers told us about them. What was left of the police force and the local red cross had set up shelters in schools and churches for those who had lost homes and family members. Those who needed help the most.

“As far as they are concerned, I am seeing if there is anything they need most that I can order with my supplies. But my real reason is because we need more donors.”

“You’re going hunting for donors? Is that something you would normally do?”

“No. I usually went off word of mouth, or if I found someone on the streets that needed to make a little money. Some of them prefer to earn it rather than accept charity. The people in the shelters are strapped tight, they don’t have any other options right now.”

“That sounds horrible, like you’re going to prey on their vulnerability. I know that’s not what you are doing, at least not completely. But still.”

He sighed sadly. “Does that mean you don’t want to come?”

“Oh, no. I’m totally coming. I need to go out for a while. And I’m a little curious as to what it looks like out there.”

The bombings and attacks stopped after the third night. The vampires still roamed the streets freely at night, but they weren’t actively hunting and slaughtering. The humans stuck to their curfew unless they had extra protection to be out after sundown. Deacon had even taken to writing his name on his donors before they left, that way the vampires would know they were his.

Deacon kissed me again and set me down, smacking my butt as I turned to go get dressed.

“You’ll watch the bar?” I heard him ask Colton before I closed the door.

I went to the bottom drawer of the dresser I was using and pulled out the clothes I had packed to bring with me. My jeans felt a little weird, as did the full V-neck shirt I pulled on. I had a small moment of claustrophobia from all the extra clothes, thankfully it passed after a minute or two. I just needed to get used to them again.

The two men were talking quietly when I came back out, their faces and the vibe from them told me it was something serious and private. Deacon stood up from the couch and walked over to me with his hand up.

“Are you ready?”

“Yep.” Colton stood and walked over too. “Am I supposed to hug you? I don’t know you that well, or at all. Yet you just felt me up in the kitchen and plan on doing it again later.”

Colton stepped over, both of them laughing at me again, and didn’t give me a choice on the hug.

“The sooner you get used to me, the better it will all be. And feel.” He kissed my cheek, then winked at me as he turned to open the door for us.

I just blushed and ducked my head.

Deacon and I went through a few grocery stores close by, they had little to nothing left. The manager told us that he was informed by the vampires that his shelves would be getting stocked soon from other cities in California. Everything California farms produced would be divided out to the various cities. And things that were made in the factories would do the same.

Unfortunately, harvest was long over, and a good portion of those things had already been sent to whoever the farmers had deals with. It could be months before the shelves got restocked.

I kept one eye out as we walked the streets and outside stores, looking for the drones. I thought I saw one sitting in a tree, after the second store, but I wasn’t sure.

Deacon insisted on going into a clothing store and buying me a jacket. It was getting chilly. I refused to let him buy me anything else. I was glad too, our stop at the shelter made me feel bad for even having that much. They only had blankets and even those were thin. The school had a generator, but they saved it for the nights so they could use the heater and not burn out the generator as quickly. The opposite of how we did it.

Despite not having a heater at night, I never got cold. One more reason for me to think that Deacon was somehow in my bed every night, he was always warm when he held me.

The first shelter we stopped at was in a high school. I talked to the red cross manager while Deacon walked around the gym. He spent a good deal of time talking to a group of teenagers in the corner. I wasn’t thrilled with that, but I was reserving judgment for now.

The manager was a bit creepy, so I ended up waiting for Deacon outside. The fresh air and sunshine felt nice, even if it was chilly.