(no subject)
Title: Aftermath
Author: firiel77
Chapter: One
Pairing: Adam/Tommy/Allison Iraheta
Genre: AU
Rating: NC17
Words: 26,490
Warnings: Mentions of violence, non con, rape, het, angst, schmoop. Lol, a laundry list of warnings.
Beta: eloiserummaging beta’d for me but as usual I can’t leave well enough alone and have been putzing around with this fic right until the last second. So if I’ve messed things up after the fact it’s all me. Thank you for the great beta and encouragement!
Summary: Post-apocalyptic Road Warrior story. Adam gets to wear Mad Max’s leather pants and drive a hot car. Tommy is like the feral child with the boomerang only obviously, you know, older. Allison is along for the ride because I like her. And I really have no plausible reason why the three of them are in the Australian outback except that Adam + black Mad Max leather clothes = <3
Comments: I’m blamingIsolde_13 for this idea. She tweeted about how good Adam would look in Road Warrior leather and I couldn’t let it go. A mental image in search of a plot.
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They saw the smoke first, black against blue sky, an oil fire, billowing up from beyond the horizon, streaming like ribbons of ink across the wasteland. Adam pulled deftly on the wheel, guiding the Mustang off the highway at the crest of along hill, climbed out of the car, and pulled his spyglass from the back seat. He lay his forearm on the car roof and the braced the telescope on it, blinking a couple times before leaning down to look through it, waiting for the dust to clear. He’d left the engine running and its vibrations shook the glass a little in his hand. The throaty rumble of the big block was reassuring though. They could be on the road again in seconds.
It was getting late in the day but the heat had not yet broken. It was damn hot and Adam impatiently wiped away the sweat that was running into his eyes and making them sting. He squinted at the heat waves rippling upward in front of the fire. Between the coming dusk, the smoke and the shimmering air, it was hard to see much detail but Adam could feel the hair on the back of his neck begin to stand up.
“What is it?” he hears from his shoulder and Adam snapped a glance down.
“Get back in the car, Alli,” he barked at the young woman beside him. You know the drill.”
“I know”, she muttered. “Wait until it’s clear.”
Adam stared her down, waiting for her to move, while he bounced the telescope up and down in his palm. The girl glared at him a second before slouching back to the passenger side and ducking in, slamming the passenger door hard in protest. Adam felt his jaw clench at that, because that was his fucking car, man, but decided not to rise to the bait. He knew from experience how things could get out of control. Allison could be a real bitch when she wanted to. Anyway, they had they had something they needed to check out before dark.
Caution wasn’t just a good idea out here; it was a fucking necessity if you didn’t want to end up dead. Adam looked through the spyglass again, focused the lens, tried to figure out what the hell was burning. Whatever it was, it was big. He was starting to taste it, acrid and rubbery on the back of his tongue even though they were downwind. The wind shifted little, parting the smoke, and Adam could see that it was one of those old yellow school buses, now scorched black.
The bus was a few meters off the road bogged halfway up the wheels in loose sand. They must have got stuck, poor bastards, Adam thought. There was no sign of any movement. Adam scanned the horizon looking for tell tale dust clouds that would indicate another vehicle but couldn’t see any. Whoever was responsible for torching the bus was long gone.
No doubt it was hoons who were responsible. It always was. It must have been one of the larger gangs that roved this corner of the Outback if they were ambitions enough to take down a bus. The hoons preyed on the weak, stealing what couldn’t be protected and killing to survive but many times also just for fun.
Ever since things had gone to shit, since the economic collapse, the fuel crunch and then the war, they had had free reign in the Outback. In the Before Adam had been a cop, he’d upheld the law. But there was no law anymore, no government, no rules except keep your head down and kill or be fucking killed yourself. Adam did a little of both.
He checked the sun; they only have an hour or so of light left. If they are going to scrounge the bus they needed to be quick about it. As fucked up as it was out there during the day, it was a hell of a lot worse at night. There were packs of dingoes that got bigger and smarter every year and other shit, animals that had escaped from the zoos and interbred. Adam had seen a pride of lions a while ago, except they hadn’t looked exactly like lions anymore; they’d fucking changed. Everything had changed.
He slid the spyglass closed and tossed it into the back seat and got in, kicked the car into gear and hit the gas. The tires spun a little in the sand before they bit into the asphalt. They reached the bus in a couple minutes and Adam pulled up once more, giving the girl a warning scowl before he surveyed the scene. There were bodies strewn around the vehicle but no one was moving. There was no sign of life at all, no movement except for the swirling smoke. Adam put the car into park and turned off the engine. Without the throbbing V8 the silence was complete. Adam tapped the steering wheel distractedly while he thought; weighing the risks of getting his ass out of his car.
The fact that Adam needed fuel won out. He finally sighed, pushed open his door and climbed out, striding around the back of the car. He popped the trunk and grabbed the shotgun and rested it over his shoulder before he sauntered over for a little recon. There were all kinds of tire tracks circling the bus; motorcycles, dune buggies, and couple larger vehicles, probably trucks. The heat was oppressive and Adam could feel sweat running down his back under the leathers he always wore. He wiped his forehead again with his sleeve while he approached the bus.
A couple buzzards struggled into the air in front of him, heavy with gorging. A few more just watched him suspiciously from the bodies they were feeding on. As Adam walked around the bus he saw there were quite a few, probably twenty in all. No flies though so they hadn’t been dead for long; less than a day Adam figured. The shell casings underfoot were testament that they’d gone down fighting. Adam noticed a fair few hoons among the dead, their bodies left behind by the gang.
Adam’s mouth twisted at the coppery metallic blood smell that permeates the area; he could taste it. He spat once before he turned back to the car and waved at the girl to get out. Alli was good at finding shit; she could scavenge like nobody’s business. Anyway, they didn’t have a lot of time before sunset and two could work faster than one. They were a good team.
She was at his side in seconds, hands thrust deep in the pockets of the desert camo pants she wore, a couple canvas sacks under one arm, ready to go. She was easily a foot shorter than Adam and slim, ten years younger but as tough as nails, hardened by the years spent with him in the outback. She squinted at the wreckage a minute and then pulled her thick hair back into her collar and turned to Adam.
“I’ll look inside and see if there’s anything left that’s not burned up.”
Adam nodded curtly and then turned back to the trunk, pulling out a couple jerry cans and some hose. With the gun in one hand and cans in the other Adam made his way back to the bus. He could hear the ping of cooling metal as he surveyed the smouldering wreck.
“Right,” he told her over his shoulder. “I’ll check for fuel.”
This was what they did, how they got by, living off what was left after the end of the world. Life was tough. It wasn’t always easy to find food but they made do. They had the Mustang, a good water supply where they lived, and opportunities like this to resupply. So long as they keep away from the hoons they were alright, or at least alive, which was a hell of a lot better than many after the war.
Adam’s curiosity got the better of him and he took a closer look at the bodies. They were all ages, young and old; some had been shot but many had just had their throats cut. Even the hoons knew not to waste bullets. At the back of the bus Adam found some smaller corpses huddled together and he felt the bile rise in his throat; fuck, they were just kids. There wasn’t a lot that made him feel much of anything anymore, but dead kids was one of them.
He could hear Alli pulling things around inside the bus and he called through a broken window, “find anything good?”
“Yeah, some canned stuff,” she yelled back, and Adam smiled bleakly at the cheerful excitement in her voice. It didn’t take much.
“Lot’s actually. They must have been going a long way.”
Adam snorted. They weren’t going anywhere now. He walked down the side of the bus and tapped its’ side with his fist, trying to locate the fuel tank, to judge whether it had been drained already or not. He was rewarded with a solid thunk so he put down the shotgun and the gas cans and uncoiled his length of hose. Adam spun off the gas cap and in a second he had fuel pouring into the first gerry can.
It was odd the hoons had left anything in the tanks. They must have been flush with food and fuel or they would have striped the place out before they took off. Or maybe they’d just been careless; wild on bloodlust, drugged out on meth or whatever else they kept on hand. It was the main reason Adam and Alli had been able to evade them for so long; there wasn’t a lot of rational thought going on with the hoons. It was all about taking what came easy.
Adam transferred the hose to the second can and watched as it filled, tapping his foot impatiently. Night came on suddenly in the desert. He was relieved when he saw Alli jump down, the bags heavy over her shoulders. She watched while he screwed shut the gas cans and took the hose from him when he’d coiled it up so that he could take a gerry can in each hand. She followed him back to the car in silence.
Alli tossed the bags into the back seat and got in, waited while Adam put the gas cans in the trunk and climbed in beside her. After one last look around Adam started the car and put it into gear. It was time to head home.
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Adam stood amid the rocks above the cave and looked over the desert. It had been three days since they’d been out in the Mustang last when they’d found the burned out bus. There had been too many hoons about, too much activity, to risk being on the road since. Adam had insisted they lay low but now he needed to get the fuck out. Three days spent in close quarters with a hormonal teenager was long enough.
Each morning Adam climbed to the top of the rock pile with his spyglass and checked before bringing out the car. If there was any movement, or dust, or sound they stayed inside. Sometimes it made them crazy, having to stay underground for days on end, but it had kept them alive. On the third morning all was quiet. It looked like the hoons had finally moved on.
Adam climbed back down and called for Alli, told her they were going out. She was there in seconds, obviously just as eager to do something. The two of them pulled the debris back from the mouth of the cave so they could get the car out and then quickly covered it up again, pausing to give their work a critical look before driving away.
It was stinking hot out as usual. Allie let out a whoop and pulled her t-shirt over her head, fanning herself with it to cool herself. Adam gave her a disproving look when he saw she had on only a threadbare bra.
“Jesus, Alli,” put your damn shirt back on,” he told her. “You can’t be walking around like that. You’re not a little kid anymore.”
Alli shrugged. “Who’s going to see me?” she snorted. She tossed the t-shirt onto the passenger seat and rolled her eyes, “You?”
Adam didn’t rise to her tone but he did reach in and grab her shirt so that he could toss it back in her face.
“Just put it back on or I’ll leave you here in the cave,” he told her.
Alli’s eyes were daggers but she did as she was told and pulled her shirt on before she got in the car. Adam let out a sigh. He wasn’t sure how much more attitude he could take. The trouble with spending all their time together was that they’d got incredible good at pressing each other’s buttons.
Adam had planned to go back to the bus and get the last of the gas but when he got to the road he turned the Mustang in the other direction on a whim. The memory of the dead children was too strong. He dug through the battered pile of cassette tapes in the console and put one on, cranking the volume.
Sometimes it helped a bit, getting out on the road, winding out the Mustang and seeing what it could do. Adam emptied his mind and concentrated on the road. Alli grinned in the passenger seat when the music started, their latest quarrel already forgotten. She loved these rides as much as Adam did and had one arm thrust out the car window, hand waving up and down in the slipstream of hot air rushing past. They both sang along to Highway to Hell at the top of their lungs.
They’d done a thirty minute run, flat out, when Adam spiked the brakes and then fought the car to a sliding stop. He’d caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, a glint of metal where there shouldn’t have been any. He cranked the car around, pulling a u turn on the deserted highway and headed back, more slowly this time, watching carefully.
“Alli,” he barked. “Get the spyglass out of the back seat. And the shotgun.”
She reached back for them with gratifying quickness, fumbling a little in her haste, but had them ready by the time Adam reached the spot where he’d seen the reflection on his right. He pulled over and took the telescope from the girl, scanning the rocky hillside.
“Fuck,” Adam hissed under his breath when he saw it. There was a dune buggy parked halfway up the hill, about 100 meters away in a cleft between two rocks and hidden behind some scrub, intentionally screened from the road below. It was fucking amazing than he’d noticed it at all. They were damn lucky they hadn’t been spotted by the owner as they drove past. If they hadn’t, Adam quickly corrected himself.
Adam watched the hillside for a couple minutes, looking for any telltale motion, but the dune buggy seemed to have been deserted. He pulled the Mustang ahead so that it was out of sight from above and turned off the engine. He handed the telescope back to Alli and took the sawed-off instead from where she had it rested on her knees before he climbed out of the car, signalling for her to stay put. She glowered at him but kept her ass in her seat.
Adam crouched low and began picking his way cautiously up the hillside, from rock to rock, feeling terribly exposed. Whoever owned the buggy had a serious advantage in holding the higher ground. He cleared a small rise and then dropped to his knees behind a clump of spinifex grass and listened carefully. All was quiet except for the ever present wind so Adam scrambled to his feet and quickly closed the distance to the buggy shotgun at the ready.
The vehicle was definitely empty although Adam noticed a case of canned spaghetti in the back. He made a mental note to take it with him when they were done. There were also some full water bottles that would not go to waste. Adam took one and opened it while he looked around the vehicle. There were tracks in the loose sand leading away from the dune buggy around the side of the hill. Adam followed them a minute before turning back to check on Alli.
He cursed under his breath when he saw she’d gotten out of the car and was coming up the hill after him. Damn, if that little bitch ever did what she was told for more than five minutes it would be a fucking miracle. Adam waited with his arms crossed while she climbed nimbly over the rough ground, watching the pathway to make sure no one was coming back for the buggy.
“I told you to stay in the car,” he told her through gritted teeth.
Alli shrugged at him and reached around, pulling the handgun out of the back waste band of her pants.
“Two’s better than one,” she told him quietly before glancing towards the parked dune buggy. “See anyone?”
“Not yet,” Adam told her. “Tracks going that way though.”
“Going to check it out?” she asked him.
Adam shrugged. He was torn. It was tempting just to take what they could and go. On the other hand he didn’t like the idea that someone might be settling in so near their cave. If they weren’t careful the hoons could follow them back and find out where they were staying. No, it was probably best to find out who they where and what the hell they were doing on Adam’s turf. Then he could deal with them.
“Yeah, I guess we should,” he told Alli. “But I want you to stay back. I’m not fucking kidding.”
“I can shoot as good as you can,” she challenged.
Adam just nodded. She was right. The first thing Adam had done when he’d taken Alli along with him was teach her how to use his service revolver. She’d barely been strong enough to hold it up at first but over the years she’d become a dead shot. It still didn’t mean Adam wanted her in the line of fire.
“Okay, fine,” he told her. “Just cover me. And if there’s any shooting I want you to hit the deck.”
Adam eyed her sternly for a minute until he saw her nod in agreement. He cocked the shotgun and turned to follow the dusty track the owners of the buggy had taken. Once they rounded the side of the hill the footprints lead down into a draw that fell away to the south between two rocky outcrops. There were a few scrubby trees along the flank that had the effect of screening the area from the surrounding plains.
Adam hunched down, trying to reduce his height as he followed the tracks down the hill. He hoped like hell he wasn’t walking into an ambush of some kind although the hoons weren’t generally known for their stealth. He’d gone a couple hundred yards when he heard voices below.
Adam hit the deck instantly. He rolled to his side and signalled for Alli to hold up a minute while he slid forward on his belly inch by inch. When Adam reached a covering hummock of dirt he slid the shotgun in front of him and peered down to where the voices were coming from.
There were two men below, hoons no doubt about it, both dressed in leathers. One was a giant of a man, tall, stocky and shaved bald. The other one was smaller but looked nearly as formidable. There was a third figure with them which Adam thought to be a young woman. She looked to be about the same height as Allison but slighter in built.
She had a long fringe of blonde hair and her hands were bound behind her back. Her only clothing was a long t-shirt that went to mid thigh and nothing else. They’d put a rope around her neck and tied it to one of the scrubby trees so that she couldn’t escape. There were bottles and cans strewn around like the hoons had been having some kind of fucking picnic.
Adam took a moment to scan the surrounding area to be sure that they hadn’t posted a guard. He couldn’t see anyone else around so he looked back and signalled for Alli to move up join him. She slipped in beside him without making a sound and peered past Adam curiously. Adam put his finger to his lips to imply quiet and turned back to the hoons. They were still preoccupied with their captive.
They had a bottle of some kind of alcohol, probably Jack, which they were passing back and forth while they circled the girl, laughing. She tried to stay away from them but there was really nowhere to go. Once they’d finished the bottle the smaller one smashed it against a rock and waited while his companion grabbed the girl from behind.
The smaller man stepped in front and reached for her and suddenly there was a flurry of movement as the girl’s leg came up with blinding speed, a knee landed solidly in the man’s groin and he was on the ground clutching himself. Alli snorted in amusement. If the shot hadn’t been right to his junk it was pretty damn close and Adam felt himself wince in sympathy.
He turned and gave Alli a warning look. He didn’t want to lose the element of surprise. He intended to wait until they were good and busy raping the girl before he shot the two bastards dead. No doubt they were armed and the last thing he wanted was a fucking shoot out.
The big one let go of the girl to help his buddy and she immediately spun around and ran but was pulled up short by the rope around her neck. The impact pulled her over backwards where she lay struggling to regain her feet but unable to with her hands tied as they were. She lay there twisting in the dirt while the big hoon ambled over to where she was laying.
He delivered several kicks to her back and ribs while she tried unsuccessfully to evade the blows. By then the smaller man had recovered enough to get back on his feet, abet shakily. He staggered over to her so that he could get in a few well placed kicks of his own and then the big one grabbed her by the arm and pulled her upright.
She was bent forward in pain but when the hoon grabbed her by the t-shirt to pull her close she struggled so that it tore away leaving her naked. When she swung around Adam realized for the first time that the captive wasn’t a girl at all. He was small and whip thin but the hoons captive was most definitely male.
The smaller of the two hoons grabbed the kid by his hair snapped his head around. He then put his other hand on his shoulder and forced the boy to his knees, grinding his face into the stones for good measure. The kid fought to get away once more but the hoon pulled his head back once more and then pounded it savagely against the ground. That knocked the last of the fight out of him.
The big guy undid his pants and stroked his cock a couple times while he watched the struggle and Adam could see that he was huge. When he was ready he dropped to his knees behind the kid and pulled him back to him. He spat once in his hand and forced himself in. The kids face was still pressed into the dirt but they could hear his muffled cries when the hoon thrust into him. Alli hissed in protest and Adam put a steadying hand on her arm to restrain her.
Okay, it was time. Adam got to his feet and slipped down the hill behind the men, choosing his steps carefully so as not to make any sound, crouching low so that neither of them would notice his approach. The big one was too busy fucking the kid to notice anything short of a nuclear blast but the other one, though busy holding the kid down, could easily look up and see him. Adam meant to blow him away as soon as he was within range.
Adam’s luck held and he was right there before either of them saw him coming. Adam brought up the shotgun and shot the first man point blank in the temple and blood and brain tissue exploded everywhere. The big one’s eyes opened wide in shock as the blast shook them. They were lust filled but clearing quickly and he struggled to catch his breath. He had no time to pull his dick out of the boy before his head exploded in a cloud of red mist.
Adam kicked the now headless body over and dragged him off of the kid. They boy lay on his side with his knees pulled up to his chest, unable to get up while tied like he was. He was covered in the dead men’s blood and worse. There was a trail of new blood and old running down the insides of his legs. Adam wondered how long these assholes had kept the kid there. They’d obviously found a spot they could enjoy him without the rest of the tribe, hoping to keep him for themselves. Adam supposed it was a small blessing.
The kid’s eyes were closed but he opened them when he sensed Adam standing over him and blocking the sun. Adam tapped his sawed off idly against his leg while he contemplated what he was going to do next. It was a movement that wasn’t lost on the kid.
The kid looked at the gun and then up at Adam and said through swollen lips, “Just fucking kill me.”
Adam thought about that one a second as he stared down. He’d seen that look before, the one the kid had on, that lost, hopeless expression people had when they’ve endured too much. Adam had seen that look a lot. Sometimes he saw it when he looked in the mirror.
Instead of granting the kid his wish Adam took out his knife and crouched down, slid the knife gently between the kid’s neck and the punishingly tight rope. He cut through the rope and the kid took in a ragged breath. He turned and cut the tether around the kid’s wrists next.
When he was done he asked the kid, “Can you get up?” as he stood back up and brushed the dust off his knees.
The kid seemed to think about that one a second before briefly nodding and then slowly pulling his legs beneath him. He pushed himself to his knees and sat there a moment with his head bowed, rubbing some feeling into his hands. He got up slowly and when he stood beside Adam, slightly unsteady on his feet, Adam realized the kid was much older than he’d originally thought. He was small, probably no heavier than Alli, but he had the shadow of a beard on his face. He wasn’t a child. Adam put him as only a little older than Allison.
She joined the two of them a minute later. She’d been foraging and had already found what Adam assumed were the kid’s clothes. Anyway she was holding a pair of soiled jeans and a hoodie which she handed wordlessly to the boy. The kid had been trying to cover himself but when he reached for the clothes Adam couldn’t help but notice Alli intently checking him out. Adam shook his head. That girl was going to be trouble before too long. Adam elbowed her sharply to pull her attention away from his junk.
He averted his own eyes while the kid struggled into his pants and heard him hiss when the denim scraped against tender flesh. When Adam looked back the kid had just finished pulling the hoodie down over his head and covered up an expanse of white skin down his back shadowed with bruises and scrapes. Alli handed the kid a pair of boots and the kid wobbled a little as he tried to stand on one foot to get the first one on.
Adam put out a hand instinctively to steady him and when he took a closer look he realized that the kid was in rough shape. His lips were parched as if he’d not had anything to drink in days and while Adam watched him struggle into his second boot the kid’s eyes rolled back in his head and he sank limply to the ground.
Adam looked down at the kid and then across at Alli who is looking back at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face. He would have laughed if he hadn’t been equally confused. He’d saved the kid but his plan hadn’t extended past that, especially since he’d fallen on his ass unconscious. What the fuck were they going to do with him? Without thinking Adam handed Alli the shotgun and then bent down to pick the kid up. He pulled the kids’ weight in close to his chest so that he was easier to carry. It wasn’t too far back to the car and mostly downhill. Anyway the kid wasn’t very heavy at all.
They stopped at the dune buggy and Adam had Alli remove the canned food he’d found earlier. For sure those two dudes didn’t need it anymore. She put the case under her free arm and trudged down the hill after Adam without comment. When they got to the Mustang she threw the canned food in the back seat with the shotgun and then turned to Adam with her arms crossed.
“We’re not bringing him home, are we?” she demanded.
Adam shrugged. “What else can I do with him?” He looked down at the kid in his arms. “I can’t leave him out here like this.”
Alli gave the unconscious kid an appraising look and then wrinkled her nose. She looked like she would be perfectly happy to do just that.
“Why not? He’s filthy and he smells,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, well, we probably do too,” Adam told her.
Alli didn’t look convinced. She opened the passenger door and got in the car, looking out at Adam balefully while she shut it again.
Adam looked down at her and sighed. The kid’s weight in his arms was starting to make his arms burn.
“Come on, Alli.”
Adam had no idea what prompted him to bring the kid back to the car. He normally had no qualms about leaving hoons or anyone else for that matter behind once he’d taken what he wanted. At his most generous he would normally shoot them in the head and put them out of their fucking misery. He was currently treading in unfamiliar territory by helping the kid.
If he had to try to come up with a reason it would probably have to be that he liked how the kid fought back even though he’d been beaten and outnumbered. He seemed plucky. It was what Adam liked to think he would have done if it were him. That and the way the kids pained resignation had struck a chord in Adam that had made it impossible for him to walk away and leave him insensible in the desert.
“Seriously, Adam. What the fuck are you going to do with him?” Alli demanded.
Adam shook his head. “Don’t know,” he answered with tight lips as he pulled open the passenger door again. “But he’s starting to get heavy so shift your ass so I can get him in. Or I’m going to just put him on top of you,” he threatened.
Alli looked dubiously at the back seat which was heaped with stuff. “I’m not riding in the back,” she told him.
Adam shrugged. “Just slide over. You’ll both fit in the front. He’s not very big.”
Alli moved grudgingly over in the seat so there was room for Adam to put the kid down beside her. He was right. There was enough room. Adam slammed her door and climbed in on the driver’s side.
Alli wrinkles her nose and told him again, “He fucking stinks.”
She was right. The kid stank of sweat and sex and blood. Adam just shrugged again but he did roll down the window to let in some fresh air. The kid didn’t wake up once during the drive home, not even when Alli got sick of his head resting on her shoulder and shoved him none to gently back over against the door. Adam frowned when he heard the kids head hit the window.
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They’d had their roomy for a week and Adam was beginning to wonder why he hadn’t left the little fucker out in the desert after all. He’d thought he was used to sullen teenagers after living with Alli for so long but this little dude had her beat. He hadn’t said a word since he’d come to. He just sat with his knees drawn up and glared at the two of them, refusing to answer any of their questions. The only words he’d spoken where when he’d asked Adam to kill him. Adam was starting to think he still might.
Alli wasn’t big on the kid either. She’d been huffing around, starring daggers at him, since he’s arrived. At least he didn’t stink anymore. Adam had given him a cloth and a bucket of water the first day and told him to wash. Adam had tossed some clean clothes at his feet before turning to go. The kid had taken everything silently and then waited until Adam was gone before he undressed. When he’d emerged later the change had been remarkable.
Alli was pissed off when she noticed the kid wearing some of her clothes and it had been all Adam could do to stop her from taking them back by force. Adam assured her that it was only a temporary arrangement and she’d finally relented but it was a close thing. He’d then made the mistake of asking her to wash the kid’s things whereupon she’d told him in no uncertain terms what he could do with them.
The kid had watched the exchange curiously and then to Adam’s irritation never even thanked him. He’d even had the nerve to smirk a bit, as if Alli suggesting where he put the clothes was somehow funny. Some gratitude Adam groused. He’d saved the guys fucking life, fed him, and given him the clothes off his back, ( okay make that off Alli’s back), and that was the thanks he’d gotten?
Adam introduced himself and Alli and got only a baleful stare in return. It wasn’t like Adam needed eternal gratitude for fuck’s sake but some gesture would be nice. A thank you might have been in order, or at least a response to some of his questions. Adam was beginning to think the kid was mentally deficient. Adam had decided to bring him home on impulse but it was a decision he was regretting a little more every day.
Adam liked his life simple, uncomplicated and drama-free. Having the miserable little dude around was starting to feel like work. He was sorely tempted to kick the kids skinny little ass out of the cave or even better, drive him the fifty miles back out in the desert where he’d found him. Good riddance, Adam thought.
Things came to a head first thing the following morning. It happened so fast that it caught Adam completely unprepared. They were all gathered in the main room of the cave for breakfast and Allison was distributing cans of beans. Adam had just cut the top off his can with his knife and dumped the contents onto his plate when the shit hit the fan.
Alli was standing in front of the kid and holding a can out for him to take when the kid lunged at her. He grabbed a necklace she had around her neck and pulled it off, snapping the chain in the process. Adam jumped to his feet to intervene and swore when he slopped some so of his beans on the floor. The kid backed away from Alli still holding the necklace. There was no way she would let that slide.
“Hey!” she yells, “That’s mine you asshole! Give it back!”
The kid of course said nothing but he gave no sign of relinquishing the necklace either, only glaring at her stubbornly. Once Adam realized the kid didn’t intend to hurt Alli he looked on with interest. The kid obviously didn’t know her very well because he was completely unprepared when she launched herself on him, determined to get her necklace back.
The kid’s head made a sickening thud when it hit the floor but he did manage to get his hands up to deflect the first few blows from his face. Alli kept on with her assault and within seconds he was losing ground. By the time Adam had put his plate down Alli had the kid pinned and was sitting on his chest with his hand grasped in hers. She was prying his fingers open one by one when Adam grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off of the kid.
She spun around and took a wild shot at Adam but he blocked her easily. She tried to punch him a couple more times before changing tacks and trying to knee him in the balls instead. Adam held her at arm’s length, hoping she would eventually calm down. He finally had to shake her to make her stop swinging at him.
“Would you fucking relax, Alli,” he told her, giving her a shake that made her teeth rattle.
She stopped flailing and stood there, staring furiously at Adam. When she’d calmed enough Adam let go of her but she was not done with the boy by any means.
“Make him give me my necklace, Ad,” she hissed, “Or I’ll gut him.
The two of them turned back to the kid and Adam prepared himself to wade in and retrieve Alli’s property and possibly save the kids fucking life in the process. He was afraid the kid might resist further and refuse to hand it over. Adam half expected Alli to jump him again. What the two of them saw instead left them dumbfounded.
The kid was starring at the necklace in his hands and crying. Quiet sobs shook his narrow shoulders and there were tears running down his face. He pulled his hair back out of his eyes and sniffed before he whispered hoarsely, “Where did you get this?”
Adam looked at Allison in confusion. He had no fucking idea where the necklace came from. The girl was like a crow collecting sparkly objects.
She glared at Adam a minute before she shrugged and told him, “I found it on that bus the other day.”
“Is it yours?” Adam asked the kid.
The kid swallowed and shook his head. “It was my sisters.”
“Where you on that bus east of here? The one that got burned?”
The kid sniffed loudly and nodded his head.
“And your family was on there?”
The kid only glared at him and didn’t bother to respond.
Adam didn’t know what to say. “Sorry, man,” didn’t really cut it. He glanced nervously at Alli, hoping she’ll relent and let the poor kid keep the damn thing. It seemed that she did have a heart after all because she glowered at the kid suspiciously but made no attempt to get the necklace back. They all knew what it was like to lose someone, or everyone, that they loved.
Adam got another surprise when the kid suddenly looked up from the necklace and asked him, “Will you take me back there?”
“To the bus?”
“Yeah,” the kids answered softly. It really was a day for fucking surprises because he added the word, “Please?”
Adam figured he must be a sucker for good manners and maybe for sad brown eyes too because he found himself nodding and telling the kid, “Sure. We can go today if things are clear. Is that good?”
The kid nodded immediately and the corners of his mouth twitched upward into something that almost resembled a smile. It only lasted a second. The three of them finished their beans and headed out.
**********************************
The bus looked much like the last time they’d been there although the bodies had been disturbed. Animals had been eating them. There was only the clothing and bones left now. Tommy looked around the wreckage for a few minutes until he found one body little away from the rest. He stood over it with his arms wrapped tightly around himself. In a minute he turned and walked away. When he got back to them his eyes were dry. He was done crying.
The kid circled around the bus, still looking for something more, and for the first time Adam noticed all the belongings strewn in the dirt. That was more Alli’s territory. If Adam couldn’t eat it or use it to power the Mustang he wasn’t really interested. The kid found something in the dust he wanted and reached down to pick up a boomerang. He hefted it in his hand a second before he casually slid it down the back of his pants. It was motion he looked like he’d done a million times.
The kid continued looking around. He headed to an outcropping of rocks just beyond where his sister lay. He leaned over one of boulders and pulled out a duffle bag and, to Adam’s astonishment, a guitar. He hadn’t seen one of those in years and the wallop of seeing something so normal made his throat close. He looks around for Alli and saw that she was watching the kid with a confused expression. She probably didn’t remember what a guitar was.
The kid threw the duffle bag over his shoulder and came back to them. He held the guitar gingerly under his arm like he was afraid it would break. He stopped when he got to them and gave the burned out bus one last look.
“Seen enough?” Adam asked him, kicking a stone with his boot.
The kid nodded and the three of them walked back to the Mustang. Once they got in he leaned across Alli and told Adam, “Thank you.”
Adam just nodded his acknowledgement and then put the car into gear. It wasn’t that easy to do in the space allowed. Allison had shifted away from the kid as far as the shifter would allow her because she wasn’t thrilled with sharing the passenger seat again. Adam had given her a stern look when she started to object and she’d thankfully bitten her tongue.
They drove back to the cave in silence, everyone sobered by what had happened to Tommy’s group. When they’d parked the car and hidden the entrance the kid stopped Adam before he could follow Alli inside.
“My name’s Tommy,” the kid told him.
“Adam,” he replied.
The kid nodded, “Yeah, I remember. And that bitch in there is Allison.”
Adam smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. “You got that right,” he agreed.
************************************
After the visit to the bus the kid, or Tommy, as Adam was getting used to calling him, began to fit in better. He was still pretty damn quiet but at least he would answer when spoken to. Adam was quiet himself.
Allison, on the other hand, never shut up. She’d always had a tough time making small talk with Adam so at least Tommy gave her someone else to talk at. She’d finally taken to him and was constantly trying like mad to draw him into conversation with middling success. Adam found it a relief now that he wasn’t her sole source of entertainment.
Alli could find joy in the most dismal of situations and Adam sometimes had to remind himself to lighten up on her. He forgot that she was a teenage girl and not some kind of a hired gun or military partner. She’d seen far more things than anyone should ever have to but it hadn’t killed the childlike wonder in her yet. Once in a while she even carried Adam along.
One day Tommy was poking around the cave and found a camp stove. It was one Adam had found some place and brought home thinking they might use it, except they’d never bothered. Tommy looked at the assortment of pots and utensils with the stove and asked them, “How come you never cook anything?”
Adam looked at him blankly. “Like what?”
They’ve got a stockpile of canned of shit and most of it was just fine cold. Okay, maybe some of it was kind of grim and Adam had to practically force Alli to choke down canned tomatoes and peas but it had kept them from starving. He’d never been much of a cook even in the before and Alli had never had a chance to learn. Tommy looked at their inventory and shrugged.
“I don’t know. We could hunt?”
Adam perked up at that idea. That might actually be fun. Even Allison seemed intrigued with the idea. The only problem was that Adam had no fucking idea how to go about it. He’d learned how to shoot at the training academy but the closest he’d ever been to wildlife was in the bars in Kings Cross. Adam had been a Sydney city boy before everything went to shit.
“You know how to hunt?” he asked Tommy.
Tommy nodded. “Sure. Let’s go out today. There must be something around.”
Adam was happy to oblige. Even if they didn’t get anything it damn fun to try especially if it involved guns. They all piled out of the cave and Tommy and Alli waited below while Adam did a sweep for any sign of hoons. It looked pretty quiet. Adam headed for where the car was hidden and then stopped when he noticed Tommy watching him with a smile.
“What?” he asked.
Tommy just laughed at him. “You can’t hunt in your fucking car. It’ll scare everything away for miles.”
“So what do we do?”
Tommy checked out the immediate surroundings and turned back to them. “We walk.”
Adam thought about it a minute. The thought of being caught on foot out there made his stomach churn. It was way too fucking dangerous. He looked at Tommy uneasily but he seemed confident so Adam reluctantly gave in. They’d try it, he decided, but they wouldn’t be walking too damn far. First he went to the car and pulled out the shotgun. Brave was one thing, stupid was something else.
All Tommy had for a weapon was his boomerang but he kept it in hand as he walked, searching the ground for animal tracks. Adam and Alli crept along behind him, trying to be as quiet as possible, waiting for Tommy to tell them what to do. This was new to the two of them. Adam spent most of his time watching the horizon for danger.
They had just crested a hill when Tommy signalled for them to hang back and cocked his arm. Adam couldn’t see a damn thing in the scrubby grass they’d been walking through but Tommy released his boomerang and it sailed off. He watched its flight a minute and then trotted down the hill. In a moment he was back with a dead rabbit. I’ll be damned, Adam thought.
In half an hour they had two more and they headed home where Adam and Alli watched as Tommy expertly skinned and gutted the carcasses. That night they ate rabbit stew that Tommy made with canned tomatoes and potatoes taken from their stores. It was the best meal Adam could ever remember eating.
After dinner Adam took his life in his hands and told Allison to wash the dishes. The good food must have mellowed her because she got up to do it without giving him any attitude at all. Tommy brought out his guitar and started to repair a couple broken strings and then tune it.
He looked at Alli and then back at Adam and asked, “How long have you two been here?”
Adam stretched out and pondered it a minute; it felt like fucking forever. “I don’t know. A few years now.”
“Where were you before?”
“Somewhere else,” Adam told him coolly. He didn’t like to share too much information. They both heard Allison snickering from the other side of the room.
“He’s not much of a talker,” she told Tommy. “Good luck with that.”
Adam threw her a sour look. “We came up here from the south. Had to get away from the cities. Too many hoons,” he said.
Tommy nodded. “Us too. We were heading up the coast.” He turned and watched Allison finish washing the dishes and then asked Adam, “So, are you two together?”
This made Allison let out a loud snort and she shook her head when she told Tommy, “Adam’s not into girls.”
Tommy turned immediately towards Adam and Adam scowled at him and told him, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to fucking attack you or anything.”
“I didn’t think you were,” Tommy answered evenly.
He turned back to Allison. She’s finished washing up and had joined them; sitting down on the couch to brush her hair. It was a nightly ritual she had. Alli’s hair was truly glorious, thick and shiny and a rich deep red but it was wasted on Adam as Alli had been sure to point out. Adam wondered if maybe Tommy was interested in Allison. It left him feeling a little unsettled.
“You probably want to think twice about messing with her,” he warned Tommy quietly.
Tommy flinched guiltily and looked away. Adam chuckled and added, “Unless you’re not into girls.”
Tommy gave Adam a measured stare. “Those assholes never asked my fucking permission,” he told Adam.
Adam shrugged and watched silently as Tommy got up and retreated to the alcove he’d staked out as his bedroom. When Allison gave Adam a questioning look he got up too and went to his room to preclude any questions.
Tommy kind of frosty with Adam for the next few days and if Adam had been a sensitive guy he might have worried that he’d offended him in some way. But he wasn’t so he just shrugged and went on with his business. He was better with keeping people at a bit of a distance anyway. It didn’t hurt as much when they died.
Alli and Tommy, on the other hand, were as thick as thieves. The two of them would sit and play cards at night while Adam read books by the quavering light they ran off the generator. Tommy taught her to play blackjack and poker and when Alli caught Adam watching them one night she pleaded with him to play too. Adam finally relented just to keep the peace. He could never refuse Alli for too long.
Some night’s he’d read alone and others he’d play against the other two for money. Adam and Alli had all kinds of it. They’d collected it over the years, here and there, where ever they found it left lying around. It wasn’t good for anything but card games now. There was nothing to buy. It was like the Monopoly money Adam remembered playing with as a child.
So they’d play for hours, for thousands of dollars and sometimes Adam would catch himself laughing when he won a big hand. Tommy was a sharp poker player but he never seemed to get the breaks. Alli had no poker face at all. Adam could always tell what kind of hand she had and would bet accordingly. It wasn’t the same with Tommy at all. He, like Adam, played his cards close to his chest, in more ways than one.
Part Two
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Author: firiel77
Chapter: One
Pairing: Adam/Tommy/Allison Iraheta
Genre: AU
Rating: NC17
Words: 26,490
Warnings: Mentions of violence, non con, rape, het, angst, schmoop. Lol, a laundry list of warnings.
Beta: eloiserummaging beta’d for me but as usual I can’t leave well enough alone and have been putzing around with this fic right until the last second. So if I’ve messed things up after the fact it’s all me. Thank you for the great beta and encouragement!
Summary: Post-apocalyptic Road Warrior story. Adam gets to wear Mad Max’s leather pants and drive a hot car. Tommy is like the feral child with the boomerang only obviously, you know, older. Allison is along for the ride because I like her. And I really have no plausible reason why the three of them are in the Australian outback except that Adam + black Mad Max leather clothes = <3
Comments: I’m blamingIsolde_13 for this idea. She tweeted about how good Adam would look in Road Warrior leather and I couldn’t let it go. A mental image in search of a plot.
*******************************
They saw the smoke first, black against blue sky, an oil fire, billowing up from beyond the horizon, streaming like ribbons of ink across the wasteland. Adam pulled deftly on the wheel, guiding the Mustang off the highway at the crest of along hill, climbed out of the car, and pulled his spyglass from the back seat. He lay his forearm on the car roof and the braced the telescope on it, blinking a couple times before leaning down to look through it, waiting for the dust to clear. He’d left the engine running and its vibrations shook the glass a little in his hand. The throaty rumble of the big block was reassuring though. They could be on the road again in seconds.
It was getting late in the day but the heat had not yet broken. It was damn hot and Adam impatiently wiped away the sweat that was running into his eyes and making them sting. He squinted at the heat waves rippling upward in front of the fire. Between the coming dusk, the smoke and the shimmering air, it was hard to see much detail but Adam could feel the hair on the back of his neck begin to stand up.
“What is it?” he hears from his shoulder and Adam snapped a glance down.
“Get back in the car, Alli,” he barked at the young woman beside him. You know the drill.”
“I know”, she muttered. “Wait until it’s clear.”
Adam stared her down, waiting for her to move, while he bounced the telescope up and down in his palm. The girl glared at him a second before slouching back to the passenger side and ducking in, slamming the passenger door hard in protest. Adam felt his jaw clench at that, because that was his fucking car, man, but decided not to rise to the bait. He knew from experience how things could get out of control. Allison could be a real bitch when she wanted to. Anyway, they had they had something they needed to check out before dark.
Caution wasn’t just a good idea out here; it was a fucking necessity if you didn’t want to end up dead. Adam looked through the spyglass again, focused the lens, tried to figure out what the hell was burning. Whatever it was, it was big. He was starting to taste it, acrid and rubbery on the back of his tongue even though they were downwind. The wind shifted little, parting the smoke, and Adam could see that it was one of those old yellow school buses, now scorched black.
The bus was a few meters off the road bogged halfway up the wheels in loose sand. They must have got stuck, poor bastards, Adam thought. There was no sign of any movement. Adam scanned the horizon looking for tell tale dust clouds that would indicate another vehicle but couldn’t see any. Whoever was responsible for torching the bus was long gone.
No doubt it was hoons who were responsible. It always was. It must have been one of the larger gangs that roved this corner of the Outback if they were ambitions enough to take down a bus. The hoons preyed on the weak, stealing what couldn’t be protected and killing to survive but many times also just for fun.
Ever since things had gone to shit, since the economic collapse, the fuel crunch and then the war, they had had free reign in the Outback. In the Before Adam had been a cop, he’d upheld the law. But there was no law anymore, no government, no rules except keep your head down and kill or be fucking killed yourself. Adam did a little of both.
He checked the sun; they only have an hour or so of light left. If they are going to scrounge the bus they needed to be quick about it. As fucked up as it was out there during the day, it was a hell of a lot worse at night. There were packs of dingoes that got bigger and smarter every year and other shit, animals that had escaped from the zoos and interbred. Adam had seen a pride of lions a while ago, except they hadn’t looked exactly like lions anymore; they’d fucking changed. Everything had changed.
He slid the spyglass closed and tossed it into the back seat and got in, kicked the car into gear and hit the gas. The tires spun a little in the sand before they bit into the asphalt. They reached the bus in a couple minutes and Adam pulled up once more, giving the girl a warning scowl before he surveyed the scene. There were bodies strewn around the vehicle but no one was moving. There was no sign of life at all, no movement except for the swirling smoke. Adam put the car into park and turned off the engine. Without the throbbing V8 the silence was complete. Adam tapped the steering wheel distractedly while he thought; weighing the risks of getting his ass out of his car.
The fact that Adam needed fuel won out. He finally sighed, pushed open his door and climbed out, striding around the back of the car. He popped the trunk and grabbed the shotgun and rested it over his shoulder before he sauntered over for a little recon. There were all kinds of tire tracks circling the bus; motorcycles, dune buggies, and couple larger vehicles, probably trucks. The heat was oppressive and Adam could feel sweat running down his back under the leathers he always wore. He wiped his forehead again with his sleeve while he approached the bus.
A couple buzzards struggled into the air in front of him, heavy with gorging. A few more just watched him suspiciously from the bodies they were feeding on. As Adam walked around the bus he saw there were quite a few, probably twenty in all. No flies though so they hadn’t been dead for long; less than a day Adam figured. The shell casings underfoot were testament that they’d gone down fighting. Adam noticed a fair few hoons among the dead, their bodies left behind by the gang.
Adam’s mouth twisted at the coppery metallic blood smell that permeates the area; he could taste it. He spat once before he turned back to the car and waved at the girl to get out. Alli was good at finding shit; she could scavenge like nobody’s business. Anyway, they didn’t have a lot of time before sunset and two could work faster than one. They were a good team.
She was at his side in seconds, hands thrust deep in the pockets of the desert camo pants she wore, a couple canvas sacks under one arm, ready to go. She was easily a foot shorter than Adam and slim, ten years younger but as tough as nails, hardened by the years spent with him in the outback. She squinted at the wreckage a minute and then pulled her thick hair back into her collar and turned to Adam.
“I’ll look inside and see if there’s anything left that’s not burned up.”
Adam nodded curtly and then turned back to the trunk, pulling out a couple jerry cans and some hose. With the gun in one hand and cans in the other Adam made his way back to the bus. He could hear the ping of cooling metal as he surveyed the smouldering wreck.
“Right,” he told her over his shoulder. “I’ll check for fuel.”
This was what they did, how they got by, living off what was left after the end of the world. Life was tough. It wasn’t always easy to find food but they made do. They had the Mustang, a good water supply where they lived, and opportunities like this to resupply. So long as they keep away from the hoons they were alright, or at least alive, which was a hell of a lot better than many after the war.
Adam’s curiosity got the better of him and he took a closer look at the bodies. They were all ages, young and old; some had been shot but many had just had their throats cut. Even the hoons knew not to waste bullets. At the back of the bus Adam found some smaller corpses huddled together and he felt the bile rise in his throat; fuck, they were just kids. There wasn’t a lot that made him feel much of anything anymore, but dead kids was one of them.
He could hear Alli pulling things around inside the bus and he called through a broken window, “find anything good?”
“Yeah, some canned stuff,” she yelled back, and Adam smiled bleakly at the cheerful excitement in her voice. It didn’t take much.
“Lot’s actually. They must have been going a long way.”
Adam snorted. They weren’t going anywhere now. He walked down the side of the bus and tapped its’ side with his fist, trying to locate the fuel tank, to judge whether it had been drained already or not. He was rewarded with a solid thunk so he put down the shotgun and the gas cans and uncoiled his length of hose. Adam spun off the gas cap and in a second he had fuel pouring into the first gerry can.
It was odd the hoons had left anything in the tanks. They must have been flush with food and fuel or they would have striped the place out before they took off. Or maybe they’d just been careless; wild on bloodlust, drugged out on meth or whatever else they kept on hand. It was the main reason Adam and Alli had been able to evade them for so long; there wasn’t a lot of rational thought going on with the hoons. It was all about taking what came easy.
Adam transferred the hose to the second can and watched as it filled, tapping his foot impatiently. Night came on suddenly in the desert. He was relieved when he saw Alli jump down, the bags heavy over her shoulders. She watched while he screwed shut the gas cans and took the hose from him when he’d coiled it up so that he could take a gerry can in each hand. She followed him back to the car in silence.
Alli tossed the bags into the back seat and got in, waited while Adam put the gas cans in the trunk and climbed in beside her. After one last look around Adam started the car and put it into gear. It was time to head home.
********************************
Adam stood amid the rocks above the cave and looked over the desert. It had been three days since they’d been out in the Mustang last when they’d found the burned out bus. There had been too many hoons about, too much activity, to risk being on the road since. Adam had insisted they lay low but now he needed to get the fuck out. Three days spent in close quarters with a hormonal teenager was long enough.
Each morning Adam climbed to the top of the rock pile with his spyglass and checked before bringing out the car. If there was any movement, or dust, or sound they stayed inside. Sometimes it made them crazy, having to stay underground for days on end, but it had kept them alive. On the third morning all was quiet. It looked like the hoons had finally moved on.
Adam climbed back down and called for Alli, told her they were going out. She was there in seconds, obviously just as eager to do something. The two of them pulled the debris back from the mouth of the cave so they could get the car out and then quickly covered it up again, pausing to give their work a critical look before driving away.
It was stinking hot out as usual. Allie let out a whoop and pulled her t-shirt over her head, fanning herself with it to cool herself. Adam gave her a disproving look when he saw she had on only a threadbare bra.
“Jesus, Alli,” put your damn shirt back on,” he told her. “You can’t be walking around like that. You’re not a little kid anymore.”
Alli shrugged. “Who’s going to see me?” she snorted. She tossed the t-shirt onto the passenger seat and rolled her eyes, “You?”
Adam didn’t rise to her tone but he did reach in and grab her shirt so that he could toss it back in her face.
“Just put it back on or I’ll leave you here in the cave,” he told her.
Alli’s eyes were daggers but she did as she was told and pulled her shirt on before she got in the car. Adam let out a sigh. He wasn’t sure how much more attitude he could take. The trouble with spending all their time together was that they’d got incredible good at pressing each other’s buttons.
Adam had planned to go back to the bus and get the last of the gas but when he got to the road he turned the Mustang in the other direction on a whim. The memory of the dead children was too strong. He dug through the battered pile of cassette tapes in the console and put one on, cranking the volume.
Sometimes it helped a bit, getting out on the road, winding out the Mustang and seeing what it could do. Adam emptied his mind and concentrated on the road. Alli grinned in the passenger seat when the music started, their latest quarrel already forgotten. She loved these rides as much as Adam did and had one arm thrust out the car window, hand waving up and down in the slipstream of hot air rushing past. They both sang along to Highway to Hell at the top of their lungs.
They’d done a thirty minute run, flat out, when Adam spiked the brakes and then fought the car to a sliding stop. He’d caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, a glint of metal where there shouldn’t have been any. He cranked the car around, pulling a u turn on the deserted highway and headed back, more slowly this time, watching carefully.
“Alli,” he barked. “Get the spyglass out of the back seat. And the shotgun.”
She reached back for them with gratifying quickness, fumbling a little in her haste, but had them ready by the time Adam reached the spot where he’d seen the reflection on his right. He pulled over and took the telescope from the girl, scanning the rocky hillside.
“Fuck,” Adam hissed under his breath when he saw it. There was a dune buggy parked halfway up the hill, about 100 meters away in a cleft between two rocks and hidden behind some scrub, intentionally screened from the road below. It was fucking amazing than he’d noticed it at all. They were damn lucky they hadn’t been spotted by the owner as they drove past. If they hadn’t, Adam quickly corrected himself.
Adam watched the hillside for a couple minutes, looking for any telltale motion, but the dune buggy seemed to have been deserted. He pulled the Mustang ahead so that it was out of sight from above and turned off the engine. He handed the telescope back to Alli and took the sawed-off instead from where she had it rested on her knees before he climbed out of the car, signalling for her to stay put. She glowered at him but kept her ass in her seat.
Adam crouched low and began picking his way cautiously up the hillside, from rock to rock, feeling terribly exposed. Whoever owned the buggy had a serious advantage in holding the higher ground. He cleared a small rise and then dropped to his knees behind a clump of spinifex grass and listened carefully. All was quiet except for the ever present wind so Adam scrambled to his feet and quickly closed the distance to the buggy shotgun at the ready.
The vehicle was definitely empty although Adam noticed a case of canned spaghetti in the back. He made a mental note to take it with him when they were done. There were also some full water bottles that would not go to waste. Adam took one and opened it while he looked around the vehicle. There were tracks in the loose sand leading away from the dune buggy around the side of the hill. Adam followed them a minute before turning back to check on Alli.
He cursed under his breath when he saw she’d gotten out of the car and was coming up the hill after him. Damn, if that little bitch ever did what she was told for more than five minutes it would be a fucking miracle. Adam waited with his arms crossed while she climbed nimbly over the rough ground, watching the pathway to make sure no one was coming back for the buggy.
“I told you to stay in the car,” he told her through gritted teeth.
Alli shrugged at him and reached around, pulling the handgun out of the back waste band of her pants.
“Two’s better than one,” she told him quietly before glancing towards the parked dune buggy. “See anyone?”
“Not yet,” Adam told her. “Tracks going that way though.”
“Going to check it out?” she asked him.
Adam shrugged. He was torn. It was tempting just to take what they could and go. On the other hand he didn’t like the idea that someone might be settling in so near their cave. If they weren’t careful the hoons could follow them back and find out where they were staying. No, it was probably best to find out who they where and what the hell they were doing on Adam’s turf. Then he could deal with them.
“Yeah, I guess we should,” he told Alli. “But I want you to stay back. I’m not fucking kidding.”
“I can shoot as good as you can,” she challenged.
Adam just nodded. She was right. The first thing Adam had done when he’d taken Alli along with him was teach her how to use his service revolver. She’d barely been strong enough to hold it up at first but over the years she’d become a dead shot. It still didn’t mean Adam wanted her in the line of fire.
“Okay, fine,” he told her. “Just cover me. And if there’s any shooting I want you to hit the deck.”
Adam eyed her sternly for a minute until he saw her nod in agreement. He cocked the shotgun and turned to follow the dusty track the owners of the buggy had taken. Once they rounded the side of the hill the footprints lead down into a draw that fell away to the south between two rocky outcrops. There were a few scrubby trees along the flank that had the effect of screening the area from the surrounding plains.
Adam hunched down, trying to reduce his height as he followed the tracks down the hill. He hoped like hell he wasn’t walking into an ambush of some kind although the hoons weren’t generally known for their stealth. He’d gone a couple hundred yards when he heard voices below.
Adam hit the deck instantly. He rolled to his side and signalled for Alli to hold up a minute while he slid forward on his belly inch by inch. When Adam reached a covering hummock of dirt he slid the shotgun in front of him and peered down to where the voices were coming from.
There were two men below, hoons no doubt about it, both dressed in leathers. One was a giant of a man, tall, stocky and shaved bald. The other one was smaller but looked nearly as formidable. There was a third figure with them which Adam thought to be a young woman. She looked to be about the same height as Allison but slighter in built.
She had a long fringe of blonde hair and her hands were bound behind her back. Her only clothing was a long t-shirt that went to mid thigh and nothing else. They’d put a rope around her neck and tied it to one of the scrubby trees so that she couldn’t escape. There were bottles and cans strewn around like the hoons had been having some kind of fucking picnic.
Adam took a moment to scan the surrounding area to be sure that they hadn’t posted a guard. He couldn’t see anyone else around so he looked back and signalled for Alli to move up join him. She slipped in beside him without making a sound and peered past Adam curiously. Adam put his finger to his lips to imply quiet and turned back to the hoons. They were still preoccupied with their captive.
They had a bottle of some kind of alcohol, probably Jack, which they were passing back and forth while they circled the girl, laughing. She tried to stay away from them but there was really nowhere to go. Once they’d finished the bottle the smaller one smashed it against a rock and waited while his companion grabbed the girl from behind.
The smaller man stepped in front and reached for her and suddenly there was a flurry of movement as the girl’s leg came up with blinding speed, a knee landed solidly in the man’s groin and he was on the ground clutching himself. Alli snorted in amusement. If the shot hadn’t been right to his junk it was pretty damn close and Adam felt himself wince in sympathy.
He turned and gave Alli a warning look. He didn’t want to lose the element of surprise. He intended to wait until they were good and busy raping the girl before he shot the two bastards dead. No doubt they were armed and the last thing he wanted was a fucking shoot out.
The big one let go of the girl to help his buddy and she immediately spun around and ran but was pulled up short by the rope around her neck. The impact pulled her over backwards where she lay struggling to regain her feet but unable to with her hands tied as they were. She lay there twisting in the dirt while the big hoon ambled over to where she was laying.
He delivered several kicks to her back and ribs while she tried unsuccessfully to evade the blows. By then the smaller man had recovered enough to get back on his feet, abet shakily. He staggered over to her so that he could get in a few well placed kicks of his own and then the big one grabbed her by the arm and pulled her upright.
She was bent forward in pain but when the hoon grabbed her by the t-shirt to pull her close she struggled so that it tore away leaving her naked. When she swung around Adam realized for the first time that the captive wasn’t a girl at all. He was small and whip thin but the hoons captive was most definitely male.
The smaller of the two hoons grabbed the kid by his hair snapped his head around. He then put his other hand on his shoulder and forced the boy to his knees, grinding his face into the stones for good measure. The kid fought to get away once more but the hoon pulled his head back once more and then pounded it savagely against the ground. That knocked the last of the fight out of him.
The big guy undid his pants and stroked his cock a couple times while he watched the struggle and Adam could see that he was huge. When he was ready he dropped to his knees behind the kid and pulled him back to him. He spat once in his hand and forced himself in. The kids face was still pressed into the dirt but they could hear his muffled cries when the hoon thrust into him. Alli hissed in protest and Adam put a steadying hand on her arm to restrain her.
Okay, it was time. Adam got to his feet and slipped down the hill behind the men, choosing his steps carefully so as not to make any sound, crouching low so that neither of them would notice his approach. The big one was too busy fucking the kid to notice anything short of a nuclear blast but the other one, though busy holding the kid down, could easily look up and see him. Adam meant to blow him away as soon as he was within range.
Adam’s luck held and he was right there before either of them saw him coming. Adam brought up the shotgun and shot the first man point blank in the temple and blood and brain tissue exploded everywhere. The big one’s eyes opened wide in shock as the blast shook them. They were lust filled but clearing quickly and he struggled to catch his breath. He had no time to pull his dick out of the boy before his head exploded in a cloud of red mist.
Adam kicked the now headless body over and dragged him off of the kid. They boy lay on his side with his knees pulled up to his chest, unable to get up while tied like he was. He was covered in the dead men’s blood and worse. There was a trail of new blood and old running down the insides of his legs. Adam wondered how long these assholes had kept the kid there. They’d obviously found a spot they could enjoy him without the rest of the tribe, hoping to keep him for themselves. Adam supposed it was a small blessing.
The kid’s eyes were closed but he opened them when he sensed Adam standing over him and blocking the sun. Adam tapped his sawed off idly against his leg while he contemplated what he was going to do next. It was a movement that wasn’t lost on the kid.
The kid looked at the gun and then up at Adam and said through swollen lips, “Just fucking kill me.”
Adam thought about that one a second as he stared down. He’d seen that look before, the one the kid had on, that lost, hopeless expression people had when they’ve endured too much. Adam had seen that look a lot. Sometimes he saw it when he looked in the mirror.
Instead of granting the kid his wish Adam took out his knife and crouched down, slid the knife gently between the kid’s neck and the punishingly tight rope. He cut through the rope and the kid took in a ragged breath. He turned and cut the tether around the kid’s wrists next.
When he was done he asked the kid, “Can you get up?” as he stood back up and brushed the dust off his knees.
The kid seemed to think about that one a second before briefly nodding and then slowly pulling his legs beneath him. He pushed himself to his knees and sat there a moment with his head bowed, rubbing some feeling into his hands. He got up slowly and when he stood beside Adam, slightly unsteady on his feet, Adam realized the kid was much older than he’d originally thought. He was small, probably no heavier than Alli, but he had the shadow of a beard on his face. He wasn’t a child. Adam put him as only a little older than Allison.
She joined the two of them a minute later. She’d been foraging and had already found what Adam assumed were the kid’s clothes. Anyway she was holding a pair of soiled jeans and a hoodie which she handed wordlessly to the boy. The kid had been trying to cover himself but when he reached for the clothes Adam couldn’t help but notice Alli intently checking him out. Adam shook his head. That girl was going to be trouble before too long. Adam elbowed her sharply to pull her attention away from his junk.
He averted his own eyes while the kid struggled into his pants and heard him hiss when the denim scraped against tender flesh. When Adam looked back the kid had just finished pulling the hoodie down over his head and covered up an expanse of white skin down his back shadowed with bruises and scrapes. Alli handed the kid a pair of boots and the kid wobbled a little as he tried to stand on one foot to get the first one on.
Adam put out a hand instinctively to steady him and when he took a closer look he realized that the kid was in rough shape. His lips were parched as if he’d not had anything to drink in days and while Adam watched him struggle into his second boot the kid’s eyes rolled back in his head and he sank limply to the ground.
Adam looked down at the kid and then across at Alli who is looking back at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face. He would have laughed if he hadn’t been equally confused. He’d saved the kid but his plan hadn’t extended past that, especially since he’d fallen on his ass unconscious. What the fuck were they going to do with him? Without thinking Adam handed Alli the shotgun and then bent down to pick the kid up. He pulled the kids’ weight in close to his chest so that he was easier to carry. It wasn’t too far back to the car and mostly downhill. Anyway the kid wasn’t very heavy at all.
They stopped at the dune buggy and Adam had Alli remove the canned food he’d found earlier. For sure those two dudes didn’t need it anymore. She put the case under her free arm and trudged down the hill after Adam without comment. When they got to the Mustang she threw the canned food in the back seat with the shotgun and then turned to Adam with her arms crossed.
“We’re not bringing him home, are we?” she demanded.
Adam shrugged. “What else can I do with him?” He looked down at the kid in his arms. “I can’t leave him out here like this.”
Alli gave the unconscious kid an appraising look and then wrinkled her nose. She looked like she would be perfectly happy to do just that.
“Why not? He’s filthy and he smells,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, well, we probably do too,” Adam told her.
Alli didn’t look convinced. She opened the passenger door and got in the car, looking out at Adam balefully while she shut it again.
Adam looked down at her and sighed. The kid’s weight in his arms was starting to make his arms burn.
“Come on, Alli.”
Adam had no idea what prompted him to bring the kid back to the car. He normally had no qualms about leaving hoons or anyone else for that matter behind once he’d taken what he wanted. At his most generous he would normally shoot them in the head and put them out of their fucking misery. He was currently treading in unfamiliar territory by helping the kid.
If he had to try to come up with a reason it would probably have to be that he liked how the kid fought back even though he’d been beaten and outnumbered. He seemed plucky. It was what Adam liked to think he would have done if it were him. That and the way the kids pained resignation had struck a chord in Adam that had made it impossible for him to walk away and leave him insensible in the desert.
“Seriously, Adam. What the fuck are you going to do with him?” Alli demanded.
Adam shook his head. “Don’t know,” he answered with tight lips as he pulled open the passenger door again. “But he’s starting to get heavy so shift your ass so I can get him in. Or I’m going to just put him on top of you,” he threatened.
Alli looked dubiously at the back seat which was heaped with stuff. “I’m not riding in the back,” she told him.
Adam shrugged. “Just slide over. You’ll both fit in the front. He’s not very big.”
Alli moved grudgingly over in the seat so there was room for Adam to put the kid down beside her. He was right. There was enough room. Adam slammed her door and climbed in on the driver’s side.
Alli wrinkles her nose and told him again, “He fucking stinks.”
She was right. The kid stank of sweat and sex and blood. Adam just shrugged again but he did roll down the window to let in some fresh air. The kid didn’t wake up once during the drive home, not even when Alli got sick of his head resting on her shoulder and shoved him none to gently back over against the door. Adam frowned when he heard the kids head hit the window.
**********************************
They’d had their roomy for a week and Adam was beginning to wonder why he hadn’t left the little fucker out in the desert after all. He’d thought he was used to sullen teenagers after living with Alli for so long but this little dude had her beat. He hadn’t said a word since he’d come to. He just sat with his knees drawn up and glared at the two of them, refusing to answer any of their questions. The only words he’d spoken where when he’d asked Adam to kill him. Adam was starting to think he still might.
Alli wasn’t big on the kid either. She’d been huffing around, starring daggers at him, since he’s arrived. At least he didn’t stink anymore. Adam had given him a cloth and a bucket of water the first day and told him to wash. Adam had tossed some clean clothes at his feet before turning to go. The kid had taken everything silently and then waited until Adam was gone before he undressed. When he’d emerged later the change had been remarkable.
Alli was pissed off when she noticed the kid wearing some of her clothes and it had been all Adam could do to stop her from taking them back by force. Adam assured her that it was only a temporary arrangement and she’d finally relented but it was a close thing. He’d then made the mistake of asking her to wash the kid’s things whereupon she’d told him in no uncertain terms what he could do with them.
The kid had watched the exchange curiously and then to Adam’s irritation never even thanked him. He’d even had the nerve to smirk a bit, as if Alli suggesting where he put the clothes was somehow funny. Some gratitude Adam groused. He’d saved the guys fucking life, fed him, and given him the clothes off his back, ( okay make that off Alli’s back), and that was the thanks he’d gotten?
Adam introduced himself and Alli and got only a baleful stare in return. It wasn’t like Adam needed eternal gratitude for fuck’s sake but some gesture would be nice. A thank you might have been in order, or at least a response to some of his questions. Adam was beginning to think the kid was mentally deficient. Adam had decided to bring him home on impulse but it was a decision he was regretting a little more every day.
Adam liked his life simple, uncomplicated and drama-free. Having the miserable little dude around was starting to feel like work. He was sorely tempted to kick the kids skinny little ass out of the cave or even better, drive him the fifty miles back out in the desert where he’d found him. Good riddance, Adam thought.
Things came to a head first thing the following morning. It happened so fast that it caught Adam completely unprepared. They were all gathered in the main room of the cave for breakfast and Allison was distributing cans of beans. Adam had just cut the top off his can with his knife and dumped the contents onto his plate when the shit hit the fan.
Alli was standing in front of the kid and holding a can out for him to take when the kid lunged at her. He grabbed a necklace she had around her neck and pulled it off, snapping the chain in the process. Adam jumped to his feet to intervene and swore when he slopped some so of his beans on the floor. The kid backed away from Alli still holding the necklace. There was no way she would let that slide.
“Hey!” she yells, “That’s mine you asshole! Give it back!”
The kid of course said nothing but he gave no sign of relinquishing the necklace either, only glaring at her stubbornly. Once Adam realized the kid didn’t intend to hurt Alli he looked on with interest. The kid obviously didn’t know her very well because he was completely unprepared when she launched herself on him, determined to get her necklace back.
The kid’s head made a sickening thud when it hit the floor but he did manage to get his hands up to deflect the first few blows from his face. Alli kept on with her assault and within seconds he was losing ground. By the time Adam had put his plate down Alli had the kid pinned and was sitting on his chest with his hand grasped in hers. She was prying his fingers open one by one when Adam grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off of the kid.
She spun around and took a wild shot at Adam but he blocked her easily. She tried to punch him a couple more times before changing tacks and trying to knee him in the balls instead. Adam held her at arm’s length, hoping she would eventually calm down. He finally had to shake her to make her stop swinging at him.
“Would you fucking relax, Alli,” he told her, giving her a shake that made her teeth rattle.
She stopped flailing and stood there, staring furiously at Adam. When she’d calmed enough Adam let go of her but she was not done with the boy by any means.
“Make him give me my necklace, Ad,” she hissed, “Or I’ll gut him.
The two of them turned back to the kid and Adam prepared himself to wade in and retrieve Alli’s property and possibly save the kids fucking life in the process. He was afraid the kid might resist further and refuse to hand it over. Adam half expected Alli to jump him again. What the two of them saw instead left them dumbfounded.
The kid was starring at the necklace in his hands and crying. Quiet sobs shook his narrow shoulders and there were tears running down his face. He pulled his hair back out of his eyes and sniffed before he whispered hoarsely, “Where did you get this?”
Adam looked at Allison in confusion. He had no fucking idea where the necklace came from. The girl was like a crow collecting sparkly objects.
She glared at Adam a minute before she shrugged and told him, “I found it on that bus the other day.”
“Is it yours?” Adam asked the kid.
The kid swallowed and shook his head. “It was my sisters.”
“Where you on that bus east of here? The one that got burned?”
The kid sniffed loudly and nodded his head.
“And your family was on there?”
The kid only glared at him and didn’t bother to respond.
Adam didn’t know what to say. “Sorry, man,” didn’t really cut it. He glanced nervously at Alli, hoping she’ll relent and let the poor kid keep the damn thing. It seemed that she did have a heart after all because she glowered at the kid suspiciously but made no attempt to get the necklace back. They all knew what it was like to lose someone, or everyone, that they loved.
Adam got another surprise when the kid suddenly looked up from the necklace and asked him, “Will you take me back there?”
“To the bus?”
“Yeah,” the kids answered softly. It really was a day for fucking surprises because he added the word, “Please?”
Adam figured he must be a sucker for good manners and maybe for sad brown eyes too because he found himself nodding and telling the kid, “Sure. We can go today if things are clear. Is that good?”
The kid nodded immediately and the corners of his mouth twitched upward into something that almost resembled a smile. It only lasted a second. The three of them finished their beans and headed out.
**********************************
The bus looked much like the last time they’d been there although the bodies had been disturbed. Animals had been eating them. There was only the clothing and bones left now. Tommy looked around the wreckage for a few minutes until he found one body little away from the rest. He stood over it with his arms wrapped tightly around himself. In a minute he turned and walked away. When he got back to them his eyes were dry. He was done crying.
The kid circled around the bus, still looking for something more, and for the first time Adam noticed all the belongings strewn in the dirt. That was more Alli’s territory. If Adam couldn’t eat it or use it to power the Mustang he wasn’t really interested. The kid found something in the dust he wanted and reached down to pick up a boomerang. He hefted it in his hand a second before he casually slid it down the back of his pants. It was motion he looked like he’d done a million times.
The kid continued looking around. He headed to an outcropping of rocks just beyond where his sister lay. He leaned over one of boulders and pulled out a duffle bag and, to Adam’s astonishment, a guitar. He hadn’t seen one of those in years and the wallop of seeing something so normal made his throat close. He looks around for Alli and saw that she was watching the kid with a confused expression. She probably didn’t remember what a guitar was.
The kid threw the duffle bag over his shoulder and came back to them. He held the guitar gingerly under his arm like he was afraid it would break. He stopped when he got to them and gave the burned out bus one last look.
“Seen enough?” Adam asked him, kicking a stone with his boot.
The kid nodded and the three of them walked back to the Mustang. Once they got in he leaned across Alli and told Adam, “Thank you.”
Adam just nodded his acknowledgement and then put the car into gear. It wasn’t that easy to do in the space allowed. Allison had shifted away from the kid as far as the shifter would allow her because she wasn’t thrilled with sharing the passenger seat again. Adam had given her a stern look when she started to object and she’d thankfully bitten her tongue.
They drove back to the cave in silence, everyone sobered by what had happened to Tommy’s group. When they’d parked the car and hidden the entrance the kid stopped Adam before he could follow Alli inside.
“My name’s Tommy,” the kid told him.
“Adam,” he replied.
The kid nodded, “Yeah, I remember. And that bitch in there is Allison.”
Adam smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. “You got that right,” he agreed.
************************************
After the visit to the bus the kid, or Tommy, as Adam was getting used to calling him, began to fit in better. He was still pretty damn quiet but at least he would answer when spoken to. Adam was quiet himself.
Allison, on the other hand, never shut up. She’d always had a tough time making small talk with Adam so at least Tommy gave her someone else to talk at. She’d finally taken to him and was constantly trying like mad to draw him into conversation with middling success. Adam found it a relief now that he wasn’t her sole source of entertainment.
Alli could find joy in the most dismal of situations and Adam sometimes had to remind himself to lighten up on her. He forgot that she was a teenage girl and not some kind of a hired gun or military partner. She’d seen far more things than anyone should ever have to but it hadn’t killed the childlike wonder in her yet. Once in a while she even carried Adam along.
One day Tommy was poking around the cave and found a camp stove. It was one Adam had found some place and brought home thinking they might use it, except they’d never bothered. Tommy looked at the assortment of pots and utensils with the stove and asked them, “How come you never cook anything?”
Adam looked at him blankly. “Like what?”
They’ve got a stockpile of canned of shit and most of it was just fine cold. Okay, maybe some of it was kind of grim and Adam had to practically force Alli to choke down canned tomatoes and peas but it had kept them from starving. He’d never been much of a cook even in the before and Alli had never had a chance to learn. Tommy looked at their inventory and shrugged.
“I don’t know. We could hunt?”
Adam perked up at that idea. That might actually be fun. Even Allison seemed intrigued with the idea. The only problem was that Adam had no fucking idea how to go about it. He’d learned how to shoot at the training academy but the closest he’d ever been to wildlife was in the bars in Kings Cross. Adam had been a Sydney city boy before everything went to shit.
“You know how to hunt?” he asked Tommy.
Tommy nodded. “Sure. Let’s go out today. There must be something around.”
Adam was happy to oblige. Even if they didn’t get anything it damn fun to try especially if it involved guns. They all piled out of the cave and Tommy and Alli waited below while Adam did a sweep for any sign of hoons. It looked pretty quiet. Adam headed for where the car was hidden and then stopped when he noticed Tommy watching him with a smile.
“What?” he asked.
Tommy just laughed at him. “You can’t hunt in your fucking car. It’ll scare everything away for miles.”
“So what do we do?”
Tommy checked out the immediate surroundings and turned back to them. “We walk.”
Adam thought about it a minute. The thought of being caught on foot out there made his stomach churn. It was way too fucking dangerous. He looked at Tommy uneasily but he seemed confident so Adam reluctantly gave in. They’d try it, he decided, but they wouldn’t be walking too damn far. First he went to the car and pulled out the shotgun. Brave was one thing, stupid was something else.
All Tommy had for a weapon was his boomerang but he kept it in hand as he walked, searching the ground for animal tracks. Adam and Alli crept along behind him, trying to be as quiet as possible, waiting for Tommy to tell them what to do. This was new to the two of them. Adam spent most of his time watching the horizon for danger.
They had just crested a hill when Tommy signalled for them to hang back and cocked his arm. Adam couldn’t see a damn thing in the scrubby grass they’d been walking through but Tommy released his boomerang and it sailed off. He watched its flight a minute and then trotted down the hill. In a moment he was back with a dead rabbit. I’ll be damned, Adam thought.
In half an hour they had two more and they headed home where Adam and Alli watched as Tommy expertly skinned and gutted the carcasses. That night they ate rabbit stew that Tommy made with canned tomatoes and potatoes taken from their stores. It was the best meal Adam could ever remember eating.
After dinner Adam took his life in his hands and told Allison to wash the dishes. The good food must have mellowed her because she got up to do it without giving him any attitude at all. Tommy brought out his guitar and started to repair a couple broken strings and then tune it.
He looked at Alli and then back at Adam and asked, “How long have you two been here?”
Adam stretched out and pondered it a minute; it felt like fucking forever. “I don’t know. A few years now.”
“Where were you before?”
“Somewhere else,” Adam told him coolly. He didn’t like to share too much information. They both heard Allison snickering from the other side of the room.
“He’s not much of a talker,” she told Tommy. “Good luck with that.”
Adam threw her a sour look. “We came up here from the south. Had to get away from the cities. Too many hoons,” he said.
Tommy nodded. “Us too. We were heading up the coast.” He turned and watched Allison finish washing the dishes and then asked Adam, “So, are you two together?”
This made Allison let out a loud snort and she shook her head when she told Tommy, “Adam’s not into girls.”
Tommy turned immediately towards Adam and Adam scowled at him and told him, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to fucking attack you or anything.”
“I didn’t think you were,” Tommy answered evenly.
He turned back to Allison. She’s finished washing up and had joined them; sitting down on the couch to brush her hair. It was a nightly ritual she had. Alli’s hair was truly glorious, thick and shiny and a rich deep red but it was wasted on Adam as Alli had been sure to point out. Adam wondered if maybe Tommy was interested in Allison. It left him feeling a little unsettled.
“You probably want to think twice about messing with her,” he warned Tommy quietly.
Tommy flinched guiltily and looked away. Adam chuckled and added, “Unless you’re not into girls.”
Tommy gave Adam a measured stare. “Those assholes never asked my fucking permission,” he told Adam.
Adam shrugged and watched silently as Tommy got up and retreated to the alcove he’d staked out as his bedroom. When Allison gave Adam a questioning look he got up too and went to his room to preclude any questions.
Tommy kind of frosty with Adam for the next few days and if Adam had been a sensitive guy he might have worried that he’d offended him in some way. But he wasn’t so he just shrugged and went on with his business. He was better with keeping people at a bit of a distance anyway. It didn’t hurt as much when they died.
Alli and Tommy, on the other hand, were as thick as thieves. The two of them would sit and play cards at night while Adam read books by the quavering light they ran off the generator. Tommy taught her to play blackjack and poker and when Alli caught Adam watching them one night she pleaded with him to play too. Adam finally relented just to keep the peace. He could never refuse Alli for too long.
Some night’s he’d read alone and others he’d play against the other two for money. Adam and Alli had all kinds of it. They’d collected it over the years, here and there, where ever they found it left lying around. It wasn’t good for anything but card games now. There was nothing to buy. It was like the Monopoly money Adam remembered playing with as a child.
So they’d play for hours, for thousands of dollars and sometimes Adam would catch himself laughing when he won a big hand. Tommy was a sharp poker player but he never seemed to get the breaks. Alli had no poker face at all. Adam could always tell what kind of hand she had and would bet accordingly. It wasn’t the same with Tommy at all. He, like Adam, played his cards close to his chest, in more ways than one.
Part Two
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