“Totally different skill set.” he shrugged. “Besides, in every zombie movie the zombies are dangerous but it’s the other humans that are the real threat. I can’t risk it.”
I ran over the movies I had seen and damn, he was right. “Okay, I promise not to steal your plan if you tell me.”
He side-eyed me playfully. Apparently he had moved past the airport incident for now. “Fine. Take over a big-box store that sells everything. Food, water, soil, seeds, tents, blankets, weapons,” he ticked the items off on his fingers. “We could circle the parking lot in shipping containers for protection and plant food—”
“What about water?”
We continued to talk about zombies as we walked. A stupid topic to bond over, but since it overlapped with survival and we both worked in that field, it helped the time pass.
A half hour later we reached a small clearing. “This is our first stop,” I said, glancing at the map.
We looked around. Trees, a creek, a rock.
“I’m underwhelmed,” Jasper said, rubbing his eyes. I’d been so distracted by the deep color I’d missed the dark circles under them.
“Apparently this is a spot where Kara and Grant got lost on a hike,” I said.
“Is the next stop more interesting?” Jasper asked, reaching for the map. I instinctively pulled it out of his reach.
His brows dropped. “Seriously? I can’t even see the map?”
Pulling the map from his reach had been a reflex. Only a few firefighters, wild or otherwise, were women and I’d found that showing any sign of compromise invited people to walk all over me.
I would have handed it over once my brain caught up that I wasn’t at work, but then he opened his mouth again.
“This is the plane ticket all over again,” he ran a hand through his hair, his big stupid biceps flexing under his sleeve.
“How is this like the ticket all over again? That was my ticket.You had no right to it.”
“Yeah, well, you taking it resulted in my ass spending the night on the floor of the fucking airport.”
“You really think I woke up at the crack of dawn with the intent of fucking up some stranger’s day by maliciously using the ticket I bought? You know how ridiculous that sounds?”
He moved closer to me, invading my space. Looming over me. His dark eyes bored into mine. “What’s ridiculous is not even letting me look at the map of where we’re going. For all I know your orienteering is as shit as your attitude and we’re lost.”
Oh, hell no.
“You know what? Fine, here you go, Mr. Expert. See if you can figure out the very well-marked trail over there to our next destination.”
He snatched the map from my hand but my grip was still tight and the beautifully decorated paper Kara had given us tore in two. I glared at him and pursed my lips. “Seriously?”
“That was not my fault,” he countered.
“Just like getting to the airport late wasn’t your fault?”
He grabbed the other half of the map and held them together. “Let’s just go.” He headed in exactly the direction I’d indicated earning him a smug smirk.
A cool breeze blew down the path as we walked and, for a guy who spent the night on the airport floor, he smelled really good.
Asshole.
At least my cramps had let up. I didn’t think I could handle his shit and my body’s rebellion at the same time. I followed him at a short distance, keeping my eyes to the ground until we came into a small clearing. There was a rundown cabin just offthe trail, probably a few hundred years old. It was a basic log structure with a section of the roof collapsed and a tree branch growing between the logs of one wall.
“Glacier Peak Cabin,” Jasper read off the ripped paper.
“Thank goodness you took over navigating. I never would have found a building on a well-marked path on my own,” I deadpanned.
He ran a hand through his hair rather than shooting an insult back. “I really wasn’t trying to be an asshole—”
