Page 28 of Last Destination

Before I could trace its path with my finger, Ambrose yanked up his trousers and hid the tempting sight from view.

“So, what do I say now?” he asked, efficiently tucking his dick back into his khakis, his eyes filled with a cautious wariness I couldn’t decipher. “Thank you?”

I couldn’t stifle my chuckle, and the boisterous sound echoed all around us. “Thank you, sir.”

When I flashed a wicked grin, heat flared in his eyes, instantly soothing my worries he’d considered this a mistake. Ambrose wanted another taste, too.

Rising and stepping into his space, I settled my hands back on his hips and leaned in, taking his lips in a sweet kiss of closure. “Let’s get you some breakfast,” I murmured, then grasped his hand and pulled him behind me. “I already had mine.”

His returning snort was a sweet symphony. Today could be the worst of my life, but at least it had started with a bang.

Violent shudders shook my body as I huddled next to the stream, drinking what I hoped was clean enough water to get me to the town.

Charlie’s hands and feet had taken on a purplish tinge, and her shivers rattled her teeth so badly the chatter was louder than the brook’s babble. How had we gotten so lost?

It had been three days. We’d split the protein bar long ago and survived on harvested cattail roots and rosehips. I’d also managed to saw off some pine bark with the pocketknife to get to the edible cambium inside, but we had no fire to roast it and hours later, its bitterness still coated my tongue.

Why hadn’t Papa left us a lighter? Some flint? It was barely 40 degrees, and we’d kept warm by burrowing under piles of leaves and holding each other in the dark.

Perhaps that was the point, I realized, while I filled the water bottle and put it back into the plastic bag for later. He wanted to see what we would do with nothing. Was he waiting for us at the end of the forest?

We’d traveled southward the entire journey. We should have hit a town by now. My thoughts were fuzzy from so little sustenance and my body desperately trying to keep warm. But every time I looked at my twin, I was reminded of how much I’d failed.

“We need to get moving.” I held out my hand to Charlie, who stubbornly refused to take it. She was seated right next to the stream, her arms and legs tucked into her T-shirt like a little turtle, only her slippered feet sticking out.

“I can’t, Marl. Just let me die here.”

Ice gripped my heart more than the November air nipped my fingers. “Don’t be silly, Charl. We’re almost there. I know it.”

“You’ve been saying that for days!” The accusation felt like a strong backhand to the face. “Just face it, Marley, you have no idea where you’re going or what you’re doing. He set us up to fail.”

Anger swept through me and warmed my skin, a welcome reprieve for the briefest moment. “Me? You haven’t done anything, Charlie! You haven’t found food, or water, or shelter — I’m the only reason we’re still alive right now.”

“I’m not playing his stupid games!” She struggled out of her T-shirt cocoon and jumped to her feet, her furious face matching mine. “What are we surviving for, Marley? Zombies? Some mythical invader that doesn’t exist? This is all bullshit, and we’re going to die because of it. He’s mad! He needs help. You and Mama just feed into his bullshit. Maybe if I die, he’ll actually get locked up this time and get some fucking treatment.”

“You’re being a bitch,” I snapped, finally done with her meanness. “You’d rather have us both die than get back to safety? You think I don’t know he’s struggling? That something is wrong? I go along with it to protect you, Charlie. To protect us.”

How many times had I distracted Papa when he was on one of his rants, or pushing us into his next delusion? He’d never once hit us with words or hands, but every interaction was a loaded gun with the safety off. For years, I’d toed a careful line, hoping to keep us both out of the line of fire. Yet Charlie could never see the forest for the trees.

“I’m not going with you, Marley.” She dug her heels into the dirt, literally and figuratively. “You’re going to have to leave without me.”

“You told me you would never leave me.” I folded my arms across my chest and shot daggers at her with my glare.

“You can come back for me.” She plopped back down on the damp earth and shoved all her limbs back into her shirt. “I mean it, Marley. I’m not doing this anymore.”

My anger morphed into a dark bitterness that clouded my vision. My twin was willing to let me go on completely alone, with no regard for my safety or sanity. I blinked back my tears and let out a shriek that did nothing to stem my frustration.

“For once, Charlie, you could think about me. For once!”

I spun on my heel and stomped away from her selfishness and stupidity. I would show her. I would show Papa. I was getting out of these stupid woods today, and when I came back with a warm blanket and a smile, she would see what an absolute asshole she’d been to me.

Charlie West was my very best friend, and the biggest brat in the world, but I would be the bigger person, as usual.

I marked her location on my watch and set out on the trail ahead, determined not to waste a second.

We agreed you’d stop doing this, Marl. Charlie’s consternation was the last thing I wanted to hear when I awoke from the terrible memory. The box I’d buried it in had been unearthed, and every synapse in my brain ached with longing as it faded into the darkness.

“I can’t exactly police my dreams, Charlie,” I mumbled with my eyes still closed, my body pressed against a hot, hard chest. The air was damp and oddly cool. I shivered into the warmth, burrowing deeper into the only source of comfort I had.