Good For Gone

Gearing Up

We got to our feet and scrambled back into the car, blanket and empty can in tow.

"How would we even be able to find them?" I asked once we were buckled in.

"Finding them isn't what I'm worried about, I grew up in the woods. Plus there were too many of them to have driven, which means they walked, so the camps only a few miles away from the house." He said, eyes sharpening, readying for battle, "What I'm worried about is what we do when we get there."

"You have to know a thing or two about how that place runs."

"I do, that's why I'm nervous," he said, and then eyed me, "plus we need to get better prepared. Running from murderers in those flippy floppy things generally isn't a good idea."

"Okay, we'll stop by my house first."

"What if they're there?"

"Shit," I said, having not thought of that, "okay never mind, we'll stop by one of those sporting stores."

After checking on my phone I found one a town over from us in a mall.

"Well, I know how much you love malls." I teased as we pulled into the parking lot.

"Yep, it's a party every time I go in one after all." He smirked. There was a sudden lightness to him, he seemed calmer. I attributed it to getting some sleep.

Peter kept his eyes down, after a few outings he figured out that staring in awe wasn't a normal reaction to a Midwestern mall, but he was still learning exactly how to behave like a normal person, so he just looked at the floor.

The sporting goods store was on the far side of the building. We were greeted by headless mannequins in spandex.

I eyed him jokingly, "The mannequins are ready to run from you."

He smiled and sighed, "You attack a mannequin one time and they never let you forget it."

We went to the back of the store where shoes lined the walls, but we didn't bother with the sleek overpriced pairs, the sale rack was our destination. Combing through, I found a cheap pair in dark purple.

We continued looking around the store for things that could come in handy. While we were sifting through a sale rack Peter held up a sports bra.

"This looks uncomfortable."

I shook my head, "Not really, you should see the ones with wire."

His eyes got wide and he investigated the bra more, stretching the fabric. I just laughed and left him to it.

I already had enough athletic clothes to my name, but I found him a fitted jacket made out of thin, breathable material that might come in handy in the middle of the woods.

Stopping by the hunting section, Peter insisted that we get some sort of weaponry. The things we settled on were a cheap knife and a flashlight that was also a Taser. I hated having to buy a new knife, I had a pretty hefty collection at my house, but he was absolutely adamant that we shouldn't go back there, at least for a while.

We got dressed in the car, me in leggings, a tank top, and light jacket and him in jeans, a light shirt, and the jacket is picked up for him. All earthy colors and materials that wouldn't make any noise when we walked.

It was a few hours back to the town. I'd driven almost to the state line yesterday. But the car ride was surprisingly light-hearted.

Peter hummed along to the music and we ate candy and chips. I guzzled coffee and anything else that promised to keep me awake.

At one point he reached up and began fondling my big purple dice.

"These are funny."

I smiled, "My dad got them for me. He insists they're good luck. I think they're a bit obnoxious, but I'll take all the luck I can get."

"Maybe I need a pair or two. Luck isn't exactly my Forte." He looked like he wanted to say something else but changed his mind.

I let it go, the sleeplessness was easier to hide in the quiet. I needed to keep it under wraps, his sudden burst of happiness was something I wanted to preserve, no matter how strange.

We pulled off to the side of the road when the sun started to go down. It was just outside of town, but still about forty minutes from home, so it felt safe enough.

I taped and tied him up until he felt fully constrained.

"You can go to sleep," he said as I got back in on my side of the car, "you definitely need it more."

I didn't argue, I just smiled and curled up into a comfortable position in the car seat.

A few hours later I was woken up by a familiar growl. It was dark outside the car windows, so he must have drifted off after a while.

I laid there for a minute, hoping I could just force myself back to sleep. But his wild jerking shook the car and jolted me all the way back out of my stupor.

Lying there I felt myself begin to question what I was doing. I felt like I always came back to the thought that maybe I was a fool. The feeling was hard to fight because I knew the facts.

Even though most of me felt completely trusting and comfortable with Peter, there was another instinctual part that wasn't so sure.

Yes, he was sweet and goofy. But this thing that thrashed around next to me was in there somewhere, and I had no idea how much of him it controlled.

But that wasn't the important part, right now we just needed to get the boys back. And tomorrow, we would be going into the woods.