The End of Days

[10]

They'd done some exploring of the mall in the week it had been since they'd cleared the place.

Cam goofed around unsurprisingly, finding pillows he thought he could keep and devouring the candy aisle. His palate was quickly expanding with all the foreign foods he consumed and he didnt seem too concerned on stopping any time soon.

Sam allowed the sweets to be binged but nothing else as he worked out the power set up for the store. The neighborhood wasn't too well funded and catered mostly to a certain type of customer so the backup generator wasn't as big as some other chainstores the US was popular for.

He said the most it held was a few hours and the store had only a couple jugs of oil stored away so the most they'd get out of it were some days. "They don't have heat only refrigeration, it won't amount to much when winter comes around. We can use it for the radio setup in the office, other then that its useless."

It was around fall again, not to hot and not too cold so temperature wasn't necessarily something they were concerned about and even if they found a use, they didnt spend much time in the mall other then occasional supply runs and patrols.

With the tough news, Liam left him to his work and went instead to his own concern which was the exit of the grocery center of the mall. It was much like Costco in the way it had its natural course that you had to go through before being able to leave.

Crossing through the aisles and past the cash registers lead to the wide open arc cornered by some cheap sensors. It had been blocked off when they first came but it was a rush job, like someone had done it in a panic and it wasn't anything near reliable.

They'd been lucky no roamers found their way over when they were clearing the dead out that night. Liam had been putting Sams skills to use, hauling in wood planks which had been stored away with the generator. He was planning on boarding up the entrance meaning if something were to happen there would be only one way in or out.

"Hows it going, black?"

"Haven't even started. How do you use a socket wrench?" Sam stared at him like he was crazy, popping down on his knees to Liam who was sat on the tile surrounded by tools.

"It's wood, you know that right? You don't use screws."

"No shit." Liam huffed, jiggling the strange contraption that kept falling apart in his hands. He had helped his dad one summer despite the mans protest and the tool had always stumped him.

He never understood how they just turned it and got the wined going, it was like fucking magic. Liam explained as much to the guy which had him laughing. "Once I saw it it just pissed me off all over again."

"Tsk, gimme that."

He grabbed the strange device, looking around to see what the hell he could've been practicing on. His mouth gaped a bit at the ancient randio in his hands which was all he could find. It had tiny screws and they could both see the screwdriver which was sitting about a foot away.

"Boy, what the hell?!" He laughed helplessly, shrugging. "This is beyond obnoxious, man." Sam shook his head but gave in, beginning yet another one of his lessons.

After his quick demonstration, Liam having to hold on to the radio just to get the wrench to work on the tiny screws, they switched places so he could give it a try.

"Of course you made it look easy."

"That's cause it is."

Liam scoffed a bit, having no better luck then when he was a child. All those big boy muscles and he couldn't undo a damn screw. "I dont know man, whatever." He shook it off, ready to toss the hopeless task away.

It was already getting late and he wasn't even sure he had enough time to disassemble everything blocking the exit off already. His attention was brought off the make shift wall and back to his hand which Sam now partially covered with one of his own.

"Its a quick snap man, flick of the wrist. Try not to push so hard."

"It falls apart otherwise." Liam complained.

He followed what Sam was trying to explain for a bit. It began to make that satisfying cranking sound after lots and lots of manuvering. When he checked the bolt, it wasnt tight persay but it could no longer be turned so therefor he had done the impossible.

"Oh." Was all that came.

Well, 20 minutes for that seemed like pretty much a waste of time now that he'd actually managed. It took him a second to spot the amused look on Sam's face.

He rolled his eyes a bit, shrugging out of his grasp lightly although he hadn't minded it. "I thought it would be more satisfying. Guess not." That smirk appeared on the rednecks lips like when he had something funny or annoying to get out but his eyes took Liam in once more and he hesitated.

"Uh its gettin' late. Gotta head back Changs way before sun sets. We'll get started on this tomorrow, yeah?" He was looking to stand but dropped back down at the hand on his wrist.

He sighed a bit, meeting Liam's gaze. "Sorry. Its still tough, man." He spoke, unusually quite. It had also been a week since their talk and although it was needed, they were still taking things slow. Incredibly slow.

A few minutes ago was probably the first intimate moment they'd actually shared and it wasn't even on purpose.

He was fine with it, if anything it bought him more time until the next talk that would inevitably come. That one was a whole other bag. One Liam was not excited for.

"Can I be honest?" Liam asked, large hand still gripping the tough skin that was new even after all their time together.

Sam nodded after a moment, eyes looking over the tools in tense concentration. It broke as he spoke. "I wanted to kiss you. It happens a lot actually. Can I, next time? Will I get punched or?"

The man shook his head with a smile although it was a valid concern and completely possible. It took him even longer to respond but he did, nodding. "I guess just, you know..do whatchu gotta do."

Sam shrugged although the dark eyes fell down his face as if he could make it happen then and there. Liam bit back his relief, hand absently gripping Sam's in his own.

"Cool." He eyed the contact for a bit before letting go and allowing the guy to stand before following.

"Ill pack up, you get Cam and make sure he's set maybe." He nodded, bounding off out of the tense moment as quick as he could.

Liam hoped he hadn't pushed too far. Sam had accepted what they had even if he refused to put a label on it or himself for that matter, not that Liam ever insisted. The world was over. They could be whatever they wanted, however and whenever they pleased.

All he wanted was to be able to touch Sam or to tell him how great his hair was, all that without having to worry. He just wanted more moments like that one, as long as Sam would stick around.