The Survivors

Chapter 3

God this place is disgusting. TJ gagged. “Mommy, why does it smell like that?” Mommy? I didn’t know I had taken that title. I didn’t know how to respond to that question. It smelled like alcohol and cigarette smoke. I had no idea where this lady got her stuff, and I had a feeling I didn’t want to know. Ashton leaned down and whispered into TJ’s ear. His eyes widened and he started to giggle loudly. Ashton grinned mischievously at me, and TJ had his little nose crinkled up at me like I was the source of the smell. Cara rolled her eyes at them before her attention was caught by a cheap necklace. She looked away when Therry hobbled over with a box, but I saw her gaze at it longingly. After Therry handed me the heavy box, I whispered to her that I’d like to buy the necklace and the toy racecar that TJ had been staring at. She raised one pale eyebrow at me, shrugged and left muttering something about lizards. When she returned she had a ratty black bag filled to the brim with plastic jewelry, cars, and toys. “For my best customer.” she grinned at me with her crooked and yellow teeth, then wandered over to an old man that had been trying to sneak a pair of pliers down his pants. She slapped his hand away from another tool and roughly led him outside. We followed and I headed over to Farope’s inn. He always held a room open for me at this time of year. When I approached the dirty counter, it took a couple more twenties to allow Ashton and the kids access to the room. I rushed to the bathroom and found myself face to face with Ashton, who had his arms crossed and said, “No way am I letting you take all the hot water. So take a short one, or I will come in and get you myself. Or, if you want to, we could just share,” he winked at me. I scoffed at him but to be honest, that made my toes curl. I tried to hide the smile appearing on my lips, but he saw it anyways. “You know what, you’re right. Cara, TJ, come in here and take a shower! Don’t worry I’ll get them all washed up.” “That’s- That’s not what I meant, I meant… never mind.” He sighed and squeezed past Cara and TJ. I scrubbed their skins so hard they turned pink, but they didn’t smell anymore and there was no dirt remaining. I did this quickly and then took a quick shower myself, massaging the flowery smelling shampoo into my hair. Someone knocked on the door, and thinking it was Cara, I told them to come in. I peeked my head out of the shower and it definitely was not Cara. “You’re taking too long,” he said in a low voice. “Do you need some help?” God, those eyes. I muttered something intelligible and he raised a brow. “I said, ‘No, I’m fine,’” I finally managed. The corners of his mouth lifted and I realized just how lonely I had been.

Shaking off the feeling I put my head back in and rinsed my hair. I reached an arm out for my towel and found it gone. “ASHTON!” I said loudly. “Yes?” He replied from the door. “Where is my towel.” “Why would I know?” “I’m serious, Ashton.” “I guess you’ll just have to air dry.” He was laughing! Getting frustrated, I said in a threatening voice, “Give. Me. My. Towel.” A little voice interrupted my torment. “Give her the towel, Ashton, we need to sleep you know.” The holey towel slipped through the curtain, and I snatched it away from the strong hand holding it. I wrapped it around my body and stepped out and right into Ashton. “Would you stop it?! Where are your manners?” He stepped away sheepishly and I stomped past him and into the bedroom. He shut the door behind me and the water ran a minute later. “Olive….this is cold!” He bolted out a second later and grabbed me around the waist. Luckily I had gotten dressed because next thing I knew, he swung me up over his shoulder and carried me into the small bathroom. He scooped the water up and splashed it at me. I shrieked and tried to escape, but it was no use, he was too fast, and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me back in and I crashed into him, then slipped on the now wet tiles. I fell on top of Cara’s discarded clothes, luckily. I scrambled out of the bathroom and dove into the bed with the two kids, all of us giggling. “Stop it!” Laughing, he slipped back into the bathroom and the shower turned back on. When he burst out of the bathroom five minutes later, he squeezed in between me and Cara shivering. Cara laughed and ran her hands over the goosebumps on his arm. “Look TJ, Ashton is a goose!” TJ giggled then yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “Okay, lets go to sleep,” I said. “We have a lot of walking to do tomorrow.” “But we’re squished!” “We may be squished but at least we’re warm,” Cara told TJ. I smiled sadly. The poor girl didn’t know what it was like sleeping in a warm bed, neither did TJ, and they never would.