Ten

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty - Morning

When they finished having sex, Gabe and Chloe lied naked and motionless on the blankets for a long time, with her body cuddled up against his, her head resting on his chest. Her long blonde hair was strewn all about his torso. She lied there, listening to his heartbeat and forgetting for a few moments about the grave situation that they were in.

She was stirred suddenly when she noticed some bright sunlight coming in through the window. She gasped and sat up, balancing herself with her arms on Gabe's chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Get up!" she whispered, "It's daytime!"

Gabe looked and he saw it too. They both got up, still naked and rushed to the curtained window, where a few small beams of light were shining through at the edges. She separated the curtains, letting in what was nearly a blinding light for these two who had been growing used to the darkness for some time now.

We made it to morning!

Both of them shielded their eyes for a few seconds, and then quickly closed the curtains.

"It's morning," asked Gabe, "So what do we do now? Wait for the cavalry?"

"What cavalry?" replied Chloe, "I think we're on our own here."

"I thought we agreed that it was best to wait here?"

"I know," she answered, "I did. But now I'm starting to think something else."

"What?"

She smiled and looked down at her bare self, "Um...let me get dressed first!" she then approached his luggage that was sitting on a table, "Do you mind if I wear something of yours?"

"No," he smiled, coming over.

She put on her old underwear and bra and then a cotton button up dress shirt that Gabe had in the suitcase. All of his pants and shorts were far too big for her, so she went without pants, as his shirt was more like a short dress on her. Gabe changed into new underwear and a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Both of them considered that a shower might make too much noise. But instead, Chloe opted to use wet rags to try her best to get the blood off her feet. Gabe followed her lead on this as well and after several minutes all of the towels in the room were soiled by the partial sponge bath that they each gave themselves.

Gabe had only brought flip flops and the pair of dress shoes that he had been wearing earlier. So he put the shoes back on, even though they looked a little silly with shorts, and put on some fresh socks. He offered the flip flops to Chloe, who accepted them, even though they were large and bulky on her. She decided that she'd wear them if necessary over blood and other messes that they might encounter, but that she would kick them off if she needed to run or fight.

"So what's the plan?" asked Gabe when they finished changing.

"This has been a good place to rest," noted Chloe, "But we've already been here too long. If we're going to survive, we have to keep moving. Not let her get the drop on us."

"By 'her' you mean Bibi?" asked Gabe.

"Right?" replied Chloe, "Are you not convinced?"

"No," he answered, "What you were saying earlier, it seemed pretty logical, but I'm just having a problem with it."