These Different Times (Nick Clark FF)

37.

I woke up to the sound of an older woman in the bed next to Nick coughing. Sometime during the night, I had climbed up onto the bed beside him. 

He woke up after me, kissing my forehead before we were both sitting up.

"Come on," he whispered, "Lets go find Luciana."

We took it slow, his leg obviously still bothering him and made our way through the quiet town. 

"Where is everyone?" I asked, keeping my voice low, not wanting to disturb the silence.

"I don't know," he replied, head turning to the left when we heard the sound of a crying child and he grabbed my hand, "Come on." 

He led me along the empty stretch of road,  following the cries and we saw a little girl. 

Immediately, Nick dropped my hand and went to her, "Hey. Hey, what's the matter?"

"Papa," she sobbed, pointing towards where a group of people were crowded around the bus that led to the yard of infected and moving closer, I could see one man was being hugged by everyone else and remembering what Luciana told me yesterday, I knew what was going on.

"Taylor?"

I turned around and saw that Nick had hoisted the girl onto his hip, "She doesn't need to see this." 

"No," the girl whined, squirming in Nick's arms until he put her down and she returned to the spot to watch the scene unfold. 

I had told Nick what Luciana had told me last night, before the two of us dozed off. 

From where we were standing, we could just hear the crowd chanting something as the man slowly made his way through the bus. 

I looked away as the infected set upon him, the little girl sobbed loudly some more, shrugging Nick off once again when he tried to comfort her and then as the crowd dispersed down below, she stopped and went on her way. 

"Okay..." Nick muttered, moving to stand beside me, "That was really weird." 

"She's probably seen this more than she should have," I replied, "Besides, I think she understands that these people, they're the ones who keep this place safe. And now, her dad is one of them."

We returned to the heart of the Colonia to see Alejandro injecting an elderly man with medication. Luciana approaches him and after conferring for a couple of seconds, they both look at us and Alejandro came towards us.

"Nick, Taylor." he greeted, giving us a bright smile, "Taylor, after you've had something to eat, I'd love for you to come help me out in the infirmary. Nick, Luciana will find you." 

"Find me?" he repeated, "What am I going to do?" 

"She'll let you know." he gave us another kind smile before going back to his patients. 

We quickly grabbed some food, sitting down at one of the tables in their dining area and I smiled at a couple of the residents. 

"Do you think they're going to let us stay here?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know," he admitted, looking around, "But we're going to be contributing, surely that's gotta be something."

Looking outside, I could see that Luciana was shoving stuff into a backpack, "I think you're going outside the walls."

"What makes you say that?" 

I pointed with my fork, "She's gearing up to go somewhere and Alejandro said you're going with her."

"I'm not leaving you here on your own." he shook his head. 

"You are." I shot back immediately, "We need to stay here. And if we have to get on their good side, this is how we do it. We do what they say." 

A smirk crossed his features and he leant in closer, "I like it when you get firm with me." 

"Stop it," I whispered, not being able to stop the smile that fought its way onto my lips.

We finished our breakfast and returned outside, where Luciana and Alejandro were waiting for us. 

"Be safe," I whispered, resting my hands on his face, "Yeah? I'll be here when you come back."

He nodded, kissing my forehead, "I will." 

I looked around him to Luciana, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else, "How long will you be? Just so I know not to worry."

"We shouldn't be more than a few hours at most. Sundown at a push." she answered before looking at Nick, "Meet me at the bus." 

Nick wordlessly wrapped his arms around me, giving me a proper kiss, "Be back before you know it." 

I gave him one last hug before letting go of him, turning with another smile on my face to go find Alejandro." 

**

"You and Nick," the older man said quietly as I wrapped a bandage around a young girl's leg, "How long have you been..?"

"Friends? Since the day I was born." I shrugged, "More than friends? Since we were sixteen." 

"The way he looks at you sometimes. I may not have known the two of you long, but he looks at you like you're an angel." 

I let out a laugh, "I don't know about that."

"He thinks you are." he nodded, "That's obvious."

I tucked the end of the bandage in so it was secure and looked up at him, "Is that right?"

"Perfect," he hummed, "You're a natural."

I smiled to myself and looked up at him, "Who is Luciana looking for?" 

"I don't think that I'm the best person to tell you that," Alejandro said softly, "If you want to know, you should ask her."

I ran my tongue over my lips, "Fair. Where are they going?"

"El Pelícano," he murmured, "It's a supermarket a couple of hours from here. There's a gang out there, we trade medicine with them for water." 

"Really?" I asked, "That's insane. What if you don't deliver?" 

"Long story short, they'll most likely attack us." he said bluntly and my eyes widened, "What?" 

"We've never missed a payment. Never done anything that might provoke them," he murmured, "There is no reason for them to." 

I moved over to the sink to wash my hands, looking up when the door opened. 

Luciana walked in, her face covered in blood and she looked frustrated. 

"Are you okay?" I asked timidly, stepping back when she trained her angry eyes on me. 

"Your boyfriend, is an idiot." she spat, ushering to Alejandro for him to follow her through so she could talk to him in private and I hurriedly made my way outside. 

Nick was sat down next to the little girl from this morning and I couldn't help but smile as he handed her a candy bar, ruffling her hair before he came to stand beside me. 

"What did you do?" I asked, "Luciana is pissed." 

"I may have ruffled a few feathers," he murmured, kissing my cheek as he passed by, "But don't worry, I've got an idea." 

Yeah, that didn't fill me with confidence at all.