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“Why?” I blurt out. Logically, I know I need to keep my big mouth shut, but I also want to know why he would even offer. I expected myself to have to follow him like a lost puppy, just hoping he wouldn’t run off in the middle of the night.

“Don’t make me regret offering, Noah.” Something about him calling me by my name does something to my insides. My chest tightens and skips a beat. My mouth dries, and a small part of me wants to know what he would sound like moaning my name. I bet he has this deep growl when he’s balls deep. When he’s hitting just the right spot…

“Noah!” Speaking of growling. “What are you thinking about over there? You're drooling.”

My dumbass swipes at my mouth, narrowing my eyes when I catch on to his dry humor.

“Ha, ha, ha, you’re so funny.”

I think about taking my chances, really taking my chances out there on my own. My whole body clenches; my heart sinks. Zombies would tear me apart, and in the worst-case scenario I would turn into one of those things. But there are also other camps, more people that would kill me just for the fun of it. I’ve heard the rumors, the stories of others turning on people, making them play barbaric games for their enjoyment.

I knew my way from the government building to the campsite. But I have no idea where we are now. I was useless being on my own, and I was useless being with Reed. But at least with him I had a higher chance at surviving. And maybe I could convince him to not only teach me to defend myself but also get me to Florida. The chances of Rue and Mallory having gotten my text right before the power lines went down are slim. But one would hope.

“Two conditions,” I step forward, tilting my head up. “One,” holding my finger up, “you teach me how to defend myself. I, well, I’m not getting into my issues, but I need to be able to fight off at least one, maybe two of those things and not freak out.” Holding up another finger, “Two, you said you’re heading to Georgia; give me that time to teach me and then give me a map.”

“A map?”

“I need to get to Florida.” I leave it at that; he doesn’t need to know my reasons.

He glances off to the corner of the motel room, thinking over the choices, I assume.

“I have a condition as well.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“No more talking. I’m not here to be your friend. I’ll teach you; I’ll give you the tools to defend yourself, to fight off these dead things. But no more talking or going off on tangents.”

I hiss, shaking my head. “I’m not sure I can do that; I have, I get nervous a lot. I talk; well, I can’t do silence, it’s a problem, I know. But I feel this urge to always?—”

“Talk, yeah, I get it. Fine, how about you get one strike? If you’re talking too much, I give you a warning to chill then.”

“One!” I exclaimed. “I can’t do one; how about three, like in baseball when they?—”

“Two.”

“Is this per day or in total? I’m not sure how long it is until we get to Georgia?—”

“We’ll start per day for now.”

“Deal,” I blurt out before he can think about taking it back.

He holds his hand out. My palms sweat as I step forward, sliding my hand into his. I ignore the warmth that spreads up my arm into my chest. I can ignore the clinginess as long as he doesn’t touch me anymore.

I hope.

CHAPTER7

Reed

I’m not sure what possessed me to bring him along, but there was just something about that puppy dog look he gave me when I first walked in. He was relieved he wasn’t alone, and I can’t imagine what it would be like for him to be out there by himself anyway. And I hate the idea of him being out there alone. I cough it up to being lonely. Even when I was a hitman, I still dealt with people. I had to, and I never thought I would miss it.

“So why are we going to Georgia?” Noah asks two seconds after we begin walking. I clench my teeth together, regret slipping through my head.

“Because.”

Noah peers over at me, rolling his eyes. I smirk under my mask-muzzle, knowing my not answering is bothering him.

“Is there a reason you don’t like answering my questions?”