Waking Up Dead

Luke the camp mechanic. It suited him. “That’s good to hear, Luke.”

“What are you planning to do this morning?” Luke asked. “Maybe you could go back to bed for a bit? God knows you deserve the rest. Or you could come with me to the garage?”

Jackson paused, suddenly startled. She hadn’t even thought about what she’d do. The previous evening at dinner she’d simply marveled at the food, the people, the laughter. Taking it all in, Jackson had simply let it wash over her. It had felt weird to do that. No need to plan the next step or worry about the next move. And then she and Luke had taken the obligatory tour—seeing pretty much the entire camp. After that they had each showered before falling into bed and practically ripping one another’s clothes off.

Zombie-free sex. That was something she could get used to very easily.

Afterward she’d drifted off for an hour or two, waking at intervals to do a security sweep and be reassured by Mandy’s presence. Everything was good, or rather everything would be once she got herself settled in and used to the oddness of it all. And the first step would be finding something to do, because clearly she’d have to do something. In a camp this size everyone was expected to have a role. To contribute. And it certainly wasn’t the place to laze around, even if she had been that sort of person, which she wasn’t.

“No that’s fine,” she said slowly, considering. Last thing she wanted was to get in Luke’s way.

“Fuck. I didn’t even think,” he said, jumping out of bed, his face scrunched with worry. Jackson took just a moment to enjoy his muscles moving as he walked. He was a fine specimen of a man, that was for sure, and already she was wondering if she could drag him back into bed. Maybe being in the camp would turn her into a sex maniac? She’d exert all her energies between the sheets. The thought made her smile and she held her hand out to him.

“Are you okay with me doing this, Jack?” he asked, taking her hand. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m abandoning you or anything. Pete asked and I just said yes. I didn’t think. If you’d like, I could go to the garage this afternoon or even tomorrow. We can spend the day just here, just the two of us.”

“Don’t be silly. There’s no reason to put work off if it needs doing.”

“You sure?”

He looked unhappy, clearly thinking he’d fucked up and Jackson was quick to reassure him.

“Totally.” She didn’t want him changing his plans to babysit her. The very thought horrified her. Their time in this camp would be decided by their actions over the next few days. She couldn’t allow the people here to see her as Luke’s woman and nothing else. Like she needed looking after. She was bad-ass and it was important that the other survivors got that from the get-go. Quickly she came up with a list of possible activities. Anything to keep Luke from insisting on keeping her company. “I’ll be fine. There’s a whole bunch of stuff I want to do. I need to explore properly for a starters. Scope out the lay of the land. See if there are any weaknesses in the security.”

“They have guards, babe, and it all looked pretty good when we looked around last night.”

“I know this, on the surface, yeah, but a zombie got in and took Sammy,” she reminded him.

“Well yeah…”

“Exactly. I won’t be able to relax here properly unless I know that everything is okay. Speaking of which, I’d like to go find Sammy, too. Make sure she’s okay. And then maybe I can speak to whoever’s in charge around here, find out as much information about this place as I can, then maybe see what I can contribute.”

“There’s plenty you can contribute.”

“Serving dinner?” The moment the words left her lips Jackson wanted to take them back.

“What?”

She shrugged and ran a hand across Mandy’s hilt, annoyed with herself for betraying her insecurities. “That’s what I used to do isn’t it? Serve food and drinks. I’m not qualified to do anything else, not like you are.”

“Don’t be silly, Jack. There’s loads you can do. You’re bad-ass.”

“Everyone here is bad-ass, Luke.”

“What makes you think that?”

“They wouldn’t be alive if they weren’t.”

Luke squeezed her hand. “You don’t need to do anything at all right now, Jack,” he insisted. “Why not just enjoy being safe for a few days. Relax and rest. God knows you need to! You’ve been running on nonstop energy for years.”

Jackson’s fingers ran up and down the hilt—familiar, comforting strokes. “You’re going off and contributing.”

“Yeah, because I was asked. To be honest, I’d have preferred a day or two to get used to everything. Only I can hardly say no, can I? And besides, it’s only this morning and I had all that time in the bunker when I was okay. Not having to look over my shoulder constantly. It was different for you.”

“I suppose…”

“But seriously, if you want me to stay with you, I will.”

“No.” What was wrong with her? Jackson paused and let Mandy be, trying to figure out exactly what was making her nervous. Because something was, she realized. Despite the loveliness of the room, the food, the obvious lack of snarling zombies, and the feeling of safety battling with her usual feeling of doom, something felt…off. She’d made it to Camp Laredo, actually done what she’d spent so long trying to do—so why did it seem like now, when she’d reached her destination, that something was unfinished?

“No. I’m fine,” she insisted, pushing away the questions nagging her. “Just because we’re together, Luke, does not mean we have to live in each other’s pockets.”

“Are we then?” he asked.

“Are we what?”

“Together?”

Jackson tilted her head and looked into Luke’s eyes. “Well, we just spent the night wrapped in each other’s arms, and neither of us said anything when we were given one room so I kinda assumed so…”

“Not the entire night. It was a few hours. I heard you get up on and off.”

“Sorry, I just…”

“I don’t mind,” he said quickly. “It’s you, I get that, and I wanted us to have the same room. I loved sleeping with you, Jack—even just for a handful of hours. You know that, don’t you?” At her nod, he continued, “I just wanted to be sure being here doesn’t change that. Because you know I’m not the only choice now.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “Luke, don’t be silly. You’re still the only choice. What I said stands. I like you, I like you plenty.”

He smiled and leaned forward, capturing her mouth in his. His lips were supersoft, and she sighed as her own lips moved with them. Kissing Luke was addictive. The feelings it aroused in her had no name as far as she could tell, not yet at least, but feelings they most certainly were. Delicious ones.

He pulled away after a moment and peppered the side of her face with kisses. Each a little peck and goddamn it, she nearly giggled. Giggled! Jackson was fairly certain she’d never giggled, not even before the zombies.

“I like you, Jack,” he whispered. “A whole load of lots.”

Heat pooled throughout her body, like everywhere. “I guess really the only difference between us now is that we get to explore whatever this is between us without being on the alert for dead people trying to chomp down on us. At least I hope so.”

“I already know what this is,” he said, gesturing between them, settling next to her and taking her hand.

Her heart gave an odd little thump. “What do you mean?”

He laughed and squeezed her hand, the whole thumb-rubbing thing happening again. “Nope. Not saying a word. Not until you know, too.”

Panic bubbled and her eyes widened…could Luke be saying what she thought he might be saying?

“I—”

He leaned forward and planted another kiss, effectively silencing her. Minutes later when they came up for air, he whispered against her lips. “We can go out holding hands.”

The panic subsided a little and Jackson took a deep breath. “You are so sappy,” she said, deliberately lightening the moment. “But I guess I did promise. Believe me, though, Mandy stays strapped to my waist and the