“Here, you can take this now, should take about twenty minutes or so, but it will help, you can drink it down with a soda, enjoy, it is one of the last. At least you’ll be able to sleep.”
“No, I’ll stay awake.” Hogan protested.
“Yeah, no. I’m sending Baby out for the night. His fur is now thick enough, he can keep watch. He needs to pull his weight.” Trish cut him off, holding up a hand. Jewel was out right now, patrolling. The dogs had come running when the gunshots alerted them. They’d sniffed around the downed man and growled menacingly.
Trish snorted, “I’m pretty put out. They were a little late on the draw, but from now on, I’ll have them out and patrolling. They usually do pretty good. I think those antlers distracted them.”
“Yep, I think you’re right. Sorry.” Hogan shrugged and regretted it. He hissed a very bad word. Trish laughed.
“Relax Hogan. I’m pretty sure they figured they’d done wrong. Baby was looking embarrassed, if dogs can look that way.” She laughed.
“Yeah, I’m feeling a little hangdog myself. At least you don’t have to go back to work. I’m glad. I was worried each time you left here. Especially, since the power is out. It just seems like things have spiraled. I would have thought that the government would be getting its shit together. But it seems like it is every man for himself, there in Washington.” He said, taking a drink of the chilled soda. It bit the back of his throat pleasantly. He’d miss that. He’d not drank a lot of soft drinks before, but it had always been nice when he did.
“I kinda knew it was the beginning of the end when that whistleblower and the news caster were cut off in midsentence. I think the government has been censoring things all along. Even when I was trying to get information on the internet, it was tough, many sites shut down or were not updated. When I tried on my phone, nothing. Now, I’m wondering what is really going on out there? Especially, with those Hive things. You know they started construction on another one, over at Shoal Creek Golf course? One of our doctors was bitching about it this morning. Guess he still golfs, even though the world has ended.” Trish snorted and shook her head.
“Why in the hell would they build another one? The one they showed on the news was a monster.” Hogan wondered, finishing his stew. It had been delicious. He drank down the rest of the soda. He was starting to feel the effects of the pain killer. His shoulder had stopped the constant throbbing.
“I think they are containing people, like they did earlier today. I think they might be putting a lot of Americans in those Hives, controlling us.”
“Christ, I think you might be right. But why? To contain the rioting? They have the police and National Guard for that.” Hogan said, sitting back. He saw the purple beneath Trish’s eyes. She’d had a rough day and then had to deal with his injury. He felt bad, because he’d not kept her safe like he’d promised.
“Maybe because the rioting is so widespread? You have Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield and Columbus. Those are all large cities and if people are going crazy like they are here, then I’d say the National Guard is spread thin. I just don’t know.” Trish yawned.
“You should go to bed Trish. I can stay up for a while.”
“Honestly, I don’t want to be alone. I’m okay with you killing that bastard. I am. I’m surprised, because, well, that’s the first person I’ve seen killed. I’ve seen people die before, lots of times. It’s just part of the job, in the ER. I guess it has come down to us or them. I vote us, every time. I guess, well, I just want to stay here with you. Is that okay?” She asked him, her large brown eyes worried.
“Of course, it’s okay. Here, let me shift over and lay down. You can lay in front of me. Just don’t take advantage of my weakened condition.” He joked, his eyes crinkling up with laughter. Trish snorted and crinkled her eyes in amusement.
Ӝ
“Don’t worry, I’ll not take advantage. I’ll let Baby out and Jewel back in. I’ll get us an extra quilt and put wood on the fire.” She laughed, though her heart was racing. She moved efficiently around the house, and got the home situated and locked up for the night. She put more wood on the fire and closed it down so it would burn slowly throughout the night. She brought down pillows and an extra quilt. The couch was large enough to accommodate them both and Hogan spooned her when she got settled.
Trish was very aware of his presence, the heat from his body. Hogan smelled of disinfectant, blood, sweat and male. She could feel his body relaxing behind her, his large hand resting on her waist. She was sure he’d hear or feel her heart thumping so violently. She was falling so hard for this man. When he’d held her hand when they’d walked to the barn, she thought her heart would break with joy. He’d made no overt overtones to romance, but unconscious ones. He’d been there over three months now. He wasn’t leaving, there was no place for him to go. They both knew it.
Hogan was under no illusion that he’d be leaving Kansas City within this lifetime. With the information shortage and the lack of knowledge of
