LONG ROAD AHEAD

20

Phoenix lay her head against Craven’s shoulder as he held her, and they danced. It felt so good just to be held. Phoenix could not think of a more picture-perfect moment in her life than this one right now. Content Phoenix turned her face up to Craven. He smiled down at her, and her hand slid over his shoulder and up his neck pulling his lips down to hers.

The kiss they shared was sweet and lingering. It was more than a kiss. It was a mingling of their souls. Craven was everything she could have ever wanted in a man. He was strong, but he also knew when to be gentle. He was hard, but he also knew when to be kind. He was not foolish, but he also knew when to have faith. He was loyal to a fault. When she did not have the strength to go on, he would not let her give up. When she could not take another step, he could have left her behind, but he did not. Even when he had little strength of his own, he trudged on carrying her every step of the way.

His hands slid over her shoulders, pushing the thin straps aside and down her arms. The dress fell away, fluttering to the floor and pooling around her feet. She wore nothing beneath it. Craven’s kiss deepened, and his strong arms circled around her waist, lifting her off her feet and sitting her on the table’s edge.

Craven kissed his way down her body as he got down on one knee. His mouth found her s*x, and Phoenix moaned. Her hands dove into his dark hair holding him where he was. He licked and sucked at the swollen bud of her s*x, and he pushed his fingers inside he slick folds, thrusting, his fingers curled slightly to hit that sweet spot that blinded her with ecstasy. She was so close to climax. She wanted so desperately to reach it. Phoenix began to rock her s*x against his mouth, and Craven let out a husky groan of excitement. Seconds later, she found her release.

Craven shot to his feet eagerly. Phoenix’s fingers went to the buttons of Craven’s new shirt and opened them. Her hands moved up his chest and over his shoulders, pushing the shirt down his powerful arms. Craven pulled his arms from the shelves as he shed his short. His hands went to his jeans as he kicked off his boots. Pushing his pants down, he pulled her closer to the edge and drove himself deep within her. Phoenix rolled her eyes back as the pleasure of having him fill her spread through her body.

Craven’s mouth closed around her breast and sucked. He lifted her left leg over his shoulder, allowing for a fuller penetration. He took her with an urgent force. His mouth found hers once more in a passionate kiss as his fingers stroked the bud of her s*x, heightening her pleasure. Phoenix was overwhelmed by sensation, and she was greedy for more. Phoenix moved her leg so she could sit up. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him hard as she moved with him.

His hands on her bottom Craven lifted Phoenix and turned around so that he was leaning against the edge of the table. Her knees braced on the table’s edge on either side of him. With his hands gripping her bottom for support, Phoenix began to ride him, seeking the release they both desired. His mouth at t hers before moving down over her neck. Soon she brought them both to a climax that made the earth move.

When the madness passed, Phoenix gazed into Craven’s eyes, and he smiled back at her. “I think I’ll smoke that cigar now.” He grinned.

Phoenix kissed his lips softly. He placed her on her feet, and while she put her dress back on, Craven pulled on his jeans. He used one of the candles to light it. Phoenix crabbed the Scotch bottle, and they both stepped out onto the balcony to enjoy the clear night sky. The sun had just finished setting, and there was not a could in the sky. A blanket of stars larger then either of them had ever seen hung above their heads, and the moon was full and huge. At that moment, it felt like they were the only two people left in the world, and for the first time in her life, that was more than enough. Even if they never found Cyprus and they wandered the wasteland for the rest of their lives, never seeing another soul, as long as they were together, that was paradise.

“This must have been a hell of a city back in the day,” Craven said as he admired the view. “Can you imagine this place all lit up? People in the streets. “Now, there is nothing left. Just ruins and ghosts. This place is forgotten.”

Phoenix smiled at him. “No, it’s not,” Craven looked at her, “we will remember it.”

Her words made him smile. “Yeah, I guess we will,” he looked like he wanted to say more, but he had changed his mind and looked back out over the view. “How are you feeling?” He eventually asked. She had the feeling that had not been what he had wanted to say.

“I’m feeling better,” she answered. “A few days out of the sun and a little water made all the difference in the world.”

“Then we should keep moving. Get back on the road.”

“Yeah, as nice as this place is, we can’t stay here forever,” she agreed. She had regained her strength, and that meant it was time to move on.

“It would be nice if we had food to take with us,” Craven sighed. They had not eaten in so long. Hunger pangs had become so commonplace they had become fairly good at ignoring them. Food was the only thing they had not found.

“Well, there is that thing I killed earlier today. I don’t know what it is, but I thought we could butcher it and eat it. I mean, we’ve eaten worse.”

“That thing is huge. It would take a whole day to skin and botcher it.”

“But, it would last us a good long while.”

“It’s so big though we can’t carry it all.”

“I think I saw old backpacks in one of the shops. We could fill two and each wear one. That, along with the satchel, would allow us to bring a fair bit of food.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Craven agreed. “Come morning; we start butchering and cooking.”

***

The sound of violent vomiting woke Craven from an otherwise peaceful sleep. He sat up, noticing Phoenix was not in bed. Craven got out of bed and followed the sound out onto the balcony, where Phoenix was getting sick over the edge. “I thought you said you were feeling better,” he said, coming to her side. His hand came to rest on her back, trying to offer her comfort.

“I am,” she offered him a weak smile. “I thought I was.”

“Maybe we should stay a few more days.”

“No,” she shook her head. “We can’t stay. We have already lost too much time. I’m sure once I get some food in me, I’ll feel fine.”

“We can spare another day or two.”

“No, we move on. I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

“Ok, but I want you to stay in bed tomorrow.”

“We have to butcher that beast.”

“I’ll do it.”

“It will go faster with two sets of hands,” she argued.

“I agree we will move on as you want, but only if you stay in bed as I want.”

“Craven…”

“It is not negotiable. If we go, you sleep, if you don’t, we stay.”

She looked like she wanted to argue but thought better of it. “Fine, have it your way,” Craven walked her back to bed and held her as she fell asleep. He had difficulting getting back to sleep. He had thought she was doing better, but she was not. He knew he could not force her to stay if she wanted to move on. Phoenix was strong-willed and stubborn as all hell once she set her mind to something.

He would just have to keep an eye on her and make sure when they set out that they did so with plenty of food and water.

***

Craven was up early. He had been unable to get back to sleep, so he decided to set to work. He down in the kitchen by sunup. He had locked the doors so nothing could come wandering in. He took out his knife and tried to cut into the flesh. He tried as hard as he could but the scales made if impossible. It was as if this thing was wearing armour from snout to tail.

With great effort, Craven managed to roll the animal over onto its back. He placed the blade of the knife against its belly and was pleased to see it cut. It was just the top that was armoured. Starting from the belly out, Craven proceeded to skin it. The scales were easy to remove once he got his blade under the flesh. It took him an hour to skin it.

Once that step was finished, Craven considered the best way to cut it up. He did not have the proper knife to cut through the bones or the cartilage. He would have to cut the meat off the bones in strips. It would be easier to cook and carry without the wait of the bones anyway.

It took him all morning to remove the meat from the carcass. He laid the meat out on the steel counters. He was done the butchering. Now for the hard part, cooking without wood. There were no trees that he saw. So if there were no trees, where could he find wood to burn? Craven went for a walk. He went room by room, checking the furnishings. He found nothing suitable until he came across a room with a stage. There were no chairs, just booths. The bases of all the tables were made of metal, but the tabletops were wood. He just needed some way to remove them.

Craven remembered a case with an axe in the maintenance halls. He went to find it. It was behind glass in a red case. There was writing on it and an X engraved across the glass that contained the axe. He had no idea what the writing said or why someone would put an axe behind glass, but the fact remained that he needed it. There was only one way to get it, and it would likely hurt. Using his elbow, Crave struck the glass dead center and broke it. He reached inside and retrieved the axe. That was actually a lot easier then he had suspected it would be.

With axe in hand, he returned to the room with the stage and proceeded to hack up the tables. He carried the wood back to the kitchen by the armful. He set the wood in the metal sink and built it up. He used one of the handheld flame makers Phoenix had found the day before. They sure came in handy. It was a miracle they still worked. Once he had a fire burning, Craven used the weapon Phoenix had used to kill the beast as a means to hang the meat over the fire to roast it.

 He had a lot of meat to cook and could only do so much at a time. While the first batch roasted, Craven returned to the tables to collect more wood to keep the fire going as long as he needed it to. When he had enough wood, Craven went in search of the backpacks Phoenix had claimed to have seen.

He spent the whole afternoons cutting wood and cooking. When the cooked portions cooled, he packed them into the backpacks. Once his long task was concluded, and he had all the meat they could carry, Craven put out the flames and filled their canteens with water. He went back up to the room and found Phoenix pacing the room. “You were supposed to stay in bed,” he scolded.

“I couldn’t,” she groaned. “I got restless.”

“Well, I got all the food and water we can carry,” Craven said, placing the packs and canteens on the table. He opened the satchel and placed one box of cigars, a bottle of Scotch, and a bottle of the liquid soap they had found inside to take with them. Phoenix walked over and picked up the music box. She held it for a moment like she did not want to give it up. Like it brought her fond memories. She had so few. Craven took the box from her hands and placed it in the satchel. They would take it with them. “Now let’s eat something and turn in for the night. We leave at dawn.”