Jon Fore - Black Water

“Ethan! Don’t open that door, Ethan!” Shannon called to him from behind.

He knew he should not, but he had to have Madison. Nothing mattered more than to take that petite but voluptuous girl and have his way with her. He began clawing at the rather strange locking mechanism that held the automatic doors closed, desperate to have them open.

Shannon spun him around and forced him against the door. “Ethan, you can’t open that door!” She could tell by his rapid breathing, the pulse surging beneath her grip on his arms that he was close to being lost.

“I have to! God, I have to!” he hissed, his eyes clenched shut against the battle raging within him.

Shannon stared at him for a long moment, holding him against the door with all of her strength and the last of his waning self-control. She knew that when the self-control failed, she would be helpless to stop him. He would open the door and either go out to this naked woman or allow her to come in. She did not know who she was, but if she was out there naked and doing what she was doing, then she was part of the town’s trouble and not a survivor.

The solution suddenly came to her, and with the desperation of survival and the pent up disgust with her own self-loathing, she grabbed Ethan by both the neck and his crotch and kissed him hard, searchingly, longingly. He responded immediately, his groin already stiff, his mouth more hungry than hers. Their paired desperation to survive, to continue beyond this point and the over-powering sensuality of that wonderfully sexy woman pleasuring herself beyond the glass fed the fire between them, and they embraced even harder.

Deep in Ethan’s mind, he remembered the violation Shannon had suffered and so did not attempt to find her most intimate places, but she was hungry with hand and mouth, and soon he was sated and in control once more.

Outside, when Madison saw his release, saw him fill Shannon’s mouth with what should have been hers, she began to scream the scream of a tormented soul, scream the scream of the eternally damned, then fled away deeper into the concealment of the fog.

Ethan woke with a start, his heart pounding at the dream he just escaped. Madison had returned somehow…and wanted him. She was here trying desperately to make him open the door, let her in with her hidden brood of whatever. Shannon…she had saved him from himself, she had come to him and did what a woman raped not more than a day ago should never have to do. He had a sudden chilling thought that somehow this was all real.

“Morning,” Shannon said sheepishly.

Ethan rolled over and saw her, the swelling of her eye and jaw line were receding and the deep reddish color was becoming an angry mixture of purple and blue. Still, with her hair brushed out and fresh clothing, she looked radiant. “Did we…?” Ethan trailed off.

“Yeah, I hope it was okay, but it looked like you were about to open the door.”

“Yeah, I was,” he replied weakly. “I thought for a moment it was just a dream.”

“Do you know who that woman was out there?”

“Yeah. Remember what I told you about the mountain, Heart House? That was Madison.”

“She is alive?” Shannon tried to sound calm about the idea, but failed.

“No, she is dead, or something close to it.” Ethan dropped his eyes from Shannon’s. “Thank you…”

“My pleasure. Next time, let’s wait until I am done healing; can you stand it?”

Ethan looked back up at her to see a sly smile playing across her teeth. “I’ll try.” Ethan smiled back at her. “Where is Kayla?”

“Sleeping, still. Do you ever remember being able to sleep like that?”

Ethan stood and walked towards the campsite, his back stiff from sleeping on the cold floor. He found Kayla barely protruding from the top of her cartoon sleeping bag. “I don’t think I ever slept like that.” He looked at Shannon again, her face so close to his, and he kissed her, long but not with passion. “Thank you for saving me last night. I imagine it was pretty hard considering…”

“Well, it’s fine. I was just not entirely sure I was ready; we’ve only known each other for what, a day and a half now? But I am an adult.”

“Still…thank you,” Ethan said into her eyes.

She gave him a crooked smile and embraced him for a bit, longing to stay there but releasing him in the end. “The sun is just starting to come up. We should get ready to go.”

“How long did I sleep?” Ethan asked as he stole a sip of flat soda from an opened can.

“About three hours.”

“Let’s get our stuff together then, and make our way. The granola bars and trail mix and, of course, Twinkies should be edible. We could also carry a couple of bottles of water each. I don’t remember how far it is to the next town, but I remember it was pretty far.”

“It’s about thirty miles or maybe a bit more. My sister lives there. You’ll like her, she actually is crazy.” Her smile took any sting out of what she had said.

“Then let’s go visit her. There are backpacks in that aisle. A small tent might be a good idea, also.”

It took them a bit to gather as many supplies as they could then sort through the most important. Kayla finally woke and studiously rolled up her sleeping bag as if she were at a sleep over. She then started on the Twinkies and soda again.

Ethan collected a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash for the girl. “When you’re done eating, make sure you use these.”

“Thanks! Uh, where can I spit?”

Ethan took a pot down from the shelves to his right. “Here, this will do.”

“But can Mr. Jerkins sell this if I spit in it?”

“He won’t mind, honey, I promise.”

This whole exchange reminded Ethan of camping with his friend’s family. It was as if they were heading home today after a one-night stay. It almost felt normal in a way…with the exception of the florescent lights and the racks of goods stretching away in every direction. He hefted the backpack onto his shoulders and adjusted it a bit. It was rather heavy, considering the bleach and the water, but tolerable.

Shannon stood a moment later with her pack adjusted and resting on her shoulders while Kayla slung hers over one shoulder. They looked at each other for a moment before Ethan finally spoke.

“Let’s get out of here…” he trailed off as he walked to the front of the store.

He stopped before the glass doors and reminisced about the night before for a moment. He then handed the small Glock handgun to Shannon. “Here, I’ll keep the shotgun up front, you take up the rear with this, and we will simply walk out of here. Kayla, sweetie, you stay between me and Shannon, alright?”

She looked up at him and nodded vigorously. She still held the bottle of spray bleach in her hand while the other carried a can of soda. She had selected a puffy jacket as well, and to Ethan’s relief, it was an electric pink color which would be very easy to see from a distance.

Ethan looked at the locks for a second before figuring them out. A much easier task now that he had his wits about him, unlike last night. The doors whisked open, and fog rolled into the store ominously. It was no thicker than the day before, but this was their onetime sanctuary, and to have it violated by the ashy smoke seemed a trespass.

They walked slowly from the store to find the parking lot much as it was before. Ethan half-expected Madison to come flying at him from a distance but he did not see her anywhere. “Which way do we head?” he asked thoughtfully.

“Make a left around the store and follow that road straight until we get to the bridge, then we make a left and take that out to Route 27 and make a right,” Shannon instructed.