“Tuh… Teresa?” he whispered. “Is that you?”
And, against all odds and surpassing his wildest hopes, it was. It wasn’t a hallucination and he hadn’t finally gone totally insane. It was really her.
“Hey, ya doopy greeps!” came her bell-like voice. “Whatcha doin’ hidin’ in there?”
Justin almost fainted in relief.
“So,” asked Teresa, “where Bowler at now?”
For a long moment, stunned and amazed that she was really, actually there, Justin said nothing and simply took her in: voluptuous lips, big dark eyes, a perfect combination of jaw line and cheekbone, with a complexion like aged porcelain and a body so perfectly proportioned and shaped as to be almost inhuman. She’d picked up some new clothes at Zero’s house, but they were much like her earlier choices in apparel, tight and, if not scanty, definitely provocative. In short, Justin had never seen or even imagined a more beautiful woman and, even with all they’d endured and the dim prospects before them, he couldn’t help but be a little bit happy. Oh hell, he was over the moon! Finally Erin Swails—who’d also had to apprise the younger woman of their recent adventures—answered the question.
“We, uh, don’t know,” she explained, shooting Justin a glance. “He just wasn’t here when we got up this morning.”
“Henh,” Teresa said. “Guess he doin’ what he want, hey? Like usual. An’ what about the ‘jacker? This greep that took Lampert? He say where he goin’?”
“No,” said Erin darkly. “He just drove off. That way.” She pointed, down the road and off to the north.
“Huh,” nodded Teresa. “An’ jus’ one dude, huh?”
“That’s right,” Erin said. “But this was no ordinary survie. He had all these weapons, some kind of a reactive camo-suit, a state-of-the-art motorcycle, from Before, not to mention he was like, hard as nails. He gave me the impression that he was, I don’t know, like a soldier or a cop or something.”
“Real death-bringer, heh? Eh, we see ‘bout that.”
Justin, barely registering what was being said, smiled and inhaled deeply, savoring her familiar scent of crisp flowers and leather, still gaping like a moron, until he realized that both she and Erin were staring at him and that he’d been sitting there gaping like a love-struck teenager for God knew how long. He blushed and looked away. Teresa, already blushing, looked away. Erin, giving a little throat-clearing noise, looked away in discomfort. Finally Justin blinked hard a few times and found his voice.
“Yes, uh,” he said. “He was a most unpleasant, violent man. And it was a most unfortunate and terrible event. In fact, it downright sucked. But what are you doing here? Why did you leave Baron Zero’s House? And how did you find us?”
“Heh, you wasn’t hard to track,” she said dismissively. “That car had easy treads. Real differ’nt, y’know? Piece a pie. An’ that other groop, why I left Zero’s place an’ all? Well, that my bidness. Track me?”
Justin nodded. “Fair enough, I suppose,” he said, not really caring. “If that’s how you feel, I’m just so amazed that you’re actually here! It’s kind of hard to believe.”
“Be-lieve it, Doc,” said Teresa boldly, smiling beatifically. “The T-girl is inna house an here to save yer doopy asses! Now, tell me ‘bout this here Kid, hey?”
She jerked a thumb at the child, who squatted nearby, and Justin looked over to see that, if he’d been enamored of Erin Swails, it was obvious that the Kid was positively ga-ga for Teresa. Like a cross between a crush-stricken grade-schooler and a hungry wolf eyeing a piece of meat, he stared unabashedly at her, mouth agape and eyes dreamy and wide. Justin smiled and shook his head.
“He’s our host,” he said wryly. “This is his home. Such as it is.”
“OK, but where his peoples at?”
“As far as we know,” said Justin, “he has none. At least, we haven’t seen anyone, and we’ve been here a few days.”
“No peeps?” said Teresa suspiciously, eyeing the child. “Aw, that just doopy. He just a little kid! How he live out here by his own self?”
“We don’t know,” Justin shrugged. “I guess he just managed to survive.”
For a moment all three of them looked at the boy, who still sat, absolutely rapt, and gazed at Teresa.
“Why he gleepin’ me like that?” Teresa finally asked.
“Well,” said Justin judiciously, “he seems to be somewhat infatuated. With women in particular. Probably some kind of mother-longing, I suppose. At any rate, I guess you might say that he has a thing for the ladies.”
“Muh huh,” said Teresa unenthusiastically. “Jus’ like any other man, hey? Well, whatever. We gotta get movin’. If we wanna catch this scary death-grunker o’ yours, we gonna hafta jet. See you got yer gear, there, all packed, hey?” She grinned. “Gotta tellya, Doc, that a real nice satchel you got there!”
Justin looked down at the frightful diaper bag and grimaced. “It was all we could find,” he said defensively. “And besides, what it looks like is hardly important.”
“Fuck it ain’t!” snorted Teresa. “That thing so bright, people see you a mile away. Naw, you gotta wipe some dirt or somethin’ on there. Dull it up, hey?”
“Hmm, yes,” said Justin. “You do have a point.” Dutifully, he knelt down and started smearing mud and grass over the blaringly cheerful bag. “And you know something? This is just the kind of thing that you’re so good at! I would never have even thought it.”
“Heh,” said Teresa huskily. “An’ that ain’t all I good at, neither.”
Justin blushed again, not caring a bit, and felt his heart lurch in sudden desire. It was suddenly all he could do to not take her in his arms and smother her with kisses. Swails, though, shuffling uncomfortably nearby, coughed facetiously and broke the mood.
“What about Bowler?” she asked.
“Huh?” said Justin, nudged from his thoughts. “Who? Oh, yes, Bowler. Well, we’ve already waited a few hours, what with this little reunion, so I think we’ve done all we can as far as that’s concerned. As I said before, if he wants to find us, he will.”
Erin nodded. “Good enough for me.”
“What about the kid?” asked Teresa. “He comin’ with, too?”
“Well, we don’t know,” said Justin. “We were just about to leave when you showed up, and we were going to let him come along if he wanted, but what do you think? Should we take him with us?”
“Don’ care,” said Teresa tersely. “He wanna stay, let him. He live out here on his own so far, he be alright. An’ if he do wanna come with? Guess I won’t stop him.”
As it turned out, the Kid did want to go with them. When Justin and the others started walking away, he sat forlornly for a moment and then dashed into his shed. Before they’d gone a half mile, he came running up the road, a misshapen bundle in one hand and a tire iron in the other, and, his dark eyes rarely leaving Teresa, fell into step with the group. A strange expression that Justin took for a smile graced his grubby face.
“Well,” said Justin, “it looks as though we have a new traveling companion.”
“Hey, marverous!,” said Teresa scornfully. “Jus’ juicy. Eh, guess if worse comes to worst, we can always eat him.”
Justin gaped at her until she glanced over and cracked a smile. “I just foolin’ witcha, Case,” she grinned. “You know me, I don’ even like people meat! Now c’mon, we gotta make some time.”
Chapter Forty-One
Is your teenager or pre-teen out of control? Have they experimented with smoking, drugs, street gangs, or even politics? Well you don’t have to put up with it anymore! Thanks to recent Federal Legislation, you can now remand that unruly teen to the custody of the professionals at Fixateen! At our safe, secure facility, the Fixateen Team will use all of the latest psychological and pharmacological methods to guarantee a teen you’ll really enjoy having around the house! Guaranteed or follow-up sessions are free! Fixateen!