Apocalipstick (Hell in a Handbag Book 1) by Lisa Acerbo (the best e book reader txt) 📗

“I heard all the gory details about what happened at the store.” Loud words filled the car. You doing okay after this afternoon?”

“Sure.” She shifted to relieve cramped legs, his profile in view.

“I worry.”

“About me?”

He frowned at the road. “Of course. Who else does all the stupid shit you do?”

“Hey. I don’t do more stupid shit than anyone else.”

“There are people in the group who would disagree with your statement.”

Why does he care? Most likely because the group becomes weaker every time a person falls ill or is lost to a Streaker attack.

While the New Race were humans, intuition warned her to stay away from the handsome man driving the Jeep.

He’s possibly dangerous. There could be some darkness caused by the virus inside him. Since her parents had died, it was hard to separate the New Race from the Streakers sometimes. They were offspring of the same virus. Rationally, the idea was ridiculous, but after losing everything, blame had to fall somewhere.

It didn’t help Caleb was quiet and reserved, even for someone of the New Race. Much like her.

He hardly ever sought out the company of humans, preferring his few New Race friends. Except for her.

She didn’t understand the change in him the last few days and wondered about this more congenial, more communicative side.

“I look out for my own.”

She bit her bottom lip before speaking. “No one owns me.” The darkness outside the window beckoned.

“I don’t own anyone, but I also don’t want something to happen to you. With a strong swing and killer reaction time, the troops are desperate for Jenna clones.”

Was he joking or sincerely concerned her death would hurt the group? Not sure, she bit her tongue.

“You’re a good fighter. I trust you by my side.”

“Remember the fight the other day, you did all the work. I made more of a mess.”

“Don’t underestimate your skills.” Caleb reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze.

A shock shivered through her system.

She must be getting sick. Or is something else possibly going on between them? God, she needed therapy. What was happening to her? When did it go from survival to getting the shivers when a boy touched her? Keep those defenses up. Don’t let anyone in. It’s the only way to live these days.

“Here’s a scenario. Since I’m so amazing, I get to stay in bed all day. You can bring me breakfast and do the laundry. You can also have all my latrine duties if you like.”

“I’ll take the bed part. The rest is negotiable.”

The Jeep skidded to a sideways halt, squelching the witty retort on her tongue. “What the . . .”

Without a seat belt to shield her, she slammed into Caleb’s shoulder. His hands pushed her back to the passenger seat before he hopped out the door. He was on his knees in the darkness, crooning and making kissing sounds into bushes on the side of the road. Like a mad man, he clucked.

Jenna cracked her back, wondering if she had whiplash. Even with the Streakers’ craziness, this came off unbalanced in a world where nothing was normal.

Outside the car, sweet words gentled the night.

But who were they for? Maybe insanity was setting in. It was bound to happen to someone, and she was a likely candidate.

Curiosity won out. Jenna needed answers. She scooted across the seat and jumped out next to him, bat in hand.

“Don’t need that. Unless you plan to bludgeon a cat,” he said, without looking at her.

“A cat? You stopped for an F-ing feline?” She wondered how he saw the animal. The sky lacked a single shining light or glowing star in the immense and haze filled horizon. While she was an animal lover, stopping in the middle of the night, put everyone in danger. Their current situation called for caution, something he lacked.

“It’s hurt.”

“Now you’re a veterinarian too?” On cue, the animal meowed. A small grey and white feline with yellow eyes emerged and twined around Jenna’s feet, limping slightly, ignoring her companion and his attempted rescue.

“It likes you.” He scooped the cat up.

She huffed. “We’d better get going. I don’t want to fall too far behind. They’ll turn around and come back for us. We shouldn’t have stopped in the first place. What if the cat has rabies?”

“Seriously?” He loaded the unresisting cat into the car with one hand and grabbed her with the other. When she was close, he shoved her toward the passenger side. “We battle Streakers daily, and you’re worried about rabies. Get in.”

The moment she settled into the passenger seat, the feline settled in her lap. Loud purrs filled the lonesome quiet. She patted the cat’s head with a single finger. “This is your fault.”

“It looks like you’re the proud owner of a cat. What are you going to name it? How about Smudge or Ozzy?”

“He needs a dangerous name. It must be something appropriate and memorable. We should name him Killer Cat.”

“That’s not a name.”

“I’m practical. We’ll call him ‘Cat’ for short.”

“Whatever you want. He likes you, and he’s safe now.” He reached over to pet the cat, but the feline hissed at him.

“He’s got good taste.”

“You don’t know for sure it’s a boy.”

“Killer Cat works for any gender.”

“You can come with us to Virginia, little guy. I’ll protect you from Jenna when she gets grumpy.”

“All this for a cat. I wonder what you would do for a pony?”

His laugh battled with purring, and Jenna relaxed to the point she could enjoy his company.

What was happening to her?

A companionable silence filled the vehicle while it bumped along. Caleb steered with one hand, having no problem avoiding potholes and wrecked and abandoned cars scattered in the road.

“The group’s lucky to have met you and the other members of the New Race. I feel like traveling, finding supplies and gas for the cars, even surviving day to day, would have been a hundred times more difficult without your company.”

“Naw. You give us too much credit for something we don’t want but can’t change.