***Please note that all characters in this story are over 18. Also, I'm trying to up my game these last few chapters so it might seem a little slower but if you like this story please comment! This is intended to be a TEN part series of which this is the EIGHTH part, so please read the others!
"She wanted you up awhile ago Carl," Rachel said, shaking Carl's foot.
Carl looked out of the tent to see the slender raven-haired beauty shaking his foot. The little girl was still tangled around him but he shook the freckled red head awake. Candy's eyes flashed when she saw Rachel.
"You must have done a good job last night Candy," Rachel said sweetly, looking into Candy's eyes.
And with that Rachel closed the flap and went to wake Max. Rachel wasn't surprised to see Rose clutching Max when she opened Max's tent. For that matter Rachel wasn't really even that bothered by it. Well. She was annoyed. Seemed like everyone was getting what they wanted around here besides her. What did she want? She didn't wake Max and Rose but instead stood out to look over the camp. Her eyes met Carl's as the horse rustler stood up out of his tent.
Carl had sandy blond hair that seemed to curl just right over his face with suntanned skin and a glowing attractiveness that stood in stark opposition to Max's rugged good looks. His blue eyes sparkled as if he was always happy. Rachel wouldn't mind getting lost in those blue eyes for awhile.
Rachel remembered where she was and why she was there and bent down to rustle Max and Rose awake.
Carl and Chip headed out early with the horses and the one wagon that was already assembled. After breakfast the rest headed out after them.
Rachel kept looking at Rose's shining face and her stomach kept turning every time Rose laughed or every time Max just smiled at her and tucked her hair behind her ears.
***
"Carl, can I ask you something?"
"Sure Chip," Carl said evenly.
"How do you get a girl to like you?"
Carl chuckled, "you spot one you looking to corner?"
Chip blushed.
"For the most part women are simple. You find out what they want most in the world and you give it to them. You think of what they want you to say and you say it, and you'll make them happy, and they'll fall into your lap," Carl said.
Chip nodded.
Carl put a hand on his shoulder, "Candy, right?"
Chip shot him a look.
"Take it easy there killer!" Carl chuckled, "it's been obvious for months, although not many people are looking for it."
Chip stared down at the ground.
"But I knew," Carl said and he looked at Chip long enough that Chip looked back up at Carl, "and nothing happened last night Chip."
Chip looked at Carl expectantly.
"Max might have had his way of staring down Tina but I figured it would be best for Candy and I to just do what we were told but I told her I just wanted to bunk down and sleep. Sure she kept curling into me and holding on for dear life but I think that's more who she is than anything else," Carl said and pushed on before Chip could say anything, "she's a scared girl Chip, much like you are in a way. Tina's had her for quite some time. She's got a bubbly personality beneath it all but she wants someone to protect her, someone who will hold her tight, and someone who will look her in the eye."
Carl clapped his hand on Chip's shoulder again, "that could be you Chip, you just have to talk to her."
***
When they found the waterfall and the stream everyone was excited. But when they found the crashed plane, everyone got a little nervous.
"What's the big deal about the plane?" Rose asked Max.
"If the people ended up in the water, you don't want to drink water with a rotting corpse in it," Max said.
The falls roared overhead. Max rested his hands on Rose's shoulders and she tilted her head back and smiled at him. They watched as Big Mo pried the door back from the plane. It took him a few minutes but he pulled the door back and stuck his head out.
The look on his face was what Max would later point to as a turning point for when Max started fully trusting Big Mo but at the time, what he said shook them all to the core.
"They're dead. All of em'. Little children."
Max pulled Rose too him and she stuck her face in his chest.
"Alright alright, we'll stop here for tonight. Seems like the water will be okay. Some of you could use a bath," Tina's eyes narrowed, "but we'll start back up again in the morning. This is an easy place to leave the trucks so Javier and Riccardo, you and some of the girls will stay here while the rest of us go on to find the source of the river."
Everyone nodded quietly and notably absent from Tina's spiel was her usual sleeping assignments but most people enjoyed her omission.
Max and Rose walked hand in hand to a tent on the far edge of the camp where Max bent down and unzipped the flap for Rose.
Chip looked around for Candy, wondering if he found her he would have the courage to say something to her. Finally he saw her red pigtails and milky white skin on the other side of the camp walking toward the small growth of trees and plants toward the back end of camp. Chip looked both ways twice and followed her quickly.
Finally she was in shouting distance and Chip called out to her and she turned around.
"Hi Chip! I saw the bushes when we walked through camp and I thought there might be some fruit on them and I thought they'd be good for breakfast but I thought I might forgot in the morning so I thought I'd look now. But I'm not sure if I'll need a basket or something or if I'll be able to see because it's pretty dark now but I wanted the fruit and...oh! Do you want to come with me?"
Chip nodded. Candy stuck out her hand and pulled Chip after her, "then come on!"
Chip smiled as he was dragged into the growth. Candy kept prattling on. Since Chip had been watching her for some time he knew all about her without even asking. He'd been in love with her since he knew what love meant. He'd daydream about her and her red hair, her girlish freckles, her sweet little girl's voice, her small chest and skinny waste, her perfect milky white skin. Candy kept talking. Chip knew she did that when she was nervous.
"Candy, it's okay," Chip interrupted.
"What?" Candy asked, confused.
"It's okay Candy. It's just me. We've known each other for years. We were practically bought at the same time," Carl said.
Candy looked down at her hands. Chip took a deep breadth, it was now or never.
"Hey, I want a piece of that red candy!" A voice called from behind them.
Chip turned to see Riccardo coming through the brush. He stood in front of them expectantly.
"Well, come on red, you're sleeping with me," Riccardo said.
Candy looked from Chip to Riccardo. Chip tried to look Riccardo eye to eye but it was hard. Riccardo had a good six inches on him. Riccardo's arms were probably about as big as Chip's torso and his tattoos made him look mean.
Chip remembered what Carl had told him and he turned to face Riccardo with Candy a step or two behind him.
"She's sleeping with me tonight Riccardo," Chip said with more conviction than he would have thought he could muster.
Riccardo laughed, "nuh-uh-uh Chippy. I want milky white here to be my Little Riding Hood."
