The Road - 1. Part 1

We had been driving for maybe fifteen minutes and since I was still tired we didn't talk much. It was pretty chilly, so I turned up the heat and checked if the air was already warm. It was, so I held my hands in front of the vents and rubbed them together.

"Are you cold?" Troy asked.

"Yes, a little. I haven't slept well."

"How about you take over and I'll make us some coffee?"

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. I'll do it."

I went in the back and started a fire. When the coffee was ready I returned to the driver's cabin and handed Troy his cup.

"Thanks," he said. He took a small sip and his face contorted in disgust. "What the fuck? This tastes like balls."

"No it doesn't," I replied, but when I tried it myself I had to frown. It really did taste horrible, kind of stagnant and bitter. "Ok, you're right, this isn't great. I'm sorry. But at least it's hot. That something, isn't it?"

"How much coffee did you put in this?"

"One teaspoon?"

"Jesus, have you never made coffee before?"

"Of course I have, but I figured it would last longer this way."

"I'd rather drink one proper cup than a hundred of this sewage," he said and stopped the RV. "Here, take over." I did and he took the cups and carried them to the kitchen.

When he was back a few minutes later we switched again and he handed me a fresh coffee. I sat down and after blowing on it I tasted it. My eyebrows went up and I looked over at Troy.

"This is amazing... And it's sweet. Did you put sugar in it?" I said.

"Yeah, I figured you'd like it sweet and I knew if I had asked, you would've said no."

"That's true, because I think we should save the sugar for special occasions or something, you know?"

"We're alive and we're together, so this counts as a special occasion in my book."

"Aww, that's sweet."

I buckled my seat belt and put my feet over the vents. For the next half an hour or so I slowly sipped my coffee, enjoyed the warmth and studied the map.

"Are you still cold?" Troy asked.

"No, not really."

"Do you wanna listen to some music for a while?"

"Sure."

I opened the glove compartment, took out the CD's and looked through them. I found an album by a band called "The Highwaymen", which sounded appropriate since we were about to reach the highway and we were both men.

"How about this one?" I asked and held up the CD.

"Hey, that's the dude from 'Blade'."

"That movie with Wesley Snipes?"

"Exactly. There were three actually. You haven't seen any of them?"

"No, it looked too violent and dark for my taste."

"They're awesome. That guy plays Blade's partner 'Whistler'."

"Blade's gay?" I asked, surprised, and he laughed.

"No... At least I don't think so... Hmm, but he never did hook up with any chicks in the movies and Whistler made this serum for him that he desperately needed. Maybe Whistler was like 'Yo, you want your serum, bitch? Then suck my fucking cock!'"

I giggled.

"He does look kind of shady."

Troy laughed.

"I guess. Blade had this cool samurai sword he slayed vampires with. I wish we'd find a sword like that. It would be so much fun slicing freaks up with it."

"Why do you enjoy killing them so much?"

"It just feels right, you know? Like I'm making the world a better place with every freak I kill. And most of the times I don't even have a choice, it's me or them. Besides, they're mindless creatures, they're not afraid, they don't feel pain or mourn the death of their kind and they don't serve any purpose in nature, so no matter how you look at it, killing one of them is never wrong, on any level."

"What if someone finds a cure and they could be saved?"

"Their bodies are heavily decomposing, so they're beyond saving."

"That's probably true... Let's listen to the CD."

"Alright."

I put it in the player, pressed Play and turned up the volume. It was country music, very classy and powerful. It was somewhat sad though and mostly about days gone by, but I didn't mind and it was great to get lost in it for a while.

After a couple of hours we finally made it out of the woods and the scenery started to change. There were more open fields, but still a lot of trees and everything was covered under a thin layer of snow.

"That city up ahead, how big is it?" Troy asked, so I looked on the map.

"Pretty big. Why?"

"We have to drive around it. Going into a large city would be suicide."

"Ok. There's an exit four miles from here. Take it."

"Alright."

We steered clear of the city and then returned to the highway. After a while there were more and more branches and brushwood lying around, like there had been a storm. The longer we drove the worse it got, till finally there was a tree blocking the road completely. There was a ditch on both sides, so we had to turn back and look for another way. We took the next exit and headed south, but not even twenty minutes later there was another toppled tree on the road. We went outside and checked the ground around it. It was really wet and muddy from the slightly thawing snow, so we decided we couldn't drive over it with the heavy RV or we'd risk getting stuck.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"We need a chainsaw and our best chance to find one is in the city."

"But you said that would be suicide."

"We'll just have to be really careful and maybe we'll get lucky and there will be a store on the outskirts somewhere. Imagine all the shit we could find in a Sears or something. It might be worth the risk and I don't think we have any other option."

"We could drive around the area that was devastated by the storm."

"That could cost us days and what if there was another storm somewhere else? We'd be facing the same problem all over again. This way we won't have to worry about it anymore."

"I still don't like this."

"It'll be fine."

"Ok, if you say so."

"We should refill the gas tank and eat something first though."

"How about you refill the tank and I'll heat something up for us in the meantime?"

"Sure."

We both went to work and maybe ten minutes later we were sitting beside each other at the table, eating hot soup.

"I thought about it some more," I said. "We don't know how bad the storm was, maybe it'll get much worse and we won't get through after all. Then we would've risked our lives for nothing. And there could be hundreds of thousands of monsters waiting for us in the city. We really shouldn't push our luck like that, you know?"

"You worry too much. We'll be alright, I promise."

"Please don't tell me you're basing that on your belief that I'm an angel."

"No, I'm not. I thought this through, trust me."

"Ok, sorry. I'm just really nervous."

"Don't be, just think of the things you'd like to find in a store. I for one can't wait to chainsaw a freak in half. It'll be so fucking awesome."

"And one gross mess."

"Yeah, that too. You should finally kill one yourself, you know?"

"I'm not even sure I could actually do it, not unless you were in danger or something."

"It still might be a good idea to get over your fears and get used to killing them. What if I die and you have to fend for yourself? You should be prepared, just in case."

"Please don't say stuff like that. You're not going to die, ok?"

"I might. You never know."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," I said, frowning deeply. I looked down at my soup and stirred it nervously.

"Hey, come here."

He took me in his arms and I leaned against him, sighing. He stroked my back and gently kissed my head.

"You know, maybe we should make out for a while before we go," I said.

"In case we won't survive?"

I hesitated for a second.

"Well, it would be the best last thing to do I can think of."

"Sure, but we need to be focused and having a boner would be a little distracting. Let's make out tonight, when we're far away from the city and the RV is filled with lots of amazing shit we found."

"Ok, but just so you know, if we'll make it out of there alive I might masturbate your penis later. So in case we'll run into trouble, keep in mind that you have something to fight for."

"Seriously? Can I jerk you off too?"

"No. Maybe some other time."

"Come on, please? If you'll let me do it to you, you don't have to do it to me, alright?"

"What? Don't you want me to masturbate your penis?"

"Stop calling it that," he said, laughing. "And sure, I'd love that, but making you cum would be way more exciting to me. I could do it in the dark or under the blanket if you want."

"Ok. Fine."

"Awesome. And now I'll fight like the Terminator on fucking coke or something."

"Good."

He let go of me and kissed me on the mouth. After we had finished our soup I quickly washed the bowls and then we got back in the driver's cabin. I fastened my seat belt and took the map.

"You should buckle up too, you know?" I said.

"I think I'll take my chances."

"Please?"

"Alright, 'Dad'," he said, grinning, rolled his eyes and put his seat belt on. I stayed serious and looked at him, frowning a little. "What's wrong?" he asked, surprised.

"Why did you just say 'Dad' instead of 'Mom'?"

"Cause you're a guy?" he said matter-of-factly. I knew it was silly, but I really appreciated that he didn't say 'Mom'. "Are you alright?" he asked and I smiled at him brightly.

"Definitely. Let's go."

He grinned back at me and nodded. He started the RV and we headed towards the city.

When we had almost reached it we decided to circle around it first. There were a lot of abandoned cars on the road, but strangely no monsters. Suddenly I saw a large building in the distance with a big red sign in the front.

"Here we go. Time to cross your fingers," Troy said and I did.

Soon the sign became readable. It said "Kmart". We pulled into the mostly empty parking lot and Troy stopped the RV maybe twenty yards from the wide-open entrance.

"I'll go in first. You lock the door and when I'm not back in ten minutes you get the hell out of here, alright?" he said.

"That better be a really bad joke," I answered, frowning.

"No, if someone's in there, there's no need for the both of us to get killed."

"No, we'll leave together or we'll both die here, you got that?" I said sharply.

"Cody, come on."

"This is not up for discussion. Now let's go."

"Fine," he sighed.

We took our guns, went outside, locked the RV and headed for the store. When we entered I was surprised how intact it looked. There were some bags and fliers lying around, a few shelves had been tipped over and it smelled slightly foul, but that was it. We cautiously walked through the aisles. All the food had already been looted, which had to be expected. After a few minutes we came to the section with books and magazines.

"Look, we can get something new to read," I said excitedly.

"Keep it down, there could still be someone in here," Troy whispered.

"Sorry."

"Let's find a chainsaw first."

I nodded and we continued to walk deeper into the store.

Suddenly something shot out of an aisle and stopped in front of us. It was a very small kitten. Its fluffy fur was mostly black, except for its white paws, nose and a line leading up from its nose and between its eyes. It was really adorable, but looked terrified. Troy kneeled down and opened his hands invitingly.

"Come here little kitty. Don't be scared," he said in a very friendly and reassuring voice.

The kitten hesitated for a second, but then started to run towards him so fast that its paws were slipping on the smooth linoleum floor. When it had reached him he picked it up and put it in the left front pocket of his coat.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We have to bring it back to its nest."

"I'm sure it can find it on its own."

"Maybe it was running from something. Let's just look around."

"Fine."

We went into the aisle the kitten came out of and walked to the end. Suddenly we heard a noise that sounded like someone was munching something, so we followed it. A few aisles down we found the source of the noise. There was a monster kneeling in front of a shelf, eating a black cat. Troy drew his knife and stabbed the monster in the head before it even noticed us. We looked closer and in between some baby products there was a nest with another dead cat and five dead kittens.

"Come on, we need to find the chainsaw," Troy said quietly, obviously saddened by our find.

"Why don't you put it down before it pees in your pocket?" I asked.

"Better in my pocket than in the RV."

I frowned.

"What? No. We're not taking it with us Troy."

"Of course we are. Its parents are dead and it's too small to survive on its own yet."

"So? That's not our problem."

He frowned at me.

"When did you become so fucking heartless?"

"I'm not heartless," I said indignantly, "but we can't take in every stray animal we come across."

"We're not, but we're taking in this one."

"You said I can't have a dog because they bark and you can't teach them not to. Well, cats meow, which is the same thing."

"It's a little kitten. It can't meow very loud yet and by the time it's grown up the freaks will probably be dead already."

"But it'll pee and poop everywhere."

"I'm sure we can housebreak it and there must be litter boxes around here somewhere."

"But I don't want a cat."

"You'll change your mind soon enough, you'll see. Besides, we can't have children, so this could be like our baby."

"We've been together for barely two days now, so it's a little early to adopt a 'child', don't you think?"

"Look, I'll feed it, clean up after it and train it. You won't have to lift a finger, alright?"

"That's not the point."

"We're not leaving it here to die Cody."

"Don't you think I should have a say in that too? The RV is both of ours after all."

"Why are you being such a fucking dick about this?"

"I'm not the one who's being a d-i-c-k right now."

"You know what? Fine. But next time you really want something don't expect me to care," he said coldly. He took the kitten out of his pocket and gently put it down on the floor.

"Come on Troy, that's not fair."

"Tell that to the kitten."

"You can't guilt me into letting you keep it."

"For fuck's sake, I got it, we're not keeping it. Now do me a favor and shut the fuck up already, alright?" he said sharply.

"Fine."

I was really torn. On the one hand I didn't want a cat and I thought it was unreasonable of Troy to just decide we'd take one in, but on the other hand I felt pretty guilty too, because I knew the kitten would die for sure and it seemed important to Troy to save it. He had been a farm hand for over a year, so it was understandable that he had a closer relationship with animals than me, but maybe that also meant that I could be more objective in this case. A pet was not only a burden, but a risk too.

We started to walk towards the other end of the store. The kitten followed Troy without hesitation and stayed glued to his legs. When we finally found the tool section we took a chainsaw, a cordless power drill, a nail gun and a big axe, and then headed back to the RV. We went inside and put everything in the storage room. Suddenly I heard a very long, low-pitched meow coming from outside, which sounded like the kitten was desperately pleading to get in. I looked over to Troy. He inhaled sharply and just stared at the floor, frowning deeply.

"I'm sorry Troy, ok?" I said sadly.

"Don't worry about it."

"It just doesn't make sense, you know?"

"Listen, I get that in a relationship you have to make sacrifices and give up things you love, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. And I will never hold this against you, but only on the condition that you'll never bring this up again, alright?"

"You love cats?" I asked, surprised.

"Did you not hear what I just fucking said?"

"Yes, but I need to know this. You LOVE cats?"

"I guess, yeah."

"Why?"

"They're just really cool. They're loners, like me, and they have a mind of their own, not like most animals that will love you as long as you feed them regularly, you have to earn their affection and I respect that. Besides, they're gorgeous and elegant creatures. I could watch a cat all day and never get bored."

"I see. So having one would make you happy?"

"I already am happy, alright?"

"I think we should keep the kitten."

"No, it's fine. You don't want it and I shouldn't care so much anyway. I have you and that's all I'll ever need. Now come on, we have work to do."

"No, if it'll make you happy it'll be worth the risk and I'm not a fan of cats, but I guess it wouldn't bother me having one as long as I wouldn't have to take care of it."

"But you have to be 100% sure, cause once we take it in there's no turning back, alright?"

"I won't, but when the monsters are gone we'll try to find a puppy, ok?"

He offered me his hand and I shook it.

"Deal," he said.

The second I let go he ran to the door, went outside and picked up the kitten. I grinned to myself, knowing I had made the right decision. He came back inside, with the kitten peeking out of his pocket.

We drove the RV in front of the entrance, emptied our backpacks and suitcases and then started to loot the store properly. We found a navigation system, CD's, lube, a weight set, a baseball-glove, a bat and some balls, and of course everything a cat would ever need, like litter and a litter box, food, treats, toys, a scratcher, bowls, a bed, all kinds of remedies and vitamins, and a brush. After maybe an hour the kitten had finally peed in Troy's pocket, but he didn't seem to mind at all, he just put it in the other one. Last we checked out the books and magazines. While I was looking through them Troy disappeared for a while, which I thought was odd. When he came back he smiled at me.

"Were have you been?" I asked.

"Around. Have you found something for us to read yet?"

"Sure, but don't you want to look too?"

"No, I trust your taste."

"Ok, then I'm ready to go."

After we had carried the books to the RV we decided to call it a day. Troy parked behind the store and then set everything up for the kitten. He put the bed behind the passenger seat, the scratcher next to it, the litter box behind the driver's seat and the bowls by the table. He filled one of the bowls with water and the poor kitten slobbered it eagerly for almost a minute. Since we didn't know if it was too young to eat solid food yet Troy started a fire to make some milk for it.

"We should name it," he said.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Let's find out."

He picked up the kitten, laid it on its back between his legs and parted its fur under its tail.

"Don't touch its private parts," I said.

"Why? Are you jealous?" he asked, grinning.

"Don't be gross Troy. And no, but it might not like being touched down there."

"It's used to getting its 'private parts' licked clean by its mother, so I don't think it'll mind."

"I guess that's true."

"Looks like a boy to me."

"Ok, what do you want to name him?"

"No idea... How about 'Rorschach'?"

"That sounds too weird."

"Mjolnir?"

I laughed.

"That's even worse. How do you come up with these strange names?"

"They're from comic book movies."

"I see... How about 'Romeow'?"

"No, that's awful," he said, laughing. "I know. 'Lucky', cause he's one hell of a lucky kitten."

"I like that."

"Do you like your new name too Lucky?" he asked the kitten and scratched its stomach. It closed its eyes and purred. "Did you hear that? He's happy," Troy said excitedly. He looked like a little boy on Christmas morning. It felt so good seeing him like that.

Soon the milk was ready and I poured it in the other bowl. Troy put Lucky down in front of it and after smelling it curiously he started to drink it. Troy watched him, grinning, which made me smile. When the kitten was finished he picked it up and carried it to the litter box. After maybe five minutes it still hadn't done its business though.

"Go piss into a cup," Troy said.

"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously.

"Maybe if we'll pour some piss in here he'll get it."

"I'm not peeing into a cup."

"Fine, I'll do it. Watch him for me, alright?"

"What a waste of a cup."

"Not if it'll teach him to piss and shit in there instead of somewhere else."

"I guess."

Troy took a cup and went to the bathroom. As soon as he was out of sight Lucky tried to go after him, so I held him in place. He meowed, like he was calling for Troy. Thankfully he came back out a couple of seconds later and kneeled down in front of the litter box. He poured some urine on the litter and let the kitten sniff it. Suddenly it squatted down and started to pee.

"It actually worked," I said, amazed.

"I know, I'm a genius," he answered, smirking.

When Lucky was done Troy immediately petted him profusely.

"You're such a good kitten, aren't you? Yes you are," he said in a coddling voice.

"We should eat. It's getting dark."

"Could you make something?"

"Sure."

I got up and went to the storage room to pick a meal for us. When I came back Troy was sitting at the table and was holding Lucky in his arms like a baby. It was adorable. I opened the two cans I brought and put them on the wood burner.

"Look," Troy suddenly whispered, totally entranced, so I looked over. "He has fallen asleep," he added and I grinned at him.

Soon dinner was ready. Sausages and mushrooms. I divided it evenly on two plates and then carried them over to the table.

"Could you maybe feed me?" he whispered.

"Just put him down Troy."

"No, I don't wanna wake him."

"You'll have to wake him up eventually or are you planning on sitting here all night with him?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead."

"Come on Troy. Lucky! Wake up!" I said loudly and clapped my hands together a few times. The kitten woke up and yawned. Troy just frowned at me and put it down on his lap. We started to eat. After a minute Lucky peeked up and watched us curiously. Suddenly he tried to jump on the table, but couldn't, so Troy helped him.

"Troy, no, that's unsanitary. What if he does his business on here?" I said.

"He won't."

I frowned slightly and shook my head disapprovingly. Lucky walked over to my plate, sniffed my mushrooms and then bit into one.

"Shoo! Bad kitten, bad!" I yelled at him. He flinched and started to run away so fast that his paws skidded on the table. Troy quickly picked him up and glared at me.

"Don't listen to him, you're a good kitten," he said reassuringly and stroked it.

"You're going to spoil him. He has to learn his place."

"Whatever, 'Cruello De Vil'."

I rolled my eyes and we continued to eat.

When we were finished I washed the dishes and then used the bathroom, brushed my teeth and climbed into bed. When Troy joined me, maybe five minutes later, he brought the kitten with him.

"He can't sleep with us, he has his own bed," I said, frowning.

"It gets cold at night and he's still very young, so he needs warmth or he might die."

"He could have fleas or even worms and what if he does his business in here?"

"You worry too much. It'll be fine."

"But I though we wanted to fool around."

"So? We still can."

"I'm not doing anything while he's in the bed with us."

"Why not? He'll be asleep in a minute."

"That's not the point. It's weird."

He took the kitten and climbed down.

"Stay here Lucky, alright? Good night," he said and came back up. "So, wanna fool around now?" he asked and stroked my chest.

"I guess."

He leaned over and right before our lips touched there was a long, sad meow coming from below us. Troy froze for a moment, but then kissed me anyway. After a few seconds there was another pitiful meow and I pushed him back.

"Just ignore him, he'll stop eventually," he said and Lucky meowed again.

"This is really killing the mood, you know?"

"How about we put his bed up here, in the corner, and then cover him with his blanket so he can't watch us?"

"Ok," I sighed.

Troy went down again. He handed me the kitty-bed and I placed it in the corner next to my feet, by the window. He came up with the kitten, crawled to the kitty-bed, put it inside and covered it with the blanket. He crawled back and made himself comfortable beside me.

"Now, where were we?" he asked, grinning, leaned in and kissed me.

Suddenly I felt Lucky climb over my feet, so I broke the kiss. I saw the kitten run up between us and when it had reached the edge of the covers it slipped under it and a moment later peeked out.

"I think we should just call it a night," I said.

"No, I'll just keep putting him back till he gets it."

"No, it's ok, let him stay."

"But I wanna make out and you promised I could jerk you off."

"Maybe tomorrow, ok? Your kitten needs you more than me tonight."

"You're not upset with me, are you?"

"No, but this has to stay an exception. It's early in our relationship, so we still need to spend a lot of 'quality time' together, you know?"

"I'll make this up to you, alright?"

"It's fine. I wanted you to have him and he makes you happy, so I'm not complaining. For now."

"I love you, you know?"

"I know."

We both grinned and he gave me a kiss. I turned on my side and scooted a little closer, so it would be warm enough between us for Lucky, who was already asleep. I folded my hands and thanked God silently. I didn't stay awake for very long after that.

During the night I must've turned my back to Troy, because in the morning I was woken by him spooning me and wrapping his arm around me. I smiled to myself and moaned contentedly. When I opened my eyes Lucky was standing directly in front of my face, which startled me and I flinched. The kitten reached out with its paw and touched my cheek clumsily, like it was trying to stroke me, but when its paw slid down it scratched me with its claws.

"Oww!" I cried out, "What the heck?!" Lucky jumped backwards, frightened, and ran off, quickly climbed over my feet, sprinted up to Troy and hid under the covers.

"Cody! He was just trying to comfort you after scaring you," Troy said in an accusatory tone.

"But he scratched me."

I touched my cheek and looked at my finger to see if I was bleeding, but I wasn't.

"It's not his fault. He probably can't retract his claws yet."

"Then keep him away from my face. He could've blinded me, you know?"

"You're such a... Never mind."

I opened my mouth, but hesitated, because even though he was about to call me a "drama queen" he was thoughtful enough not to, so now I didn't know if I should be mad at him or not.

"I'm sure he won't do it again, alright?" he said.

"I hope so." I turned to him. "Do you think it'll leave a scar?" I asked and I could see in his face that he was trying to suppress a laugh.

"No, I'm sure it won't," he answered and gently kissed the scratches.

"You should put him down before he does his business in here."

"He won't, I already fed him and afterwards he shat like a pro."

"How did you not wake me doing that?"

"After living in a world where the slightest noise could get you killed for a year I now can be silent like a fucking ninja if I want to."

"I see... You should clip his claws or he'll scratch us again and we might get an infection or something."

"He's not some disease-ridden wild animal Cody," he said, frowning.

"Still, better safe than sorry."

"Come on, let's eat, it'll probably be a long day."

"Ok."

We got up. I put some clothes on and used the bathroom. When I came out Troy had already opened a can of pineapple, so I sat down across from him.

"Why don't you sit over here, beside me?" Troy asked.

"I don't want to scare Lucky."

"You two just have to get to know each other a little, which you will, cause he'll spend the whole day on your lap today."

"He better not pee on me."

"He won't."

"I hope so."

"Hey, I've been thinking. We should celebrate Christmas."

"Why? And how?"

"Cause it's supposed to be the happiest time of the year. We could decorate the RV, get a small tree, bake something and listen to Christmas music."

"But we don't have any decorations, no music and no oven to bake anything in."

"That shouldn't be a problem. There's a small town a few miles from here, right? Everybody has Christmas decorations and music in their home. Maybe we'll even find a fake tree. And we don't need an oven to bake cookies in, we'll just fry them."

"But going into a house is another unnecessary risk."

"Coming to this store was well worth it, wasn't it? This will be too, you'll see."

"We're bound to run out of luck sooner or later, so we shouldn't push it."

"Have a little faith. We'll be fine, trust me."

"If you say so."

I would've kept arguing, but I actually really liked the idea of celebrating Christmas.

After we had shared the can of pineapple it was time to get back on the road. I picked up Lucky and put him on my lap, but he immediately tried to jump off to go to Troy, so I held on to him till he finally curled up in a ball and fell asleep.

An uneventful half an hour or so later we reached the little town Troy was talking about. We pulled up in front of the first house on the left side of the road, took our guns and got out. The lock had already been broken, so we cautiously entered and looked around. Thankfully there didn't seem to be any monsters. We went straight down to the basement. It was a little dark, but I had brought a candle and lit it. In one corner we found a bunch of shelves with neatly stacked boxes. Troy started to search them while I held the candle. I didn't take long till he found a box with decorations. We went upstairs with it and checked the CD's in the living room. Sure enough there was one with Christmas songs on it. I put it in the box and carried it back to the RV where Lucky greeted us happily by running around like he was about to explode with excitement. We decided to look for a tree and after driving through the streets for maybe ten minutes we saw a hedge tree that was kind of shaped like a fir. It wasn't very pointy, but we figured we could just trim it the way we wanted it with a pair of scissors. Troy took our axe, got out, hacked off the tip with two swings and brought it inside. It was maybe sixteen inches high, which was perfect. He put it in the storage room and then we drove back to the highway and resumed our journey.

"You could start decorating already, you know?" Troy said.

"No, let's get through the devastated area first, so we don't have to worry about that anymore and then we can celebrate."

"Alright, that makes sense."

I looked out the window and watched the mostly snow-covered scenery go by, with Lucky sleeping peacefully on my lap. After a while he woke up and tried to jump off again, so I held him in place. Suddenly he squatted down and peed right on my leg.

"No! Bad kitten! Very bad kitten!" I yelled and shook him, not enough to hurt him, but enough to scare him a little.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Troy yelled angrily and stopped the RV. "Cats don't understand punishment! The only thing you just taught him is to fear you! And besides, he was trying to get down, probably to use the litter box, so you're the one who fucked up, not him!"

His voice was so aggressive and he looked at me with so much rage it almost frightened me. I put the kitten down, ran to the bathroom, locked the door and started to cry.

I felt like Troy had turned against me and for good reason. He cared so much about the poor kitten and what I had done to it was really horrible, but I grew up in a big city and never had any pets, so I didn't know how to handle animals. I swore to myself that I would never treat Lucky unkindly again and hoped that Troy could forgive me for being so stupid.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Cody, please open up," Troy said from the other side

"I'm sorry," I whimpered.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry. I never should've yelled at you like that."

That calmed me down a bit.

"It's ok," I said quietly.

"No, it's not and will make this up to you, I swear. Please come out."

I felt too embarrassed to face him yet.

"I need to wash my pants first. I'll be out in ten minutes, ok? You can keep going. I'm fine, really."

He hesitated for a second.

"Alright."

I looked in the mirror. My face was red and my eyes were puffy. I wiped away my tears and sat down on the closed toilet. Suddenly I heard the door on the side of the RV open, some noise I couldn't make out and then the sound of it closing again. A few seconds later the RV started moving and then I heard a meow coming from outside. My eyes widened. I quickly got up and went to see what was going on. All the kitty-stuff wasn't there anymore and neither was Lucky, so I stormed to the driver's cabin.

"Where's Lucky?! What did you do?!" I asked, alarmed.

"He's gone."

"No! Why?!"

"I won't let a fucking kitten get between us. I love you too much for that."

"We'll make it work, it'll be fine. Now go back!"

"No, I lost my temper because of the fucking kitten and I even made you cry, so it had to go."

"Stop the RV, right now!"

"No, it's done."

"Ok, then I'll just jump out, so if you don't stop I'll probably get hurt really badly. It's your call," I said, determined. I went to the door and opened it. Troy stepped on the brakes and we stopped. I quickly climbed out and started to limp down the road. Lucky was only about fifty yards away. He must have been running after us. When he had reached me I kneeled down, picked him up and took him in my arms. The poor thing was shaking and desperately clinging to me. I went back to the RV and sat down in the passenger seat.

"Let's get his stuff," I said.

We turned around and drove to the spot where Troy had dumped everything. He brought it in and then refilled the litter box and the water bowl. When he was done he came back to the front, but didn't look at me.

"He's still shaking, you know? How could you do that to him?" I said.

"Don't you get it? I'd do anything for you," he answered quietly.

I got up and sat down on his lap. He put his arms around me and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Cody," he said.

"It's ok."

"No, it's not. I fucked up, again."

"We both made mistakes. I shouldn't have shaken him and you shouldn't have yelled at me, but I get it, you really care about him."

"That's not an excuse."

"Why don't we just forget this ever happened, ok?"

"I can't do that."

"Please, for me?"

He sighed.

"Fine, but I won't pay any more attention to the kitten. I shouldn't have cared so much about it in the first place."

"No, he needs you and you abandoned the poor thing, so you have to make that up to him, because that was really horrible, you know? I still can't believe you did that."

"I was just so angry at myself and felt like I had to do something. The kitten seemed to be part of the problem and I thought getting rid of it would prove to you how much I love you, so I did."

"Whenever you hurt me you always try to punish yourself for it as hard as you possibly can. We have to break that habit. Not only is it unhealthy, but when you hurt yourself that hurts me too and it just makes things much worse, so you can't keep doing that. Do you understand?"

"I guess... I'm sorry I'm like this."

"Don't be, nobody's perfect and overall you're a really great guy and you make me very happy, ok?"

"That's good to hear."

"Do I make you happy too?"

"Of course, ridiculously."

We both smiled.

"We should go. I was hoping we'd get through the devastated area today, so we can celebrate Christmas tomorrow," he said.

"Yeah, me too."

I kissed him on the mouth and went back to my seat. We both buckled up and he started the RV.

Soon we came to the toppled tree. I wanted to help somehow, but Troy convinced me that it wasn't necessary and there weren't any monsters in sight, so I stayed in the RV and watched. Troy was really good with the chainsaw and seemed to know what he was doing. It only took him about fifteen minutes to cut up the tree and roll the pieces aside. He put the chainsaw in the storage room and got back in the driver's seat. He reeked of freshly cut wood, but I didn't mind.

We had to drive slowly, because there were a lot of branches we had to avoid. After maybe an hour there was another tree blocking half the road, but this time there were two monsters walking across a field about three hundred yards away on the right.

"Can't we just squeeze past it?" I asked.

"No, a branch could pierce a tire and we only have one spare."

"I'm coming with you. There are two monsters."

"I know, it's chainsawing time," he said, smiling, which made me grin.

"You should put on some trash bags or you'll have to throw away your clothes afterwards."

"Right, that's a good idea."

Troy covered his clothes and shoes with trash bags and fixed them with duct tape, then he took the chainsaw and we went outside. The monsters were already heading in our direction, but Troy ignored them and started to cut up the tree. When they had finally reached us he kicked one of them so hard that it fell down backwards. Right before the other one could attack him he lifted up the chainsaw and drove it into its neck. At first it made kind of a squishing sound and then there was a slight cracking when he hit the spine. Blood was shooting out of the chainsaw like a fountain and was splashing from the cutting chain. After a few moments the head dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. Troy kicked the decapitated body away from him. The other monster had just gotten up again, so he sawed straight into its skull, split it in half, and then kicked the lifeless corpse away too. He turned to me, grinning widely, and made the "devil's horns" gesture with his left hand. I grinned back and shook my head. Since there was no more danger I returned to the RV. Lucky greeted me by rubbing himself against my leg a couple of times. I sat down in the front, put him on my lap and ruffled his fur, which made him purr. I kept petting him while I watched Troy work.

Maybe twenty minutes later the road was cleared. When the door opened Lucky jumped off my lap to investigate who it was, but I guess Troy must've smelled like monster, because he turned around so fast that he fell down. He quickly got up again, raced over to me and climbed up my leg. When I took him in my arms he squeezed his head between my elbow and my chest, like he was trying to hide.

"Today's not Lucky's day," Troy said.

"It really isn't, but you do smell horrible. You should take a shower."

"Yeah... Hey, wanna join me by any chance?" he said, smirking.

"There's barely enough room for one in there."

"Exactly. Our naked bodies would be pressed against each other really tightly. It would be fucking awesome."

"Maybe some other time, ok? I have to comfort Lucky right now."

"Alright, fair enough."

He got fresh clothes from the back and then disappeared into the bathroom. Lucky lifted his head and looked around. I put him down and he walked to his bowls, drank some water, then scratched at the empty one and meowed.

"Are you hungry Lucky?" I asked and he meowed again, like he was answering me, so I started a fire.

By the time Troy came out Lucky was eagerly slobbering his milk and I had heated up two cans of soup for us. We sat down beside each other and ate. When the kitten was done I carried him to his litter box and he did his business dutifully. He covered it up with litter and then I took him over to the table with me where I let him sleep on my lap. We didn't talk much and finished our meal quickly. While I washed the dishes Troy got back behind the wheel. When everything was clean and put away I took the navigation system and the CD's we had found in the store, picked up Lucky and joined Troy in the front.

"Want to listen to some music?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's listen to Slipknot."

"Ok, which album?"

"Doesn't matter, they're all great."

I went through them and chose the one with a pretty sinister looking goat on it. I put the CD in and pressed Play. The intro started, which consisted of distorted sounds and disturbing screams. Then the first real song came thundering out of the speakers. It was very fast and heavy and there was no singing, only aggressive screaming. After the verse they all screamed "people equal shit" over and over again, which I guessed was supposed to be the chorus, but by that time I had already heard more than enough and pressed Stop.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Troy asked.

"I can't listen to this for one more second, it's horrific. You can't honestly tell me that you like this."

"I do. It's the bomb."

"Well, I never want to listen to it again in my whole life."

"Put in the one where they stand in a field and skip to Track 11, Snuff."

"Did you not hear what I just said? Never again."

"Just do it."

"I'm not going to listen to a song called Snuff Troy, especially not by a bunch of deranged sickos like Slipknot. What kind of stupid name is that anyway? They should've called themselves "Noose", because listening to them makes you want to hang yourself."

"You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course... No! Troy!"

"I'll make you a deal. If you don't like the song you can throw all my CD's out the window, alright?"

"Fine," I sighed.

I put in the CD and skipped to Track 11. When the song came on I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It started slow and quiet, with mostly an acoustic guitar playing and very soft singing, but it became more powerful as it went on. The lyrics were deeply emotional and I got so lost in them that my eyes filled with tears all of a sudden. I looked away and tried to dry them on my sleeve without Troy noticing, but he did anyway.

"Jesus, are you crying?" he asked, frowning.

"No?" I answered, embarrassed.

"Do you still think they're horrific?"

"No, I can't even believe that's the same band. Is the whole album like that?"

"No, just that one song."

"What a terrible waste of their talents."

"Just because it's not your thing doesn't mean it's bad, you know? The heavy stuff is at least as good as this, if not better."

"I guess that might be true. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, just keep an open mind next time, alright?"

"Ok... Can we listen to the song a couple more times?"

"Sure."

Over the next hour or so we listened to it at least fifteen more times. It was about a deep love, being abandoned and struggling to let go. It made me think about my own feelings, how devastating it would be for me to lose Troy. I realized how deeply I cared about him and that I couldn't imagine a life without him anymore. I loved him, there was no doubt about it. It scared me a little to admit how important he really was to me, because I felt so strongly about him that it was almost overwhelming and definitely out of my control. He once said that he was at my mercy and I finally understood what he meant by that, because now I was at his too.

"Can you please turn this off already?" Troy suddenly said and brought me back to reality.

"Yeah, sure, sorry," I answered and pressed Stop.

"Thank you."

"Do you want to listen to something else?"

"No, I'd like to enjoy the quiet for a while, alright?"

"Ok."

Lucky woke up, turned on his back, yawned and stretched out his legs in all directions. It was adorable. I scratched his belly and he closed his eyes and purred. When I stopped he opened them again and started to play with my shirt. He took a hold of it with his paws, pulled it to his mouth and then chewed on it.

"No, Lucky, you can't eat that," I said and waved my finger at him. He quickly tried to grab it, but thankfully I was faster.

"Why don't you get the laser pointer? You could let him chase the dot around till he gets tired," Troy said.

"Good idea."

I went to the storage room and got the laser pointer. Lucky of course had followed me. I turned it on and pointed it at the floor. When he saw the little red dot he threw himself on it. I sat down at the table and let him chase it from one side of the RV to the other a couple of times. After maybe fifteen minutes it finally looked like he was getting tired, so I picked him up and went back to the driver's cabin. He made himself comfortable on my lap and fell asleep.