Not With A Bang (Closed for wrterlogan)

[wrterlogan]

Solomon continued to savor his vantage point. Being here with Andi was not anything that he could have envisioned yesterday or even a few hours ago but he was held in the moment by her. Her smell, her taste, and the sounds she was making were driving him crazy. Solomon was usually calm and collected but at this moment had many wild thoughts circling through his brain.

He swiftly alternated to Andi's left breast, hoping the he could show it that it deserved equal attention.

Solomon could feel himself hardening and the tension in his pants beginning to rise. He let out a stifled grunt as he quickly rose to his feet and started to undo his pants.

Just then, there was a loud knock as his front door. Bang! Bang Bang! He froze for a long moment wishing that he had imagined the sound but to Solomon's dismay the noise started again and this time sounded more urgent.

 

[AmandaAce]

Solomon kissed her across her breasts, sucking her other nipple into his mouth, moving against her urgently. He was hard, and he pressed against her as he ran his hands up her sides to cup her breasts, then kissed his way up her neck, to her ear, to inhale the scent of her hair.

With an impatient grunt he pushed back, stood up, and started to unbutton his jeans.

Then, suddenly, there was an urgent banging on the front door. They both froze and looked toward the sound. There was a pause, then it came again, faster and more urgent this time. They looked at each other.

“Who could that be?” Andi whispered to him. He shook his head.

The banging came again, and Solomon went to the bedroom door. Andi stood up, picking up his discarded shirt from the floor, and slipped it on. He started carefully out into the hall, Andi right behind him, her hand on his bare back.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon's mind was racing with the possibilities. He had never put so much into who could be at his door as he did now. Things had changed so much and there were just too many variables. It didn't help that something about the situation felt off. In his mind Solomon knew that whoever was on the other side of the door wasn't friendly.

As he softly padded in the other room he opened a drawer and pulled out two items, carefully pushing the handgun into Andi's hands.

"If I don't come back in five minutes you have to go. In my closet is a little brown bag in there are keys to my car. Its parked two streets over, a dark blue import. If you have to get out keep off the main roads. You can do this."

Solomon squeezed Andi's shoulder and tried to give her the most reassuring look he could muster. He turned towards the door with the other object in his hand at the ready. His combat knife was larger than what the would be thief had and would do more damage with minimal contact.

Solomon waited until Andi had retreated before peering out the keyhole. Two men were standing there and it was clear from their attire that they were friends of the dead man. Solomon reminded himself that meant they were just as bad so he didn't need to hold back.

He slowly began to open the door as he prepared to unleash pain on the outsiders.

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi looked down at the gun in her hand.

“Wait,” she said, but he motioned to her to be silent, to go back. She stepped back into the bedroom doorway and he nodded and turned, the big knife in his hand, and crept toward the door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Andi hesitated. She didn’t want him to go alone, in case something happened, but she realized that she might be a liability in a fight. She didn’t want to get in his way. She wasn’t going to leave him here either, though. He had told her to get out if he didn’t come back, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. He had protected her. More than that, she wanted him with her.

He was at the door. He looked through the peephole, his body tense. His long fingers gripped the knife.

“Be careful,” she whispered as he reached for the doorknob.

Why hadn’t he taken the gun? She looked down at it, fumbled with it for a moment, then released the safety. She took a deep breath, and stepped out into the hall. She would just stand back here and watch. Just in case something happened.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon let out all of his breath very slowly. What he was planning would only work if his timing was impeccable. The knife would make sure everything happened quietly but there was always the chance one of the two men had a hidden weapon. He would have appreciated a few more minutes to get his footing right. It was now or never the pair were likely getting suspicious as it was.

Solomon pulled the door open slowly and the first man started through the door.

"Hey man what's the deal-"

Using every bit of speed he could muster, Solomon ran into the first man, propelling them both outside. He wanted to keep both of them as far from Andi as possible.

The man coughed as he struggled to his feet but Solomon was on him, plunging the knife into his body over and over. As the man fell backwards, Solomon brought the weapon up to slash through his throat, tearing a huge chunk out.

"Fuck you bastard".

Solomon cursed his impetus. He had turned his back to the other man and felt the brass knuckles as they connected with his side. The pain coursed through his body as he awkwardly turned to face the remaining assailant. The man had a pair of brass knuckles and had aimed one blow at Solomon's chin and the other as his other side. He knew to prevent the broken jaw but winced as he felt the knuckles digging deeper into him. A few more strikes and he would have multiple cracked ribs.

He aimed a clumsy slash trying to create some distance.

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi watched apprehensively as Solomon turned the doorknob. It swung open, a man took a step in and was immediately forced back. Solomon moved forward with uncanny, efficient speed, knocking him back through the doorway and out of her sight.

She crept down the hall, back against the wall, gun pointed down. She got close enough to the door to see out, and gasped. There was blood. Solomon stood over one of the men, breathing hard.

Andi took another step towards him but stopped as another assailant came from behind and hit him, hard, in the ribs. Solomon staggered. The man hit him again, and Solomon groaned. He stumbled, slashing out with the knife, and the assailant grabbed at it, slicing his hand, but he didn’t let go.

He hit Solomon in the ribs again. Andi heard something crack, and as the man snatched the knife from Solomon’s hand, she lifted the gun and fired.

Time slowed down. The sound of the gun was deafening in the hallway. There was smoke, Andi was thrown back by the force of the shot, and she watched the bullet slice through the air, graze Solomon’s shoulder, and hit the assailant in the throat. There was more blood. Solomon fell to the ground. The attacker collapsed on top of him.

Andi ran forward, dropping the gun on the ground. Solomon groaned, holding his shoulder. She shoved the assailant’s body off of him, blood all over her hands, and dragged him back towards the doorway.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon was grateful for Andi, she'd saved him from a tough situation. That being said, he wasnt particularly fond of the shooting pain from his shoulder. It was hard to remember if he'd been shot before. He must have.

Andi started to drag him towards the house and was doing a damn fine job but Solomon struggled.

"Not yet, he grimaced, "we have to make sure he's dead first. Get me the gun."

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi let go of Solomon’s arms and he sat up with a grimace. She could see the beginning of a dark bruise on his side. He was covered in blood, and when she looked down at herself, she saw that she was too.

“How much more dead could he be?” she asked him, but she was already backing into the hall. The acrid smell of smoke still hung in the air, now mixing with the metallic tang of blood. She picked the gun up from where she’d flung it, holding it away from her like it was a dead thing.

Solomon was inspecting his shoulder wound. Andi offered her hand to help him up, and he got to his feet, wincing at the pain in his side and shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking up at him. She handed him the gun. “I thought that man was going to kill you and I was afraid-“

She didn’t finish. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to say.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon's hand tapped his left then his right side. He could tell the difference in terms of pain but at this point had no clear indication that there would be internal injuries. Over the next few days he would have to test and recheck to assess to see just how bad it was. And hopefully he could do that when Andi wasn't around.

"Don't be sorry," Solomon replied as he slowly took the gun out of Andi's hands, "You did what you thought was best. But next time? Please listen to me because I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

He looked at her and then let the statement hang in the air, not certain that he could fully explain his feelings if pressed.

"Andi, go back into the other room. And cover your ears."

Solomon waited a few moments and then tested the weight of the gun in his hands. It felt a little off so he would have to be calm and careful with his aim. He walked swiftly over to the man. In another time, Solomon would have stopped to analyze the man's face or consider whether the rounds were necessary.

Bamm! Bamm!

Solomon had been about two feet away when he lifted the gun and put two bullets through the man's head. It was rather crude and loud for Solomon's liking but at this point he was more interested in ending this threat permanently. He quickly stepped back into the home and locked the door. Solomon then hurried into the garage to make sure that door was secure before turning to find Andi.

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi stepped back, down the hallway, away from the front door. She stood in the doorway to the bedroom and covered her ears. She barely heard the shots, but she felt them, vibrating through the floor. She looked down at herself. The shirt she was wearing was plastered to her body, soaked in blood.

There was silence now, and Andi took her hands down, looked at them, and made a face. They were grimed with blood, the palms streaked with it. She scrubbed her hands on her jeans.

Andi heard the garage door close, and she went back out into the hall as Solomon emerged from the garage. He was bloody too, his right arm and hand covered in it as it trickled slowly from the wound in his shoulder. He still held the gun.

She went to him, he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist, and she leaned back to look up into his eyes. He looked down at her, and the blazing grey of his eyes softened. They didn’t say anything. There was nothing that needed to be said.

After a moment, Andi shifted her gaze to his shoulder. She touched it, lightly, and he grimaced.

“We need to clean that,” she said. “Do you have a first aid kit somewhere?”

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon was silent as he stood there with Andi, savoring the quiet stillness. He was certain there were things he could say or things he should say but for the moment the chance to enjoy relative safety with Andi was too much. Solomon hardly registered the fact that she has blood on her. As seconds passed it was becoming easier to consider that they might be okay again.

He winced at her touch remembering that he could have more damage later on to worry about. Yet another thing that could hang over their heads.

"Yeah come this way. Always keep stuff under the bathroom sink."

Solomon carefully lowered himself to his knees and pulled out a battered red first aid kit.

"Dont be fooled I refill this all the time."

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi knelt down next to him and opened the box. He was right, it was fully stocked with band aids, gauze, bandages, severe types of OTC meds, even an ice pack. She rummaged through it and pulled out some gauze, iodine, a butterfly closure, and sat them up on the counter.

She closed the kit and handed it back to Solomon, who slid it back into its place under the sink, then stood up. Andi stood up next to him, and the mirror above the sink caught her eye.

She looked at their reflections. They were both bloody, Solomon streaked with it from his shoulder, but Andi was absolutely gory from the neck down. The shirt stuck to her, plastered to her with blood, and she pulled it away. It was already drying in some places, and came away from her stiffly. She shuddered.

“I need to get this blood off me,” she said to him. “I have to get this blood off, I’m starting to freak out.”

 

[wrterlogan]

Blood. Red. Solomon took a long breath. Winters had freaked out with blood too. That seemed like a lifetime ago and more given what was happening now. Normally blood flow was good, a sign that the body still has miles to go. Then again, it was another experience entirely when it was someone else's.

Solomon's sister would get bloody noses and tell her jokes to keep her calm. The jokes were never comedic gold but his delivery was always enough for the situation. Then again, maybe she was just touched that her sibling would bother to hold tissues up to her face so that she would have to be terrified alone. Nothing was fun alone.

"Ok," replied, "Im taking the shirt off and getting you in the shower."

There was no repeat of his earlier issue with buttons and his shirt quickly came of Andi. Solomon wanted to let his gaze linger but he knew this wasn't the time.

"Its going to be okay Andi," he added, looking deeply in her eyes, "few minutes under the water and youll be good as...well, a lot less messy."

 

[AmandaAce]

Solomon took the shirt and pulled it up and over her head in one quick movement. She could smell the metallic tang of the blood, and she shuddered again.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said, meeting her eyes calmly. He opened the door to the shower and turned the water on. “Few minutes under the water and youll be good as...well, a lot less messy.”

He gestured to her to get in, his grey eyes reassuringly calm, and Andi turned to finish undressing. She could feel him looking at her as she slid her jeans and underwear off, and she couldn’t help but look back at him, once, as she stepped into the shower.

The water was very hot, and the steam enveloped her immediately. The shower door remained open, and she looked over at him, again, through the steam, before closing her eyes and lifting her face to let the water run over her.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon was glad that what he had said was enough. He was worried for Andi, this wasn't the sort of day anyone was supposed to have. She was holding together and the fact that she could verbalize her own internal struggle was a sign that she was processing and not just reacting.

Reacting was what Solomon did as his eyes moved to Andi as her jeans met the floor. He told himself that he was just checking her for injuries, to make certain that he hadn't missed anything but Solomon couldn't keep himself from seeing through that. He wanted to look at her, remembering the way her breasts felt. He lowered his eyes as she got completely naked and stepped into the shower.

Solomon's eyes went over to his towels, "Got plenty of towels so don't worry about getting them dirty. Let me know if you start feeling lightheaded, I don't want you passing out in the shower."

He looked down at his own jeans and automatically took them off leaving his red and blue boxers on.

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi gasped as the hot water hit her face. She ducked her head beneath it, wetting her hair, coursing over her and washing the streaked blood away.

He was saying something to her, and she pulled her head out of the stream and opened her eyes.

“Let me know if you start feeling lightheaded,” he said to her. “I don't want you passing out in the shower."

Through the steam, she watched him take off his jeans, following the lean muscles of his body as he stood back up to face her.

She extended a hand to him. “You should get in,” she said.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon thought for a moment. It would be hard to protect them if he was in the water too. He thought back to the recent intrusion, well, intrusions if he was been accurate. Making silly mistakes or lapses in judgment could cause more unwelcome guests or even end up with Andi getting hurt.

Solomon realized that it was a possibity but not one that he ever wanted to face. His own injuries and mortality he could accept but Andi needed none of it.

He closed his eyes for a moment and then decided. Without words or warning, Solomon quickly stepped out of his boxers and took Andi's hand.

"We should be quick. Safer that way."

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi watched as Solomon closed his eyes. He was doing it again, that strange pause he did before every decision, like he was turning over every detail of the situation in his mind. He was only gone for a moment, though, before his eyes opened and he looked at her with such softness, so different from the flat, blazing calculation with which he looked at everything else. She knew she confused him. He confused her as well. What was happening between them was incalculable.

He stepped out of his boxers. “We should be quick,” he said, taking her hand. “Safer that way.” She pulled him into the shower with her, and closed the door. Steam enveloped them, and Solomon closed his eyes. Andi watched the water roll down over his face and neck, his broad shoulders and flat stomach, and she stepped under the stream with him, pressing her body against his, laying her head on his chest.

They would have to be quick, he was right. But she had never felt more safe.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon enjoyed the sensation of the water as it began to trail down his body. The blood and grime hadn't been on him for very long but it had almost felt like a weight on him. He knew the water was going to wash away the superficial signs of what had happened and hopefully there wouldn't be any more reminders today of what was happening outside.

Inside it was different. Solomon and Andi were alone and for the time being, mostly unharmed. It would be easy to second guess some of the decisions that had been made and during some quiet moment in the future he would likely turn over the events in his mind with much scrutiny but now was a time for cleaning and rest.

He savored the feeling of their bodies together and could feel a slight stirring. Solomon's body was responding to Andi even as his brain was trying to focus on speed.

"So I mostly have plain old bar soap. If you don't like that I think I might have something scented from my sister's brief run at mading homemade soap."

Solomon's hands unconsciously drifted to Andi's hips and squeezed her.

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi kept her head on his chest as he talked. He was offering her soap, in the complicated way he had. It was just the way he was, she thought. He was constantly considering every option, his brain clicking like a computer through every element of every scenario. This scenario was very unexpected though, and she could feel him trying not to second guess himself, trying to make sure she was protected, that he had thought of everything.

Andi thought differently than he did. She was much more reactionary, with no second guessing. She had pulled him into this with her because her instinct had told her that he would keep her safe, and it had been right. They would have to be careful, still, but there was no point in looking back. They would have to figure it out. There was no map from here.

His hands found her waist, squeezed her hips, and she looked up, into his handsome, preoccupied face.

She slid her hands up his back to his shoulders, pulled his face down to hers, and kissed him. The water streamed down over them, and she pulled him as close as she could, their wet bodies pressing together.

“Whatever kind of soap you have is fine with me,” she said into his ear.

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon reached over to the bars of soap he has stacked neatly and trailed on across Andi's chest. He brought it across her stomach next and then down onto her inner thighs. Solomon kissed her deeply. He dropped the soap his hands quick to knead and squeeze every inch of Andi. Andi would easily be able to tell the Solomon was almost at full attention. He spread her legs gently and she could the tip of his cock ready to enter her. Then he stopped.

They both heard it, the sounds of gunshots. Solomon knew they were very far off but it had completely jolted him out of the moment. He bent down and grabbed the soap, passing it to Andi wordlessly as he grabbed another. Solomon was automatic in his movements as he was already mentally packing. He left Andi to finish as he began finishing with the backpacks for their trip. Solomon didnt pack extremely heavy but wanted to make sure they were well stocked should they get in trouble.

"Couple of months back some kids found a gap. Its not super wide, probably just wide enough for the bike. Thats the reason it wont be too crowded now. Once we're through we can make for a road."

Solomon handed Andi the gun which had been cleaned and took the knife as well as another gun for himself.

As they climbed aboard the motorcycle Solomon wondered if he would ever see his home again. He started the bike and they headed off as swiftly and carefully as possible.

 

[AmandaAce]

It had been two or three hours. Andi rested her forehead on Solomon’s back, her arms around his waist. Her hair had been wet from the shower when they’d rushed to leave, and it had dried windblown and unruly. It was evening, but still hot, the sun nowhere close to setting.

They had been enveloped in steam, kissing deeply, Andi pushed against the shower wall, Solomon’s cock close to entering her when he had simply stopped and told her they had to go. He left the shower, immediately, leaving her to rinse the soap off as quickly as she could and follow him. When she’d come out he had already been packing. He’d calmly handed her a clean shirt, a gun, a backpack.

They had slipped out of the city quietly and unnoticed. The highway entrances and exits were still closed, still guarded by military vehicles, but he had steered them quickly through the gap he had spoken of and onto unguarded back roads.

They had made the decision to drive slightly past Madison, to avoid the city proper for fear of encountering more soldiers, but to come close enough to be able to refuel and find somewhere to sleep. Andi reasoned that eventually, at some point, they would drive back into normalcy.

She was nearly asleep when they did, her head resting on his back. The road had lulled her, Solomon hadn’t spoken in some time, and her leg was falling asleep. She could feel the hum of the engine vibrating against her leg, over and over, in short bursts. It irritated her, and she reached down to rub her thigh only to realize the buzz was coming from her phone in her pocket. They had come back into phone service.

She could see the lights of some town up ahead, gas and fast food signs and a Walmart. She tapped him on the back urgently.

“Solomon,” she said. “My phone is on.”

 

[wrterlogan]

Solomon had been quiet, not something he had intended but a consequence of his concern. He had chastised himself for getting so distracted from his promise to Andi. Now that they were getting closer to their destination, Solomon had wondered about what might happen next. He was smart enough to consider many of the most probable possibilities but there was something about the whole thing that felt off.

It was like feeling a bad day coming before it started. Hell, this would constitute a pretty shitty month if it was held up for comparison. That didn't change the fact that a sense of alarm was building, telling him that there was more to be worried about and even should they get wherever they were going, it would not be the end.

"My phone is on."

Inwardly Solomon wanted to let out a whoop of joy but he didn't want to startle Andi. Finding working utilities had been a huge hope and now that it was a reality, it might make certain aspects of this easier. Maybe.

"Ok," he responded in a neutral voice, "you should call whoever you need too right now. We don't know when we will get another chance like this."

 

[AmandaAce]

Andi scrolled through her phone as Solomon guided them off the highway and pulled over. Everything was disjointed - news outlets from smaller cities had taken over for the larger cities; there was a notification on her phone that her bank’s ATMs would be offline indefinitely.

Her text messages were a similar jumble. Her parents, in Philadelphia. Her brother, in New Orleans. Her best friend in Minneapolis.

She called her parents first. Her mother answered breathlessly on the first ring.

“Andi!” She said. “Thank God! You can’t be in Chicago?”

“No, Mom,” she said. “I got out. I - a friend of mine and I got out.”

Her mother began to pepper her with questions, and she turned to Solomon, who was leaning against his bike looking at his phone intently. His brow was furrowed, and as he tapped impatiently at the phone screen Andi could not help but remember the way his long fingers wrapped around her hips.

“Find somewhere to stay and stay there!” her mother was shouting. “All those people got killed!”

“My mother said they’re not letting anyone in any major cities,” she said to him. “Who are you texting?”