Episode 7

Bella bit her bottom lip, thinking the woman was Jordan's wife, and sighed. If she were, then she would have to accept that she and Jordan were not meant to be. Bella smiled quickly and lowered her hands.

"I'm going to go back to what I was doing. Just please don't shoot me," she said, and Jordan laughed, wiping his face.

"Bell, this is my little brother Jimmy and his wife, Mya. I guess they got away after all. Guys, this is my.."

Bella looked at Jordan oddly, feeling relieved the woman wasn't his dead wife, and snickered.

"His girlfriend, Bella. We're just now establishing a name for each other," she teased, and Jordan smiled shyly.

"That would pretty much sum it up," he laughed, and Bella snickered, grabbing the jewelry from the case.

"Who's getting the honor of telling your Dad they're coming home with us?" Jordan asked, and Bella snorted.

"That's all you, Jordan Baker, but first, I have something for you," she said, walking toward him.

"You do?"

Bella nodded, fastening a gold necklace with a jaguar pendant around his neck, and smiled.

"Now, you can't say I never gave you anything," she snickered.

Jordan leaned his face into hers, searching her eyes, and Bella gently kissed the side of his mouth.

"What would I do without you?" he whispered, and she looked away, smiling.

He straightened and looked at the pedant.

" I like it, baby girl," he said, and she smiled.

"Me, too."

Jordan looked at her tiger ears and chuckled.

"So, will I be growing ears too?"

"Sure, here," she said, taking off the headband and handing it to him.

Jimmy and Mya laughed, and Jordan chuckled, licking his lips. Bella grinned and put the ears back on. Jordan gave her a thoughtful look and touched her face.

"They're perfect, babe. Now, if you done here, go check out the medical store. It's stocked full. I'll take Mya and Jimmy out to the truck," he said, and Bella looked at him suspiciously.

"Why didn't you fill the bags yourself?"

Jordan rubbed her shoulders and rubbed her collarbone with his thumbs.

"I did. I just want you to do an extra sweep. You seem to find all the goodies."

Bella searched his eyes and pursed her lips.

"Oh, alright," she said, and Jordan snickered.

"Now go. We'll carry the bags," he said, pulling the bag off her shoulder.

She nodded, kissed his lips, and walked out the door. Jordan sighed happily, watching her leave, and pressed his lips together. Jimmy and Mya looked at him oddly, and he looked at them in question.

"What?"

"You've never acted that way with any girl you been with. Not even, Rachel," said Mya, and Jimmy agreed.

"Yeah, bro. I know you loved Rachel, but this is different. What changed?" asked Jimmy, and Jordan chuckled, grabbing the other duffle bags.

"It's her, man. She's shown me a whole different world and opened my eyes," he said, and Jimmy and Mya only nodded.

**************************************

Abraham loaded a couple of duffle bags in the back of the red truck, and Andy brought out bags of guns, ammunition, and stuff to make bombs with.

"What? Are you planning to go to war?" Abraham snickered, and Andy chuckled, loading the truck.

"You never know what might be out there. Best be prepared for anything after what happened back home."

Abraham nodded, seeing Jordan walk out of the department store with a strange man and woman and shut the tailgate.

"What's this about?" he sighed, and Andy shook his head.

Jordan waved at Abraham and Andy.

"Hey, Mr. Daniels," he called, waving them over.

"Guess we're about to find out," said Andy, and he and Abraham walked toward Jordan and the strangers.

"Mr. Daniels, Andy. This is my brother, Jimmy, and his wife, Mya. They escaped when Wess attacked our camp and have been on the run ever since," explained Jordan.

Abraham looked at Andy, sighed, and shook his head.

"Does Bell know about them?" he asked, and Jordan nodded.

"Yes, sir. She the one who found them."

Abraham looked at Andy, and Andy shrugged, nodding.

"Okay. We'll take them home with us. Jimmy, Mya. I'm Abraham, this is Andy, and you've already met my daughter, Bella. Are there any more of your people out here?"

Jimmy and Mya looked at each other and shook their heads sadly.

"Not that we know of. Everyone scattered when the Bandits attacked. We thought we were the only ones left, but thankfully, that girl found us, and Jordan is alive," said Mya.

"Bandits, huh? Yeah, we know them all too well," sighed Andy.

"So, you ran into this guy too?" asked Jimmy, pulling his braids behind his shoulders, and Abraham nodded.

Jimmy was tall and muscular and could have been Jordan's twin.

"Yeah, you could say that. Bella found your brother chained up in a basement, and after that, they kidnapped my daughter, kidnapped your brother, and killed Dale and my wife," he explained.

"Who's Dale?" asked Mya, and Abraham gave Jordan a knowing look.

"Dale was Bella's fiance and close to everyone in the group. When Wess captured everybody, he tried shooting Bella's younger brother, but Dale jumped in front of the kid, saving his life. Still a hard night for any of us to talk about," Jordan sighed, and Abraham and Andy nodded sadly.

"Damn," breathed Jimmy, and Mya silently agreed.

"Why the long faces?" asked Bella, approaching with two duffle bags and a backpack full of medical supplies.

Abraham, Andy, Jordan, Jimmy, and Mya looked at her with sad faces, and she looked at them suspiciously.

"What?" she asked as Andy grabbed the duffle bags.

"Thanks. Seriously, guys. You look like someone ran over your dog or something," Bella snorted, throwing the backpack on top of the duffle bags, and Mya hugged her.

"You poor thing," she whispered sadly.

Bella gave her father a knowing look and sighed.

"You brought up that night, didn't you?" she asked as Mya let her go, and Abraham nodded.

"Hey, it's time to go. There's a horde of Berzerkers headed this way, and they're coming fast," yelled Mike, running toward them and throwing his duffle bags in the truck.

Everyone nodded, jumped in their vehicles, and sped off.

*****************************************

"Bell!" exclaimed Charlie as his sister entered the warehouse, and Bella grinned.

"Here, take this bag to your room, and you and Bonnie go through it," she said, handing him a duffle bag.

"I found some clothes and other things for you two," she added.

"What'd ya find?" he asked, and Bella gave her brother a knowing look.

"I guess you'll have to open it and find out."

Charlie grinned and ran upstairs.

*******************************************

After dinner, Bella went outside and got ready for her lookout shift. She put an earbud in and bounced to the beat, mouthing the words and moving her hands. She was about to climb onto the roof of her father's truck when two strong hands grabbed her from behind, spun her around, and Jordan kissed her passionately, pushing his body against hers.

She sighed, kissing him back, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She felt his hand slip under her shirt and touch her soft skin. Jordan's fingers ran over her scar, and he pulled back, lifting her shirt. He ran his fingers slowly down the long scar and looked concerned.

"What happened?" he asked, and Bella giggled.

"It's from my first motorcycle accident. I was sixteen when it happened," she explained, and he nodded, resting his forehead against hers.

"So, my brother thinks you don't like him from what happened back at the store."

"Well, he did have a gun to my head, threatening to shoot me," she snickered, and Jordan laughed.

"He was just scared, baby girl. I don't think he would have really shot you," he said.

Bella pulled back and searched his eyes.

"So was I. I knew if he had pulled that trigger, we would've had to explain everything to them, and seeing the shock on their faces when they found out you were alive and had a girlfriend was enough surprises for one day. If we had opened up the big shocker, I'm pretty sure they'd run for the hills," she said, and Jordan gave her a thoughtful look.

"We still gonna have to tell them what we are. They're my family, and if they run for the hills, so be it. I gots everything right here," he said, squeezing her hips, and Bella blushed.

She leaned in the truck, grabbed the bottle and bag of joints, and held them up.

"So, Jordan Baker. Are you joining me tonight?" she asked, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Does this mean Victor actually gets the girl at the end of the story?"

She made a face and gave him a clever look.

"This is not the end of the story, Jordan Baker," she whispered, and Jordan grinned.

They climbed on top of the truck and made themselves comfortable. Bella leaned against Jordan's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. They shared their goodies and talked while they watched the area.