Odium II: The Dead Saga by Claire C. Riley Page A

glow fuzziness.
    “Okay, I ’m sorry. Don’t lecture me.” I smirk. He tries to say something else, but I lean in and kiss him, needing to feel his mouth on mine once more. I thought after what had happened to me that I would be pulling away from contact like this, that I wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of his kiss or touch, but the reality is, mentally—and maybe physically—I’m desperate for some kindness, some softness in my life. I survived similar behind the walls, and while they took my body, my mind was my own. I let the kiss come to its natural end, and we stand forehead to forehead and I smile. Finally I grab his hand and begin to pull him back into the other room.
    “I ’m serious, Nina, stop doing crazy shit all the time.”
    “Stop nagging now, ” I chuckle.
    I feel guilty. I should have told him h ow much his words meant to me—how much that kiss meant to me—but I can’t, for some reason. There are some walls that won’t break, no matter how much I want them to.

Chapter 11
     
     
    “They could be poisoned or something you know.” Emily points out the obvious as we all stare into our open cans of food, each with our own delicacy staring up at us. I have the chopped tomatoes, Alek the tuna, Emily the SpaghettiOs, and Mikey the beans.
    I poke my tomatoes with my fork. “It seems such a waste. Surely no one would waste food like this.” They look so delicious, all red and juicy. I snag some onto the end of my fork and bring it to my nose to sniff. Everyone watches me with wide eyes. “Smells like tomatoes.” I shrug. I dip my tongue onto the end of the fork, barely letting it touch them. My taste buds flare to life with that one small taste, both tangy and juicy. I simply can’t resist any longer as pangs of hunger cripple my stomach, and so I tip the contents into my mouth before I can change my mind.
    So much for not doing stupid shit anymore.
    “Nina!” Mikey yells, but he doesn’t do anything to stop me.
    Everyone is staring at me, their mouths open in horror, shock, and wide-eyed jealousy. I chew the contents, both enjoying and hating it all at the same time, and swallow.
    “It tastes good.” I offer a nother small shrug, accompanied by a large growl from my stomach. Everyone stares at my stomach in horror. “I think it’s saying thank you, and it wants more.” I smirk.
    Emily grins . “To hell with it.” She sticks her fork into the SpaghettiOs, the little circles catching on the long fingers of the fork. She brings it to her mouth and copies my earlier action of smelling, tasting, and then stuffing the rest in greedily. She groans and closes her eyes. “So good,” she mumbles.
    That ’s all it takes for Alek and Mikey to join in, stuffing their faces with beans and tuna, throwing caution to the wind. It’s not until after all the food has gone that we all look around with worry—now that our stomachs have a little something in them and the hunger pangs have died off a little that we think about the possible consequence of our actions.
    Emily wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and gives a little burp. “That was amazing. ” She pauses, scooping more onto her fork. “I remember the last time I had SpaghettiOs, it was a couple of weeks before everything…went bad. It was my dad’s turn to cook, since Mom was working late. He was an awful cook, though, so I threw a can of O s into a pan and made some toast and we sat and ate it together at the counter in the kitchen. Dad said they were the best damn SpaghettiOs he’d ever had.” She smiles proudly at the memory. “Never thought I’d get to eat those cheery little O s again.”
    My mouth quirks up in a half smile—how could I not smile at that?
    “What if they were poisoned?” s he whispers, her happy memory dissipating before my eyes.
    “Shit, ” Mikey whispers. “I’m blaming you.” He looks around at all of us. “All of you.” He points a finger at us all and then belches loudly.
    “Nina,