Chapter 217: Waking With Sydney in the Camping Van

"Ryan."

The voice seemed to come from very far away, muffled and indistinct like someone calling through water.

"Hey, Ryan!"

This time the voice was louder, more insistent, accompanied by a hand shaking my shoulder with increasing force.

My eyes snapped open with a start, and I flinched slightly at the sudden transition from unconsciousness to wakefulness. Christopher stood over me, his expression caught somewhere between amusement and exasperation as he looked down at where I sat.

"Uh... yeah..." I managed to groan out, my voice thick and groggy with residual sleep.

My entire body felt heavy and sluggish, my mind still clinging to the fog of whatever dreams I’d been having. I blinked several times, trying to bring the world into clearer focus and shake off the disorientation that came with being abruptly awakened.

"Man, did you two actually fall asleep out here?" Christopher asked looking at us.

I looked down, following the direction of his stare, and registered for the first time that Sydney was curled up on my lap. Her head rested against my chest, one arm draped across my torso while the other hung limply at her side. Her breathing was slow and even, her face peaceful in a way it rarely was when she was awake.

I was sitting on the U-shaped sofa inside the camping van, my back pressed against the cushions and my legs stretched out in front of me. At some point during the night, I must have shifted into a more comfortable position, because I didn’t remember sitting exactly like this when we’d first settled in.

Right after we’d had sex in that abandoned store—after Sydney had effectively derailed my plans to experiment with the alien box by initiating something far more intimate—we’d made our way back toward where everyone was sleeping. But we hadn’t actually entered the house where the others had bedded down for the night.

Maybe it was because I’d felt awkward about the idea of sneaking back in during the early morning hours, knowing that someone would inevitably notice and ask questions about where we’d been and what we’d been doing. Or maybe I just hadn’t wanted to deal with the knowing looks and teasing comments that would have followed. Whatever the reason, we’d ended up settling into the camping van instead, claiming it as our private space for what remained of the night.

We’d talked for a while after climbing inside—quiet conversation in the darkness about nothing particularly important. Sydney had shared some story about her childhood, I’d mentioned something about my mother, and gradually our words had grown slower and more scattered as exhaustion caught up with both of us. At some point, the conversation had simply trailed off into comfortable silence, and we’d both drifted into sleep without consciously deciding to do so.

"Yeah, I think we did," I said to Christopher, my voice still rough from sleep.

"Why did you have to come disturb us already, Christopher..." Sydney’s complaint emerged as a drawn-out yawn, her voice muffled against my shirt.

She shifted slightly on my lap, turning her head to glare up at Christopher with one eye barely open while the other remained stubbornly closed.

"It’s time to wake up," Christopher said, completely unmoved by her displeasure. "Everyone’s already getting ready to leave, and we need to depart this morning if we want to secure a good location to sleep tonight once we reach Atlantic City. We’ve got a lot to accomplish today."

That was right—I’d temporarily forgotten in my sleep-fogged state. Today was the day we were all supposed to leave Galloway together and make the journey back to Atlantic City as a unified group. Once we arrived, we’d need to begin the dangerous and exhausting work of clearing out the zone we’d selected for settlement, fighting through whatever Infected had claimed the territory and establishing a secure perimeter. And somewhere in all of that, we’d also need to identify and fortify whatever building we planned to use for shelter tonight.

It was definitely going to be a brutally long day.

"We don’t have anything that needs preparing," Sydney pointed out, gesturing vaguely around the interior of the van. "Everything we own is already packed and loaded in here. So how about Ryan and I go ahead to Atlantic City right now and get started on the clearing work? We could make significant progress before everyone else even arrives."

"Yeah, yeah..." Christopher waved this hand and left.

Sydney looked up at me meanwhile, her eyes widening into an exaggerated puppy-dog expression that was clearly calculated to manipulate me into agreement.

When I didn’t immediately respond with enthusiasm, she actually sulked, her lower lip pushing out in a pout.

"Come on," she pressed. "Everyone in Margaret’s community except for Martin is basically dead weight when it comes to actual combat. They’ll just slow us down and get in the way. We could work so much more efficiently without them."

"You’re really such a kind and compassionate person, Sydney," I said dryly, unable to keep the sarcasm from my voice.

"I know, right?" She replied without a trace of shame, completely missing my sarcastic tone. Her trademark smirk spread across her face. "It’s one of my best qualities."

Before I could formulate a response to that breathtaking display of self-awareness, Sydney grasped the front of my shirt in both hands and pulled herself upward. Her lips found mine in a kiss that started soft but quickly deepened, her mouth moving against mine.

She held the kiss longer than strictly necessary, clearly savoring the contact and the intimacy of the moment. When she finally pulled back, her face remained close to mine, near enough that I could feel her breath warm against my skin.

"That’s why you love me, right?" She asked.

"Right..." I agreed, though I had to add, "Now get up. My knees have gone completely numb. I can’t feel my legs anymore."

Sydney sighed, as if I’d asked her to perform some incredibly difficult task, but she did shift her position. However, instead of actually standing up and moving away like I’d requested, she simply rearranged herself to sit directly on my knees rather than across my lap.

"Sydney."

"I just want to monopolize you as much as possible," she explained, settling more comfortably into her new position. "It sounds like you’re not going to have much time for spoiling me once we get to Atlantic City and you start your whole rescue mission for Emily. So I’m taking what I can get now."

Despite my numb legs and Christopher’s presence making this whole situation awkward, I found myself smiling. I wrapped my arms around Sydney’s waist, pulling her back against my chest.

"I’ll always have time to spoil you and the others," I assured her quietly. "No matter what else is happening, that’s not going to change."

"Does ’the others’ include Emily in that calculation?" Sydney asked, her tone shifting to something more suspicious as she twisted slightly to look at my face.

"Come again?" I asked, not quite following her train of thought.

"Do you still love her?" Sydney asked, her eyes searching mine with unusual intensity. "I mean, she’s the one who took your virginity! That’s got to mean something significant, right? First experiences and all that?"

I felt myself growing uncomfortable under the directness of her questioning, but Sydney deserved honesty. "I... she’s important to me, I guess," I said slowly, trying to articulate thoughts I hadn’t fully examined myself. "When our high school was first invaded by the Infected and I genuinely thought I was going to die, Emily’s presence grounded me somehow. You know? I think she helped me cope with the initial trauma of the outbreak and my newfound powers that I didn’t understand. I felt like... like I had to stay strong with her around. Having someone to protect, someone who was counting on me—it helped me keep it together when everything was falling apart."

I paused, gathering my thoughts. "So I want to help her in return for that. And I also feel incredibly guilty. I learned about the stabilization process too late to help her when she needed it most. If I’d known then what I know now..."

"So she’s currently going insane from lack of stabilization?" Sydney asked bluntly, cutting through my rambling explanation.

"I wouldn’t phrase it exactly that way," I said carefully. "But yes, she desperately needs my help. She’s deteriorating without proper stabilization."

"She needs to get fucked by you, you mean?" Sydney said with a wicked grin, glancing back over her shoulder at me with mischief dancing in her eyes.

"You really never change, do you?" I sighed, though I couldn’t help smiling at her crude directness.

Then I leaned forward and kissed her, effectively cutting off whatever inappropriate comment she’d been about to make next.

"Hmm~ never," she moaned softly against my lips, immediately kissing me back with enthusiasm.

I hugged her closer as she continued kissing me, her head tilted back at an awkward angle to maintain the contact. The position couldn’t have been comfortable for her neck, but she didn’t seem to care.

We both intensified the kiss, losing ourselves in the moment. Sydney’s hands began stroking my thigh while her other hand reached up to curl around the back of my neck, her fingers threading through my hair. I could feel her starting to shift her stance, beginning to turn her body around to face me properly rather than maintaining this awkward backward position.

But at precisely that moment, heavy footsteps rang out from outside the camping van, followed by the sound of someone climbing up into the vehicle.

"Ryan! Sydney! Guys, how long are you two going to—"

Cindy’s voice cut off abruptly mid-sentence.

She had frozen completely in place just inside the van’s entrance, her eyes widening as she took in the scene before her—Sydney sitting on my lap with her body twisted around, both of us clearly in the middle of an intense kiss, my arms wrapped around her waist while her hands explored my body.

I opened my eyes at the interruption and reluctantly pulled back from the kiss, turning my head to meet Cindy’s shocked stare.

Sydney turned her head to look at Cindy, and a slow, mischievous smile spread across her face.

"Oh, Cindy! Perfect timing," she said brightly, as if Cindy had just arrived for a scheduled appointment rather than walked in on an intimate moment. "Could you do us a favor and close the door behind you? And make absolutely sure nobody else comes inside for the next, oh, twenty minutes or so?"

"And what else should I do!" Cindy shot back, her face flushing a deep crimson that spread from her cheeks down her neck. "Stand guard outside like some kind of sentry? Maybe hold up a ’Do Not Disturb’ sign?!"

Her voice had risen in pitch with embarrassment, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.

"Alright, that’s enough," I said, deciding to intervene before Sydney could dig this hole any deeper.

I stood up in one smooth motion, my hands gripping Sydney’s waist as I lifted her bodily off my lap and set her back down on her feet on the floor of the van. My legs tingled painfully as blood flow returned to the limbs that had gone numb.

"Ugh, seriously?" Sydney groaned, making no effort to hide her disappointment. "I was really hoping for some morning sex right after last night’s session. You know, start the day off properly."

She sighed and began walking toward the van’s exit, brushing past Cindy with exaggerated closeness as she went. The casual way she’d just announced our nighttime activities left Cindy standing frozen in place, her mouth slightly open in shock.

Cindy’s wide eyes tracked Sydney’s departure before slowly turning back to me.

"T...That’s what you two were doing last night?" She asked. "You were... together? All night?"

IWhat was I supposed to tell her? The truth presented two equally problematic options: either admit I’d been secretly trying to activate the alien box alone without telling anyone, or confess that I’d snuck off in the middle of the night specifically to have sex with Sydney.

Yeah, I knew which one would cause less immediate drama.

"Yeah... I’m sorry about that," I said, meeting her eyes directly rather than looking away. "I should have been more considerate."

"I mean... you don’t have to apologize to me," Cindy said quietly, though her gaze shifted away from mine to focus on something over my shoulder. "You and Sydney are together too. You’re allowed to... to be together. Just... just be careful, okay? Sneaking around at night could be dangerous. There are still Infected out there."

I smiled gently and crossed the short distance between us, reaching out to cup her face with one hand. Before she could process what I was doing or pull away, I leaned in and kissed her lips, softly at first, then with more warmth and intention, trying to convey without words that she mattered too.

The kiss clearly surprised her. I felt her entire body go rigid with shock for a moment before she began to relax into it, her lips responding to mine.

When I pulled back, I kept my face close to hers, my hand still cupping her cheek. "I know," I said quietly and seriously. "Let’s get ready now. We’ve got a long day ahead of us."

Cindy nodded slowly, seeming to shake herself free from whatever emotional fog had been clouding her thoughts. A small, genuine smile finally broke through her complicated expression, warming her features.

"Right. A long day. Let’s do this."

She turned and began walking toward the van’s exit, and I fell into step behind her.