I wake up feeling groggy. It's dark, damp, and cold. I lift myself up and look around. I'm in an old building, obviously abandoned by the looks of it. There's paint coming off the walls, rust covering the pipes connecting to machines, and soiled papers litter the floor in disarray. Out of the concrete floor blooms tall grass and other greenery. It's like the world has ended and nature has taken over.
"Uh..." I groan and feel my ear, an itchy, stingy pain has settled there. My entire body is shaking from the cold, making me rub my arms to keep warm.
"You're awake?" I hear a familiar voice. I look up and see mom staring at me from across the room next to a doorway. Her face is pale, but overall, still alive. The sight of her brings tears to my eyes.
"Mom!" I stand and run towards her and check for any bullet wound on her. Her leg, on the other hand, is obviously injured from the dog bite. It appears tended to, however, with cotton cloth wrapped around the lesion.
"I'm fine," she tries to reassure me by putting her hand over my arm, squeezing it softly. She's struggling to stand, so we sit.
"Did you kill him?" I ask, not sure how we made it out alive.
"That man saved me. I know you thought he was going to shoot me, and so did I. But he didn't. He shot the dog instead."
"He just let us go? What happened after that?"
"When you fainted, he helped us get here. He carried you in his arms and I used him as leverage to walk."
I look at her like she's crazy. No man would do that. The disease took over their minds and killed whom they once were. It's impossible that one of them helped us.
"I'm confused," I tell her, making her chuckle.
"I don't know, but he sure liked you," Mom replies. She gives me a disgusted expression, "he kept ogling you. I had to tell him to stop."
"Gross," I say and stand away from her, deep in thought.
"What—what if he did this to trick us? He knows our location. This place is no longer safe," I say, watching her reaction. She nods, but then shakes her head.
"It's been hours. Either he's playing with us, or he's waiting until dark to take us in. Either way, he helped us. It was a choice we're all involved in: be killed by the dog, caught because of the commotion, or accept his help. Without him, I'd be dead. And you'd be taken."
I think on it and then nod in agreement. "I guess."
"We'll be staying here for the night. It's still hard for me to walk," Mom tells me, leaning back against the wall. I feel my stomach grumble in hunger. I can't believe I left the food back in my knapsack. Mom did as well. Weapons are much more important to us than food. Without these protection devices, we wouldn't be able to obtain food anyway. So it was worth the sacrifice.
I nod and crawl next to her. I lean my shoulder against her's, and soon feel my body relax.
Sleep overtakes me.
...
"So, Raven said Vivi's brother's house is on the other side of town. We have a long way to go then..." I whisper as I head outside of the factory. Mom sighs as I leave, not liking that I'm going off on my own. We had an argument on how I can't go out alone. But she can barely walk. I think I won this round. We're starving and I don't think we can handle not eating for much longer. I grab the small knife and head towards the creek that runs behind the factory.
I reach the creek and focus on the rippling water, seeing fish moving their bodies to the current. I look around, making sure there's no one watching me and begin lowering myself into a striking position. When I feel the fish are close enough for an accurate strike, I raise my arm back and stab the knife into the surface of the creek. I bring it back and sigh in frustration when the knife comes back lacking. My stomach growls at the potential meal I could have soon. All I can think about is eating something.
Hours have passed and I'm still trying to catch a fish. Why is this so difficult?! I keep slashing at the water but it feels like my aim is getting sloppier. I'm completely soaked and shivering. My stomach is rumbling and I can barely think straight. It's a stabbing pain in my gut that won't let up, constant and annoying.
I sigh in frustration and raise my arm to stab the knife into the water; however, as my eyes meet the rippling current, I yelp when I see the reflection of another person in the water.
I roll over and raise the knife to defend myself but stop when I realize who it is: our saviour.
He raises an eyebrow at me and eyes the knife distastefully, like it's a toothpick and can't hurt him. I'm resourceful enough to turn a toothpick into a weapon, so this dude better be on his best behaviour.
"Who are you?" I hiss, eyes darting around me in case he has reinforcements. I size him up and look down his naked chest to see the intricate designs of strange tattoos covering part of his chest, arms, and back. My eyes roam over his body and notice he has a strong chest; muscled, and moulded perfectly from exercise. I look up and notice the light stubble of dark hair along his jaw line. He's complete man. And the first I've ever seen up close in ten years. I can't seem to turn away, wanting to absorb every part of him into memory. His hazel coloured eyes stare back at me, seeming to take in my every feature. He has sun-kissed skin, dark brown hair, and a permanent scowl. That is, his eyebrows are in a constant state of furrow. He's attractive, but something about his eyebrows gives him a dark look.
He turns his head to the side as if saying, "would you like to take a picture?" I move further away from him but stop when he moves his hand towards me, palm facing up. I look down at it in confusion.
He points at the knife, making me understand.
There's no way in hell I'll give him my weapon.
He rolls his eyes and points at the creak.
"If I don't, you'll throw me in there?" I question, unsure.
He lets out a long sigh and shakes his head. He lays down on his stomach like I had been doing before he scared the living daylights out of me.
"You want to fish?" I say.
He smiles and throws his arms out as if saying, "Finally!"
I roll my eyes, which I think is his favourite thing to do, and look down at my knife. Can I trust him? I feel my gut indicate no. But then I remember how he saved mom and got us out of there.
I slowly hand him the knife, making him smile. I literally feel like I just went and pulled a stupid move, like I did something against my entire being. Although his smile was meant to be friendly on his part, it still made me feel as if the devil just grinned at me.
"Can you not talk?" I ask as I sit away from him, putting distance between us. I still don't trust him enough to be beside him with a knife, my knife...
He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders before raising it like I'd done so many times before. I sigh and look up at the sky, knowing he's going to fail like I did.
I hear flapping and a large splash of water and look over with wide eyes.
He caught a fish on his first try.
The smile on his face is priceless.
"You're just lucky," I pout making him laugh. It's beautiful and husky, sounding so manly. I haven't heard a man laugh for ten years. I think my astonishment is warranted.
He throws the fish on the ground beside me and continues to repeat the same activity. This time I watch him for future reference. He eyes the fish closely and keeps his arm lowered just above the surface. But he waits for the fish to be comfortable with the large shade above it. And then he strikes and successfully penetrates the fish.
I'm amazed.
But now I'm more suspicious of him than before. Am I the fish in this situation, and he's the knife?
"You're good at that," I whisper. He only smiles and throws the fish next to the other one. Soon he's caught three fish. I can't imagine how long I would have been sitting here trying to do what he just did. He rolls in his bottom lip and then turns to look at me, his eyes so full of emotion that I can't turn away.
And then I feel something light land on my lap. I look down to see a green lighter.
"W-What? Why aren't you a monster?" I murmur, my eyes narrowing at him in confusion. He turns his head to the side, roaming his eyes over my face in deep thought. I blush when they linger on my lips. He moves closer and leans towards me.
I freeze.
His hot breath fans my face, making me shiver. He doesn't do anything, just stays next to my face.
I feel my body become floored by the anticipation. He's hot, dammit. I've never felt this way before.
I gasp when his lips kiss my cheek, his mouth so warm and soft. My mind notes it's the second time he's done this. I quiver and lean back to look at his face.
Even though he looks like a monster, he's not.
"You're beautiful," I say and blush red like a tomato when I realize I said it out loud.
He smiles and leans towards my lips this time. My heart races so fast I feel dizzy. His lips stop just inches from mine, and they open to say "thanks."
I gasp. So he can speak!
He leans back and stands up. I watch him in disbelief.
"Here," he drops my knife on the ground.
I stare at him wide eyed. Who the hell is this guy?!
"Who are you? Why aren't you crazy?" I ask, trying to ease my curiosity.
"I'm nobody. And who says I'm not crazy?" He smiles wickedly.
"But-" I start but he cuts me off,
"You should be getting back. Your companion is probably worried. Make sure the fire is hidden from the windows. See you later, Copper," he walks away from me but I stop him.
"Wait, please, will we see each other again?" I ask because I'm considering him as another resource. He can catch fish and has things that we might need in the future. If he's not infected, he could help us. I haven't fallen head over heels for him. No, he's just someone I can use right now.
He looks back at me and shrugs, "I hope not."
I swallow back my disappointment.
I watch him leave through the forest and wish he could have given me some answers.
Are there more like him?
I hope so.