Leo paused his steps and looked over his shoulder towards Robin, "Yes?"
Robin, as if not expecting him to stop, suddenly looked slightly panicked.
Amber, who was still standing next to Robin, took over. "I'm sorry for the way we reacted earlier. You were clearly just defending yourself from a potential threat and we were caught off guard."
Turning to face the women, Leo smiled, "Think nothing of it. I am not the least bit offended so you have no need to concern yourself about it anymore.
Now if you will excuse me, I would like to get some rest before the day is lost entirely.
I wish you ladies luck in your future travels. I recommend you shed your apprehension and fear of death or killing because it will soon envelope this world like a raging storm."
Leo once again turned towards the small mountain and began walking.
He could hear the sisters arguing once again behind his back but he didn't care.
Enough time had already been wasted and he wasn't going to allow them to take up any more of his time.
No sooner had he taken a few steps, did he hear the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching.
Not knowing the sisters' intentions, Leo wheeled around to face the woman, with his hand on the handle of his pistol ready to draw and fire.
Seeing his reaction, Robin, who had been running towards him quickly came to a halt and raised her hands in the air, "I'm sorry! Please don't shoot me!"
Leo could only shake his head at the woman but regardless he released his hand from the grip of the pistol.
Seeing that he had no intention of hurting her, Robin lowered her hands and looked at Leo pleadingly, "I'm sorry, I don't think we ever got your name. Can you please tell me?"
"Leo"
Robin smiled the best she could given the tension of the situation, "Nice to meet you Leo. Once again I am Robin and this is Amber."
Leo, despite his patience until now, was quickly becoming annoyed. "Well Robin, it's been a pleasure. But I really must protest to these constant interruptions. You ladies are free to go, so you should return home. I have to rest and then prepare for this evening so please be on your way."
At his words, Robin glanced down at the ground for a brief moment before she looked back at Leo with as much courage as she could muster, "I apologize if this is out of line or presumptuous but... could we possible stay here with you?"
Leo was surprised, "Why would you want to stay here with me? As you have already pointed out, I am a killer and pretty clearly not the best person there is in this world.
What would possibly compel you to think staying here would be a good idea?"
The fact she wasn't outright rejected seemed to give Robin the courage to continue, "You did what you had to do to protect yourself and we can respect that. You also gave them multiple warnings before you did what you did so it is their fault for not listening.
Also, the town has devolved into one of panic, chaos, and lawlessness.
Our phones do not work so we can't call for help, neighbors are attacking neighbors for supplies, and animals have been attacking the area nonstop trying to harm us.
Clearly from what you have accomplished out here, you were prepared, capable, and or lucky.
Staying here with you seems less dangerous than being in a town full of people who have seemingly lost all rationality."
Leo looked at the 'timid' woman in front of him with a raised eyebrow.
"You know... for someone who cowers behind their sister in fear, you are quite eloquent and observant. It's like you're using your sister to shield you from reality until you've had a chance to gather all the facts along with your courage."
Apparently Leo hit the nail on the head because Robin instantly looked embarrassed and Amber started laughing.
Since Robin was twiddling her thumbs and acting too shy to respond, Amber spoke after letting out a few more boisterous laughs, "She has been like this ever since we were kids. She's a smart girl but she doesn't have the courage to take the initiative. If she was anything less than the saint she is, I would be scared she would scheme against the world from the shadows."
"Oh really? That sounds quite interesting.
And what about you Amber, are you of the same opinion as your sister?"
Amber didn't answer immediately and just looked directly into Leo's eyes for a few moments.
Eventually she just shrugged her shoulders and, "Frankly, I don't care. As long as you don't force yourself on me or my sister, then I am happy as long as she is happy. Regardless of how much I tried to talk her out of this, she still wanted to stay. So I will concede to her on this decision. I'm not nearly as smart as her anyways. She's the brains and I'm the brawn."
Leo took a moment to consider silently.
Sure, the two girls would be added manpower in the future and he could assign them tasks that were relatively harmless such as cooking and gathering his kills up.
At the same time however, he barely knew them and they would be a liability to his own safety should he keep them nearby.
They didn't seem to hold any animosity towards him for what he had done to Amber's ex-boyfriend and his goons, but that didn't mean that it was true.
Leo went back and forth in his mind for a few minutes with pros and cons.
The cons far outweighed the pros in his mind but the fact that they were young, fairly attractive, and Robin seemed to be able to analyze situations quite accurately, Leo relented.
"Fine. You can stay here. But I warn you that I will not pander to you, coddle you, or give you any special treatment because you're women.
If you stay, you will work, you will fight, and you will contribute.
Do you understand?"
Robin, with an elated expression, looked over her shoulder at her sister who let out a deep sigh and nodded her head up and down.
Only then did Robin look back towards Leo and happily agree, "We promise to do our part as best we can! Please take care of us from now on."
Although Leo agreed, in the back of his mind were two prevalent thoughts.
First and foremost, the fact that these two were willing to stay in the middle of the desert with a someone they barely knew, who had also murdered multiple people in front of them, was questionable at best. And downright idiotic or psychotic at worst.
Secondly, was something that Leo had picked up when he had immediately confronted them.
Although he wasn't the most unattractive person, most people still looked at him with veiled mockery or disgust when they first met him and yet.. these girls hadn't.
They had simply engaged with him in a conversation regardless of his appearance and he appreciated that.
It was something subtle and they probably didn't realize they were even doing it, but that lack of judgement was something that Leo could respect and was the reason he ultimately agreed to allow them to stay.
With everything sorted, Leo turned and began to walk back towards the small mountain, expecting the girls to follow along.
But to his surprise, they were walking in a different direction.
When he saw them approaching some of his earlier kills, he watched as Amber bent over and picked the animal up and quickly threw it in her inventory.
Although she was clearly repulsed by the act, she did it nonetheless.
Once again, Leo was impressed by the two woman and left them to their own devices.
Even if they did steal the animals and ran off, Leo wouldn't lose much and he would know definitively what kind of people they were.
The amount of time he had to be impressed though was short lived because out of the corner of his eye, Leo noticed a figure dashing towards the two women.
Without hesitation, Leo withdrew one of the pistols from his hip and started sprinting towards the two girls.
Unaware of the looming threat, the girls only saw Leo approaching rapidly with his pistol drawn and an enraged look on his face; so they panicked and froze in place.
"We just wanted to -"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU IDIOTS!!"