In Praetor

Chapter 7

After spending almost an hour at the clothing store, which was mostly Rise laughing at or complimenting Zulu as she was forced to try on a bunch of clothes, they stopped by a gun shop. It was a medium sized store, with the least suspicious weapons on display. The two wandered around for a bit, looking at what the store had to offer before going up to the counter. 

"What can I do for you?" the store owner asked, eying both of them. 

"I need to restock on clips for my plasma rifle and plasma pistol," Zulu told him. "I also need lighter fluid and flash bangs, as well as knife polish. Make sure it's all military grade." 

Both Rise and the store owner stared at her, pondering what she needed all that for. 

"I'll just get some shotgun and revolver ammo," Rise said to the store owner before he went to grab everything, causing the man to give him a slightly relieved look. 

"What?" Zulu asked, glowering at Rise as he looked her up and down. 

"Why do you need all that stuff?" He had an unsettling feeling after watching her ask for those things so nonchalantly. 

"Why do you think?" she shot back, her eyes narrowed. 

"Personal use," he admitted. 

"Of course, I'm not some government worker." She smiled for a second when Rise shook his head. He felt his heart skip a beat upon seeing that she could have a warmer, more beautiful side. 

"Here's everything," the shop owner said, coming back with a couple heavy duty bags. "You best be careful, the government dogs get easily suspicious of gun sales." 

"Don't worry, we were never here," Zulu said, handing him a small bag of gems. 

"Thanks for the business," the shop owner waved as they left. 

As they drove back to Rise's cabin, Zulu began going through the contents of the bags she had gotten from the gun shop. 

"What're you doing?" Rise glanced at her curiously, eying the bag warily. 

"Checking that it's all there." Zulu pulled out a block of C4 and looked it over. 

"That wasn't in your list." 

"I did say all military grade." 

"Speaking in code?" 

"First rule of the trade, never give away your true intentions. Always speak in a misleading way." 

Rise raised an eyebrow, wondering who made that rule. Zulu continued examining her "military grade" items. 

"What all do you have in there?" Rise turned his eyes back to the road, along with half his attention. 

"That's for me to know and you to not care," Zulu replied blatantly. 

"No, I should care, since all of it could more than likely put my life in danger," he pointed out. 

"Only if you give me a reason to kill you," she informed him with indifference and a cold voice. 

"That's not on my to do list," he assured her. 

"Not on mine either, for now," she shrugged. 

"You really don't trust me, do you?" 

"Nope, you just pay good money." 

"So I'm just a fountain of wealth?" Rise asked, half joking. 

"For me, that's exactly what you are," Zulu replied icily. 

"Then I guess you're just a cold blooded killer," he retorted, irritation causing him to lash out. 

"Can't really deny that," she muttered after a moment of silence. The momentary expression of pain he saw flash across her face told him she was hurt by his words. 

"Sorry," he mumbled. 

"Whatever, it's true," she sighed, turning away to stare out the window. 

Once they got back to the cabin, Zulu took her things into her room and locked the door. Rise took care of the groceries, and then started getting ready to make dinner. Once he had washed his hands and everything was in order, he started preparing the food. He took his time, knowing rushing would just cause a disaster. It took about an hour, so he hoped Zulu would be in a better mood. 

"Food's done," he said, knocking on her door. There was some rustling and a crashing sound, then a click and the door cracked open a bit. 

"I'll be out in a second," Zulu told him, as if all the sounds he'd just heard hadn't happened. 

"Er, okay." Rise stood there a bit confused and worried as she shut the door. What... What just happened? Why did it sound like she tripped on her way to the door? 

A moment later, she came out looking like usual, a slightly irritated look mixed with her nonchalant demeanor. 

"What?" she questioned when she noticed him staring at her. 

"Nothing, just wondering if you tripped or something," he replied. 

"I did." She walked past him to go eat. 

"Wait, you did?" He followed her. 

"Yeah." 

"Really?" 

"Do you think I'm lying?" 

"No, I'm just surprised." 

She shrugged, looking as if she didn't care what he thought. Ignoring the amused expression on Rise's face, she sauntered to the table and started eating.