Apocalyptic Love

Making Enemies

Crystal held her hand over her mouth to silence her hyperventilating, whilst I held my knife at head length ready to protect us. People were dangerous, there was only a slim chance they had good left in them, and I wasn't willing to risk our lives trying to find that out. They either of two things, supplies or us.

Crashes echoed through the store as they turned over shelves "Aint nothing left here" A hoarse voice sounded from what I was guessing was an older man, his dark tone evident "Gonna check out back" He shouted as his footsteps grew closer.

The floorboards rattled as his heavy footing hit the hardwood, he stopped at the end of the desk heaving a loud sigh. Crystal was close to tears when he sat on the top of the desk and started swinging his legs into the side of the fragile wood.

"Find anything" A younger man joined him but all the elder did was laugh. The hairs on my neck stood spreading terror through my veins when I realised why he was laughing. They followed us in here and they knew exactly where we were hiding.

From a young age I was taught how to deal with these situations. Never let them know your weakness, that can be used against you in any situation and never answer their questions fully; Don't lie to make it believable but never tell them the whole truth. The fragile girl in front of me would surely break; she wasn't made for life-or-death situations.

My mouth moved enough to make sure she understood what I was saying but I stayed silent "When I signal. You run" She was hesitant, her eyes widening but she nodded.

Now or never.

Crystal's eyes bulged as she watched me reveal myself to the two strangers, I held by hands above my head but never once lessened the grip around my knife handle "Aint no point in hiding, you already knew I was here" I eyed the grey-haired man standing tall in front of me. His clothes were soiled, dirt covering him from head to toe. The two had no long-term safety and were barely scraping by much like us. His eyes were dark and piercing as his sight roamed over me almost making me gag when he swiped his tongue along his lower lip.

The boy standing at a distance was much younger, most likely close to my age. He held a striking resemblance to the older man which I was guessing was his father, except the boy's body language was the exact opposite. The brunette's eyes held fear and shame as he watched his father dart his eyes across every inch of my body, turning his head when I made eye contact with him.

"Tell me darling, why are you hiding" The man attempted to step closer, but I made my thoughts clear by stepping back. I didn't stop until I was against the opposite wall, it was risky, I was closing off my only exit, but it was the only way to give the girl a chance to escape. Men like this only cared about one thing and he wouldn't risk letting me go to run after Crystal.

"Can't tell whose good news these days, you know how it is" My eyes never left his, he was trying to intimidate me, but it wouldn't work "Crystal. Go" All the man did was laugh as my friend sprinted from the room, only stopping to take one final look back at me before running out of the shop.

The adolescent boy looked from his father then back to me "Should I go after her?" He didn't want to go but by the fear evident across his face, his father wouldn't have given him a choice.

"No".

They didn't have firearms, if they did they would have been aiming them at me by now.

"You going to do this the easy or hard way girlie?" He took another step forward letting his hands lean on the desk in front of me "You are outnumbered" He tried to look threatening, but I was nowhere near scared, I was fucking angry "It's not often we come across a pretty girl like you".

I mirrored him, leaning against the other side of the desk as he let an evil cackle rip through the room. He got cocky, underestimated me because I was a girl and there was two of them.

"Is this what gets you off?" The mans eyebrow raised, his eyes never once leaving mine "Scared young girls who can't defend themselves. You are a sick bastard" His brows furrowed as his hands gripped the table harder.

"I like that feisty mouth of yours. But you already know you are outnumbered".

Even with the situation I laughed "Your son over there looks like he's about to piss his pants. Plus I'm not scared of you" I used all the strength in my body to force my knife through his hand, the blade slicing through his hand like butter and imbedding itself into the wood underneath. His son's eyes widened as his Father let a blood curdling scream rip through the small room as he grabbed at his hand, trying to free himself from the trap I'd set.

That was my cue. The son was still standing frozen in the same spot, watching his father with wide eyes as he grunted curse words to me, scratching his free hand against the wood "Laters asshole" I shouted as I pushed through the shop, not taking a breath as I inched through the glass doors.

Once again I was running from danger, my boots sinking into the damp soil as I ran through the stretch of woods. I was following the tracks that were noticeably Crystal's, she was rushing, the tracks were smeared everywhere showing the mere speed she was running and slipping through the mud.

Every so often I looked back as I dodged through branches, making sure I wasn't being followed. The burn itching my muscles was almost unbearable as I carried on, the walk here took just under an hour so I would be running for a while.

A short pause was all I needed, leaning my hands against my knees as I crouched down to catch my breath. There was the slightest possibility they would catch up to me, it would take him a few minutes to pull the blade from the desk and he would have to stop the bleeding before he could even fathom coming after me. I didn't regret the pain I caused him – he would have done much worse to me.

Standing to my full height I readied myself to run again, stretching my tired muscles, but the moment I turned to sprint my body collided with a hard chest. My weight crashing against the stranger as I fell forward landing on top of the larger body, out of instinct my hands thrashed against the solid form even when its arms wrapped around me in a tight hold.

"Hey" The voice said in such a familiar tone, but my eyes were glued shut "It's me Katie, Open your eyes".

I relaxed when I recognised my name and opened my eyes to see a familiar pair of Hazel eyes staring back at me, his once hardened stare now grazed with softness as he looked over me. He forced himself from the dirt while holding me in his lap, his grip loosening once he realised I wasn't going to run and before I knew it his calloused palms were cupping my heated cheeks.

"Carter?" The adrenaline was finally wearing off and my voice slowly trembling.

The boy nodded "Yeah, it's me, you're safe" Unconsciously I leaned into his touch against my face, letting out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding until I finally calmed down, but the realisation hit me like a truck – I was still straddling him.

I climbed up as calm as I could, holding my hand to him once I was standing seen as it was my fault he was lying in a puddle of earth.

"Crystal?" I searched his face.

Carter nodded softly "She's fine, back at the farm. Are you?" His voice held sincerity; a softness I knew he wasn't used to either, the boy standing before me was a different person to the one I knew. All I could do was nod before he ushered me back to the farm.

The blush didn't go undetected as his hand never left mine, his grip was firm but not enough to hurt me and it didn't release until we were back to safety.