The Flames in the Fight

The Beginning: By Jinx

I scrambled off him and clambered to my feet, holding out my hand to help him up. He looked confused but still grabbed my hand to lift himself up and then proceeded to brush the faint dusting of snow off his clothes. After a moment of silence, he stepped towards me and looked me directly in the eyes. The movement made me flinch.

"Why didn't you just kill me..? I didn't exactly make it difficult for you." He said weakly, I tried to avoid his unwavering gaze.

"I...I'm...I need someone to...I'm lonely and...I mean...I didn't want to kill you." I managed, he gave me a small smile.

"I had guessed that much. Alright then, let's try this one, why were you going to kill me? I'm not exactly a small guy, pretty brave for a midget like you to take on someone my size." He joked. I couldn't believe he was so light-hearted, only a moment ago I had been on top of him, holding a knife to his throat. His friendly tone did suggest to me that he wasn't going to hurt me though, and I was usually one for trusting my gut instinct.

"I was hungry." I admitted, looking down at the floor before a sudden gust of wind hit me like a train, making me gasp and shudder. The guy looked at me sympathetically. He rummaged inside the pockets of his leather jacket and produced a small bag of cornflakes.

"It's not great, but you can have it. You were going to end up with it anyway." He paused, "You should have just killed me, kidda."

I shot him a dirty look.

"I didn't kill you because...well..." I struggled to get the words out. How do you tell someone that you practically felt their heart beating through your clothes, and they therefore gave you hope that you might not be alone in the world? I pushed again for words, "I need someone to help me fight, or just to stick with me, it doesn't matter. I'm just sick of wandering around by myself...loneliness can kill you in a world like this." I finished. He just looked at me and then looked straight to the ground. 

"Yeah, it's a lonely world out here. But how do you know I'm not part of the Corporation?" The question was good. I didn't exactly know how to answer.

"I can just tell I suppose, they travel in packs usually, like hyenas. Plus, they're not as tolerant as you, if you were one of them, you would have killed me straight away." The snow was starting to fall more heavily now, and the light from the sky was nearly gone. I grabbed his hand. "Come on, I know somewhere safe." 

I pulled him through the back streets, or what was left of them. We had to climb over piles of dead bodies just to get through, and due to the cold weather, their flesh wasn't rotting very quickly. Some of them looked nearly alive. Nearly. Thankfully we weren't far from my little hideout: an old coalhouse attached to some terraced houses that were long abandoned. The coalhouse had a locking door and while it was freezing and damp inside, it was probably one of the safest places around for miles, probably due to the several gas canisters that had been left there by its previous owners. I had considered the fact that I might need to defend myself against the Corporation at some point, and if so, a great, big fireball seemed the best way to do that.

Inside the coalhouse were the few personal belongings I had. An SIG P226 pistol which I had found at an abandoned military base among the corpses, along with several rounds of ammo which I had never used. There was a trangea so I could cook food, firelighters, matches, a few lighters, a torch and some spare batteries, an old sleeping bag and my backpack which contained everything else I might need, including a first aid kit and various spare weapons, there was even a cricket bat in the side pocket. Stuffed in the bottom of my bag were some near clean clothes, I usually just took things from abandoned buildings or fresh bodies, and then when whatever I was wearing got too dirty to wear, I'd throw it away as soon as I found something else. To the right of the coalhouse was an old lantern with a candle resting in the middle. When we got through the door safely, I bolted the entrance and lit the candle so the soft light penetrated the darkness of the grimy room.

"I'd say make yourself at home but...there's not much of a home to make." I commented. 

"What's your name? And how old are you?" The boy questioned, looking directly at me.

"I'm Jinx," I lied, "and I'm fifteen, sixteen in just two months though."

"Well thanks...Jinx." He nearly smiled as he said the name, he knew it was fake. "I'm Vincent, and I'm eighteen, I'll have to get you some birthday snow or something...speaking of snow, it's fucking freezing in here." His observation wasn't wrong. I looked around for anything that would warm up the room, but unless I wanted to create a bomb with a gas canister, that just wasn't happening. 

"I'm sorry, this is all I've got." I apologised. 

"I wasn't saying I was cold, I was...well...I was kinda getting at the fact that I feel sorry for you sleeping in here with nothing to keep you warm." He laughed slightly, studying the room. 

We exchanged more pointless conversation for about an hour and shared the cornflakes between us, before my candle began to burn out. Cold wind rattled through the door, making us both shiver. I started coughing violently, the burning in my lungs becoming too much for me to handle. I hated the cold; especially in the North. I was coughing so hard I thought my lungs might fly out of my mouth, until I felt a hand around me, rubbing my back.

"You're only coughing because you're cold, try not to cough and you'll be okay." Vincent said, he looked concerned. I wasn't going to lie and say I was alright, I felt awful. I made an effort to hold back the pressing feeling on my chest that wanted me to pretty much hack up my guts. After a few minutes of taking deep breaths, I felt better, but Vincent didn't stop rubbing my back. If I remember correctly, he didn't stop even when I fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, he was awake with his arm around me. We didn't say anything when I woke up, we didn't need to, we just packed up, smiled at each other and walked out into the world. As friends.