Heart of Fire- ON HOLD

V

Chapter Five

The guy looks at me, waiting for me to reply to his statement: "I think the words you're looking for are 'thank you'."

I narrow my eyes at him, lifting up the bottom of my black tank top to wipe most of the Rotter blood and flesh off of my face.

"I was doing perfectly fine before you interfered."

He raises an amused eyebrow at me, his smirk intensifying.

"Oh really? Should I go grab three more Rotters so you can try again?"

I glare at him before I bend down to retrieve my two guns that were knocked out of my hands when the Rotters collided with me, "Maybe another time."

I check the magazine and chamber of each gun to see how many bullets I have left, before putting them back into the holders strapped around my thighs.

"I'm Cade," he volunteers.

"That's nice," I reply, stomping on the necks of the three Rotters he killed until their heads disconnect with their shoulders.

I decide that he's not an immediate threat, especially since he holstered his gun, and turn my back on him and walk away. I hear his footsteps quicken behind me, and suddenly he's beside me, matching my stride with his.

"You know, this is usually the point in the conversation where the other person introduces themselves," he says with an amused smile.

"Thanks for the refresher on social etiquette," I say, lacing my voice with as much sarcasm as I can.

He acknowledges my sarcasm but decides to ignore it anyways, "Nice to finally get a thank you around here."

I reward him with a glare, which for some reason leaves him completely unaffected. I continue on my path, stomping on the necks of the dead Rotters as I pass them to make sure they're completely not my problem anymore. I finally get to the fallen shelf I was standing on when the Rotters knocked it over in their attempt to eat me, where the most dispatched Rotters lay.

Cade, for once, doesn't say anything, but watches appraisingly as I make my way through the dead bodies and squish their necks as if I was bored of the whole situation.

I finally find my other two handguns that I dropped when the Rotters knocked over the shelf, and sent me flying to the floor. I quickly check the magazine and chamber on those two as well, putting them back into the holders on either side of my ribcage.

"You did a pretty good job on your own," Cade compliments, looking at the dead bodies.

It's only because I'm so trained that I don't react or hesitate at his words.

"I'm not alone," I reply without looking at him, still scoping the floor for my shotgun.

I can't let him know it's just Emma and I. That would leave me weak and vulnerable, open to an ambush from him and whoever he's with.

He makes a show of looking around, "Did they decide to hide while they let a little girl do all the fighting or are these people imaginary?"

He shoots me a charming smile, intending it as a joke and trying to win my affection or trust, I don't know. If I was any other girl, I would've melted at his charm.

I find my shotgun and pick it up. I know it's empty, but I make a show of pulling the action bar back to check if there is a shell in the chamber, before sliding it forward to make that trademark shotgun sound.

"I'm not just any little girl," I counter, trying to look as badass as possible so he knows not to fuck with me.

"Clearly," he agrees, his eyes alight with... admiration?