Armoured

Carl

I watched Elaine for a while, seeing her chest ride and fall to make sure she kept breathing. I'm not sure why she fainted, her injuries were bad but not horrible. Maybe they had been worse though.

I got bored after a while, I mean who wouldn't. She was just laying there passed out. I messed with my hat for a while, daydreamed, drummed my fingers on my leg. After a while I got up and went over to sit with the girls.

Getting close their conversation suddenly died off and I wondered what they were talking about. Lizzie, Haley, and Sarah looked at me accusingly while Mika sat with big round eyes.

I sank into a cross legged position, "What's up?"

"We're just talking, girl stuff," Haley said, glancing at Sarah. Lizzie started nodding then looked at Mika.

"Not boy stuff. Or little kid stuff," she said pointedly. Mika shrank slightly and I frowned, almost wanting to glare at the new girls.

"Fine, Mika will hang out with me." I stood, taking the young girls hand and pulling her with me. "Don't worry," I told her, "You can help me watch Elaine."

As we left I heard Haley hiss at Lizzie, "He's rude."

Lizzie, surprisingly, defended me, "He's not. He's just grown up."

I shook my head and Mika and I sat down silently next to Elaine. We both started fiddling with different parts of out clothing and I smiled. She glanced up and saw it and smiled back a little.

"Things have been scary, huh?" I asked.

"A little. But I like this place. Carol said we might find some books that she can read us. It's been a long time since I've heard normal stories. I still have to go look for them."

I glanced over at Elaine, who was still asleep, and got an idea, "Well... Elaine is still asleep. I could help you look for a bit."

Mika's eyes brightened and she nodded excitedly. She bounced up to her feet and pulled me with her.

"I remember some ones where there were funny pictures and everything rhymed. From, you know, before."

I nodded and we went off to look for the children's book section of the library. It wouldn't be crazy to think there was one. We started along the edges, picking up books from the floor and checking their covers. The ones we found first were airplanes, their structure and the types.

It's been forever since I've seen an airplane. I never got a chance to go on one, I think my parents did before I was born. I remembered them though, big and loud, and I wondered if Mika did.

She chatted occasionally as we searched. There were so many books about so many subjects. Some were covered in dried blood. We didn't even think to touch them.

We found luck in the back corner, a few stuffed animals littered the area around shelves that were half a normal height. I was so glad we found them, I was getting a little tired of having Mika around me. She just had a lot more energy.

We looked in the bins and on the shelves and she picked out a stack and ran excitedly back to where Carol and my mom was. The smiled and Carol was absolutely over joyed with the find. She was a great person but sometimes her kind of lack of reality annoyed me.

I stuck my hands in my pockets, suddenly a little sad to be left alone. The library was a little dark, and after being so confined with everyone for the last few weeks I missed their presence. I made my way back to Elaine, looking around to make sure no one could tell my mood. I jumped a little when I went around the desks corner and found her dark eyes looking at me.

"H-hi. I'm Carl," I said, standing where I was, a few feet from her. I would have went closer but she scared me. That seems strange but she seemed tense and dangerous.

"I'm Elaine."

It was silent. I wasn't sure what to say. Should I ask about her injuries? About her past? Not say anything? She spoke before I needed to.

"Who are you people? What do you want from us?" She asked. I opened my mouth to speak but noticed blood slowly making a path down her godhead from her hairline,

"You're bleeding, let me-" I said, lurching forward and teaching for her. I was going to check for the wound and try to bandage it, a scab must have torn.

She slapped my hands away violently, shocking me.

"Don't touch me!" She hissed, shrinking back into the wall.

There was a scream from across the room then and or head a whipped towards the sound. I turned toward it and made a step to the side of the desk to see who it was. I looked toward where the girls were last to find the three older girls looking angrily to a crying Mika. She was holding her face. Was she slapped? I wondered. Before I could asked anything I had the breath knocked out of me and was thrown to the floor. Turning over I was straddled by a thin body - Elaine - and found hands squeezing my throat. I grabbed her arms and tried to pry her off but she was surprisingly strong. Her teeth were gritted and she fought to keep her hold as I thrashed under her. Thumping my boots on the floor I hoped to draw attention to myself. I was blacking out, spots were dancing in my vision and I was suddenly afraid that I was going to die. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I found a heavy blackness.

My last thought was deciding that girls were bitches. I was glad I was to young to have to deal with them.