Hope you guys like the first chapter. It was mainly just an info chapter and a little bit of Lilah being a badass. I feel like a lot of my OCs start weaker and work towards being like that, so I wanted this one to be like that right off the bat, you know?
Please don't be a ghost reader, let me know what you think.
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She hadn't stuck around long after that, gathering her things and leaving the building. Seeing as the trip there took a while and her monster battle wasn't exactly quick, Delilah decided to head back to the bus.
The sun was beginning to set and no doubt Brax would be back soon. So, she began to trek back, crossbow tightly in her hands so that she wouldn't drop it again. She encountered no monsters on her way back, thankfully, making for a quick trip.
Getting closer to the bus, the sound of a voice made her slow down. Double checking that the crossbow was loaded, she took careful steps towards the door.
"Nice place," the voice said. She didn't hear Brax respond, which left her realising that unless another person had found their way onto the bus, the intruder was talking to Boy. "Can I sit?"
Delilah moved closer to the door, which she had spraypainted 'GO AWAY FIND YOUR OWN BUS' onto in bright orange paint. How was this not clear enough for this stranger? She thought it was pretty straightforward, herself.
"Thanks. You all alone? Yeah. Me too." She heard the voice continue. It sounded like a boy, and it definitely wasn't Brax. "Boy. Is that your name? Boy? Your name is Boy."
Feeling her jaw clench at this person talking to her dog, Delilah pulled open the door quickly and stepped into the bus, pointing the crossbow directly at the stranger. "Are you trying to kidnap my dog?"
"Wh-what?" the boy stumbled, standing up and tightening his hands around his own crossbow as he looked up from the canine to the girl.
"Drop the crossbow and your arrows, and step the fuck away from my dog," Delilah warned, adjusting her grip to aim at his head instead of his chest.
"Okay, okay, okay," the boy said quickly, throwing the crossbow and quiver down onto the girl's bed, which he had previously been sitting on.
Delilah lowered her crossbow from her eyeline so that she could get a better look at the intruder. He was staring at her with wide brown eyes, clearly not expecting the confrontation.
He had messy hair that seemed quite dark against his pale skin. He was taller than her, but not by much, his posture stiff as he stared at the deadly weapon pointed in his direction.
He appeared to be around her age, but it was hard to tell. With the world ending, people seemed to age differently. Not because of the chemicals, but because people had to mature faster, every child forced to grow up. Delilah had seen it happen in several bunkers over those first few years. Children were handed guns and crossbows, taught to protect themselves from the creatures who lived among them. She knew Arlo wouldn't have been too far off of learning those skills.
His dark eyes were blinking quickly as his hands rose in defence, watching the girl's movements. What confused her, was that he had thrown down his weapon. He had had a crossbow aimed at her also, but when she asked, he dropped it.
Delilah stepped closer to the boy who attempted to move back, not lowering her crossbow. "Can you read?"
The boy's brows pulled together in confusion, hands lowering slightly, "Can I-"
"Can you read?" Delilah repeated, growing irritated with the intruder.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course, I can read," the boy responded, urgency in his voice as he brought his hands back up and tried not to piss the girl off.
"Okay. So, do I need to use a different colour of spray paint or something? Because the bus clearly says 'go away'," she said through a clenched jaw.
The boy nodded nervously, words stumbling past his lips, "You're right, it does. That is completely my bad, so I'll just-"
"What are you doing here?"
"Is the crossbow really necessary?" He asked, shrinking back from her. As the evening sun's light shifted through the window, he was able to see her better and his eyes widened. Her shirt had fresh red stains, and he had seen enough to know what it was.
"Oh, my God, whose blood is that?"
Delilah looked down to see that she did indeed have blood staining her shirt. She figured some of the blood must have gotten on her when she had driven the machete into the monster. She shrugged as she looked back up, "Some monster who tried to kill me. I killed it first."
The boy's mouth fell open slightly, surprised that she had been able to kill one on her own. He himself became quite terrified when in the presence of the monsters - not that he was about to admit that to her, of course.
"Right. Okay. Look, I'm not looking for any trouble. I swear, I didn't know anyone lived here. I was just following him."
He pointed to Boy, who tilted his head to the side as he looked between the two humans. As far as he was concerned, he was just helping the nice humans so that they didn't get eaten by monsters.
The intruder seemed sincere and also appeared to be terrified of the girl on some level. It was enough to make Delilah lower her crossbow somewhat. But then she looked at Boy and remembered the rule that they had with Brax - trust no one unless they proved themselves trustworthy.
"Where are your friends? Are there more on the way?" Delilah asked, her instincts kicking in as she brought the crossbow back up, not letting her guard down.
"No, there's no one here or on their way. I'm alone," the boy responded quickly, not wanting to be shot. "I swear."
"Then, you're either lying or just downright stupid," a gruff voice laughed. Delilah knew it was Brax without even having to turn around.
"I'm not lying," the boy assured quickly.
"Then you're stupid," Brax stated. The man stepped into the bus, turning his machete in his hand. "And who have we got here, Lilah?"
The girl went to answer when she realised she had never actually asked the boy for his name. She glanced at the boy expectantly, raising her brows for an answer.
"Joel. Joel Dawson," the boy choked out, a slight whimper in his voice. It wasn't every day you had a girl pointing a crossbow at you and a man holding a very threatening looking blade. "Is- is that a machete?"
Brax grinned, turning the blade again, "Yes, Joel Dawson. That is exactly what this is. Now, do you want to tell me why the hell you're on our bus?"
"I followed the dog. Boy," Joel said quickly, eyes not leaving the machete as he pointed to Boy. "He saved me from one of the monsters."
Looking the boy up and down, Delilah didn't find this too hard to believe. Not only was he covered in dirt, but by how he reacted to her, the monsters would be a lot worse in comparison. Plus, Boy had a tendency of wanting to help people who needed it.
Seeing how nervous the boy looked and taking into account that he was defenceless right now, she lowered her crossbow. Her eyes scanned him, searching for what belongings he had brought with him.
"Why are you out here alone? Did you steal food or something?"
Joel gave a shaky nod in thanks when she was no longer pointing her crossbow at him, gulping heavily. "No, I didn't steal anything. I'm looking for someone. No one else in my bunker wanted to risk coming with me. So, I decided to go alone."
Delilah was immediately reminded of when she had wanted to leave her bunker. Every single adult had said no, all of them being too afraid of the monsters. "Where are you heading?"
"Jenner Beach," Joel answered quickly.
"Jenner Beach?" Brax scoffed. "That's at least 80 miles away. You'll never make it."
Delilah thought for a moment, thinking about how she wished someone had helped her when she needed it most. Of what had happened when they didn't help her. The thought overtook her before she could stop herself from saying what she said next.
"Not on your own, at least."
Both Joel and Brax were confused by this statement until Brax realised what she meant. Glaring at Joel, the man pointed to a bus seat, "You stay here." He then grabbed Delilah's arm and dragged her out of the bus, slamming the door behind them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Delilah?"
"It's like you said, Brax, he'll never make it on his own," she explained. "He'll probably die if someone doesn't help him."
"No, it's more than that. Sure, you're reckless, but you're never this reckless," he said shaking his head in thought. He watched the girl, noticing how she was spinning the bracelet she always wore. Sighing heavily, he looked down at her. "This is about Arlo, isn't it?"
Delilah considered lying, but Brax had known her long enough now that he could pick up on small things that gave her away.
"So what if it is?" Delilah said through gritted teeth, a hint of warning in her voice telling Brax to watch his step around this topic.
"Dammit, I should've known," Brax said, shaking his head. "This guy isn't some helpless kid, Lilah. He's a grown man, he can take care of himself."
Delilah immediately raised her brows, "Really? Were you looking at the same 'grown man' as me? He froze as soon as I had my bow pointed at him and needed Boy to save him from a monster. How do you really think he'd deal with them on his own?"
Brax went to argue, running a hand roughly through his hair. "It's nearly 85 miles, Lilah. That trip is seven days minimum."
"So, you're telling me you weren't planning on making us leave the bus soon?"
"Considering that that idiot has probably led something here, yes, we'll be moving. But, it wasn't going to be Jenner Beach."
"Then where?"
Brax took a step closer, as Joel might have been listening in. "I've heard that there's a settlement that's safe from monsters. My radio cut out before they could give me the coordinates. I just need to get those pieces to get my radio working to confirm it's real and once I do, we're heading there. We're leaving tomorrow. Without the String Bean."
"Fine," Delilah mumbled. She had been with Brax for five years now. It didn't matter if she wanted to help the boy, she wasn't about to pick him over Brax when she had no reason to.
The two walked back onto the bus to see Joel sitting on the seat where Brax had told him to wait, tapping his foot on the ground anxiously. Hearing the door open, he looked up at them.
"Hey, look, I'm really sorry, okay? I'll get out of your hair."
Brax blocked the way, shaking his head. "It's getting dark and you're not going to find anywhere safer than here. You can stay the night, but when morning comes, you're gone. Got it?"
"Got it. Thank you," Joel said immediately, feeling relieved that he didn't have to go back outside yet. The monsters he'd dealt with already that day had been enough.
Delilah and Brax began to remove their weapons, storing them for the night. As Brax lit a few candles, Delilah went about opening some cans so that they could all have something to eat before getting some rest.
Digging through a container, she found three spoons. She handed each of them a can and a spoon, all of them sitting down to eat.
"I, uh, didn't catch your names," Joel said, trying to make conversation.
"Delilah," the girl told him, as she took a scoop of beans out of the can in her hand.
The man looked at Joel, still unhappy that he was here. "Brax," he answered, not even bothering to give him his actual name. He was just glad Delilah hadn't told him her full name - it reassured him that the girl didn't entirely trust him either.
"Joel Dawson," the boy said with a nod.
Delilah laughed lightly, "Yeah. You said that earlier."
"Right. Sorry."
The boy focused on the can in his hands, a small blush in his cheeks at embarrassing himself. He hadn't been around someone his age in a long time, and he felt like he'd done nothing but make a fool out of himself since he'd stepped foot on the bus.
"And of course, you've already met Boy," Delilah stated as she poured some of her food into a bowl and set it on the floor for the canine.
Boy began to dig in immediately, hungry after a busy day of saving lives. He seemed to be glad Joel was there, not having growled at the boy just yet.
"Yeah," Joel laughed. "So, did you just not want to give him a real name?"
Delilah knew it was a harmless question, but something inside her suddenly felt sick. Standing up, she grabbed her jacket. "I'm gonna get some fresh air, Brax."
The man nodded, watching the girl get off of the bus. Joel's forehead creased, looking from the door to the man sitting across from him. "Did I do something?"
Finishing off his can, Brax dropped the spoon inside with a clang. "Don't worry about it. You'll be gone tomorrow anyway, String Bean."
"String Bean?" Joel mumbled to himself as Brax put his can and spoon over on the bus's dashboard before moving towards the back.
The man had done something similar to Delilah, pushing a mattress between chairs to make a bed. He had to use the back seats since he was bigger than the small girl. Removing his shoes and climbing onto his bed, Brax glanced over at the boy.
"Get some sleep. 85 miles is a long way and you might not get a full night's rest like this any time soon if you want to make it to Jenner Beach."
Joel was confused by what had happened with Delilah, but nodded anyway, moving to an empty seat. He figured the remaining bed belonged to the girl, Delilah, and didn't want to take that from her.
He found himself staring out the window, watching Delilah as she sat in the grass. He wasn't sure what he'd said, but he felt bad either way. He'd barely been gone from his colony one day and had already annoyed two people.
Delilah sat twisting her bracelet around her wrist, touching each bead. She did so to remind herself to be brave and not give up - her family would want her to survive.
She missed them every day. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the photo that she had taken from her room all those years ago. It was worn, all four corners bent and small tears threatening to ruin it. She had somehow managed to keep it safe over the years.
Delilah hoped that they could see her; see that she had survived and continued to do so. She hoped that Arlo could see that she kept the name Boy all these years and that the dog was keeping her safe.