On the first day, both women were too tense to speak.
Not two miles out from Kate's camp did they spot a group of heavily armed Widows on patrol. Frightened, Kate and Yelena hunkered down in the brush until the group passed with their web tattoos and their assault rifles. Despite the scare, the Widows seemed to be on a typical sweep instead of a targeted manhunt, but seeing the faces of her former comrades only made Yelena more determined.
After that, Kate wordlessly demonstrated how to move more inconspicuously through the trees, stepping more sideways and on her toes. Yelena followed the advice, moving more adeptly and quietly than before. As a Widow, she hardly ever bothered with stealth outside of certain missions. Being part of a group, a notorious and feared group at that, she had the luxury of walking tall and proud, chest puffed out and patches showing the world how dangerous she really was. She could barge in, gunsling and showboat, knowing she had tens of sister behind her.
Now, on the other side of the wolf pack, as the prey instead of a member, it was terrifying. Any crunching misstep in the forest may be enough to tip the Widows off; any heavy footfall may leave an incriminating print. She wished she could have travelled all night, but that would be testing fate, begging for a broken ankle whilst stumbling through the shrouded wood.
Yelena only reluctantly halted travel to set up camp at sundown. Finding a relatively well hidden place with low shrubbery and a boulder at their backs, Yelena set out her blanket to cover up in only to hand it over to her companion, who looked more like a lost puppy than a girl. Shivering and droopy eyed, Kate unconvincingly promised to take first watch, though fell asleep a half hour in. It was no matter, though, as Yelena sat sleepless for the entire night, pistol drawn and finger on the trigger.
On the second day of travel, Kate roused slowly, not used to being on anyone's schedule but her own. She fumbled around, gathering her jacket as the sun peaked above the horizon, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes as they resumed their path in the tree line nearest the highway.
"How's your head?" Kate asked softly after a few silent miles of walking. "I'm not asking that to be a dick."
Yelena glanced back at the woman trudging a few paces behind her. Normally, she would never let anyone have a clear strike at her back like this, but with Kate...
"It's fine," she responded, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "Like I said, good form."
Kate only hummed, and at the distanced look in her eye, Yelena dropped back to walk in step with her. Always evaluating, calculating, assessing, Yelena eyed the girl next to her. Kate Bishop was a good four or five inches taller, but much skinnier. She had not had the privilege of eating hearty Widow cafeteria meals, nor the gym facilities to build muscle. Still, though, she was strong in her own right, in the wiry sort of way that thin people often were.
Her clothes were expectedly tattered from years in the forest, though she was overall well kept. Her brown leather jacket was worn, with both elbows rubbed threadbare. Underneath, she sported a red and black flannel and a white undershirt which she had probably not removed for years. Her pants, which looked to be a sort of khaki painter's pant, were ripped in one knee. The only respectable part out her outfit were her sturdy brown work boots, which Yelena was sure had left a print on the side of her face.
"How long were you out there?" Yelena asked, eyes returning to the road, constantly flitting back and forth on the lookout for Widows. "In the woods, I mean."
Kate took a while to respond. Her gaze was solely on the ground, focus honed in to keep her bad leg from dragging and tripping her. "Three years, give or take. You know how time moves now."
"Yeah. But I saw your camp- you had calendars, sun dials, constellations memorized. Seemed like you were more on top of time than I ever was."
"You had time to look at all that?" Kate winced. "How long were you free?"
"You slept for half the night, so three or four hours, maybe. Enough time to see that your camp was incredible. The traps, the inventions, honestly genius. And I'm not buttering you up."
Kate turned her face to hide the embarrassing pink blush. "Thanks."
The two fell into a comfortable silence for another mile or so. They were getting closer to the Pennsylvania state line, farther from Widows and closer to Natasha. Once out of Widow range, Yelena could travel more freely; take shortcuts and pass through towns. But for now, being so close to base, she would get by on the contraband in her pack.
Next to her, Kate was trying and failing to ignore her screaming knee. It always flared up at the worst times- on hunts, fishing, drop kicking an unidentified woman. Besides the physical discomfort radiating from the joint, its origin was tied to a particularly dour memory. And that was saying something, as most memories during the apocalypse were dreadful.
Trying to keep her mind off her leg, Kate readjusted her bag, accidentally bumping shoulders with Yelena in the process. This half step sideways affected her gait enough to briefly twist her face in pain, and this time Yelena did not miss it.
"Are you alright?" The blonde asked, ducking under a branch, pistol still in her right hand. "You're wincing."
"I'm not-" Kate gritted her teeth, warding off the newly forming cramp in her abdomen. The last thing she needed was for a Widow defector to take her as a weak, as a liability, and dump her in the woods. "I'm good."
"You've been favoring that knee of yours for two miles."
"So?"
"So... we don't need to aggravate it, Kate Bishop."
Surprised by the answer, Kate allowed herself to slow from the grueling pace of their walk, and Yelena slowed in kind. Squinting her eyes to see between brush and foliage, Kate spotted a mile marker next to the road and said, "Pennsylvania is so close. We can make it before dark."
"Are you sure?"
Kate took a wholly unconfident next step, wobbling ever so slightly. Yelena stopped, holstered her pistol, and slung her duffel to the front of her body.
Puzzled, Kate had to ask, "what on earth are you doing?"
"I'm gonna carry you."
"Like hell you are."
"Oh, come on, Kate Bishop." Yelena scooted back, arms outstretched behind her. "Don't make it weird."
"This is extremely weird. Everything is weird all of the time. We live in a world of the undead."
"Well, when compared to the Lurkers, a piggyback ride isn't that weird at all."
Kate sized her up. This had been the strangest sequence of days she'd had in quite some time, all culminating in the genuine offer of a piggyback ride from a former Black Widow. Just a typical Tuesday in the apocalypse.
In all honesty, Kate would have appreciated a bit more coldness from the blonde. At least then, Kate could be on her guard, validated in her suspicion, vindicated in her decision to ostracize herself from humanity for the last three years. If the first person she met after all that time turned out to be a golden haired, pistol whipping angel on earth, then what was the point? Why hide?
Kate fled Boston because people were too... human. Things were already fraught between the city's factions, but once the water in the south district was revealed to be contaminated, all hell broke loose. People who claimed to be friends, lovers, brothers, broke those bonds in bloodshed and battery. Resources became king, and Kate saw people killed over purification tablets, pots, and sometimes for no reason at all.
And behind the scenes, her mother helped pull some of those strings. She created a city drowning in chaos just to be the one to throw the life preserver. All her mother ever wanted was her faction in power, everyone else be damned. In a way, Kate understood her need for security, for dominance, but not at that expense.
So, she left. And she never looked back.
Kate looked back to Yelena once more. The blonde raised her eyebrows in expectation, and with a sigh, Kate obliged her, hopping onto her back with an annoyed frown. She thought her weight may be impossible for Yelena to bear, what with two bags full of gear, but the blonde hardly had to slow her pace as she marched.
"Only a mile and a half," Yelena read, nodding resolutely.
Kate placed her hands awkwardly on Yelena's shoulders. From her heightened post, she could better appreciate the way the afternoon sunshine beamed through the canopy. Though much lower, it was almost like her treehouse, and after a little while, Kate was almost content.
"You okay up there, Kate Bishop?"
"If you are."
"Never been better."
"Can I ask you where you're going? Where your... sister is at, I guess?"
Yelena paused for a beat. "South Carolina."
"Jesus Christ," Kate responded without thinking. "Sorry. That's just so far. And without a car?"
"I could get a car if I wanted. All I would need is gas."
"You can hot-wire?"
"Of course I can."
"Of course. Widow. Duh."
"Alright, my turn for a question, then. What's up with your leg?"
"Hurt it."
Yelena frowned. "How? A fall? Sports as a kid?"
"An... accident, I guess."
"Okay, not touching that one."
Kate appreciated her discretion. She crossed her arms around Yelena's neck, resting her head for a moment. "Did you play sports as a kid?"
Yelena almost laughed. "Didn't have that kind of childhood, sweetheart. I did play soccer for like, two weeks, though. Then the apocalypse happened."
"It's a shame. I'm sure you would've been a real Mia Hamm."
"Sure. Did you?"
"Basketball, for a little. But mostly archery."
"Explains the bow."
"Yeah. I swear, I was on track for the Olympics without these fucking zombies." Kate paused, laughing despite herself. "Okay, have you ever thought about how famous people might be Lurkers? Like Olympians and Oprah and stuff?"
"I have thought about that. Imagine getting bitten by undead Michael Cera." Yelena struggled to keep her balance as she laughed. "I always wonder what happened to the President, too. He gave that emergency order and then just disappeared."
"My mom always said they flew him out to Canada before things got really bad. I don't know, though. Maybe he's in some underground bunker trying to put together a plan."
"Well, I'd appreciate it if he would hurry up."
"Yeah," Kate sighed, "me too."
"But, you know..." said Yelena, a bit more solemn now. She adjusted her grip on Kate, lips pursed. "All things considered, you and I could be a lot worse off."
Kate nodded. The sun was beginning its descent, and she fought off a yawn as the rhythmic sway of Yelena's gait nearly put her to sleep. She focused on her senses to ground herself, noting how the forest smelled like pine needles and mulch, how Yelena somehow smelled like coffee and steel. The sunset painted the sky pink, a shade a touch lighter than Yelena's Black Widow patches.
Though previously unsure of what to do with her hands, Kate contented herself with running the pads of her fingers over the woven patches. She memorized the curves of the stitching, the bumps and outlines of the stars and hourglasses.
"What do they mean?" Kate asked, voice hoarse. Her thumb stuck on the biggest star in the center of Yelena's right shoulder.
"My patches?"
Kate nodded before remembering Yelena could not see the action. "Yes."
"The stars represent my rank."
Smoothing over the three stars, Kate continued, "like the military used to? Colonel, general, and all?"
"Sort of. The littlest star is for inductees. Just means you're a member. The next star represents your role; scavenging, manufacturing, whatever. Scavengers get a green outline, farming gets brown, so on."
"So you were a scavenger?"
"Mhm."
"You just searched for supplies?"
"Kind of- watch your head." Yelena ducked under a low oak branch. Kate heeded the warning, pressing her body closer. "Supplies are part of it. We are the most combat-heavy group, I'd say. Recon missions, patrols, scouting. But the main goal is to gather supplies, yes."
"And the big star?"
"I have a leadership role. Senior scavenger. I get more say on mission sites, who is on my squad, all of that." Yelena cringed, remembering her grueling later years in the group. "That was the idea, anyway."
"Hm." Kate traced the hourglasses now, wondering what it would be like to have a purpose so meaningful that you would proclaim it so prominently, an almost literal heart on a sleeve. "What about the hourglasses?"
"Well..." sighing, Yelena's expression darkened. "I guess I should just be honest. They're for kills."
Kate's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "Kills? Killing Lurkers, right?"
"In part."
"So what's the other part?"
"People. What else?" Yelena felt Kate tense. She slowed her walk, glancing back as best she could to try and meet her eyes. "Each hourglass means twenty kills. Lurker or otherwise. Most of mine are Lurkers, but... I mean, you know how it is out here. Not everyone has the best intentions. I'm sure you've had to do things you're not proud of."
Kate's jaw clenched as she counted the patches. Fourteen little hourglasses adorned the sleeve. "Only once."
"I see."
Thankfully for both women, the Pennsylvania state line welcomed them in not long after. Though wishing she could walk forever, Yelena decided not to push it, settling in to camp under the increasingly sparse cover of the woods.
Kate slid silently off her back, initiating the little routine the two had already developed. Kate sparked up a small fire while Yelena set out the rations for dinner, and soon, as the sun melted into night, the two found themselves once again in a silent twilight.
"I'll take first watch," Yelena said confidently, cramming the wrappers from her beef jerky back into her pack. "I'll wake you up in a few hours."
"No you won't..." Kate sighed, back to the fire and already slipping into sleep. "Just don't..."
"Don't what?" Yelena asked, but Kate was already snoring.
For the second straight night, Yelena sat alone under the stars, her only companions being the sleeping stranger beside her, the cold metal of her pistol, and the burning, shameful heat of the patches on her upper arms.
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Stick with me folks I'm sorry this is a bit of a slower burn. Before I start a book someone should really tell me it's okay to start with an established relationship.
Anyway, I really like this world and how these two are interacting with it, and I hope you do as well.
PS we will actually see zombies next chapter. Sometimes I forget they exist.