~•~ Chapter 2 ~•~
I don't know where the lights are taking us...
Claire's POV
The drive was awkwardly quiet, the car had its ups and downs as the road had a few ditches. I kept receiving stares from everyone, others suspicious, others blank. My knee hadn't stopped bleeding and we were on the road for about ten minutes. I kept pressing my hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding but it wasn't enough. My collarbone had also an aching pain, making me wince every now and then.
I jumped when I heard a rip from my left. I turned to see Harry holding a ripped part of his tee in his hand before he leaned in to wrap it around my knee. His hands moved quickly and carefully, showing experience. I was surprised he did that, because I wasn't expecting him to care. Once the cloth was tightly tied around my knee, he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Thanks." I said quietly and he gave me a small nod, his eyes staring outside.
The four of us in the back were quite uncomfortable since it was too tight. I kept my hands in front of me, fidgeting with my fingers nervously. My empty gun was on my lap. I was still scared and still in pain. The guy who has such an attractive face on my right kept stealing glances at me, probably wondering who I am. I was scared to tell them my real name. Scared that even if I tell them everything about me, they will kill me.
The blonde guy took out a bottle and started gulping down a liquid. I stared at him, feeling my throat hoarse and dry. I wanted to drink plenty of water, since I was running for minutes, maybe hours. I don't know how that zombie entered my hidehout, but he did and I had to leave at midnight, which is too dangerous, but I didn't have any other choice.
He suddenly turned around and looked at me, making my stomach churn. He raised the bottle and cocked a brow. "Want some?" he asked, surprising me.
"Umm.." I hesitated to speak, thinking he was referring to someone else in here than me.
"It's water." he said and held it closer to me, his blue eyes kind, not suspicious or angry or anything else.
I nodded and gave him a small, shy smile. "Yes, please." I said quietly and he handed me the bottle. Once the first gulp went down my throat, my thirst grew stronger and I couldn't help myself from drinking it all.
The driver chuckled. "Give her some more, she's probably still thirsty." he said casually, making me like him.
"Here," the guy on my right handed me another bottle, his caramel eyes warm as they looked at me.
"Thank you." I gave him a small smile and gulped down some more water, loving how cool it was and how it satisfied my thirst.
Once I drank half of it, the bottle was taken away from me. "That's enough." Harry said coldly, screwing the lid.
I lowered my head, feeling somehow bad at the moment. I was still thirsty, the truth is, but it was their bottles, I couldn't drink all of it. Harry had something intimidating on him. Something that scared me. He had such a demanding voice, such a powerful figure. He was the leader, I was certain. And who can go against the leader's words? Certainly not me, a stranger who happen to find me in the middle of nowhere.
"Come on Harold, don't be like this." The driver said, turning the Jeep on the left.
"Liam, don't." The blonde one shook his head, his hand on Liam's shoulder.
The driver nodded and didn't say anything else during the drive to wherever we were going. I was scared to ask. I was scared to sigh. I was scared to even move my hands from my lap. I was scared that he would yell at me or something. He was scaring me, like a lot.
The Jeep entered a ditch, causing our heads to bump on the ceiling of the car. I flinched and rubbed the top of my head, while the rest of the boys groaned and complained, minus Harry.
"Be more careful." the boy with the blue eyes and brown hair hissed at Liam.
"Sorry, mate." Liam apologised simply and turned the car on the right.
"Where are you taking me?" I dared to ask, my voice a bit shaky.
"Somewhere safe, warm and fun." the blonde one replied, smirking.
I frowned in confusion. Safe, warm and fun? You can't find a place that isn't freezing, that isn't dangerous or isn't lonely here. Every place I searched is abandoned or full of zombies. It was hard to believe what he just told me.
"There's such place?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes." the blonde one answered easily.
Okay, these guys are good.
"Hard to believe, huh?" the guy with the brown hair and blue eyes huffed before he leaned in to take a better look at me. "Don't believe every word we say, we could be taking you somewhere to kill you right now." he smirked, making fear rose in ny chest.
Okay, maybe not that good.
"Stop scaring her, man." Liam chuckled.
The guy, who indeed scared me, grinned at me. "I'm Louis, the heart of the group, I like scaring new members. Sorry if I made you hate me, but if you're going to hold it against me, you better leave the car right now." he said, making the boys laugh, minus Harry.
I gave him a small smile and turned to look at the blonde one who turned to grin at me with his blue eyes showing a hint of amusement. "I'm Niall, attractively brave, incredibly sexy, with dyed hair and blue eyes that can see through your clothes." he said, making the boys laugh again. Harry, didn't join, though.
Maybe he doesn't laugh in general.
I blushed, hard, as the boys laughed and beamed at me. Oh my God, where did I get myself into? These boys are crazy. From being quiet, they can turn into noisy and laugh louder than the car's engine in less than two seconds.
"I'm kidding about the whole see through your clothes thing." Niall assured, smirking at me.
"You don't say." I raised a brow.
Liam chuckled. "Niall is Irish." he said, the boys laughing, again except from Harry. "The rest of us are British."
"I'm American." I said simply.
"What's your name, love?" Louis asked.
"Claire."
"Well, Claire, you are a new member of us." he said, confidently.
I gave him a small smile, but that was soon gone when Harry spoke. "Not so fast, Louis." he said lowly, his green eyes staring ahead.
My stomach was still tightly knotted with nervoussness and anxiety, my body still recovering from everything that has happened for the last couple of minutes. It must've been almost an hour since I almost got killed by that zombie and Harry saved me. I wasn't prepared for that, at all.
These guys were good, but there was something about Harry that scared me. I was scared of him. He was intimidating, confident, strong, and certaintly the leader, because his word was respected and followed by everyone. He was authorative, controlling and obviously tough. Despite that, he still saved me. He still was my savior, after all.
But I was still too scared to let myself trust these guys. I mean, yeah, they've been good to me, they saved me, but I wasn't certain if they would keep me alive till tomorrow. Things have changed in the world. It's not the same as they used to. As good as these guys might be, I will hold my shields up, just in case.
The vehicle finally came to a slow halt and I peeked through the window outside. It was a grey, tall, with two streetlights next to it and black windows building with a big iron gate. I looked up when I saw a few more lights and saw two guys dressed in a black uniform, with gloves, masks and big, heavy weapons in their hands staring down at us. Liam rolled down his window and took out his arm before raising his thumb. My stomach tightened even more and I quietly squirmed out of fear.
What is this place?
The iron gates opened and Liam pressed on the gas, driving the car into the building. The area was a large parking lot, with lights and a few more cars, some of them quite damaged and some others with bullets on their doors. I fidgeted with my fingers, my heart starting to pick up her pace. Liam parked the car and pulled out the keys from the ignition, killing down the engine.
All the boys opened the doors, quickly jumping out. I gulped and jumped out after Harry, feeling his eyes travelling down my body quickly before he looked away and slammed the door shut. I tucked my gun in my waistband, where it belongs. I noticed a vein bulging out on his neck when he turned around and followed the rest of the boys down the parking lot, me following somehow awkwardly. My palms started sweating as I looked around, wondering how did they find power, light, cars that probably work and so many weapons. This place is well taken care of, even the floor is clean.
This place was heaven compared to my dark basement.
There were two elevator doors next to each other so Liam spoke up. "I'll go with Louis and Zayn, you guys go together." he said, ticking his head towards the left elevator.
Harry and Niall nodded, me gulping once more. Harry pushed the button that made the elevator doors open before the two guys stared at me, expecting me to walk in first. I looked down and entered the elevator, Niall and Harry following behind me. Niall pressed the button that takes us to the basement, making curiosity and anticipation grow stronger.
Niall stared at Harry with a serious expression as we waited for the elevator to take us downstairs. Harry was only staring down to his shoes with his arms crossed, ignoring Niall who was leaning against one of the elevator walls across of him. When the doors opened with a ding, we stepped out to a hallway, which had walls made of glass from both sides, showing the other hallway right next to us, where Liam, Louis and Zayn were at. There was an iron door right ahead of us and there was a green light above it. The hallways had long lights on their ceilings, making it look like a hospital.
Suddenly, I felt my gun being taken away from my waistband, making me swung around and give Harry a bewildered look, who was now holding my gun in his hand, his face serious. "Hey!" I exclaimed angrily.
"If you want to go through that door then we'll have to check you up." he said coldly and handed my gun to Niall, who checked out to see if there were any bullets.
"Check me up?" I asked, raising a brow as I scowled at him. He had no right to take my gun, my only way of defending myself.
Harry came to stand right in front of me, a few inches seperating us, making my breath hitch in my throat out of fear. He stared right deeply into my eyes, his face showing no emotion at all. He was scaring me, and he knew it. He suddenly took out his knife, making me suck in a breath and take a tiny step back, wanting to keep some space between me and him.
"Harry," Niall plead more than warned, giving him a serious look.
Harry moved closer to me, never taking his eyes off of me. "I'm not risking it, Niall." he said boldly.
The tip of the knife suddenly slid beneath the hem of my shirt before slowly raising it up, making my heart pound thousand times faster than before. Harry's eyes fell down to my exposed stomach, checking every inch of my skin without saying a word. The fact that the rest of the guys were watching us made my cheeks flush and anger rose inside of me.
"Take your shirt off." he instructed, making my heart stop.
"Why?" I asked, giving him an angry look. If he dares to do anything to me..
"Don't make me do it for you." he growled, sending chills down my spine. He lowered his hand next to his side, the knife finally away from me.
I glanced at the rest of the boys to find them watching me closely, making my stomach churn. I inhaled deeply and glared at Harry, mad at him for doing this to me. My hands picked up the hem of my shirt before lifting it up and pulling over my head, exposing my black bra and stomach. Harry's eyes didn't even move from mine, making me wonder what he was trying to do.
He then looked at my cut on my collarbone, his eyes studying it in suspicion. I probably got hurt when I fell but I didn't realise. That was the reason behind the pain all this time. His eyes met mine once again before he spoke.
"Turn around." he ordered and I did as I was told, my heart still racing. "Lift your arms." I obeyed.
I suddenly felt his cold hands on my legs, making me quietly gasp out of shock. His hands tapped my legs all the way up to the back of my thighs and then my hips, obviously checking up if I carried any more guns with me. His hands didn't move from my waist and up, thankfully.
"Take your boots off."
I turned around and crouched down, quickly untying the laces of my army boots before taking them off. He stared me through narrowed eyes, still not fully convinced that I didn't have any other weapon with me. And he was right.
"Give me your weapons." he demanded, holding out his large hand.
"Is there any?" Niall huffed as he leaned against the glass, his hands playing with my gun.
"There always is." Harry answered with a smirk, green eyes burning through mine.
I let a tiny sigh before reaching down to my leg and sliding my hand beneath the fabric. I took out my only knife and handed it to Harry, still giving him an angry look after he made me undress myself in front of the boys.
Harry hummed in satisfaction and handed it to Niall, cocking a brow. "Told you." he said and Niall just huffed.
"Now what?" I asked, my eyes flitting back and forth between the two of them, ignoring the other three pairs of eyes that stared at me from the other hallway.
"Get dressed." Harry instructed, his tone not that cold this time.
I didn't waste any time as I reached for my shirt and quickly put it on. I wore my warm army boots and looked up at Harry expectantly.
"She's not bitten or scratched by those so she's healthy." He told Niall, who nodded. "She needs some bandages and band-aids." his words made my heart flutter at how that sounded. Like he cared.
Wait, that shouldn't matter to me that much.
"Okay." Niall nodded again, his blue eyes momentarily glancing at me before refocusing on Harry.
"Tell Liam to have everything ready, I'll first give her a tour and then we'll go to take care of her wounds." Harry said, making me slightly frustrated at the fact that he was talking as if I wasn't even present.
"Got it." Niall said and gave my weapons to Harry before he turned to me. "See you later, Claire." he gave me a small smile. "Welcome." he said, making me return the small smile.
Niall walked towards the iron door, which opened automatically and he stepped into somwhere that were a lot of voices, making me frown. I turned around to see that Liam, Louis and Zayn also left, leaving only me and Harry in the hallway.
Harry was checking up my gun when I turned to look at him. "What is this place?" I asked, confused.
"Your new home." he answered easily, his long hair falling in front of his face as he had his head lowered, his hands still examining my gun. "A place you won't be chased, or in danger." he added before he looked up at me, his hair finally giving me the chance to see his green eyes once more.
"How did you find this place?" I asked, curious.
He held his hand out with my gun and I gladly took it back. "I'll explain it to you." he assured. "I'm keeping your knife for now, just in case." he said casually.
I nodded and looked down to my empty gun. "You're using a .9mm, I see." he said.
"Yeah." I looked up at him.
"Do you have any experience with wars before? The army?" he asked, raising his brows.
"Not until now." I answered, shaking my head a bit.
"Learning how to use a gun needs time." he pointed out, not fully believing me.
"My dad tought me when I was twelve. He was a hunter." I answered simply.
He nodded. "Good." he said and ticked his head towards the door. "Now come on, it's time to show you your new home." he said, bringing excitement through me as we both walked towards the door.
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A/N: Thoughts??? Leave your comments and please vote!! What do you think will happen? Is Claire truly safe? Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading! Love youu :) x