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?
He looks around, as I put my arm through the strap on the shotgun and let it hang off of my shoulder around my back, then he whistles.
A signal to others.
I knew it! Send the hot guy out to charm the girl before you ambush her.
I hear footsteps behind me and my adrenaline rushes through my body. In an instant, I cross my arms across my body to grab the guns on either side of my ribcage, and step to the side with my arms extended straight out on either side of my body. One gun points directly at Cade, and the other points across him, directly at... a little boy?
The kid can't be more than 10 years old, and he freezes when he notices the gun on him, his eyes going wide and looking at Cade pleadingly.
"Jesus! No need to pull the guns out at us," Cade says with his hands up by his head, palms facing me in a non-threatening manner.
"How many people are with you," I demand, ignoring him.
"It's just—"
"Not you," I cut Cade off. "The boy."
I look at the slightly traumatized kid, definitely feeling guilty for having my gun pointed at him even though I have zero intentions of shooting him. But kids are less likely to lie, especially if they're scared, and I need the truth. Last thing I need is to find Emma with a gun to her head, his group stripping me of my guns and vehicle, leaving Emma and I to die, again.
I learn from my mistakes.
The boy's eyes widen even more, and he shakes his head from side to side nervously.
"He can't talk!" Cade defends. "It's just us two. Put the guns down! We're not going to hurt you."
I look at the little boy, whose face has gone pale, and lower my guns. I guess he wouldn't have wasted three bullets saving my ass if he planned on screwing me over, but you never know.
"Sorry, kid," I tell the now slightly less scared kid, then holster the guns.
I walk up to Cade so that I'm standing directly in front of him, and narrow my eyes at him. Even though he's much taller than my 5'5" frame and I have to crane my neck up to look at him, I still manage to make that look as intimidating as possible.
"If I find out you lied," I threaten lowly so that the kid can't hear me, "I PROMISE I'll shove this shotgun so far up your ass, the barrel will come out of your mouth."
He blinks at me.
"Ouu. Kinky," he replies, not the least bit intimidated.
I take a calming breath and resist the urge to roll my eyes. Does nothing affect this guy? He's MUCH too happy for someone living in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
I haven't smiled once in his presence and yet he's sent me a charming smile more times than I can count.
I back away from Cade, letting the boy run up to him and hug his waist from the side, still looking at me.
The kid has a big scar on the left side of his face, starting beside the bridge of his nose just under his left eye, and running diagonally down his face, ending at his jaw. His skin is bronzed from the sun, a light dusting of freckles running over the bridge of his nose and the tops of his cheeks. His dark blonde hair is short and messy, and his light blue eyes still regard me cautiously.
Cade puts a hand on his head, "Tyler, you don't need to be scared of this lady, it's just Rotter blood all over her, not people blood."
I suddenly realize that my hair and clothes are covered in Rotter blood from all the previous fighting.
Shit, if a chick pointing a gun at you wasn't traumatizing enough for a kid, imagine having a lady covered in blood threatening you while pointing a gun at you.
Now I feel bad.
But not that bad.
"MOST of it is Rotter blood," I say, grabbing a random shirt from the floor that was knocked off of a shelf, and using it to wipe my shoulders and arms.
"She's joking," Cade says to Tyler. "I think."
I give him a satisfied smirk. They seem harmless enough, and he DID save my life despite me refusing to admit it out loud; I've learned the hard way that you don't want to "owe" anyone anything in this life. So I'm not letting my guard down, especially since it's not just my own life I have to look after.
I drop the now bloody shirt on the floor, "Well, it's been fun. But this is where we part ways. Good luck."
I turn and walk away towards the direction of the office where I left Emma. I would've gone to get her immediately, but I didn't want to reveal her to Cade. It's easier to take advantage of me through using her.
I don't think those boys are too much of a threat to us, but I'm still hoping they'll leave me before they see Emma. I can't wait any longer to go get her. She's probably scared half to death for herself and for me.
Of course, Cade doesn't seem to want me to leave quite yet.
He and Tyler follow me.
"Aren't you going to tell us your name? It's the least you can do after I saved your ass and you rewarded me with pointing a gun at me and my brother Tyler here."
I sigh and glance back at them, a few steps behind me.
"Cami."
"What kind of name is Cami? Is that short for something?"
"What kind of name is Cade?" I shoot back, not looking at him.
They catch up to me and walk in step beside me, "It's a very popular name, actually. But in my case, it's short for Caiden. Kay-den. Cade. Get it?"
"I completed third grade Kay-den. I know how to annunciate."
We get to the room and I try the handle, glad that it's locked. I do the secret knock so that Emma knows it's me and press my ear against the door to hear for her. "It's me, Emma. It's alright."
The door swings open and my legs are nearly taken out from under me from the force of Emma's hug.
"Cami! I was so scared. Please don't leave me again," she says between sobs, crying into my hip.
I move her arms from where they're wrapped around my waist so that I can fall onto my knees, pulling her into a hug.
"I know, Emma. But you did such a good job. You were so brave."
She sniffles into my hair, finally calming down.
"You smell like Rotter," she whispers, making me laugh.
I pull back and look at her, "I know. Let's get out of here."
I fix the Shrek backpack she's wearing and grab my own N.O.S.B.
When I stand back up, it's then that she notices the two guys standing behind me.
"Who are you?"
Cade looks at me, as if confused that I was capable of giving love to another human being, then looks back at the almost 5 year old girl.
"I'm Cade. This is my brother, Tyler."
The little boy looks at Emma and smiles, giving a small wave.
Emma looks at Cade, to Tyler, then back to Cade. "That's nice."
She grabs my hand and starts pulling me towards the exit, completely uninterested with the two boys staring at her.
I have never been so proud of her.
I hear Cade start laughing, "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?"
It was then that the earth shook slightly from an earsplitting crack of thunder, so loud that Emma and Tyler both cover their ears. I automatically look at Cade, both of our eyes widening slightly in recognition of what that means.
Emma looks up at me. She's a smart girl, she knows what that means as well.
Emma and I run to the nearest window, Cade and Tyler following.
We stop when we see it. The clouds were a bright and angry green; the air misted in a bright green haze. Then we see the first drops of rain.
Acid rain.
We were stuck here.
For what could be weeks.