The unapologetically loud and impatient punches against her door made Cristine jump from her bed. Her dark locks wildly bounced around her face, eyes wide. The first thing her hand grabbed was the knife under her pillow. The sleep still had her brain and eyes in its grasp, but with a quick jerk Cristine marched into the door and pulled it open. Her brows furrowed in confusion, coming face to face with an out of breath Troy. A faint coat of sweat glistened in his slightly flushed face and his hair looked as messy as hers. "Troy? What is it?" Cristine asked frantically stepping outside. In the span of seconds, Troy pushed the steel of a gun inside her palm and enveloped his hand around hers when he felt her tug the revolver back.
"What?" Cristine her mouth twitched downwards at the force of his grip. It was clear something had happened.
"Go to the infirmary and be ready." His voice was terse and it was just then that Cristine her eyes stretched from the orange glow behind his frame. Ignoring the burning tingle around her fingers she gaped at the several fires. They were too small to be bonfires and too big to be campfires. The firm squeeze around her hand moved to her upper arm and the crisp order elicited a sharp breath from the woman. "Now, Cristine." There was a dark haze when looking into those blue eyes. Most of his attention gauging her response when he saw Cristine's face slacken into an indifferent mask of icy focus.
Troy rather she stay here to deal with possible casualties. But her eyes said otherwise and feeling the need to repeat himself, the soft words made him pause when he reopened his mouth. "I'll keep an eye out for things here. Be safe when you go out." A bout of surprise flicked past Troy's face. Her vulnerable declaration briefly messing with his senses. For a minuscule second - a heavy wave punched through his gut and his hand slid down the length of Cristine's arm. The end of his fingertips twitched the moment he ended the touch. Slowly relaxing, the end of Troy's chin tipped down in understanding.
-
Time passed. The militia went out to inspect the spread of fires surrounding the Ranch. The rest stayed inside with their guns close by. There weren't any casualties Cristine needed to tend to as of yet. But fear cemented in the people. The mothers were huddled inside the infirmary tent with their children and Cristine did her best to alleviate their concerns and terrors by talking. A handful she'd given anxiety pills, but that was the extent of her treatment. Tapping her fingers against her gun holster, Cristine stepped out the cover of the infirmary tent into the glow of ambers in the distance roaring on the hills like threatening columns that could collapse. Only, the fires stiffly prevailed in the exact same spot as they started hours ago. Not spreading an inch. Occasionally, the cluster of white flashlights that belonged to the militia flickered wildly in the dark to search for the culprits.
Rubbing her arms, the midnight chill sunk through her jacket. Cristine tried following the dull, pale light through the shadows as best she could. From the distance she spotted her father and Madison Clark conversing. Whatever the subject, her father languid body language was the complete opposite of the mother's stiff one. He occasionally shook his head, perhaps disagreeing or trying to appease Madison. Rubbing her thumb against the bridge of her nose, Cristine was too distracted with the man-made fires to care. Her head throbbed, body ached and senses tingled with the icy dread prickling her nerves. She wanted to jump into action from the adrenaline that pulled taut at her skin, but Cristine knew she couldn't afford to go out. She felt useless.
This tactic threw the whole Ranch in disarray; families were huddled together. Through all the ado their armed militia double checked all weak and blind spots at the fences. The closest fire was yards from where the rebuild adobe stood, which was both surprising and infuriating given that it was a just behind the fences from where patrol happened. Even an amateur should have spotted it. Cristine couldn't help but stare and watching the flames jolted something within her. Digging her nails deeper into the fabric covering her arms, the pain somehow cleared up her mind. The pull of her mouth clenched and slackened while staring at the never-ending fires.
"-tine? Cristine!" Shaken from her thoughts, she turned in the direction of the person practically yelling her name. Blinking, the ashen face of her little sister jerked her into action. Her feet moved on autopilot and Cristine went to Hailey, the bizarre feel in her gut unwinding after pulling her smaller frame into a hug.
"Are we under attack?" Was the first thing her anxious sister asked. Her hands wrung the fabric of her shirt as the hugged. Distracted, her wide eyes darted over the fires one by one.
"I'm not sure," Cristine bit her lips and checked Hailey's flushed face for any wounds. She was really spooked and anxious. "If we were they'd already try to get inside. Most of our militia went out to check on the fires. They're trying to scare us..." Cristine couldn't help but avoid the wide eyes looking to her for the answer when she was as clueless as the rest.
"Well," Hailey squeezed out anxiously, "it's working. What're we going to do? Are we still safe here?" Repeating the words of her mother back inside their cabin, Hailey looked to her sister for knowledge with eyes like a frightened doe. Cristine slid her hands down her arms to link their hands together.
"I won't let anything happen to you. We'll be fine, this is a bluff to make us leave. Remember what daddy said at the service; together we're stronger and that's how we'll beat this. Them." She couldn't blame Hailey for looking unconvinced after her reassurance. Chewing on the inside of her cheeks, Cristine tried to steer the conversation to a subject less severe. "How's Mike doing?"
"He's still freaked out. We haven't talked and I- I think he's avoiding me," Hailey said with downcast eyes and her lids fluttered over her eyeballs. "I've never seen him like that." Her voice wavered, thinking about her boyfriend avoiding her. Hailey couldn't really handle that type of behavior and the two ended up arguing. Well, she did most of the arguing since Mike couldn't even be bothered to argue back. He was scared and that made Hailey scared too.
"He'll come around." Cristine wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Hailey or herself of that fact and exhaled. Rubbing her fingers over the back of her sister's knuckles, Cristine didn't say anything else. She didn't know what else to say or do, but be with Hailey as a silent support.
The fires burned out a few hours after the sun slowly climbed up from the horizon. With the new day the same people that were once so united after the memorial service of their comrades were now spooked and ready to run.
-
Cristine only had a few naps in between. She was too tired and frazzled to rest. It was as if the Ranch she once knew had changed. She watched as the same face went in and out of the pantry with sacks of flour, buckets of food, water and other supplies they put in. Her father was placating the ones that hesitated to do the same and from the shadows under his eyes this was an all-nighter for him as well. She could occasionally hear him urge the people to rethink their decisions. Some listened. Others didn't.
Whoever this Walker was, he was slowly reaching his goal. Without really making any real casualties for his side. Frightening the people that didn't know how to fight, let alone survive out there. They rather take the risk of leaving for a cold, cruel and merciless world with dead and living. It wouldn't be safer or better outside, they didn't know a damn thing about surviving. Self-preservation, yes, but they couldn't do what the militia did for them on a daily basis. The people, the sheep were too weak for that. None of them would survive more than a day out there.
Cristine walked around with no clear direction and bumped into Nick. The last time she'd properly talked to the young man was when she treated Luciana. His girlfriend left two nights ago and, to her confusion Nick was rather indifferent about, at least from the outside looking in. "Hey, how've you been?" Cristine asked.
Nick sized her up and down for a bit and his dark brown eyes mapped the lines of exhaustion on her face. He had his hoodie up and seemed to be in a hurry. "I'm doing better than most of us around her." He visibly shrugged, hands in his pockets.
"I heard about Luciana," Cristine would have liked to get to know the woman better. Luciana her judgement hit a sore spot for Cristine and it showed how very different they were as people. Even so, Cristine bonded with Nick's girlfriend and it was a shame she left.
"Yeah. I think in the end she felt the monsters in here were more dangerous than out there." Nick looked at the dirt space between them, finding more interesting than to have to stare at the frail eyes who poked and prodded at the outside layers of his psyche.
"I don't blame her. I just hope she gets to the place she wants to."
Silence.
"Anyway," Cristine moved her cap on top of her head and decided to change the subject. "I heard you're rebuilding the adobe house? How's it going?"
Glad to be able to talk about something else, Nick was a lot more eager to speak. "Pretty good. I was actually heading to get some material. Jeremiah's offered to help with the last few things. But it's nice to have some distraction and I can say something here is mine... never thought I'd ever build my own house."
Cristine most definitely agreed with that. "I think most of us would have never thought of doing the things we do now. Funny how that works. All the things you wanted to do. All the things planned mostly useless... at least for me."
Nick heard the softening of her tune and with it the forlorn look. Scratching his throat, he wanted to say something positive, but given that he couldn't relate with Cristine's outlook on her probably perfectly planned future, goals, and aspirations it was hard to find the right words. Nick never had that. Not like Cristine or Alicia or his mother. He was aimlessly living with no direction where life was going to take him. This apocalypse was just another trip to him and bit by bit, people were catching up in his world and learning to make something out of this new life.
"Well you're a doctor. Sounds to me you hit the jackpot." Nick couldn't see what was so bad about Cristine's occupation in these apocalyptic times. Doctors were very hard to come by and every community would be wise to cherish anyone with medical experience. Even former volunteer nurses such as Alicia.
"A lot I know now is from when all of this started." Cristine paused and her gaze unconsciously flicked to the familiar faces carrying their supplies to their vehicles and Nick followed her concerned eyes. His mother told him and Alicia of the Nation and their leader, Walker. The scare tactics were affecting the easily frightened ones. Their mother wanted this place to be their new home. With Luciana gone, Nick would make it his home too. He already had this weird mentor-student like relationship with Jeremiah, Alicia and Jake had something going on, and his mother was keeping Troy's attention on her. It was weird the influence their family had on the Otto's so quickly.
Nick liked Cristine. While most of that likeability had to do with her helping them without expecting anything in return and standing up against Troy for Lucy, Nick was fascinated with how Cristine moved around the Ranch. The woman was well-liked despite being pretty standoffish and very direct with her words. But seeing how concerned she was now showed a soft side like the doctor that took care of Luciana and alleviated his concerns and gave him advice. She had a big heart.
-
Troy was pissed. His father was drinking again. Clearly hungover from the day before. Troy felt disgusted. He could smell the alcohol from miles. The way big Otto's mood plummeted and flared in bouts when Troy asked why he'd allow people to take shit from the pantry. After all their family did to take these sheep in. To protect them. This was the gratitude they got in return? The ones who left didn't deserve this place. He just had to hear from his god aunt, Mrs. Daley they were taking what they put in with them and leaving. His father didn't care, just let them, and left Troy with resentment for the rest of the day.
Troy his gait was angry and he needed to vent. To do something. Needed to get his mind off of things and his gaze was drawn to Nick and Cristine conversing. Tightening his jaw, Troy's body moved before his mind registered four puzzled eyes on him. They stopped talking and Troy arched his brow. Staring at Nick, who he hadn't seen in a while out of the blue he asked, "you flying solo?"
Nick his brows scrunched up, confused for a split second. "Luciana," when Troy said his girlfriend's name the emotions chilled on Nick's face. Troy watched his body tense, mouth twitch down and the quick switch of his disposition was interesting to see. A split second from relaxed to stiff showed the effect his question had on Nick. It left Troy oddly pleased. "She take off?" He clarified. Troy didn't care about Luciana, it was good riddance. She wasn't around to use their supplies anymore.
"Do me a favor," Nick stepped forward just that little bit with a different sort of intonation behind his sentence. A clear cut dare that sounded like a threat. "Say her name again." Troy looked at their one spectator, Cristine, and smirked as if he heard something funny before looking back at Nick.
"Whoa, whoa, easy, easy partner," Troy brgan in a pacifying tone. His eyes never strayed away from Nick's heated ones. "It's just good you didn't take off after her is all I'm saying. Okay?" Troy shrugged. "I tried my best to make her feel welcome. But she kind of said she wanted to kill me and I believe her."
"I mean thinking back on it now, I get why she left. I think it was me. The one who shot her. I mean it's difficult to say for sure given the chaos. All the bullets and brown-"
"Enough." Cristine planted her arm between the two and pushed Troy back with both hands put distance between the two. Troy held his hands up to feign innocence as if he didn't just sour the whole mood with his passive aggressive taunts. "Stop acting like an asshole," she said low enough only he could hear and Troy stared down at her with a rather laid back posture. Her brows twisted together. Confused at his suddenness when everyone was minding their business.
"I'm going to get that lumber," Nick piped in and relaxed his fists. The dark tempered fury flared like a flame he had to push down, but Nick had it in himself to count to ten. Troy was not worth the energy right now.
"Nick wait-" Cristine called over her shoulder, but he was already walking away.
"See you around Cristine." Nick waved and ended their conversation. He rather not stay around that unhinged psychopath any longer. Troy clearly wanted a reaction from him. He didn't know what the problem was, but this was the second time Troy looked for problems with him this unprovoked. Perhaps, the night out hunting didn't have the desired effect. Glancing over his shoulder, Nick's eyes peeped at Troy and Cristine bickering and rolled his eyes. Nick was not getting in the middle of whatever that was, but he would remember it. Remember that Troy had something that made him react like he did just now. Someone outside of his brother and father.
"What the hell was that about?" Cristine slapped on the corner of his shoulder, scowling. She reacted instantly when Troy leaned forward in a challenging way with his taller figure. Cristine corrected her posture, squared her shoulders, and raised her chin to glare hotly at the disimpassioned militia leader. Troy rest his hands to his hips, a sign he was over the little disturbance he caused and Cristine frowned deeper.
"Just happy Nick's here. He and I are friends now." Troy's shoulders jolt up, shrugging with disinterest and clearly spouting some half-truth. Talking about Luciana was of the past now that she was gone, "his girlfriend couldn't get right with everything and left. She made the right call if you ask me."
"That's exactly it Troy. No one asked and don't act as if was about her or your 'friend' Nick." Cristine breathed out her frustration. Swallowed the harsh words she wanted to say next and pinched the bridge of her nose. All while ignoring the haunting baby blue eyes that zeroed in on her. "Y'know what?" Cristine asked rhetorically as if realizing something and looked away. "I'm not even going to entertain you. We have important things to worry about, like people leaving. Why not focus on that? Start by talking some sense into Mike," Cristine said and watched another family leave with their share of what they put into the pantry. It was true things were getting bad now, but for people to so easily pack all of their stuff and run? Knowing they were outnumbered by the dead outside and leaving the safety of walls willingly? Cristine couldn't process how quick people were to give up. With everything they did to fortify the Ranch. It truly showed how weak and scared the majority of them really were when things got a bit tough. People were about to throw themselves to the wolves and didn't even know it.
They were weak.
Peering back at Troy, the waves of his bristling anger were palpable. His eyes were cold and his body tensed. When Cristine said that, she saw his frown entrench into his skin together with the strain of his jaw bones tightening. "His dad wants to leave and Vernon's urging whoever wants to listen to do the same. My dad's doing the best he can to keep them here. But the people are divided."
"Slightest sign of trouble and the cowards are running. We don't need them," Troy spat out and paused in his steps when Cristine stepped closer to stop him. Cold, blue eyes clashed with equally tight, dark ones. This wasn't the time to act proud. Cristine understood not begging, but the Trimbols needed a reason to stay and the Otto's were the ones who could help with that. They owned the land and people listened to them because of that. The people didn't like other deciding their fates, but when it came to tough times, they actually needed that guidance. Who better than the reputable Otto's. So far, Cristine was not impressed with Jeremiah and her father was too preoccupied holding the pieces together while juggling other demons. So much for a united front.
"We do. You and I both know people going leaves us outnumbered and vulnerable against Walker. Like it or not, but our families showing unity is necessary. So suck up your pride and ask your dad to do something, mine already is. Hell- ask Jake if you need to."
"You think I didn't? Jake's fine with it and my dad's not going to beg when our walls, supplies and the militia is reason enough to stay!" The volume of his voice picked up a notch when uttering his frustration. "Your input is more than welcome Cristine." Clenching and unclenching her hands, itching to cover his mouth from talking louder, Cristine shot her hand and wrapped her fingers around Troy's upper arm. It clearly caught him off-guard when she started to drag him with her. She walked with purpose and Troy looker around. The area became less and less populated with cabins and people the further back they went.
"Cristine, where the hell are we going?" Troy dug his heels into the dirt, feet anchored. He didn't budge when she tugged at his arm. The scowl on her lips deepened when she realized he wasn't going to cooperate until clarifying her sudden actions. Cristine opened her mouth before quickly closing it again, hesitating, which was strange in itself. She never held her tongue and Troy arched a brow. Finally, she released his arm and regulated the emotions of her face into the mask Troy had seen so often when she was about to surprise him. Surprise like when she slit Ben's throat and gutted those two inside the cabin. She could do all that and not blink or look back. Troy felt his throat dry up and his mind that was utterly fascinated with that chaotic side of her buzzed in the back of his brain. The side of her driven to do anything to protect and survive resurfaced. It was the brutal pragmatism Troy had come to know and respect Cristine for who now showed eyes of icy black on a canvas of white.
Her mouth reopened, voice steady, "we need to be a step ahead of Walker. I think-" She swallowed before looking around as if to check for eavesdroppers and continued, "I think my dad's been trying to make the prisoner talk. I'm not sure he got something worthwhile out of him or we'd know. I thought maybe we could give it a try. See what we can get out of him." Troy barely blinked as he processed the meaning behind her words. His mouth slightly parted and darting his head up searched for the location of said prisoner. The rundown and weather-beaten cabin standing on top of the dry and desolate hill some yards up directly grabbed his attention.
Thoughts?