Predator (DWT x OC)

42

Fucking taxes. 

That was my punishment for breaking the presidents nose. A goddamn tax raise. On only women. 

Following that logic, apparently my gender was the sole reason for my 'indiscretion', as Schlatt so kindly refers to it, and therefore all of us must suffer having all of our worldly possessions stripped from us by overzealous men with superiority complexes. 

As you can see, I'm handling this incredibly well. 

Niki deposits Fungi on my lap, wiping her forehead and smoothing back her frizzy hair. We've been safekeeping our valuables, tools, armour, gold and diamonds, all stuffed into various hiding spots in our house. 

"That's everything we have left." Niki tells me, leaning against the bench top. I scratch between Fungi's ears, looking back at her. 

"You talked to anyone else about it?" I ask. 

Niki shrugs. "You know Nadia? The girl who always buys the berry danishes? She said her and her wife are going to go to her brothers village. They got pretty much cleaned out the last raid." 

"Shit, really? I'm going to miss her." I say in surprise. Nadia always brought us the best honey from her beehives, along with her adorable little dog that always kept biting Jack's ankles. 

"Amelia and Priya both had to shut down their shops, they were all boarded up in town." Niki adds, sighing. I massage my temples, closing my eyes. 

"This is all my fault." I say guiltily. "If I wasn't so stupid, everyone would be fine." 

"Schlatt was looking for an excuse to screw us over, if not you then some other poor girl would have screwed up." Niki reasons. "Punching someone in the face does not equate to ruining every woman's life."

"Sexist fucking pig." I mutter under my breath. What the fuck is he even hoping to achieve with this? 

Niki looks up at our clock on the wall, ticking over further and further towards late afternoon, some of the colour drains out of her face. 

"What if they find the stuff? I didn't cover the iron chest-" She begins to panic, looking around frantically. 

"Niki, Niki hey look at me." I say, standing up and twisting her head to face me. "We're going to be fine okay? They're not going to find it."

It doesn't really matter that I'm lying through my teeth, that on the inside I'm just as terrified and panicky as Niki. The last raid was something we'd both rather forget. 

I'm just a lot better at squashing down the trauma. You know, with the practice and all. 

Her fingers latch around my wrists as she nods shakily, taking in deep breaths. I guide her into the backroom, sitting her down on one of the beds, and snatching up a concerned Fungi, who wanders, meowing, into the room, and shoving him in her arms. 

"Stay here with him, okay?" I console soothingly. "I'll handle them."

I leave her with Fungi wrapped tightly in her arms, face buried in his fur, and sit on the edge of the couch, leg bouncing nervously. I tap my fingers on the tops of my thighs, trying not to bury them into the skin to quell the brewing nausea in my stomach. 

If today is going to be anything like a couple weeks ago, I'm gonna lose it. 

Despite every cell of my body jittering in skittish anticipation, the quick knock on the side of the cave entrance still stops my heart for a beat. It feels like I've just swallowed down a rock, and I stay frozen on the couch, arms wrapped around my middle.