The World We Live In | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙾 ♤

Chapter 9

"You try anything, and it's more than your fingers you need to worry about." Aaron separated her and Hailey and put them in different rooms. Cristine didn't sit but kept standing and hawked the brunette's every move. Her arms were behind her back, and she had her chin raised. He checked the office and cleaned up any cups, utensils, or stationary that were eligible as a weapon. He was picking it all clean. "You probably think if there's a way out of this, and I'll just burst your dream and tell you that there isn't. Not for you, at least."

"You better stay the fuck away from her, you creep." Cristine ignored the pointed comment, thinking of what Hailey had told her after she woke up. Aaron had a bizarre interest in her sister, and Cristine didn't want to entertain it or use it to their advantage in any way. There was nothing more dangerous than a violent man infatuated with someone else. She didn't miss how Aaron was more mindful with his words than his rudeness towards her, how he checked up on Hailey and asked if she was alright. Or that he lied to her sister that he wouldn't hurt her. He would do that and probably more. There was this dark tick in the man's stare. It distorted his persona, and remembering what he had done to Emma, Cristine had a feeling the leader hadn't even quenched his thirst for blood.

The timbre of Aaron's laughter bounced off the walls like a bouncing ball. The laugh was in his eyes, his face relaxed with unexplainable and unrestrained glee. As a schoolboy, but it was both juvenile and scary. He wasn't the usually personified creep, and his emotions and reactions didn't match the situation. But he was intelligent, observant, and had people who followed him. In many ways, Aaron made Cristine think of Troy, just with different urges. "Don't worry, I know she's still a kid. I'm not some pervert. Just caught off-guard, is all. People like her don't usually make it this far unless others die in their stead as Emma did." Aaron rested on the office desk and crossed his arms over his chest. He said he seemed to elicit some annoyance from his hostile hostage, who sneered and looked out the window.

"Troy's not going to negotiate. We're a liability now, and you and your people are a risk. The location of the Ranch is exposed. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd let this place get overrun by the dead to protect our people back home. That's the only thing that matters." Saying that Cristine stared at the husks of the dead. They never bumped against each other, a portable forcefield for the pickings. Cristine's eyes darted back at Aaron when she heard the creak of the wooden table, and the regulated apathy evened out her face into a blank mask.

"Uh-huh, and I don't think you believe that. Maybe if it were just you, but you're sister's here. Andrew told me that the two of you are close despite being half-sisters." Aaron licked his thin lips before sharing, "I had a younger brother too, but he got killed a while ago... found his body in the woods when my last group and I were scavenging." Aaron asked her a question, "you know why I dislike you, Cristine?"

"I don't give a shit."

"You should." Aaron tapped his fingers on his bicep before towering to his full height. He took one step forward. Then another. And another one until he was standing in front of Cristine with a harsh glower. His nostrils twitched, his breathing slowed down, and his breath was hot on her face, hissing. "Guess." Again. There was that animosity like he knew who she was or had come to know. Cristine, her breaths were low, her heart was racing in her throat, and her hands were clammy with a cold sweat.

-

Hailey didn't know why she and Cristine were separated. All she knew was that Aaron said he just wanted to talk with her sister, assuring her that he wouldn't cut her sister's fingers. He needed to give Troy some incentive, was all. Hailey didn't buy it, even less with the way he took Cristine with him. "Don't listen to anything they say, Hailey," Cristine had said while being roughly dragged from the room. Aaron left Hailey with Andrew in the office. Their other companion, Vince, wasn't around. He was checking the sewers. He was good with explosives and had a lovely gift waiting for the militia if they tried to use one of those entrances. Hailey rocked back and forth in her seat, making herself look small and frail. Biting her lip, she felt Andrew's dark, dead eyes on her. He didn't stick out or anything. He was average, and that probably made him the perfect person for this infiltration job.