Reluctant

Chapter 2

          I stand there with a puzzled look on my face, and let the words sink in slowly. I look up to Carter's face and realize I hadn't answered. "Erm...where do you plan on looking?" I ask. "Seattle. He lived there with my mum and dad."

         I pause and contemplate my options. "Uh, I guess. There's nothing else to do right?" I laugh. He smiles widely; his tongue slightly poking out from behind his teeth. he looks down at the ground and continues walking North.

        I follow slightly behind, but catch up quickly. I look over at the strange brunette boy I'd spent the day traveling with. His eyebrows are drawn together in thought and...worry? As I'm about to ask whats going on, a shredder appears. The girl takes a few steps and turns her head, spotting us. She grins widely, showing her sharp, pointed teeth.

        She turns and charges at us. She makes her way over to us surprisingly fast. Once she's close enough for Carter's comfort zone, he goes rigid and pulls a knife from his holster and dashes to the shredder. Everything happens in a flash. By then, the girl is laying on the ground completely motionless. She lies on her back, with Carter's knife sticking out of her chest.

        Carter bends down and retrieves the knife, cleaning it on the shredder's shirt. He walks over to me and slides the knife back into it's holster. He turns and begins to lead the way once again. We walk for about an hour or two until I stop so quickly that Carter stumbled and almost fell on me. Again.

        I spot a fully grown Aloe Vera plant and find myself walking over to it with Carter following close behind. I turn to him and hold out my hand. "Can I have your knife so I can cut this?" I ask gesturing towards the plant.

      "Uh, why?" he asks raising his eyebrow. I shrug my shoulders, "Might need it in the long run." He nods his head and begins to hand the knife over to me. He retracts his hand and quickly sprints to my left. Why? I wonder. I crane my neck in his direction. What I saw was pure gore. Carter had tackled someone and had managed to throw a few punches before his is thrown off, landing on his back with a loud 'THUD!'

        The boy quickly springs up and is on top of Carter in mere seconds. The boy throws a few punches, causing blood to spurt from Carter's mouth. He grabs his knife from it's holster and stabs in into the boy's chest. The boy goes slack and falls on-top of Carter. He quickly pushes the boy's body off of him and stands; making his way back over to me.

         My gaze scans over him and I turn to continue walking. He falls into step beside me and laughs lightly. "Bet you're wondering who that mightv'e been." he states. I nod and avert my gaze forward. "He was an old friend of mine 'til he went rogue and became a slicer."

          I raise my eyebrow and look over at him. "Slicer?" I ask. "Basically a shredder with a knife fetish. He chuckles lightly and continues walking. Silence fills the space between us, the only noise coming from our heavy footfalls. The silence eventually became deafening after about an hour of walking.

          I quickly stop in my tracks and walk to the nearest tree. I plop down at it's trunk and rest my head on my knees. God this trek is exhausting. Carter stares at me with wide eyes and reluctantly walks over and stands over me. "You okay? Something wrong?" he asks. I shake my head and look up at him. "No, 'M alright. Just a headache s'all. I'm fine."

        "Well, its starting to get late..." he starts. "We should probably find a place for the night." I look at him and nod curtly. "Yeah, we'd need one of us tp keep watch at a time though." He smiles and nods. "Yeah, I figured."

          A moment or two later, Carter looks behind me. I turn around a see a light-haired brunette with a pale complexion. I take a few steps forward but feel Carter's hand grip my arm. "Jess, don't." He says quietly. I shrug his hand off and step towards the boy. "Why?" I ask, raising my voice slightly and taking a few steps towards the boy. "Because...he's my...my brother." Carter replies.

          I freeze completely with those words. His brother? We couldn't be anywhere near Seattle. Carter smiles widely and jogs over to his sibling. I grip my dagger in my right hand tighter and tighter with every step they take over to me. Carter jogs back over and stands behind me. I let out a growl as his brother gets closer; earning myself a nudge and a glare from Carter.

         "Be nice." Carter whispers into my my ear demandingly. I huff but continue to glare at the approaching brunette. The boy stands in front of me awkwardly. I roll my eyes slightly and turn back to Carter. he clears his throat and introduces us. "Jess, this is my brother Kobe. Kobe, this is my partner Jess."

           Kobe holds out his hand. Instead of shaking, I turn away and start walking. Behind me, I hear both boys laughing and catching up on all the time they lived apart. "Last year, Mum and I-" Kobe starts. He suddenly stops and begins coughing and choking uncontrollably. I stop suddenly and spim around. Carter looks at me with a panicked expression.

            I quickly jogged over to where the boys were standing. Kobe looks at me through red-rimmed eyes. His grey irises a clear contrast to the bloodshot whites surround them.

           Blood spills through his fingers as he tries contain it with his hand. Kobe removes his hand and continually throws up masses of blood. He falls to the floor; Carter not far behind to catch him.

           Kobe's head rests on Carter's lap as he continues to choke on the thick red liquid that fill both his mouth and his veins. Kobe's eyes flick between his brother and I. Carter looks at me with tears streaming down his face.