Affinity

Chapter 7

              Amy tucked a large white shirt into her new brown canvas pants that hung loosely on her waist. She searched around the crate to find a belt, it would be incredibly annoying to have pants that fell to her knees whenever she walked or ran. And it did seem there would be tons of running in her future if she stuck with Zero.

              It had been a few minutes before Zero had wandered off into the car, so to keep herself occupied Amy searched for various odds and ends that would make her outfit more… doable.  After some searching she found a pair of leather suspenders, well that’s the closest she would get to a belt Amy thought to herself clipping them to her pants.

              Honestly the outfit wasn’t too bad, she was pretty comfortable, but it made her incredibly sad to part with her familiar blue dress. The lacy exterior ran through Amy’s fingers as she appreciated the last piece of her old life before she mournfully buried the garment at the bottom of the crate filled with clothes. 

              “I’m gonna miss that dress...” Amy whipped her head around to see Zero standing across from her with his arms crossed. “Nevertheless…” He continued walking towards Amy, “these match your new clothes better.” Zero revealed a pair of brown boots which he tossed to Amy.

              The boots slipped on easily, probably because they were a size or two too big, but that wasn’t a problem. The leather was a dark brown that climbed past her ankles and consisted of laces that helped keep the boots secure.

              “Thanks, I guess were even now.” Amy said as she laced the boots.

              “I guess so.”

              Zero sat down against a crate and tilted his hat to cover his eyes. Amy made her way over to her silver haired friend and squatted down in front of him.

              “Can I help you?” He asked cracking an eye open.

              “I was just wondering what you were doing?”

              “Sleeping, like a normal person!” Zero replied closing his eyes. Even though she was still full of energy Amy’s eyelids felt heavy and she decided it was better to probably get some sleep while it was possible. Amy propped up against the crate next to Zero, and the second her eyes closed she fell into the world of sleep.

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“Amy get up.” Zero’s voice jolted Amy out of her sleep and she hastily looked around in a haze of confusion. “What is it?” She mumbled back rubbing her eyes from sleep.

              “We need to go.” Zero said flatly standing up, and making his way to the center of the tram car. From the serious tone in his voice Amy knew not to question and got up to follow her companion to the center of the car. The floor moaned as Zero tugged on braided rope on the floor, metal track now laid beneath their feet. The metal sat stationary, a clue that they had arrived at some destination.

              “Why are we getting off?”

              There was a loud banging sound that caused Amy to practically jump out of her skin. She turned her head to see the large metal door open on the other side of the car.

              “That’s why.” Zero breathed out as he maneuvered himself to crawl out of the bottom of the tram. Not again, Amy thought, was her world now going to be filled with the constant running and hiding from some force she didn’t even understand. She quickly made her way to follow Zero, her hands grasped the metal rings that were attached to the bottom of the car. She clung on and scanned for Zero he was crawling his way out from the small space beneath the tram. Amy let go and none to gracefully she hit the ground and felt and intense pain shoot through her spine.

              There was no telling how long the train would remain stationary or if those guards were already behind them. She quickly turned onto her hands and knees and crawled her way to the platform a few feet away. Amy finally made it to the hard concrete side and pulled herself up to see Zero already running.

              Quickly. Amy ran to catch up. Was that the right thing to do? Should she run after him into more danger? All these thoughts clouded her mind as she made her way to Zero. her lungs were burning as she took few and hasty breaths in her chase. The chase led the two out of the greenish station into a very busy street. It must have been mid afternoon as it seemed everyone was out in this compact street doing hasty shopping in what looked like a market.

              Amy scanned her surroundings as she made her way through the crowd. It was nearly impossible to find him, but she was able to catch a quick glimpse of silver hair beneath a brown cap. She sprinted forward and grabbed Zero’s elbow. He turned his head almost like he was caught by surprise.

             “Don’t do that!” He hissed through his teeth.

              “Sorry.” Amy said a bit taken aback with the hostility in his voice.

              The two continued on and started a new track through alley ways that seemed intertwined in an unending maze. Every turn lead to a long stretch of the same thing. Brick and cobblestone walls lined every side of them as they ran bringing about a very claustrophobic feel.

              Run, just run was all that rang through Amy’s mind now. “Offf!” Amy let out as she ran hard into Zero nearly causing him to lose his balance. They had stopped… Why had they stopped?

              Amy looked and across from Zero was a man in the white suit signifying his position. Looking closer the man’s eyes were black, just like the guy that was with Anton. Zero was panting hard looking at the man, Amy really hoped he was thinking of a plan. The sound of metal rang through the alley way, the man held a metal chain that he levitated around him with his hands.

              In mock warning he whipped the chain hard against the ground, causing Amy to jump back. Still the eyes of the man stayed fixed on Zero he showed no sign of emotion, or humanity. Something was really off. The man made his way up to Zero, yet Zero stayed in place glaring at the man with vehement hatred.

              The chain hit again this time striking Amy’s shoulder. She let a loud shriek of pain then bit her lip to get out of the way of another blow coming closer. The chain was being manipulated by the man to twist and grab hold of Amy’s ankle and she flew to the ground, the fall knocking the breath out of her. She lay on the ground feeling as if she was suffocating taking in hasty gasps of air.

              Amy was watching Zero now taking action he was attacking the man, hitting him over and over, yet the mechanical like man didn’t falter even though his lip was bleeding and several large welts were appearing on his face. When she saw Zero stop his hand was bloodied either from his own injury or the other man’s she didn’t know.

              “Ahhh!”  Zero screamed in frustration he raised his hands and squeezed his into tight fists. The man seemed to lift off the ground a few inches as he held his throat. His head fell back and was making gagging noises.

              “Stop your going to kill him!” Amy shouted reaching for Zero. He was breathing hard in anger and squeezed his hands tighter. The black eyes flashed a bright blue then the body dropped to the ground. Amy ran up to the attacker whose now blue eyes laid fixed in the last direction they looked, the body convulsed a few times before it finally laid still.

              Amy shook in disbelief, horror, and a mix of emotions she couldn’t explain. “What was that!” She practically screamed at Zero. He himself was staring in disbelief his eyes glistened with what looked like tears. “Get away from me!” He shouted his voice was shaking, but it still boomed with authority and anger. “Go!” He shouted in rage.

              And Amy ran, but this time away from Zero her eyes filled with tears and her heart heavy.