Firehouse Oasis 118

11. Eddie

"There are no oranges." Eddie shot back easily, "not anymore at least."

"There aren't any reds either." The girl shot back, "yet here I am."

"Listen! You don't want to hurt us." The guy on the ground reasoned, "We aren't here to hurt you, and we can even help you if you let us. Just put the cart down and stop throwing books please."

He did as asked hesitantly, he still didn't trust them, but he also saw no reason to hurt them if they weren't actively posing a threat. He wasn't a soldier anymore, he could be kind, or at least not actively hostile, even if it went against what was trained into him.

"My named is Eddie." He introduced himself, walking over to meet them.

He sent up a quick Ave Maria like his abuela had taught him, in the hopes that Christopher would stay hidden until he could get rid of these two.

"I'm Athena, and that's Bobby." The woman, Athena, replied as the man got back to his feet.

With a closer view, the two looked much younger than they had originally, like they could be just on the cusp between the generations. He had to admit that that, plus the police uniforms, was a decent cover. Even though they were, in fact, missing half the supplies meant to be on their belts.

"It's nice to meet you." Bobby offered with a friendly wave, though he didn't offer a handshake, Eddie noted, that and the gloves.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, trying not to sound too mean as he said it, but also trying to seem as unwelcoming as possible. He really didn't want these people sticking around for long.

"We just wanted some books, that's all, then we'll be out of your hair." Bobby replied.

"Why the hell do you need books? Kid books especially." He asked, gesturing to the shelves around them.

The two exchanged a glance, before Bobby shrugged and responded. "We're with a group, including a nine-year old. We figured it'd be good for him."

"There are others here?" He glanced around, hackles rising immediately.

"No!" Bobby quickly assured him, "We stay with them, but we are the only two on this supply run."

Eddie could hesitantly trust that. For now, if only because he was barely able to hide himself and Chris here, it was a small library, he wouldn't know how to hide multiple more people plus a kid. "Ok, what types of books does he like?"

Bobby grinned at that, clearly relieved, but it was Athena who answered, "He's into animals right now, and pirates I think."

"C'mon," he nodded for them to follow, "animals are in the next row over."

They perused the shelves in relative peace, Eddie pulling out a couple books that Chris had enjoyed but hadn't wanted to reread as offerings. They lasted three minutes before they were interrupted.

"Eddie?" Chris' voice called out as the kid came wobbling around the corner of the shelf he was bracing himself on.

"Hey buddy," Eddie called back, walking quickly to swoop the kid up into his arms and settle him there, trying not to let his nerves show about Chris being seen by these people, "What did I say about staying hidden if you hear anyone other than me, huh?"

"But you were talking to them about farm animals." Chris protested, sticking out his lip in a pout, "I thought they might be friends."

Eddie glanced over to where Bobby and Athena were standing a few feet away. They were both frozen, staring at Eddie and Christopher. Eddie sighed, the cat was already out of the bag he supposed, so he might as well roll with it.