The Survivors

Chapter 5

 Sam was right, the two men were faster than they looked, for the gap created by the stolen bike was nearly elapsed in the time it took Mia to grab her weapon and shake herself steady. Sam was uneasy as she watched her friend rock from foot to foot, brushing the grime from her hammer.

Mia clearly wasn't doing too hot, and though she was trying her hardest to pretend she hadn't spent the last month falling to pieces, Sam knew it wouldn't be long before she began to crumble again. Her behavior had been a little unpredictable in the last few days; steady tear-soaked insanity turned to dangerous mood swings - one moment sobbing and hysterical, another moment scarily composed, almost as if she was in denial.

The boys' jog turned to a walk as they were now only a few feet away. Sam could swear she saw a smirk on her friend's face - what the fuck did that mean? Sam's eyes widened as she watched Mia step toward the two strangers, slowly and with her hammer resting over her shoulder. Sam rushed forward to stand in front of her friend when Mia stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. The smile on Mia's face seemed strangely sane, and Sam warily backed off to stand by her side.

Satisfied, she refastened her hammer to her bag and flashed a bright smile. The two men in front of her mimicked Sam's surprised, bemused expression. She then extended her hand forward, maintaining the sunny expression, "Um, hi! I'm Mia, and this is Sam. Sorry about that back there, we can explain."

The taller one was the first to recover, reaching out and accepting her handshake. "I'm Taehyung, and this is Jungkook. Meeting you two is the most interesting thing we've done all month!" 'Jungkook' looked a bit embarrassed by his friend before quickly interjecting.

"It's nice to meet you, and, yes and explanation would be great." Mia chuckled nervously despite herself before continuing on.

"Yeah, um, Sam kinda prefaced it before all...uh, that. We've been on foot for a little over a month, and we're pretty much starving. When we saw your bikes, we just couldn't let that chance slip away. I was hoping that they were abandoned, but we're sorry for stealing from you...twice, we're just a little desperate right now," Mia, stared at the dust caked on her boots from a long journey through the desert. The apologetic smile dropped from her face and was replaced by a stoney scowl. "Now, I'd really appreciate it if we can just forget about this and walk away without anyone getting hurt. We don't want any trouble, but listen to me well when I say this: we've been through hell and back, and we've fought too long and hard to be here. So I'll fight until my last breath to make sure my best friend makes it out of this shit hole alive, no matter who or what gets in my way. She's all I have - get the picture?"

The two men gulped before nodding vigorously, obviously uneasy by the sudden change of mood. Again, the taller one - now introduced as Taehyung - spoke first. "We understand. But those bikes aren't cheap, so we can't just walk away empty handed." His friend shot Taehyung a warning look before his friend continued, clearly seeing how Mia was now resting her hand over the handle of her hammer. "We can make you a deal."

Sam gave Mia a questioning look, receiving a short nod in response. "What are you thinking? We don't have much, so we're not sure what you could possibly want." 

Taehyung smiled.

"We want you two."

Sam and Mia stood staring at the taller boy in disbelief. Sam drew a sword, shoving Mia to stand behind her. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Taehyung gestured for Jungkook to put down his gun, looking serenely back at Sam, as if she hadn't just drawn a sword to his throat. "We want you to join us. You're in a tight spot right now, and we're down two bikes - it works out for both of us. Join our group and we'll call it square."