An Impervious Few // KateLena Apocalypse AU

Dine and Dash

On day eleven (or was it twelve?), Yelena finally felt far enough removed from Widow territory to start cutting through towns and traversing major highways. In part, her hand was forced, as the pair ran dangerously low on protein. Turns out when you burn seven thousand calories a day from walking dawn to dusk, you need substantial fuel.

Now, they sat under cover of rhododendron bushes on top of a hill overlooking a small, seemingly abandoned Appalachian town. Even after eight years, it was still eerie to Yelena to see a place that was once so vibrant decay into a rusted, overgrown graveyard. After outbreak, smaller towns disappeared first, with the populations either dying early, fleeing to larger cities, or scattering into the wilderness.

Despite the inherit decrepitness of rotting shingles, broken windows, and countless ghosts that haunted the cracked pavement of suburbia, Yelena could not help but find it oddly beautiful. Mother Nature reclaimed her lands, wrapping her ivy green fingers around every brick and mortar structure in sight. Lawns returned to wild grasses, native flowers sprouted in place of dandelions. The world was undoubtedly much wilder now, but perhaps that was not always bad.

Kate was rearing to go check out the obviously abandoned town square featuring an old movie theater, a diner, and an antiques shop, but Yelena put the brakes on that plan. The blonde was painfully meticulous as she mapped the layout of the town on her notepad, marking exit routes and counting the floors and windows on each building.

"At this point, I feel like you're just messing with me," Kate sighed, so incredibly ready to look at something other than tree bark and mushrooms. "I haven't seen a building in literal years. You're just teasing me. Tease."

"Oh, you ready to keep walking, then?" Yelena asked, playful smile on her lips. "Because we're not going down there until I've done as much recon as possible."

Kate flopped back onto the forest floor, laying atop her pack. She picked at her bowstring, imagining she was a sad, lost cowboy strumming a guitar. "What if I wanted to go in by myself?"

"Well, you're a big girl, Kate Bishop. You're free to hop off of this train at any time."

While the sentiment was technically true, Kate felt as though she was in too deep. Being away from the Widows, she would be perfectly safe in starting a new solitary encampment, building her own utopia from the ground up as she had before.

But... despite everything her past told her, she enjoyed the companionship. Yelena was not anything like she expected- a ruthless killer, or a selfish survivor. Somehow, she was kind. And it drove Kate crazy.

"You trying to get rid of me?" Kate asked, nudging Yelena with the toe of her boot.

"Nah. I think I would actually miss you." Yelena squinted into her binoculars, sketching the last building. "I don't know why I ever thought going on this trip alone would be a good idea."

"So you had to pick up a stray?" Kate's laugh deflated into a sigh. "Missing people, though. Imagine that."

Pausing her sketches, Yelena looked over, eyes mostly neutral save for a hint of pity. "You don't miss anyone?"

Suddenly antsy, Kate stood awkwardly, eyes on her boots. "Can we fucking clean out this town now?"

Sighing, Yelena placed her pen behind her ear and folded up her notebook. "Fine. But we stay together, got it? Don't be stupid, and don't let your guard down."

Kate nodded as the two made their way down the hill. It was steeper than Kate expected, and she had to inch down at a snail's pace to avoid tweaking her weak knee. Though a few steps ahead, Yelena noticed, and offered her arm for stability. Kate took it without a word, eyes cast down to the brush and bramble her boots worked through.