An Impervious Few // KateLena Apocalypse AU

A Point of No Return

"Come on, Katie," he said, looking back at her with that trademark boyish grin. "You won't get in trouble, promise. Your mom is at that council meeting, remember?"

Kate bit her lip, eyeing her best friend with tentative suspicion. She stood at the crumbling brick base of the old Boston Museum of Natural History, hands around the rungs of a rusty ladder at the back of the building.

"I don't know, Pete..." She replied, and he rolled his eyes. "There's probably a million Lurkers in there."

"Don't be silly. We're not even going inside. I just want to show you something."

"Is it something actually interesting? Or is it another arachnid exhibit?"

He paused. "Actually interesting. I think."

"Okay..."

With a resigned sigh, Kate scaled the ladder, keeping pace with her excitable friend. She was slowed by the weight in her cargo pants' pockets- a few peanut butter bars, a walkie talkie, and her newest possession, a sleek black handgun. Kate rarely ever carried, but between the heightening tensions in the city and Peter's unpredictable antics, she felt justified in swiping the gun from her mother's loaded armory.

"Hurry up, Katie," Peter called, already on the roof, looking down at Kate with mischief in his brown eyes. "We gotta do this before sunrise."

"Seriously, where are you taking me?" Kate asked as she hoisted herself up, hands in her bomber jacket pockets as she stood.

"Be patient," Peter said, but at Kate's scowl, he finally caved. "Okay, okay. I just wanted to do something nice for you. I know how stressed you've been."

Kate huffed, knowing his meaning. Though she was not privy to everything happening in Boston, she knew enough. "My mother is going to get us all killed."

"Maybe she knows what she's doing," Peter offered, and Kate once again bristled. "I know you don't approve of her methods, but maybe she's doing all of this for you. To keep you safe."

"I never asked her to. I never wanted this."

"I know."

Eyebrows furrowed and expression stormy, Kate stopped in her tracks, crossing to the opposite edge of the roof. "Man, hold on a sec, Pete."

The boy followed, sitting next to her as she lowered herself to perch on the edge. "What is it?"

"Just something I've been thinking about for a while." Her shoulders slumped, and Peter placed a hand on her upper arm. "I can't do this anymore. I hate it here."

"Yeah, I know you do." Anxiety grew in the boy's chest, nervous as to what his best friend of five years may confess. She had been increasingly discontent, a newfound rage bubbling under her friendly demeanor. "What's really on your mind, KB?"

"Let's just get the hell out of here."

"What?"

Kate locked eyes with him, pleading. "Let's just go. This city is about to implode. Either Fisk gets his way and we all starve to death, or there's a war. I don't want to be around for either of those scenarios."

"You're just gonna leave your mom? I bet she has a pl-"

"Her plan is fucking insane," Kate seethed. "It'll save us from Fisk, but not the others."

"Murdock? Jones?"

"All of them." Boiling like a kettle, Kate's fists clenched, and she felt like tearing her hair out. "I'm sick of it. There's literally undead monsters around every corner, and all the humans do is fight each other!"