Ephemeral - Alia Dixon

34

I've been here for a few days now. They're nice but very careful. I can feel their eyes on me all the time, watching me as I walk around and take in the place. It's nice and quiet big. Used to be a schoolground before shit went down, that's what I can tell.
"Dixon!" I hear somebody say and turn around. Leah, Carver and another man are standing a bit further away, all of them standing tall and waiting for me.
"What's up?" I ask as I walk over. I stop infront of them but nobody says anything. I tilt my head.
"Are you ready?" Leah asks.
I narrow my eyes. "For what?"
She grins. "Come on" she says, putting a hand onto my shoulder and guiding me with her. I glance back at Carver and the other man, them watching me carefully as we walk into a huge room. Everyone's already there, waiting for us to arrive.
"Alia!" Pope exclames happily. "How are you feeling?"
"Good. Why?"
He grins. "Can't I be nice sometimes?"
I don't answer. He claps his hands together. "Well, I want you out on a mission with the others"
I cross my arms infront of my chest, looking at him suspicously. "What kind of mission?"
"Supplies. Nothing too big"
I narrow my eyes. "And you trust me enough to let me go with them?"
He starts laughing. "I don't, actually. But Leah does and something tells me Carver does too. So, are you in?"
I glance at all the people in the room. They're all desperately waiting for my answer. I tilt my head before nodding. "Alright. Why not?"
He smiles at me contently. Clearly that was the right answer for him.
"Great. You'll leave in two hours" he says before everyone starts walking away again. I do too, and get back to my room, getting my stuff ready.

By the time I'm ready, we're already ready to leave. I walk outside, my knives attached all over my body, my jeans low and my top long sleeved. The jacket I've been wearing since thirteen with the knives had started to get kind of tight but whatever. I'm still going to wear it. It was a present from Merle. I top everything off with another jacket on top. A leather jacket I've found a few years ago. It's pretty cool actually. Red. Love the colour. It has a hole in the back though because of that bastard who stabbed me but whatever.
"There you are" Leah says with tight expression, as always.
"Let's go" I say, getting into one of the cars. I want to get into the back but Leah stops me.
"Us women always sit in the front" she says with a slight grin as she gets into the other car. I swallow once before getting into the passenger side of the car behind the one Leah just got in.
"Didn't think we'd let you sit in the back, did you?" Fish asks me.
"I didn't know you guys cared about stuff like that?" I answer flatly before looking out of the window. There are three of them sitting in the backseat before Carver gets inside and starts the car.
"We're gentlemen, Alia" Turner says, making me chuckle.
"You know how many times I've heard that sentence? Shit means nothing" I say, still not looking at them. I take out one of my knives and start fidgeting with it, slipping it through my fingers carefully before throwing it into the air a little and catching it by the blade.
"You're good with knives?" Carver asks me, not taking his eyes off the road.
"Yeah"
"How come?" Fish asks.
"My dad used to love hunting. He had a crossbow and wanted me and my brother to use the same. I wasn't strong enough though so I wanted to try out the knives. Safe to say I'm a better shot with them now than with a gun"
A few of them chuckle. "I only believe it when I see it" Fish says, making me slightely grin.
"Sure. I'll probably get the chance later anyway. Where are we going?"
"Supplies. Need a few things but since most of the stuff near us has been taken already we need to go a bit further. It's going to be a longer journey but not longer than a few days. We go in and we go out again, easy as that" Carver says before sparing me a glance.
"What if it's not? What if we'll meet other people out there? What's your policy?"
"We ask Pope"  Washington answers.
"You always ask Pope?" I ask and they all agree. "Wow" I chuckle.
"What?" Turner asks a bit annoyedly.
I sightely grin. "Doesn't he trust you enough to make the right deicison?"
That seems to shut the boys up a bit as they all go quiet. I chuckle contently before looking back out of the window again.