Reluctant

Chapter 6 Carter's POV

The strange red-headed girl collapses to the floor as I stare with utter shock. What? My mind goes blank as I ponder why the girl would do something like this. Jess screams out of frustration and storms out of the tent. I turn my focus back to the girl and frown. My knife.

I gently turn her body over and collect the knife lodged in her chest. I sigh and stand up. Stupid Apocolypse, so many casualties. Grabbing a bag sitting on the floor, I begin collecting useful items we may need. Once satisfied with my pack, I make my way out of the tent. Where's Jess?

I scan he camp looking for a mess of brown hair. Having no avail, I begin walking to the next tent; my knife secure in my left hand. I scan my surroundings and quietly walk into the tent. A body lays lifeless aand I tilt my heead in sympathy. I slowly make my through the tent and scavange for small items to help fill my bag.

A scream from across the lot alerts me. I sprint to the tent on my far left and trip halfway to it. Stumbling in, I come face-to-face with my companion. Her eyes search mine and I can't help but let out a sigh of relief. Jess smiles slightly and visibly relaxes. "You okay?"

"Yeah, that one was just a bit of a screamer is all." Jess replies chuckling slightly. "You sound like a psychopath." I say jokingly. She shrugs her shouldersand squeezes past me; exiting the tent. I find myself gazing around the tent. A real blood bath is what looked like.

"Carter!" I hang my head and exit the tent. Slowly, I make my way over to the tree. I tap her shoulder once and Jess spins around. "How do you cope?" She asks. "With...?" I respond confused. "All these deaths. How do you cope?"

"I could ask you the same question." I say. She nods, "Fair enough." There's a pause and as I'm about to speak, a gun shot is heard. I swear loudly as Jess sprints toward the sound. After a few minutes, she slows to a jog and eventually, we're walking once again.

I stumble a few times but fall into step beside her. I look over at her. Her face shows no hint of emotion; her blue eyes stare ahead intently. I lightly shove her with my shoulder and laugh lightly. "You're such a child." She laughs.

"Hey, I'm older than you!" I retort. She laughs again and shakes her head; her auburn hair swaying. "That's not the point." She says, her eyes glued to the path in front of her. "Sure thing Red." She looks at me and smiles slightly. "No, it's brown."

"Hate to break it to you, but your hair is indeed red." She glares at me and I smile back at her. She shakes her head once again. "Sure thing Dimples." She says mockingly. I laugh slightly and focus my gaze back onto the trail in front of us.

* * *

Jess and I come across a small village. Her and I both scan the area as we walk into the clearing. Jess stops suddenly and I quickly spins around. "You okay?" I ask. "Carter, we need to leave. Like, right now." I raise my eyebrow in question but she shrugs it off. She begins tugging on my arm. "Carter, please, let's g-"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my baby sister Jessica." A loud voice booms. Jess swears under her breath and loops her fingers through mine. I stand there, frozen by her touch.

She tugs on my hand and pulls me over to the strange boy. Her hand stay clasped in mine as she talks to him. I stand by her side awkwardly and stay silent through the confrontation.

"I hoped I would see you again," the boys says.

"The feeling isn't at all mutual," Jess replies. I search through my thoughts and look over at Jess. Her whole body was rigid as she glared at her brother. I squeeze her hand gently. She looks over at me and her expression softens slightly as she gives me a gentle squeeze in reply. 

"That's my oldest brother Jace. I've despised him since I found out he beat my mom. He was kicked out shortly after. Since then, I've always had a certain hate towards him." Jess whispers with a twinge of sadness. My heart breaks but I nod in understanding; I stay silent as to not make things worse.

"So, little sis, you gonna introduce me or not?" Jace says with a scowl in my direction. I instantly stand up straighter and clear my throat, making sure to shoot a glare over to the dark-haired boy.

"'M name's Carter," I reply. His eyes meet mine and the glare is returned. He spins around and quietly begins talking to a small blonde boy who stood a foot or two behind him. I shift my eyes to the other members of their group and lock eyes with a tall brunette. 

Jess slowly releases my hand and slowly reaches behind her back for her bow as her other hands make a move for her knives. Quickly, she flings a knife at the brunette holding my gaze. Next, a short red-head. Grabbing an arrow, she lifts her bow and points it towards the small blonde boy Jace had been speaking to. One she lets the first arrow fly, she grabs another and points it at her brother who had turned around and was now facing us. Reluctantly, she let the arrow fly; We watch as the arrow plunges into the boy's chest. A scream of surprise escapes his lips as he falls to the ground. 

A sob from my right is heard and I quickly dart my eyes in that direction. A tear streams down Jess' face and she collapses to the floor. Sobs rake through her body and she noticeably shakes. I step closer and kneel down beside her frail body. I snake my arms around her and pull her into me for comfort. In reply, she wraps her fingers into my shirt and wets my t-shirt with her tears.

After some time, she sniffles and pulls away; she wipes her eyes with the back of her hands and tries to stand. I quickly stand and offer her my hand. She smiles softly and takes my hand as I slowly help her to her feet. She nods her okay and I smile at her apologetically.

She slowly gathers her thoughts together and reaches for her bag. As I'm recollecting my thoughts, I walk over to mine and exchange my blue tear-soaked shirt for a ratty old black tee. Turning around, I'm surprised to find Jess glaring at me with red-rimmed eyes. I shrug my shoulder slightly and offer an apologetically smile. "Sorry, It was wet and it was getting cold with this breeze. It was just a shirt Jess, honest."

I give her a sidelong glance and hoist my bag onto my shoulder. Man, this thing is starting to get heavy. I glance over at Jess and ogle at her for a moment as I study her features. I notice a mark just above her eyebrow on her left temple.

"What's that from?" I ask her. Jess looks over at me with a raised eyebrow. I tap my left temple and realization hits her. She nods in understanding and walks over to my place by the tree. She looks at me and shrugs as if wasn't a big deal but with her, who knew?

"I had a fight with a shredder a while back. His nails were really long and he managed to just reach my face. The cut was pretty deep but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle." She shrugs it off and turns back towards her brother's lifeless corpse. Her face portrayed a look of anger and sadness. 

A noise alerts the both of us and everything goes black...

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So sorry for the lack of updates. But hey, I'm trying. I have everything written so far by hand and just need to find the folder it's packed in. Will update as soon as I find it :)

Stay perfect my lovelies :) xxx

-Lani