Last Girl

Chapter 10

Shock ripples through the air in the car.
"WHAT?" I yell.
"And you didn't tell us?" Jacob adds.
"I didn't think it was important" Tessa says quietly.
"YOU DIDNT THINK IT WAS IMPORTANT?" I Scream.
Jacob puts his hand on my arm.
"Gracie...Its ok. Calm down."
I rip my arm away.
"Don't you dare tell me to calm down."
I hiss.
Jacob whinces at the amount of venom in my voice.
"I'll be inside the mall if you need me." I growl.
I storm out of the car and march through the abandon parking lot, not really caring whether or not I was in danger.
Screw Tessa.
why did she think that wasn't important.
"Oh hey ya my sister is physco and she's probably gonna come after us and try to kill me. No biggie though."
I barge through the doors into the empty mall.
The smell of rot and must greets my nostrils.
I stomp across the dusty tile, where I flop on a rotting couch.
I sit there for awhile, sulking in my anger.
Why does shit like this happen to me?
Sure, I was alone, but at least I wasn't on the run from bandits that want to kill me
I was safe in my home with Titan.
Of course, deep down in my heart I knew it wouldn't last.
But who wants to dwell on those sad thoughts?
I hear footsteps echoing down the hallway.
"Hello?" I call out, regretting my decision to not grab my gun.
"It's just me."
I relax at the sound of Jacobs calming voice.
"What do you want from me?" I hiss.
Jacob sits down on the couch next to me.
Dust flys off the couch as he sits.
"Tessa says that Titan will be ok." he says.
"Good. Titan is the only one who really cares about me." I say, my voice laced with venom.
"Ouch." Jacob says.
"I care about you." he says finally.
He takes my hand.
"I know you are scared, and stressed. I am too. But it will be ok. We will be safe. We have each other."
He kisses me on the cheek.
I feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
I sniffle.
"I'm scared. Really scared." I whisper.
Jacob takes me in his arms.
"I won't let anything happen to you. Ever."
He kisses my forehead.
I lean in and kiss him on the lips.
"And I won't let anything happen to you."
He kisses me again, and doesn't stop.
His lips slowly wash away the fear in me, like the sun chases away the darkness at dawn.
He is mine.
I am his.

"Uh...guys?"
we are interrupted by Tessa, who is awkwardly standing above us.
Jacob quickly gets off me and puts his shirt back on.
I sigh, annoyed.
One day I'll get Jacob to myself.
no interruption.
"What do you want?" I ask.
"I'm hungry. We didn't grab any food."
"Did you have to tell us you were hungry?" Jacob asks.
"No? But I thought you guys where hungry as well."
My stomach growls in agreement.
"Ugh ok. The food court is this way."
I grab Jacobs hand and drag him towards the food court, with Tessa close behind us.
She was totally jealous.
Back off, he's mine.
I sift through the back store room of an abandoned burger place, and I find nothing edible.
"Have you guys found anything?" I call out, my voice echoing in the empty building.
"Found something!" Tessa calls out.
I emerge to find her and Jacob sitting at a table with a can of tuna and a glass jar of marinara sauce.
"Great. I'm starving."
Everyone is quiet as we quickly devour the food.
No one seems interested in talking.
Jacob clears his throat.
"I think we should talk about what we are going to do. We don't really have a plan."
I stare down at the food, not wanting to look up.
"I think we should go to Oregon." Tessa pipes up. "Unless someone has a better idea."
I feel her staring pointedly at me.
"Fuck off" I growl.
Anger overtakes my senses and I snap at her.
"Damn. Learn how to take a joke."
Tessa says.
I stand up abruptly, knocking the glass jar to the ground and shattering it.
"I'll be in the car. Grab any supplies we might need."
With that, I pivot on the heels of my trusty boots and march to the car.
As I am leaving, I Hear Tessa whisper to jacob.
"What's her problem?"

Jacob doesn't have an answer for that.

I finally arrive at the car, where Titan lounges lazily.
His wound look good, it bandaged in crisp white strips of cloth.
I stroke his smooth black fur and scratch behind his ears.
"We will figure out something." I whisper to Titan.
He sighs in response.
The silence is broken by a motor.
It's very faint, but I hear it.
Not mine, but someone else's.
It's almost too quiet to be a car.
But what else could it be?
I peer out the window of the car into the dark parking garage.
I see nothing, but my gut tells me something is wrong.

Where are Tessa and Jacob?

Have the bandits found us?

I quietly slip out of the car and walk to the outside edge of the garage.
I rest my hands on the crumbling cement.
I look out and the slowly rotting city and see nothing.
No movement.
Nothing stirs except for a ripped billboard blowing slowly in the wind.
I turn my face to the pale blue sky.
There.
I see it.
The source of the motor.
It's an airplane.