Game Of Hearts

Fight or Flight

Ethan

Ethan kicked open a box in the dusty hardware store he was in, tipping its contents. Nothing fancy. Nothing he needed anyway. He most certainly wasn't going to need cleaning supplies. Running a hand through his hair he started rummaging around in drawers. He would have normally looked in the cash register, but money was obsolete in a world like this. It was almost humorous for him.

He found nothing in the old drawers, but when he backed away from them, his elbow knocked the shelf behind him. He paused and waited like the dead... But heard nothing, nevertheless he was not a man who took dangerous risks.  He opened the exit door and it creaked in response. He headed straight for the Jeep when he heard the scream of a frightened woman. Olivia.

.....

Her scream pierced through the air, alerting Ethan as his brain started thinking double time. Grabbing his Magnum revolver out his pocket, he sprinted in the direction of her voice. His heart was thudding. Was he crazy?  What if that was a creeper? What if it had already taken Olivia? What if he went there and she was dead? Wasn't he putting his own life in danger?

Another scream declined his thoughts. Why the hell had he walked so far? Finally arriving at the scene he spotted Olivia. Only, it wasn't like he expected.

Olivia Del Rosa sat perched on the top of a tattoo counter, club in one hand, dignity in the other. She was shaking like a rabbit and never blinked once.

Ethan was still partially alert, but he saw nothing. That's when she spoke. "T- that thing!" She squealed.

Ethan sighed and lowered his gun, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "What thing? And didn't I ask you to stay in the car?" This place was more deserted than his wallet. Ethan scanned the area until his eyes locked with hers again. She really did look ruffled. Her raven black hair was falling out of its neat little bun, making her jade-green eyes appear even larger. Or maybe that was just the shock.

"Its..." She swallowed, trying to find words. "Over there" she pointed toward an area of the shop, coated in a soft layer of dust. But there was nothing there but an abandoned tattoo needle. "I'm lost" he said, frowning. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "Its happening again, isn't it?" She covered her face with her hands. Ethan was still confused, so he sat down next to her. She smelled like flowers. Spring flowers, those fresh ones that usually come out -

She started to cry. Tears that made her whole body quiver.
He heard her whisper something. "Mom, Dad." 

Confused as he was, his arms enclosed her fragile body as she cried her way through the story of how her parents were brutally attacked. She said something about escaping and the word "brother" seems to connect with Kansas in between sobs. He brushed his hand through her hair as she made a wet puddle in his shirt. She told him about the hallucinations she would have about them, they'd never stop. Sometimes they got so realistic, her brain would believe so and she'd end up hurting herself.

For a while she just stayed there in his arms. Even after the tears had stopped. When she finally pulled back, Ethan gently brushed her hair out of her face and wiped some stray tears from her eyes. "Olivia" he began. "This is a cold,  dead world" He whispered in her ear. "That we have a chance to change. We'll find them." after all, they were attacked, not killed, he thought.

Olivia nodded, but didn't believe a word of it. She'd heard it all before.  They'd called her crazy. Even the doctors. Sometimes it was even one of those disgusting freaks. Sometimes it was something worse. Something undecipherable, like the creepers, but worse. She wiped some more tears with the back of her sleeve and lifted herself up off Ethan's chest. Already back to the category of things that tore his heart, Ethan sat there and pondered over what came over him as he stared into her tear stained eyes. He was not a hugger. He was fairly insensitive to people's feelings. So why now? Why with this woman of all people? He wasn't ready to mend a broken heart again. If he were to fall in love with her, and he lost her, failed to protect her, he would never live the same again. Never love the same again. He would never be the same again.

"Come on. Let's get back."

Olivia nodded, brushing more hair out of her face.

But just look at her... She's broken, just like me... But you know what they say. You need something complete to heal something broken.

And he was far from that.