I've been a little bit of a writing machine, so enjoy! I will for sure publish a chapter tomorrow. It's Halloween after all!
~Jo
The train's lights pierced through the darkness like a sword, and soon Mari was running, tugging Sohinki along behind her. The train broke into the Dead Zone, and soon they were running alongside it. Mari reached it first, grasping onto the handle and swinging herself into the open car. She reached out a hand for Sohinki and he grasped it. She pulled him up, their momentum causing them both to fall backward, Sohinki landing atop her.
He rolled off with a quiet apology, but Mari only smiled at him as she skimmed her eyes over his body. She wished she hadn't stopped the kiss. It was consuming her thoughts. He was the only thing she could think about. The only thing that she wanted to think about.
"We can't tell anybody," She said as she joined him at the edge of the train car, letting the wind kiss her skin. "About the kiss. We can't tell anyone." She glanced at Sohinki out of the corner of her eye, and she thought that maybe he looked disappointed.
"Of course," He mumbled, the wind whisking away some of his voice, tossing it to the wilderness. "Our secret." Mari frowned. She wished it didn't have to be a secret, but the danger she could out him in, put both of them, if it slipped... she didn't want to think about it.
"For now," Mari sighed. "For now, it will be our secret. If I have anything to do with it, we can shout it from the rooftops soon enough." Sohinki gave her a look of disbelief.
"You don't have to lie to me," He grumbled. Mari had no response. She wasn't sure if she was lying or not, but the possibility that she was, was unfortunately higher than the possibility that she wasn't. So she chose her answer to be silence, the man beside her rendering her speechless.
With an exasperated sigh, Sohinki pushed away from her, retreating into the shadows of the train car. Normally, Mari would have been upset about the clear denial. She ruled over the Dead Zone with a fist of iron, those who disobeyed her would usually end up with a fist to the face or a bullet to the head. But, this was Sohinki. She seemed to be finding new weaknesses, and this man, he seemed to becoming one of them. And to be honest, it scared her. She couldn't imagine being weak, but there was her weakness, sitting in the opposite end of a train car.
The train car was nearing the exit gate of the Dead Zone, to Mari's utter disappointment. She wanted to stay here forever, wanting to have Sohinki all to herself and not having to share his presence with anyone. But it was not meant to be, the world had always been against her, so it only made sense that it was still against her.
"We have to go," Mari said quietly. Sohinki nodded, and she grasped his hand. He seemed hesitant about it, but let her take it. Mari counted down, and the pair of them leaped from the train. In the split second they were in the air, Mari felt free, like she was flying. It was almost a comparable feeling to when she was with Sohinki. However, her feet soon hit ground, and whatever thoughts had danced their way into her mind, flew away the second her feet touched earth.
The walk back to the sewer was spent in silence, giving Mari time to mull over her thoughts. Although she had trouble admitting this fact, every single thought that flirted with her had to deal with the brown haired man standing next to her. She wished that she had more of a choice. She wished that she could take him by the wrist, and they could run away from the cruel world they lived in now. But it was impossible, and Mari did her very best to dismiss the idea, although it continued to flutter around in her head. Running away with Sohinki was one of the most appealing ideas, but she had unfinished business. Revenge was a hard path not to follow.
~*~
"We attack tonight," Mari said, as she paced. Everyone watched her with wary eyes, but only FLitz seemed to have to confidence to question her.
"Tonight?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, and his face showing his obvious disapproval. Mari narrowed her eyes in his direction.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" She growled, stalking towards him and shattering the invisible glass that kept her from her observers. She was a lioness, that would be how she described herself. A lioness begging to be freed from a cage that was far too small.
"No," FLitz replied smoothly. Everything was smooth with FLitz, he had a way with words. He was flirty, always had been and was a breath of fresh air compared to everyone else in the darkness of the Dead Zone. Perhaps if it weren't for the man sitting two people to FLitz's left, she could find herself loving him. "But you need to explain yourself."
"Explain myself?" Mari nearly exploded with anger. Somehow she managed to calm herself, and slowly returned the knitting needle to her hair. She didn't feel guilty for pointing the sharp end towards FLitz, in her mind, he deserved it.
"Yes, explain." FLitz's voice was unusually cold, all of the former flirtation and cheer completely vanished, leaving them with a simple shell of the usual FLitz. "We are unprepared, nearly unarmed, and starving. This is suicide."
"I still have three bullets left," Mari hissed, pulling her gun from her belt. "Don't make it two." FLitz raised his eyebrows at her threat.
"Killing me won't make me any less right."
"He's right," Wes put in, his opinion was quiet, obviously he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her threats. As they had seen before, her threats were far from empty. "As much as we want to attack, we simply don't have what we need to do so."
"I refuse to let them attack first." Mari's eyes were ablaze with fury. This was her domain. How dare they question her.
"Then go alone," FLitz snapped. "Attack them all by yourself, see how that works out." Mari's eyes found themselves flicking to Wes. He refused to meet her gaze. She moved to Joven, who gave her the smallest shake of his head, before glancing away in fear. Lasercorn was her next choice. He looked her in the eyes and shook his head. Mari's fury was all but gone, replaced with sadness as she moved onto the last person. Sohinki. He didn't even meet her eyes.
"Well," She said, cursing her voice for sounding so timid, so small. "Now we wait, and pray to whoever is listening that we don't get attacked first." She sighed, and all of the previous tension held in that room, was released with her breath.
Mari settled herself on the floor, distracting herself from the heaviness of nothing with the blinking light on her wrist. She covered it with the pad of her finger, before releasing her wrist and letting her head fall against the wall. Now all she had left to do was wait. Wait until their possible demise enveloped them in it's hellish embrace. Now all she could do was wait.
