Reliance [COMPLETED]

Chapter 2

The key is simple: find a place to sleep, wake up, and move out. That's how it's always been for me. Sometimes, on certain nights, I'll stay for two. Although it's dangerous, I find some shelters nice and well hidden, staying there for an extra day. However, usually after I hear animals, I know there'll be pursuers, so I pack up and move. It usually helps both me and the competition keep going. I never know who I'll run into.

As long as there's competition, I'll be at the top of my game. Normally when I've been alone for so long, I get worried. I wonder if everyone's been killed or if they've all become an alliance and are ganging up on me.

I've had nightmares of those horrid visions and have woke up fighting myself in my sleeping bag up in the trees. Only once did I actually manage to fall out of my bag and onto the ground from a nightmare. I was being chased by wolves at first, and I fought them off. But suddenly, they transformed into people with knives. All at once they started stabbing me, and I could feel myself bleed to death. In reality, those knives were twigs and I woke up in a pool of my own blood. Luckily, I wasn't high up enough to break anything, but I had move out of the area after exposing myself and nurse my scars from the twigs that I broke on my way down.

I've revisited some of my old hideouts and I've seen bullet holes everywhere. There's always arrows and knives just laying around too, and I collect them. After all, free weapons sounds like a good deal for me.

Getting ammunition isn't cheap, and for me, there aren't that many to choose from. For the most part, when I trade, I usually trade in for half of food, the other for ammuntion. An occasional weapon is purchased if I've worn out one of my bows or if I've been in an attack and beat someone with the butt of my gun because it was the only thing handy. That was a dark day after using it and saw that I'd somehow managed to bend my gun in half. To be fair though, the man I'd hit was full muscle.

Now feeling the pain shoot through the leg of my bad ankle, I take a moment to stop and check it out. If there's any kind of problem, my best chance is to find the quickest way to the market. I figure that maybe I can trade in some game for some wraps for my leg if they sell any. Lately, the market has been going downhill. The only good use of it is the bar and the ammunition.

I keep moving and continue to fight through the pain as I push past trees.

Suddenly, I hear something in the distance and feel for my knife. Another attacker I assume. My eyes are searching again. I start to wonder if that guy was really dead or if he had just passed out. He couldn't have survived that unless he was immortal, which can't be. Unless I'm wrong.

There's no time for anything else before my mouth is covered from a hand pulling me back through the trees. With my head being held closely against a warm body, I can't get a look at my kidnapper. Maybe it's just because I'm starving so bad I'm hallucinating. I let the hand drag me through the woods until it continues to get darker and darker, almost as if I'm going in some kind of forbidden forest area that no one knows about.

I'm abrutively shoved down into a hole, and the body coming down with me, hand still across my mouth. I'm definitely not hallucinating.

The hand is removed from my mouth and I throw a punch with lightning quick reflexes. The body flies back and lands with a loud thud.

I stand, pistol drawn. The figure groans, still on the cold, wet ground.

"Hey, easy!" hisses a voice. It's male.

"You kidnapped me!" I defend. "Ever hear of self defense?"

The male stands, and I can barely make out his facial features. He rubs his jaw, which was where I must've punched him. Then he moves closer, and I grip my pistol firmer.

"Yeah? Well let's just say you definitely aren't the wimpy kind of target I thought you were going to be."

"I'll take that into consideration next time I see you and make sure my gun's loaded." I shoot back.

We both remain silent for a moment. The figure strikes a match, and I can see him more clearly. He looks as young as me with a now bruised jaw line and dark hair. Honestly, I can see myself winning in a caged match against him. He's scrawny and looks like he hasn't eaten in days. I figure that's probably what I look like to him.

"Well," he says sarcastically, "thanks. Next time I'll remember that."

I roll my eyes. This kid shouldn't even be living right now.

"So why the hell did you kidnap me?"

He chuckles nervously. "Well," he speaks slowly, "I'd like to be your partner."

I'm right. He isn't worth living.

I start to pull out my gun, making sure my last bullet is ready to go, but the boy reacts quickly.

"Wait, wait, hang on," he says quickly, "an alliance I mean. We can team up."

"I know what you mean," I say, lowering my gun, "I refuse your offer." I pause, "and you're lucky I didn't shoot you, but I've got better things to kill."

The boy shakes his head as I start to leave.

"But you're really good with surviving, and I can get you all of the supplies necessary. I've watched you, you're amazing! We can team up, I know my way around these woods and-"

"I told you no," I say firmly, "and a word of advice, next time you want an ally, I advise you to talk to them first instead of kidnapping them."

I leave him in silence as I crawl out and take off. There's no way I'd team up with him. He may look like he's my age, but he's obviously not experienced. Sometimes I wonder why we have people who just take up extra space.