The Night

Settling... again

      "Damn, this is a pretty sweet set up y'got here," I admired looking around at all of the supplies set up, barricades on windows and impressive arsenal of weaponry.
      "Which one you want then," asked Arya
      "One of what?" I questioned quizicly
       "A weapon, duh, you need a proper weapon not that tiny toy you have," gesturing at my small dagger I once used to butcher meat for my family, "You need a weapon, I'd recommend the pistol or sword there. Sword was originally from some museum place, Roman blade or something. We made some adjustments with a few batteries and loose wires and a water gun for an added kick," and she handed it to me without giving me a choice," Ah yeah, you'll also need keys, here have these." Chucking a key at me leaving me holding a deadly blade and keys along with my original gear and food.
       "Calm down, calm down. What's the rush? Gimme a break, I need to find somewhere to put all my stuff," I insisted, putting my bag down on an empty spot in the massive expansive hotel room before realising she had given me keys to a building which had no doors, the original door boarded up and the way we came in just a big plank of wood which you had to move along to get it, I'd ask her about it later, probably. I decided to spend the rest of the night resting, it was late and I was exhausted. There were 3 king-sized beds and 4 of us, as a result I spent the night on the fluffy soft carpet. Sure beats a table with a blanket on top I thought.
       My mind drifted away and I thought about a lot, those other people, there were other survivors, and a lot of them... And there was Arya, always upbeat and beautiful. I didn't like her though, did I? No, I couldn't like her, I'd barely known her for a few days. Urgh, why was I thinking about girls in the middle of this catastrophic outbreak where everyone was pretty much dead and the floors paved with blood.
      Even in war, though, there was new life replacing those lost warriors and fallen loved ones. The heartbreak never really goes away, but the urge of survival stopped me thinking about my family much I guess. "Night Arya, Alicia and Paul," I mumbled then blissfully slept.
       "Pssst. Wake up," I hear a voice cheer in a singsong voice and wake up to see Arya staring down at me,"BOO!" she shouts and I jump back startled and hit my head on the wall and all 3 of them burst out laughing.
       "You SCARED me!" I gasped embarrassed,"Jesus! NEVER EjVER DO THAT AGAIN," and to my dismay that just made them laugh more. Alicia was slapping her hand on the bed laughing in stitches and Paul was grinning wildly trying to hold back a laugh. Arya was beyond laughing, she was hysterical as though shouting boo at me and watching me hit my head on the wall scared was the funniest thing ever... Ok so maybe it was a little funny, and I allowed myself a small chuckle and turned bright red.
      A knock on the makeshift door soon ended our bout of laughter, and we all went to the hole in the wall to see a man standing there, very official looking. It was the same person that held me down and asked for my skills on my first night, hell what did he want? "What do you want Ike Astare? Haven't I already told you, we ain't joining your crew," demanded Paul
       "Hmmf, you've made that clear enough, I don't want you anymore. It's your supplies, we need your food and in return I can offer you commodities like electricity, batteries, working radios and more! And believe me, denying my generous offer isn't a good idea," He offered to be met with a blunt stare from Paul.
       Paul turned to me and asked,"Take the girls out a sec will you Kreis? Ike and I have a bit of talking to do," and grudgingly I led Alicia and Arya to another room in our massive hotel room. We couldn't here what they said but could tell they were arguing.
       "Ike's a violent man, Paul needs to be careful," informed Alicia and we all sat in silence waiting. Arya looked like she was about to burst in tears out of fear for Paul.
       I didn't know how to comfort her so I gave her a gentle cuddle and told her,"It's gonna be fine. Paul knows how to defend himself, no-one's gonna get hurt,". I sounded more confident than I felt.
      Suddenly, a short bang came out of the main room, I kicked the door open and ran out to see Ike standing above Paul, on the ground presumably knocked out on the coffee table. Instantly I drew my wierd sword thingy Arya gave me earlier and lunged at Ike, he gracefully dodged and I had to envy his agility.
        He jumped towards me and pushed me to the floor, my head hitting the wall, again, and reflexively I slashed my sword wildly, swinging about. I clicked some button by accident on my blade and a burst of water sprayed him in the face. He suddenly began to have spasms and dropped down, scowling at me. A few curses came out and some definitely not approved words before he regained control and left, cursing to himself and angry. It surprised me I didn't follow and try to stab him, but then I realised who I was, a kid who wanted to survive, not a murderer.
       Paul croaked from the floor," Damn kid, quite the show," and the girls rushed to help him up. We tended his wounds, nothing that looked too serious and sat in silence for a while before heading off for a very early night.