Fighting for Survival

Chapter 16.5

"Uhm.. Hi! You're Kian, right?" He laughs nervously and looks down, raising his hand to shake mine. "I really don't know how I'm going to teach you, but I can try. I heard you can't talk?" I nod and shake his hand. I lift the white board and marker and wave it gently in front of his face. "Oh.. I didn't realize you had that." Joshua, again, laughs nervously. Jumping when the store's door flies open, Joshua and I shriek quietly/silently. Emma storms in, muttering angrily. I vaguely hear a, "Stupid fuckin Vernon and his stupid fuckin.."
She stops when she notices Joshua isn't alone. "Oh.. You're here," Emma turns to Joshua. "Why is he here?" Joshua shrugs.
"I have to train him or something. He's probably gonna be put on guard duty after his arm heals up. But I don't mind! I'll just have more help cooking and rationing our food." Joshua grins at us both. Emma snorts.
"I don't think the broken boy is gonna help you much." She looks around the rest of the store. "You guys the only other ones here? I have something I need to discuss, about him. To be honest, I don't care if Kian is here of not, because we might be able to get him on all of our side." Joshua nods.
"Bambi is in the back gathering some food for her and Mark. They're leaving tonight." Emma curses quietly. "But I don't think they'd be much help in the first place. Mark was shot and Bambi's just a little ten year old. I'm surprised he helped at all in the first place!" Emma's eyes widen.
"She's ten? She looks my age!" She yells.
"Who's ten?!" I hear a high pitched voice from the back. A wavy, short, brown haired girl came walking in, adorned by a box of food piled in her arms. She looks to be about 5'2, wearing some bright blue Converse, a big blue pullover, and grey jeans. I point at Emma. She yells at me as I silently snicker. "Who's this guy?" Bambi asks, tilting her head.
"This is Kian," Joshua throws his arm over my shoulders as I pull my injured arm away protectively. It still hurts when I move a bit, so I'd only assume it's not healed. "He's gonna be helping me for a while. He's not on anyone's side yet." I quickly write on my white board.
'I don't know what the difference between the sides are.' Bambi reads it slowly. She sort of glares at it?? Then she speaks up again, "Vernon's an awful person. If only everyone could see what he's doing.. Don't trust him fully, even if you're not on our side. Just.. Don't." She shakes her head in annoyance and starts sneaking outside. "Anyways, see you guys! Good luck with all that Vernon crap!" The door closes behind her, tripping over her shoes and getting back up, embarrassed and gathering her food. So much for sneaking around.
Emma turns back to us. "I agree with Bambi, don't choose a side if you're not with us. Vernon's dangerous and has done some crazy shit lately. I used to trust him, but.. not anymore. I can't."