Those Who Remain

Do Not Touch

Ander's Point of View

I thought that waking up next to Ashton was already pretty terrible. But waking up alone was worse.

Flinging my arm out across the sleeping bag, I concluded that Ashton was indeed not there. This can’t be good. My eyes took a while to adjust to the cruel sunlight, but soon I was able to see that everyone else was still asleep. Careful not to disturb anyone, I peeled the sleeping bag off of me and stood up. On instinct, my hand moved to my gun as I started to move to find Ashton - except my gun wasn’t there. Oh fuck no. My hands desperately searched my waist line and the sleeping bag, but they never touched smooth metal.

“That motherfucker,” I seethed.

“Oh, you’re up.”

I whipped around to see Ashton leaning against a tree.

“Where’s my gun?” I could have punched that smirk right off his face.

“Right here,” he lazily extended it towards me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I reached out to grab it, but he held it out of my reach.

“Keeping my friends safe,” his expression turned from amused to dead serious. “I’ve only known you for a day. Trust isn’t that easy, especially when my first impression of you was you holding a gun to my friend’s head.”

“You really think I would have killed you?” I pointed to myself, offended. “I may be a bitch, but I’m also a human.”

“I’ve watched people, my own family and friends, die right in front of me and I’m not going through that again. So forgive me if I’m a bit on edge about you,” he said with clenched teeth.

“I understand that, but we’ve been through just as much as you have,” I glanced at my gun held tight in his hand. “We deserve respect too.”

He didn’t say anything as he held the gun, handle first, out to me. I took it out of his hand, but kept it aimed at his chest. A hint of amusement trailed at the corners of his mouth.

“Take my gun again, and I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger when I get it back,” I warned.

“You’ll have to get through them first,” he nodded with his eyes focused on something behind me. I turned to see Aries standing nervously to the side of the rest of the boys who fidgeted but kept their distance.

“Oh and also,” Ashton’s breath was at my ear. “Remember to turn off the safety.”

With a scowl, I jerked away from him. I cocked the gun before shoving it into my belt.

“Alright, guys!” Ashton yelled with a grin. “Time to start the day.”

I cursed his stupid dimples and trudged over to Aries.

“What the hell was that?” she whispered.

“Nothing,” I murmured. Quickly, everyone gathered at the fire pit to hear what we would be doing for today.

“Alright,” Ashton held our attention. “Calum and I are going to be getting more wood for the fire. Aries, you’ll be with Luke to help him identify plants that we can use. Michael and Ander, you’ll be in charge of getting our water supply. Calum and I will let you all know when we break.”

I smiled at the way Luke came over to Aries. His arms awkwardly hung at his sides before he motioned for Aries to follow him with a timid smile. She glanced back at me before walking off with him. I raised my eyebrows suggestively in Luke’s direction to which she raised a finger in my direction.