Life with Hunters

Ch 8: I'm stuck with you aren't I.

It felt like hours before we came to a clothing store that still had some useable clothing in it. Really it had only been about an hour or so. The doors and windows to the store were all broken and stained with old and new blood. Glancing around I noticed a few common infected in the distance. They looked like tiny shambling specks. But it wasn't them that bugged me. It was the thick coat of silence that engulfed the area. Even the hunters that had been caring for me since the beginning of the apocalypse could tell when silence was bad. And in the world we live in, it's usually always bad because it leaves an opportunity for complete disaster to happen. The marine and woman were on edge too, from how I saw them tense up in their shoulders and their frantic scanning around. We walked up to the store and slipped in though a space between the broken doors. It was dark in the store even with the natural light from outside filling in through the shattered windows. while the marine and woman split up to check the store for any infected that may be hiding in the shadows, I stood where I was, listening carefully. I only started to move slowly and as quietly as I could in wet shoes when I felt that I wouldn't be able to hear much from staying by the doors. I had been working on training and focusing my hearing so I could find threats before they found me. From what I could hear inside the store, I could hear the marine off somewhere to my left and the woman somewhere to my right. The marine was some 30 to 50 paces away from me and the woman about 20 to 40. I could hear both of them faintly looking at the clothes that were left in the store while searching for any infected hiding away. Not that I wanted to go towards the woman, but since she was in the women's clothing section I walked in her general direction. I kept my distance from her so she wouldn't have a reason to complain. Randomly while looking through the clothes, I picked out a plain black t-shirt, a dark gray zip up hoodie, blue denim jeans, a pair of athletic socks and sneakers. I quietly walked over to the women's undergarments sections after finding some clothes that fit me and picked out a simple bra and panties before quickly hopping into the closest changing room. I threw off my wet clothes in a mad quiet frenzy to get into something warm and dry. A quiet knock on the door startled me but I cracked the door open to peek out. The woman was standing just outside the door.

        "Mind if I join you in there to change myself?" She asked. Her tone was no longer rude or irritated so I let her in and closed the door behind me. She started changing while I finished up changing and tied my shoes. I left the changing room, but stayed near by until the woman was done. She came out in a long sleeve hooded sweater, jeans and tennis shoes. Her hair was still in its tight bun. We headed over to the men's section to find the marine and found him just standing in the middle of the section changing his clothes. Neither the woman nor I said anything, just waited until he was done and noticed us standing near by. He walked over to us with a brow raised.

     "Were you two just staring at me while I changed?" He looked as though he wanted to laugh from the small grin on his face. The woman simply nodded her head yes.

     "You were just standing in the middle of the section instead of in a changing room." I shrugged my shoulders as I said this. This ushered a chuckle out of the marine before he herded the woman and I back outside. He took out a map and glanced at it before starting to walk west while putting the map away in his back pack again. The woman followed him immediately but I stayed where I was. The woman noticed before the marine did and stomped over to me, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me after the marine. She didn't let go until I was walking on my own along side her. Albeit reluctantly. Though neither the woman nor marine asked me anymore questions until we reached a safe house after sun set. After they had barricaded the door of the safe house I was made to sit down while they borderline interrogated me.

      "So. Were you alone this entire time since the outbreak or with a group." The marine asked more intrigued than aggressive. I wasn't sure if he could tell if I lied or not but I couldn't exactly tell him the whole truth either about who I was with to survive this long.

    "I was alone at first, then ran into a group shortly after the initial outbreak. I got separated from them though and now I don't where they are or if they're even still alive." I answered with a little bit of truth but white lie woven in. The marine nodded at my answer before asking another question.

    "Have you been to or heard of any active safe zones at all?"

 I looked at the marine confused.

    "No. Could never even find a working radio most of the time." Both his and the woman's expressions darkened. I raised a brow at both of them. They both turned their backs to me and walked to the opposite side of the room while whispering to each other. I watched their backs as they spoke to one another. After another moment they turned back around to face me and walked up to the chair I was sitting in.

    "Well, aside from that, you'll be staying with us. I wouldn't feel right leaving a kid on their own in this mess." the marine motioned for me to stand up. The woman looked like she was reluctantly agreeing to this agreement. I sighed not wanting any part of this but seeing no other choice. I was stuck with two people I didn't even want to be around and god knows what the pack was doing, looking for me or not.