Apocalypse

10

Liz

"What do you mean we're not taking the horse with us?" I scoffed indignantly.

Kate had a stubborn look on her face. I noticed she looked kind of cute when she was being stubborn, I have to admit. I'm not entirely sure why that thought just crossed my mind. Her jaw jutted out just a little and she got this look in her eye and you could just tell you wouldn't get anywhere. I knew I would if I tried hard enough.

I'm sure if you didn't know her that well then you wouldn't really notice the subtleties in her expression and mannerisms. But the stubbornness brought a sense of innocence to her face. Kate rarely wore an expression that was anything other than distaste or just plain blank. It was hard to read her. It was like a book in another language. You can understand a few of the words, but the rest are just gibberish and you have no idea what they mean.

I hoped that with a little more time, I'd have a better understanding of this new language. I wanted to know what it was that made her that way. I wanted to know everything about her, actually. This was new to me and I'll be honest, I liked the way she made me feel safe, despite her obvious skeletons hidden in the closet. I was doing my best to learn about them, but I hadn't bothered to try and ask questions. I just felt like she was the kind of person who would offer up information in her own time.

Ever since day one... well after I got over the intimidation factor she gives off, I'd felt more at ease around Kate than I had around anyone else I'd ever met. To be fair, I wasn't the most social girl you'll ever meet and didn't know a lot of people, but still. I didn't like being around people most of the time. However, right now all I felt towards her was frustration. I wanted the horse and for the past half hour we'd been bickering back and forth about him. I felt childish, but I was already attached to him. Kate had grown bored of our argument after a few minutes and had started to pack up our things.

"I know you want to keep him and all, but you don't know the first thing about horses and neither do I. And how would we feed him? Horses eat grass. Sure, it's summer now and it'd be easy, but what happens in the winter?"

I rolled my eyes at her resolve. The gelding was standing next to me and nibbling at my shirt. I stroked his ears; they were very soft and he seemed to enjoy it. So I continued. I noticed Kate staring at me as I did, and I felt a smile that I didn't know was there fade away. I cleared my throat a little and ended the eye contact. I couldn't get used to how icy her eyes were. I'd decided that they weren't a natural colour, but I also knew she wasn't wearing contacts. I was at a bit of an impasse about this.

"Yes, I know. But we can't just leave him here." I argued, "He'll starve, or some sick people will find him or ..."

I trailed off. The thought made my chest hurt and my eyes sting. I grew frustrated with myself again. Seriously Elizabeth? Crying again?

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head, and I could tell I hadn't even made an inch of progress. I huffed defiantly and pulled the gelding's head up from my shirt. I pressed my cheek again and in an extremely childish tone I went: "Pleeease?"

I saw Kate make a face and I smiled a little. Kate's mouth thinned as I did and I could see her mind going as she thought about it. Or something, it was hard to tell what she was thinking about. I found myself once again wondering what was going through her mind.

"Liz, I really don't think it's a good idea." She argued, her voice slow with uncertainty. "I mean. I'm no expert, but I'm sure that it's going to be another thing we have to worry about."

I smiled a little wider and scratched the gelding's muzzle and continued to stare hopefully. It was probably just the light, but I could have sworn I saw Kate's cheeks redden just a little. But her face remained calm, as it always was. So it must have just been the early morning light in the barn.