Moment to moment

-5-

"Look, we don't want any trouble." I say through gritted teeth.

The burly man with the knife in his hand only cackles behind his mask,"I'm pretty sure we didn't ask the earth to give us trouble either but here we are."

His cronies laugh maliciously around us, giving Kyle and I psychotic glares. However, we stand our ground, keeping our hands close to our concealed weapons, but if this came down to a fight, I don't like the odds of 2 against 7.

Kyle gives the leader a pointed look,"What is it you want from us? Money? Don't have it and it wouldn't do you good. Food? Yeah don't got that either."

I nudge him roughly, if he gives this guy all of his attitude we may have to make a run for it.

And go where?

We had just entered the streets of San Clemente, California, after an entire day of walking. Almost immediately, these guys surrounded us and started yapping.

The leader snarls,"I don't like your tongue, maybe we should cut it out."

I stifle a retort,"Can we pass?"

He narrows his eyes, looking me up and down.

Nausea rises in my stomach, making me want to hurl right in his face, but I fight it down.

I slap Kyle roughly in the arm,"This is all your fault you know."

His brow furrows and slight anger blazes in his gaze,"My fault?! Your route, your plan."

"You're the one that wanted to leave so early." I snarl.

He takes a step forward, coming nose to nose with me,"Not my damn fault the world's in chaos."

I wink ever so slightly and mischief replaces the raw rage in his stare.

The leader holds up his hands, his few viewable features twisted in annoyance,"If I wanted to hear a couple's brawl I'd go find my wife."

A few snickers at that.

"But that's not—"

I wave an unfriendly gesture at Kyle,"Well then you can explain that to this dumbass."

By now they're all getting a kick out of watching us bicker, even some have put away their bats and makeshift weapons.

"Come on, you can't actually blame me for our situation?" He hisses.

I cross my arms, keeping my knife hidden in the folds of my jacket.

"Yeah I—"

Without warning, the gleaming metal goes whizzing just a hairsbreadth past the leader's head, startling him enough to take a step back. By the time he recovers his shock, Kyle and I are running nimbly away.

After a millisecond, I here the angry screams and thundering of footsteps. Yes, we are fast, but we can't outrun them forever. Hurdling over trashcans and weaving through allies, eventually the yells die down and become a faint echo.

Kyle and I almost collapse a moment later, hidden in the shadows of a building. We try to stifle our panting but it's all we can do not to pass out. Even though we are physically fit from travel and training, running full sprint with obstacles is still a chore.

"Can't go anywhere without trouble these days." Mumbles a gruff voice from the darkness.

I whip my head around, nearly giving myself backlash. I glare into the blackness but say nothing.

Finally, the shadows shift and a tall man appears. His graying hair is sparse and stringy on top of his head and the only other features I can distinguish are his foggy eyes.

"No need to worry, I can't see you." A cloth covers his face but I get the sense he smiles at us. His comment explains the dullness in his faded eyes.

I exchange looks with Kyle.

Better not start anything, even if he appears friendly.

As quietly as possible we make our way back, stepping lightly and keeping in the darkness.

The man sighs audibly,"Fine." I just barely hear him over the distance between us,"Just stay alert, plenty Infected are still around."

A shiver runs up my spine and even as we get swallowed in shadows, I can't shake the feeling of eyes watching my every move.

...

Laughter feels odd considering the circumstances but I can't help the spurts of giggles as Kyle and I talk, being half high on medicine doesn't help either.

It's not even what we talk about that's so humorous but just being able to get my mind off the looming worry and filling the empty silence, it feels so freeing.

"So where you from?" I wonder aloud.

He messes with the strings of his bandage,"Hard to say, I was born in the States but have moved all over. Currently in San Diego."

"Yeah, I've traveled some, vacations and what not, but stayed in Florida most of my life, only moved back to California a year ago." I smile, remembering the sunny beaches and warm water.

"You surf then, I assume."

I nod,"Mhm, as long as I can remember."

"Yeah I thought so, considering the two surf boards in your truck." He chuckles but those words make me stumble across my thoughts.

"Wait, you were the one I crashed with?" I don't know how that information slipped my mind.

He grins sheepishly,"Well technically yes but I swear that storm appeared out of no where."

Looking down at my covered side and bruised hands, my mind dully puts the pieces together. I try to shrug it off but the fact that he's the one who caused Mira's injures and my own sends a slight twinge through my gut.

I try to play it off,"Who's the girl?"

Inclining my head towards the young girl in the bed beside him, he reaches his hand out to brush his fingers against hers but comes short just a few inches.

"My sister, she was in the car with me." Anger? Pain? Some emotion flickers across his stormy gray eyes.

I remain silent, suddenly feeling foolish for blaming him.

After a few seconds of awkward tension, we make eye contact. He wrings his hands,"I bet you probably pin this all on me," he motions vaguely around,"and I don't hold you against that. Just...I'm sorry."

I want to say something, that it's not his fault, that he shouldn't be sorry, but before I can put the words together, a nurse interrupts.

Flashing Kyle a hesitant smile, I roll on my side, hiding him from view.