"love" at first sight

Chapter 5

~Colton's Pov~

I can't believe I escaped that lunatic without a scratch. I feel a sense of relief that I was able to come up with that story so quickly. What I didn't realize is I would have to babysit the psycho. We are exiting the colony and I show her our ride. 

"Your kidding me right," She says, clearly annoyed. 

"It's this or nothing, your choice," I tell her and walk toward the weirdest form of transportation I have ever used.

~Alisa's Pov~

I've done some pretty strange things in my life, but nothing like this. Running away with some complete stranger, no that doesnt sound like me. I'm always the safe one, who doesn't do anything to draw attention. Yet, here I am.

I wasn't expecting a luxurious, leather seated car or anything of that sort. But If there is one thing I despise more than our government, it would be animals. And here I was staring at the world's smelliest, ugliest, and most disgusting donkey. 

"A donkey?!" I exclaim,"You could'nt have picked a better smelling mammal?" 

"I didn't have many options," Colton says. 

Well I guess I'm going through with this. If I'm really one of those things Colton said, I need an antidote and I need it fast. 

"How do you even ride this thing?" I ask.

"Just hop on," He says. There isn't a saddle or anywhere to plant my foot so I just jump and hope I can stay on. If anyone saw what I was doing now they would claim it as animal cruelty. I finally give up while Colton laughs at me. 

"Here let me help," He says while giving a small chuckle. He is surprisinly strong and grabs me around the waist then hoists me up onto the creature. 

"Thanks," I say sheepishly. 

"No problem," Colton says. I see a smile creep onto his face as he catches me staring. We look at eachother for a minute realizing what a weird situation we are both in. I give back a small smile then turn to face forward. This going to be one hell of a trip. 

~Colton's Pov~

So maybe I judged Alisa too quickly. Even though she did try to kill me, she seems better. I almost feel bad about making up that shitty antidote story. What was I thinking? This girl will turn from an angel to a killer in less than a minute. I know because I had to watch it almost everyday. When my mom was still alive she was a CEK. I called 911 because I was a frigthened little 7 year old, what else was I suppose to do? I didn't know they would take her. I didn't know I would have to live on the run. My dad was out of the picture, and my mom was all I had. Know there is no one left that I love.

We've been traveling towards California for about five hours. It's dusk and I decide we should make camp. We settle for a small grove of trees that will keep us hidden from the main road. I hide the donkeys while I leave Alisa to set out the blankets. 

"Um, there's only one sleeping bag," Alisa says as I walk towards her. 

"Goddamn it, the other one must have dropped out of my bag," I say,"Well it's going to get pretty cold out here and I think we both need the sleeping bag."

"You mean we should share it?" She asks.

"Only if you don't mind, I mean the more warmth we have the better," I tell Alisa.

"No, I don't  mind," She says.

I let her crawl into the sleeping bag first, then I slip in. We both awkwardly lay down side by side until she shifts position to be facing me and I turn to face her. 

"Thanks for taking me to find the antidote," She says with a soft smile. I feel a pang in my chest knowing that it's not real.

"It's no big deal," I say with a fake smile plastered on my face. 

Then she does something I never expected. Alisa snuggles up to me and I put my arm around her shoudlers. And for the first time for awhile I feel safe.