Survival

II: Storm

(Pic is Simba)

(Recap: but it was too late as someone had come up from behind me and flung me onto my back pressing me to the ground with a knife held at my throat.
"Well hello there," I greeted with a smile on my face; this should be fun.)
I looked at my attacker, they had a black neck gator on with a black hat... So, of course, I couldn't tell whether it was a girl or a boy. They had a black sweater and ripped blue jeans, they looked like a normal person trying to get better supplies... But even though I couldn't actually see their face I almost laughed at the confusion in their eyes as I heard a small rhythm. A couple of seconds later I heard the words and their eyes just looked even more puzzled,
"I'm gonna pot some tags... Only got twenty dollars in my pocket... I'ma I'ma huntin, lookin for a come up, this is fucking awesome..." I gave them a sideways smile before punching them in the gut and using my legs to spin them around within seconds, my hands pinning their's to the ground and my knee on their chest, helping to pin them down and making it harder to breathe, hu win, win for one action. I pulled out my MP3Player turning it off, they must have somehow turned it on when they pinned me on the floor.
"So... Who are you?" I asked not liking the silent look they were giving me, and of course in response... Silence. I rolled my eyes using my other leg to hold down their arm and took the knife from their grasp and put it to their throat like they did accept making it graze their skin,
"So, either you talk or I get bored and just kill you. Deal?" I asked impatiently,
"Who are you?" They asked and I could instantly tell it was a he by his voice,
"Me? Who am I?" I said in exasperation pointing to myself (Yes I know I know I let go of his arm and took the knife away from his throat... But I wasn't really worried) "I am the bitch you decided to mess with, now who are you?" I asked once again, I saw him roll his eyes before actually answering, yes he did answer my question, can you believe it!?
"The guy stuck under you," Okay maybe that doesn't count as an answer, I glared at him putting pressure on his chest as I stood up making him flinch a little,
"Now who are you?" I asked, again... Hoping for a legit response... Yet again I didn't give him one... But it was true I am just the bitch he decided to mess with, the wrong bitch.
"Jason, the guy no longer stuck under you," He said pulling down his mask and holing out his hand. I sighed shaking it, I could tell he had dark blond hair from a piece hanging down from his hat, his eyes were dark green, but not like a bright green more of a smoother green.
"Well, nice to meet you Jason the guy who attacked me. Which I'm guessing you did to get my supplies?" I said more of a statement than a question but he answered it anyway,
"Yeah," Which I instantly answered back with,
"Well, that was a big mistake. I mean really though why would you attack someone who is covered in knives and holding a bow?" I asked shaking my head, this boy didn't know anything, and he even looked older than me! Though I guess that shouldn't be a surprise, I found I was smarter than most boys or just people in general that I met.
"I guess I just hoped you didn't know how to use them?" He suggested and I just rolled my eyes walking back over to the shelf to look at the book called Wings of Fire again,
"So, what's your dog's name?" I asked reading the description, I put it in my pack well grabbing all the other books from that one knowing I'd like it.
"Simba," He said looking around for anything useful. I nodded walking towards the door,
"Hey, where are you going?" He asked, turning around as I moved my hand to grab the door handle, some of the windows beside it were shattered,
"Uhh, leaving?" I said as if it were obvious because it was.
"Well, can I come with you?" He said walking towards me, which stopped when I pointed his knife at him, I was thinking about keeping it... You know payment for attacking me,
"Why would I let you do that again?" I asked raising an eyebrow,
"Well, one I have nowhere else to go... Two so that I can make up for attacking you... And three I'll just follow you anyways." He said with a smirk but I just glared,
"One, you can go anywhere you want to, two you don't need to because I'll just keep your knife instead, and three... I know every place in this city and would most definitely be able to lose you and get back to my place within... 20 minutes at most." I said countering all of his facts, and he sighed,
"Can I please just go with you, for at least a little? I haven't been able to talk to anyone in weeks..." I huffed thinking for a moment, I could tell he was sincere, but still, rule number one in 2170 Apokolips: Don't trust anyone. But on the other hand, I did want to talk to someone other than myself. So, I walked out the door signaling with my hand for him to follow, he whispered slash yelled "Yes!" Under his breath and I rolled my eyes unhooking the chain around my bike and walking beside it seeing that he didn't have anything other than his two legs.
"What's that?" He asked, motioning towards my bike and I gave him a shocked look realizing he was being serious. Yet I guess many people didn't have bikes anymore, Simba was trotting loyally beside us.
"It's called a bike, it's a faster way of going places," I explained riding a circle in the road to show him before hopping off and continuing to walk,
"So... Kind of like a horse but not alive?" He said and I nodded,
"Yeah, I guess so," I said not quite sure what a horse was though...
"What was that sound I heard when I pinned you down?" He asked yet another question, well at least it was better than awkward silence,
"It's called an MP3Player, I found one and figured out how to make it solar powered by a book, and what you heard is the music from 2020. Which was around when it was made I think..." I said remembering back to when I did all that,
"How do you know all of that? Like when the songs came from and stuff?" He added the last part and I smiled,
"Well knowing when the songs were made is simple, the Apokolips happened or started in 2020, 150 years ago, so we still had power and all that jazz back then so the songs obviously were made around then. And I know all of the years and stuff from books and journals." I added incase he questioned about that,
"Wow... You've made yourself useful with learning," He stated and I nodded. I looked down at myself, I was wearing dark green camo pants and jacket, a whiteish greyish neck gator, and a cap with a forest on it () My hair was a mix between dark brown and light brown, which rather a mess right now from the fight with him, I pointed an imaginary finger at Jason walking beside me, my eyes were a, in my opinion, very pretty hazel. Seeing as my, visitor? Guest? Whatever you want to call him, was distracted now looking at things in aw, I looked at more important things... The sky. Yep! The sky, sounds boring right? Well, it won't if it starts pouring on you, or you get hit by lightning or die in a dust storm. That sounds like a lot of options for just one place right? Well, it is based on my books but because of the Apokolips, or new way of life, the weather always went crazy. Currently... To my dismay, huge clouds were forming on the horizon, and the wind was starting to pick up; no more shiny bright days... Oh yeah, another thing about today's normal storms... They could last days. So I picked up the pace, I kept looking up and if I was correct the dark thick clouds were heading right towards us.
"Soo... Hor much farther until we get to this place of yours?..." He asked after a moment and I started running as I saw the building I called home,
"Here!" I called behind me jumping onto a ladder that led up to the second story. You may be wondering "Why don't I just take the stairs?" Well... There aren't really any stairs left, and the ones that are left are not very... Sturdy per se. So I made my own ways. Jason climbed up after me, though he took longer because he (Somehow) was helping Simba get up them so he wasn't left behind; on the second floor, I had tied a rope leading up to the third story, which is where I slept. I jumped up it hearing Jason make some remark about how this was cool which I ignored skipping past my room which didn't really have any walls to hide it... And ran up some stairs that I had made and that were safe... ish. I ran up them to the fourth floor, or more so the roof looking back to make sure Jason was still following and hadn't stopped to look at any of my stuff... Or take anything, I hoped that he didn't; I planned on checking after I was done up here.
"Why are you going so fast? And what are you doing up here?" Jason asked covering his eyes with his hand as the wind was much worse up here, Simba even said down below because of it,
"Covering my plants! I'd prefer not to lose one of my important food supplies thank you!" I yelled at him over the wind, and by the way my mother was the one who taught me to grow... Though I did find a useful farmer who gave me some tips and a couple of books... Let's just say books are a very important part of my life.
"Why do you need to cover them?" I literally stopped altogether with what I was doing... That's it! I give up on boys their all morons! I said mentally throwing my arms in the air, but not in my mind I just pointed up glaring at him with a 'really?' look, he gave me a puzzled look and I sighed,
"See that storm over there? Well that has a high chance of lasting days and really windy days which could kill my plants, and I can't take it down into my hideout," I explained also pointing to my wind thingy which was spinning in circles. He made an "ooooh, I'm so stupid" face and I yelled mentally at him "That's because you are stupid!!" I sighed running over to a huge wooden box,
"Could you help me get this on the plants?" I hoped that was enough information for him, which it turned out to be as he ran over helping me to carefully place the box over my box filled with dirt and plants, I would have to hope they would live a while without light. As soon as they were covered I ran over grabbing a rock from the pile I had made in case something just like this happened, and placed one on a corner of the wood. Jason saw what I was doing and grabbed another rock placing it on a different corner; once I was satisfied we went inside, Jason close behind,
"Wow... This place looks awesome," He said once we entered my "room".
"Thanks, though it isn't much," I said taking off my pack and throwing it on the pile of blankets, "Come on, I still have to close up some walls," I explained and he followed me out of the room, I walked over to the edge of the building that had some walls almost completely gone, the wind blowing my hair back and I took a deep breath before walking over and pulling a string. A second later a big wooden sheet fell down from above and I hooked a little loop around a hook on the floor,
"Did you make all of this?" He asked as I walked up to another one, a big slam, then I hooked it as well.
"Yeah," I said simply shrugging and closed more "doors" about five times before I thought I had everything for the storm... Or at least I hoped. We walked back to my main place slash room and I started posting the new books I had gotten not away on another shelf I'd made, the books were fragile, being made a very long time ago, and partly ripped and torn so I was extremely careful in placing them on the shelf.
"You're really good at making stuff," He assured looking around, I nodded writing down the names of the books I had just gotten on a list. It took a minute as I had to use ink, I did that with all of my things so that I could check them if I thought someone stole something so I'd know what. Which is what I did in case Jason had done so and planned on doing every day while he said here... How long did he plan on staying? Probably until after the storm, I assumed. Surprising how this annoying me right? I mean I get to hang out with a boy (...Cringe... I just realized this is technically the first time I've been alone with a boy other then my brother that's not trying to kill me... Yet at least) And talk to them and all that good stuff (Don't get any ideas...) But nope! Not cool, I haven't been around people much... I don't really know how to act, what way is right to act, and what he want's or expects from me, I mean really this is the first time someone hasn't just run away or continued to kill me until I kill them (Yet again, still a yet on he isn't trying to kill me).
"So... What do you usually do?" He asked still looking around, I looked up from my blankets, failed attempt at a conversation dude... Faaiiilll,
"Just stuff," I said shrugging, but I knew it was likey he'd ask what stuff, and seeing his mouth was moving as if he was about to, I said that as well, "Like riding around, and finding stuff, and reading and learning things, and building things... I also like shooting," I said putting my bow and arrows away, though they were still very excisable.
"How good are you at shooting that?" He asked, motioning towards my bow,
"Better than you are," I said sitting down, I wanted to just listen to music and ignore him... But since there wasn't any sun out I didn't want to completely kill my MP3Player. He nodded, thinking about something that I didn't have the slightest clue about,
"Have you ever ridden a horse?" He asked suddenly and I looked confusedly at him, (If it's obvious what a horse is and you're judging me right now... You better watch out because you now have a target on your back)
"Do you... Do you know what a horse is?" He asked rather surprised but not trying to make me sound stupid, I didn't want to answer because... Well I felt stupid, but alas I couldn't just go silent, so I simply said
"Nope," Making the 'o' sound more like 'oo',
"It's a type of mammal that people can ride, their lots of different types of them. I rode one once... It was a cool experience," He said sitting down against an unstable wall with his hands behind his head.
"Interesting, I'll have to try finding one after this storm," I said as I heard the wind pounding on the wooden doors,
"I could take you?" He offered and I gave him a little smile not actually answering though. I could tell he knew I wasn't really talking that much on purpose, but he knew from earlier that I liked it so he kept talking... Of course.
"So... What do you eat around here? And since you said the storm will be lasting perhaps a couple of days... Does that mean we get to hang out the whole time?" He said rather enjoying the idea and I rolled my eyes sighing,
"Yes I guess I'll be stuck with this pea brain for while," I said playfully and he put his hand over his heart like he was hurt which only made me roll my eyes again. I walked over to a different little room, mind you, I walked throw the wall... That wasn't there. In the next one I had my food, I put my meat by a window thing so if there was wind it would cool it down and keep it good, and if there wasn't I'd put it under the floor bores where it was cool. Then I had a pile of snacks a such that I'd found around the city, my plants were kept beside the meat to also keep cool and not go bad. I made sure though that Jason's dog couldn't get to it.
"Wow... This could last you a while," He said looking at it all, I nodded smiling at how I'd caught and scavenged all of it. I picked up some pork chops, that I'd gotten from a pig I'd found a couple of weeks ago, and walked over to a cooking mechanism I'd made. I'd put a big black stone under it so the fire wouldn't burn through the building, On that, I piled up rocks so I could light a fire in the middle, and then I out metal bars around that going higher and those help up a flat metal thing I'd found which is where I put the meat. Jason watched me closely as I grabbed some herbs I'd made to season stuff and put it on the pork chops before going over to a bucket to wash my hands, it was safe to wash your hands after medalling with raw meat, especially from a pig.
"Could you light that?" I asked him and he looked up from seeming to be starring into space and quickly nodded grabbing the flint and stone and scraping them together creating sparks that ignited the paper I already had in the fire. I walked over purring a liquid on the meat and moved it around with a fork I'd found until I was satisfied and put a lid thing on top of it walking back over to my blankets, Jason glancing at the meat and back at me,
"I can leave it for about 24 minutes and then check them again," I said and he nodded following me back. For the next hour or see we talked about random things... After a while, he ended up getting me talking, which only got both of us talking more. I have to admit it was fun, we also flipped the meat, it was done quicker then I expected and we almost forget to check it a couple of times, but we eventually got it done and we're now sitting down after eating the delicious meal, Simba had been begging for the meat the whole time... Ane we eventually gave him some. I have to admit his begging skills were superb.
"That. Was amazing, you're a great cook you know that right?" He asked laying down on some blankets I'd allowed him to have with his hand on his stomach. I laughed a little laying down on my back,
"Yeah, I know," I said smiling a little, I'd never had this much fun with some sense... My smile rather disappeared as I remembered when... It was the day my parents were killed... The day I lost my brother... The day I lost my everything...
"You okay?" Jason asked with concern after I was quiet for a couple of minutes and I realized I'd gotten lost in the memory as usual,
"Oh yeah, I'm fine! Just... Sleepy, I'm going sleep," I said thinking of an excuse as fast as I could, I mean I was good at that but I could tell he didn't fully believe me, but luckily for me, he didn't ask any further and just watched me as I pulled the blankets over me laying my head against a pillow I'd made (Reminding me of my mom as she'd showed me how...) And closed my eyes, biting the inside of my cheek trying to keep myself from crying, I was strong yes... But somehow a dormant, and very sensitive, woned had been opened that night... I just hoped I would get some sleep, and that my thoughts would hopefully not cloud my judgment in the morning...

I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! And thanks to everyone who decided to read this book! Please comment your thoughts and vote =) I'd really appreciate it and I read all comments and love all votes! But what do you think so far? What will happen next? But anyway happy Halloween to anyone who celebrates it! I hope you have fun going tricker treating or carving pumpkins! <3 =) I plan on updating next Friday, so stay tuned for that!