“Don’t forget to pack some extra water!” I heard Jesse yell from across the kitchen. “We’ll need it.”
“Will do!” I respond back as I pause my packing and head over into the kitchen with a thermos in my hands. Walking to the sink and unscrewing the cap as I put it under the faucet. I turned on the water and filled it to the brim.
“We don’t want another incident to happen again.” Jesse said.
“Yeah, still sorry about that.” I said. “Should’ve known.” I gave a little chuckle at the end.
“Don’t sweat it. You act like we lost everything. It’s still your fault though.”
“Yeah yeah I know.”
“I’m just a little tough on you sometimes. It’s never a big deal.”
I started to laugh quietly under my breath.
“What’s so funny?” She inquired.
“Oh, nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“No, I want to know.”
“It’s just that, well, I didn’t think I’d ever get to talk to you like this.”
She looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“The first time I saw you, you were all mysterious and shit. Like just sitting in the corner and keeping to yourself. Now that you’ve tagged along and such, knowing that you’re not that type of person anymore really amazes me. It’s crazy how much something can change in just the span of months, hell days even. I would say that we’ve basically swapped personalities. I remember I was more outgoing than anyone else there, more naive. Not saying you are. You definitely have more experience with this world than I do.”
“I’d say that’s an understatement. I’ve driven everything I know from being in an orphanage for the majority of my life.”
“Was it terrible?”
“It’s more of a prison than an orphanage.”
“Damn.”
“Surprised you guys haven’t left yet.” William barged in our conversation. “You both do know you’re supposed to return before it gets dark.”
“We know.” Jesse said. “Just having a little chat. Come on Lee, let’s get going.”
“Right.” I said. I grabbed my filled thermos and walked back into the living room where I finished packing my backpacks with the essentials.
A gun, knife, some leftover pieces of sliced meat as a road snack, thermos, a map of the local area, and a journal with a black pen. We use the journal to mark down details of the surrounding forest. Important facts like what kind of animals are seen trotting along the trail. Any suspicious activity, like if there’s any people seen out there or man made animal traps.
Neatly strapping everything together, me and Jesse said our goodbyes to everyone as we left the farm. I made sure to lock the gate before we both disappeared into the trail that led all the way back to the city.
“Now.” Jesse said. “Back when I told you about the orphanage. It’s actually a good thing Will cut me off back there, I almost revealed my secret.”
“Oh yeah. That would be a catastrophe if they found out you were Runasi’s daughter.” I said.
“Don’t say it out loud, we’re barely away from the farm.”
“Sorry.” I lowered my tone.
We waited until the whole house was out of sight.
“Now, we can talk freely.” Jesse said. “That orphanage was a hellhole.”
“I can imagine.” Lee said. “It’s not like the schools were any better. Kids would be constantly picked on or abused, and it wasn’t just by the other kids. Some teachers would whack some students into shape if you got the answer wrong. Pretty brutal. I remember this one kid was slammed into a locker and was forced to stay in there for the rest of the school day.”
“It was exactly like that where I grew up. The caretakers were just there to collect a paycheck. They wouldn’t care about you at all, the food they served us was the worst quality shit I’ve ever had in my life. Just some slop on a plate that they would pass off as whatever food they said it was that day. They had this cruel punishment system where if you were caught doing something against the rules, they would form a little ring around you and one other kid where you were forced to fight. The rules were that if you beat the other kid up you would be relieved of any punishment, but if you lost the fight you were forced to sleep outside in what they called the ‘doghouse.’”
“Holy shit that’s horrible.”
“Don’t even get me started on what they would do to the girls. The male caretakers would make deals with the little girls if they got in trouble. If you were to pleasure him you would be let off the hook, and if you declined he would still force you to do it either way. He would just give you a false choice, all you decided was whether or not he was rough on you. The most despicable people on the planet. No matter how hard you complain, the punishments would just get worse.”
“Sick mother-” I couldn’t finish my sentence as Jesse cut me off on her rant.
“But I got out of there. I would constantly break the rules and one day, when that male caretaker would offer me that deal. I bit his cock right off and ran away. I hopped the fence and booked it. That was when I was twelve, they never came after me again. I was living by myself over the past four years. Then I caught a glimpse of one of the flyers for Yurinami fighting school. I basically said fuck it and joined because I thought I would meet people like me there. All of them were the same basic people I’ve seen on the daily. I would be proven wrong later, but before that none of them caught my eye. Well, except for you. You were just different from the others. This kid coming in and wanting to be better and strive to the top. I’d admire that about you, even though the first time you tried to approach me I ignored you.”
“Yeah, you just bumped me out of the way.”
“Ok you gotta understand that I just don’t have a good history with men. I was still trying to get over that.”
“No, I understand. It’s not like I thought you were a horrible person or anything. I actually thought you were pretty cool.”
“Thanks.”
“I still do now. Living by yourself and surviving off of scraps. If I were you back there I wouldn’t be here right now. I wasn’t the most competent person on the planet, that’s why I even took that stupid class in the first place. Comparing myself back then to now is a completely different world. Just wish I didn’t have to go through all of that to end up what I am now, but we can’t all have what we want.”
“That’s the truest thing you’ve said in a while.”
“Heh really?”
Of course, I love the old side of you coming back. You’ve been repressing him for months.”
“That’s…Sweet to hear. Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
201Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsnwS4C5Ty
It was around a thirty minute hike though the truffles of bushes and lucious trees where we returned back to the city. We’ve been doing scavenges around this whole area for extra supplies we can steal. Usually there’ll be some useful scraps we could use to improve the house or if we’re lucky sometimes there’s some left over water bottles with fresh water littered on the ground. That’s only on good days, and I felt as soon as I woke up there wasn’t going to be anything worthwhile to get.
We skulked around alleyways with both of our guns ready to fire at any time. Always on guard when we were going to search for anything, even if it was just a trash bin.
Both of us never spoke a word to each other and crouched everywhere we went, trying to make as little noise as we possibly could. We had a list of signals we used to nonverbally communicate between each other.
Things like, it’s good, pass, search, wait, danger, useful, trash, up ahead, quiet, stay, shoot, and come over. Making sure to use hands signs that are distinctly different from the other, as to not make any confusion.
We went around in a huge circle looking through various containers and bins, only to come up with very little to work with. Collecting less scrap metal than usual. We both felt like the day was over and decided to head back to the farmhouse.
We walked out of the alleyway and onto a decelent and quiet street. We were going to cross the road and hide in another alleyway. I peeked up at the street sign to know where we were at. The words displayed on it made me stop dead in my tracks and aimlessly stare at it.
‘Montel Avenue’
This is the street where I grew up. The apartment building should just be down the road. No wonder this area looked familiar to me, how could I forget? Have I been suppressing my memories of this place that much?
I felt a small pebble hit me in my right leg and I saw Jesse shrugging her shoulders and looking at me, basically asking me what was up. I pointed to the street sign and signaled I wanted to go up it. She waved her hands in front of her face to signal no.
“Sorry, but I have to take one last look.” I whispered. For some strange reason this sudden urge of curiosity flooded me and I felt compelled to explore. It’s like I need more closure on what happened there, I mean who wouldn’t feel that way? It’s my childhood home, I need to at least look at it. Who knows if I’ll get another chance to take it all in.
I broke rule number one when scavenging, splitting up from your partner. You never want to take the brute of these streets alone. But I went on and wandered off down the road towards the apartment building.
If I remember correctly the whole building was completely stripped away from view, like someone plopped it off the ground and threw it away. I still wanted to see the empty plot of land anyways.
Jesse came up running behind me. “Lee, come on what’re you doing?” She whispered.
“I have to see my home again one last time.” I said, completely giving up on trying to keep my talking voice quiet. “Just one last time.”
“Ok but can you be more discreet about it?”
“Sorry. I just need to.”
“Whatever you need to do, just do it. But please be safe.”
“I will. I always am.”
“Yeah.” She laughed.
I looked to my right and tried to spot some of the neighboring buildings to see if they would jog my memory as to where it’ll be. I remember that the two other buildings were very run down, but the one to the left of the apartment complex had this huge graffiti that had some anti government rebel squad symbol on it.
It was like a star that had some blood spurted on it. A pike ran right through the middle of the star and at the end of it layed a burning heart. I’m pretty sure I have that right, maybe not down to the exact detail but it’s close enough that I know what to look for.
Strolling down the street and observing the by passing buildings, trying to spot out that symbol, I finally was able to find it. Far down the road I could see the heart sticking out, half obscured by the building in front of it.
There’s something there? Did they finally replace it?
“There it is.” I pointed to her.
“What?” She was still confused.
“Just follow me.” I started to break into a light jog.
She followed close behind as I got closer and closer to the apartment complex. It was plain in sight now, it was no longer just a plot of land sitting there wasting space, it was back.
But it was extremely different. Instead of the gross looking building it was previously, it was all cleaned up but was made out of the same material. Same brick building, same design, and same feeling that courses through my body.
I stood still in front of the building in shock. All of it didn’t make sense. Why demolish it then rebuild it? It racks my brain and makes my head spin.
“Is this it?” She asked me.
“This is where I grew up. The same place where my mom and dad died.”
“You got one last look now let’s go. You know I hate being out here for that long. We come here for some scraps and we leave, we all agreed on that. It’s time to dip.”
Brief flashes of the old building engulfed the new one sitting before me. The blood that ran on the sidewalk and into the front door. The teller’s dead body laying at the desk, the horrifying screams of the children who lost their parents, mom and dad’s bodies just lying in a pool of blood. Alice cowering in the corner, and those guys barging in the room. All of these flashed through my head and repeated over and over like a slideshow.
“I’m going inside.” I said confidently.
“What!?” She said in a hushed tone. “Lee, no. Let’s go home now!”
“I just want to see if anybody lives there. That’s all.”
“I don’t care. I’m willing to put up with a lot of stuff, but not this.”
“Let me do this.”
“Lee, listen to yourself. It’s best to move on, I know it’s hard but you should know that by now. Let’s get out of here before shit goes down.”
“You don’t have to join me.”
“I’m not letting you go in the first place. Get a hold of yourself and think, we don’t want to risk any more than we are doing now.”
I slightly shoved her off of me and started walking towards. She grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me.
“It’s either you push me away and go in there, or I drag your ass back home.” She said firmly.
“Fine.”
I shrugged her grip on my shirt in a sudden decision. I wasn’t thinking straight I know that, but it was like I’m getting possessed or something. I’m not acting right at all.
“You wanna start?” Jesse grabbed me by my right arm, and gripped under my armpit. In one swift motion she leveraged me over her shoulder and I went crashing into the ground. “That’ll surely get your head straight.”
I leapt up off of the floor, perfectly landing on my own two feet. “Not enough.”
“What is up with you!?”
I didn’t have an answer for that, because I didn’t know. But it shouldn’t resort to this, fighting each other in the street. I need to set this right. I’ve done too much damage, it needs to stop.
“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on and-” I started apologizing but was interrupted with Jesse running up and tackling me to the ground.
“Get down!” I heard her scream as she careened into me. We both hit the floor as a gunshot went off in the distance, and I heard the bullet whizz by me and hit the concrete in front of us.
That was way too close to comfort. During our little heated argument someone was able to get a shot in.
“Let’s go now!” Jesse helped me off the ground.
“Get those fuckers!” I heard a deep male voice scream.
Then a herd of footsteps stomping filled the entire area as what seemed like about twenty people came out of their hiding spot, wielding guns and knives.
We bolted directly down an alleyway and didn’t turn back at all and only focused on getting out of there. Why the fuck was there so many people there anyways? It seemed like there were too many people for it to be any run of the mill robbing or killing. Are they all after me?
“Lee!” Jesse turned her head as she kept sprinting. “Follow me! I think I know a way to lose them.”
A couple of gunshots headed our way but luckily we turned a corner and dodged all of them. We kept heading down a street then randomly turned down another alleyway.
I trust Jesse that she’ll have a plan to get out of here, because I sure as hell don’t. But holy shit how stupid can I be? If I didn’t just stand there in front of that building, none of this would be happening right now.
I’m such a fucking idiot, god I’m so stupid. All because I wanted to look at the stupid apartment building, god she was right I am not acting like myself at all. What the actual fuck is wrong with me? I keep asking that question but I can never find the answer. God I need to get checked up by a psychiatrist or something because I don’t think I’m mentally well. Back there I was acting really aggressive, even willing to fight her just like that. Glad I came to my senses before it was too late, but we shouldn’t have been in this situation if I had been acting rationally. Too much shit has happened, that I can’t lose her too.
“Lee!” I heard Jesse yell out which snapped me back into reality.
I ran head first into a brick wall and fell completely on my ass. My head started to ache in pain but I shrugged it off and got back up on my feet.
“You ok?” She asked me.
“Don’t worry, just keep going.”
“Ok.” She started to book it and I slowly started to match her speed.
I wiped my nose because I felt something pretty light dribble down and realized it was blood. Then, out of nowhere, a huge wave of pain shocked my forehead and I had to slow down and grasp my head while I bent down.
I grunted out in pain and my ears started to ring. It hurts so much, what the fuck is going on? My vision started to blur out and I could hear these voices. It was all just whispers and I couldn’t decipher what they were saying, it was all too quiet for me to understand.
It all dissipated away as quickly as it came to me. When my vision came back I looked in front of me and I didn’t see Jesse there anymore. It was like she completely vanished out of existence.
“Jesse!” I called out.
“Over here!” A male voice yelled out from behind me.
Shit.
He was at the other end of the alley and pointing a gun right at me. There was a dumpster right by me where I rolled behind for cover as he shot. The stray bullet bounced off the concrete and down the other end of the alley.
This is really bad, how the fuck did me and Jesse get split from each other. Goddammit, just hope she’s ok. First I need to get the hell out of here.
I felt my shoulder back into something rough. I turned around and it was a ladder that went up the back of whatever building we were behind. That’s one way but I’ll be left out in the open, but it beats dying here.
The way I was pinned down was extremely difficult for me to get out of. Behind the dumpster was a guy waiting to blast my head off at any moment, and the exit to this slim alleyway was to expose myself. Plus, I’m pretty sure there are going to be people who’re going to flank me. In preparation for that I had my gun pointed at the street and was prepared to fire at will.
“Lee.” I heard the guy say ominously. “Come out now and we’ll make your death quick. No need to be afraid, it’ll all be over soon. You have nowhere to go, just save us the headache.”
Another bunch of lunatics ready to kill me again. Probably fanatics of Runasi or just looking for glory, most likely the ladder. A flurry of scattering footsteps I heard coming around the corner, it’s time to act more than ever.
The other guy was getting closer with each time he spoke so I know I can at least get the jump on him. Don’t know if there’s other people behind him or not, but it just depends on taking that guy first and then the others as they peer their heads around the corner.
I gripped the top of the dumpster and combining me pulling up and me lifting myself off the ground I can get a pretty good jump. I did so in a very swift and continuous motion that caught the guy completely off guard. Very quickly I snapped my aim at the guy’s head and pulled the trigger. His head jolted back and his body went limp as he collapsed to the floor.
Two other people skidded around the corner and drew their attention towards me. My body flowed smoothly and landed on the other side of the dumpster and took cover again. They shot off a couple of rounds that scraped off the side of the trash.
I looked down to my feet and noticed a little gap between the floor and the bottom of the dumpster. I crawled down on the floor and leaned sideways on the ground to get a good view underneath. I saw the soles of their shoes as they both started to head towards my way.
I tilted my gun to the side and started blasting off rounds at their feet. I landed a couple on one of the guy’s ankles and he fell to the floor as he rived in pain, screaming his bloody head off.
I rolled out of my cover and crouched down and took out the other guy. After it was all done I was smart and reloaded. I knew that I shouldn’t waste time by taking a breather, all I need to focus on now is getting out of this city.
I turned my feet and got ready to sprint out the nearest exit and start looking for Jesse. But at the other end I could hear more people coming in for backup on both sides of the alley.
There’s no way I’ll be able to handle that many people. My hand was forced and I immediately darted to the ladder and hurried up it as fast as I could. It was a five story building, meaning there was a lot to climb but I was able to make it up there in time. They turned the corner as soon as I made it all the way up, around five of them. Two on one end and three on the other. One of them spotted me and pointed directly at me while alerting the others.
I started firing down at them, killing a couple of them. I ran out of bullets in the magazine and ducked under the rim of the building to reload. But the biggest stroke of unluck hit me at the worst possible moment. Some guy down below shot up at me and it hit my gun directly, it was like the perfect shot to disarm me. The force of the bullet hitting it made me drop it off the building. It completely slipped out of my hands and plummeted into the concrete floor where it broke apart.
“Motherfucker!” I cursed out loud. The only other weapon on me was my knife, no other backup pistol or anything.
“Climb up boys and surround him.” I heard one of them order.
Shit where the fuck do I go? What should I do? Where’s Jesse?
I crawled to the middle of the roof and looked around me. I could hear people place their feet on the bars of the ladder and climb up. Then I noticed something about the neighboring buildings. They were pretty close to each other, like within jumping distance. There’s no way I’m going to fight all of these guys at once, I need to keep running.
To my surprise more gunshots rang out from down below and I could hear a lot of screaming and firing. Was that Jesse?
“Kill her!” I heard a person scream down below.
It has to be her, there’s no other person here that would just come out of nowhere and shoot some random guys.
The shooting continued on and I could hear more guys squeal out in pain. I was sure that it was under control, but I also needed to confirm that Jesse was alive and well and not injured.
I peered my head off the rim of the building and spotted her, peeking up above cover and firing off a couple rounds. She was down to the left and every other goon was down to the right. All of it seemed like it was over as most of the guys were dead or injured. About two of them were alive and active, still shooting back at her.
But to my right there was someone climbing the ladder still. This guy with dark brown hair and beard. He looked to be in his mid-forties or so. It seemed like he didn’t care about the ongoing fight between Jesse, it was like he was so determined to get to me.
He spotted me and aimed his gun and fired. Luckily I reacted quick enough and ducked out of the way and scrambled my way on my own two feet. It looks like I’ll still be running after all. I saw his hand come up on the rim and he began pulling himself up.
There was no hesitating on this decision, it was time to jump. I built up my run and with full stride leapt off the edge of the building and landed on the other one. There were some air conditioning vents that stuck up from the roof I could use to hide behind.
I ducked and twirled around to face the guy who was taking hotshots at me. The bullets missed and bounced off the vents as I used them as cover.
“Lee Pulpis.” The guy said. “Stop trying to delay the inevitable boy.”
Another person trying to lure me out by saying some dumb shit again. Not falling for it.
“That girl down there isn’t going to last long either. I know both of you didn’t bring enough ammo for this. It’s a matter of time before one of my men cap her in the head. She’s only lucky that she got a drop on them.”
Not listening. Jesse is one of the best people I know, she’ll definitely win for sure I know it.
“We can even make a deal. You get killed right now and I’ll let her go scott free, or you both die.”
Stupid fucker, there’s no way I’ll accept that. I’m pretty sure he knows that and is just toying with me to stroke his ego. I can still hear gunshots going off, that means she’s still putting up a fight.
“You know, Lee. You and I have quite the history.”
“What are you on about?” I finally spoke up.
“My name is Henry Murk. Your brother killed both of my sons, Kyle and Steve.”
No way. He’s the father of those two bastards.
“He killed them mercilessly. After they didn’t return home that night I went out to the street and looked everywhere, and then I found them. I still remember the state of both of their bodies, especially Steve’s. His brain was exposed onto the pavement, he was unrecognizable. Kyle was let off easy only getting his stomach mutilated. I couldn’t imagine the pain they were put through. I immediately went to the kill history and searched for them. Then I saw that god forsaken name, Eric Pulpis.”
This can’t be real, he has to be lying to get me agitated. No that can’t be, because how could he just perfectly guess the body’s condition? And how did he know to search us up?
“I was determined on that day to kill the bastard that took away my two kids. I looked all day for him but no luck. Next day I searched the kill history again to see if he was still alive. I think you know the rest, that dumb son of a bitch was killed by Runasi Haruhiko. Served him right but it still pained me that I wasn’t the one to take him away. But guess what big news story happened on that day also? That’s right! Lee Pulpis landed the first hit on the untouchable man. You left everyone in shock, you had many supporters for you. But then there’s people like me and everyone else down there fighting that girl. The Runasi supporters that believe in his cause. Killing the weak and promoting the strong, and when I learned that the same monster who was the little brother to the person that killed my children. Let’s say that the feeling of anger was a huge understatement to how I felt. I gathered a bunch of people with the same hatred as me to search for you. Multiple reports said that you were in this city, guess they were right.”
“What now then!?” I asked him.
“What now? Heh, isn’t it obvious. You die.”
“I’m sorry about your sons, but killing me doesn’t bring them back.”
“Neither does your apology, that doesn’t erase what he did. They were just trying to come home after night school. They were finally given a chance after they failed high school and he just had to take the only glimmer of hope I had in this world.”
“They tried to kill him!”
“That doesn’t matter! They were both scared and naive, who wouldn’t be if they saw another person in the dark!”
“They were horrible people who deserved it.”
“Stop acting like you know them!”
“They tried to kill me!”
I didn’t see his face but I could tell that it shocked him by the brief pause he took.
“Thank you for giving me more reason to kill you.” He said.
“You weren’t there-”
“I didn’t have to be. You should know that family is the only thing in this world that has meaning, you know what it’s like when that is stripped away from you. The anger you feel towards Runasi must be the same as I have towards you.”
There’s no denying that, it hurt like a bitch when I saw Eric die in front of my eyes like that. Then seeing my parents on the floor dead. It all hurts, I know what it’s like. I’m not going to act like that isn’t the truth, but this is going too far. Blaming me for someone else’s death that I had little control over is ridiculous and he’d be lying if he didn’t think so too.
“It’ll all be over, i’ll be the person praised for killing you, maybe there’ll be some perks to it. Runasi will have to thank me. Burn in hell Lee, along with the rest of your family.”
He started unloading into the flimsy vents, which the bullets cut right through like butter. I quickly got up and started zig zagging between vent covers as he kept firing. He stopped for a little bit so that he could jump across the building.
“There’s no going anywhere Lee.” He taunted. “Either you jump off and die, or I blow your fucking brains out.”
I was sitting near the edge of the building and I looked down to see if Jesse was ok. I noticed that the gunfire stopped and wondered if she won. But all I saw were a bunch of bodies in the alley, no sight of her.
“Now, which one did you hide behind?” Henry said.
Across from me was another vent cover. He must’ve lost me when he jumped across. I still have time to figure something out. I immediately thought of jumping down, but there’s nothing for me to land on. But one thing caught my eye. A long metallic pipe that ran alongside the building. It was a long shot, but it’s the only thing I have.
“I’ll just light them all up.” He started unloading into the one right across from me and started to move his aim towards mine.
It’s now or never. I jumped off the side without an ounce of hesitation and grabbed the pole with my two bare hands. I tried my best to slide or slow myself down, but the friction burned up between my palms. It was excruciatingly painful but I was able to endure it for about a few seconds to slow my momentum down. I hit the ground on my two feet and rolled backwards and landed on my ass. It was still a hard fall, but I was able to not take as much damage as I thought.
“No!” Henry screamed from up above. “You’re not getting away from me. Not when I’m this close.”
I bolted immediately and around a corner where I bumped right into Jesse, who was resting on the ground. We both fell to the floor, but I fell on top of her.
“Oh my god you’re ok.” I said.
“You too.” She said,
I got off of her and helped her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here for good. We’re never returning, and this time it’s final.”
“You got that right.” She responded and we both ran.
“Lee!” I heard Henry yell from the rooftops. “No matter how far you run I will hunt you down until I find you again. Whatever hideout you have I will find it. I will ruin you or kill you, no matter what. I will ruin you!” His voice faded out and I couldn’t hear him anymore as Jesse and I made it into the forest.
Finally I could take a minute to breathe, we just needed to get further away from the city. It was a good ten minute hike where we stopped at the river, the first place we also stopped when we first fled.
“That was real close-” I began to say before Jesse slapped the ever living shit out of me, leaving a red handprint on the outline of my cheek.
“What the fuck were you thinking!” She screamed at me. “You could’ve gotten us killed, and for what!? Just so you can take a trip down memory lane.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me and-” I was cut off once again but this time it wasn’t by her slapping me. She pulled me close and hugged me, I felt something wet forming in my chest.
“I could kill you right now because I’m so angry. But I’m just glad you’re ok.” She said, “Thankfully we’re never going back there again. Not after what happened.”
“I’m glad you’re ok too. For a second back there I thought I lost you.”
“Well after you hit your head into the wall I just kept running, but a little while I lost you and tried to run back, but I ran into more of those guys and had to fight them off. Once I was done with them I heard the gunfire coming from another alley across the street from me. I turned the corner and saw them climbing the ladder after you. I opened fire and killed them all. Although.” She let go of the hug and showed me her arm. She had a little gash along her wrist. “A stray bullet got real close and sliced me, so I had to hide behind cover. Thankfully the guy who did was severely injured and bled out. I hid behind the corner but I overheard one of them screaming. Did one of them get up to the rooftop?”
“Yes, this person named Henry.” I explained. “He was a crazy man. I’ll tell you more but I don’t feel safe here. Let’s go back to the farmhouse and explain everything.”
“Ok. I’d feel more safe there after what just happened.”
We sucked up our exhaustion and kept marching through the trail back home.
“I love you Lee.” Jesse said out of nowhere. “Even though I’m hard on you now, for good reason, I still care for you. I don’t want you to make stupid mistakes like that ever again you got that?”
“Yes, loud and clear.”
“Good.”
“Love you too Jesse.”
“I know, always have. But it’s good to hear it from you directly. Thank you, it felt good.”
“Anytime."
ns 15.158.61.48da2
