In the restlessness of sleep, Lexi frowned. Something…someone…whatever it was…had woken her. One second she was caught up in her fitful and strange dreams of comforting spotted hats, wailing babies that left her guilt-ridden, and the groaning of undead. The next, well…the sensation of something digging around her jacket pocket became more and more distinguishable by the second.
"Hurry up!" A hushed male voice urged, somewhere further away. He sounded almost panicked, worried. As if he had anything to worry about, considering she was the one being robbed.
"Shh!" Came the quieter, more feminine response directly above her. Whoever was rummaging around her pocket by the sound of it. Lexi thought about snapping her eyes open just to startle them, but who knew how that would end. Probably not well.
Resisting the urge to tense up or sigh, Lexi waited until she felt the woman above her reach over to the other hoodie pocket. The distinct feeling of someone bending over her body to reach for something was strong, and in an instant, Lexi opened her eyes, grabbed the woman's arms and rolled them over away from the man.
"Nami!" The other one cried, a dark-skinned man with a distinctively long nose. That was all the impression she could get before being preoccupied by her current hostage.
"Shit!" The woman cried, orange hair flying around her face in a flurry of motion as Lexi planted her back to the wall, gripping the flailing woman across her shoulders and holding her knife to her throat. Her free hand took hold of the woman's wrist and pinned it behind her, discouraging from any sort of retaliation. Predictably, her male companion held her own rifle, no doubt picked up from the corner where she'd left it, in his hands, pointed shakily at the two of them.
"Put the gun down and she won't get hurt!" Lexi demanded, pressing the knife a little more insistently against the woman's neck, more for her own benefit than anything. If they believed she'd do something then the likelihood of them retaliating lessened just a bit. The woman trembled in her hold, but otherwise didn't speak. She couldn't see her face, but by the looks of the man's own facial expressions, she must have been mouthing something to him.
"Who are you?" She demanded, eyes piercing those of the man before her. He swallowed thickly.
"U-Usopp. I'm Usopp. And that's Nami." He added as an afterthought, realizing she was probably referring to both of them. "We're…we're thieves…" He admitted, seeing no other way to phrase it. They'd been caught in the act so really, there was no point in denying the obvious.
"'I'd rather not kill either one of you, so put the gun down." Lexi reiterated when Usopp still made no move. He gulped, eyes wide as they flicked back and forth between the women. Then, seeing no way to gain an upper hand, he nodded slowly and crouched on the ground.
"Alright, alright! Just…don't hurt her." He pleaded, gently placing the rifle onto the ground at his feet and standing to back away a bit. Lexi nodded, not feeling quite as nervous with the rifle put away. Still, now wasn't the time to let her guard down. Releasing Nami's wrist, Lexi reached into her holster and pulled her pistol out, undoing the safety with a click.
The orange-haired woman gasped a little as the brunette pointed her weapon at Usopp across the room. Lexi sighed and eased up a little on the knife. "Empty your pockets of what you took." She ordered Nami, eyes never leaving the dark-skinned man.
Reluctantly she did so, dropping the few things that had been stolen from Lexi's person. Once that was done, she waited a few seconds, just to be sure. "Everything." Lexi said again, not believing her. Nami sighed gently and finally dug out the two boxes of matches from her pocket and added that to the pile of things she'd snatched.
Satisfied that was everything from her, Lexi nodded to Usopp and jerked her gun in the direction of a big duffel on his back. "Your turn. Open the bag."
Face blatantly displaying his horror, he did so, pulling a few bigger items that they'd apparently lifted from her. Frowning, she noticed some cans of food that she didn't recognize, as well as a water bottle that wasn't familiar.
"Just take these and don't kill her. Please. It's all we can spare." He begged, holding up his hands and backing away slowly. Shaking her head Lexi gestured back to the additional items. Now, this didn't seem right.
"Keep them. They aren't mine." Seeing his obvious confusion and surprise, she sighed and pulled Nami to her feet slowly, though never truly releasing her neck of her knife. "Just give me back what you stole and leave. Don't bother me again."
"Seriously?" Nami asked, speaking for the first time. "You're not gonna kill us?"
"I already told you, I don't want to hurt you if you don't give me a reason to. Just don't try to rob me again and be on your way." Lexi said, watching as the man made no move to grab his…her, weapon. Deciding that she'd have to be the one to break this standstill they were now in, she slowly pulled the knife away from Nami's neck and tucked it into her hip sheath, giving the orange-haired woman a gentle push in her companion's direction. "Go."
Without hesitation, she hurried to his side, turning to regard Lexi with calculating eyes. Lexi kept her pistol trained on them, waiting for them to decide that there was nothing else left for them here. This stare-down was getting awkward, and slightly creepy on the woman's part.
"Why would you let us go?" Usopp asked.
"Look, I get it, alright?" Lexi almost snarled. Why couldn't they just leave? Their prolonged presence with seemingly no purpose here was putting her on edge. It's like they were asking her to change her mind or something. "You're trying to survive somehow, and from the way you didn't just kill me outright, you probably don't like hurting others either. Right?" She tested, just to be sure.
Slowly, they both nodded.
"So, you keep your stuff. I'll keep mine. We go our separate ways, and go rob someone else. Preferably someone who deserves it, ok?"
They were both silent for a long time. "What's your name?" Usopp finally asked.
"Lexi."
More silence, before he reached down to put away their own cans of food and water. Lexi was still wary, but he only zipped up the duffel bag to throw on his back. Nami didn't appear to know what to do, standing there wringing her hands
"Just go." Lexi demanded again, so close to simply leaving herself to get away from them. This was almost the strangest run-in with strangers she'd had yet. Almost.
Finally deciding to take her advice, both of the thieves ran out the open door of the bedroom in the small apartment, leaving a frustrated and perplexed Lexi standing against the wall of the bedroom. She let out a pent up breath, tucking the pistol into her waistband. Her eyes took in the piles of her stuff now scattered on the floor where the two had dropped them. Stealing a look at her empty-looking backpack, then at the mess before her, she sighed.
Great, now to repack her stuff.
At the very edge of Law's vision, he noticed the small blonde woman disappear behind the corner of a building, just before he could get a good look at her. Yet again. If she hadn't been wearing some sort of brightly-colored clothing, he probably wouldn't have seen her at all. Eyes narrowed, he waited a beat while still continuing to walk, watching for her to reappear for the dozenth time that morning, but after several seconds of nothing, he turned back to his friends, trekking their way through the town on the lookout for any stores or buildings that may be worth scavenging.
"Is she still following us?" Shachi whispered, loud enough for only them to hear. If it was one consolation to him, at least his companions knew when things were serious. Like now, with a mysterious woman trailing them. Two hours in, so far she hadn't made herself known to them or appeared to be much of a threat but that could quickly change.
"Yes." He answered in low tones. His entire body was on edge. After the second time of seeing her peeking from behind broken buildings and debris, he'd immediately tried to track her down, but she was a slippery one. As soon as he'd rounded the corner where he'd last seen her, she was nowhere to be found. Since then, he'd given up trying, but always wary of her presence.
"You'd think if she wanted something, she'd have come to kill us or talk to us by now." Penguin added, holding his gun in hand as he stepped over a crumbling patch of what used to be a brick wall. Most of the structure had been destroyed. "It's almost more worrying that she hasn't done anything yet, you know?"
"Hmm." Law hummed in agreement, mind preoccupied by the mysterious woman trailing them and something else that had been eating away at his head. The area had been relatively free of zombies. Sure, there was always the odd wandering loner that was easy to dispatch, but something about the town just didn't sit right. It was too quiet, too unpopulated. For a city this large, there was bound to be so many more people than what they'd faced up to that point. Either there had been some mass exodus out of the city before the infection…or someone had already gone through and killed them all. The latter option was much more likely.
"Geez, the military really tore this place apart." Shachi commented, kicking away a chunk of rock in their path. His eyes took in their surroundings curiously. "There're holes everywhere."
He was right. With one glance, you could see the obvious old blast radius from multiple explosive type devices; they appeared in sides of buildings, walls, in the sidewalks, the street, and all manner of places. The entire town was akin to swiss cheese, if Law was to compare it to anything. The abandoned city already gave them this eerie feeling to begin with. The excessive destruction only added to the unease.
Well, that, and the woman stalking them throughout the city as they looked for supplies. That was more than a little unsettling.
There it was again, what looked to be a blonde head poking out from a building to his right. It was irritating having to act as if nothing was there, hoping to draw her out into the open, or at least figure out what it was she was after. This was becoming rather irksome.
"She's been alone this whole time, right?"
"Shachi, don't you think Law would have told us if there was someone else? Idiot."
"Hey, don't get smart with me! You're so busy staring at your feet as you walk, you wouldn't have noticed anything to begin with."
"I do not!" Penguin defended, a little louder than perhaps he'd intended. Realizing this, both of them quieted down afterwards, hoping that his little outburst hadn't attracted any more unwanted attention. It seemed it had, as a few zombies appeared around a corner up ahead, groaning almost feral as they caught their scents and ran faster towards them.
"Sorry…" Penguin apologized, tilting his head down ashamedly. Law merely shrugged, bringing his sword up at the ready for the zombies to approach.
Surprisingly, they never got close enough. More surprising, was why.
When the undead had stumbled about 75 feet away, still coming closer, Law caught sight of a small object arching up and landing down in advance of the zombies' path, anticipating where they would continue running. It was dark and compact, and a moment after the sudden dawning that it was a grenade, Law opened his mouth to order their retreat away from the blast. The explosion rang out before he could get the words out.
Lexi had just finished putting together her stuff, double checking the room for anything she might have missed, when a distant boom made her frown. The sound made her pause, waiting for anything else to happen. Nothing. Rising from her crouch, she turned and stared out the bedroom window, looking out onto the city below.
At first glance there didn't appear to be anything unusual or out of place. Lexi's eyes flitted back and forth between the streets below, wondering what on earth had caused that sound. It sounded like an explosion, but that was a rather unlikely explanation. Maybe those two from before had caused it? She eventually shook her head. That didn't seem possible either, judging by how far away it had sounded. There's no way Nami and Usopp could have traveled that sort of distance in the ten minutes it had been since she'd seen them leave.
Lost in her thoughts, she almost jumped as the cloud of dust rose from between the buildings a few streets away, swirling in the air as the wind caught the dust, faintly disappearing within a matter of seconds.
Frowning, the brunette let out a deep breath. The smartest decision would be to turn the other direction and hightail it out of the city, heading closing to the air force base. That, or just stay here and wait out whatever was going on. Whatever it was, it would most definitely sort itself out at some point, right?
Though, Lexi was never one to always make the smartest decisions.
The sound was the most disorienting, a shockwave of force passing right through them as a large dust cloud of debris kicked up, and anything substantial was sent flying in all directions. Small rocks and other bits of things pelted their bodies harshly. The ground beneath their feet shook minutely, and they threw up their arms and dropped to a crouch as debris shot past their faces and bodies. All three broke into fits of coughing and rubbing at their eyes.
Law's first thought, after coughing out the dust that had been kicked up and swirled in the air, was that the noise would attract a horde of the undead. Something that loud was bound to attract attention of the unwanted kind, and fast. Grabbing Shachi and Penguin's jacket shoulders, he dragged them backwards and away from where the explosion had been, tripping and stumbling over unseen debris but otherwise making their quick getaway.
They didn't make it more than a dozen feet before something very brightly colored blocked their way. Law stopped, drawing his sword out of instinct and raising it defensively. A very feminine laugh came from the woman who'd been following them up to that point. There was no one else it could be, really.
"Oh, you survived!" She exclaimed, cocking her hip and placing her fists on either side. Out here in the barren wastes, she was quite a sight to see. Her wide grin was cocky, arrogant. And her choice of attire was questionable for an apocalyptic scenario. Bright yellow shirt with a lemon pattern, and strangely matching color hair. It was almost a sickly yellow, as if it were dyed, but that seemed unlikely, considering the circumstances.
Paired with jean shorts and dirty, beaten-up tennis shoes completed her…outfit. It was easier just to call it an assortment of clothing, really. And if they had to describe her face, the best word would be pinched. Uptight. A less than polite word for it? Bitchy.
Her observation of their survival seemed neither elated nor disappointed, but simply a statement of fact. It made it difficult to tell if the man had intentionally tried aiming near them or if it had simply been a matter of coincidence. And Law did not believe in coincidence.
Her grin never wavered. "That was cutting it pretty close, but it looks like you're fine."
Law's eyes narrowed, and he gripped his sword tighter. "Who are you?" He demanded, feeling Shachi and Penguin begin to recover from the shock of that grenade from before. Feeling stupid for almost forgetting the close call, he glanced back behind them and saw a single, dark-skinned man walking up, hands casually tucked into the pockets of his long brown trench coat.
A row of grenades was strapped to his chest in an 'X' formation, held in place by a custom holster. It looked to be military grade. His maroon-tinted sunglasses hid his eyes, but the short, spiky black dreadlocks made him seem more of a laid back person. But only slightly. That scowl of distaste ruined any pleasantness that might have been there at all.
The man stopped several feet away from them, effectively surrounding Law and his friends on both sides. The petite blonde woman laughed, drawing his attention once more. "I'm Claire. Claire Valentine. And this," she gestured behind Law to her male companion, "is my friend…uh…well, he doesn't like to share his name with others." She smiled obnoxiously, though as if she knew it were annoying.
"Well, Miss…Valentine." Law tested out, regarding her with aversion, getting that growing feeling that this was going to turn out to be a worse situation than he'd originally thought. "We would like to be on our way now."
Claire simply kept smiling. "You know, I've seen you guys walk around here like you own the place. You're cocky sons a' bitches, aren't you?" Miss Valentine started, effectively ignoring Law's previous statement. That smile still in place, she crossed her arms across her chest and giggled as she pointed to their packs. "What's more, you look like you've got a knack for finding things. We could use people like you."
"Is that so?" Law replied bitterly, voice blatantly portraying his disinterest in what she had to say. Beside him, Shachi and Penguin were content to let Law do all the talking. If he told them to jump, they'd jump, but he was much more skilled in tense situations like this.
Miss Valentine either didn't catch his tone, or just didn't care, because she plowed ahead anyways. "We've got an encampment further in the city, about twenty people. And, you know, humans have gotta stick together now, right?"
For several moments he said nothing, eyeing her warily. He could feel her partner staring at his back, which sent a chill up his spine that he resist physically showing.
"As tempting as that may sound, we prefer to be on our own." Law replied. She still seemed unperturbed, but that smile did wane a bit. Miss Valentine recovered quickly, placing a hand on her hip.
"Hmm, what a shame." She pouted, seemingly put out by his response. Though, the next moment her smile had returned. "I was afraid it would come to this though."
Without another word, she reached behind her and pulled out a small pistol, pointing it straight at Law's head. Her green eyes flicked to his weapon pointedly. "I'd put that sword down if I were you. You too, boys."
The click of a gun behind him made him turn, seeing the grenade-strapped man holding a sawed-off shotgun at his two companions. One shot would have enough spread to take them both out, no doubt. Still, Shachi and Penguin's guns never wavered as they stared down the man in question. Law sighed, turning back to the woman mastermind of this whole operation. Seeing as the big guy hadn't said a word up to this point, it was pretty safe to assume she was in charge.
Miss Valentine sighed dramatically, as if this whole thing were an inconvenience to her. "Now, are you gonna hand over the packs or not? Looks like you've got some pretty neat stuff in there."
Silently, Law slowly brought his sword up to sheath it behind his back, relaxing his posture and holding up his hands in surrender. He wasn't happy about it, but the best scenario would be to just do as they said. Even if he was fast enough to disarm Claire, the man behind him would surely have the reflexes to take out Shachi and Penguin by that time.
"Do as they say." Law instructed his friends. They shared a glance, wondering if he were really serious. Nodding, their leader cleared his throat. "Just do it."
Hesitantly and obvious not happy about it, the two hatted friends lowered their gun, letting them drop to the ground with loud clacks. Claire gave a giggle, getting off on the feeling of having complete control.
"Good, now shove that bag over here, will you?" She demanded, jerking her gun to indicate the pack strapped on Shachi's back. Her cocky grin mocked him. "And while your two pals are unarmed, you won't make a move, isn't that right? Or my friend here will blow their brains out all over you. Now, give me the bag."
Glaring, Law turned and took the bag off of Shachi's shoulders, dropping it to the ground and sliding it over her way with a rough shove from his foot.
Miss Valentine crouched and started pawing through the contents, humming a soft little tune to herself as she did so, as if she weren't holding up a couple of people at gunpoint. Like this was some tuesday afternoon, no different from another.
Law's eyes switched back and forth at the street behind her, trying to find a way out of this. If Claire's need to feel validated and in control wasn't so strong, he was willing to bet they'd be dead already. She just wanted to make them afraid. Something, anything to get them out of there. Still, besides the broken remnants of buildings, nothing obvious stood out.
A flicker of movement up high caught his eye and, after a brief glance at the blonde woman to make sure she wasn't looking, he shifted his gaze to the top of a building down the street. Someone poked their head over the top. It was a bit hard to see from this distance, but it looked like a woman…
His eyes widened. It couldn't be-
That head of brown hair was so recognizable at this point. Law was sure of it. Staying low, so as not to be too obvious, she watched the events as they unfolded. His eyes narrowed. Perhaps this was not the saving grace he needed. Even several seconds later, she still made no move. What was she doing?
"Hmm, not as much as I thought you'd have, really." Miss Valentine commented, drawing Law's attention. She stood from the bag and tilted her head. "Hand over the other two. I want to see everything."
Doing as she said, Law was thankful the blonde went back to rummaging through their stuff, too preoccupied to see him glance back up at the roof where Lexi was hidden.
It would be so easy for her not to intervene, to simply hold her ground and silently slip away without these two bandits even knowing. Lexi could be on her way, leaving none the wiser, since Law and the others would most likely be killed after this little exchange. It was simply a matter of when this Claire chick decided that her fun was over. So, as he watched and waited for her to do something, anything, he had to resist the urge to curse aloud when her head disappeared behind the building.
That roiling anger inside him reared up, barely contained as he thought about it. That bitch, saying she owed them and hightailing it out of there at the first sign of them in trouble. So much for thanking them for saving her life a few times.
The anger subsided briefly when her head peeked back over the roof, this time propping a rifle in her hands, pointing in their direction. As he watched, she kept low while still lining up a shot. Law swallowed, hoping for a moment that he was wrong about her, that she was indeed there to help them.
Nothing was stopping her from putting a bullet through his own head. Which meant he just had to trust her, something he'd been inclined to avoid the entire time he'd known her. He closed his eyes briefly, sending a silent prayer that he was not making a huge mistake.
Don't miss.
Lexi lined up her shot through the scope, going back and forth between the two thieves that held Law's ground at gunpoint. Which one should she shoot? The blonde seemed preoccupied enough as it was, and the bigger guy looked to be more of a threat. Ok, so the decision wasn't that hard after all.
Training her barrel on the man in the trench coat, she steadied her arm and breathed easy, knowing that a stray shot could potentially hit Shachi, Penguin, or Law by mistake. With the angle how it was, it wouldn't be too hard to accidentally hit them.
Licking her lips with the sudden onset of nerves, she slowly inched her finger to the trigger.
Law's entire body was on edge, ready to either leap forward and knock Claire's gun from her hands if Lexi shot the man behind him, or to spin and hopefully incapacitate the man if the brunette happened to shoot the woman. He hoped she was smart enough to take out the most deadly threat first, leaving the easier one to him. Miss Valentine didn't look too comfortable and or skilled with that pistol in her hands. More for show than anything.
For several seconds, nothing happened, the air deathly still around them as he waited, and waited…
Bang!
Lexi's shot rang out, and Claire jumped about two feet in the air. She screamed, not expecting something to happen while they were sticking them up. Law saw no blood splatter or mark on her, so he snapped into action, running full tilt the few feet between them, and grabbing hold of her wrist harshly, wrenching the gun away from her grasp.
"Ah!" She gasped, roughly toppled to the ground as Law knocked her off her feet, straddling her by the waist as they landed in the dirt. Behind him, he could hear Shachi and Penguin voicing their surprise as the big guy fell to the ground.
Law held Miss Valentine's hands to either side of her body, looking behind him cautiously to see that her partner had indeed been killed, the bullet hole stark in the middle of his forehead.
"What the hell was that?" Penguin yelled, shaken up a bit from the surprising turn of events.
"Lexi." Was all Law said, turning his attention back onto the blonde woman. She struggled and squirmed in his grip but he was much stronger than her. "Shachi, grab our stuff."
"Bastards!" She screamed beneath him, eyes full of venom now that the tables had turned. Law smirked deviously.
"Not so fun from the other side, is it?"
"I'll kill you!" She growled, spitting upwards into his face. Law grimaced against the disgusting feeling of her saliva now on his cheek and one eye, but he ignored it for the moment.
Penguin walked up with his gun, pointing it at her head. He paused giving Law a questioning look. With a nod, Law silently instructed him to go ahead. There was nothing more to get from this woman, seeing as he didn't really want to stay in this place any longer than they had to.
Claire screamed, seeing the intent in Penguin's eyes. It was cut short with one shot of his gun, and her head jerked with the force of the bullet, splattering blood all around them and on their clothes.
Law stood, finally wiping blood and spit from his face with his sleeve, glancing back up to the roof where Lexi had been. She leaned on the roof in a relaxed pose, one arm casually draped over the edge of the roof.
When she saw him looking her way, she gave him a little wave. Silently, he gave a deep nod, a silent thanks for saving their lives. Because honestly, she just had, despite his reluctance to admit that they'd definitely needed it.
Thank you, he thought to himself, hoping that he could convey just a fraction of his gratitude into the gesture. She was owed that much, at least.
Lexi regarded him a moment, them gave a quick two-finger salute before standing and walking the opposite direction, disappearing from view. He watched for another few seconds, but she did not reappear. Turning, he watched as Penguin and Shachi were busy unhooking the many grenades off of the dead man's vest, stuffing them into their packs quickly.
"Let's get the hell out of here! This place is crawling with psychos." Shachi said, zipping closed their stuff and slinging it over his back again. Law was much inclined to agree and, with a brief glance at Miss Valentine and her companion, they headed off in the direction they'd originally been going, albeit a bit faster.
Law couldn't resist glancing over his shoulder, searching for the head of brown hair he knew wasn't there.
ns 15.158.61.5da2
