Mercy heard movement. Dammit. They're comming. Frozen in place, she waited. “I ain’t gonna hurt’cha, little girl,” She heard a whisper. Male, it was a male. She lifted her eyes slowly over her arms so she could just barely see him. He was holding a shotgun to her. Maybe they were the type who killed for supplies. "But I need you to show me your hands and your face, real nice and slow like, okay?” At this she quirked and eyebrow and sat up. Who did he think he was talking to? Mercy had lived with Violet long enough to pick up her attitude, even if she was considerably sweeter, she didn't take bullshit.
"I'm not a little girl." She snapped, raising to her feet. She moved slowly, afterall, he was the one with the shotgun, and she could snap at him, but moving too fast might startle him and cause him to shoot. "You don't have to talk to me like I'm four. I have survived the same shit you have you know?" She raised her palms, letting him see her skinny arms so he knew she wasn't infected. In one hand she still held the pistol Violet had given her, and, in the other, the knife. "I'm eleven. Not six."
”You here alone, or is anyone with you?” At that, she shrugged. A gesture that could mean either no or yes. She wouldn't give Vi away yet. Movement caught her eye and she glanced briefly over his shoulder. There she was, moving silently as a cat towards the guy in front of her. Her sister pressed her finger to her lips, giving the universal sigh for shhhh, then pointed back towards the man.
She flicked her eyes back to the guy, giving him a soft smirk. Violet would be furious if she gave her away so she only sighed. "Yes." She said, realizing that this too could mean either, yes she was alone, or yes she had someone with her. It wouldn't matter anyway. He would find out in less than a second. She just hoped Violet didn't kill him. It was one thing to kill infected, another to kill a human being with a conscience. Plus, he had a whole group with him.
It wouldn't do to have both infected and angry revenge seekers after them.
Then a girl appeared and started asking her the same questions as the boy did. To which she just stood silently, waiting for Vi to make herself known.
Violet saw Mercy turn the corner from her other end of the isle. Shit! She'd already seen the group down there, but her sister hadn't. She wasn't being the quietest thief in the world either. Stealing had always been Violet's specialty. Mercy was better for planning and thinking. Rolling her eyes, she watched the end of the isle patiently counting to ten.
After her sister did not reappear, she decided to go after her, tightening the grip on her knife. She slipped easily down the isle in silence and peeked around the corner to see that one of the group had found Mercy and was pointing a gun at her. Oh no you don't She thought angrily and moved forward only to be stopped up short when a girl stepped in. Violet waited for her to finish talking before stepping in to make her move, slinking up silently behind them. The girl didn't seem to be a threat so she went for the boy.
Before he even had a chance to reply to Mercy, Violet had slipped up behind the man with the shotgun. She pressed the metal tip of her knife against the nap of the guys neck and whispered, very deliberately in his ear. "Lower the shotgun and get away from my sister or your head rolls. I can slice faster than you can turn and shoot."
Her voice was low and feral. Nobody threatened her sister. Group or not. She glanced at the others, doing a quick headcount. Six or seven. If they came at her, she would kill this boy, then there would be six left. Subtract the six-year-old and you've got five angry people after her and Mercy. She glanced at her sister. No doubt the boy was seeing the deep purple circles under her sister's eyes and they frailness of her young body. If he thought she was an easy target, he was dead wrong. She'd have no problem killing him if his finger even so much as twitched on the trigger.