Snippet #2351165

---

Lauren stood, carefully putting weight on her ankle and wincing, wiping away tears she hadn’t known she’d shed. “I’m not going out there.”

“You don’t have much of a choice. There’s a hoard coming in and if we want to make it out of here alive we’re going to need to leave...now..."

Lauren looked around as Judas put everything haphazardly in the bag. Where was her bag? She limped from behind the counter and scanned the floor but couldn't see any sign of it. "Where's my bag?"

"What bag?" Judas groaned.

"My school bag," she retorted, bowing up at him a bit.

Judas could barely conceal his smile. She wasn't intimidating at all. It was like a kitten trying to be a lion, it was adorable if anything. He couldn't bring himself to respond without laughing so for her sake he simply pointed. It was in a heap up against the counter where Judas had tossed it before laying her down behind the counter. She would've been uncomfortable laying on it. As she bent down to pick it up, Judas shook his head, his smile leaving his face. It was unusual for him to be that considerate. He figured he'd better knock it off before it puts him in a bad spot.

Lauren stood, her book bag strapped to her back. It was nostalgic in a way. It brought a familiar feeling, as if she was back at school on an ordinary day. But she wasn't and she couldn't afford to think like that anymore. A loud thud brought her attention back, snapping her out of her reverie. She turned quick to see Judas moving a bunch of bookshelves out of the way, being only slightly stealthy about it. She smirked, thinking to herself that one could only try and muffle ones noises so much when doing so much heavy lifting.

"You know you could help," Judas grunted, laying one of the heavier ones down before turning his attention to her, "Instead of marveling at my strength."

"You could hardly call it 'marveling'." Lauren quipped, making her way over. "What do you need?"

"Nothing now, useless." Judas heaved out a breath, slinging the duffle bag over his shoulder and bringing out his knife. "I've moved enough for us to sneak through the door. But listen-..." he paused, turning to her and leaning closer to look her directly in the eyes, "There are a few stragglers out there walking around so I want you to stick close to me. There's an exit a couple of stores away that we'll be able to get to but you need to be quiet. Understand?" Lauren nodded. "I'll go out first and see if I can pick off a few. Wait here."