Leo stared at the girl as she tried to gather her thoughts. She ran her hand through her dark brown hair while she stared back. "It's nice to meet you Ace," he replied.
His eyes closed, he waited for the answer. She didn't know. She thought she was alone too. He let out a big sigh and put the heels of his hands to his eyes. Leo pressed down hard and imagined Minnie's face. "Well, we can't be the only ones. There has to be more," he said, unsure of where he was going with this. He wasn't sure inviting her along would be a good thing. Eventually there wouldn't be enough food that they were able to find, and feeding one mouth was easier than two. She might slow him down too. He shook his head and tried to rid himself of the thoughts. He knew he was being logical, but there was also the fact that humans don't want to be alone. They need someone or something there with them. Plus, he had already talked to her, he couldn't imagine just running off and leaving her alone. She looked small, but he learned not to judge a girl by her size. He thought of Minnie again, out there on her own. Despite her capabilities, he wouldn't want he alone. He would want someone to take care of her. And he imagined someone would want him to take care of Ace as well, whether she was able or not. "We need to stick together," Leo finally said, after being silent for a while.
He finally looked away from her and scanned their surroundings. There were buildings perfectly intact, cars neatly stopped on the road, and the shops looked like they just hadn't been open yet. There were also bodies covering the streets, cars crashed into light poles and other cars, and some buildings with broken windows. He wondered how that happened, but he didn't spend too much time thinking on it. "What sorts of supplies do you have?" Leo asked her, looking at her backpack. "We should probably find a car or something. I'm sure I can hot-wire it," he mumbles. It's like he was talking to himself. People look at him and expect him to be a meat head, working at a boxing club, but his real passion was for knowledge and logic. Anything he could learn was what he loved. Once he took his truck to the shop and stayed to watch them fix it. He asked a lot of questions. The next time, he went back and asked them to show him specific things. Leo went out and bought some tools, and now he fixes his own truck.
Leo was torn from his thoughts by the sound of a helicopter. He looked around and saw the tail of it, disappearing around a building. Without thinking he grabbed Ace’s hand and broke into a sprint, chasing after the helicopter. As they turned the corner around the building, he saw that it had landed a bit away. He also heard a girl calling out. “Here! Here! We’re here!” He said, looking around for her. The sun blinded him for a moment, but the he thought he saw some movement. AS he tugged Ace along with him, he walked the sidewalk, keeping his eyes peeled for the girl. Finally he saw a blue truck with a girl in a leather jacket standing next to it. “Hey!” He called out to her, and continued walking in her direction. “Ace there’s two people! Possibly more! There could be two or three in the helicopter!” He said smiling at her. For the short time they had to talk, he felt like he couldn’t be closer to anyone. Maybe it was because she was the first person he saw in two days, or maybe because for a brief moment, he thought it was only them left in the world.
Kylie sat with her head between her knees, and Minnie sat silently next to her, fiddling with the laces on her tennis shoes. She stared at Jake while her worked. His grey t-shirt was tight across his muscular back as he worked, and he had black oil stains on the butt of his jeans from wiping his hands. She stretched and laid her head down on her knees so she was looking at Kylie. Now was not the time to be lusting after someone who was taken by freaking Miss America here. Minnie rolled her eyes and redirected her gaze to an interesting puddle of blood in front of her. Not far from it was a woman with her mouth open. Blood was covering her teeth, lips and tongue, and her eyes were open. They looked dead yes, but in a different way. They were white and cloudy. Her skin looked pale from blood loss. There was a trail of dried blood running from her ear down her cheek. It went down and curved slightly around her jaw before it swooped down her neck. Minnie clenched her jaw and kept her eyes locked on the blood. She would need to get used to seeing it, because that was all that was left. Her stomach churned at the sight of it, and her eyes teared up slightly, but still, she wouldn't look away.
"Okay, that should do it," came Jake's voice, followed by a small bang of the hood closing. He wiped off his hands and turned around. "Kylie, are you still feeling bad, babe?" He asked and looked down at her. The only thing he received back was a small moan. Jake's face seemed expressionless as his eyes slid over to Minnie, who had looked up from the blood. She looked like she had seen a ghost. He watched her, but only for a moment before he saw movement in his peripheral vision. "The hell?" he asked, squinting down the street. There were three men walking, or running towards them. It was more of an awkward skip. "Hey!" He called out to them. Minnie scrunched her eyebrows together and turned around, trying to see what Jake was seeing.
She smiled and stood up when she saw the moving figures. More survivors.
That meant there was a better chance that Leo was out there somewhere. She looked down at Kylie, but she hadn't moved at all. Minnie took a few steps forward, but Jake grabbed her arm. He was squeezing tight and when she looked at his face, he seemed distressed. "What?" she asked him, trying to tug her arm free. He didn't let go and he pulled her back.
"Don't move. Look at them. They're covered in blood. They never said anything to us when they saw us, and look at how they're walking," said Jake, his voice tight in his throat. He pulled a gun out of the waistband of his pants and pointed it at one of them.
“You can’t shoot!” Minnie said
“Why not? Look at them! They haven’t said a word. There is something wrong about them,” Jake said, shaking his head slightly.
As the figures approached closer, one of them was shot in the head. He jerked back then fell on the ground.
“You shot him?” Minnie asked, angrily.
“No! It wasn’t me!” Jake said back, blinking a few times.
Kylie looked up and saw the dead man. She scrambled to her feet and clung to Jake. He put away his gun and wrapped his arms around the tall blonde girl. Minnie just stood there, staring at the two still coming. They didn’t care one bit about their friend. All they did was look down at him and move on. Another shot to the head and the second fell. Kylie screamed and Jake pulled her tight to his body, backing up. His eyes were darting around, trying to find the sniper, but he couldn’t see. The last shot hit the third on in the head as well, and he fell only a few feet from the three standing by the truck. Minnie blinked and tried to understand what just happened. Jake’s jaw was clenched as he scanned the building, and Kylie’s sobs were the only noise.
A man came walking out of a building with his gun shouldered. He was walking casually toward them and Minnie assumed he was the shooter. She tapped Jake and he pushed Kylie off of him and pointed his gun at the stranger. He wouldn’t have, but given what just happened, Jake suddenly lost all trust.
The man didn’t stop, nor did he say anything. “Don’t come any closer,” Jake said. The man slowed a bit, but began walking again. Soon enough Minnie was able to make out the features on his face.
“Don’t shoot,” She said, and Jake looked at her. He put his gun down and Kylie returned under his arm, seeking comfort from her boyfriend. “Hey,” Minnie called out and started walking towards the stranger.
“Minnie,” Jake said, but she paid him no mind.
“Did you do that?” She asked him, when she was only a few feet away. His eyes were bright blue against his tan skin, and he was very tall. He reminded her slightly of Leo, but this man’s hair was a lot darker, and his build was a bit different than Leo’s.