Page 13 of Hunt Me
I don’t know where I am so I bet my life she has no idea either.
Her small boots shift backwards, but she doesn’t loosen her hold on the blade, which is still pressed to my leg. And I cross my arms in front of me, ignoring the wetness running down my leg, right from where she has the blade pressed against me.
When the virus became out of control and riots were happening in major cities, they left a mess. A fucking big one. This looks like one of the places. Sides of buildings crumbling to pieces with whatever has been left over from the fires people had started leave the perfect dystopian picture ahead of us.
I look at my little deer. She doesn’t seem phased by the sight but that doesn’t surprise me since the mess isn’t exclusive to Glasgow. I wonder what she’s seen over the years, but I stop myself from thinking too much about it as a slight pain begins in my chest. The way she acts and holds herself shows she knows how to fit into this world. How to survive, something I’m not sure if I should be proud or sad about.
The pain in my chest doesn’t subside as I think about the weather this past winter and how cold she must have been. Scottish winters were never known for being particularly pleasant, but they feel like they’ve gotten worse since the virus,this one just past being one of the worst. At the stadium, we had struggled to keep warm, and that was a community of us.
How did she survive the winter?
I’m about to ask her when shouts come from the hole behind us, back where we climbed out of the sewers. The noise brings my worried thoughts to a screeching halt, and I look at the woman standing in front of me. Silently, I plead with her to trust me.
‘Well?’
She looks back to the opening, pressing her lips together and pulling them back between her teeth.
She looks at me, and I feel myself holding my breath.
As if a look offuck itcrosses her face she nods.
This is going to be fun.
??
This fucking woman.
We’ve spent several hours walking through the streets as the sky turned orange. Running through the tunnels fast tracked us to an area hours away from where we’d first fallen through into the sewers.
Now I’m here chasing after this stubborn woman like an obsessed teenager and she won’t fucking listen. Won’t do anything I tell her to. She won’t even acknowledge when I speak half the time.
She is driving me crazy.
It’s getting dark now, the sun long since beginning to set and dragging any amber tones down with it. The moon is full and high surrounded by awakening stars, some brighter and bigger than others. One of the benefits to living through an apocalypse like this is watching the stars return. I remember seeing them creep back one by one like they were testing out the waters at the start, seeing if the lights would come back on and the pollution would return. Then it never did. So the stars decided to stay, watching over us in our times of pain and suffering.
I’ve learnt my little deer enjoys watching the sky. A small smile tugs at the corners of her lips whenever she looks skyward, and a look of contentment settles across her entire body for a moment before she realises and locks it away, schooling her emotions back to her standoffish self. I’m not sure if it’s the moon she loves or the billions of twinkling stars out there but something inside me is begging to find out.
The moon would be the obvious answer. The way it reflects in her doe eyes makes it look like they are connected on some level. But her beauty is like the endless light of the stars above, radiating for all who care to watch.
‘Stop looking at me, you creep,’ she snaps as she catches me staring again. I can’t help the excitement that builds in my stomach when she talks to me.
‘Are you always this moody?’ I tease.
That fear she showed when falling into the sewer with me is long gone. Probably thanks to crushing that rat's balls and realising that I’m not about to skin her alive. Still I didn’t think she’d turn out likethis. Completely unphased by me. Not a care in the world, only irritation.
I’ve been trying to think of ways to get her to like me for the past however many streets, but nothing has come to mind. Thelast time I tried to make conversation with a girl that wasn’t purely practical was back in secondary school for fucks sake.
‘We should stop. See if there’s anywhere to rest and wash up.’ I’m really scraping the barrel with my conversation skills here.
I’m practically begging on my knees with her at this point and it's borderline embarrassing. But all she does is stop and stare ahead. Not one bit convinced. I don’t even understand what has her so pissed off with me.
I did kick her a little harder than I’d intended back in the tunnel. But in my defence things were a wee bit tense and all, surely she knows I wasn’t trying to be a dick.
‘Look I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to, I just wanted you out—’ she cuts me off before I can finish as she violently swivels towards me waggling her finger.
‘No youlookMr fancy dress,’ she waves a finger at my mask. ‘You think I give a single shit about you kicking me down the tunnel? Well I don’t. And as you have seen I didn’t need your help anyway.’
She lifts an eyebrow waiting for my response but all my mind can focus on is how I am not Mr fucking fancy dress. I’m wearing a skull mask and have axes on my back for fucks sake. That is not fancy dress. That is some seriously scary shit.
