Sixty Five |

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Sixty Five |

In my dreams Zero didn't appear. Instead, I dreamed of a time when I was younger. A time my mom was up early to make me pancakes before my weekly chemo treatment. I guess it wasn't a dream but a snippet of a memory I thought I had forgotten.

Dad was yelling. He watched as my hair fell out, as his little girl lost all appetite and any food I was forced to eat left my lips only minutes later. I was so tired. So was he, and so was mom. I remember dad would scream and mom would cry. They weren't mad at me, and they weren't mad at each other. Mom wasn't even mad...sad sure. But she was never mad.

Dad was mad at the world and so he cursed it.

By trading my life for humanity.

"Mira," the voice was soft.

Pulling me out of my dream state and back to reality. The Jeep was parked outside a rundown store. My brow rose, as I looked around. It was dark out already—how long was I sleeping? More importantly, where were we going?

"Where are we?" I muttered, rubbing sleep out of my eye.

Now that I could see better, only Lisa was in the car with me. So, where had everyone else gone? My guard rose as I looked around, my finger twitching for my sword. Beside me however, Lisa snickered.

"Relax," she said, "The boys are doing a quick scan for supplies, Lori's in there looking for some clothes you can wear. Anything free of moths should be better than Sebastian's shirt."

I nodded the sleep leaving me, "I guess Sebastian wants his shirt back?"

"Actually," she snickered, "he said you looked better wearing it and that you didn't need pants. But Lori argued otherwise."

My eyes rolled, "Of course he did."

I peered past Lisa and out the window. There was no sign of them and I began to worry—how long would they take? Did Maxwell have us followed? I bit my lip anxiously, my hand moving to pick up my sheathed sword off the floor of the Jeep.

"Where are you going?" Lisa asked.

I glanced at her, "I'm going to go see where they are."

She rolled her eyes, "They'll be fine."

"You don't know that," I snapped back, my patience thin.

Her eyes narrowed, a scowl on her face, "Why does it seem like you think we're weak? We don't need you to guard us, you are our leader not our damn babysitter."

"I don't think that," I growled, my fingers tightening on my sword, "I just want to keep you guys safe. What if there are zoms around? Or worse, some of Maxwell's men?"

"Then we'll deal with that if we need to," she replied, "And if we're by ourselves when it happens then we will deal with it by ourselves. We're not fucking useless and we've all dealt with enough to earn our keep. Or is that not enough for you?"

I could feel my face heating up, "It's not like that."

"Sounds like it," she snapped, "Oh look. They're back and in one piece."

I turned my face, and true to her words they were walking towards the car. Both Leon and Sebastian were carrying boxes of scavenged supplies while Lori carried a bag in her hand. I took a relieved sigh, my heart relaxing as they got back into the Jeep. As the two men put the supplies in the trunk, Lori handed me the bag but not before glancing at my sword.

"Expecting a fight?" she joked.

I bit my lip nervously, putting it back down on the floor, "You never know."

She laughed, "I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to attack a Jeep of five people. That's just begging for a death wish."

Beside me Lisa snickered.

I took the bag from her and peered inside, I was surprised to see how much clothing she had found. Sebastian slid into the car followed by Leon and Lori focused back onto driving. While she did, I pulled out the clothing.

"I didn't know what you'd prefer so I grabbed whatever I could find," she told me.

I nodded grateful, "Thank you."

"Eh, good morning love," Sebastian winked, "you could always leave on my shirt."

My eyes rolled and I ignored him. Instead, I focused on the clothing. It wasn't a lot of choices but enough. The pile consisted of two pairs of black leggings (one leather and one feeling of cotton), a pair of knee high combat boots, a pair of sneakers, a white tank top, a long sleeve black shirt, a pair of panties, a white bra, and a few other articles. I also found a small pistol holster and a pistol along with a black belt bag, black leather gloves, a deodorant and a hairbrush. My eyes rose, all this clothing seemed Lori's style.

I pulled on the panties first, before pulling on the cotton leggings, bra then pulled off Sebastian's shirt. Who, was watching me carefully. I snickered, as he pouted then pulled on the long sleeve black shirt and sneakers. Then I used the deodorant and brushed my hair. It wasn't much but I was grateful Lori grabbed the items. I already felt more...human.

"Uh oh," Lori muttered, the Jeep began slowing down.

Instantly, my hands moved to pull on the gun holster and pistol. Sebastian pulled on his shirt as the Jeep stopped all together and we all turned to Lori. She sighed deeply, trying to turn the car's key again. The engine spat before giving up.

"Engine's dead," Leon stated.

I sat up, "Did Maxwell sabotage?"

"Nope," Lori replied, "Having the Jeep sit in that parking lot did though."

Only then did I relax slightly, I zoned out as Leon talked about a new plan but I couldn't focus. All I could think about is maybe Maxwell had sabotaged. I wouldn't put it past him and to do it in a way we wouldn't notice. I just knew he was waiting, watching. He wouldn't let us go so easily and I needed to figure out what his plan was before he destroyed all of us.

"Mira," Sebastian called.

I flinched, looking over at him. Everyone else had already gotten out of the car, and so I followed suit, grabbing my bag of supplies before grabbing my sword. We moved to the back of the Jeep where Lori and Leon were discussing our supplies, and sorting things into four backpacks. I tapped my foot against the road, my eyes darting around us for any trouble.

"We need to move," I muttered anxiously.

"We will," Leon replied, "But the Town of Roses is a long hike. We need to be ready for that and grab what we need. Supplies are important."

"And Maxwell?" I snapped back.

Silence fell over us, and Leon sent Sebastian a look. Beside me, Sebastian sighed, slinging his arm over my shoulder and walking me away from the car. I tensed, glaring at him. He merely smirked, taking my bag of clothing.

"We'll be a minute tops love," he said before nodding to the side of the road where the forest was thick, "We'll cut through the forest which will kill some of our time and hide us. If Maxwell was following us he'd loose track of us. Don't worry, you're safe."

"I don't care if I'm safe," I hissed.

He smirked, "I know love. Come on, they're ready to go. See? Only took a minute."

I relaxed as we started moving. Sebastian put my bag of clothing in his backpack before I realized everyone had a bag but me. My eyebrow rose but I didn't comment. Instead, I kept my sword attached to my waist, along with my belt bag and my new pistol. Leon lead the hike, with Lori and Lisa in the middle and Sebastian beside me at the rear.

The forest was cooler than I expected, the ground was wet with either dew or a previous rain, and the long branches covered most of the view to the sky. It relaxed me, there was no way Maxwell could have followed us and this seemed better than the Jeep in some ways.

The hike was tiring and by the time the sun was setting, it seemed like we were no closer than before. I sighed softly, Leon found a small meadow where a few deer were grazing before he stopped. When he arrived, the deer took off, and he pulled off his bag before setting it on the ground.

"We should rest for the night," he said, pulling a cigarette pack from his pocket.

I shook my head, "We should keep moving."

"No," he corrected, lighting the cancer stick, "We can't see in the dark, we could get easily turned around and we can't fight in the dark. Not to mention we don't all have your stamina level. We'll make camp here."

I bit my tongue, my eyes narrowed. Sebastian patted my back soothingly before pulling off his own bag. I followed their lead and sat down. It wasn't long before night had risen in the sky and Lori and Lisa had made a fire. Leon told the two to rest and sat down for the first watch. However, I wasn't tired. Not from my long sleep anyways.

"Why are you so nervous babe?" Sebastian asked me as he sat down to my right.

I glanced at Lisa who lay to my left, using her backpack as a pillow. The fire had casted a light among us but the light didn't go far. Leon had moved from sitting to now standing a few feet away. His eyes skimming around us slowly as he continued to smoke. No doubt he was listening to everything.

"Don't call me babe," I sighed relaxing, "I'm not nervous."

"Scared then," he chuckled, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

My head snapped to look at him, and instantly his chuckle stopped. Those red eyes swirled with an emotion I didn't recognize and I realized he was purposely trying to piss me off. I took a breath, relaxing as I leaned away from him.

"Why are you trying to piss me off?" I asked.

He shrugged, "You haven't been yourself since we left. I'm trying to get the old Mira back. I think we all miss her, even Lisa."

"Maybe the old Mira's dead," the words came out as a growl.

Sebastian nudged my shoulder with his, "I don't think so. I think that old Mira is just scared."

I laughed bitterly, "Scared of what? I've been tortured, pulled apart. Beaten, driven crazy .My mind has been fucked, my body broken. I'm not afraid of anything and I'm not fucking scared of Maxwell."

He nodded patiently, "I didn't say you're scared of pain. We all know you aren't."

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"You're afraid of losing us," he replied, turning my head to meet his gaze, "You're afraid of losing the humanity you've been given. You want to protect us but Maxwell has proven you can't protect us all the time and that scares you."

It was like his words hit my heart and instantly tears pricked in my eyes. He was right, I realized. I didn't care if Maxwell killed me, I cared if he hurt them and he had already proven he can. I couldn't protect them and what if next time it was too late? I sniffled, trying to control my emotions. I felt like I hadn't won, no I had been tested and I failed.

"Stop that," he whispered, pulling me into his chest, "Stop doubting yourself."

My arms wrapped around him, "I-I'm not."

"Sure love," Sebastian teased, "You're just admiring my body. I get it now."

I laughed, pulling away. As I did, his hand caught mine. My eyes widened and he brought his other hand up to wipe my tears away. I could feel my cheeks burning and then he grinned cheekily. I blushed, turning away from him.

"You're an idiot," I muttered.

He snickered, "An idiot is no idiot if after such a lady's heart."

"Idiot."             

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