10 10

"So who is this person?" I ask Tristan as we walk, sticking to the shadows.

"Just an old friend of mine. She recently moved here," he replies, running a hand through his hair.

I nod, kicking a small rock to the side as I walk. "I see. I don't come down here very often."

Suddenly Tristan grabs my arm and pulls me to the side so that we are both concealed in a dark alleyway. Not a few seconds later, I hear a loud rumble as a Jeep passes by with a sniper set on top. I watch intently as it slowly drives off, the sniper constantly searching around. Only after it has completely disappeared from sight do I step out again. Who was that? Best just to avoid anyone at all right now. I look over to Tristan who's studying the streets. Then he taps me on the shoulder.

"Come on. This way."

Guess he's just as anxious to get to somewhere safe as I am.

He takes the next right and I catch up to him, quietly memorizing the place and making mental notes to myself. I pass by a rusty sign with faded letters. 42nd Ave. I feel myself beginning to get hungry as we turn the corner again and struggle to remember the last time I had a proper meal. Or when's the next time I'm going to have a proper meal. I laugh internally. I can just forget that.

After a while, Tristan finally stops in front of an old house and I bump into him, lost in my thoughts. I look up to see a huge, low-hanging tree in front which covers most of the house from view.

"Alrights, let's go," he says. "Hope she's doing okay."

I follow Tristan as he makes his way to the door and knocks gently. We wait in silence then and I wonder if we would even be welcome. This is an unexpected visit, after all. Another minute goes by and Tristan knocks again, muttering something.

A few seconds later, the door flies open and before I can move a muscle I find myself staring at the end of a pistol. My hands promptly go to my own gun but Tristan puts his hands up. The girl studies me sharply, but when she looks over to Tristan, her eyes widen. She immediately pulls him into a tight embrace. It seems to have caught him by surprise at first but after a moment he wraps his arms around her as well. I feel a slight pang of jealousy then instantly feel stupid. Knock it off, Hazel.

"It's good to see you," the girl says, pulling away. Her eyes swerve over to me briefly, then return to Tristan, concerned. "You have blood on your clothes."

"Don't worry, it ain't mine," Tristan replies, then gestures to me. "This is Hazel."

I give her the friendliest smile I can manage. "Hi."

She smiles back. "Name's Lara. Come on in. We shouldn't be out here talking like this."

She moves over and I follow Tristan inside. The first thing I notice is that it's so much warmer in here and I take my jacket off. So the power hasn't been cut off yet. Surprising.

"You two made it all the way down here in the middle of all this?" Lara asks.

"Yup," I reply as we make our way into the living room. Tristan and I settle down on the couch and my entire body thanks me for finally sitting down somewhere. I sc

"So what exactly is 'all this'," Tristan says, shaking his head.

Lara takes a seat across from us, clasping her hands. "We don't know." Some of her blonde hair falls past her shoulders. "Did you guys hear about the whole store that caught fire up in the north?"

Tristan and I exchange glances and I can read the uneasiness in his eyes.

"No," he replies, looking back at Lara. "What happened?"

She shifts. "Who knows? Heard that it was some kind of break-in because the front doors" - she leans forward - "well, it was all shattered."

It was more of a break-out than a break-in. But only Tristan and I know that. Or at least I hope so. "Damn," I decide to say. "But what does that have to do with all of this?"

Lara shrugs. "Don't you think it's gotta be some sort of coincidence? What if it started from there?"

Tristan nods, sighing. "Yeah but even if it did, how did it spread this fast?"

I frown. "Then that store wasn't the only one." I look over to Tristan, who has his lips pursed. "This all happened overnight."

"Yeah," he replies. "That could be possible." Tristan gives me another glance.

Why hasn't he decided to tell Lara the truth? That we were there? I decide to keep my mouth shut about it as well then.

"What now, though?" I ask, sitting back.

"You guys are welcome to stay until things settle down out there. Until they figure it out," Lara says.

There is no they left to figure it out, I think.

"Thanks Lara," Tristan replies, smiling. "On the bright side, there's gotta be more people like us."

I know what he's thinking. Hopefully not everyone's out to kill us.

"Yeah," I reply. I wonder if this has reached outside the city and it spikes my curiosity. I want to know. I want to know if I have a chance at a normal life again.

"Ahh. I'm going to go check up on my mother," Lara says, getting up. "I'll be back in a bit."

Tristan nods, rolling his sleeves up. "For sure." I turn to face him when she has left. "Her mom's been ill for a while now," he adds when he looks at me.

That is the last thing I could care about right now. But I don't say it to avoid looking like the obvious asshole I am. "What are we gonna do? Do you want to stay here?" I ask instead, hoping that he can see my reluctance to settle down.

He shakes his head. "Truthfully, no." Tristan rubs his hands across his face. "I don't believe that staying in one place is a very good idea."

I feel a slight rush of relief but the next question that pops up in my head quickly puts an end to that. "Then where do we go?"

Tristan looks somewhere in the distance, his jaw tense.

I answer my own question before he has the chance to reply. "I'm thinking of leaving the city."

Something changes in his eyes and he nods, looking back at me. "Me too."