CHAPTER THREE - MANNY

"I can hear you following me." My injured foot trailing a little behind my good one was making getting away from whoever this guy was a lot harder.

"Well then I guess I don't need to hide anymore which makes this a whole lot easier" first he wants to kill me and now he wants to… I don't even know "There's nothing even close to what's left of civilization anywhere around here. I don't think that's going to change anytime soon." 

"And how do you know that?" He probably didn't know anything so kept walking in the direction of the sun.

"Just a guess since we've been walking for… how long? At least two hours and we still see nothing but rubble with absolutely no signs of life." He was right but I didn't want to show him that I thought that. 

"Yeah well what do you suggest we do then?" It was an honest question because there really was nothing we could do. The plane is nearly 5 miles behind us and it would take us another two hours just to reach it again. The pain in my foot suddenly grows to an unbearable amount thrusting me down onto the ground.

"I know that you think I'm stupid but did you really not wrap your wound? Like that's probably the dumbest thing you could do after being shot." He is infuriating. 

"Yes it might've slipped my mind." I hate to admit him being correct but it seems unavoidable at this point. 

"Well then… are you gonna wrap it?" He can't be serious. Wrap it with what? Speaking of which, what did he wrap his with?

"With what exactly?" I still haven't turned around although the temptation is immense. 

"Take off your shirt." He wanted me to do what exactly? Take off my what? No no no. 

"What?! That is insanely inappropriate especially at this moment god why am i stuck here with you of all people?" My mind was racing faster than my mouth could spew out words.

"Not in the context of what I'm trying to do. Take it off. Rip a piece off and wrap your foot. God and you call me stupid!" I feel like a complete idiot. Of course he didn't want me to do that right now or ever for that matter. Thank god.

"Oh." I can't help but blush, not in the sense that I have any attraction to him but more the fact that he made me feel idiotic. "What's your name by the way? I told you mine but I never learned yours." this was true but I have the feeling I won't get the answer I crave.

"Joey." I stand corrected. Joey. Why does that sound familiar? Nevermind.

"Well joey…" I spit the name out with hatred "thank you for the advice but i must be going now and please for the love of god stop following me." I wait for him to turn and leave but he doesn't as I should've expected. "That's your cue to leave."

"Oh well I wasn't going to anyway so…" I cannot believe him.

"For god's sake please just go away!" he looks momentarily offended but then he bursts out in laughter.

"You wouldn't last a second out here without my guidance let alone however long we're gonna be out here cause it sure won't be less than a couple weeks." He is going to kill me. Not physically just internally. I am internally dying.

"Again I ask how you know that?" and again it is a good question.

"And again I say it's just a guess, and again I say judging based on the fact that we still haven't found any human life and we have been walking for a good 20 more minutes, we won't find any anytime soon. So maybe we should just stop and take a breather?" He has a point but I definitely did not want to let him know that I had any respect for his opinion or him in general.

"Fine. Let's take a five minute break to let me wrap my injury and then we will keep walking and if you keep following me I don't know what I'll do but I wouldn't want to be you when I figure it out." I feel a rush of pride fill my head, I honestly didn't think I had it in me to say any of that.

"Alright. But I will keep on following you and if you try anything at all, you will be sorry." We stop a few moments later at a log. I finally turn to face him and see his green eyes staring at me judgingly. 

"Turn around." I say firmly, I don't want him seeing me exposed at all, not in the slightest manner. 

"Ugh. you're no fun." He reluctantly turns away and I take my shirt off, rip off a piece of shirt at the bottom of it. Then quickly put it back on my body and tap Joey very softly on the shoulder signaling that he can turn around again. "That was surprisingly efficient." 

"Yes, well I am not as stupid as you may think." I begin trudging away without looking back. I can feel Joey following me and it's infuriating.

"That's a shock to me, because you thought it would be a brilliant idea to hide in my storage compartment of my plane and try to kill me and yet you didn't think that I would retaliate at all? That all sounds pretty stupid to me." I stop mid step and just stand there mouth agape. He really has the audacity to accuse me of being stupid when I was just following orders. He has no idea what I have gone through and yet he jumps to such conclusions so easily, it's ridiculous. 

"It wasn't my choice." I mumble under my breath but he certainly heard me because he stops short and I hear a sharp intake of breath. 

"You are working for her aren't you?" Was that unclear? I thought the fact that I was hiding in his plane and trying to kill him would have made that quite obvious. 

"Yes I am, I thought that was clear. But here we are again with me saying; who's the stupid one now?" I feel accomplished but I just know he won't let that last. 

"Goddamnit Dude! I thought you were at least a friend of Lauren's or something, not a fucking… new world enthusiast!" He really was an idiot. I laugh, a little maniacally and he glares at me with his stupid bright blue eyes. 

"You–" I can't stop laughing "really thought–" I say between laughs "I was on your side–" I am cackling now "of the war! That is a good joke!" He is giving me the death stare and it is fueling the fire of laughter more than it should be. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see his face start to get a little red and that is what takes me over the edge. I am now tearing up with laughter and he is glaring so hard I think his face might remain like that for the rest of his life. 

"You are insufferable." He is right and I take pride in that fact. 

After a little while more of me cackling I quiet down and begin to walk at a faster pace. But to my surprise he doesn't follow me, he just stands there and stares still glaring. That is until he turns and walks away.