Savage (The End 1)

She went for a pair of combat pants, a shirt, and a large bag for when they were ready to move on.

Once they were outfitted, she grabbed Lucy’s hand and headed back out into the street. Their next stop was the supermarket.

The windows had been smashed in and trash lay all over the place. Cars burned out. The entire place was empty.

“You think this is weird?” Lucy asked.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about how weird everything is.”

“Okay, so it’s good for me to be a little freaked then?”

“Yeah.” Sasha didn’t like that her little sister wasn’t happy.

This was not the kind of life any young girl should have to face. Keeping Lucy behind her, she entered the supermarket and paused, looking out of the door, across the town.

“What is it?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“How?”

“Like someone’s watching us.” She looked across the town but there was nothing unusual. Everything was in the right place, nothing out of the ordinary.

Putting a hand on Lucy’s back, she urged her sister further inside the supermarket. Once they were as far from the windows as possible, she let go of her sister and looked into the bag. “We need to get food and stuff, just fill this bad boy up.”

Lucy laughed. “Got it.”

They walked up and down the aisles getting things they’d need. Cans of fruit, beans, and everything that had a shelf life. There was no fresh food as that already had mold growing on it.

“I miss Mom’s cooking,” Lucy said.

“I do too.” With the bag full, she did it up and placed it on her back. “We’ll make the most of it.”

Taking her sister’s hand again, they walked out of the supermarket and Sasha paid careful attention to her surroundings. Something felt off to her, and she didn’t like it.

The only thing giving her any kind of comfort right now was her gun.

They walked down the street and back to the house. Sasha didn’t see anyone but that didn’t mean no one was lurking. Once inside, she locked the doors and stared out the peephole, watching the path. She waited a few more seconds and still there was only silence.

She had to be losing her mind.

Chapter Twenty

And then the world changed with just one glance

Seeing her had been like an electric shock to Malachi’s heart. Her hair had been long, pulled into a haphazard ponytail, the darker strands appearing damp at the ends, as if she’d bathed recently.

He’d kept hidden behind the trees, the thick trunks enough to hide him from their view.

She was with a child, a little girl, holding her hand tightly as if she’d fly away.

The fear coming from both of them was tangible, something he could feel, smell even from the distance.

He found himself following them, keeping to the tree line, the sound of his feet snapping twigs drowned out by the howl of wind.

It sounded like a storm was coming, the smell of impending rain hanging in the air, surrounding him. There were storm clouds in the distance, dark ones that were rolling closer, about to spew forth their anger in wet, fat drops.

And still he found himself keeping up with them. Malachi didn’t know what he was doing, following them, watching them.

The older one couldn’t have been more than twenty, this innocence surrounding her, yet not dimmed by the fierce expression on her face. It was clear she was taking on the world headfirst.

The younger one was small, fragile almost, maybe ten years old. They both looked like they were on the brink of breaking, survival hard on them.

Yet still they walked, still they survived.

Malachi didn’t even know how they’d made it this far, this long. The world had been hard before, but now? Now it was downright fucking evil. The people who were still alive weren’t the best, scraped out of the bottom of the barrel, the evil of the world.

He was a prime example of that degradation.

But these two girls? These two probably went to church on Sundays, painted their toenails on the weekends, and watched movies with their family.

And they’d been thrust into this world that would chew them up and spit them out.

He followed them until he watched them slip into a house. The older one stopped at the entryway and looked around. She had her hand on her hip, the butt of gun evident. Maybe she could feel his presence? Maybe she was stronger and more built for this world than he was giving her credit for?

Malachi felt himself become mesmerized with her, the way strands of her dark hair fell from her ponytail, how they brushed against her cheek.

Where he stood, Malachi could see how full her lips were, how pink they were. Her eyes were big, the color bright blue. Her skin was a gorgeous alabaster color, as if she hadn’t spent much time outside in the sun.