"If we stay here any longer, we're going to get flattened." Tex grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the exit, all the while dodging the stone missiles.

We made our way to the mouth of the cave and I felt something smash into my shoulder. I cried out before I could even think about m.u.f.fling the sound. I didn't need Tex to worry about me now. We had to look after ourselves in a situation like this.

"What are we going to do?" I groaned, standing just outside the cave. That's when I realized my pack seemed too light. It should have been heavier.

I had forgotten a few of my water bottles that I had carelessly taken out. Without looking at Tex, I quickly ran back towards the cave. A meteor catapulted out of nowhere into the side of the mountain, filling the mouth of the cave with tons of rubble. Dirt and rock exploded into the sky, pelting every inch of my body. I fell flat onto the ground and covered my head. Dirt blanketed me, creating a layer of filth across my body.

Tex was immediately by my side, but not a second later another meteor came barreling out of the sky.

And another.

Each one brought with it the sound of a gunshot. A trail of smoke followed behind the flying boulders, mixing with the dirt and debris that convulsed from the desert with each thunderous impact.

The cannon fire was relentless, a constant detonation. There was absolutely nowhere to run. All we had was hope-hope that we'd survive this onslaught of deadly projectiles.

The desert exploded around us into hundreds of dirt geysers that continuously rained down on us, stoning us and turning the air around us into a dusty veil.

"Tex!" I pleaded. I had no idea what to do or where to go to from here.

His hand wrapped around mine and I instantly felt safe, though never really out of death's promising grip. We just ran for it, not entirely sure where we were running to. We just ran in hopes of escaping the heavy artillery produced from the skies.

There was no point in speaking, for even screaming was drowned out by the sonic booms. The skies were masked with cloud-like contrails-so gray and thick they canceled out the moon.

We had ran for over an hour when we finally stopped. The attack had mercifully halted. The clouded sky had yet to dissipate, but I could almost make out a brightening behind the smoky substance. We had less than an hour to find safety.

I rested my hands against my knees, trying in vain to catch my breath. Tex was at my side immediately, examining me for any fatal wounds.

"I'm fine," I shrugged him away, which caused a bolt of pain to shoot through my arm. My entire body was sore. I felt like I had barely escaped a stoning by an angry mob. "How are you?"

"I've been through worse." The side of his mouth curved ever so slightly. His answer left me wondering about his blinded eye all over again.

The desert was newly scarred, covered in both deep and shallow pits that we had to find our way around.

He grimaced and looked towards the sky. "We don't have too much time left. The next safepoint is too far away. We're going to have to head in that direction and hope to find something to shelter us from the day."

G.o.d must love me; we found a crater that had been newly formed in the side of a hill. It was deep enough to hide us from the daylight, though I wasn't too sure how we'd fare against the higher temperatures; we were so used to the caves and the cooler climate they held.

Tex led us about thirty-five feet into the hole when we were met with a wall. We were pressed against it, watching as the world outside of our subst.i.tute safepoint brightened. Every minute, the light grew closer and closer until it was almost biting at our toes.

Tex broke the silence. "I have a feeling we won't get much sleep today."

Chapter 8.

[ Elle ]

Night fell and I was dog tired. Sleep had come in short intervals all throughout the day. The unimaginable heat mixed with the light that threatened to consume us kept us both awake and too afraid to sleep.

"I'm not saying I regret coming with you, but holy c.r.a.p!" I stretched out all my limbs and stepped out into the night.

"I won't lie. Your little bunker would be the equivalent to Heaven right now."

I laughed and it hurt. My lungs ached from overuse. I was pretty sure they were coated with dust as well. I didn't want to journey on tonight. I just wanted to curl up and hibernate for a couple of years, but that crater wasn't even close to safe.

I took a long pull from my water bottle and it dulled the gritty, uncomfortable feeling in my throat.

"It seems we've been to h.e.l.l and back in under a day." Tex commented as he scanned the map. "Good news is, we're over half way to the next safepoint, so we won't have to travel long tonight."

"That news makes me so happy I could just cry." I brushed a fake tear away from my eye.

"Please don't."

"How compa.s.sionate." I rolled my eyes.

"Compa.s.sion died when the world died."

I shut my mouth. I had a feeling that world was code for Sarah and Danielle.

[ Tex ]

After a couple hours, we finally made it to the next safepoint.

We were beat; it had been both a physically and emotionally exhausting couple of days, but when was it not with us? I laid out the blanket and Blondie immediately took the side closest to the cave wall. She was out within seconds-the last twenty-four hours were etched into her heavy, labored breathing.

I went to fiddle with the lantern, but I thought better of it. The girl had the right idea. As grimy as I was, I didn't have the strength or the state of mind to do anything but exit this world for the day.

The blanket was large enough, so I could take a side to myself and not be in an uncomfortable proximity to her.

It was halfway through the next night when we both came to. Our stomachs were both b.i.t.c.hing at us; the lack of food was our grumbling wake-up calls.

After devouring every ounce of expired, tasteless food that was buried away in the cave, we cleaned ourselves up. I was pretty sure it'd take years to get every ounce of grime from our pores.

It was a luxury to feel well-rested for once. Though my muscles were still slightly sore, I didn't feel like dropping dead of my own accord. Looking back on the events over the last couple of days, it really was an amazing thing that we were both still alive. We should have been meteorite pancakes. Or at the least-buried alive. But, no. Here we were: alive and kicking.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, Kid. Since we won't be leaving until tomorrow night, how about some more training?"

She perked up then, pulling her knife from its holster and slicing at the air. It was either this or I was sure she'd come up with some inappropriate question to ask me that I wouldn't want to answer. I buried those thoughts back into the recesses of my f.u.c.ked up mind and flashed a smile in her direction. Blondie grinned and disappeared outside.

I stepped out into the open. For a change, all was still and quiet. It felt wrong, almost eerie. It was like being in the eye of a storm. And that was when, out of nowhere, I was tackled to the ground. My body fell hard with a thud, bringing with it a shot of pain from my head to my toes. It was quickly replaced with adrenaline when I realized who the culprit was. Blondie had one knee digging into my sternum and the other into my neck.

"Payback's a b.i.t.c.h, Tex." She pulled her knife from its holder once more, stood up, and gave me one of those come-get-me looks. It stirred something in me that I refused to acknowledge.

She gave me another look. It was one that I couldn't really place and it made me uncomfortable. It was a mixture of trust and just-you-f.u.c.king-wait. And with that, she tossed her Bowie to the side and took off like a jet in my direction. I hadn't noticed before, but her speed was impressive. Within seconds she was in front of me, flinging her body into the air and I was her target. I was ready this time and before she could tackle me again, I wrapped my arms around her body, turned her around, and dropped her-gently, mind you-onto her back.

"Argh!" She hissed as she moved violently beneath me.

I just laughed. I weighed more than twice as much as she did and she thought she could just wiggle her way out?

"Good luck, Kid." I was literally just holding her down by her shoulders. "Ow!" I yelled as I examined the teeth marks on my forearm. "You f.u.c.king bit me!"

She flashed her straight, pearly-whites and slipped out from underneath me. "I got free, didn't I?" And then her arms were in a deadlock around my neck. I let her have her fun for a minute or so, and then I wrapped my fingers around her wrists, pulling her arms away from my neck.

"I thought we were going to improve on your knife fighting skills?" I let go of her wrists and heard her fall on her a.s.s behind me, but she was quick. As soon as I turned around, she pounced me again. The chick was a f.u.c.king jumping spider or some s.h.i.t. Her legs were wrapped around my waist, and her arms were back around my neck.

"I need to learn hand to hand combat." As she spoke, her warm breath hit my neck, causing goose b.u.mps to form across my body. I shuddered and could only hope she hadn't noticed. I tried to pull her off, but she adjusted her position around me, resulting in her lips brushing beneath my earlobe. I sucked in a sharp breath, but that didn't help. It made things worse as I inhaled the natural perfume from her skin. I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself. Blondie was completely still. I didn't want to make this awkward; I kept telling myself to grow some b.a.l.l.s and just keep on training, but instead, like the dumba.s.s I was quickly becoming, I pulled her off of me and turned around.

"That's it for now. We'll continue another day." I absently scratched my ear and walked back into the cave.

"I don't know why you have to be so awkward, Tex," was all she said as I left her outside.

I was suddenly exhausted. I lay back on the blanket and closed my eyes, choosing a nap over anything else at that moment. I fell asleep with her scent invading my dreams.

Chapter 9.

[ Elle ]

We were both quiet the next evening. The man was an enigma. I knew he'd been to h.e.l.l and back, while wrestling Satan all the way, but one second he was all for our friendship and the next time, if I got just a little too close to him, he'd dig a hole and disappear into it.

I went deeper back into the inky dark cave, leaving him to his thoughts. I cleaned up and put on a new pair of socks and panties. It was amazing how much better a person could feel from just changing into clean clothing. I situated myself into my clothes and boots before returning to Tex. He was already pulling his pack over his shoulders. He looked at me for only a second before nodding towards the cave entrance. Not even a once-over.

I got all my belongings together and caught up with him. Minutes ticked by and still nothing. It seemed I had to grow some b.a.l.l.s since he was in short supply.

"How long is tonight's trek?" I chirped.

"Huh?" Tex mumbled and then looked at me surprised, like he had just then noticed my presence. "Sorry?"

I raised my eyebrow and repeated myself.

"About four hours." He pulled out his map and scanned the landscape ahead of us. The sky had cleared of the smoky contrails. The moon was gigantic and crisp in the sky, lighting our way. It was brighter than usual, so unless we were looking at the map, we didn't need the flashlights. A bright moon really wasn't a good thing though. It foretold the ominous details of the following day.

Even though I was in the presence of someone who really didn't want me around, I began to feel like each day was a blessing. Anything could happen to keep us from getting to our next safepoint, but so far, even with the horrid obstacles, we always made it. Since we had successfully journeyed this far, I really, truly hoped that we were meant to make it all the way. Thinking that way gave me a little extra strength to carry on.

We made it to the next safepoint without a hitch. Our conversations along the way were limited to the weather and fighting styles. There had to have been a million more nagging questions that I'd liked to have asked him, but I knew they would have been met with a death glare, a cold shoulder, and an impenetrable brick wall.

I tossed my bag to the side and found a flat rock to sit on to catch my breath. Tex was busy fiddling with the lantern. I licked my lips; they were dry and chapped. I detested the feeling of it and asked Tex to retrieve my lip balm from my bag.

"It's in the front pocket with the batteries," I directed.

He unzipped the pocket and felt around. He pulled out my lip balm along with something else. It was the wallet-sized portrait of my mom and dad. Thinking of their faces caused a lump to develop in my throat. In the dull light of the lantern, everything changed.

I saw his eyes narrow as he looked down at the photograph, but then they widened; his eyebrows knitted together in some emotion that was bigger than anger-an emotion that could devour anger whole. The muscles in his jaw twitched and then solidified as he clenched his teeth. He suddenly seemed larger than he actually was. Somehow he sucked the empty s.p.a.ce from our little cave, filling it with himself, or what he was about to become.

"Tex?" I squeaked.

"Who the f.u.c.k is this?" He roared, pointing at the portrait.

I had never been that frightened of him before. The night we had met and his knee was jammed into my throat was nothing compared to this. I actually felt threatened by him. I sat up and backed myself into the wall.

"M-my p-parents." Why was I being so weak? I should have walked over there, yanked the photo from his hand, and asked him why the f.u.c.k it mattered.

He stormed over to me and I pressed myself into the wall, trying to disappear into the crags. It hurt, but I didn't care. I wanted to leave. I'd been so h.e.l.l bent on not feeling alone, but suddenly, I wanted to disappear again.

"This man," he turned the photo around, so I could see my parents' faces. They were both smiling, happy. My dad had his copyrighted crooked smile that seemed to show just how eccentric he was and my mom wore the usual curve of her lips that seemed to say: "Forgive my irrational husband".

"What abou-about him?" I asked, straightening my shoulders and lifting my chin, trying not to appear too weak, but I knew I had failed.

"Your father," he spat out the word like it was disease. "He's the one that killed my family. f.u.c.k him and f.u.c.k you."

He grabbed his pack and he was gone.

[ Tex ]

I couldn't even comprehend the moment. Out of all the f.u.c.king people I had to run into, to become friends with even, it had to be the daughter of the man who ruined my life.

I paced at the entrance of the cave, back and forth. I had to leave; I had to get out of here. I couldn't be around her. It may have been wrong of me to curse at her, but I just couldn't think straight. I ran my hands through my hair. I was breaking out in a cold sweat.

Blondie's face looked so pained, so crushed, and-frightened. She had been scared of me.

I groaned. I couldn't be here, but I couldn't leave her now. I had really screwed up this time. If I had just followed my rules, I wouldn't have been in this situation. If I had kept her at a distance, like I'd originally planned, I wouldn't feel bad about leaving her behind. I shouldn't have invited her to accompany me in the first place.

This was a real cl.u.s.terf.u.c.k and I had no one to blame but myself.

Chapter 10.