Page 12 of Marked for Execution
His eyes flamed and his nostrils flared. I could physically see him grind down on his own molars, holding whatever he wanted to say back. His eyes scanned my face and I frowned. Here was a man who wanted people to follow his commands, yet he couldn’t even follow a simple one.
“Listen,” he started. My eyes narrowed at him in suspicion.Yet, he didn’t want to listen to me.“I just wanted to be aware of any issues that you might be having. Once you’re part of my team, you're under my protection. We take care of our own, you feel?”
“No, Idon’tfeel. I don’tneedyour fucking help. I’ve been doing fine all on my own. Now leave!”
“What are your skills with weaponry?”
“Did you not hear what I just said? Get out!”
“Let me know if you need training in anything. The guys will be up for it.”
What. The. Hell?
I threw a fist at his face just to make him shut up, but his hand stopped me with a quick grip.Shit, he’s fast.
He leaned in, and I leaned my body back. “The thing you need to know about me–I can quickly adapt to something I’ve come to recognize.”
My chest heaved, and I was unsure of what to say. His face was so close to mine I could feel his warm breath against my skin. His grip on my fist tightened, sending spikes of pain through my knuckles, but I kept my face straight.
Something crossed his features, but he didn't say anything. I was really getting tired of these staring contests.
He finally shook his head and released me. “You got spunk. I like it. But false courage can also get you killed. Keep your temper in check,Sili.”
Growling at his stupid nickname, I turned to look for my cap. What the heck doessee-leeeven mean? I bent over to pick it up with more force than necessary; Eliseo cleared his throat loudly.
Turning with irritation, I spat out, “What now? I can’t even wear my fucking cap? What next?”
His face darkened with a blush as he grimaced.What the hell kind of answer was that?What was wrong with him?
I tried again. “Look. I hear you.Done. Get. Out. Of. My. Damn. House!”
I walked past him, opened the door, and gave him a good shove. He stumbled over the threshold, and it was enough for me to slam the door in his face again.Asshole.Making sure I engaged the lock, I turned around and went back up the stairs.
The breeze passing through my legs reminded me that I didn’t put any pants on before I opened the door. Already halfway up the stairs, I groaned towards the ceiling. This was exactly why I hated being caught unawares. Trouble always seemed to find me.
Grabbing some loose cargo pants, I covered my bottom half up and looked for my second pair of boots. I found them on a dead woman a few months back and I was lucky that they were only one size too big.
“Always make sure you have a good pair of shoes on your feet. It can be the difference between making it to your destination and dying.”
The man from my past always did have the weirdest advice. A sense of longing hit me, and my eyes burned once again. I hated it when my memories plagued me back-to-back.
Going through my closet, I grabbed a couple of knives and a small pistol. I hid them under my clothes and finger-combed my hair to let it aerate enough to dry properly. I rummaged through my dresser drawers, looking high and low for some masking tape or anything at all to bind my breasts down. Without a bra, my nipples were much too obvious under my shirt. When I found nothing, I decided to take one of my more worn shirts and rip them into strips, binding it towards the back. It would have to do.
Once my hair was mostly dry, I plaited it and pinned it close to my scalp while I walked back downstairs. I would need to find another hat one of these days. Eliseo and his tendency to just grab it made me nervous. He might mess my only one up.
I looked in the fridge and found nothing I could put together. I would have to go to the center of the town to the community store.Damn it all.I had hoped I could just hide away after today’s events.
I made sure to lock the door from the inside as I left the house. No one around me milled about, so it gave me a small sense of reprieve. I took in everything this community had created thus far as I meandered along. It amazed me how much could get done when everyone pitched in for the same cause: survival.
Some of these houses were well-kept, while others could use some fixing. One of these fools refused to put a door in, and it baffled my mind. That was not my problem, though.
Old Mrs. Santos was on her knees to my left, planting her garden of vegetables along with a few of the other women. She had the biggest front yard on this side and used it to her advantage. The smell of fresh earth wafted through the air, along with the smell of whatever she used for manure. I refused to get to the bottom of that.
They said the crazy old doctor who had a house with an underground bunker always figured out a problem. He probably put some chemicals together to help fertilize the ground. I wondered why someone in the past needed a bunker to begin with. The doctor now used it for his experiments, trying to find the cure to whatever the hell happened that made our world go to crap. The rumor was it all started with a virus of some sort. Prior to it arriving, bloodsuckers apparently didn’t exist, except for in books.
I couldn’t even imagine a world like that. It sounded too good to be true.
Staring at the painted black door of the doctor’s house now, a shiver went down my spine. They said he healed people in his home while he did who knows what down underground. I had only seen him from afar a few times after my initiation here, and the guy made me uneasy in the gut. Lucky for me, I had a tendency to heal faster than the average person.