‘Like that one that hit me with the pipe?’ She asks and fury boils through my veins.
Fuck I’m shaking with rage. Just looking at my girl's bruised-up eyes, the purple somehow accentuates the perfect greens of her irises. She looks so frightened and alone. Not on the surface,no, there she is a badass with a machete and an even sharper tongue, but beneath it all? In the depths of those beautiful eyes I see it all, all of her worries and I vow to ease them in any way I can.
I shake my head. ‘They are a lot more crafty. We’ve done trade with them in the past.’
‘Trade?’
‘The few groups we do interact with, we tend to trade with. Further up north, there's more animals, so we trade for those. Then smaller, quieter groups in the city, like those in the subway, are useful too. They’ve found a way of making things that fit the way we live our lives now.’
‘But Ru pissed them off so we stay topside now.’ Vish so helpfully supplies.
Isla listens, waiting.
‘Ru went to get some medication and ended up scrapping their leader Malcolm. He knocked the weasel out and embarrassed him in front of his group. He sent one of his guys to fuck with us so we hung his body outside of the nearest subway stop.’
‘And you are what, neighbours? Live in the same city?’ Isla arches a brow, ‘Despite your reputation and what you do to others?’
I shrug, not entirely sure how to answer that. We can’t just kill every other group there is. That would be a bit reckless considering we don’t want humanity to go entirely extinct and we do want to keep building our community.
Vish takes my silence as his cue to jump in and share his useless knowledge. ‘We’re trying to rebuild society and going around killing everyone wouldn’t help with that. We just kill the bad guys.’
Isla and Fauna both scoff.
‘What?’ Vish asks.
‘You are the bad guys, dumbass.’ The pink-haired woman chimes in. ‘The big bad Skulls that everyone fears, blah blah blah.’
I laugh, liking her spirit.
Ruaridh clears his throat, ‘We need to get back before we're spotted.’
‘Yeah, it’s not like we're going to be spotted on this big ass open bridge.’ Luna, the pink one snarks.
‘Stay low,’ Ru instructs us, and without another word, we all crouch following after him.
I look around, realising how much of a synchronised group these women are, because silently, without a word, they have all form a protective barrier around Isla. The redheaded woman at the back with an arrow notched in her bow scans our surroundings for any threats following, whilst Fauna leads them at the front, gripping her axe ready for any surprises coming our way. The others fan along Isla’s sides, not even blinking at the fact that they have automatically decided to put themselves in harm's way to protect my girl and our child.
These women have my absolute respect.
We make it to the stadium with no issues. Not a peep out of anyone but our group. Just the destroyed streets and the seagulls' song for company.
Isla didn’t say anything else to me for the rest of the journey and I didn’t push for her to. She’s an enigma. I can’t get a feel for what she's thinking. One second she is refusing to talk to me,then I feel like we're getting somewhere, then she is cutting me off again.
Never mind, I’ll be here for her no matter what, no matter how long it takes to tear down those walls she has carefully put up against me.
I’d known from the moment I laid eyes on her that she would be mine forever. And I’m not a man that changes his mind or goes back on his word.
The view of the stadium comes closer, it’s large redbrick walls standing proud. A few meters ahead are the outer walls, the ones that we built a few years ago when we decided to extend our home outward to accommodate our animals.
‘Ru?’ Kat, one of the women guarding the wall, asks from the wooden lookout station. Her skull mask does not show her features but the pitch of her voice suggests she is concerned.
‘They are joining us.’ He answers. ‘My sister is part of their group, let them in.’
Kat’s eyes widen behind her mask but she doesn’t ask questions. Instead, she quickly motions to whoever is stationed at the gate to let us in.
Isla stands up straighter, her jaw set in a harsh line reminding me of the strong, battle-ready expressions her brother wears.
I ready myself to move after her but Fauna is there before I can finish the thought. Her big eyes imploring me to leave it and let her be.
