A/N: Welcome back, and thanks for the support on this story. I really appreciate it. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Our Longest Journey
"Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house!?"
I was in a bad, bad situation. This girl had my arm pinned behind my back painfully. If she pushed it any further in a certain direction, I was sure my shooting arm would break. And I'm sure she was fully aware of that.
"Answer me!" She boomed right into my ear again. I could feel a cold piece of metal brushed up against my neck. It felt like a freshly sharpened kitchen knife. If I were to move a muscle, she would either break my arm or slice my neck. If I didn't move and answered her, there was still a chance of her doing the same thing. I had to play this smart.
"I'm... I thought this house was empty. I was just checking to see if there were any leftover supplies." I mumbled quietly, careful not to speak in a threatening tone.
"Are there more people coming here? Did those things follow you?" She tightened her vice grip. I never thought that a girl could be so strong... or intimidating.
"No, I'm alone. C-Could you please let go of me?" I choked out, hoping not to make her even angrier. I heard her let out a quiet sigh, then she slowly released the grip on my forearm. The metal blade in front of my neck was pulled away, and I felt my heart slowing down. I remained on the floor, with my forehead pressed to the ground, and I felt her pat me down for weapons. She pulled the pistol and pocketknife out of my belt and removed my backpack, throwing everything to one corner of the room. Then, she quickly backed away from me and stood in front of my supplies, holding her knife out shakily.
"Keep your hands up." She whispered quietly, pointing the blade in my direction. I stood up ever so slowly to face her, keeping my arms raised. "Wh-Who are you?" She asked. I would have answered her, if it weren't for the fact that this was my first time actually seeing her face.
She was thin and frail; I could see her collarbone quite easily. She had long, chestnut hair that fell down her back gracefully. She was wearing a light pink t-shirt with a white sweatshirt over it. Her grey sweatpants were just below knee-length. It was clear that she hadn't been outside since this apocalypse began. But judging by her self defense skills, I could tell that at least a few people had tried to threaten her in the last month.
"Answer me!" She shouted, thrusting the blade out further towards me.
"M-My name is Kazuto Kirigaya. I'm from Kawagoe, just outside of Tokyo." I spoke out clearly. Of course, I had no intention of hurting this girl, but I knew she was skeptical nonetheless. I was still a stranger, after all. "I'm not here to hurt you. I honestly thought the house was abandoned."
I hadn't noticed it at first, but she was shaking slightly. Her shoulders quivered, causing the tip of the knife to waver. Her knees were wobbling as well. However, it seemed that my words had eased her nerves a bit.
"What happened to your head? And why are you limping?" I was a bit surprised at the concern in her voice. She looked at my bandages with curiosity, and lowered the knife a short amount.
"Um... I tripped trying to escape some of those things in the woods. I hit my head on the rocks." I pointed to the torn cloth wrapped around my head without lowering my hands. She lowered her kitchen knife all the way, still keeping a solid grip on it.
"I have a couple of extra first aid kits in the bathroom." She walked towards me, keeping a few feet between us. "If I give one to you, will you return my food and leave?"
It wasn't a bad offer. Yeah, I wouldn't have a lot of food left, but at least I'd be able to fix myself up. Besides, it's not like I had much of a choice. "Alright," I said, pointing to my backpack. "I put everything I took in there. You can take your food out and give me the first aid kit. Then you'll never see me again."
"...Okay." She nodded in cooperation, then opened my bag to remove her food. "Hey." She looked up at me.
"Y-Yeah?" I met her amber colored eyes filled with wonder.
"Did you get all this stuff all by yourself? Is it that easy to find out there?" She questioned abruptly. I guessed that she was debating leaving her house and venturing out for more supplies.
"Well, most of it, yeah. As long as the houses aren't boarded shut, you can go inside and take whatever the owners left behind." I muttered, watching her empty out my backpack of everything and placing her food in a separate pile. She stared at me in confusion, then put the backpack down.
"But isn't that stealing?" She questioned. I stared back at her quietly. This girl definitely hadn't left her house yet.
"Look, girly. It may be stealing for you people, but for us who never had a lot in the first place, it's just survival. The sooner you get that through your head, the better you'll do out there." I pointed to the window behind her. She turned around slowly to look outside. Their seemed to be a forlorn expression on her face.
"Yeah... You're right. I guess I've just been having a hard time accepting that." She turned back towards me with a saddened smile. The way her eyes reflected the orange sunlight sent a strange warmth throughout my chest. I'd almost forgotten that she'd threaten to break my arm moments ago. "Well, follow me to the bathroom. I'll give you the first aid kit, then you can be on your way." She held out my backpack for me to take. I slung it over my shoulder and headed downstairs with her.
"Here." She said, handing me the small white box. "There's some fresh bandages, pain killers, and a syringe for bleeding in here. If you want, I can-"
I quickly pulled her against the wall, covering her mouth with my hand. The first aid kit fell to the ground with a quiet thud. She squirmed and tried to escape my grasp, but I held her tightly in my arms.
"Be quiet. Do you hear that?" I whispered in her ear. She stopped moving and focused her hearing.
"W-What is that noise?" She quivered, no longer struggling to escape.
"Infected zombies. They're right outside that door." I pointed to the sliding door down the long hallway, where I had originally broken in. I felt her shaking increase, and her eyes grew wide with fear. "Don't worry. We can climb onto the roof from your window, jump down, then escape from the back of the house."
"C-Can't you just kill them or something? I saw the gun you had on you!" She shouted, but I quickly covered her mouth again.
"You need to be quiet. Those things are more sensitive to sound than anything. I can't shoot them because we don't know how many are outside, and the loud noise could cause a whole horde of them to come through that door."
Before she could argue, I quickly picked up the first aid kit and grabbed her hand, pulling her back upstairs to her bedroom. I shut the door and yanked open the window, then climbed outside onto the flat roof. The drop down was a little far, but it wouldn't be enough to injure either of us.
"Come on, we have to get going. Grab a backpack and a some sneakers, then we can get out this way." I ordered to the teenage girl standing in the middle of the room. I was about to ask what was taking so long, but she slowly walked to her closet and grabbed a travel backpack. Then, she reached down to put on a pair of running shoes. I could see tears brimming her eyes, and I realized what was happening.
She wore the same expression I did when I first had to leave my home.
"Hey." I climbed back inside her room and walked towards her. Without thinking, I grabbed her hand gently, and gave her an empathetic smile. "What's your name?"
She stared at me for a short while, then smiled back. "Asuna. Asuna Yuuki." Her voice was like glass. Sharp, but all too fragile.
"Are you ready to go, Asuna?" I asked her softly. She nodded quietly, and we climbed out her window into the outside world.
And thus began our longest journey together.
A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope someone recognized that line from To Kill a Mockingbird at the very end. Please rate/review, and feel free to message me anytime. See you next week! -Harv
