"Claire, I think my arm is falling off," K-Mart exaggerated and groaned as she rubbed at her sore shoulder. She shifted the pack up, but continued to groan at the weight crushing on her shoulder blade.
Claire turned and held out a hand for the bag K-Mart was carrying. "Let me hold your pack then," Claire said simply.
K-Mart smiled, but she did not relinquish her hold on her backpack. "It's okay. I was just testing you to see if you'd offer to carry it for me." She grinned widely and said, "Congratulations, you passed."
Claire's right eye twitched slightly from annoyance. They were going on a dangerous journey all the way across the desert with that lunatic Steve Burnside tracking their trail, and the last thing Claire had the patience for was being pranked. Claire growled, "K-Mart," but bit her tongue, trying not to lose her patience completely.
K-Mart chuckled nervously and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Ah, come on Claire, I was just trying to lighten up the mood." She winked at Claire, but Claire ignored her antics.
Claire then turned away from K-Mart without another word and continued walking onwards.
"Aw, you're so grumpy, Claire," K-Mart teased as she bounced up along Claire's side. She looked up at Claire's face, trying to gain her attention.
Claire turned her face away from K-Mart and K-Mart poked Claire's cheek. "K-Mart!" Claire cried out, but K-Mart still refused to take her seriously.
"You're so cute when you're angry. I can't help myself," K-Mart giggled and cupped an hand over her mouth to suppress a burst of laughter.
Claire gritted her teeth and tried to ignore K-Mart and her always inopportune teasing. She sometimes wondered how K-Mart could remain so light-hearted when the world was practically hell on earth. "I can never understand some things about you, K-Mart," Claire sighed and kept walking through the sandy path. Her boots felt heavy from the dirt somehow finding its way inside and grating against the soles of her feet with each step she took.
K-Mart skipped alongside Claire and said with a smile still on her face, "If we don't laugh once in a while, Claire, then that means we will be defeated. We won't be any better than those brain-dead zombies animated without emotion. Humans are made to laugh - it keeps us going insane from sorrow."
Claire looked into K-Mart's eyes and saw that she truly meant what she had said - no humor alighting her eyes anymore. Claire hated to admit it to herself, but the girl spoke with a wisdom which once again surprised her coming from someone so young. Like always, K-Mart switched from childish teen to someone who seemed to have seen the world, and always, it would never cease to surprise Claire. "I suppose you're right," Claire said simply and did not say anything more as she thought about what K-Mart had said.
K-Mart's smile widened. "Is that your way of admitting that you may be wrong for once." Her eyes shined with amusement while she stared at Claire still deep in thought.
Claire remained silent and continued to walk and ignored K-Mart's prodding. K-Mart began to grow impatient from Claire's cold silence and huffed, "You're so stubborn, Claire." K-Mart readjusted the shotgun on her shoulder and Claire eyed the weapon. K-Mart holding such a powerful and dangerous weapon always brought an uneasiness to Claire, but she knew it couldn't be avoided in such a world.
"You know, Claire," K-Mart began, "I thought I saw a mall a while back. Do you think-"
Claire cut her off before she could finish. "No, K-Mart. Before you ask, we can't do any more scavenging for clothes."
"But I just need to get something really quick," K-Mart replied vaguely.
"What could you possibly need in a mall at a time like this?" Claire asked her, genuinely curious.
"I promise I won't take long," K-Mart pleaded, and avoided answering Claire's question.
"We'd have to turn back and waste precious daylight, K-Mart," Claire tried reasoning with her, but her young mind would not let the sight of the mall go.
"Just give me thirty, no twenty, minutes," she persuaded, and looked up at Claire with bright, pleading eyes. K-Mart directed her eyes at an angle where the sunlight reflected off her irises making them shine like emeralds. Claire frowned and stared helplessly at K-Mart's expression. Claire eventually sighed and dropped her pack off her shoulders where it slid to her hand.
"Fine," Claire sighed again, "but only fifteen minutes," she told her, and K-Mart smiled.
"Thanks, Claire," She said happily and kissed Claire on the cheek. "I promise I'll be done before you know it."
Sure, Claire thought. The last time K-Mart said that we were in a shop for close to two hours scouring for useless clothes and accessories.
K-Mart grabbed Claire's hand and pulled her along with a strength Claire didn't think the skinny girl even possessed.
"Ow, K-Mart, that's an arm that you're pulling you know," Claire said.
"Aw, don't be such a baby," K-Mart responded, but then she added, "Although, I love it when you act soft sometimes. It shows me that you're not always the one on top." She winked at the suggestive comment and Claire gulped loudly.
"Let's just get going," Claire said flustered, even though she tried very hard to hide her obvious nervousness.
K-Mart laughed at Claire's frazzled state and said, "I love it when you get all shy about such things. It just goes to show that age doesn't always mean more experience."
"What?" Claire cried aloud. "Just what exactly are you suggesting? I have no experience with sex?"
K-Mart laughed even harder. "Claire!" she feigned surprise. "You have such a dirty mind! I wasn't talking about sex. I was talking about how you're always the one in charge because you're older and it's nice that I finally get to call the shots for a change." She smiled at the redness intensifying on Claire cheeks, and all Claire could do was sputter like an idiot.
"K-Mart, you know that was what you meant," Claire weakly argued and K-Mart lightly patted her back.
"Ah, Claire, we've got to clean up that dirty mind of yours," she continued to tease Claire.
"Whatever," Claire lamely replied and turned her head in the opposite direction.
K-Mart giggled and kissed Claire's red cheek. "Sorry, Claire, I just can't help teasing you sometimes. You're just too much of an easy target." She smiled up at Claire and squeezed her hand as they walked sided by side back through the empty and dusty roads.
After half an hour, they finally reached the shopping center K-Mart had solidified in her mind. The girl's eyes shone with joy at the sight despite the grim surroundings of wrecked cars and corpses strewn in them and out on the streets.
"Come on, Claire!" she said excitedly and tugged at Claire's arm a little too forcefully again.
Claire groaned inwardly at the torture she was going to be suspected to. She resorted to scanning the area for any signs of danger since K-Mart was oblivious in her girly state of shopping adrenaline, and would be no help in the lookout department.
"K-Mart," Claire said seriously, "You can shop, but don't forget to watch your surroundings."
"Oh, Claire," K-Mart sighed, "You can never let your guard down can you?" She smiled at Claire and Claire rolled her eyes.
"If you haven't noticed, K-Mart, we're kind of in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and besides, it's my constant guard which has been keeping us alive for as long as we have," Claire said dryly, and K-Mart stuck out her tongue immaturely.
The mall's front entrance appeared smashed in from a vehicle as they entered the large hole created from the impact. Claire felt the hair on her arms and neck stand up from the sight of one lone flickering overhead light vainly trying to stay operational. The flickering light was the only thing illuminating the store K-Mart decided to go into and Claire just wanted the trip to be over with before it even began.
"Please hurry, K-Mart," Claire said as she resumed looking over the store. Claire realized they had entered a jewelry store where the majority of the glass cases had been smashed in possibly during the start of the zombie outbreak. Idiots, Claire thought to herself. What good is jewelry going to do for anyone during a crazy post-apocalyptic world?
"What could you possibly find that's useful here, K-Mart?" Claire questioned and turned to see K-Mart perusing the jewelry as if it was just another mundane shopping trip and their lives weren't in constant mortal danger.
K-Mart gasped and grabbed for something in the case. She held up an elegant necklace made out of gold. The pendant had two hearts interlaced with one another - a traditional necklace given to a lover,
She walked to Claire with the necklace in her hands and without a word, began to hook the necklace onto Claire's neck. The coldness of the necklace felt like ice against Claire's throat and made her gasp lightly, but it soon warmed as it laid against Claire's warm skin.
K-Mart whispered in Claire's ear, "Happy birthday, Claire."
Claire's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe she had forgotten her own birthday. Without realizing it, tears began to form in her eyes no matter how hard she tried to restrain herself from the overwhelming warmth she felt spreading throughout her body.
She looked at K-Mart and smiled sadly at the thought of forgetting her own birthday - a reminder of how the ruined world was starting to decay her memories of he old life. But then K-Mart pressed her lips against Claire's and kissed her softly, comforting her in her sorrow. She returned the kiss with a thankfulness purely genuine - she didn't know how long her sanity would last without K-Mart beside her to light her way.
"Thank you, K-Mart," she whispered against K-Mart's lips as they continued to kiss. K-Mart leaned into Claire's body and they relished the warmth of feeling alive in such a dead world. Claire hugged K-Mart's body close to her tightly and K-Mart gasped at the feeling of how close their bodies were.
"I love you, K-Mart," Claire whispered and nuzzled her face into K-Mart's neck.
K-Mart laughed softly at the ticklish sensation of Claire's lips grazing against her neck and replied earnestly, "I love you too, Claire."
Claire kissed K-Mart's soft neck and made her way up back to K-Mart's lips where she tasted an always prevalent taste of strawberries from K-Mart's mouth.
K-Mart took Claire's face in her hands and smiled at the electric-blue eyes adoring her features and said, "Promise, we're going to finish this later?"
Claire's eyes were dulled from the pleasant waves of heat radiating throughout her body, but she forced herself to agree - it wasn't the time to forget their worries, at least not quite yet.
