A/N: Annnnnd the reviews! (3, yay! *squeals* *clears throat*)

kikixoxo484: Eeee, thanks for the review(s)! {The second one I'm assuming is you bc it says 'kiki' and not your full username but I'm pretty sure it's still you lol} 1. Yessss she is finally coming out of her shell now! 2. Awwww I'm so happy. I kinda melted a little writing it but idk if that's rlly the same thing. It hits different when you're the one reading it. : )

ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Heya! *insert heart emoticon* Aww thanksssss! It's all good, lol, I understand. Reality sucks XD.

Part two of my author's note... :/ The coronavirus is making life difficult for us all, but we need to do what we can to push through it. Yes, social distancing and even isolation is definitely no picnic, and it certainly isn't the quarantining done in some places, but think about how great it'll be when the COVID-19 will have finally passed over. 3 love you all. Also, expect more frequent updates on my fanfictions bc of boredom XD.


16- Ed-with-a-Z


Good news and bad news. The good news is- Tam managed to shake the cult off our tail. The bad news? We were on the run. "Sh*t," cursed Tam when he saw the overnight parking illegal signs in a store parking lot he turned into.

We drove all fifty miles to Ensenada, Mexico with the meter constantly whizzing well above sixty miles per hour.

And now Tam was trying to find a loophole in the law so we could sleep in the car in a safe but legal lot.

He said normally he wouldn't really care about those types of formalities but now we had to be really careful.

Now we were walking on eggshells. It was a catch-22 situation, if we do something to disrupt the law, the police'll come. If we stay in the predictable and legal zone, the cult will be able to find us easily. We had to be extremely wary of the consequences from either sides.

"Try that Walmart over there." I point to the new building on the side of the street. Tam nodded and slowed down, pulling into the Walmart parking lot. Only around twenty cars or so were there.

"We can still stay here for a few hours," concluded Tam. He took a sleek phone out of his jeans pocket and started playing around with Safari. "Dammit," he muttered. "My data plan expired yesterday."

"Walmart should have wi-fi," I remind him.

He nods and accesses the guest wi-fi module. He rakes his teeth over his bottom lip and narrows his eyes in concentration.

I fidget in my seat, a little restless.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Tam clears his throat. "Why don't you go in and browse? That way, the employees won't get suspicious of us."

I nod. "Sure." I unbuckle my belt and stand on my knees on the chair, unlocking the door and clambering out. "Good luck," I tell him seriously. His lips curl up slightly at the edges.

At first, when my feet were set on the concrete, it felt weird. After all, I did sit in a car for a few hours. But I soon got used to the feeling of walking and the weird feeling faded away.

I walked to the doors, which promptly slid open for me.

Inside had heating and I instantly felt warmer as I walked in. There were only like two or three employees manning the checkout stations, and I saw a NOW HIRING sign printed on the window. Guess they recently opened.

It was noon, but it felt like it should be night, even though bright sunlight gleamed through the glass doors.

I pass a crate of clementines, and head over to the canned goods aisle.

I pick up a small round tin can of black beans and pretend to examine the label. A half snort half giggle came out of my mouth. Fake shopping was fun.

I set the can back on the shelf and make like I was trying to find a specific something when in actuality all I was doing was reading the labels and comparing to the brands my family uses.

An elderly lady walks by me with a shopping basket filled with Clorox. I'm not even gonna ask. Oh wait, I am.

I was beginning to get bored of reading and comparing brands so I approach the woman curiously. I put on my best cutie face and once the lady turns her attention to me, I smile widely. "Ma'am, why do you have so much Clorox in your basket?"

Her wrinkled face twists a little and suddenly I wonder if I should've said anything at all. The whole point of me being in here was to make sure not any extra attention was brought to me and Tam. But then the lady breaks into a beam. "Just between you and me?"

I nod vigorously, thirsty for some tea.

She leans forward secretively. "My grandkids had a playdate today and decided to have a mud bath. In the house." She nods as if that was the most horrible thing to ever happen.

My stomach churned a little. Not gonna lie, I was jealous this random stranger considered this death defying. Meanwhile me and my boyfriend were currently on the run from his crazy ex-gangmates. But I quirk a brow and give her a sweet smile. "I'm sorry. That must be difficult."

She smiles and nods at me, walking into another aisle. "Maybe the future generation has a chance after all," I heard her mumble.

Just as I was about to head on over to the home and bedding section to 'try out' some mattresses, I felt my phone vibrate on my thigh. I slide my hand into my side pocket and answer. "Shadow Hawk, is everything okay?" I whisper.

"Shadow Hawk?"

"Yeah, your code name."

"We never- whatever. Soph, I'm coming in, okay? I'll be entering from the main doors."

"Okay. Is everything all right?" Crackle. He doesn't answer. Then the abrupt ending of the call.

I shove my Samsung back into its pocket and propel my legs towards the main entrance. My eyes found Tam even with his hood pulled over his head and hands hidden in the pockets. But I was going too fast and ended up crashing into him.

Our bodies collided and I knocked him over. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, Tam," I profusely apologize, offering him a hand up.

He raised an eyebrow and took it, standing up once again. "What's wrong?" I whisper.

"Nothing," he assures me. He sees my uncertain expression and slips his hand into mine. "Don't worry," he repeats. "Here I've got to be careful because the gas station next door was one of the ones the old gang once did. I can't afford a slip up and then they might recognize me."

"But wasn't that-"

"Years ago? Yes. But the owner's notoriously known for holding grudges. I wouldn't put it past him."

I suck my breath in. "Yikes." He squeezes my hand firmly and leads me to the snack aisle, where he leaned against shelves endlessly stacked with Oreos. I eye a box and feel my stomach grumble. "Do we have any extra change?" I mumble.

Tam pinpoints the Oreos I was staring at and shakes his head. "Nope." I sigh and clutch my stomach dramatically. Rolling his eyes, Tam picked up the box and positioned it under his arm. "C'mon," he ushered me out the aisle.

"Um, I thought you said-" My eyes narrow. "Tam, we are not committing shoplift."

"Who said it was shoplifting?" Tam unwrapped the packaging and handed me one round cookie of pure deliciousness. I stare at it. Its creamy filling and pretty patterned cookie tempted me more than I'd like to admit. "It's not stealing if we eat it in the place it's sold," Tam insists, stuffing two Oreos into his mouth at the same time.

I raise an eyebrow but eventually my hunger got the best of me.

I bit into it and moaned. "Oh my gosh. Oreos are a blessing to Earth." Tam shrugged but he ended up eating half the package. "Hey, leave some for me, you bozo!" I mutter when I notice there only being five left. I take them all and one by one cram them into my mouth.

When I digest them, I look up and find Tam glancing at a tiny light blinking in the wall. "Cameras," he told me.

My eyes widen. "Oh crap."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry. We'll just take the packaging with us and make like we're heading to pay for it. I think the employees separate entrance has only one camera."

He indicates for me to follow him, and I do, trekking past the soda aisle, the bread aisle, and the canned goods aisle, where the Clorox lady was back. She offered me a small wave.

I lightly tap Tam's shoulder. "What?" he groans, "is it now?"

"I'm still hungry," I whine. "I can feel my muscles weakening! Plus with all the running and-" I cut myself off when he sends me a reminding glare that we're in public, "-and all my energy is gone," I finish shortly.

Tam sighs. "Quit being so dramatic. I have some rations in the car. Judging by the collateral damage we did to Ra-" He resignedly changes mid word, "Timber's- car, and possibly the temporary incapacitation of him, we need to get moving. And I need to tell you something important once we're alone."

Paranoid much? I thought as I followed him outside. But when Tam grabbed my shoulders and shoved me behind a small red van, my heart sped up. I clench my fists in fear. "What is it?" I mutter.

"It's him," Tam mumbled. "He recognized me entering the building."

"Holy Hera, how many enemies do you even have?" I whisper-hiss.

Tam grimaced, raking his teeth over his lower lip and scratching his temple. "You don't want to know."

"What are we gonna do now?" I ask quietly.

Tam narrows his eyes in concentration. "See that shopping cart over there, Soph?"

I glance at where he's pointing. "Yup."

"I hate to bring you into this but I literally have no other ideas. Can you push it really fast and crash into him to distract him so I can power up the car?"

I nod fiercely. "Yeah, of course." I crack my knuckles with a maniacal grin washed across my expression. "How fast?"

Tam smirked. "As fast as you possibly can."

I grin widely. "No problem."

Tam yanked me by the waist as I was about to sprint for the shopping cart. "What is it?" My cheeks glow pink. "Shouldn't I go now-"

He nodded briefly, his eyes darting from each side of the parking lot. "Yeah no, it's time. Do you think you can knock him unconscious?"

"What?" My eyebrows fly up in surprise. "I don't think-"

"Okay then. In that case, could you lead him over to that brush over there?" He indicates a row of thick bushes by the parking lot exit.

"Sure," I reply immediately. Rendering someone unconscious was just- nah, I wasn't ready for that level yet.

"And Sophie?" I turn my head back to him. His silver-grey eyes flared. "Stay safe." He pressed his cool lips to my forehead briefly and twirled a finger, capturing a strand of my blonde hair. He pulled back and nodded.

"Same to you," I mumble, slightly dazed.


I grip the handlebars of the shopping cart and grin at the target- a 30-ish year old man with a trench coat.

Good thing I was top of my class in seventh grade track.

I kicked my legs off and ran. The man's colorless eyes widened as he realized the impact of what I was trying to do, and nimbly dodged. But I was faster, swiftly yanking the handle, the cart doing a forty degree turn mid-air as it crashed into him.

He hit the bushes and I heard a few unpleasant cracks from his spine. Guess he doesn't get out much. "What the hell? I have a lawyer! Who are you and why are you tryna kill me?!" the man rasped, rubbing his back.

I wince at the pain he looked like he was going through. Yep, I definitely would not be capable of knocking him out. "Actually I'm preferably not trying to kill you," I honestly answer him with a knowing smirk.

The man tries to get up but falls. "Darn back," he hisses painfully.

Tam, where are-

Mid thought I was interrupted as the shadow of a car loomed over us. It ceased moving immediately and the slam of a door was heard. Tam slips by me and glares at the man. "Zed, we meet again."

Zed? Bizarre name, I think.

Well, it's basically just 'Ed' with a 'Z' added to the front, another part of me reminds me wisely. Add a z in front of any name and it sounds exotic.

I am a genius, aren't I?

Nope you're just taking credit for us, the logical part of my brain chimes in.

Ouch.

I stop thinking about how the effects of the letter z and blink back to the current life. Tam was tying Ed-with-a-Z to a chair- wait, how the heck did we have a chair? I decide to confront my boyfriend about that. "Tam, how the heck did you come by a chair? You didn't take it from Walmart, didya?"

He rolls his eyes and tosses Exotic-Ed into the trunk. "Nope. I actually always have a chair in the back just in case."

I arch up an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"Does it sound like I'm being sarcastic?" he asks me, dragging the rear end shut.

"I don't know if you're being sarcastic but I thought you were sarcastic so if you're sarcastic how am I supposed to know?" I bite back.

Tam scoffs and climbs in his part of the car. I follow suit, plopping myself on his left knee. "I can't drive like this you know," he informs me with a smirk.

I pat his cheek, which was slightly warm with a light blush. "I know."

"Hey, stop with the lovey dovey stuff!" Z-Dude yells from the back. "It's annoying!"

"Shut your trap!" Tam calls back. I snort and slap Tam's shoulder, climbing over him to get to my seat. "Ow, hey, watch that," Tam complains as my shoe digs into his stomach.

I slide into my seat and buckle up. "Soo, what're we doing now?" I clap my hands together like a child.

Tam chuckles forcefully and not-so-subtly points at Ed-with-a-Z in the trunk, who was leaning forward in his chair. Leaning so far that the chair collapsed. "Ow," I heard his muffled groan from the floor.

I cross my arms and glare at him. "Fine," he sighs. He grasps both of my hands and leans sideways in his seat. "Look, Sophie, I didn't wanna ruin the good mood you were in. Lately I haven't seen you smile much." He frowns at my frown. "I miss it," he whispers truthfully.

I run my fingers over the back of his hand. "I know, Tam. I miss your laugh," I reply sadly, staring down at our linked hands. "But we can't always be happy, can we?"

He shakes his head and bites his lip with a small exhale. "No, we can't," he mutters. He brushes his bangs out of his eyes and glares at the floor. "But what we have to do next is... something you might disagree with but I think is the best course of action. It's all my fault now, but I can't let you fall into their hands." He grimaces.

"Spit it out already," I insist.

He rakes a hand through his black and silver hair. "Sophie, I don't think we can go back home now."


A/N: Oh my gosh look at that beautiful word count right there! 2,600 words oh wow!

Also, pretty pleasssssssseeee with pineapples on top reviewwww! It'll make my day and also encourage me to type fasterrrrrr, if that's any motivation. And it'll give me the SWEET satisfaction of the 50 review checkpoint! (PS, constructive criticism is also GREATLY appreciated. Seriously. If you find anything I could improve upon, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!) Welp, that's it for episode sixteen of I Fell for the Bangs, see ya next time! (No promises or anything but I'll probably update soon what with the boredom and all)