Chapter 3
Bass's POV
One Month Later
The air was chilly as Bass headed straight towards the blacksmith shop, his walk one of purpose as he felt the heavy knife weigh in his boot and his pistol tucked into his waistband as per usual.
He had stayed.
That night after Miles had walked away from him in the bar he had gone back to his room and packed his bag, ready to move on from something he couldn't believe he had lost. It was Charlie's words that echoed in his head, 'I've got nothing left to lose, and that makes a person very dangerous.'
He remembered feeling that way, but she had something to lose, he just had to prove he was worth losing.
He is now an official resident to the undead town, the reaction a mixture of impassiveness and a few glares. Better than he expected if he was being honest. He also had a job, bounty hunter. It kept him sane, letting him exercise his skills and power while doing it in a better way than before. He was busy and it helped keep his mind off the fact that Charlie hadn't said more than two words to him in the last month.
Miles had come around in his own way, not kicking Bass out of his booth when he sat down with a drink. They didn't really talk, and Bass knew he meant it when Miles said that he couldn't forgive him, but Miles also didn't push him away like he feared he would. The silence was better than nothing. Unlike Charlie.
He would take anything to get a reaction from Charlie, granted, her anger was vicious and scathing and he didn't know if he could stand the emotional punch that it would give him, but he at least could work with anger. Or tears. But the indifference in her eyes him flinch when he looked at her. Like she was looking right through him as though he were a ghost.
He walked into the blacksmith shop and got a defensive look from the owner that made Bass stare him down, despite knowing that he was a good man, almost a friend. But he had a job to do nonetheless.
"Where is he John?" Bass's voice held authority and he watched the store owner purse his lips in conflict as he shrugged unconvincingly.
"John, he stole ten diamonds from a grieving widow, I don't care how bad he needed it, there's no excuse."
Bass watched as the man exhaled, almost as if the life had drained from him and Bass understood. What Bass was asking for wasn't anything simple. He was asking this man to turn over a friend and a good employee. Both were rarities in this new world. But this was the job, like it or not.
"He's in the back."
Bass nodded in a silent thank you and steadily made his way to the back, trying to block out the noises of metal hitting metal around him.
He approached the man he was looking for carefully and waited till he was within arm's reach before yelling his name.
"Carter Anderson."
The man turned and paled as he saw Bass, stumbling back. Bass kept his face neutral as he analyzed his options, grab him now and risk getting burned by the multiple fire lit metals nearby, let him run and chase him, put him down. Bass opted for the first one.
He grabbed Carter at the same time Carter grabbed him around the waist and tackled him, sending them both to the ground. Bass vaguely felt his head hit something sharp and hard before instincts took over and he had Carter pinned on him stomach, hands behind his back.
His head started to spin and after tying Carter's hands behind his back he reached up to find blood on the back of his head. Shit.
Bass sat sullenly in the doctor's clinic, his head throbbing with each breath he took and he wished that Blanchard had just let him go home, but no, the old bastard has insisted he go get checked out because him being dead from a brain bleed wouldn't do Blanchard any good. Not that they could tell if he had a brain bleed anyway, but he went for the sake of ending an aneurism inducing argument.
"Hi."
Bass looks up towards the voice and sees the little girl sitting across from him in the stifling room, her chestnut brown hair pulled into two braids and her eyes a green like the grass in the spring.
"Hi," Bass watches the girl smile at him, showing the dimples in her cheeks.
"What's your name?"
He chuckles at her, "I'm Bass. What's yours?"
She beams at him, "Sarah Meredith Barns."
"Well it's very nice to meet you Sarah."
"Why are you here?" Leave it to the child to get to the point. Bass smiles at her and makes his eyes big and silly.
"I hit my head when working. Why are you here?"
She looks nervous for a moment and he's about to tell her that she doesn't have to tell him when she blurts out, "I punched a boy."
He stills, trying to not burst out laughing at her defeated face from telling him her big secret.
"Why did you punch him?" Bass can't stop the smile that comes when the little girls face morphs into something defiant.
"He was being mean to me. always hits the boys who are mean to her."
Bass freezes at Charlie's name and can't help the familiar tug in his chest at the thought of Charlie hitting the guys who were mean to her. Charlie didn't take shit from anyone, let alone a guy. It also meant that guys had been mean to her. That thought sat heavy on his mind.
"So you want to be like ?"
She nods, her head bobbing vigorously in enthusiasm. "I want to be strong like her."
Bass doesn't have the heart to tell the girl that Charlie's strong in the hardest kind of ways. Because of a war and death. Instead he forward and whispers, "Do you want to hear a secret?"
Her eyes light up and she jumps off her chair to sit on the chair next to him and he whispers to her, " isn't just strong, she's a warrior."
"A warrior?!"
He nods, his eyes big for effect, "Everyone knows , and how she saved a lot of people from lots of bad people. She saved them because she's smart and brave and very very strong."
Sarah leans in and whispers to him, "Can I tell you a secret too?"
Bass nods, amused by her childlike innocence.
"Miss. Charlie once hit a boy in front of me."
Bass sits back and feels a little shocked. "Why did she hit him in front of you?"
She shrugs, "She didn't know I was watching. The boy kept following her and grabbing her arm and then called her a bad word, so she pushed him against a store and hit him. He stopped following after that."
She looks determined as she remembers, "After saw me watching she walked me home and told me that if a boy was ever mean to me, to tell her and she would help me. She told me no girl should ever feel small because of a boy."
Bass leans back into the stiff chair and is at a loss for words when he feels Sarah's tiny finger poking his arm.
The little girl looks troubled as she looks up at him.
"Bass, if Miss. Charlie is a warrior, why does have to come to the doctor so much?"
Bass is puzzled by this and he asks her what she means.
"Miss. Charlie has to come to the doctor every week because the doctor has to make sure arm isn't getting more hurt. She has metal in her shoulder that is hurting her insides."
She states it so matter of fact but he feels nausea. Infections could happen at any moment, no matter how careful they were. The fact that Charlie has to see a doctor every week is bad. Really bad.
Sarah looks at him with concerned eyes, "Don't worry, she'll be okay."
Bass smiles down at her despite the sinking feeling in this stomach. There were things he couldn't save Charlie from, this was one of them.
Authors Note: Guuuuuuys! I know it took me forever to update and it's again from Bass's POV but trust me it's worth it. Charlie is my fearless heroine still, but she is also human and I want Bass to feel her rawness above anything else. The next chapter will be from Charlie's POV. Promise! Get ready for some serious feels. Reviews and things are loved!
Xx
