Chapter Two: Paradise Falls. Or, shit hole central.

When the petrol light came on, Tessa really began to panic.

You know, because she wanted to be stuck in the middle of the freaking dessert with a limited food and water supply, with her younger brother and sister, in the middle of the freaking end of the world.

So yeah, she was a little stressed. It was understandable.

Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel and she glanced back at Amy and Dylan. It pissed her off that the world had to go to shit now. You'd think it could've held off for just a couple more years. Given them more time to live.

The sun had been hovering around its apex for a while now, but she hadn't passed any other cars. And she hadn't seen any petrol stations. And she was so damn tired. She hadn't slept in over 24 hours. She glanced at Amy and Dylan again.

Dylan had finally fallen asleep, the wild curls of his hair, exactly like Tessa's, splayed across the leather covering of the back seat, next to Amy. Amy hadn't slept yet either, her brown eyes were wide and frightened. Tessa hated seeing such a scared expression on her face.

Just yesterday everything had been normal. She'd been called in to see the principal because Amy had been fighting. Tessa was given a lecture by the principal on the school's no-bullying no-violence policy, like she was the one who pushed over the other kid. That kid had been picking on Dylan in the first place, and Tessa had pressed two fingers to the bridge of her nose, trying not to let all her issues suffocate her.

She'd had to finish up work early, which meant less hours, which meant less money. She'd had to explain to Amy that violence was never the answer, that it wasn't okay to push someone over, no matter how mean they were being, but then when she saw the kid seated outside, the one she'd pushed over who was twice Amy's size, she almost wanted to applaud her. But that would have been wrong. She couldn't afford for things to go wrong with Amy and Dylan, because one slip up, one serious issue, and they'd be taken away from her, split up and given to foster families. And Tessa wasn't going to let that happen.

Sighing, Tessa rubbed her tired eyes. When she opened them, she spotted a blimp on the horizon. She kept her eyes glued to it as she got closer. When she made out the vague shape of a building, she crossed her fingers, hoping it was a gas station, hoping they'd get there before the car died.

Pease, please, let us make it there, please, she thought.

"Come on," she muttered.

Dylan jerked awake, blinking around. He was seven years old and he had a hooded expression on his face when he realized where he was and why. He bit his lip, "Tessa?"

"Yeah buddy?"

"Are we going to die?"

"No."

"Then…I'm hungry," he bit his lip guiltily.

Tessa nearly laughed. She would have, if the situation wasn't so dire, what with people turning into weird human-but-not creatures saying everyone was going to burn and trying to kill her. She looked up at the growing shape that now looked properly like a building. She hoped those were gas pumps out the front.

Then the engine spluttered out. "No, no, no!" She slammed her hands onto the steering wheel in exasperation. "We were almost there!"

The car rolled to a stop. Tessa stared at her hands, sighing. "Looks like we're walking. Come on."

She leaned over to the glove box, grabbing the map, switch blade and emergency cash she always stored in there, shoving it into her pockets. She got out, shoving the gun into the back of her pants waistband. Opening the boot, she swapped her slip on shoes she was wearing when they left off, searching for her hiking boots and pulling them on. It was a fair walk and it was sunny. She squinted at Amy and Dylan, checking to see they had runners on, and long sleeves. She slung the strap of the duffle bag with the bottles of water and bits of food over her shoulder. "Let's go."

They started walking, Tessa shortening her longer strides so they didn't have to run, despite their sense of urgency, and she handed out granola bars and water. They ate as they walked, the sun beating down. In the car, the desert had looked beautiful. Now, it looked like a never ending plane of nothingness, and the building didn't look like it was getting any closer.

Something on the horizon caught her attention; a rising cloud of…something. But clouds didn't make that kind of spiked shape. And she'd never seen one move towards them so fast. Tessa stopped walking, frowning at it as it grew bigger, blotting out the sky. Then she heard it; a buzzing.

Clouds didn't fucking buzz.

"What is it?" Dylan asked.

"I don't – " a bug buzzed past her ear. Then another, then another. It was a freaking swarm of bugs, and it was getting thicker.

Amy screamed, swatting at them, before covering her head with her hands and ducking down. Dylan followed her and Tessa dropped down, covering them, her back to the oncoming swarm. The buzzing was louder, irritating their ears, and Tessa hoped none would fly into her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to be grossed out as she felt them graze over her exposed skin, hoping it'd end eventually.

Just bugs, it was just bugs, she told herself. She'd take the bugs over the not-human things with black eyes and sharp teeth any day.

They waited it out, before slowly straightening. Tessa picked lone bugs out of Amy's hair as the younger girl squirmed uncomfortably. Amy hated bugs of any kind, even the tiny little ones, and she freaked out when they came near her. "That's was weird."

Tessa looked back, and saw nothing else coming towards them. "Come on."

She didn't know how long they walked for after that.

As they approached, Tessa seriously wondered if it was even open. There was a sign saying 'Diner', so she guessed it would be. And there were cars out the front. Then she saw the sign 'Paradise Falls'.

She looked at the grimy building, the thick layers of grease and dust, the broken signs, rusted metal and generally run down appearance. She really hoped this place didn't set the standard for paradise.

Then she started having second thoughts. What if it was open, and it was filled with those people who wanted to kill them? And she'd led her siblings right to them. She stopped, and they glanced up at her, confused. They should go back. But then there was that pesky problem of having no petrol. Maybe she could find a gas container and take some back out there. They wouldn't even have to go in.

But then people piled out, an older man, with a scruffy beard, a younger man with grease marks on his hands and arms, and an attractive black man. They froze, but didn't see any black eyes.

Then the older man held up the freaking gun he was holding, pointing it right at them.

In one movement, Tessa stepped in front of Amy and Dylan and pulled her gun, pointing it at him, "Woah, there."

In retaliation, the black guy pulled out a handgun as well, pointing it at her.

They stared at each other in a tense silence.

Tessa breathed deeply and opened her mouth to say something, but the older guy cut her off, "Why don't you show us them teeth?"

Tessa gaped at them, "You know?" They were out here in the freaking middle of nowhere, and they knew about the pointed teeth and black eyes. She didn't lower her gun though.

"Your teeth!" he shouted.

"You first!" He showed her his teeth, before gesturing with his gun for her to do the same. She showed him her teeth, "Now why don't you point that gun at something you intend to shoot?"

He lowered his gun, "I'm Bob, that's my son Jeep, and that's Kyle. Sorry, but you wouldn't believe - ,"

"You'd be surprised," She half laughed, lowering her gun as well, shoving it back into her pants.

"You know what's going on?" Jeep asked, his accent thicker than his dad's.

"I have no fucking clue, but there're people, or not-people with black eyes and pointed teeth everywhere. They're taking over. I guess you've figured that out though," She said. She nodded at the gas pumps, "Those work?"

Before anyone could answer, Kyle said, "Someone's coming," pointing out onto the horizon. Tessa looked where he was pointing. A police car was barreling down the straight, seemingly endless road.

"Alright," Bob said. "Now we're talking."

"Wait a second; LAPD?" Jeep asked incredulously.

"I'm from Vegas, man," Kyle said, shrugging.

It headed for their direction, fishtailing, as it pulled up, and Tessa pushed Amy and Dylan back behind her as a heavily pregnant woman ran out of the diner, holding her swollen belly. She had a natural sort of beauty; she was stunning, with curled brown hair and lightly, naturally tanned skin a golden brown.

The driver's door opened, and Jeep ran to stop the pregnant woman, "Charlie, wait!"

A man got out of the car, and it quickly became apparent that he was no cop. He had dark pants and a grey over coat on that came down to his knees. No cop uniform, no badge. His hair was cropped close to his head, a dark shade of brown, and on the sides of his neck, Tessa could see what looked like tattoo markings inked on his skin. The lines on his face made him appear wary and battle-hardened.

But he had the brightest blue eyes Tessa'd ever seen on another person; they cut right through her when they landed on her, taking her in; her wildly curling chestnut coloured hair that came halfway down her back, the same colour as her almond shaped eyes that were narrowed at the newcomer in suspicion. The purple bags under her eyes, the way she shielded two younger children behind her back. He took it all in quickly before moving onto to the pregnant woman, seeming to ignore the other men.

Bob raised his shotgun, leveling it at the not-cop. "Lemme see your teeth," he said, in the same way he did to Tessa.

"Is this how you greet all your customers?" the man replied with a faint British lilt. Bob made no reply, just glared at him until the man lifted his lips in a grimace. He did it calmly, like Bob's request was a mere inconvenience rather than some bizarre request from a stranger.

When Tessa didn't see pointed teeth, she relaxed slightly.

"No shark teeth, pop," Jeep said and Bob nodded once, lowering his gun.

"What's your name?"

"Michael," the newcomer replied.

"Sorry about that, Michael, we just had this old lady go crazy in my place. Had these teeth, like nothing I've ever seen. You sure don't look like a cop, not even one from LA, but you must be right? Who'd be crazy enough to steal a cop car?"

Michael just looked at him. He looked way too damn calm, like he had a single purpose in mind and he knew what he was doing. It sent a shiver up Tessa's spine.

"You don't know, do you?" He said.

"We don't know what?" Kyle asked.

"We don't know anything, I mean, nothing works, the TV, the radio, the phone," the pregnant woman, Charlie, offered.

"I'm running out of time," Michael said, walking forwards.

In a split second, Bob brought the gun back up, his eyes wary and guarded. Tessa tensed again.

"You just hold on there, fella. You better start talking or just get the hell outta here," Bob said, the gun close to Michael's chest.

But then Michael grabbed the gun, bringing it around and pointing it at Bob, pressing the cool metal barrel against his forehead.

"Hold on," Kyle said, leveling his handgun at Michael as Charlie gasped.

"Hey!" Tessa shouted, grabbing her gun again and pointing. Her hands were steady. "You better give him his damn gun back."

This guy was a threat now that he had a weapon, and it put Tessa on edge, especially seeing as Amy and Dylan were out in the open, perfect little targets if the psycho wanted some practice.

"Hey dad, just tell 'im you're sorry!" Jeep shouted, panicked. Bob froze, squeezing his eyes shut. Dylan and Amy pressed against Tessa's back, griping her shirt, their heartbeat's rising in fear. Tessa hated that in less than ten hours, they'd had to go through way too much that a seven and ten year old should have to. Ever.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey sir," another man walked out of the diner, his skin not as dark as Kyle's, holding a hand up at Michael in what Tessa assumed was supposed to be a calming gesture. Tessa's eyebrows shot up when she noticed his other hand was missing, and instead he had a hook. "Son, now I'm sure you don't wanna go spilling blood for no good reason, in front of all these decent people. Now, what'd'ya say, just lettin' Bob go, then you can be on your way, nice and easy."

Nobody moved, nobody dared to. Michael didn't move the shotgun from his forehead, and Tessa could see in his face that he had no qualms about pulling the trigger. Her fingers shook slightly, as she stared at the lunatic with the weapon. She had to get it away from him; he could do too much damage with it, and if he held no reservations about shooting Bob in the head in front of so many witnesses, Tessa worried about his thoughts on shooting kids. Michael let go of the barrel, holding it at arm's length as he turned and looked into the distance. "They're here."

That was their chance, but no one was willing to risk it, not Kyle or Jeep who were closer to them than Tessa was.

"God damn it!" Tessa muttered harshly when no one moved, and she jumped forward, pushing the gun up and away from Bob's head as she tackled Michael to the ground, landing on his chest. She straddled him, her knees pressing his upper arms into the dirt, the shotgun flying from his hand. She cocked her gun, pointing it at his skull, snarling viciously, "Who the fuck do you think you are, pointing a loaded gun at a man's head an' threatening him in front of a pregnant woman an' some kids? Huh?"

"You're wasting time," he said calmly back, but Tessa could hear how he was straining to hold back irritation or anger. Maybe both.

"See now, you show up, threatening people with death and sprouting cryptic little messages, and you wonder why we aren't all jumping to do your bidding?" Tessa snapped, irritated. "All I want is some damn petrol so we can get the fuck away from here."

"You're staying here," Michael replied, his voice firm.

Tessa frowned, "You're not in any position to be telling me what to do."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was suddenly thrown off him easily as he rolled them over so he was on top, so quickly and efficiently that Tessa didn't have time to react, or to even pull the trigger. When her back slammed into the dirt, she cursed herself. His taunt, powerful body leaned over her much smaller frame and she flinched in surprise at the realization that he was much bigger than her. One knee was pressed between her legs, the other beside her hip and one of his hands braced his weight beside her head, the other held her wrist against the dirt so the gun was pointed away, off into the distance. He made no move to pry it from her clamped fingers. "Listen," he said lowly, his face close to hers, "If you don't want to die, you'd be wise to do what I say."

He'd flipped them so easily, and Tessa realized he'd let her sit on him instead of immediately pushing her off. She glared at his freaking piercing blue eyes; she'd always scoffed a little when she read about 'piercing' eyes in romance novels, it just seemed so ridiculous. How could eyes possibly pierce someone? Now she got it; they roved over her face, and took her in, completely, missing nothing, like they were cutting away at all the unimportant stuff she used as a wall between her and the rest of the world; the chip on her shoulder, the burning anger at her parents, the desperation for money. All of it, he wiped clean with one swoop of his eyes, throwing it away, until she felt scarily exposed and totally vulnerable before him.

His hand was warm on her wrist, too warm, like boiling, liquid gold, tingling her skin and sending sparks across her body, heating her blood. Her ears filled with the rhythmic beat that matched the thump-thump of her heartbeat, and his scent invaded her nostrils. It was a unique smell; like the sweet, dark, earthy fragrance of patchouli mixed with the spicy, citrus-like fragrance of bergamot mixed with the deep, woody fragrance of sandalwood. It was crazy good; sexy without being aggressive, warm without being overwhelming, and Tessa had to stop the impulse to take a deep breath in through her nose.

A rush of air ran over her body as in less than a second he was off her. She shook her clouded head, irritated. He picked up the shotgun, and Tessa glared at the others incredulously; really? No one thought to grab the gun while she had him pinned?

But Michael slammed the gun into Bob's stomach, "You're going to need this." Before heading to the back of the police car. Tessa pulled herself up, and Amy and Dylan grabbed her. Dylan was crying, shaking uncontrollably, and Amy's eyes were wet, her eyelashes sticking together. She stroked Dylan's curling hair soothingly as he buried his face into her stomach, and squeezed Amy's hand reassuringly.

"Wait," Charlie said, "Who's coming?"

"More like her."

"Who's her?" Tessa asked, frowning.

"What do you mean, like her?" Bob asked apprehensively.

"Who's her?" Tessa repeated.

"Crazy bitch that attacked us," Kyle answered her. "Black eyes, pointed teeth. I think you know what I'm saying."

"More're coming here?" she asked, her voice edged with panic. "Then we need to fucking leave!"

"It's too late," Michael said calmly, and Tessa's heart clenched. She bit her lip, looking at Amy and Dylan, her brother and sister, her kids, and her eyebrows knitted together in worry. She'd brought them here, into this mess in her attempt to save them. Some fucking guardian she was.

Then Michael popped the trunk to reveal a small arsenal of weapons. Tessa wasn't a gun nut, but she knew an assault riffle when she saw one; Michael pushed one into Kyle and the other guy's hands each, before giving one to Jeep.

"Now hold on, I don't think that's such a good idea," Bob said, eyeing the gun in Jeep's hands.

"Dad, I can handle it," Jeep said.

"He can handle it," Michael said, going back to the boot. "He doesn't have a choice."

Then he pulled another, similar riffle out, handing it to Tessa. "Can you handle that?" His voice told her he wasn't so sure.

The gun was heavy in Tessa's hands, but she scrunched her nose at the insinuation, "Watch me."

Michael looked at her a second and Tessa tensed. She wasn't sure she liked this Michael guy.

Then he went back to the boot and pulled out some duffle bags, probably loaded with ammunition, before closing it and walking towards the diner, stopping at Charlie and passing her a glock. "Don't do anything brave."

Two other women stumbled out; a previously pristine, but now disheveled older woman with brown hair falling out of her French bun, her carefully applied makeup smeared, and a teenager, wearing black, revealing clothing that left little to the imagination and screamed 'rebellious teenager'. The younger girl was stunning in her own right, with a slender frame, taller and more willowy than Tessa. Tessa was petite, but curved in the right places; she had to be, to be popular in the work she did. Or used to do.

The older woman and the teenager both had identical expressions of absolute fucking terror written all over their faces.

"What's going on?" the older woman asked. Tessa figured she was the teenager's mother.

Michael didn't even look at them, "You'd better get back inside."

Reluctantly, Tessa followed him, shoving the handgun back to its spot in her shorts, picking up her duffle bag and gesturing for Amy and Dylan to follow her in. They didn't have much of a choice now.

The sun was getting low.

Hey guys,

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Would you mind letting me know what you thought?

Thanks to those who reviewed! It means a lot to me!

I'll be putting replies to reviews at the end of the chapter, so here we go:

Watergoddesskasey: Thanks so much for being my first reviewer! It means so much to me! And I'm super glad you enjoyed the first chapter! Hopefully you enjoyed this one too! :D

The Rise Of Me: Haha, hey! Thanks for reviewing this story! I'm glad you developed such an interest in just the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one too! Aw, that's sweet of you! No, Ziggy isn't his real name, haha, it's Matt Zegers, and yeah, they did have a thing when she first started out. Good sense :D

Grace: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the first chapter and think it's got potential! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too! And I'm glad you think she's believable – that's what I was aiming for, after all! Thanks again!