Chapter 3 – The Name's...
A/N: Hey guys! So this chapter is set up the same way as the last two (i.e. flashback, apocalyptic POV, flashback, second apocalyptic POV), except that Klaus' apocalyptic POV comes before Caroline's this time. Idk if that's even super important to let you guys know, but I'm telling you anyways. Okay that's all, please read and review!
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"So did you guys hear that they're going to start human trials on that new cure for cancer?" Elena asked as she started pulling ingredients for a salad out of Caroline's fridge.
Katherine groaned from her perch on the couch in front of the TV, legs crossed and a glass of wine hanging loosely from her hand.
"Of course we've all heard about it 'Lena. It's all anyone is talking about, on the news, on Twitter, on Facebook –"
"Ew you still use Facebook?" Caroline asked with a disgusted look as she looked up from the pot of boiling spaghetti.
"Hey, I was stalking one of my ex-boyfriends, don't judge me." Katherine muttered, pushing herself up from the couch and walking over to her friends, hopping up on the counter next to Caroline.
"Who were you stalking?" Elena asked.
Katherine sighed, kicking her ankles back and forth. "Galen Vaughn."
"Ew!" Caroline exclaimed. "That guy you dated senior year that was like, six years older than you?" Katherine nodded. "He was such a creep!"
"Yeah seriously Kat, why were you looking him up when you're getting married to Elijah in three days need I remind you?" Elena inquired, looking at her twin sister in concern.
"Um, so I could see that my life is going a hundred times better than his is? Why else?" Katherine asked as if it were the most obvious explanation in the world.
The girls laughed at her self-assured tone.
"Katherine I swear you are the most vain person in the entire world." Elena muttered.
"Thank you!" She replied sincerely, making the other two roll their eyes. "But back to what you were asking, that cancer cure or whatever."
"Yeah!" Caroline said, taking the spaghetti off the stove and transferring it to the strainer over the sink. "Apparently they're starting the tests on real people next month like, all over the world."
"Well it's not just a cure." Elena weighed in as she tossed the salad. "Apparently it can prevent people from ever even getting cancer in the future."
"Sounds too good to be true." Katherine muttered, refilling her wine glass. "I mean cancer is a million dollar industry, as twisted as that is. If a cure and a preventative measure was invented, it could mean a major loss of revenue in several major worldwide corporations. Economies all over the globe would suffer major setbacks if it were released."
Elena and Caroline were completely frozen in what they were doing, staring at Katherine with wide eyes.
"What?" She asked innocently. "I have my smart moments!"
"Says you." A voice from the doorway spoke, stepping into the apartment. "Well look at you ladies, you can clean up nice."
"Damon." Katherine muttered in disgust, looking into her wine glass. "So glad you could finally make it."
Elena walked past Katherine, grabbing the drink out of her hand and ignoring her sister's cries of protest, pouring it out into the sink before walking over to her boyfriend.
"It's not even six o'clock Kat." She shot at her twin. "Hey." She murmured to Damon before kissing him lightly on the mouth. "Where are the rest of the guys?"
"And Lexi too!" Caroline cut in.
"Don't worry, they're –"
"Here." Elijah interrupted smoothly, stepping into the apartment, clad in suit and tie as always, and holding a bottle of much nicer wine than the one Caroline had in her pantry. "We apologize for being late, it seems that Stefan and Niklaus' disagreement at the office kept us from noticing the time."
Katherine jumped down from the counter easily despite her high heeled boots and walked over to Elijah with her signature swagger.
"Ooo look at my fiancée bringing good wine, he knows me so well." She murmured, wrapping an arm around his neck and kissing him soundly.
"Katherine darling could you please not suck the life out of my brother while I'm standing right here." Klaus grumbled as he maneuvered around the couple and their very public display of affection.
Katherine flipped her future brother-in-law off without even breaking their kiss. He rolled his eyes and walked over to his own girlfriend who was pulling plates out of a high cabinet, reaching up on her tiptoes so that her already short yellow dress showed even more leg.
"Hello gorgeous." He murmured, wrapping his arms around her middle and startling her, making her spin around in his hold quickly.
"Well hello to you too." She bit her lip, kissing him, heat stirring in her belly when his grip on her waist tightened.
"Okay, all this love is making me sick."
Caroline and Klaus broke apart at Stefan's voice, and Caroline immediately felt bad that she hadn't even seen him standing beside the door with his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
"Oh look, my brother is brooding, how shocking." Damon muttered from where he stood with his hand around Elena's waist. "You know you could probably get a girlfriend if you stopped being so depressing everywhere you go."
"Shutup Damon." Caroline muttered, smacking him in the back of the head as she walked over to Stefan.
"Rude, Blondie!"
"Hey Stef." Caroline said with a bright smile, ignoring Damon like always.
She hugged her best friend tightly, his strong build familiar to her since they had been friends for years, since middle school when he and Damon's father was killed and they had to move to Mystic Falls to live with their Uncle Zach. Behind her, Elena started to set out plates and silverware, smacking Damon's hand every time he tried to steal some food. Katherine and Elijah were still all over each other, and Klaus had meandered off to the corner of the room to answer a phone call.
"Hey Caroline." Stefan said with a non-forced smile for once. "You look nice."
"So do you! And hey, just ignore Damon. I know you're still getting over Dana, and it'll take some time."
"No, Dana isn't the reason I'm not dating, it's just…you know what, nevermind, I'm not going to complain about my lack of a love life right now."
"Stefan –"
"No, seriously. Tonight is our last spaghetti night before two of our best friends get married! Let's enjoy it. I'll put Brooding Stefan in a corner, I promise."
Caroline sighed, looking at her best friend. He had a heart of gold and yet somehow he always got the short end of the stick. Even back in high school when he and Elena had a brief relationship, he treated her like a queen only for her to pick his older brother in the end.
"Alright, fine." Caroline muttered, looping her arm through Stefan's and walking back towards the kitchen where Elijah and Damon were now talking to Klaus, and Elena and Katherine were bickering over which character from Sex and the City was their favorite. Caroline grinned. "You know I like our little family. I hope things stay kind of the same after the wedding."
"They will." Stefan said simply.
"Hey where's Lexi? I thought you said she was coming?"
Stefan looked down at his feet. "She, uh, she couldn't make it. She's going on a – a date."
"Oh, that's a bummer." Caroline said. A few seconds passed and realization dawned on her face when she noticed Stefan's expression. "No!"
"No what?" Stefan asked incredulously.
"No way! You like Lexi?"
"Caroline, what are you – "
"That's why you aren't dating!" Caroline interrupted. "This isn't about getting over Dana, it's because you already like someone!"
"Caroline will you tone it down." He whispered harshly, turning to face her excited expression. "Okay, yes, I kind of…like, Lexi." He disregarded Caroline's squeal. "But it doesn't matter okay, she only sees me as a friend, she's always only seen me as a friend."
"That's how all the best relationships start!"
"You and Klaus didn't start out as friends." He pointed out. "You hated him for like a month, remember?"
"Yeah, well Klaus and I are…" She looked over at where the love of her life was standing with her best friend and his brother. Almost as if he sensed her gaze, he looked to her and a smile immediately lit up his face. He winked at her briefly before looking back to where Damon was gesturing wildly about something.
"We're different." Caroline said simply, a fond smile on her face.
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"We have to keep moving." Klaus growled, pacing back and forth along the river bank where they had been camped out for the past two days. At night they would retreat to the abandoned cabin a quarter mile east of them, but during the day they stayed at the river for the sake of having water and being in the sun.
"Niklaus please, we must wait for Lexi to at least partially recover before we start moving again." Elijah pleaded with his brother as he knelt down next to Lexi, dabbing her feverish forehead with a wet rag that he had made from his shirt.
Elijah wasn't wrong, Lexi was getting weaker by the day. It seemed to be a simple bacterial infection – easily curable if they weren't facing the endtimes. Her fever had yet to break, she was achy all over, and sometimes she would lose lucidity, forgetting where she was. There was no way she could travel at this point and Klaus was well aware of that.
Next to where Lexi was laying in the dense sleeping bag, her small frame shaking, Stefan was sat next to her, holding her hand tightly in his own. His face was full of concern – even more so than usual. As the shaking started to get worse, he lifted her hand and pressed his lips to it gently.
Klaus sympathized for his friend, he truly did. It was painfully obvious even before The Outbreak that Stefan had feelings for Lexi, but he never acted upon them. And now in the middle of the apocalypse there hadn't exactly been an opportune moment to express those feelings. But he did so in ways that he could – protecting her at all costs, putting her safety before his own, defending her when their own group got hostile, which inevitably happened every now and then.
But now Lexi was sick, practically on her deathbed, and Stefan couldn't do anything about it. Except watch her pain.
"Elijah we're only about a hundred miles from this Whitmore place, which means we can make it there within the week if we leave now."
"Not even a week." Matt said from where he sat under a tree, his arm around Rebekah. "We usually cover about 20 to 25 miles a day, we could make it there in four or five days."
"There you go!" Klaus exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Five days Elijah, five days and we could be safe from these monsters. Five days and we could have a steady food and water supply!"
"For someone who was so disbelieving of Rose's story at first, you seem awfully assured of Whitmore's existence now." Elijah spat in a condescending tone, looking up at his brother. "What changed your mind?"
Klaus froze for a second, not wanting to admit the truth. Not wanting to admit that he was choosing to believe that Whitmore was real solely based on the slim hope that Caroline was there. That maybe she had heard about Whitmore and made it there, that she was teaching a group of snot nosed brats within the camp walls, that she was safe from the Infected at night.
"Perhaps I've decided to become an optimist." He finally said, holding his hands out and smirking sarcastically.
Rebekah barked out a laugh. "Right, and I'm the bloody tooth fairy."
"Why didn't you just leave with Rose yesterday?" Stefan finally spoke, looking over his shoulder at Klaus with a venomous gaze. "If you're so eager to get to the safe haven you should have just left us and gone with her."
Klaus tensed, his blue eyes glassy. He would never leave his family behind, even if it meant getting closer to the hope of finding Caroline. Elijah and Rebekah would never forgive him, and he would never forgive himself either. Not to mention that Klaus was easily the strongest fighter in the group, they needed him to survive. They all needed each other.
"Look, I understand that you want to get there as soon as possible, I really do." Stefan continued. "I know you're hoping that Caroline and the others are there because we all know they would be heading towards New York and would pass through where Whitmore allegedly is anyway."
Everyone froze, Stefan voicing all of their private thoughts. It had been the elephant in the room for the past two days, everyone hoping and praying that perhaps their loved ones had heard of Whitmore and were there too. It was a slim hope, and hope was easy to cling on to in times like these. Stefan didn't stop though.
"We're all hoping for that, Klaus. Hoping that Damon, Elena, Katherine, Caroline, that all of them are there. I get that. It's probably not true, but I'm holding onto that hope just as much as you are." He paused, his youthful face somber. "But right now, I'm holding onto the hope that Lexi will survive this even more. Because if we're wrong, if my brother and Elijah's wife and your girlfriend – my best friend…if they're all dead, then Lexi is the only family I have left other than you guys."
Klaus' exterior did not reflect the internal turmoil he was facing. Stefan was like another brother to him, he cared for him just as he did Elijah though he would never admit it out loud. They had each other's backs, always. Stefan's level head was always keeping Klaus out of trouble, and Klaus' recklessness kept Stefan on his toes. They evened each other out well.
"So if you want to leave now, then go. But I'm staying right here with Lexi until she's either recovered or dead." Stefan said bluntly, not bothering to sugar coat the truth. He turned away from Klaus, looking back down at Lexi's sleeping form, brushing back the greasy blonde hair from her sweaty face fondly.
Klaus mulled over his friend's bold declaration. He was at a crossroads now: he didn't know if he should leave in hopes of finding his love, or stay with the loved ones he had with him right then and there.
But of course there was always a third option.
"Elijah, Quarterback, get up." Klaus demanded after a few moments, walking over to where they had their weapons stashed.
Elijah stood up immediately, already having an idea of what Klaus was planning. Matt was a bit more reluctant though, looking at Rebekah in question.
"What are we doing?" He asked slowly.
"We," Klaus started dramatically, tossing Elijah his cutlass which he caught flawlessly, "Are going back to that pharmacy a few miles back to get that medicine Rebekah almost got herself killed trying to obtain a few days ago."
"What?" Rebekah shouted incredulously, standing up quickly, ignoring the fresh dirt on her jeans and scrambling over to the boys. "Nik there were at least ten of those things in that building, and there's probably even more now!"
"I'm fully aware Bekah, I helped save you from them remember?"
"Man the sun is going down in like three hours." Matt said. "Even if we get the medicine, it'll be dark by the time we start heading back here."
"Stefan," Klaus turned, "How long do you think Lexi has left if she doesn't get treatment?"
Stefan stared at his friend, not speaking for a moment.
"A day." He finally said. "At most maybe two, but without penicillin there's no way she'll make it any longer than that."
"Well then." Klaus conceded, looking back to Matt. "I would say that we can't afford to wait until tomorrow morning when she might not even make it through the night."
"I'm going." Rebekah said, making Klaus roll his eyes. He knew it was coming but it didn't make her stubbornness any less annoying. "Don't roll your eyes at me Nik, if you're taking Matt and Elijah I am going. I won't lose my brothers and my fiancée in the same night, I just won't do it."
"Rebekah, you have to stay here and look after Stefan and Lexi." Klaus said firmly, stepping over to his little sister and putting his hands on her shoulders. She was already starting to tear up. "We will be just fine, you're not losing anyone tonight or anytime soon."
"But we never split up, Nik." She cried. "Because if you three don't come back then – "
"We're coming back, Rebekah." Elijah interrupted, stepping over to his siblings, looking at Klaus with a proud expression.
It took a little more convincing, but Rebekah finally agreed to stay with Stefan and Lexi, and the other three boys began grabbing all the weapons they could carry. Just as they were about to leave, Stefan stood up and grabbed Klaus' arm.
"Hey. Thank you." He said sincerely. "I know you probably wanted to leave, but you didn't. So thank you, for helping her."
Klaus wanted to say that he wasn't doing it for Lexi's benefit, but for his own. Stefan wouldn't leave until Lexi was dead or recovered, so he opted for the faster option so that he wouldn't have to sacrifice his group in order to find Caroline. Klaus was desperate to get to her but he also wasn't stupid enough to think he could make it 100 miles without all of them watching his back.
But Klaus didn't say that.
"You're family, mate." He said honestly, putting his hand on Stefan's shoulder and looking him in the eye. "And family sticks together."
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"Wait, let me get this straight." Caroline said as she leaned back in her chair, spaghetti plate empty. "Your brother Kol came after you with a baseball bat just for borrowing his car one night?" She asked Klaus incredulously, who was next to her with his arm over the back of her chair.
"Well Niklaus is leaving out several details of the story." Elijah interjected from across the table before Klaus could say anything. "It was also Kol's very first car, a birthday present from our parents, and then Niklaus very nearly totaled it."
"Klaus!" Caroline shouted, rounding on her boyfriend.
"Oh calm down love, it was all just a misunderstanding." He said coyly, smirk never leaving his face. "My vehicle was in the shop at the time and I had somewhere very important to be. It was Kol's brotherly duty to let me borrow his."
"And it had nothing to do with the fact that Kol had a brand new Ferrari that you were incredibly jealous of." Rebekah said sarcastically from her perch on the counter, Matt leaning back in between her legs, arms resting on her thighs. They had shown up for spaghetti night about ten minutes after the boys, unannounced as per typical Rebekah fashion.
Klaus scowled, shooting his sister a glare to which everyone just laughed.
"Well damn, Klaus. The worst thing I ever did to Stefan was maybe the time I shot off a bunch of firecrackers in his treehouse and set it on fire." Damon said with a smirk.
"Hey, I built that treehouse by myself when I was 13 years old, you're damn right I was pissed." Stefan pointed at his brother, making everyone laugh again.
"Right Damon, that's the meanest thing you did." Katherine sneered, bringing her wine glass back up to her lips. "It's not like you stole the first girl he loved for yourself or anything."
Everyone fell silent, and Elena's face turned bright red. Katherine lowered the wine glass and looked around at everyone innocently.
"What?" She asked.
Elijah tapped her hand with his own and leaned over to whisper something in her ear to which she just rolled her eyes. The awkward tension was stifling, poor Stefan looking down at his lap and Damon glaring at Katherine venomously.
"So," Caroline suddenly said loudly, making everyone look at her bright expression, "You said your brother Kol lives in Chicago now?"
Klaus cleared his throat. "Yes. He left the family business about two years ago. Decided that art dealing wasn't quite his forte."
"He's a journalist now." Rebekah added with a proud tone, wrapping her arms around the front of Matt's torso from where she sat behind him.
"Really?" Elena asked, wanting to become a writer herself. "Who does he write for?"
"He's a baseball critic for the Chicago Tribune."
"Hey does that mean he can get me free tickets?" Matt asked, making Rebekah roll her eyes and smack his shoulder to which he just chuckled.
"Our youngest brother is quite secluded from the family now." Elijah spoke up. "After he left, we stopped hearing from him as much. But the last I heard he has a girlfriend whom he lives with now in an apartment near Wrigley Stadium."
"Elena, doesn't your Aunt Jenna live near the Stadium too?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah I think so."
"She's like a mile or so away from there I'm pretty sure." Katherine added, ignoring Elena's glare as she spoke, Elena obviously still upset about her sister's earlier quip.
"We could totally meet Kol when we go to Chicago next month!" Caroline said excitedly, eyes wide as she turned to Klaus.
"Wait what?" He asked. "You're going to Chicago?"
"Yeah, I told you that like a month ago, don't you remember?" At Klaus' expression she rolled her eyes. "Next month is Elena and Katherine's Aunt Jenna's birthday. Jenna was like, our cool older sister when we were teenagers. So we're going out there to surprise her. Her husband Alaric is going to pick us up from the airport and everything. You seriously don't remember me telling you that?"
Klaus shook his head no. "When did you tell me?"
"The night that we went and had dinner with that client of yours from Australia and his wife."
Klaus chuckled then, looking down and shaking his head. "Well darling the reason I don't remember is because I didn't listen to much of anything you said that night. I was too busy staring at you in that little blue dress you were wearing."
Caroline tried to be annoyed, but when he said things like that she just couldn't be.
"I think that was like, thirty percent a compliment and seventy percent insulting." Stefan said, making Caroline turn to him and narrow her eyes playfully.
"Nah, I give it twenty-eighty." Matt added teasingly.
Suddenly everyone around the table started throwing out numbers to which Klaus shouted at all of them to bugger off, that he was charming as hell.
Caroline didn't say anything else, just leaned back in her chair and smiled at everyone. This was her family. It didn't matter that Katherine and Elijah were getting married in a couple days, or that no one there was blood related to her, or that Matt was her ex. None of that mattered. These people, gathered for their weekly spaghetti night in her tiny little apartment, they were her family now. And having these people that she knew would always have her back made her one of the happiest girls in the world. She was content.
And that feeling only intensified when Klaus reached over and laced his fingers through hers instinctively as he argued with Katherine per usual, just wanting to feel her skin on his.
Oh yes, Caroline Forbes was definitely content.
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"Elena!" Caroline screamed, yanking her knife out of the now-dead Infected's chest and throwing it without hesitation at the Infected that was on top of Elena, holding her down and trying to bite at her face, Elena screaming for help and pushing him away best that she could.
The knife pierced through the side of the Infected's skull, killing it instantly. It fell off of Elena, who scrambled away from it, breathing heavily. Caroline ran over and helped her friend to a standing position before reaching down and retrieving her knife, wiping the blood off on her pants leg.
"Are you okay?" She asked her friend, putting her hands on Elena's shoulders. "Elena, look at me. Are you alright? Are you scratched, bit –"
"No, no, I'm fine I promise." Elena said breathlessly. "Caroline, he didn't get me, I promise." She assured her.
Caroline was quiet for a moment, staring at her friend to see if she was telling the truth.
"Okay." She finally conceded, stepping back and looking around the abandoned warehouse they were in.
The two girls had wandered in a few minutes ago looking for somewhere to stay for the night, the rest of their group also divided into groups of two doing the same thing, Damon and Alaric, Kol and Bonnie, Jeremy and Katherine. Damon usually teamed up with Elena, but since they were currently in an argument, Caroline and Alaric had switched out. Only Damon and Elena could find something to fight about during the apocalypse.
The warehouse had seemed clean at first, and the girls were five seconds away from going back out and calling for the others, when three Infected jumped down from the ceiling rafters and ambushed them. The girls took out one each easily, but the third one jumped Elena just as she was finishing off the second.
"Elena! Elena!" Damon was shouting, running into the warehouse with Alaric hot on his tail. "We heard you screaming, what happened?"
"They happened." Elena sighed, gesturing to the three dead Infected around them.
"Ambushed us." Caroline said simply, kicking the dead body beside her. "It's like they're getting smarter."
Damon pursed his lips, looking around before settling his deep blue eyes on Elena and putting her face in his hands. "From now on, you and I are together, okay?" Elena nodded with a weak smile, putting her hands on Damon's wrists.
Caroline scoffed. "Gee thanks, Damon."
"Hey, I don't mind," Alaric said, shooting her a grin, "It means I get you back on my team."
Suddenly, Kol, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Katherine came busting in as well, crossbows and swords raised.
"We heard screaming!" Bonnie said, scanning the surroundings.
"Elena are you okay?" Katherine ran over to her twin, pushing Damon out of the way and checking her over.
"I'm fine, Kat."
"Yeah I'm fine too, in case anyone was wondering." Caroline said exasperatedly, sheathing her knife and walking towards the exit to go get their gear they'd left outside on the street while they scoured the buildings.
"Oh come now darling, no need to make a fuss." Kol said in his typical arrogant tone. Caroline came to a stop next to him, turning her head to glare. "We all know you're the most vicious person here. You can take care of yourself just fine, can't you?"
Caroline froze, her face falling. She glanced behind her at her group of friends. No, not friends, fellow survivors. That's what they were now, survivors. That's it. And she knew that Kol was right despite how annoying it was to admit that. She was vicious, ruthless even. More so than any of the others.
"Yeah." She said bluntly, looking back to Kol's dirty yet still handsome face. "I am. And that's why I'll probably outlive you."
Without waiting on a response, she strode towards the exit and flung open the heavy door, but not before hearing Kol mutter, "And you lot say my brother loved her for her optimism?"
As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, Caroline bent over with a sharp exhale of breath, putting her hands on her knees as she started to shake with held back tears. It was just too much sometimes, doing the same thing every single day. Wake up, do a head count, start walking, make sure no bandits decide to target them and steal their stuff, find a hideout, try not to get killed or infected. Repeat the next day.
When The Outbreak first happened Caroline was helpless. She couldn't fight, she couldn't kill anyone. She was Caroline Forbes, she saw the good in everyone. But there isn't any good to be seen in a murderous zombie.
So after scraping by for the first couple of months solely depending on everyone else to protect her, she finally had had enough. Every day between walking breaks and at night if they had a safe hideout, she would train. Her body hardened, she got strong, capable of defending herself for once. And her heart hardened as well. She couldn't afford to cry over Klaus every night because if she did that, an Infected would kill her and she would never get the chance to see him again. So she stopped thinking of him altogether the best that she could. It didn't help that Kol was with them and constantly reminded her of Klaus with his snarky attitude.
But she did it anyways. Now she could hardly remember his face sometimes, which was ridiculous because she had studied every inch of his body a million times over, she knew it better than her own. And yet time can do that to someone. Pain can, too.
Standing back upright and pulling her hair out of her ponytail, Caroline shook off her momentary weakness and began striding over to where they had hidden their packs underneath an old station wagon along the street. Fortunately there weren't any other survivors in this urban area they had found themselves in. Sometimes other survivors were just as dangerous as the Infected. They couldn't trust anyone but each other.
Her heavy combat boots thudded against the broken and overgrown pavement, eyes constantly scanning her surroundings. The sun wasn't all the way down yet but it would be in about half an hour.
Once she got to the car, she bent down and reached under it, pulling out her own rucksack. All she had in it was a sleeping bag, some cans of food, and three or four bottles of water. Once she had it in her hand, she pulled it out and stood back up.
She only noticed the figure behind her when she saw their reflection in the driver's side window.
"Ah!" Caroline screamed, dropping the rucksack and whipping out her knife all in one fluid motion.
She slashed at the person's stomach which they easily dodged. With her arm extended, the figure grabbed her wrist and twisted just hard enough to make her cry out in pain and drop the knife. Using her opposite leg, Caroline placed her foot behind the person's leg then pushed him with her free arm. As they stumbled backwards and tripped, she ripped her arm free and spun around him, getting them in a headlock, her hair flying around her face.
Before she could carry out her intention of breaking the stranger's neck, they lifted their foot and kicked backwards with a grunt, hitting her shin. As her hold was broken they spun around and pulled out their own knife, shoving her backwards against the car and holding it against her throat.
Caroline froze at the feel of the cool blade against her skin, swallowing in fear. Wait, an Infected would have killed her by now, not be holding her at knife point.
Finally looking up at the attacker, she realized it was a man. A very much non-Infected man with a sharp jawline, thin lips, and messy brown hair. His brown eyes held a ferocity to them, but she could tell that there was some kindness in him somewhere.
"You're normal." She whispered, awed that it wasn't an Infected like she had thought the whole time they were fighting.
His eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Well that's not something I've heard very many times." He said in a thick British accent, making her heart pang.
"No, no, I mean…you're not Infected." She clarified.
"Ah, correct you are. I am in fact not a flaky, red-eyed monster. And neither are you. So if I remove this blade from your pretty little clavicle, are you going to try and slice open my small intestine again?"
Caroline gulped, sensing that even though this man had a teasing tone to his voice, he meant business too.
"No." She finally said.
He stared for a minute, his eyes piercing hers before finally lowering his weapon and taking a couple steps back. Caroline let out a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders and blinking a few times. The man bent down and picked up her rucksack, holding it out to her. When she hesitated he rolled his eyes.
"Relax, gorgeous. I just let you go when I could have slit your throat. I think that's a sign of truce."
Caroline sighed and grabbed her rucksack from him quickly, making him chuckle.
"Well you're a feisty little thing aren't you? Out here all by yourself?"
"No." She said immediately, glaring at him. "My friends are nearby and trust me, one of them is very handy with a crossbow."
He held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, I see. Don't worry love, I'm not here to try and steal your things or take your…innocence." He glanced up and down her body, lingering on her curves with a smirk. "I'm just a man trying to make it through the night and unfortunately, the group of three I've been travelling with the past month was ripped to shreds by some Infected last night."
"How do I know you didn't kill them yourself?" Caroline asked.
"You don't." He replied immediately, the corner of his mouth turning up in a smirk. "But I get the feeling you're one of those girls that can read a man's entire life story just with a single look. You know, the kind that sees the best in everyone."
Caroline stilled, her anxiety increasing as he hit the truth right on the head.
"And since I let you live when I very well could have slit your throat and stolen your things, I'm hoping you can see the good deep, deep down in me and maybe let me bunk with your group in that warehouse I saw you come out of." He said sincerely.
She didn't say anything for a few moments, just studied the man. He was about Damon's height, wearing blood stained jeans and black boots, a black shirt and leather jacket. She couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like he had about three knives on his person, and she thought she caught a glimpse of a gun in the back of his jeans when they were fighting. His face was gaunt, like he hadn't eaten in a few days, but he still had muscle. His face was grimy, but she could still tell he was very handsome. Overall, he was worse for the wear.
She sighed, already knowing what she was going to say.
"I'll have to introduce you to everyone else and let them get a read on you." She said bluntly, crossing her arms. "But since we're about ten minutes from sundown and I don't particularly feel like being responsible for you getting ripped to shreds by some Infected, I'll pitch it to them."
The man smiled, starting to say something else, but Caroline held up her hand.
"And you're gone in the morning. We have enough in our group already and we both know that trusting people you don't know isn't an option if you want to survive. So don't get too comfortable, if they even let you stay. Are we clear?"
The man grinned, eyes bright. "Crystal. Do you have a name, love?"
"First of all, do not call me love." She said harshly, thinking to herself 'only one person is allowed to call me that.' "And secondly," she continued, "My name is Caroline."
"Well, pleased to meet you Caroline."
He smiled mischievously, extending his hand. She took it, albeit reluctantly. His handshake was firm, but also gentle. Caroline knew he meant business and could be very dangerous, but she could tell that he had no desire to hurt any of them. At least not at this point.
"The name's Enzo."
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A/N: Read and review please! xoxo