16.
What was it he wanted her to do?….He should restrain her, make sure that…can he tie her over that chest at all?
He slapped himself mentally and narrowed his eyes hoping that focusing his vision will somehow also focus his mind. But the indecisiveness of what to do next persisted.
"I get it…not the trustful type, mmm? Neither am I… Look," she said and spread her jacket a little more; "if you want to check me for other weapons, I've no problem with it."
He was checking her alright, thoroughly with his eyes for a while now, and he'd continue to do so, hadn't Niko's pale face suddenly appeared within his vision frame. She peeped from the entrance of the changing rooms, probably thinking she was well hidden from the blondie's sight. All the blondie had to do to see her, though, was to turn around.
He made a step towards the woman, watching her as well as Niko, who now began to approach them, walking all hunched among the hangers. He knew this poor attempt to ambush the woman from the back will not end well, and he was quite quickly proven right, when Niko suddenly vanished among the clothes, taking down with her a couple of hangers and causing a considerable noise. The blondie immediately jumped from the counter and re-aimed her pistol, glancing back and forth between him and the place where the noise came from.
"Tst tst…reinforcements? No balls to deal with a lady alone, mmm?"
Niko reappeared, capturing for a moment the stare of the woman. A small smile, that of a sudden surprise and impossible to fake, appeared on the woman's face. She suppressed it quickly and he noticed it only because it was so different from her seductive smile, which she's been taunting him with so far. Her lax attitude changed and he realized he was deceived by her looks. There was more to the blondie than her long, long legs and busty chest.
"Oh, hi there," the woman addressed Niko in a cheerful voice.
Niko walked up to him, making a large semi-circle around the woman. The blondie's eyes followed her, her pistol controlling him at all times.
"She has a gun," he said in quiet voice and pushed Niko slightly back with his arm.
"I know, so do you."
"Just stay put."
"So are you two traveling together, mmm?" the woman asked.
"Ain't no business of yours, lady. Now put the pistol down! I won't ask again… and if you're smart you won't be testing who's trigger finger is faster…"
She puffed the air out of her mouth and rolled her eyes under those big eyelashes. Then she lowered her pistol and shoved it over the counter.
He was relived. It really was his last warning.
"Something's not right here," Niko whispered in his ear.
"I got this…" He made a step forward but she pulled him back.
"I don't think you do…"
"Can you just shut up?"
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."
"Right…"
He headed towards the counter with Niko, her hand placed lightly on the back of his shoulder, closely by his side.
Waving his gun, he signaled the woman to step away. She obeyed and continued to watch him from a distance, crossing her hands tightly over her breasts and thus boosting her cleavage even more. Once her pistol was in his hand he relaxed a bit.
"So now that you have my weapon, can we talk like normal people or you gonna keep pointin that gun at me, mmm? Do I really look so dangerous?" The blondie pouted her lips and batted her eyelashes.
He smirked at her, took another good look at that amazing body, and stashed the pistol behind his belt. Sure, she was fine, but something about her didn't rub him the right way.
"Lady, stick to your own shit and we'll stick to ours. There's no reason to cross each other again. Ain't gonna be so friendly next time." He took Niko by the elbow and pushed her along with him towards the place he let go of his bow.
"No need for sunglasses, is there?"
He thought it an odd remark, but didn't want to engage in further banter. Niko seemed to feel differently about it, for she stopped abruptly at her words. "Excuse me?"
"Mmm, last time I looked up to the sky… there's no sun shining …"
Niko's mouth twisted up to the left, exposing some of her teeth in a half smirk, half grin. "I guess….there isn't…" she replied slowly.
"You blind, girl, mmm?"
Turning towards the woman, Niko ignored his nudge on her elbow to move along. She acquired a sudden calmness and focus, which made him nervous.
"Cat got your tongue, girl, mmm?
"C'mon…" He pulled her stronger, dragging her backwards with him.
A nasty feeling crept down his spine as he bent down to take the bow. He was about to grab it when something sharp grazed his hand and kicked the gun out of his hand. Niko pushed him and as they both fell to the floor, she pulled out her sword from behind his back. He reached for the blondie's pistol behind his belt and tried to take the aim when another shiny object flew towards him. Right before his face it bounced off Niko's sword, making a metallic sound. He shot, but the blondie jumped high and made an agile leap behind the hangers, tipping over an entire row at them.
They scrambled from beneath the clothes and crawled behind a small stand with mannequins. He raised his head a little and scanned the hall through the pistol sights, but the blondie was nowhere to be seen.
"Too bad…wasn't for your blind friend there, I would totally let you do me on that counter."
He turned towards her voice. It was coming from the left, but he needed a more accurate position.
"What makes you think, I'd do you at all?"
She giggled. "Even with my pistol aimed at you, your eyes were most of the time on my boobs..."
He shot twice towards red and blue dresses, but all he did was to provoke more giggling.
"No wonder you didn't see this coming," hissed Niko. He gave her a look and pushed her slightly away, adjusting the aim of the pistol.
"What business do you have with my friend?" he called out to her.
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you…oh, wait… " There was giggling again, followed by a thick sound. This time it was a mannequin on the podium that saved him from another flying object.
"Stay here and don't move..." he heard Niko saying while he stared at a well-polished throwing knife sticking out of the mannequin's shin.
He immediately reached out to grab her but she was quick to slip away. As soon he stood up to follow her, another knife flew towards him and he had to take cover once more behind the stand.
"Fuck!" He shot a couple of bullets, knowing they won't hit the target. He hoped to give Niko some cover as she hustled through the lines of clothes completely exposed. Sure, she looked quite demonic with her sword in her hand and black sun glasses….but the blondie had knives and her aim was fuckin accurate.
The thought prompted him to go after her without giving it much thought. The long legged blondie suddenly rose from a very different spot he expected her to be. She had at least three throwing knives between the fingers of her left hand and one ready to throw in her right.
"Niko! Stay down!" he shouted. He couldn't get a clear shot. The first knife flew towards her. She deflected it with the sword - how, he couldn't fathom - and then continued to move towards the blondie, who aimed again. They were close, there was no way the blondie was going to miss again.
He caught up with Niko, just as the woman threw the knife. He jumped before her and fired towards the blondie. The knife missed him, but he felt a sudden warm sensation in his abdomen.
"Told you stay behind…I can handle this…" Niko growled at him.
A sharp pain that followed, momentarily distorted the sound of her voice. He was on his knees, wondering why everything looked so fuzzy. He shook his head, closing and opening his eyes. His vision recovered, he saw he shot the women in the shoulder. She was starting to retreat, while Niko dashed past him and chased her toward the elevators.
He finally looked down to see what's causing him such pain. A handle of a knife stuck out from the right side of his stomach. Must have been the second knife the blondie threw, hitting him just as he jumped across. He pulled it out in one fast move, feeling, but disregarding, the pain.
His eyes on the two women, he zipped up his jacket, gritted his teeth and stood up. The blondie was by the elevator doors with a knife ready to throw and Niko was slowly advancing towards her. He pointed the pistol but couldn't get his aim right. His hand was shaky and the pistol seemed to have gained a few pounds. He knew it will be all decided in the next second.
"Niko!" he cried out. The knife flew from the hand of the blondie. It was a low throw and Niko avoided it by jumping up, then leaped forward and cut the woman diagonally through her torso.
The woman dropped on her knees, the blonde strands of her hair covered her face.
"Did he send you?" he heard Niko asking.
She lifted her chin just enough so that her derisive smile was seen beneath her hair. "I wish I could have just killed you….but get ready, bitch, others will come… ". Her head lowered again. "At least I die in his service…."
Niko brought her sword high up and when the blade came down, the blondie's head detached.
"Wanna tell me what's this all about?" he asked, looking at the blondie's headless body.
Niko pouted her lips and turned away from him, jerking her sword to the side. Drops of blood fell off the blade and splashed near him. She seemed to be affected by some emotion he could not understand.
"Great," he muttered to himself and squatted by the body. The pain in his stomach hit him hard again, causing him to loose balance. He leaned forward pressing his hand on the woman's chest. There was no way to avoid the awkward feeling as he stared at the headless neck, feeling the softness of the breasts beneath his palm.
He checked the remaining body and found one knife still attached on the stripes at the back of her t-shirt. There were also similar but empty stripes on the insides of her jacket, including the sleeves, all positioned in a way to make the knives invisible to another person. He proceeded to her pants, finding a small pack of ammo in the back pocket, a lipstick and a crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded the paper and read what was scribbled on it. An eerie feeling set within him with as he struggled through the messy handwriting: scar - right cheek/ blind - sunglasses or other eye cover/ black hair, pale face, skinny/CAUTION! wooden stick – skilled with sword.
"You coming?…The zeds will fill up this place any minute…"
He hid the paper in his pocket and looked for Niko. She was examining sunglasses at the stand near the revolving door, trying on several of them and throwing away those she didn't like, one after another, until she found the ones she was satisfied with. He decided not to doubt her words this time and got on his feet, with much difficulty. The growls were heard and soon after first walkers began to appear, stumbling over the stairs, which lead from their floor to the one below.
He picked up the bow and both guns. Resting his eyes on the head of the blondie, he put his hand under his jacket, and touched carefully over his wound. When he pulled it out, his palm was smeared with blood. The knife must have pierced something important.
"She wanted to kill you," he said to her as he readied the bike, saying nothing of the small piece of paper in blondie's pocket, which so obviously described Niko.
"Nope, she wanted to kill you. She never aimed at me for a kill."
"Oh yeah, why's that?"
"I don't know why," she replied annoyingly.
It was a long day and his patience was bleeding out just as the blood from his wound in the abdomen. He pinned her against the bike. "You do know why and you do know who….and you will tell me, otherwise…" His head felt suddenly very light. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the vampire's mouth on her pink t-shirt.
"Heeey, you're okay? Are you injured?" Her hand gently pushed him back.
"It's nothing," he gasped. "We'll talk about this later, now let's go back, before those walkers squeeze themselves through the door."
"You sure?"
"Yes, dammit, get on the bike already!"
He didn't want to tell her about the injury. She'd want to take charge, not letting him drive the bike and probably have some odd ideas of what to do next, and he had no strength to argue. It's not that bad, he kept telling to himself, he just needed to get back to the prison and then he'll take care of the wound.
But it was bad and he experience that fully as he struggled to lift the leg across the seat and even more when her hands embraced him tightly, just over the stomach.
He heard her ask one more time if he was okay. He could only nod, after that he used every bit of his remaining strength to stay conscious and control the bike.
Thanks for reading. Any comments are most welcome! :)