11

Food

Elsa was looking up. She was in a corridor. Fluorescent lights flashed overhead. The armored man from the town walked with her on the right. On her left, Anna walked, mirroring the armored man. In unison their heads whipped over to look at her.
"She's awake." Anna said.
"Good." The man said. His voice was a low robotic rumble.
"I'm glad she got shot." Anna looked up at the man. "She deserved it." The armored man leaned in close to Elsa's face. The bright light from his mask blinded her. He took two fingers and shoved them deep into the spot where Hans had shot her. Pain coursed through her entire body.

Elsa shot upright in the cave. Her entire body protested. Her abdomen felt like it was on fire. She gasped and gripped her side, causing her even more pain. She collapsed back down on the ground. Her body hitting the hard floor, but her head landed on something soft. Anna let out a small yelp.
"Elsa?" Anna blinked her drowsiness away. "Oh my god you're awake! I was afraid that when I woke up you'd…" Her voice trailed off. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"How long was I out?" Elsa asked.
"Uh, I dunno. All night. Maybe like 8 hours?" Anna stood up and walked around to the other side of Elsa.
"We have to get moving." Elsa started to get up but Anna held her down. Her grip was soft, but forceful.
"No. You are not moving for at least a few days. You got shot Elsa."
"The best way for us to remain hidden is to stay on the move."
"I don't care."
"Anna, we have to…"
"No." Anna said, in her commanding voice. "You already got shot because of me, I'm not gonna let you get hurt even more. Besides, you can't get out of here by yourself and I'm not helping you. We are staying here until you get better." Elsa groaned. The odds of their capture escalated exponentially if they didn't move from their spot. The first thing Hans would do is set up a search radius. Then he'd work sweeps three, maybe four, teams at a time, depending on how many men he had left. Elsa had an inkling suspicion that Hans had a near limitless amount of resources. It was only a matter of time before they were found. They had to move. They had to get off this God forsaken island and Elsa couldn't do so if she was stuck in this cave. She wouldn't allow Anna to get hurt.

Elsa struggled to sit up. Once again, pain coursed through her body. She couldn't tell where the pain was coming from. It was as if every fiber of her being was burning. She grit her teeth. She forced her arms behind her and sat upright, using her arms to support her. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Did it usually hurt this much? Last time Elsa got shot was in the arm when she was, what? 17? Although a gunshot to the arm was different from one to the stomach, she didn't remember this much pain.

Anna watched and tried to keep an emotionless mask, although it was cracking a bit. Her arms were crossed. She bit her lip, most likely to stop her from saying something.

Elsa leaned forward, putting pressure on the wound. She let out a small cry as she felt something pop. A rib? Her arms were shaking and she collapsed back on the ground. Anna just watched. Elsa tried again, using the same method as before. She propped herself up by putting her arms behind her.
"Oh for Pete's sake Elsa. Stop, you're hurting yourself." Elsa laid back down.
"Anna, you don't understand."
"Okay, you know what. If you want to move so badly, fine. But we're going to wait until you're stronger alright? We'll get a meal in you, some water and then we'll figure something out?" Elsa just nodded. Her lips felt cracked and dry. She licked them.

Anna walked over to a puddle that had been left over from the night before. First she tried cupping her hands and bringing the water over to Elsa. That just ended up with drops of water across the ground. For a little while, Anna just paced back and forth. Elsa couldn't do anything but watch. Anna's eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers. She walked over to the bike and ripped off the cowl cover. A small plastic piece on the back of the bike for the second passenger. It was bowl shaped. Anna scooped some water up and brought it over to Elsa. Elsa gulped it down. Water spilled around the outside of her mouth. She coughed causing even more water to spurt onto the floor but she didn't care. All she felt now was the pain in her side and the hunger of her stomach.
"Easy, easy. Slow down." Anna said. Elsa wiped her mouth and set the bowl aside.
"You said something about food?" Anna smiled.

Anna clutched the baguette in her hand. By some miracle she was able to convince the baker to give her a leftover loaf. Anna thought Elsa would like that sort of thing. She and Elsa decided the best way to find food was to send Anna into town. She could pick up some scraps food and bring it back. Elsa said Hans and his people would be busy looking for them in the woods to even bother going to the city. Elsa almost made Anna take the gun with her but Anna insisted otherwise. She would be useless with it anyways. Elsa would be more useful crippled with that gun than Anna at full health.

The sun was shining. People were already back out on the streets. The destruction of yesterday's riots had vanished. It was as if nothing ever happened. A low hum of activity radiated throughout the town. Anna walked past a diner but backtracked and stood in front of it. Perhaps she'd be able to mooch off the waiters or waitresses here. She could get a free meal that she could take back to Elsa. Wouldn't she be proud of her then? Sent out to get scraps food only to return with a full loaf of bread and a full entrée! Ha! She could already picture Elsa's face. Jaw agape, eyes wide with surprise.

It was at this moment, traversing the patio area, where Anna passed by a small table where a man was sitting. He called out in a voice she recognized. Just the slightest trickle of his voice sent Anna into a rage.

"Please, sit." Hans said. With his glass, he gestured to the open chair in front of him. Anna glared. Her leg twitched. She constricted her grip on the food in her hand. Hans grabbed a mouthful of steak. He chewed it and sipped from a glass of wine. When he finished he wiped the crooks of his mouth with a napkin. "Please sit down. Don't make this more difficult than is has to be."

Anna scanned the patio. Tables and chairs of people engulfed her. A short fence separated the eating area from the street. People were eating around them. Food smacked in their mouths. Their words amalgamated into a meaningless chaos. Everyone was so blissfully ignorant of the evil dining amongst them.
"What do you want?" She spat.
"Right now, I just want you to sit." Hans took another bite of steak.
"And if I don't?" His silverware clacked on the plate. He stabbed a portion of steak with his fork and waved it in the air as he spoke. He swallowed the piece in his mouth.
"You don't really have a choice." Anna cast an eye over the patio. Opposite them, a man swirled his drink. His back straightened. His eyes bore into them. On the other side of the street, a black van hummed. A waiter interrupted her inspection of the scene.
"Can I get you anything ma'am?" Anna slumped into the seat. Still wary of the man in front of her.
"No." She said.
"She'd like a steak." Hans said. He locked eyes with Anna. "Another glass of wine for the lady as well." Hans looked up at the waiter. "Please." He flashed a fake smile. The waiter nodded and left.
"You know what's interesting about cows?" Hans said.
"They're not backstabbing pieces of shit?" Hans smiled.
"They're farmed to make great steak." Hans scooped up another bit of steak with his fork and shoved it in his mouth. "And they don't even know it."
"You're something else."
"Thank you."
"I didn't mean it as a compliment." Hans shrugged and returned to cutting the meat on his plate. "What are we doing here?"
"I'm eating dinner. I thought you would like a meal too and speak of the devil." The waiter walked up to them with a plate of steak and a glass of wine. He promptly set it down onto the table.
"Can I get anything else for you two?" He asked.
"I think we are fine thank you very much." The waiter nodded again and dipped away. "Ah. Well, dig in." Anna stared back at Hans. The plate remained untouched. "Seriously, darling, lady, Princess, whatever you like to be called, you're looking rather gaunt. Rough night? " He took another bite of steak and stared at Anna with a look that hinted at a shrug. She remained a steadfast deadpan. "Why are you looking at me like that? You look like you want to say something. You want to say something to me?" Anna glared in silence. "Lady, if you're gonna say something, say it. I don't have all day."
"You want me to say something? Okay then. Uh, how about fuck you."
"Oh this outta be good." Hans muttered.
"You're a vile fucking piece of shit! I hope you die. You nearly killed her Hans, me too. You shot an innocent person for no reason."
"An innocent person?"
"Yeah."
"Oh honey. She's hardly innocent now is she?" Anna sat back in her chair. Her arms crossed. "Oh you don't know? Oh, you think you know everything about her after, what 7 days? Well let me tell you something darling." Hans returned to cutting his steak. "You don't know the first thing about that… that machine." Hans' sawed into his steak with a knife. His motions grew more deliberate with every word. "That emotionless, vile, uncontrollable tornado of destruction. No. You don't know the first thing about her." Hans gulped another section of his steak down. "Do you have any idea, the amount of people she's killed? Like gimmie a rough estimate." Anna said nothing. "Oh come on this is no fun without a good guess. Anything. No?" He sipped his wine. "I've worked with her for nearly a decade right? In that time, I've seen, maybe 500 confirmed kills. And those are just the confirmed ones. And she didn't even know how to use a gun properly for the first few years." Anna kept her face emotionless.
"Is that you're attempt at trying to jar me?" Hans laughed and leaned back in his chair.
"Hardly." He chortled. Anna leaned in and spoke under her breath.
"What am I doing here Hans? You clearly don't want to kidnap me or kill me. You would've done that already."
"What an astute observation. We've got Sherlock Holmes on our hands over here." Hans laughed again. The noise stung Anna's ears. "No, I'm not here to talk about your skills at observation. I just wanted to tell you a little story about our mutual friend and then I'll send you on your merry little way, alright?" Anna rolled her eyes and flashed Hans a doubtful look. "Oh come on. Seriously. What can I say that'll convince you huh?" He raised his hands in the air in a shrug. "Okay look." Hans motioned with his hands towards the man at the table. The man straightened his jacket, stood, and walked towards the car. His motions were mechanized, unnatural. A brick wall. "Better?" Hans asked. "No security people to muddle things, just you and me. A real one on one talk. Heart to heart. Mano y Mano."
"That doesn't even make any sense."
"Okay." Hans' hands curled into fists and then released. He crossed his hands and then set them on the table. Slow and deliberate. He faked another smile. "I'm just trying to talk. Let me tell my story and then you can spout whatever bullshit you wanna say alright? Good. As all good stories start, once up on a time-"
"Seriously?"
"Please." Hans put his hand up. Anna mocked a sshhing face. "Like I was saying, once upon a time there was a little girl. Except this little girl was different. She had what you would call and uncanny ability to cause trouble. When she was 14 a nice man and his brother caught her breaking into a house. Not only that but this little girl happened to kill 3 people that day three, good friends of the brother. Three fully grown men killed by a 14 year old girl who would look at you with no remorse, only certain sense clarity, like she was trying to figure out the best way to kill you. Now, clearly the nice man was upset. His knew these men quite well too. His brother wanted to throw her into a dungeon but the nice man said no. He would take her in. Teach her how to control her destructive tendencies and then maybe, one day, she would be able to help people."
Hans leaned back in his seat and pulled out a cigarette. He offered one to Anna. Anna didn't move. He shrugged and put the remained back in his coat pocket. He lit the cigarette and took a long puff.

"Anyways, a few years later the nice man had been helping the girl control… whatever it was that she had, when one day, she shows up late. A small mistake for most people but for her." Hans let out another puff. "Well, things didn't turn out so well. You see, on that particular day, the nice man's brother wasn't have a good day. His wife was in the hospital. Leukemia, nasty business. Anyways, he had to bring his kid with him, just to stay in the back. He wouldn't be in the line of fire, Jesus he was only 4 at the time. So, you could say he was under a lot of stress and when this girl walked in late well…" Hans took another drag on his cigarette. "He didn't take it all too well." Hans paused for a moment in thought. The noise of the people around them filtered back into Anna's ears. She pretended to look uninterested but didn't know if she was succeeding or not. Hans continued

"He didn't hit her," Hans shook his head "he'd never had hit her. No he just scared her a little bit. Roughed her up. Kinda like a playful shove you'd give your friend but this girl… she wasn't our friend. Now, admittedly I wasn't there, I was out on a patrol but when I came back." Another drag on his cigarette. He stared off, recollecting past events. "She was just standing there. There were bodies everywhere. I mean all over the floor. I can't remember how many. One of them was that kid. He was fucking four years old." Hans brought a finger up to his throat and dragged it across. "Steak knife." He said. "And she was standing there, covered in blood. I mean like head to toe. See she didn't use any guns no, that'd be too easy. Too quick. Just sharp objects in the room. A coffee pot, nails, a letter opener, steak knife. When you get that close to someone." Hans motioned with his hands. An open palm curling into a fist. "It does something psychologically. You really have to want it. It's personal. But after I looked at her, even after everything that had happened. There was no remorse. No pain. Not even pleasure. She was empty. Her eyes were clear. She looked comfortable, relaxed. And that. Is the same person you're dealing with right now. As much as you don't want to admit it." Hans leaned back in his seat. Triumphant for finishing his tale. "She could kill you without even batting an eye."
"It's not like that." Anna said, her voice near a whisper. Hans laughed sarcastically.
"Oh really? What's it like then huh? You don't even fucking know her. Not like I do."
"Oh so what's your plan huh? You're gonna kill her because she killed a few people that you know." Hans just laughed.
"You don't have the slightest clue what's going on do you? That's not why we need her."
"We?"

Hans closed his eyes and composed himself. He pulled his jacket in, tugged on his sleeves and stomped out his cigarette. Anna's made steady eye contact. She was trying to come up with another witty retort. A sly comment to undermine his story but she came up empty handed. She had to admit, Elsa was dangerous. Hans had a point. But did that undo the last week she spent getting to know her?
"Listen, I'll give you an ultimatum. You get one day." Hans looked down at his watch. "Starting now." Hans stood up and pushed his chair in. "I'll be at the hotel, you just meet me there and tell me where she's at and we'll take her off your hands. You won't have to worry about her anymore. You can go back to doing whatever it is you do, and I'll go back to doing what I do. Alright?" Anna didn't respond. "24 hours" He said. He walked across the street and into the SUV. The SUV's tires spun and Hans left Anna in her seat. The steak on her table rapidly getting colder.

A/N: Hey guys, once again, late upload from what I said last week but I got caught up binge watching some TV so... yeah. Anyways, thanks for reading! If you hated it or have any advice, let me know by leaving a review, if you possibly enjoyed it slightly, let me know what you liked by leaving a review. Love the feedback. Thanks!
P.S. I'm thinking about going back and redoing some chapter so they are a little less... well, shit. It shouldn't change any big details though so, if you happen to go back and reread something, that's what happened.