He still didn't understand where he was.
The ground was grassy and soft with the falling of darkness he couldn't see too far. It was just like walking through any green space.
Now that he was aware of being wounded he actually started to feel the pain with each step. The girl kept shooting him concerned looks but he walked as straight as he could, regardless. They soon reached a large tree where she told him to sit. Alex wasn't used to a girl telling him what to do but somehow his legs buckled regardless.
"Let me see." She tried to lift his shirt but the darkness made it difficult to see clearly. There was more blood than he'd expected. "Here, use this!" She uncoiled a long strip of fabric from her hair, causing thick braids to fall from the bun at the back of her head onto her shoulders into more of a ponytail. Folding it into a pad she handed it to him "Use this to put pressure on the wound. How do you feel?"
"I'll be okay to continue."
"Good. Because I can't carry you." Involuntarily the corner of his mouth fractionally raised into what could almost be described as the beginnings of a wry smile. But it wasn't enough of a movement to be noticed and she continued humorlessly, "It takes about twenty five minutes to walk to my home from here seeing as you took us farther away." He didn't know why but somehow she'd decided that she was going to help him. He didn't deserve her help. Thirty minutes ago he'd had a gun to her head and every intention of killing her just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The facts remained the same. Either he was going to have to kill her himself or let somebody else do it. As far as he was concerned she was already walking dead. They both were. Unaware of his thoughts, she looked down at herself again and rubbed the patch of blood on her front. "Noooo! My dad's already going to kill me for getting home after curfew!"
"You live with your dad?" The idea of it made him nervous.
She looked at him incredulously as if it should be obvious to him. "Of course!"
"So..." Where the hell was she taking him?
She shot him an expression that smacked of exasperation with an undercurrent of something a little harder that surprised him. "So you have you have a choice, go back and be killed by men like you, or come with me and make yourself useful."
"Useful?"
She nodded. "Yes. To me. Very useful."
That definitely piqued his interest. How could he possibly be useful to her? Did she want him to kill somebody for her? For some reason she didn't seem the type to want that. And there was another, more pressing issue which caused him to frown. "So you're taking me into your Sector. Won't I be harmed?"
She cast him an unreadable expression. "Why do you think that? Is it because you're a spirit?"
That was a new term to him. "Spirit?"
"Spirit. Ghost. Pale person. We've had your kind in our Sector before you know. People might stare a bit but you won't come to any harm." She chuckled bitterly, "That being said, I'm sure the same wouldn't apply to me in your Sector. I've heard all about what can and what does happen to people who look like me there!" He opened his mouth to disagree then closed it again because deep down he couldn't. It's just the way it was. Some kinds of people just didn't belong. Instead he allowed her to continue to speak. "Try not to judge everyone to the standards of your people. The more I learn the more I find out about a thing called injustice. Not all people are judged equally, not all Sectors are viewed as equal and people like me are rarely given chances. So on the rare occasions that they do actually come along, we have to take them, regardless of the risk. You are my chance and I'm taking you!" She looked back at his blood stained clothing and the hard edge of her voice softened a little. "Besides, you're wounded. It would be wrong of me to leave you."
Alex knew better than to attempt a reply before knowing more about this situation bizarre situation he'd found himself in. Breaking out of her thoughtfulness she strained to look at her watch in the darkness. "We need to move faster. Nothing good happens out here this late."
He still had no true concept of where 'out here' actually was but he followed her regardless. The pain was worsening as he walked but he didn't want to alarm her. The idea of her being in control pissed him off but at this point he had no better ideas. It wasn't as if he could just go back. The bounty on his head would be huge and every single trigger happy lowlife would be eagerly considering it theirs.
They walked in silence for a several minutes before she suddenly stopped, wiping at her clothes and loudly kissed her teeth again. 'I'm never going to be able to explain away this blood!"
Pausing, she looked down at herself for a moment before undoing the hoodie she was wearing over her uniform and turning it inside out so that the blood was no longer visible. He tried not to notice that the diner uniform she was wearing underneath fit her to perfection, as if it had been made specifically for her unique shape. She was talking again, handing the top over to him. "Wear this to cover yourself."
He took it and silently put it on, the strain of stretching causing a sharp pain in his wound and even though she didn't acknowledge it, he knew that she saw him wince. "It's not far now, but there's a high chance of being spotted on this stretch." She pressed her hand over her mouth looked at him thoughtfully as if weighing up what she was going to do next. There was a moment's pause and exhale before a strange glint came into her eye as if she'd just had an idea. Finally spoke but this time with an edge of reluctance. "Look… whatever I may say or do from this moment on… just don't take it personally, I'm just doing what I can to keep you hidden. There's method to my madness, I promise." She frowned as if doubting herself, "There just isn't time to explain it all."
By now he was in too much pain to really care and he didn't even flinch when she reached up to pull the hood over his head. "Your hair is too distinctive," she muttered, suddenly looking significantly more nervous than she had moments before, "We're very close to the entrance to my Sector and I'm not the only one who sneaks Outside. People come out here when they don't want to be caught, especially after curfew."
Her cryptic statement simply confused him even more, but the pain meant that his focus now was mostly on the simple effort of staying upright. He was feeling more and more lightheaded by each moment and although he didn't want to concern her it was starting to worry him, knowing it would make him vulnerable. They carefully approached a small area of trees and she suddenly took his hand. In return to his questioning glance he was simply given a 'just go with it' expression. "Couples who aren't married come out here", was her simple and unhelpful hushed explanation.
They'd nearly made it through to the other side when they heard a twig snap and a giggle. Hushed voices slowly made their way towards them and there was no place to hide.
She tugged him towards her and backed herself against the nearest tree. It wasn't what he was expecting. "What-"
"Shhhh, just play along!"
Play along with what?
The answer was instantaneous. She pulled him close against her front and brought her hands up around his neck, bringing his face down to hers and kissing him on the lips. He instantly pulled back in shock but she kept her hands locked around his neck, forcing him back, her eyes desperately begging him to play along. So he did.
He let her kiss him. The kiss was clumsy and inexperienced but not entirely unpleasant. Without realizing it his hands had automatically settled themselves on her ample hips. It was a reflex action. Suddenly the sound of the giggle was directly behind his head and a female voice triumphantly announced "I caught you!"
His reflex was to reach for his gun but she held on to him tightly, raising her head and pulling his face into her neck. Despite the tinge of fried diner food, she still smelled good underneath, like she'd applied some perfume just before leaving. Without even thinking his lips found her pulse point. A second reflex, which allowed him to feel the vibration of her neck as she spoke out, "Please don't tell my dad!"
Her voice sounded scared, but it didn't quite have the tone of fear that it did when he was holding a gun to her head. Suddenly he understood. She was faking it!
And then it dawned on him. This was her plan. To keep his face and bloody clothing hidden while she dealt with whoever it was that spotted them. He continued to pretend to nuzzle lovingly at her neck, ever on guard to pull out his gun at the first opportunity. It contained a now empty clip because he hadn't had a chance to reload, but only he knew that.
"Diva is that you?" The voice came again. "Well shit! Talk about good girl gone bad! You're the last person I expected to see out here like this!"
He felt her body tense in his arms as she heard the words and formulated her response. "Yeah well you're the first person I'd expect to see here!"
This time the giggle was tinged with sarcasm. "Touché, Diva, touché!"
"Look, Rachel, we both know the drill. Neither of us were here and neither of us saw anything."
The voice sounded like it had come a little closer, making him hold on to the girl a little tighter as he listened carefully to the reply. "Of course. But I feel it my duty to warn innocent girls like you that what you're doing right now… that good shit is how babies get made!"
"And you'd know that better than anyone else!"
"Hey! Play nice! I'm just being a model Citizen. I know to keep my 'loose ways' outside the walls of your squeaky clean Sector. But good upright girls like you can get into trouble very quickly when you don't know what you're doing, and believe me, you want the fun to last without the consequences!"
He could feel the girl in his arms getting more and more annoyed at the words of the person behind but he continued to keep his face hidden, praying she would end the conversation quickly. Thankfully she did. "Yeah well I'd love to stay and chat but you can see I'm busy and I'm already late for curfew so let's just call it quits!"
"For now Diva, only for now. Goodnight loverboy!" There was the sound of her departure and then nothing. Suddenly he felt himself being rudely pushed away, only for her to apologize when he winced in pain.
"She's gone. Let's go. It's beyond late now!"
"Do you think she'll tell your dad?"
She smiled cryptically. "I'm counting on it!"
Alex didn't know what to make of that answer. This girl was a complete mystery to him and kept surprising him at every turn. He followed closely as she continued to move on quickly, acting as if what just happened had never happened at all.
Suddenly they were at a fence. He didn't see it in front of him but when he reached his hand forward he was touching it. Too much weirdness was going on for his liking. The girl expertly felt along the fence which was only now becoming visible because he was looking directly at it, and after a few seconds clearly found what she was looking for. A small push revealed it to be an entrance to her Sector. With only the briefest hesitation he followed her through and stepped directly onto a sidewalk. Turning back to where they'd come he expected to see the gate but saw nothing but a solid brick wall. It confused him. Maybe the blood loss was affecting his head.
The streets were deserted and they moved quickly and in the shadows. Now this he was used to. In one corner she did pause under a light and assess her uniform for blood. Satisfied there wasn't any she smoothed down her clothing. "Not far now!"
Five minutes more and a brief walk through a green space found them finally stopping at a single story house. Again she took his hand and this time she led him around the back.
"Wait here!" She helped him to sit underneath a darkened window and rapidly disappeared. He sighed, grateful for the rest. The constant travel had taken its toll, making him feel truly unwell and the prospect of being killed was suddenly becoming more and more appealing. It didn't feel right to leave his wellbeing in someone's hands especially when that someone was from Sector 17. And it wasn't just the Sector. It was also the fact that she was a girl!
Any other time he would fight this but right now he was feeling too weak. He knew that he'd lost blood and his energy was rapidly failing. Taking his gun and reloading it, he made sure that it was still within easy reach before sinking heavily against the wall that was propping him up and waiting for the girl with no name who strangely enough seemed to hold his fate in her hands…