Chrissie shook herself from her reverie and stroked Shadow¡¯s coat. As she sat in the base of? what used to be a large oversized fountain, she noticed how the light outside had taken on a dusky quality. More darker than light nowadays. She had been traveling for the past three months, never staying in the same place too long, moving steadily down what was once the Eastern Seaboard through shattered communities, moving as quickly and as inconspicuous as she could.? Matthew had given her those specific instructions before he¡he¡
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¡°I remember when I met you,¡± he whispered. His normally sexy lilt broken and shallow by the deep ragged breathes he gaspingly took.? ¡°It was your eyes¡they pulled me in first¡then it was that sexy as voice of yours¡±
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?¡°Matthew please, hush. Conserve your energy.¡±
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He tried to laugh but only managed to cough up bloods that splattered upon her face. She didn¡¯t notice. Her only thought was the fact that she was losing her husband. The one person she loved more than anything in the world.
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¡°For what love? I am a dead man.¡±
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¡°Shut up!¡± Chrissie screamed, hitting him in his shoulder. ¡°Don't say that,¡± she said, tears beginning to roll rapidly down her mocha cheek.
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He grunted at the hit to his shoulder which in turn caused her face to flush green in worry and her concern to be full for him once again. He chuckled then, which was just as weak of a sound as his once vibrant voice. ¡°Then it was your hornet-like temper.¡± He smiled and touched her cheek with a shaky hand, his fingertips growing cool to the touch as he wiped the wetness from her skin.
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Matthew had been fatally injured when marauders raid the small makeshift community that they had sought refuge in. Somehow, they had heard that hiding amongst the refugees was not only a woman, but a pregnant woman to boot. Finding such a commodity, they wanted the female for themselves.
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The raiders swooped down upon them so quickly; there was just no way to defend everyone. When all was said and done, at least one of the three women had been taken and eight out of the ten men lay dead or dying¡ªMatthew had been amongst the casualties.
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Chrissie wanted to stay with him, to never leave him even as his injuries claimed his life, but he would not hear it.
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"You can¡¯t stay here. If they return, I will not be able to protect you. Do not make me break my word.¡± her husband said referring to his vows to her upon their wedding day.
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¡°I do naught wanta leave ya ¡®ere¡ta die...just like¡like¡some animal,¡± she said tears in her eyes, her head lying upon his chest as she collapsed into his strong arms, hot salty tears burned her cheeks to drip upon his blood stain shirt. Cold and all-consuming fear shook her soul. He was dying and there was nothing she could do to help him¡to stop it.
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¡°There is nothing anyone can do for me, love,¡± he panted. ¡°¡now¡go.¡±
Chrissie shook her head. ¡°No, I will naught leave ya. Please don't make me.
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¡°Please.¡± She begged him in Haitian Creole. ¡°Please,¡±
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A hand cupped her cheek raising her head so that he could look into the lovely green eyes he loved. His words were soft as he spoke back in her native tongue. ¡°I cannot¡make you, my love. All¡I can do is repeat¡to you¡your words to me... Please.¡± Her head again dropped to his chest. Her body rocking sobs shook him as she lay upon him. She felt his hand in her hair, stroking. ¡°I¡love you,¡± he whispered.
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After a few moments Chrissie nodded, the fog of tears clouding her vision. She kissed his hand first then his lips, her tears rolling to coat their joined lips.
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¡°Promise¡me you¡won¡¯t¡look back,¡± he whispered against her ear as he held her tight and nuzzled her close.
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Reluctantly, with a heavy-heart, Chrissie let go of his hand, covered her hair with the man¡¯s oversize hat and hurried away from him, not breaking her promise¡never looking back, leaving him to meet his end on his own--alone. That had hurt her so badly, to leave him behind as if she didn¡¯t know him, as if he meant nothing to her.
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"Why?" she had asked herself so many nights. "Why did he make me leave him? Why did he send me away?"
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To keep you safe she had heard his voice in her mind.
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Thoughts of past pain caused her eyes to overflow with water. First, only one lone tear rolled down her cheek, followed by two, then three, then several more. The emotion of the past shaking her soul causing the moisture to roll like an avalanche from her eyes snowballing until all the pain of her ordeal gripped her heart, constricted her chest, halted her breath and would not let go.
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Despite the fight to the contrary, Chrissie could not prevent the dam from breaking and the feelings of despair at the loss of her husband and family, her life and world, took over to the point where soon her face, hands, and chest were wet with her tears.
Her whole body shook softly in her pain. Her now calloused, but still delicate hands dabbed at her eyes with one of her most cherished possessions¡ªthe handkerchief with his initials upon it--MC.
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Shaking her head, she frowned. She could not face her life like this, all red faced and puffy eyed. What would Matthew say?
~This is not you Chrissie. You are strong and brave. Tears do not become you. Besides, how do they help? ~
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~They help me to cope¡to live¡to come to terms with everything. ~
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~No beloved. You help you to cope, to live, to come to terms with everything. Tears will only give you a headache and make you less beautiful than you really are. Fix your face, open your eyes and stop the grieving, Chrissie. It changes nothing. Be the strong woman I know you to be. The woman I married and fell in love with. The one that took me on in the marketplace. ~
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Chrissie chuckled at the memory his words caused. Opening her eyes then, she felt his presence all about her. He had always called her his queen. Had always said her parents had named her right when they chose the name for her.
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Nodding, she sat up, sat back, sat strong. Chrissie decided right then that she would not cry for him, not another drop. He did not want that. So, she would not do it...not ever again.
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She was tired as she sat by the fire. The air was growing cold and the night seemed to be getting darker and darker. She would be lying if she refused to acknowledge to herself that she was indeed very much afraid. She had no idea what would happen to her, her life, her family now. As she stared off into the night, the shattered terrain circling her from all sides, just as the darkness of the night's hopelessness felt as if it would strangle her, Chrissie heard moving coming towards her.
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Chrissie pulled the long-sleeved shirt more tightly around her shoulders and listened to the sounds of the night. It was silent now. That gave her pause. Once upon a time she thought silence meant safety. Because sometimes she still had dreams about the night the raiders came and all the screams and chaos that followed, ofttimes Chrissie simply wanted the blessing of silence in her head. Now she realized that silence was just as dangerous as the noise that followed her where she went. Maybe more so now that she was alone. So, as she stood straining to listen, she was only met with more silence.
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Was it right to worry? She knew Shadow was nearby, the wolf never strayed more than a few hundred feet away from her if he could avoid it, so he could help her if need be. But if they were armed¡What was she talking about there was nothing there. Wait, was that a noise she heard? Could it be the sounds of his overgrown nails clicking on the broken pavement??
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Crouching lower than the shadows, Chrissie squinted her eyes to see beyond the gates of what once had been a park. There was less pavement here, and a few bent, burned out trees, and twisted playground equipment that had been stripped for anything that might be useful.
But nothing¡
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There was an old fountain where rain water collected. Was it there that she saw movement? She brought the bow up to her arm and aimed, holding completely still as she waited for the movement to return.
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±·´Ç³Ù³ó¾±²Ô²µ¡
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Had it been just the wind? Chrissie doubted it.? There were things out here, things beyond just the food to be hunted, the noises in the wind told her as much and she had to be careful not to bring those things to her.
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She had long since stopped thinking foolishly. She had learned from experience--hard painful experiences that not all who survived were welcoming and waiting to gather in brotherly harmony to sing Kumbaya around the campfire¡ªthere were ones who were left who were out for self, Matthew had taught her that.
And as thus she needed to be out for self too.
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But was she alone here now. Waiting¡waiting¡and just as the feeling of foreboding felt as if it would strangle her, Chrissie heard what she knew was movement coming towards her closer now than before. Matthew's final words came into her mind then. 'Stay in the shadows, keep out of sight.'
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Tsking, she caught Shadow¡¯s attention and pointed for him to move. Scrambling, Chrissie kicked dirt upon the fire to put it out. She made sure her long brown red hair was tucked into her dark camouflage army cap that was a part of her disguise--oversize men¡¯s clothing. It was important that she looked like a large heavy-set man not what she was.
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Once the fire was out, she gathered her belongings and made a mad dash for the shadows of trees and brush that surrounded her. Once she reached it, she crouched down low and put her hand over her mouth to staunch her heavy breathing and just watched and listened.
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The noise drew closer and closer to where the fire had been. Soon there were three armed men standing there. With two more coming upon them in old military style jeeps.
"Could have sworn I saw smoke coming from over here ..."
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"Don't seem at all wise for the idiot to draw attention to himself like that..."
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"Shut up, and search around."
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The other two men jumped from the vehicles joining the other two as they started to look around.
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"Over here,¡± shouted one as he came across the half-buried fire pit and crouched down to touch it. ¡°It¡¯s still warm!"
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At that the other three all grip their weapons, fanning out.
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"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." one teased with sinister glee
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Callahan held a finger up to his mouth in a signal for silence,? and pointed out a thin column of smoke not too far from them. There were shouts in the distance. ¡°What do you think that¡¯s all about?¡± he asked the woman with the long hair about the commotion.
He rolled his eyes expressively at her, ¡°I suppose you aren¡¯t interested and we should let whoever it is fend for themselves?¡± Callahan didn¡¯t think that his new companion was a bad person, just that she had been burned badly in the past. If she was as callused as she tried to project that she was¡ She wouldn¡¯t have shot that crazy that tried to eat him.
But he wouldn¡¯t try and strongarm her into thinking the same way he did. Although when a jeep drove in the direction of all the hubbub, his brows arched upward. ¡°Hey, that could be useful¡±.
James frowned. She saw the smoke and knew that smoke meant survivor. And sometime survivors wanted to be alone. ¡°Sounds like a plan to me.¡± She said?
But More often than not they didn¡¯t there was safety? Which meant¡
Damn.?
When the vehicle went by she her curiosity was piqued. She knew that a Jeep would be a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it meant faster travel. A curse because just like they wanted it from whoever had it now, someone would want it from them. Which meant trouble.
She a few questions about it though. With all the rain she was surprised it wasn¡¯t rusted out and with very little gas she wondered how it ran. Must have supped it up to bio-fuel.
She watched the swirl of smoke in the distance. She had her sword, her axe, two guns, a few throwing knives and a box of ammo. ¡°How much fire power you got.¡± She said as she turned towards the smoke.
¡°Got a couple magazines for the pistol on me, maybe a double fistful of rounds for the rifle. Couple extendable batons, oh yeah¡ and Henry¡± he replied quietly patting the large sheathed knife belted behind his waist. It was big, and it took AJ a long time to get use to it. The bowie knife had been his father¡¯s, and if there was one weapon he never left behind it was the old hunting blade.
He frowned slightly, ¡°I don¡¯t like screwing around with the uninfected¡±. They were humans just trying to survive like them. They seemed organized, it was probably too much to ask that they be scavengers with morales like himself, or his mysterious companion. He had a bad feeling about them, usually it was bullies that traveled in such large packs.
¡°But that car could be real helpful¡.¡± he added, it wasn¡¯t like he didn¡¯t notice the hitch in the hooded woman¡¯s giddy-up although she hid it well. But he was sure if he brought it up she dump his ass and hobble off into the sunset. AJ smiled at her, ¡°Wanna¡¯ go assess the situation, Hood, what¡¯s it gonna hurt?¡± Hey, he had to call her something other than girl.
If it was out of their league, they could just bail...right?
James took in his firepower and just how far they smoke for them. The people they were tracking had a vehicle. Could they make it in time to really do any good if they were up to no go? Or it could be an encampment. And they could have just been out hunting for for and supplies. Either way they had to play this carefully.
Turning, and ignoring her badly swelling leg, James began to walk towards where the vehicle went. ¡°We are definitely out number and possibly out gun. We do this slowly and quietly and since you have the rifle if you can get high, that would give us a bit of an advantage.¡±
