After the End

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"There's a saying about making assumptions. If you don't already know it, then you should learn." He stated, keeping his hold despite her struggles for freedom. Easier said than done, she had a lot of fight in her, it taking a bit of effort for the male to keep her pinned to the wall, though inevitably he managed it, being more noticeably muscular than she was. After a moment's pause, he furthered his words by adding, "And I never said I would kill you." Certainly he had threatened that he could, but that was certainly a different concept from would. "You're the only one who keeps bringing it up."
 
She turned her head away from him, a defiant scowl touching her face. "Whatever you're going to do to me, just get it over with. I don't care anymore." Her struggles ceasing, she fell limp in his hold, squeezing her eyes shut as she steadied herself for the sound of his pants unzipping or the feeling of a knife slitting her throat. In truth, she did care, but she saw that there was no point in fighting anymore. He was obviously stronger than she was, and there was no way that she could get out of his grip in the position she was in. Feeling tears stinging the backs of her eyes, she forced them down, not wanting him to see her crying.
 
"You're a very pessemistic one," he noted idly, at first not moving as he seemed lost in thought, but after a moment he moved back and let her go, one hand snatching up the knife he had secured to his belt and twirling it by it's handle in a fashion much akin to boredom, the other hand stuffing partway into one of his pockets, shifting his weight back onto one leg as he surveyed her with a keen eye. "I could, as you so aptly put, 'do whatever I want with you', but that seems a bit barbaric to me, and I'd like to at least think to myself I'm more than another of those de-evolved knuckledraggers seen so often Above."
 
As soon as he let her go, she had to resist the urge to simply run away again. She didn't, though, knowing full well that he would just catch her again, much in the same way, but next time he might not let her go. "Right," she spat out with a sarcastic tone to her voice as he said that he liked to think of himself better than those in the gangs, but she did take note of his sudden change in speech patterns. Just a couple seconds ago, he had sounded like any number of gang members Above, but now he was speaking like someone had taught him how to talk properly. How unusual.

"What do you want from me?" she asked him. After all, why else would he have chased after her like that?
 
He seemed to ponder the question to himself, as though perhaps he was still figuring it out for himself, or perhaps simply deciding on how to present it, before he finally answered. "Call it what you will, ulterior gain, survival interest..." he left a momentary pause. "But to sum it up, it takes skill and at least some level of intellect to survive alone in the Above, and I could gain from some survival-savvy company." He realized even before he made this statement that he was giving away his earlier bluff, when he pretended to be a gang member, but he figured it hardly mattered by this point. That approach hadn't exactly worked under the circumstances in the way that he had originally planned, so he didn't deem it necessary to keep up the charade, and the fact of the matter was that he was just as much on his own as she was, and thus more vulnerable. Truly, survival was merely that of a ticking time bomb. Once the numbers hit zero, that was it, boom. Game over.

Noticeably he was a lot more soft-spoken than their first meeting not more than fifteen minutes before had implied, one might almost say 'gentlemanly', not at all like most who dwelled in the Above, and certainly not the gangs.

"You could probably gain from the plus one to your little one-person team. That is of course assuming that you're willing."
 
"Yeah, one-person team," she repeated, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't need anyone else. How do I know that you won't try to kill me in my sleep and take my things?" She frowned, watching his movements and determining whether or not she could make a run for it and get away. Probably not.

"I...I don't want to...can't take that risk." Too many times she had trusted someone and was betrayed by them immediately after. No way could she make a mistake like that ever again. Wanting nothing more than to make a run for it, she shuffled around uncomfortably, her hair falling in her eyes only to be impatiently pushed away.
 
"Because I could have simply slit your throat just moments before and done just that, with no extra hassel to myself. Because I could have done whatever I wanted that may not have been to simply slit your throat and take your supplies. I could give you any number of reasons, ultimately though, I can't really dictate why or if you can trust me. Trust is earned, not forced. You could trust me, or agree to work with me and not trust me...or you could just high-tail it. It's up to you what you do with yourself and your beliefs and trusts, I have nothing to do with that." He stated simply, albeit somewhat long winded. "If you don't want to trust me, then don't. Simple as that."
 
She looked down at her worn shoes in a state of indecision. Finally, after what must have been a minute of deliberating over any of the options she could choose, she finally sighed before saying, "Fine. We can be partners...for now. But doublecross me and I'll slit your throat so quickly you won't know what hit you. Got that?" Her logic had been sound, in her eyes. Having someone else around would mean that she could get more sleep at night, if she ever decided to trust him enough to let him watch over her as she slept. He could help find food and water, watch her back...As long as he didn't make any funny moves, he could prove useful to her, and once he had destroyed her trust, which he was bound to do, she could run away and be done with it, returning to how things normally went. "As long as you can keep up with me," she added, before adjusting her backpack and running down the street, wanting to find somewhere safe for the night soon.
 
"Dually noted," he replied casually with a slight shrug of his shoulders, not at all surprised and having expected such distrust. At the moment he only considered it a mutual partnership of shared needs, certainly not one of trust.

For now, he'd just see how this played out. While she suspected him of being the type who would indeed betray her, a perfectly understandable fear given that they were strangers - who met on either side of a deadly weapon no less - there was nothing to say she wouldn't try and do the same to him. He certainly wouldn't drop his guard any time soon, and he was certain she wouldn't either. As he watched her turn and bolt, he murmured, "Funny, as I recall it, I managed to keep up just fine," giving his knife one last twirl before sheathing it at his belt once more and giving chase. He managed to keep pace relatively easily, being well adapted to running and athletics, and decided to just let her lead to somewhere deemably safe.

My last place was too small for two anyway.
 
As they ran, she was scoping out some of the buildings they ran past, taking only a couple seconds to deem if one was good enough to live in. Location was everything. If she was too close to gang territory, there was a chance that it was used for couples to get a private place for a few hours or where bodies were dumped, and she didn't want to accidentally walk in on something or stumble upon a cache of rotting bodies.

A couple hours passed, and as the sun was just beginning to set behind the buildings, she found a decent enough warehouse that looked abandoned. Pointing it out, she turned towards it, climbing in through a window in the back that she slipped through easily, though her partner might have some trouble getting through. It was tiny, and even she had to squirm and wriggle around to get through it. Still, there were plenty of other windows, and she turned from the wall, waiting for him while she scoped out the building.

Finding a set of stairs that led up to a catwalk connected to a series of offices, she went up them, deciding that she could get a better vantage point from up there and that the offices might provide a better place to sleep in.
 
At the moment, he had only decided to tag along, letting the girl lead and only planning on piping in his two cents if she chose a building that he didn't like the looks of or looked risky. When they found an old warehouse, he let her go first. The window as a bit higher up and narrow, but he figured he could manage it, overshooting just above it by a small amount so he could slip inside feet-first, figuring it would be easier to fit this way. It was still a tight feet, but after a bit of manouevering and a few sore spots later, he managed to get in, landing on his feet and dusting himself off.

Well, at least no one bigger than me will be able to fit in that way. Any doors or metal garage sliders were a different story, but the noise would be more noticeable and he'd be awake and ready long before anyone managed to break in. Gazing around in the darkness, he kept an eye out for any signs of movement that weren't the girl he'd followed, fumbling with his bag for a match and lantern for a moment before illuminating it a bit more with the dim firelight. His eyes were well-honed to the dark that constantly blanketed the land and visibility but it was still mere perception of objects and opaque forms. A person or beast sitting still or skulking through the dark silently was easily missed if one wasn't careful, but it seemed just as empty as the still darkness had first told him.

Since it seemed the bottom floor was clear, he followed her up the stairs to the second story, old metal steps creaking and popping dully underfoot, but compared to some of the other places he had seen this one wasn't in terrible condition.
 
As soon as she got to the top floor with the offices, she drew out her pistol, hoping that it would be enough to scare off whoever might be up there. Hearing the guy behind her, she ignored him as she tried to open the first of the offices. The door opened with several creaks and moans, but in a few seconds it was open and she was able to scope out the room without any trouble. Checking the corners carefully, she wished she had some sort of light with her, but fuel for a lantern was hard to come by, and trading with the gangs was out of the question. But it appeared that her partner already had that covered.

Pointing inside the room, she said, "Check there's no one in there. I don't want to be ambushed while I'm asleep." Without waiting for a confirmation, she walked to the next office, checking it again before giving him almost the same order. In the bigger of the two, she said, "We can sleep here tonight...We should get a better place tomorrow, since this warehouse feels like it's about to fall over." Stamping a foot on the metal catwalk for an example, the hollow noise echoed through the air, making it feel even more empty than it was.
 
He could have been insulted with how she seemed to order him around to do this and that but for the moment he let her have her fun playing leader, checking the rooms as he followed her about with a bit of light but there were no other residents besides a few mice and rats that hadn't expected to be disturbed and scampered away to hide between objects. Other than that, it was clear. When she announced finding somewhere else afterwards, he added absently and with a shrug, "It wouldn't be very wise to stick around any one place long anyway."

Since he had searched the place out, he snuffed out the lamp, trying to save up the oil as much as was possible, letting his eyes readjust to the dark for a moment. Stuffing the light away back into his pack, he dropped it on the ground before sliding down to sit himself, making himself comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as he was bound to get.

"You never told me what your name was," he pointed out casually almost immediately after getting himself situated.
 
"And you never told me what yours was," she answered immediately, setting her bag down before sitting in front of it, her legs crossed as she looked in his general direction. "I think I like it how it is, anyways. You don't need to know my name, I don't need to know yours. Not until I decide whether or not I can trust you." She nodded in the dark, not sure if he could see her and not really caring.

Shifting around, she set herself against a wall, leaning against it with her legs in front of her, knife in hand. I will not let him anywhere near me, she decided, the blade glinting with what little light there was. By the time it got fully dark outside, they wouldn't be able to see anything, even silhouettes, but she still wanted to stay awake throughout the night, just in case he got any funny ideas.
 
He only shrugged his shoulders somewhat in the darkness, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned his back against the wall behind him.

"Suit yourself, if that's how you want it." He replied, not at all put off. He fell silent by this point and simply tried to make himself comfortable, though comfort may have been and was more often then not a losing battle. Either way, he closed his eyes and tried to get some rest, only ever partially asleep, his senses alert for even the faintest signs of movement or sound, and his hand never far from his own knife.
 
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For the longest time, she didn't fall asleep at all, instead focusing on the soft sounds that the warehouse would make, trying to determine which ones were just the building settling and which ones could be the sounds of footsteps on the metal catwalk leading to the offices. Eventually, however, sleep tugged at her eyelids, and the moment she told herself that she would give herself five minutes to sleep, she was out. Of course, she wouldn't actually let herself sleep, she was too well-trained for that, but she was less focused and in a state of half-sleep.

The change from darkness to the semi-light that was daytime assaulting her eyes forced her awake in the morning. Fingers stiff from clutching her knife overnight, she sat up, stretching and groaning. "Get up," she said to him, putting her knife in her pack.
 
The young male's eyes flicked open immediately and he gazed over sidelong. Really he was only partially awake, still feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. Sleep hadn't really been very restful, but then it almost never was. It was semi-light out with the rising sun...the only of two times light ever truly shown, sunrise(and sunset) before the sun pulled above the clouds and would turn into a dim filtering of grey and almost as shadowy and dark as night again. A soft groan passed his lips, not really caring if she overheard it or not, even as he sat up more and massaged his neck and collarbone with one hand.

"You certainly rouse early," he commented dryly, still blinking sleep from his eyes and not really enjoying the hour. He could do with a little later in the day but he assumed his shakily-allied 'partner' would just be off without him and he'd be stuck entirely on his own again. Not an unbearable or uncommon status but one he was hoping to avoid for now. As it was he hadn't been able to sleep the first few hours of night, and even had he been in a more secure place to hide away, his mind hadn't let him fully rest with her around, since he didn't know if he could trust her yet not to slit his throat in his sleep just as much as she was afraid he would do.
 
"Yeah," she answered in response to his comment, but said nothing more, only gathered her things. "You never know what comes out in the night...There could be something downstairs that could come up here and kill us if we'd slept any longer." Knowing that her logic had holes the size of trucks in it, she hoped that he wasn't too keen on it. Slinging her bag over her shoulders, she said, "We should leave soon...no telling if anyone saw us come in here yesterday..."

Without waiting for an answer, she left the office, her bones popping as she moved. Taking the stairs two at a time as she went down, she was careful not to trip. In a world like now, getting a broken leg or arm could kill you. "We need to get some food today," she called up to him, reaching around to her bag to unzip a pouch and take out a small can of tuna. Wrinkling her nose at it, she sighed before taking her knife out, cutting off the top of the can. Eating on the run was a skill she had developed over time, and she was now good enough to eat any sort of food out of a can while running. "Let's go," she said in between mouthfuls of tuna, forcing down the smelly fish. It's probably expired, she thought to herself as she approached the window she had gotten in through.
 
He only hummed slightly in response, knowing that if anything substantially large or dangerous had entered, he probably would have picked up on it. At worst, he figured a cat or a very large rat might have crawled in somewhere. Nothing too much to handle, but still potentially problematic if the animal might've been infected with diseases. Either way, he didn't comment. Sometimes erring on the side of caution was better than just assuming things would go right and becoming careless.

With a slight sigh under his breath, he stood up and rolled his muscles and joints a little as he followed while simultaneously slinging his bag over his shoulder, his gaze sweeping around the dimly lit warehouse as he followed her, only humming in response as she announced their need to find food. Unfortunately he didn't have a store of any rations on him presently. He'd had the opportunity some time before meeting her, but it had been questionable at best and he'd decided it not worth the risk of making himself sick and depleting his already low stores of energy. In an age where starvation was common and there was no source of medical care to correct illness, getting food poisoning and wasting the body's strength was just not an option for those that cared enough to survive, especially those that didn't have the protection of a group, and even then it could be seen as a weakness to be culled from the herd, so to speak.

Silently his stomach clenched tightly at the very thought of food, a feeling that he was wholly used to but never stopped being just as much unpleasant as it was the first time, his gaze shifting up to the small window and wondering if he even wanted to try squeezing through it today or if he'd just try and find another exit.
 
As soon as she had gotten through the window, she had begun running, sprinting down the alleyway towards a cluster of buildings that she had known the gangs had left for a while. With luck, she would be able to find something that they left behind, and use it to trade with a few of the others like her who hid just beyond the notice of the gangs. If you knew where to look, one could find them quite easily, and there were always a few looking for the things that gangs would leave behind or overlook.

Stopping at the edge of the alleyway, she called to him, "Hey, you coming?" They didn't have all day, and if she was lucky, she had gotten up before most of the gangs did. Turning back to the direction she was going in, she dumped the now-empty can of tuna, leaving it for those worse off than her to find it and scavenge over what was left.
 
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