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“Nothing bad, but they wanted to protect their research,” she replies, but she doesn’t seem sure. They probably didn’t tell her because it was above her paygrade. It’s not a surprise that they would hide a lab though. The government are shady bastards only looking out for the rich. Everyone in the slums knows that very well.
“The—the animal, is it still following us?” she inquires, lowering her voice.
I shrug. “Yep. It could be interested. I’m betting it doesn’t see humans often. It might be scared of us, or we simply wandered into its territory. I’m hoping if we remain calm and stay away, it will eventually lose interest and leave.”
“What kind of animal? Dog?” she whispers, her gaze going over my shoulder like she can spot it.
“Maybe, or a cat, but I’m thinking bigger. Maybe a wolf or a lion. Some escaped the city zoo when the wall went up.”
She covers her mouth to muffle a squeal, making me grin.
“What? You forgot how much was abandoned in the city? You’d be shocked at all the shit I’ve seen here.”
“Why do you do it?” she asks, meeting my eyes as I sidestep a huge bomb crater and tug her after me so she doesn’t fall in, since she’s too busy looking at me and not at her feet.
“Do what?”
“Come here?” she queries.
“Money,” I retort. “Obviously.”
“Yes, but there’s more to it. You’re smart, but you seem…almost relaxed here. Calm. Not scared like everyone else. You could get money anywhere—”
“The world doesn’t work like that, princess.” I snort. “Money is hard to come by for us. It takes blood, sweat, and tears. I do this because it’s better than letting rich pricks live out their sexual and torture fantasies on my body until I’m too used to walk or work, okay?” I rage, pissed now.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs sadly. “I forgot—”
“No, you didn’t realise. Life is easy for you. It always is for rich people. You never know, nor can you see past your wealth to care,” I mutter, and she goes quiet for a moment as I help her through an abandoned, empty bus.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry I offended you. I think what you do is very brave, I was just curious. I’m really sorry. Sometimes, I don’t think before I speak.”
I nod but remain quiet, and I see her beating herself up. Her mouth opens every few seconds before she sighs, looks at me, and then drops her gaze to the ground again. “Your shoes are too tight. They are hurting you, aren’t they?” I comment, noticing she’s limping a bit.
“I—They are new,” she admits.
I nod and look around. Spotting what I need, I leave her there. She calls after me as I hurry into the open shop. Looking back from the dark interior, I see her standing in the sun, shielding her eyes. She looks very alone and scared, so I search for what I need to get back to her. Knowing her, she will fall into a lion’s mouth. There, on the nearly empty back wall, is what I’m looking for. Moving through the discarded boxes and raided shelves, I quickly reach the back. I stand on my tiptoes and stretch towards them, hooking my fingers in the end and pulling them down so they also hit me in the face.
That’s when I feel the air move. I drop back to my heels and freeze, alert as I face the shelves and listen.
There’s nothing, until suddenly…
I swear I feel something tug my hair, but when I spin and raise my weapon, all I see are shadows. Fuck, I’m getting jumpy.
Shaking my head at my own foolishness, I hold the shoes tighter and move back outside to where she is waiting, almost shaking in fear. “Here.” I thrust them at her. “Better brand and a bigger size. With the socks you have, they will work better and you won’t get as many blisters.” I bend the leather to make sure it won’t rub, and she takes them gently, glancing from them to me.
“Thank you.”
“It’s not like I bought them,” I scoff.
“No, thank you for being so kind, even after I was so thoughtless. Thank you.” She nods again, and I turn my back to keep watch as she kneels and changes her shoes.
“Wow, they feel better already,” she admits as she stands and jumps up and down, testing them.
“Told you I’m smart,” I tease. “Come on, we still need to find your lab, and at this rate, we will need to run back.”
“I hate running,” she grumbles.
“I figured.” I laugh, unable to stop myself, but as we start walking again, my eyes go to the empty shop, where I swear something or someone reached for me. Turning away before I go back and check, I focus on the task at hand.
