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𝘞𝘌 𝘕𝘌𝘌𝘋 𝘏𝘌𝘙, 𝘑𝘖𝘌𝘓

⸝⸝ ʚ 🧟‍♀️ ! ⌗ °• ━━━━━━━━━ 𝑱𝑶𝑬𝑳 𝑴𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑹 𝑷𝑨𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑲𝑬𝑫 𝑶𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑫 𝑺𝑼𝑹𝑭𝑨𝑪𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑺, 𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑨𝑻 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑪𝑹𝑶𝑺𝑺 𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑫𝑨𝑴𝑨𝑮𝑬𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑨𝑮𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑺𝑲𝑰𝑵. His beard acted as a barrier as he surged forward from his bed and the sweat was unable to slip past — his breathing heavy and at the same pace as the urgent knocks on his door. He hadn't forgotten a single moment of what happened that night 20 years ago. But, it had been a while since he had a nightmare as bad as the one he had just experienced. Perhaps speaking to the woman he once knew brought everything back to him.

      Planting his feet on the wooden floor, Joel Miller realised why Robyn Cartier had stayed away all these years and chose to keep to herself. For the most part, at least.

      He sighed as the knocks only grew more impatient. His voice was stern and troubled. "I'm coming!"

      Popping a single lock, he pulled the door toward his body. On the other side stood his partner in crime, slightly smug as she let herself in. He had hardly gotten the chance to look at Tess, but he was quick enough to spot the damage done to her right cheek.

      The woman, dressed in a washed red shirt that had its sleeves ripped to become a vest, clicked her tongue as she made herself at home, "how was your morning?"

      Joel shut the door and flicked the lock back to how it originally was, watching Tess pour from the bottle of whiskey into the singular glass on the table.

      "Want one?"

      After what Joel had just witnessed in the dark state of his mind, he turned away from the alcohol — finding his way to the kitchen of the decaying home. "No. I don't... want one."

      Tess put the bottle down and turned to lean against the table with her glass in hand, "well, I have some interesting news for you."

      "Where were you, Tess?" Joel grabbed a rag and ran it under the sink.

      "West End district." She noticed Joel's reaction. "Hey, we had a drop to make."

      "We." Joel pointed the wet rag at Tess as he switched the tap off.

      Taking a sip, she lowered the whiskey filled glass as her eyes wandered over his rage filled features.

      Joel passed her the rag, "we had a drop to make, Tess."

      "Yeah, well, you wanted to be left alone remember?" She threw his words back at him regarding the encounter of the day before while pressing the wet rag against her openly bleeding cheek.

      Pinching the bridge of his nose, he shook his head and headed for the kitchen. "So, I'll take one guess. The, uh, whole deal went south, and the client made off with our pills." He leaned against the kitchen counter before springing back off as quick as he leaned on it. "Is that about right?"

      Tess's inhale mixed with her laugh, "deal went off without a hitch." She passed the rag into the same hand her glass was in, allowing herself to pull cards from her back pocket. "Enough ration cards to last us a couple of months — easy."

      Passing his gaze from the ration cards Tess threw on the table behind her, Joel now focused on the damage done to the side of her face. "You want to explain this?" He motioned to his own cheek.

      "I was on my way back here, and I got jumped by these two assholes, alright?" Tess placed the rag back to the sore spot, "And yeah, they got a few good hits in. But... Look, I managed."

      Joel pressed against the counter, his arms folded across his chest. "Are these assholes still with us?"

      "Now that's funny." Tess smiled at him.

      "Did you at least find out who they were?"

      Since most of the blood had cleaned off of her face, Tess set the rag aside. "Yeah, look they were a couple of nobodies - they don't matter. What matters is that Robert fucking sent them.

      "Our Robert?" Joel's eyes changed.

      "He knows we're after him, Joel," Tess placed the glass beside the bloody rag, "he figures he's gonna get us first."

      He shook his head. "That son of a bitch, he's smart."

      "No." Tess smiled, joining Joel in the kitchen. "He's not smart enough."

      He perked up hearing her words. With a raised eyebrow, Tess continued.

      "I know where he's hiding."

      "Hell you do."

      Tess sauntered toward the window opposite the kitchen, "old warehouse in Area 5. Can't say for how long though." She watched Joel begin his path to the door, and she stopped him with her raised palm. "But we need someone else, Joel. We don't know how many men Robert will have. He's on edge already. Especially since I'm still kicking the bucket."

      "Like who? You and I can take them on our own."

      "Tess tilted her head and lowered her hand, "we need her, Joel."

      "Like hell we do."

      "Listen to me, would ya?" Tess sighed. "I get it. It's been rough for you. It's been just as rough for her. She hates Robert. God knows why, but she's got a reputation. A big enough one to scare that fucker into giving us our guns. I doubt she'd turn down a few ration cards, and maybe we give her a few guns from the supply."

      "Why would we give her some of our guns, Tess?"

      "She wants to leave, Joel. With that kid of hers," Tess folded her arms over her chest. "We give her a few guns, and maybe we can give her what she wants. Might be willing to help us that way."

      Joel stared at her blankly. "I can't just let her leave, Tess."

      "I'm not stupid, Joel. And neither is she. She wouldn't leave even with the guns," Tess stated, looking him up and down. "Look, we'll work all that out later. Let's at least try bargaining with her and we will see where we go from there."

      He thought for a moment, and Tess smiled.

       "Oh. Oh, I know that face! You think I'm right."

      Joel's eyes rolled. "When are we getting Robert, then? We have two hours until curfew."

      "We'll swing by her place first. See if she'll help," Tess turned and flicked the lock, allowing Joel to hold the door for her. "If not, then we go on our own."

⸝⸝ ʚ 🧟‍♀️ ! ⌗ °• ━━━━━━━━━ "𝑯𝑬𝒀, 𝑺𝑳𝑬𝑬𝑷𝒀𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑫!"

      Startled, Robyn Cartier reached for the gun beneath her pillow. Before pointing it at the person she believed to be an intruder, she was face to face with her son. Holding her afternoon tea, Zach was unfazed. Things like this happened before. Sometimes the reactions were worse.

      Her eyes struggled to adjust to the sun that broke through the restraints of the bedsheets that were used as curtains. Flinging her arm out, she groaned when her son pulled the bedsheet curtains further apart. "Hope you had a nice sleep on your day off."

      "What time is it?" The older woman fiddled with the sheets on her, rotating her body so her legs hung over the matress.

      Zach looked outside the window, "a little less than two hours till curfew. But, good news is, you slept all the way through your nap."

      He passed over the orange mug filled about halfway. They had a rule about going past the halfway line. Better to save the other half for a different day.

      Sipping on the edge of the mug to test the water and how hot it was, Robyn concluded that it was not hot at all. In fact, it must have been made quite a while ago as it was bitter on her tongue.

      She set the mug aside on a nearby crate, "I always sleep all the way through."

      "You and I both know that's a lie..." The mumble from the boy was quiet and not meant to be heard, but it was still loud enough to be caught by Robyn.

      Robyn pushed from the matress, "I'll start getting the food ready. Maybe tonight we can play a game or two."

      Zach moved in front of the woman so she couldn't get by the doorway, "uh, we have guests..."

      Under his mother's stern gaze, he looked down.

      Picking the band from her wrist with her teeth she tied the fresh mess of her long hair behind her, making sure it was loose enough to not cause a headache. Each and every muscle in her body was on display due to only wearing a sports bra, along with the henna style tattoo that fit snug between the hem of her bra and where her neck met her collarbones.

      "Zachary," her hands were now on her hips, "what the hell did I say about letting strangers into the house?"

      "They said they knew you... how was I supposed to know?"

      Robyns mouth fell before she picked a random khaki shirt from the floor, "if they don't know the code, they're not friends. Only you and I know the code."

      "Well..." the boy hesitated, "they actually got the knocking code for the door. It was perfect. Even the exact place where you hit it so it's a different sound..."

      "You gotta be shittin' me."

      Bare feet stomped as Robyn moved around the boy and through the doorway, passing the privacy screen that she had set up in front of the open area. While she pulled the shirt she had taken from the floor over her head, she rounded the corner and clicked her tongue.

      "Of course it was you," her gaze flicked between the two individuals in front of her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

      Drinking tea that Zach must have made for them, Tess and Joel sat at the rounded table that was intended for just Robyn and her son. They never had guests.

      "Robyn," Tess nodded in her direction, taking a sip from one of the older mugs that the family of two owned.

      They may not have been strangers, especially not after yesterday's interactions with Joel and the fact she got pills and cigarettes from Tess sometimes. But, they weren't exactly people she'd call friends, either. "Which one of you has been following me and knows the fucking code?"

      The pair in front of Robyn shared a look before Joel lifted a single finger as Tess, whose face was battered and bruised on her right side. As Robyn's eyes roamed the woman's face, she remembered all the times Tess offered a hand. She never encouraged her to take more pills than needed despite that being her trade within the zone.

      Zach awkwardly followed into the room, holding the orange mug that Robyn had set aside. He extended his arms toward her, but she politely raised a hand and her son set it on the bench that the woman began leaning on so she was facing the pair.

      An awkward silence fell over the four. Robyn took her time to study Joel better now that they were within closer proximity. He had certainly gotten older, but so had she, and his hair had began greying far more than hers had. It wasn't bad though. Somewhat nice to look at despite how rough his face was, along with his hands and the scars that coated his forearms. She couldn't imagine how scarred his skin was underneath his his green button up.

      "So, are we just all gonna stand here looking at each other lovingly? Or are you gonna tell me what you're here for?" Robyn folded her arms across her chest, "Curfew's getting closer by the second. So spit it out already."

      Tess looked over at Joel. Joel looked at Tess. Zach's eyes darted between the three adults in the room while Robyn counted the seconds under her breath.

She forcefully pushed off the bench, making her way toward the door with her hand lingering over the handle, "if both of you are just gonna sit there, drink my tea and waste my time, feel free to get the fuck-"

      "Wait."

      Joel put his hand up, now standing out of the chair. Once glance at Tess and a nod shared between them was enough to get the talking to begin. Robyn's hand dropped back to her side, allowing them a chance.

      "We can get you both outta here." Tess stood and passed a glance from the teenage boy and his mother.

      "I already know the passage out. It's guarded to all hell, Tess," Robyn's arms found comfort over her chest again. "I got a single gun with five fucking bullets. We'd be killed."

      "What if I told you we could get you some guns?"

      Robyn stayed silent, an eyebrow raising as she nodded for the woman to continue.

      "We think Robert fucked us over. We had a shipment of guns and they haven't been delivered yet," Tess stated the problem. "I know where Robert's at. He's in Area 5. I'll give you a share of the guns if you help us out."

      "Robert, huh?" Robyn laughed, a smile forming. "And what do you need my help for? Big Texas man not enough man-power to take on one weasel?"

      "With you and Joel there, it should be enough to scare him into finally giving us our shit. Whatever you want that you think will help you get out. You'll finally be able to leave," Tess said, looking over at Joel briefly who kept his arms crossed as he looked up at the ceiling. To Robyn, it didn't look like he was overly excited about the promise of her leaving. He'd lose her more than he already had.

      Robyn thought about it.

      And she came to her conclusion. "If I don't get to knock a few of that piece of shits teeth out, you can kiss your guns goodbye."

      "Deal," Joel agreed immediately.

⸝⸝ ʚ 🎮 ! ⌗ °• ━━━ '' - «❕»‧₊˚𓍯 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚
╰┈➤ back at it again 🙈🙈 y'all be proud of me pls 🙏🏻

the first few chapters will be slow and a lil boring, and so will next chapter as they're going to robert and most of it is walking around n shit. after that, it will pick up into more action. pinky promise.