Chloe

By what Brody counted, plus my five, there are fifteen Raiders in total roaming the area. The outcome of taking these assholes out means the route to Barren will be cake.

Choosing an orderly attack, my eyes track their patters long enough to decipher a distinct path: three cross routes, two stray before looping around the centre where Brody and I had been when the Bestial arrived. Sucking in a needed breath, my string grows taught, and I let the arrow fly when the cross over is complete. I'm watching as it sinks into a fair-haired woman's eye socket before she staggers off into one of the shops. Firing a second at the approaching raven-haired bloke, catching him in the centre of the cranium, he falls not far from the same shop the woman stumbled into. The last one is hiding their features behind a ski mask, but it's obvious they caught my arrow slamming into one of their comrades by the way their gun shakes in their hand, and how they're frozen to the spot. As soon as they reach for their radio, my arrow finishes the job.

Moving up the rows of shops, using the railing barrier as cover for when the need to change angles is necessary, my eyes locate the remaining few on my level. Collecting a shard of glass, I throw it not that far from where my position is, and a low voice calls out, "Did you hear that?"

"Go check it out," a gruffer one retorts, a throaty cough soon following.

On cue, a brunette appears in front of me, unaware that I'm only inches away from here. Scanning the surroundings, their partner vanishes into one of the shops, and I use that as an opportunity to take out the one before me with a quick jab and slice to the throat with the head of my arrow.

Readying the same arrow, I'm sending it into the one who is leaving the shop, and I'm fast to nail the approaching figure, only it doesn't take her down straight away.

Shit.

Firing another, it impales her throat, ceasing the splutters and gasps for air. Sighing in relief, I'm swift in retrieving my ammunition before leaning over the barriers in search for Brody and for anyone sneaking up behind him, although, it looks like he's handling himself well.

He's stealthy, I'll give him that. He makes each of the kills clean with a quick flick of the wrist, if it got brutal, then it was a rough stab and slice to the throat. For the Raiders approaching from behind, I'm there to deliver a quick arrow to the backs of their heads.

Suddenly Brody's no longer in sight. Calmly scoping the floors for him, there's no sign. Panic flushes through me, and before I know it, I'm walking as fast as I can toward the broken escalators. Halfway down the steps, gun fire blares throughout the mall, and then it all falls silent.

"Brody!"

I'm practically running the rest of the way, scanning left and right as I go.

Where is he?

"Brody!"

Rounding a corner, a body collides with mine, and a startled sound comes from me. Raising my gaze, Brody's there staring down at me with blood splattered over his sweater, and worry clouds my mind as I start lifting the hem with tears in my eyes.

"Broody, are you OK?" There's nothing on him, just bare tanned skin.

His fingers circle my wrists, pulling my hands to his chest as he rests his forehead against mine. "I'm alright, I promise. This isn't mine."

A shaky breath passes my lips, mingling with his as we remain like this. My heart's thudding erratically, remembering how he held me when that snake was on me, then the passionate embrace we shared in my dream as he took me softly, sweetly.

Our eyes connect, and he simply smiles at me before his brows furrow.

"I'm sorry for prying and making assumptions—" I try to pull away, but he holds on tighter. "—I didn't mean to upset you, that's the last thing I want to do."

Why does he care so much? And now of all places.

We are merely tagging along with one another, completing this, then going our separate ways. My dream is a concoction of never seeing a naked man before, especially one in fit physique like Brody, and the kindness is new, that's all it is.

"It's fine, drop it," I huff, too tired to try and figure out what the hell this is.

"I can't," he adamants. "This needs to be talked about now rather than later."

The urgency in his voice chips away at my barricade, trying to bend to listen. Searching his eyes while he fidgets with his sweater, my head gives a slow nod. "I promise we will, let's finish up here and we will talk, OK?"

Reluctantly, he nods.

Before I know what's going on, Brody collects my hand in his and leads me toward one of the clothing shops. It's a unisex shop divided in half, and it's a decent size. Finding Barren is priority, although being ready for oncoming days when we need a change of clothes is a good idea as well. Thankfully Brody's here to keep my mind on track for other things than business, yet that can just be a distraction that's not needed.

Shit, why have things become so complicated? Why do I care about what he thinks?

The idea of searching for some comfortable clothing is short lived when warmth grips my wrist and something hard presses into my back. An involuntary gasp comes from me, and when my eyes look up for answers, soft brown ones greet me.

"I want you to stay in here and wait for me, OK Chloe?" his voice is cautious and caring, as if he too worries for my safety as much as I worry for his.

My breath catches as our proximity registers. "Brody, what—"

"Please Chloe . . ." he murmurs inches from my face, his body brushing against my own. "Can you do that for me?"

I hadn't realised my eyes fluttered shut for a second until I see his eyes full of concern, determination, and wonder, but this is too much for me. Every time my chest rises it brushes against his, the heat radiating off him bathes me, making me feel mushy. His breath tickles my lips, the faintest skim of his lips pulls another shocked breath from me. It wouldn't take much for me to tilt my head back and let him kiss me, to take me against this pillar. That dream, wants to be a reality, and the longer we stay in this position, I'm not going to have the control to stop it.

He clears his throat, leaning back with pleading eyes, and all I can do is reply, "Yes," in a breathy tone, one that I've never used before.

"Thank you, I won't be long."

With that, he splits off to search for new clothes, and a replacement no doubt for his soiled sweater. In the meantime, I'm still trying to catch my breath as I collect a few joggers, sweaters and tops along with a coat in case it rains.

For the splittist amount of time, my mind wasn't pinned on the task, it was consumed by him, and only Brody has the ability to do that, and it scares me.

Shoving the contents in his bag, Brody approaches and does the same before zipping it up and slinging it over his shoulders.

"Alright, we can—" Brody stops midsentence as his eyes zero in on something behind me.

Without a word, he takes off running, shirt in hand. Cursing, I'm quick to follow. A figure sprints ahead of us, slender and wrapped up in what can only be a makeshift protection suit against a possible infected attack. The hasty movements from his limbs make him jingle like a dinner bell, if I had money to bet, it would be that he attracted that Bestial without even knowing it.

This has to be the bastard I'm after.

"Bat!" Brody calls over his shoulder.

Tossing it to him, he catches it swiftly in one hand and picks up his pace, reeling the baseball bat with both hands for accuracy as he launches it like a professional axe thrower. It rotates through the air before thumping Barren in the back of his head, a cry of pain sounds before he faceplants the floor with a rough impact.

Brody hauls Barren up by the wrists and is fast to pin him by the throat. "Alright you asshole, talk."

Tears pour down his cheeks when I come to a halt in front of his, his lower lip trembling while he frantically shakes his head. "W-what do you want to know? It wasn't my fault!" he whines.

"For a business man, you sure do cry a lot," Brody points out with a shake of his head, squeezing tight on his windpipe for a second. "Ask him what you need."

At first, I'm too busy inspecting Brody. He could've easily caught up and tackled Barren to the ground, but his better judgement came forth and he decided to take him out with minimal damage, and as swiftly as he could.

Grabbing my bat, twirling it in my fingers with a deep breath, my focus turns to the man of the topic while Brody slips his new sweater on in my peripheral vision.

"Barren Bennet, the area manager, correct?"

His cheeks somewhat change as he bites the inside of them, eyes turning down to the tiled flooring, wincing in the process wile one hand tries to reach for the back of his head. All the signs of a man trying to hide or keep silent. I've seen Logan do interrogations, so I know the best way to get them talking.

Slamming the brunt of the bat squarely into his knee, a sickening pop answers back. He hunches forward with a raging scream, and Brody holds him back with ease and looks at me for any instructions. I shake my head and watch the sobbing man before me.

"Do I need to ask again?"

His head shakes from side to side, the light catching in the sheen across his cranium. "I-I'll talk! Stop it!" he yells, no longer thrashing against Brody's restraint.

"Good. Brody, I think we can drop him, he isn't going anywhere," I say, inspecting Brody as he literally let's go of Barren, allowing him to slump to the ground with a faint thud and a curse.

"O-OK, I used to be an area manager for the Greenfield clinics, but after my ignorance toward the safety regulations of the employers, and the profit cut backs I was let go. After that, n-no one would hire me—even regular stores wouldn't have me."

If I was a respectful business woman, I wouldn't touch him with a bargepole for what he'd done to protect my company, the people within it, and the customers in case—well, something bad happens.

And what a perfect example we have here.