NEW FLESH

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE: MOVING ON

HE frowned wondering what all the included for her, "where are you going?" She shrugged sliding the strap of her bag onto her shoulder, she glided past him a few marks of the mission still evident on his face.

She wondered how long it would take for them to go away.

Leaving the quarters, she knew Mitch wouldn't be far behind her curious as to what she was doing, she ascended the stairs once she reached them and slid the glass door open both Irene and Stan turning to look at her.

They watched as she walked through the room heading quietly to what had once been her bedroom, now it was just a room, an abandoned room that had no purpose.

As she had anticipated, the sliding door opened moments later- courtesy of Mitch- he exchanged a look with Stan and he gestured to the bedroom down the hall.

"She said she's leaving...." he trailed off trying to ask without asking if Stan knew what all the entailed, he shook his head moving to make way for the room, Mitch trailed behind him his curiosity getting the best of him.

"You're not leaving." He stated standing in the middle of her doorway, she paid him no mind instead shoving the rest of her things in her bag, Irene had decided to tag along her black heels clicking against the wood flooring with every step.

"Did you hear me- "

"I heard you the first time, I just didn't care." Stan frowned crossing his arms over his chest, they watched on in silence as she continued to pack the words bouncing off her thick-headed skull.

"Lee, you're not leaving the property." The voice belonged to Irene, turning to face her she trained her glare on the older woman, "why not?"

Irene hesitated before letting out a sigh, "because, you're a liability, and you know that's not the deal set in place." Mitch furrowed his eyebrows confused as to what "deal" they were talking about.

"You made that deal, not me, your problem, not mine." She snapped turning to grab her bag from where it lay on the bed, she pulled it over her shoulder staring at the two people in her way, Mitch was off to the side- merely a spectator- watching the entire event as it played out.

Irene brought her hand up to rest on the girl's shoulder not the least bit surprised when she pulled away from her grasp. "Margo, I can't let you leave."

A string inside her head snapped, she could feel her patience having finally thinned down to a small sliver that was hardly visible anymore, "you can't exactly stop me." She retorted slipping past Irene, "where would you even go?"

"She's staying with me." She turned to face Mitch the words having effortlessly fallen from his mouth, Irene raised an eyebrow, "all the more reason for you to stay here." She reached out grabbing the girl's wrist in her hand.

Margo's glare set her on fire the woman keeping her poker face as she stared down the younger girl, "either you let me go, or you have more blood on your hands. Make a choice." Irene stared her down for a few more moments before she roughly released the girl's wrist.

Stan let out a sigh that resembled the word "fuck" in more ways than one.

Irene and Stan filed out of the room talking in hushed whispers as they went, Mitch was staring at the floor allowing himself to meet her gaze after a few moments of silence.

"Where are you gonna stay?" She shook her head, "I'll find somewhere." She mumbled adjusting the strap of her bag, "I meant what I said" he paused glancing towards the doorway, "you can stay with me till you get a place of your own."

She thought over the offer, it was her best- and only- one, she couldn't exactly turn away from it as she didn't have anywhere else to go besides the quarters of the house they were currently standing in.

"Okay."

It was after that one word that they had walked through the house and the yard quietly climbing into Mitch's car parked outside, he had taken her bag- tossing it into the backseat- and put it away for her before he climbed into the driver's seat to start the car.

Margo glanced out the window her gaze falling to Stan, he was standing out on the porch flicking the ash from his cigarette with a strained expression crossing his lips.

That was the last thing she saw as the pulled out through the dirt drive the car bouncing through the ruts from the previous cars that had passed through, Mitch glanced at her from the corner of his eyes letting out a sigh.

"Don't think about it, it's called moving on."

She nodded to herself leaning her head against the glass of the tinted window on her right. They drove on in silence the woods quickly giving way to a well-worn cement road.

They would continue to the airport taking a flight back to Providence, Rhode Island where Mitch lived in a small apartment. Margo wasn't very surprised by what she saw when he unlocked the front door pushing it open.

Sports gear was placed in the most random of places, the table stripped of everything but a few sheets of paper. There was a small couch in the middle of the room facing a T.V. just about the same size- if not a slight bit smaller- as Stans back at his house.

"It's not big but, it's something." He stated crossing the threshold before turning to wait for her, she followed in after a few seconds of looking around from the hall. Mitch closed the door behind her making sure he secured all of the locks that he had in place.

"I'll take the couch, you can have the bed. I just have to grab a few things first." He stepped past her the scent of cologne and blood floating in the air as he did. She turned to watch his frowning as she did so, "I'll take the couch." She spoke glancing to where it sat.

Mitch cast her a look from over his shoulder grabbing a few things from the area around his bed, "I already said I'd take the couch, you're the guest anyways."

She managed to keep her mouth shut in hopes of avoiding a verbal argument breaking out between the two of them, day continued to evening before it bled to nightfall the time having seemed to pass in minutes instead of hours.

Mitch had prepared the couch for himself and was currently watching the news, he'd offered Margo a towel an hour before as he directed her to the bathroom, she had seemed reluctant to take a shower in the new environment quietly nodding her head as she entered the room.

The door clicked and popped open the girl stepping out in a t-shirt and long shorts, she had dried her hair for the most part content with it being damp for a short amount of time.

Mitch looked away from the T.V. casting her a quick glance before he turned his attention back to the screen in front of him.

"What's going on?" She asked gesturing to the screen, he shrugged glancing at her again, "they're talking about us, about the nuclear bomb and all that other bullshit." Margo nodded to herself carefully going around the side of the piece of furniture before sitting down on the side opposite of him.

They stared on at the T.V. the two of them watching in silence before they began talking about things that held little to no importance to them or their lives.

Mitch adjusted his grip on the remote hitting the power button before he set it on the small table between the T.V. and the couch the two of them were currently sitting on. He rubbed his shoulder glancing from the table to Margo, "I'm gonna head to bed, don't do anything too stupid." He offered her a smile somewhat satisfied when a smile of her own cracked her lips.

She stood from her spot on the couch moving so Mitch could get stretched out and ready for bed before heading for the only bed in the room. She felt bad for taking it but quickly reminded herself that Mitch had insisted and wouldn't have taken no for an answer.

The light behind her flickered out to darkness as Mitch turned it off, she let out a sigh slipping into his bed before she reached over to turn the bedside lamp off as well.

She stared up into the abyss of darkness Mitch called a ceiling surprised when she found herself content with the silence and the sounds of only two people instead of a dozen like she was used to.

Closing her eyes, she felt a good sleep coming on for once, one without faces, one without people chasing her, and one without death.

She was wrong.

A man tore after her, he was all but the color of a shadow and she wasn't even sure if he was real or not, all she knew was that he wanted her dead.

His blade sliced through the air making contact with her skin several times, blood gushed out the girl jolting forward in bed as he drove his blade through her chest.

She let out a loud cry waking Mitch from his slumber in the process, she had clawed out of bed and pressed her back to the wall watching on in fear as if the man would suddenly appear and try to kill her again.

It took Mitch a moment to figure out what had happened before he had slid off the couch and crossed the room to where she sat, he slowly took a few steps forward before stopping two feet away from her.

He snapped his fingers trying to catch her attention watching as her eyes frantically scanned the walls, "hey, Lee." He waved his hand in front of her face letting out a sigh when her eyes rested on him.

"It's just me, just the two of us, no Stan, no Irene..." he trailed off watching as her chest slowly fell and rose with each strained breath.

She nodded her head twisting her fingers every few seconds as a reminder that it wasn't a dream, that she was fine, and that the man- or thing- wasn't real.

She knew that much.

Mitch stood up from his crouched position offering a hand out to her, she cautiously grabbed it the man gently pulling her to her feet instead of the usual rough tug.

She wiped her cheeks clean of any tears already able to feel them tightened up from the liquid, Mitch gently rubbed her shoulder following her over to the bed, confused at first she plopped down on the mattress staring at him as he sat on the floor.

"What are you doing?" She asked rubbing her eyes, he shrugged his shoulders, "making sure you don't have any more nightmares." He grumbled resting his head on his forearms.

She let out a sigh tugging the blankets over her legs, "go to bed." She let her head fall to the pillows with a cushioned thud the last thing she saw being Mitch at the side of the bed watching her with tired eyes.

She awoke in peace- for the first time in a long time- slowly sitting up in bed she remembered Mitch, how he had stayed at the side of the bed the night prior, she let her gaze fall to him rubbing her eyes while she watched.

His eyes were closed, his head perched atop both his arms, small snores leaving his lips as he breathed in the air around them, she carefully pulled the covers from her warm legs shivering at the loss of warmth they had provided her with.

NEW FLESH

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE: MOVING ON