LOLITA.
xx.  |  ❝ fuck the fear. ❞

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SHANE PULLED INTO the empty parking lot slowly; stealth and precision his main priority. Calloused fingers twisted the key in the ignition, bringing the comforting hum of the engine to a halt, before the curly-haired deputy turned his head and shot the nymph-like redhead seated beside him a piercing look.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," came her response.

He nodded, his expression unusually sombre. It was their first big supply-run together since he'd taught Cassandra how to shoot, and there'd be no light-hearted jokes or playing around. Not for now, at least. "Alright," he confirmed, his large digits resting on the handle of the door before he paused, speaking lowly; "We go in together, assess the premises as a team. I ain't comfortable with us splitting up and going our separate ways in the store until we've done this a few times. Gotta get you used to it, darlin'."

A brief smile flitted across Cassie's full, holmberry lips, her heart swelling with warmth - and yet, she was unsure if it stemmed from her feelings for the burly deputy, or the adrenaline that pumped through her veins as she prepared for what she was about to do.

Their exit of the car was swift; two sets of piercing hues scanning their surroundings keenly as they moved towards the doors of the supermarket as one. It was further out than the small country gas-stations that Shane had been frequenting on his own, but, since he had exhausted the supplies that resided within those tiny, run-shacks that had been raked over again and again by equally desperate survivors, he felt it pertinent to branch out and seek what they needed elsewhere.

Upon approaching the doors that guarded the entrance to their salvation, Cassandra pressed her pert nose up against the smeared pane of glass that stood between them, and the gloomy interior wherein stood proud shelves and racks that were barely illuminated by the scorching Georgia sun that followed Shane and his flame-haired vixen wherever they meandered. There was movement, prompting Cassie to furrow her shapely brows and purse her blush-pink lips deliberatively. "I see something in there," she told Shane, finally dragging her gaze towards him and allowing it to caress his chiselled frame with a longing that she made no effort to hide.

"Walkers?" he responded, so focused on the task in hand that he couldn't find it within himself to relieve the sexual tension that fizzled between them with a simple touch, or a casual, flirtatious comment.

"I guess so," she mused, taking a step back and gripping her knife that lay in her slick, sweaty palm just that little bit tighter.

"Alright." Shane nodded his head, lips pressed together in a thin line of concentration as he paused, before throwing a glance in the pretty redhead's direction. "Here we go. Remember... Stay focused, and if anything happens, you run to that car and you drive. You drive till you're safe. Ya hear me?"

Cassandra nodded mutely, Shane's low drawl a mere hum that buzzed in through one ear and out the other in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand bolt upright.

And then, her bronzed saviour was edging open the double doors that had been left abandoned and unlocked at the first sign of strife; knife raised, and Cassandra in hot pursuit.

The stench of diseased flesh was faint, yet unmistakable as soon as the pair felt their feet tread across the scuffed tiles beneath them. It grew stronger when coupled with the pervasive odour of rotting food, which was at its most pungent around the fruit and vegetable aisle, and was enough to make their stomachs churn. But, judging by the steady shuffling and scattered groans towards the back of the store, they couldn't afford to dwell on their own revulsion. They had a job to do, after all.

As Cassandra and Shane came to the end of the first aisle, the keen-eyed deputy raised a hand, signalling for his strawberry blonde accomplice to halt in her tracks, and upon peering around the shelves, he inhaled sharply and shot her an intense look; eyebrows raised, his mouth closed firmly, and his jawline tensed. He didn't need to say a word, and she simply swallowed, shifting from one foot to the other silently and raising the dainty limb that brandished her weapon brazenly, attempting an air of aplomb.

Fuck the fear, was all she could think. Fear was what would get her killed, after all... That, and relying solely on another person, which was why she knew she needed to do this. She needed to prove to herself, as well as to Shane, that she was capable of surviving on her own, just as she did before she met him. Only this time, she wouldn't run. She was going to fight.

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