We walk, determined to get to my sister. We should get to her by nightfall. As we walk, we talk, but the talking ceases to continue when we run out of things to talk about. The silence is eerily creepy and reminds me of every time Anastasia ever cried. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, but she was crying. Everyone knew she was, too. Silence spilled all of her deepest fears and secrets.copyright protection246PENANAix9yOsgEAx
I picture her in my head, on a cold concrete floor, chained to the wall. I can imagine her beaten and bruised, her peridot eyes filled to the brim with hot tears, and it makes me sick to my stomach.copyright protection246PENANAuNACYsVPaf
Tears begin to roll down my cheeks again and Ash looks at me in concern. I shake my head and the breeze whips my charcoal hair out of my face, chilling my tears. "Cancel, cancel, cancel."copyright protection246PENANAyX6ERXqR2d
My stomach growls and I dry my tears. Ash hugs me close. "Mercy, I'll get us food." He tugs me into the woods and gets his rifle out.copyright protection246PENANASANAHbcCex
I sit on a tree stump. "I'm gonna just stay here. I've got a lot on my mind. Bring us back some kind of meat."copyright protection246PENANA0Yc0dOmGBv
He nods and disappears into the woods. I pull my knees to my chest, waiting on him. I hear a shot and see that he's dragging a deer back. That was fast.copyright protection246PENANAA209w2PoHS
He pulls it to where I'm at and begins to skin it and clean it or whatever people do to deer before they cook it. I stand and gather sticks and twigs to build a fire with.copyright protection246PENANATznYoaOBpm
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"I'm too full to move!" I lay back on the ground.copyright protection246PENANAEoDTkc19ro
He pokes my stomach. "Oh goodness! You are!"copyright protection246PENANAO9c4eXmW8x
I groan. "No! Don't poke me. I'll puke."copyright protection246PENANAmnLxBpFqZX
He scoops me into his arms and nuzzles me. "Mercy, baby, I love you."copyright protection246PENANA69KTVfU2MR
"I love you, too, Ash." I snuggle against him.copyright protection246PENANAT1XFhokP2z
"You better." He laughs and puts me down.copyright protection246PENANAr7vCmWd5Vm
"Ash, did they send someone to kill Keagan? Would Monroe do that to make me suffer?" I look into his eyes, searching frantically for an answer to my random question.copyright protection246PENANA4QKHjmAD4y
"I wouldn't put it past him, but don't dwell on it. It'll just make you more upset and you don't need that." He pulls me into his arms and kisses my head.copyright protection246PENANAFEP54QA4cO
"Okay." I lay my head on his chest and sigh.copyright protection246PENANA11Kb2WrA5Z
"We should get moving. We're almost there. Two more hours at the most." He pulls me to my bags and hands them to me.copyright protection246PENANAuX8BIEnYqW
We walk to the road and he takes my hand in his, sweetly caressing my fingers with his thumb. Finally, after about ten minutes of silence, he speaks. "What's your favorite color?"copyright protection246PENANAlGDkhR5BNw
I laugh, due to his unexpected question. "Purple. Why did you need to know that? And what's yours?"copyright protection246PENANAqHHMtNz3Ej
He shrugs and kisses my fingers. "I just never knew. And it's black. Favorite food?"copyright protection246PENANAp3lIl33ovl
"Deer steak!" I grin and nuzzle his shoulder.copyright protection246PENANA0eSSRZ6b1j
"Mine, too!" He pumps his fist into the air.copyright protection246PENANAM8mc39rrvX
"What's your favorite type of music?" I look up expectantly, hoping he'll say one of the forbidden genres so I don't look like too much of a rebel. Anything that isn't child-appropriate is against the law.copyright protection246PENANAPfdETu5whA
"Rock and roll, baby!" He laughs.copyright protection246PENANARsRJEAn9Aj
"Mine, too! Favorite book?"copyright protection246PENANA6tawJ7QHes
"Science fiction." He blushes. I guess he doesn't think it's manly.copyright protection246PENANALyerchcVVm
"How much do you love me?" I blush and watch my feet as I walk.copyright protection246PENANAV1BEE5cb7N
"When you're away, I ache for your presence, baby." He squeezes my hand.copyright protection246PENANAVuzzUvd2Yk
"I'm not away now." My voice is barely a whisper.copyright protection246PENANAglxShtwin5
"I'm not aching. I'm throbbing for you to be closer." He curls his pinky into my belt loop and I do the same to him.copyright protection246PENANAnH4WBITP2J
"Is this close enough?" I pull him closer so that our hips are touching.copyright protection246PENANAt7zRkOrSIq
"You wouldn't be close enough even if we shared the same body."copyright protection246PENANAQZSmEUxwy6
"So you're saying we'll never be close enough?" My heart freezes and shatters inside my chest.copyright protection246PENANAX8Qps2HMvU
"I'm saying that I want to be as close as we can get physically, but even that isn't close enough. I want to hold you as tight as I can without hurting you but even that isn't tight enough. I want to give you kisses that last for hours, but even hours aren't long enough." He pulls me to a stop and looks into my eyes.copyright protection246PENANABg8FNZrdOu
"I feel exactly the same." I smile, my heart gluing itself back together.copyright protection246PENANAFjHy1c5iq1
He pulls me closer to him and kisses me gently, holding me tight. Then, we resume walking. Not much longer now. We bask in the comforting essence of love and silence for the rest of the first hour.copyright protection246PENANAZCSOy5vgRa
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