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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