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Run This Town (Rory+Ishu)

She was so caught up in her thoughts and trials that she did not recognize the voice. A car drove up next to her, the driver offering a ride with possible perverted tones underlying their, as of now ended, conversation. She wanted to keep walking but recognized something. She stopped where she stood and looked over, smiling.

Ishu walked over to the car and stood next to him, Hey. Traffic was the last thing she needed to worry about. Most people who had cars didn't have them for long as they were gutted specifically so Gamatoms could get another vehicle, or they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She moved some hair out of her face, smiling at him as if she had just woken up and turned over, seeing him for the first time that day. She wasn't wearing her glasses because, well, she didn't really need them.

Where did you get the car? Is it yours? She traced her hand along the bottom of the open window and looked over the side of the car. It was very nice and the condition was amazing- especially considering their current scenery. She ignored the possibility that he might have killed someone for it and preferred to think a different Gamatom had done so.
 
As soon as she turned to face him fully, the smile faded slowly from his face and his dark eyes widened with his heavy brows coming down in an expression of clear, defensive concern. Cade's first impulse was to demand what had happened to her and the second was to crush the skull of whoever had done it to her - the possibility that she could have done it to herself did not even occur to him - but she distracted him fully with her question and the sweet smile that brightened her face.

He no longer felt pumped up by the smooth bit of technology surrounding him, purring in powerful contemplation at his command, so when he answered her, it was less prideful than it should have been. "Yes, it's mine. The owner hasn't been around for years and none of the brethren were using it so..."

And it was the truth. The other Gamatoms - especially those in packs - had an affinity for large trucks and vans, preferring the space to carry more of the brethren and any bodies/slaves they captured than any of the smaller human vehicles offered. In this day and age where the Gamatoms practically monopolized car use, "speed" was overrated as far as four wheels went, and larger cargo area and hauling power was prized above all else. Plus, the mayor had died of heart failure a few weeks after the uprising, not having taken care of himself during the time the humans had ruled.

Not able to hold off his concern any longer, Cade gave Ishu a penetrating look and reached out hesitantly to the hand nearest his by the window. "What...what happened? Is someone hurting you?" Sympathy and anxiety filled his voice and facial features while at the same time an edge appeared in his voice and his hackles raised slightly, just waiting for her to say the word and let him pound the culprit into the ground.

Her beautiful face... Not able to help himself, he let the Audi remain idling as he opened the car door and started to leave it, hands hesitantly reaching for her but drawing back, uncertain of how hurt she was - what had happened? Was she wounded anywhere else? Not having a real knowledge of medicine or health, he wasn't sure what he could offer her except violent retribution for the pain she'd suffered - and she WAS in pain; the bandage said that clearly, didn't it?

But as soon as he'd stepped from the car, he glanced away from her, up and down the street they were on, suddenly realizing how out in the open they were. "Let's get in someplace safe..." he said warily, expecting that she'd want to go in the car with him, but willing at this point to just get inside anywhere to hide from any eyes that might come along...
 
She liked that it belonged to him- making her assume that none of the Gamatoms would question him for taking it. She was about to ask about the owner, sure that he must know something about how he came to obtain the car, but stopped when he asked about her eye. Oh? This? Well, um...

How was she supposed to tell him that she went into some kind of trance, lost track of time and absolutely had to get back home to take care of her brother? And that the agony of some poor, helpless girl came to her in ways she could not explain, thrusting hallucinations at her and causing her to hurt herself? Not to mention that Gamatom that nearly tore her to shreds because she was so busy trying to tear her own eyes out of her skull.

As she thought of this, Cade got out of the car and soon realized they were not safe being seen out in the open, Um... They could get to the library faster or go someone else- faster. Much faster. But she did not know how his driving was- oh forget it!

Let's go. She hurried around the car and opened the door, throwing herself into the seat, shutting the door and buckling her seat belt, They wouldn't be out here, would they? Following us? If a Gamatom just saw her get into his car with him... that would just lead to a word of hurt. For both of them. She couldn't say which one of them would be worse off.

We can go wherever you want- let's just go. She didn't want to draw any more attention, this being evident as her body slouched in the seat.
 
A wave of something akin to relief swept through him as she entered the safety of the car and he quickly slipped back into his own seat as well, checking the mirrors before pulling away from the curb. Since there were no other cars on the street with them, he drove down the middle, the painted lines having been worn away by the weather but still clinging and showing through in some spots. He pretty much owned the road, having plenty of room on either side of himself to maneuver as he picked up speed in the morning light.

Only in recent years had Cade really learned the mechanics of driving, also knowing enough about the insides of automobiles to fix them if need be. But it was not something he did often, so the gas pedal was abused quite liberally. Even so, his reflexes were good and there was a confidence in his posture and the way he handled the wheel that spoke of complete control of the fast moving vehicle.

When she asked him if they were being followed, his dark eyes looked to the mirrors again before glancing in her direction. "No. ...I don't know," he said with an alert shrug, wanting her to feel safe with him but also wanting to be honest with her.

"Normally, I'd have no trouble answering that question - there aren't a lot of rules among the brethren except answering to and obeying the authority of our leaders but... Quin, the Alpha in charge of my gang, has been sticking his nose into my business lately. I don't think I was followed and I'd like to think I'm in the clear with him after yesterday but... it's probably better if we avoid staying out in the open together for too long."

Realizing that it'd been mostly his fault this time for stopping by the sidewalk in the first place, he glanced at her with a firm expression on his face. "I don't want you to worry, while you're with me. I will protect you no matter what. Even if I have to go up against the brethren..."

There it was. Undeniable, everything that was at stake, all laid out nice and neatly for her in one simple statement. It wasn't just some small infatuation or playful curiosity that he was engaged in. This was something he was willing to betray his own kind over. Something he was willing to give his life for.

He didn't look at her again, letting the car eat up the streets, passing by where he'd normally turn to head towards the library, moving towards the city limits instead. "I hope you don't mind if we go somewhere other than the library today," he said softly in his raspy voice.

Within the next 10 minutes or so, the Audi carried them past the city streets and out in open country, trees and rolling hillsides replacing buildings the further they went. Turning off the main tarmac road he took a long dirt trail, wheel ruts etched into the ground overgrown with weeds and wild grass from lack of use, the car going slow as the wheels sought out the old grooves that lay hidden beneath the tall grass. Eventually, when he came to a stop, it was beside a long ranch-house, still in good condition yet eerily quiet, all the windows dark and empty. Turning the car off, Cade smiled a little and peered out the front windows before pointing off in a direction behind the house.

"Out that way is the orchard," he said to Ishu, finally looking at her again. "I don't know what they grew here, because I never went down that way, but I know they were farmers and I've seen the trees from a distance."

He remembered the day the gang had passed through here when the place still held the spark of life within it's walls. Four grown men had come to stand outside of the house as the Gamatoms approached from their parked truck. Three of them had been holding guns and watching stoically as the eldest, a man with short, graying hair and beard, had addressed the pack. He'd tried to tell them to go away and leave him and his family alone, saying he wanted peace and even hinting that he'd hurt the monsters if they didn't listen. When it had become clear that the Gamatoms had not seen him or his sons as a threat, he'd tried to bargain with them instead, offering to whore himself and the other three out if the Gamatoms promised to leave afterward.

Quin had stood smiling at the man, looking him up and down in a way that articulated barely restrained lust. When he'd ordered the attack, the human men had been disabled in less than five minutes, not a single shot fired from their primitive weaponry. Then the Gamatoms had laid into the place like vultures on a carcass, the bloodlust carrying them in a fit of maniacal destruction.

There had been 6 women and another man hiding inside...

Pushing the memory away, he let out a heavy breath and stepped out of the car, removing his jacket and leaving it behind on his seat, and stood waiting for her with his door open. Despite the death-like and melancholy stillness of the ranch-house, the rest of the property seemed untainted by the violence that had befallen the owners. The sun was steadily rising in the sky and a warm breeze was blowing with the scent of something sweet on the air. Birds could be heard starting their daily songs and everything seemed to be growing, grass and vines encroaching upon the building and trying to take it back to the heart of the earth from whence it'd been wrought.
 
She heard him- it was an undeniable tone. He was willing to die for her. She looked at him when he said that and she made sure their eyes caught. She reached over and lay her hand on his arm, squeezing above his elbow before pulling away and curling up in her seat. She knew she could put her very soul in his hands and she would be ok.

That's fine. Ishu smiled passively, It would be good to be somewhere else today, in case someone goes to the library looking for you again. She just thought being found in the same place twice could be a bad thing.

When they left the city, she sat up in her seat and rolled the window down a little bit, closing her eyes as she inhaled the scent of the trees and all of the nature around them. Before long, they parked near a house. She looked at it, liking that it was made for the outdoors. As he pointed towards the direction of the orchard, she got out of the car and ran over to a tree, hugging her body against it. She had not seen one in such a long time.

When she felt a hum from the tree, she was ecstatic, until it became lower. She looked at the tree in front of her, knowing that the tone was not natural from the tree. She pulled away, her hands still pressed on the bark. Odd. It was now silent. Ishu stroked her hand on the tree a few times before turning and walking over to Cade.

So, what do you want to do first? She put her hand up, keeping her hair from being blown into her face as she spoke to him.
 
Watching her interact with the tree instantly brought a content smile to his face, practically beaming proudly that he'd yet again found something to make her happy while at the same time relishing that happiness as if it were a drug being shot into his veins. Following her at an easy pace, he approached where she was as she turned to ask him that question and his eyes brightened as he glanced at the land spread out around them.

"Well, I figured we could just wander and explore the property," he said with a shrug. "It's been a while since I've just relaxed and enjoyed country like this." The mansion property was surrounded by a bit of foliage and a lawn that was left untended. But everything was caged in by a wall and he didn't think he'd ever feel free enough to just wander and look at things for the sake of it with the brethren constantly looming over him.

Glancing at the house, he dismissed it from thought, not wanting to take her inside where she might accidentally see something. The attack had been centralized and focused in the cellar where the women had been hiding, but he also remembered leaving a trail of blood on the floorboards as they'd dragged the "meat" back to the truck to take home.

Mostly, he'd brought her out here because of the fruit, so when he turned back to her, Cade offered her his hand and motioned with his head, giving her a pleased, secretive smile. "Follow me."

Pulling her gently along with him, he found a large shed off the eastern side of the main house. It had the usual old weathered look, no worse for wear - at least not any more than the house was - and he let go of her hand to open the latch that barred the door, tugging the handle and then yanking it harshly to get it to open with a creaking and dusty cracking sound. Peering inside, not much was illuminated by the light coming through the door but his eyes could see perfectly and he grinned as his eyes wandered over what he'd been looking for.

"Aha," he murmured pleasantly as he stepped inside reaching for the thing and bringing it back out with him, offering it up to show to Ishu. The basket was a bit dusty and cobwebs strung across one rounded corner, but he turned it over and knocked his knuckles on the underside where the woven wood slats overlapped each other firm and unbroken. Then he was flipping it over again and smiling again.

"Have you had anything to eat yet?" Obviously implying that he was eager to discover what grew on the trees that had been planted here.
 
She beamed up at him as he took her hand and she followed him more than willingly. The two stopped at an old shed and he went in. She leaned forward, laying her hand on the door of the shed while watching him move things around, obviously searching for something.

She heard something similar to the night before, but it was more distant, as if enclosed somewhere or cut off from reality. She looked around, seeing nothing but trees stretching up to the sky. She frowned, a bit unsettled, but looked up when Cade made some noise and saw him checking the durability of a basket.

He asked her if she had eaten yet, to which her stomach replied with a starved grumble. Her voice echoed in his head, wordless but filled with joy as soft laughter rang between his ears. The laughter stopped as she answered, No, I haven't had anything yet. I think my tummy is angry with me. She was joking, of course.

When he came out of the shed, she looped one of her arms with his, Which way do we go? She looked up at him, her only visible eye bright and expectant though curious and filled with the thirst for adventure that he was so ready to give her.
 
The sound of her laughter flowing within his skull had him gaping at her in ecstasy, the feeling of her voice echoing in that musical sound of pure joy acting like rapid bubbles in soda water tingling along the nerves of his scalp causing him to shiver delightedly. When she stopped to respond to his question, Cade felt almost bereft at the loss of that sound, yet propelled forward as her inner voice still danced with that same tone of hilarity. God...he loved that...

At her statements about having an angered "tummy" - he knew what that was but it was NOT a word the brethren used which was why he was instantly fond of it - he let out a small laugh of his own and felt his side pulled close to hers as she linked her arm through his. After being put in an overwhelmingly pleasurable daze by her laughter, it took him a few minutes of blinking stupidly before he was shaking his head and clearing his throat to come back to himself.

"Uh...heh, this way," he said with another murmured laugh, taking her south of the house on a small overgrown path, their legs wading through the shin-high grass to the crest of a hill. As they neared the top of it the ground sloped down and leveled out again, the trees of the grove spreading out before them, spaced out evenly from each other with grass growing freely in the spaces between them.

When they made their way down the small slope and approached the first trees, Cade's eyes looked them over with interest, instantly zeroing in on the fruits dangling from the branches and littering the ground beneath them before his eyes swept from top to bottom taking the bulk of the trees in. The leaves were bright green, slender and pointed in knife shapes and the branches spread out from short trunks in wobbling "v" patterns.

And amidst the leaves and littering the grass at their feet were round, bulbous fruits, pale in color with red marking different parts of them, making them look like blushing baby bottoms. Fascinated and curious, Cade reached out and plucked one of them from it's perch, the clefted circle not coming away until he applied a bit of pressure to it, filling his fist comfortably in it's ripened state. Holding it softly in his hand, he rubbed a thumb over the flesh of it, the texture reminding him of extremely fine fur.

"It's aaaaaa...not an apple," he finished lamely, failing in his attempt to impress her with hidden knowledge but having no idea what it was he was holding.
 
She walked alongside him as he led her to the orchard. There were fruit trees everywhere, but not as many fruits as there would be normally. She could see where some of the old fruit had fallen and withered away over time, sinking into the ground and nourishing their own mothers.

While Cade picked one of the fruit from a tree, she nudged her food gently into the ground over a spot that had been proficiently nourished. She did not look up until Cade addressed her, stating that the fruit was not an apple.

It looks like a peach. She stood on her tippy-toes so she could see into his hand, They are softer and juicier than apples, but they taste different. They are used a lot in processed things, like those fruit cups I brought yesterday. She reached over and stuck her thumb into the flesh, drawing her thumb away and putting it into her mouth, letting her tongue clean the juice from under the nail of her thumb but failing to catch one bit of juice that streamed down her arm in a thin line that eventually faded into her skin.

The skin of the peach was not too soft and the taste was almost perfect- as far as perfect could be for a peach anyway. It tastes ripe. The girl beamed her approval up at him before gently demanding, Try it.
 
Hunting. Stalking through the brush. Breathing heavy with teeth bared, each one stained reddish and his whole body reeking of carrion, he waded through tall grasses with a haunted look in his eyes. Trees surrounded him on all sides but he did not see them, panting and sucking in air through the flaring holes of his nostrils, the bloodlust consuming every part of his mind.

It had been 5 years since Spiegel had gone rogue and parted from his gang, preferring the social isolation of hunting and feeding on his own to the constant parade of sexual tension and desire among the brethren. All he cared about was the blood and now, locked in a perpetual state of hunger, he was consumed by his need for it.

Women. Their flesh so pure, so perfect to tear open, like a gory present. And hate burned deep inside almost rivalling the pleasure and satisfaction he felt in the actual taste of female meat. Romanticized and glorified in his barely conscious thought processes, more animal than anything anymore, he traveled wherever the scent of cunt drew him, rage pushing every arrogant step forward.

A scream came from the south, his whole body going rigid at the sound of it, red and black eyes staring in that direction, hearing distant bird cries as they were disturbed by the sound. A male voice. sniff Gamatom. And... sniff a woman. A slow smile spread across Spiegel's face, the edges of the grin seeming to stretch impossibly to his ears, baring his now dripping canine teeth in a deranged toothy expression of unadulterated joy.

The voice had been several miles away, but he did not stop to consider such things, propelled forward by the aching need within, every bone in his body screaming to shut out the sound of that feminine heart now pulsating and stabbing into his brain.

***​

"Peach," he said after the voice sounding in his head uttered it, his mouth rolling the word around as he looked down at it, growing familiar with the object in his hand and the name for it. When Ishu explained the differences it had with apples - also mentioning that it had been one of the fruits in the fruit cup she'd shared with him - his eyes brightened and he rubbed his thumb over the fuzzy outside of it with an undercurrent of excitement.

Then Cade was watching her curiously as she reached up, poking her thumbnail into the soft flesh of it, his eyes latched onto her hand and standing rigidly transfixed as her pink tongue licked at the appendage. A wave of desire flowed through him then, warmth pooling in his groin as his dark eyes followed the small trickle of juice down her arm, resisting the urge to latch his own mouth there to stop it's progress.

Blinking at her when she gently insisted he try the fruit, heat filled his face as the aroused glaze left his eyes with a shiver and he gave her a lopsided grin. "Hm," was all he said before turning his eyes back on the peach, rolling it in his hands to face the small indentation she'd made in it's surface. Even held about 5 inches from his face, the sweet almost tangy smell of it was very clear to him, but he brought it to his face and breathed it in deeper anyways, letting the almost familiar scent of it wash over him. With just a small glance in her direction, he opened his mouth and dug his sharp teeth into the skin of it for a full and hearty bite.

Chewing, chewing, chewing... his eyes widening and widening and his eyebrows furrowing in agitation, his knuckles knotting in tension. Then a deep scream left his lips and he held the peach away from himself to stare wide-eyed and agonized at her.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! It burns! I'm dying!!" he yelled in torment before his expression eased back to normal and he uttered a long string of laughter. Finally when he stopped, he gave her a sheepish shrug and another crooked smile. "Sorry...that was dumb, heh. Actually, it's really good. I think out of everything I've tried so far, this is my favorite."

Taking another bite of it, he looked up at the tree and searched for another having to step a bit on the cleft of the "v" in the branches to reach one that was higher up. Snapping it free with a grunted sigh he came back down and handed it to her with a smile, simply stating, "Breakfast...er, lunch rather."

Another bite was taken from his own, slightly slurping as juices ran down his own muscled forearm and a bit down his chin, before he turned to her with a considering look. "There's something that's been bugging me about this... " he started, taking a moment to swallow his mouthful before continuing. "I mean, I know that I've been changed somehow and I'm different than the others since I met you, but it's nothing physical. Nothing physically happened to me to change me in such a drastic way. So, that means the brethren could eat and probably enjoy these things as much as I have.

"But they don't because we're all told it's disgusting or we hear of stories where someone has died from even thinking about giving in to curiosity. And I know for a FACT they don't try this stuff because I've never met a Gamatom who's had the balls to do so - at least not where they'd admit it, but if they ate a strawberry and LIVED, I can't imagine why they wouldn't go bragging about it."

"I don't know..." he murmured with a cocked eyebrow, looking down at the bites in the fruit he held. "I can understand the bloodlust making everything seem obsolete and spurning any interest in other food. But you'd think that'd be enough to keep us from varying our diets and I don't understand the reason for all the stories. I feel like I've been lied to. But before three days ago, I probably wouldn't have cared if someone told me peaches tasted good. I was perfectly happy to keep eating...what I was eating. So...why, you know?"

Cade shrugged at her with that same thoughtful look before digging his teeth back into the fruit and taking a bite, frowning slightly as he hit something hard.
 
She watched him examine the peach for some time and before seeing him take a bite. See, isn't it- He began screaming, saying the fruit burned him and that he might be dying. Her voice echoed into a panicked yell and she latched onto his arms, frantic and confused. The fruit had not hurt him before! Maybe it was because it was processed- and the he stopped. IT was... a joke.

Ishu blushed, feeling foolish for falling for his little prank. She squeezed his arms and threw her body onto his, hugging him. She was so worried that she had killed him! She didn't think she would be able to live with that.

She sniffled, smelling fruit near her face. She opened her eyes and saw the peach he had taken down for her and she took it, Thanks. As the girl drew back, she gave his side a light jab, That was at horrible joke! But her voice gave a soft giggle nonetheless.

She rolled her thumbs over the fruit before carefully biting into it, juice seeping out over her lower lip. His voice caught her attention and she looked up, her teeth still in the fruit as she listened to him. He was right though, nothing physical had changed.

She listened to all of his questions, peeling away the peach with her teeth and sucking the shard of fruit into her mouth, sweeping her tongue over her lips to clean off the excess juice, Well... I don't have all the answers, but I think whoever started this has some kind of twisted agenda. I don't want to sound generic with this, but it could be some kind of government conspiracy.

Ishu licked the wound she made in the fruit, keeping the excess juice from practically pouring out, I mean, no one knows if the President or any of the men in Congress are still alive. If they weren't- then someone else could have done it. IT could be a political figure that we know or someone that underground, so to speak. It could be a foreigner even- this whole thing could be biological warfare!

As she told him what she had already thought about before, she realized how heavy a situation this could be. Was no one outside doing anything? This made her remembered her father...

She bit into the fruit again and ate quietly.
 
Trying to listen to her as she posed different theories about what was going on became a bit of a chore as he found himself lightly distracted when she started to eat her own peach. That first licking of her finger had started him along this road and the abrupt feel of her body against his when she'd realized he'd been joking had only exacerbated the problem. And now... watching the way she ate...he found himself reacting to her physically.

Clearing his throat he nodded his head, watching her tongue stroke at the bared insides of the fruit. "Human government... Could be," he murmured absently, his own peach, with bites exposing the pit in the middle, laying forgotten in his hand. Then he was taking in a deep breath and looking away from her to consider what she'd brought up.

The history of the uprising was another one of those things that the brethren rarely talked about except to detail the highlights of the great event and recount their glory. First, there had been a war going on when the Gamatoms had decided to march upon the world, seemingly oozing from the Earth like oil geysers in an endless flood of bodies. At first, the only order that there had been to the attacks was the focus on large cities, the authorities randomly dismantled and the populace already feeling the dominant bite of the superior race.

Then word from the president and the soldiers spread out in another part of the world had disappeared and the borders both south and north had been closed from within, keeping anyone from moving in or out of the states. Harbors had been blocked and airports had been destroyed, but it was overkill; from what little news came out of America in that last year or so, nobody on the outside wanted to get involved. When the Gamatoms made it clear they were content with the gem of this so-called free land, they'd willingly backed off and let them have it.

At least that was how it had more or less been recounted to Cade - the humans had basically rolled over in submission. But there wasn't any Gamatom leadership or authority, not any that affected their daily lives. Mostly, they were just "set-free" and allowed to do as they pleased. There was a sense of honor and companionship within packs and certain unnamed rules about allowing the humans to continue to work and live - which a vast majority still did, as if ignoring the nightly problem would make it go away one day - but as far as any concentration of effort or direction...he'd never been given any. There wasn't a goal except to leech off of humanity.

So, she definitely was onto something bringing up some sort of leadership behind the scenes somehow controlling them like puppets, but as far as who they might be or what they wanted to achieve, he hadn't a clue. And biological warfare? Like germs and diseases? Maybe... "Maybe there's a cure, then...?"

Looking at her again, he watched silently as she continued to eat her peach, still feeling that pulse of arousal pumping through his body at sight of her shiny wet lips. And that brought his attention back to the other side of the coin he'd expressed in the car. There was an overwhelming attraction to Ishu herself, a feverish intensity that made him feel both sick and strong at the same time, her sweetness and intelligence drawing him closer with ever word that echoed inside his head. And his willingness to risk everything to protect her.

But then there was the physical aspect of it as well... When looking at her face and her body, although he still saw the individual parts, there was no hunger attached but lust instead - which was itself a completely new and alien feeling since he'd only ever felt this way towards other men his whole life. It had always been there, like a distant fog, lurking and creeping, since the day he'd met her, but now more than ever he was facing it head on.

He wanted her.

Restraint had never been a part of Gamatom society - if you wanted a partner, you took them and most of the time they were so filled with lust themselves, they'd willingly give in to any and all demands. Cade hesitated with her, uncertain of how to articulate the strange desire, but unwilling to let it pass by without acting on it. So before she could take another bite, he silently put a hand on her wrist, slowly pushing the fruit away before dropping his own to the grass.

Dark eyes traveled over her features, a hinted inner spark swirling within them, his taller frame almost seeming to loom over her. Then his hands were reaching forward to cradle each side of her face, fingers fitting smoothly into place as he steadied her and bowed his head low.

He didn't kiss her. He wanted to. His body told him to. But he didn't, merely letting his lips hover over hers, brushing featherlight and so very quiet and close... Then like a spell being broken, he was drawing back, his hands falling from her as he stepped towards the basket he'd set aside.

"I had expected there to be more here than this, but I think we still might be able to fill this enough to take with us. What do you think?" He turned to her with a lazy smile, his eyes still filled with hints of that same desire.
 
I mean, no one really likes America. The higher-ups like to shove their noses into other countries business and they just take what they want. If you ask me, this was going to happen eventually... it is just wrong. All of those civilians.

She shook her head, I don't know if it could be Russia or China. Russia lacks the funding and China wouldn't want to waste the resources- unless they had an extended plan in... He said something about a cure and she looked sad, No... I don't think what makes your people this way is genetic- so there can't be a cure. Unless... I mean,

Her teeth scraped on the skin of the peach, a form of fidgeting. If this is your only purpose- wiping out an entire country, why would they keep you? She looked down at her peach and licked the juice off of her lip, I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound so callous- She felt his hand hold her wrist and she looked up at him, uncertain.

His eyes were so... She was at a loss for words and it didn't get any better when his hands touched her face, his face coming closer. She couldn't explain it, the pulsing feeling that came from her and him as well. Her eyelid shut as her breathing slowed but her heart felt like it was going to explode- and then he pulled away.

Her heartbeat rang o loudly in her head that she could barely hear what he was saying, What? She moved hair from her face, breathing slowly as the skin on her face burned with a not so subtle blush. Oh, um... Yeah. She was about to take a bite of the peach she had been nibbling on but found her hand was empty.

She looked down, seeing the two partially eaten peaches nestled together under the tree they came from. This made her smile and she stepped over to Cade, Let's fill it up then, shall we?
 
No. He supposed that hoping for a cure was asking a little too much. And besides it would be too easy, wouldn't it? Still, he wasn't too worried about it personally - whatever was happening to him could be considered as close to "healing" as a Gamatom had ever gotten... At least he hoped that was what was happening to him.

When she smiled around a very endearing blush and stepped forward, he turned and walked with her among the trees picking out fruit from the branches of those they passed and putting them in the basket. Occasionally, he stopped to reach up to the higher branches to get lonely peaches still clinging to the tops of the trees, but eventually, they had filled the basket almost to the top by the time they'd covered all the trees on the grounds.

Slowly, during their time together, Cade's arousal dwindled to a more tolerable state, but still, when she occasionally reached out to touch him or watching her curvy body - not disguised by her clothing at all, to his eyes - stretch to pull different fruits from their perches, it was an active process shoving that throbbing heat down. By the time they were wandering back to the car with their bundle, it was midday, and he was smiling, hauling the thing with ease despite it's accrued weight gain.

"You take these home with you," he said, placing it down in the backseat before closing the door. "Maybe I'll take a few myself before we part ways..."

The smile he had on his face froze as a tickle of something itched along the back of his neck. Something wasn't right. Looking around, he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. The farm house stood quietly, untouched and nothing moved in the trees and grassy hills that surrounded them.

Nothing moved.

All at once he became aware of a lack of any sound - the chirping songs of birds and small wildlife crawling here and there unbothered by their presence that had followed them all day were completely absent. Not a sound except that made by the warm breeze that had continued into the afternoon. And... the smell of rotting flesh came to his nose...

Set on edge, his eyes looking alertly around at the trees that surrounded them, with grave seriousness in his voice he turned to her. "Ishu---!" His voice died as the bushes opposite her erupted with a slim, muscular figure that came charging across what little open space there was straight for her. The man was bald and clean shaven, red eyes burning bright with hate and teeth gaping open emitting ragged growls in a constant stream, not even sparing a glance in Cade's direction.

There was about three feet left between the two before Cade was there between them, his body rocking back on his heels slightly as the Gamatom slammed into him. It took a few minutes of dancing around, the stranger snarling and clawing trying to reach around Cade's body to get to her before it became apparent that he could not simply ignore the other to get to his prey.

And when his attention turned on Cade, there was a savage intensity to every blow, grappling with a man he would consider a brother, for what he thought was dominance and the chance to eat first. There were even several minutes where the other, lost in his blinding rage, drooling from sharpened teeth, emitted guttural roars in Cade's face only to have them returned tenfold - as if the two were arguing in some primitive language consisting of growls.

As best he could, Cade attempted to propel the newcomer backwards and away from Ishu, trying to keep the man's attention focused on him. He only prayed there weren't others hiding and waiting to make their move - with how much trouble he was having with this berserker, dividing his attention would surely be the end.
 
She couldn't help it, letting her hand trail over and touch his passive fingers while he picked fruit and she levitated a few down and into the basket. She hoped it wouldn't give her a headache, using her abilities on purpose and trying to train them again. She certainly hoped she wouldn't go into that trance like she had the day before.

Before they knew it, although the time had gone by so slowly with the warm sun and the pulsing from their bodies, the basket was full and they went back to the audi. Cade wanted her to take them all. She was surprised and felt that it was too much, but she understood that if the Gamatoms found him with fruit, there would surely be hell to pay. So, she did not argue.

Ishu opened the back door of the car and put the basket in, There. When she turned back to Cade he seemed... off. Like something was wrong. What is it? Her voice whispered to him as her body turned and looked around.

As her eyes set on a patch of green bushes, Cade yelled and a beast lunged out toward her. Her voice yelled from surprise, a low booming sound emitting from her body and she fell back against the car. What was she supposed to do? Should she get into the car? Should she wait for Cade to win? What if... what if he didn't?

She went around the car and moved, slowly, to the shed while watching them to make sure this other Gamatom wouldn't jump her. She fidgeted with the door and got it open, falling down the one step and landing against one of the walls.

Ok... ok. Just... She touched her hands to her face and looked around the shed, picking up anything with a remotely sharp edge and laying her back against the wall, facing the door and... waiting.
 
Cade didn't notice that Ishu had fled until the other did, Spiegel snarling hatefully before shoving Cade back, the light of reason flashing in the haze of his black and red eyes.

"Fine!" Spiegel shouted in a gruff voice that didn't seem to match the emaciated form that uttered it, spittle flinging from his mouth as each new word burst across his lips. "We'll fucking share her, you greedy asshole! Now move before the cunt gets away!"

While he'd spoken, Cade had stood in a defensive stance, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths until the other made a move to stalk past him towards the shed - he could hear her heart beating like someone scraping a Brillo pad along the inside of his skull; it hurt so bad and yet called to him, promising sweet delicious pleasure. Once again, smoothly with firm steps, Cade was inserting himself between the other man and his target, his face held in an unyeilding expression.

This other...this rogue, obviously didn't understand why Cade had stopped him and any excuses or "playing along" were shot down before they even entered his head. No. He could not predict what the other Gamatom would do and he was NOT going to dangle Ishu anywhere near him just to keep his secret. But taking the steps that he was, his intent would become immediately known...

As Cade blocked his way once again, red eyes widened angrily as Spiegel shouted again, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" He didn't have to share and he certainly didn't want to, but he'd been perfectly willing if this guy wasn't going to budge - even though he didn't have a pack, there was no reason for the brethren to fight like this. But it looked like this bastard wanted her all to himself! Not gonna happen!

With another snarl at his opponent, Spiegel lunged at Cade, slamming his fist deep into the other's gut, an explosion of air leaving Cade as the blow impacted. Cringing his teeth, Cade stood and threw his own fists at the other Spiegel barely moving back to defend himself as he viciously continued to beat into the other.

There had been fights in the past where Cade had gone up against other brothers to establish dominance for one reason or another. But never before had he fought a Gamatom so willing to use his teeth against a brother, a scream ripping from his throat as Spiegel dug his teeth into Cade's shoulder gripping him like a pitbull until Cade's fist jabbed into the guy's temple, stunning him enough to release him. And the Gamatom was coming at him with sharp canines inching for his neck again as soon as he'd cleared his head. It was like he'd gone feral or something!

At one point, the two inched closer to the house, the sound of growls dying down to be replaced by coarse, bestial breathing from them both, the air punctuated by the wet, meaty sounds of fists hitting flesh again and again. Falling back and growing weary, Cade defensively drew to the other side of the ranch-house away from the shed, the other following and intent on either disabling him or murdering him as he wielded a shovel he'd found leaned up against the side of the house.

Swiftly, relying on his speed, he ducked as Spiegel swung it at him, the air whistling by his head and body in malignant promise every time it missed. Sweat covered Cade's forehead in heavy beads, searching around himself for anything to fight back with, not wanting to get in the way of Spiegel's strong-armed swings, nor take his eyes off the other. As they drifted by the house and near the brush that surrounded the property, Cade inched too close to the hiding place of a few birds, the blue and white jays calling out maniacally and fluttering from their cover, wings batting over Cade's shoulder and hair before it was gone.

And looking back at Spiegel, the other had found his opening, the shovel smashing into Cade's face like a wrecking ball, knocking him off of his feet. Dazed, but clinging to consciousness, Cade lay on the ground trying to stifle the nausea that accompanied the new headache blooming in his skull. Thoughts of Ishu instantly had him looking around and trying to focus his vision through a drizzle of blood that flowed from his temple, but there was no sign of Spiegel anywhere on this side. And he couldn't see the shed from here.

Despite the protests of his body, he moved to get up, wobbling slightly as his eyes blurred before he started to run to the other side of the house, screaming her name.

"Ishu!!!"

-------------

The beating of her heart and the smell of her sweat drew him back to the other side of the house, to the building separated from it and slightly ajar doorway. He could feel it, smell the revolting odor of her feminine hormones and vaginal juices, hate scrabbling like a bug digging through his brain tissue and making him jerk his head in aggravation, eyes rolling briefly as he continued to make his way towards the weathered old building. Now nothing was stopping him, nothing was in his way and he wouldn't even need to share the succulent meal!

Spiegel's mouth poured thick globs of saliva, red-stained teeth glistening as he inched towards the doorway, only pausing to look back at the intrusive sound of the other coming...
 
Her hands held her head as she fought back visuals. She was... seeing the fight. Feeling the blows. If she didn't feel sore from slamming into the gate the night before, she would certainly feel sore after this.

The whole time she was in the shed, her body was shaking from the adrenaline rushing through her veins, pumping out her heart like it was the blood she lived off of. Her breathing became heavier as the shed became hotter, thick with humidity.

She gripped at her clothes, shoving her coat off and peeling her sweater from her small arms. Ishu let herself sit on a low shelf, dirtying the back of her blue babydoll styled dress. She panted quietly, putting her head back against the wooden wall.

He would come for her, and she new it, but she was scared. She put her face in her hands and leaned forward, curling her torso against her legs as the wood and brick tore through, grabbing onto her and screaming. Blood gushed out of the broken brick, filling the shed and engorging itself down her throat.

She choked on the blood, so much blood, and spit it out, lifting her chin as her body floated to the ceiling and she was, inevitably, going to die. As her head dipped under the blood she could hear the screaming and wailing of some tortured dead. Why did they die?

As her eyes shut and she thought she was gone, she woke up in her reality, the sun that once seeped in through the small slices on the wooden door now partially blocked out by a figure. It was not Cade.

In this moment she experienced something new. The adrenaline came up and took over her body, blinding her with a sheen of red that could barely color the shadows around her. She opened her arms and closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of the wood when it was once alive.

The door to the shed swung open and there was a lingering moment of silence from the impenetrable darkness.

A low sound similar to that of a military aircraft sounded, condensed to the small area and causing a popping affect, making everything silent as a pulsing sensation sliced through everything around it, making the only sound that of the ground humming.

Like a mouse getting caught in a trap, tools flew out of the shed, shooting into the Gamatoms skin. A barrage of small gardening shovels flew out, stabbing into his biceps and thighs when they did not miss. Following the small assailant was a hay fork, lodging itself in his chest and puncturing one of his lungs.

The final object that came for him came without mercy, a large shovel projecting from the shed and tearing clean through his neck, continuing until it hit a tree and stopped, decapitating the Gamatom. The last thing that Gamatom would ever hear would be the low rumbling in his head followed by the assailing of tormented wails just as the edge of the shovel pierced his throat.




She felt like... she was falling. Falling through everything and nothing, but it all looked like wind. Her eye blinked. Quietly. It blinked. She felt her body flip forward, over and over before a sheet of darkness open its mouth and swallowed her whole.

Ishu collapsed in the shed.
 
Feeling the rumbling from the earth and the audible throbbing of everything around him, Cade didn't know what to think but increased his speed despite the aching in his head. What the fuck was that? Not something the Gamatom was doing, was it? Had Ishu found some sort of heavy machinery to hijack?

Coming around the house he could see Spiegel standing at the door to the shed and a glare of hate made it's way across Cade's features, ready to kill the son of a bitch for even thinking of hurting her. Then he was skidding to a stop, merely 10 feet from the other when his body was jerking back in violent spasms, his front obscured from Cade's eyes by the angle. There was a cry that started, but was abruptly cut off, the Gamatom's back going rigid as he slowly inched his way backwards.

Blood dribbled freely from Spiegel's mouth as he stared down and clutched at what appeared to be a very large fork protruding from his chest, almost as if he couldn't believe what was happening to him. Blood flowed from other wounds on the Gamatom's body, garden utensils protruding from his hips, torso and arms as if he were an odd, bloody action-figure with "hidden weapon" powers activated. And when more sounds shook the shed - literally shook the damn thing in front of his eyes, the outside supports seeming ready to tear up out of the ground and the whole thing would fly away or something - Spiegel's head came up to look back inside the shed, barely registering shock before another weapon/tool came zooming through the air, accompanied by a hollow and very swift crack, like a baseball bat hitting a homerun.

And Cade stood, hair standing on end as he watched the head of the other Gamatom fly into the air, a gymnast going for a mid-air twirl to land at Spiegel's feet, the Gamatom's body following to first kneel, slumped as if extremely tired, then forward and onto his side as the handle of the fork in his chest kept him from falling flat on the face that was no longer a part of the body.

Glancing at the tree opposite the shed, Cade watched and breathed heavily for a moment or two as the handle of the shovel bobbed slowly up and down, it's head wedged deep into the trunk. This was almost like what had happened in the store... Ishu!

Concern overrode the fear that she might mistake him for another attacker as he bolted the rest of the distance to the shed, stepping apathetically over the Gamatom's corpse to enter the darkness. His eyes picked her out instantly, collapsed near the wall and he knelt by her side, fingers shaking to touch her neck and search for a pulse. A breath of relief left him to feel the slight and hazy beating beneath her smooth skin, only realizing in a distant way that she was wearing something different than before.

Getting to his feet, Cade glanced out of the shed in all directions that he could see from here before bending down and hauling Spiegel's body out of the sunlight, leaving him on the other side of the shed than Ishu. Returning to her, he gently lifted her in his arms, intent on getting her out of here and someplace safe, and walked out of the shed, kicking Spiegel's head until it too was inside before nudging the door as closed as he could get it without pulling it shut with his hands.

Looking around, he surveyed the car where it stood still, patiently waiting for them to return, it's cargo of peaches sitting in the backseat. But deciding that he wanted to get her someplace safe NOW so he could look at her and make sure she wasn't hurt, he drifted towards the house, stumbling as fatigue clung to his bones.

Inside the cool interior of the ranch-house, his mind already numbing in a daze, Cade could not escape the memories of what had happened here, everything seeming to flow backwards as if being rewound. Those blood stains were still there, darkened like something burned into the floorboards in a zig-zagging path through wooden furniture in the living room. In his mind, he saw the brethren dragging the body of the fat grandmother from the basement, blood drizzling down another's torso as he held the young wife of one of the sons draped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

And down in the basement, he remembered finding them, hidden behind the stairs that led down, bottled wine in shelves against the concrete wall. It had been so cold down there and yet he'd felt so hot, steam practically rising from his bared skin as he jumped down the stairs after the others, zipping past the man who'd been left to stand guard while Valheru had ahold of the man and was wrestling the gun away from his fragile fingers.

Back behind the stairs...huddled in the dark...their fear something so deep and physical that he could taste it in the air, his body electrified by it and every nerve aroused by his hate for them. There had been a young one with them, probably 12 or so, small and scrawny like a boy in her very country overalls. She hadn't made it back to the mansion but had died and been eaten right here, in the belly of her family's home. Barely a snack.

Coming out of the fog that had drifted over his eyes, Cade blinked and started walking further into the house, the rest of the rooms untouched except when the brethren had searched it for any more hidden prey. Into one of the back bedrooms, the light of afternoon coming through pastel colored curtains and dripping onto the wooden floor in brightened pools. The bedspread was a complex pattern of detailed roses and flower petals and a thin layer of dust had aged the already drab colors to a soft greying brown.

Fighting the urge to close his eyes against the pain in his head, Cade brought her over to the bed and laid her down with her white hair spreading over the pillows. Then he was looking down at her for the first time since Spiegel's death, noticing the blue dress first and then searching her body for any wounds. There were bruises here and there that made him wonder if he'd been out longer than he thought, but he shook his head in doubt. Spiegel had been more than willing to attack him like a wild dog and with how much he hungered for the woman he wouldn't have hesitated to jump at her teeth first.

So, where had these come from? Thinking of her eye, he wondered if something really did happen to her while they'd been apart - even with a common enemy plaguing the world, humans could still be cruel to each other. Worrying over this but not really certain what to do about it until she woke up, Cade trudged to the other side of the bed and laid next to her, his body instantly rewarding him for the new position with a burst of relaxed pleasure in his limbs.

His wounds would heal rapidly and he could always clean up before arriving back at the mansion. And he would question Ishu about her bruises and what had happened to Spiegel when she finally woke up. But for now...he just...needed to...rest...
 
For a moment it seemed that the darkness was fading. She could barely see and she pushed her eyes, trying to get them to collect all of the light around her. There was some dust dancing in a faded light, seeping in through the ceiling. She looked up, looking through a broken floorboard into the top floor. Where was she?

She took a step forward, her foot starting to slide on something slick but dried. She grabbed the arm of the couch and looked down. She lifted her foot up and drew it back, seeing the dried blood on the floor. Oh... Her eyes darted around the room, seeing blood smeared everything.

Ishu put her hands over her ears as she expected the wailing to start- but there was nothing. Her hands moved down, the only sound she could hear being her own breathing. Soon, her hands were by her sides. She started forward again and she heard a voice of a young girl, crying softly.

The crying was coming from somewhere in the room. Ishu listened and focused on the sound, looking around until she saw movement next to a dresser in the corer of the room, near the stairs. She started over, the crying and little sobs getting louder.

She could see the tip of a head, brunette hair put up in little pig tails. When she got closer, she could see the person. A little girl in dirty overalls and some smudges on her face. She had some blood on her clothes and her little socks.

Ishu stopped where she stood and watched her, Are you... are you ok? It was a horrible question and she knew it, but she had to ask.

The little girl sniffled and rubbed one of her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, her jaw stretching wide as she screamed at the top of her little girl lungs and her neck snapped, thrusting her entire head to one side.

_____​

With a large gasp, Ishu sat up quickly in the bed, hyperventilating and wide eyed. She clutched at her chest ad neck, gasping for air from the panic. She fumbled with a little pocket on the front of her dress, taking out an inhaler and pressing it into her mouth, inhaling until the screams went away.

Her chest lowered and she hung forward, tucking the device away into her pocket. The room she was in was dark but she couldn't tell if it was because of the time of day or if the windows were covered. Carefully, she moved her hand around on the bed, checking if she was alone or not.
 
He'd dozed off, drawn under the cover of sleep as his headache pounded away on the inside of his skull, the pain growing distant as he faded into the darkness. Cade didn't dream as he slept the afternoon away, but he was aware on some level of Ishu being nearby. Not touching her, but the sound of her breathing mixing with the other noises that his hyper-sensitive ears were on the alert for. The soft smell of her hair and clothes and skin mixing with the musty old-house smell.

And while he slept, the skin of the cut on the side of his head knitted together, slowly, the skin of his wounded shoulder seeming to rise like dough around the embedded teeth marks, slowly engulfing them in new flesh. The wound in his head disappeared by the time the sun had gone down, but his shoulder still took it's time as his body dealt with the layers of carrion that had covered Spiegel's teeth and inserted themselves beneath his flesh with the Gamatom's savage bite.

He did not stir when she did, even when her panicked breathing and beating heart were accompanied by the clipped wheeze of the inhaler. When her hand reached out for him in the darkness, her fingertips barely touched his arm before the other was whipping up to grab her wrist and he too was sitting up on the bed. From the first touch, his hand was gentle, however, instantly recognizing the feel of her before he had a chance to let panic set in, and he held her hand in a reassuring manner as he looked her over in the dark.

"Ishu... Are you alright?" he asked, his voice raspy and still heavy with sleep. Remembering the fight with the rogue Gamatom and what she'd done, he reached to cradle her face in his hand. "When I found you passed out, I thought he'd..." But he hadn't. She was fine, sitting beside him right here, breathing and alive.Heart beating.

"I'm sorry," noticing a tiny tremor in his fingers, Cade lowered his hand from her then to hold the one she'd extended to touch him with. "I shouldn't have been so careless. The brethren are everywhere these days. I just wanted to take you somewhere where we wouldn't have to worry and constantly look over our shoulders. It was really dumb to let my guard down. It won't happen again."

Humiliation dripped from his voice as he slid off the bed on his side, leaving her alone there to peer out the window. Evening had fully arrived and he extended his senses to take in any scents or sounds that were off, but there was nothing. Night wildlife bustled around the ranch-house, unafraid in the cover of night and no longer wary of the house or it's previous owners.

"They'll be out hunting now," he said softly, watching a fox slither like a four legged snake by the shed before disappearing into the brush with barely a flicker of movement in the tall grass. Distantly, he was aware of a hum inside his bones, burning low in his chest like embers from a fire, but he ignored it as he turned back to her. "We can't go back tonight. The electricity doesn't work out here - we cut it off when we came through - but the water comes from a well under the property, so the faucets and toilets should still be functional." He met her eyes in the darkness, but he wasn't sure if she could see him or not. He looked away anyways.

"I'll go find a lantern." he murmured and stalked away from her to the other rooms, tension filling him to leave her alone in there, but leaving his senses open wide for any disturbances. In his search, he paused over the blood stains and remembered again how they'd been made, but walked out of the room before he could consider it further. Finding a lantern in a closet in the main hall, along with some matches, he lit it and brought it back to her, holding it aloft when he re-entered the bedroom and setting it on the bedside table.

Then he drifted to the corner of the room, not really clinging to the shadows so much as he was cautious about getting too close to her. "How do you feel? Is there anything you need? I looked you over earlier and you seemed pretty beat up... Did that all happen today...or last night when you hurt your eye?" He was trying to cling to an understanding and sympathetic tone, but everything came out cold and hollow to his ears.
 
She felt his skin under her hand and before she could register anything else, he grabbed her wrist and sat up. It didn't hurt, which surprised her, but it also didn't scare her. She exhaled a relieved breath and touch her hand to his shoulder before leaning forward and hugging him carefully. Her body ached and she assumed his did too. She also did not know how much damage he had sustained from the battle.

No, no, it's ok. Ishu touched her hands on his face and gave him a reassuring smile, We did not think we would be in danger here. It was an accident. She didn't want him to feel guilty and completely responsible. Maybe her words wouldn't work. He moved off of the bed and went to the window.

The Gamatoms would be hunting, so it must be nighttime already. She watched him, the faint light illuminating his outline and basking his figure in a pitch black darkness. She watched him walk out of the room and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them.

Her toes bent down and then lifted up, over and over as she waited for him. She half-expected more Gamatoms to show up but they didn't seem to like to leave the town. Maybe they were safe? She sighed and bumped her forehead on her knees.

A light maneuvered through the hallway and entered the room. Ishu lifted her head and watched Cade come into the room and put the lantern down, then retreat into a corner. She was confused about how he was acting but thought he might feel better if she just answered his questions instead of asking more of her own.

I'm ok. Just tired. She didn't want to say she was hungry. It was feeding time for him and alerting any attention to food might trigger something. Oh, She looked down at her limbs when he mentioned the bruising. She touched her hands to her stomach, hiding a wince as she felt out more bruises on her body. It was last night... it was my fault.
 
"Can I ask how it happened?" he asked from his corner, rubbing a hand over his forehead in unease. He was fine. He was fine. He just needed to keep looking at her and keep talking to her. "I mean, I'm not exactly an expert, but I know a beating when I see one," yeah...when the markings were on dead bodies. Don't think about corpses. Don't think about corpses. Don't think about meat...

"How was it 'your fault'? What about your brothers?" She'd mentioned she had two didn't she? Cade couldn't recall if she'd said that they lived with her not... it was getting very hard to think clearly. "I can't be with you all the time and I thought... when you said you had family that they'd be able to watch out for you while I'm not there." An image flashed in his mind of the sons standing in front of the ranch-house with hard gazes, holding their guns menacingly at the threatening Gamatoms, and of the women inside being protected by another man holding a rifle.

"Human men protect their families, I thought," he said, coming out of that thoughtful haze to look at her again. It wasn't too much different from the Gamatom way, especially among brethren of connected packs and within the packs themselves. But there wasn't anything to protect each other from except other Gamatoms, since the humans were so flimsy and weak. And disputes between brethren were often handled between isolated parties, lovers and partners mixing so interchangeably, the actual connections were small and loyalty was thin. There was something altogether different about the way the humans handled not only communities but especially family relations. Emotion that the Gamatoms exploited because it made the men act stupid.

But when Ishu had mentioned having brothers, of having male family members, it was the one comfort he'd had about leaving her alone to walk home by herself or not have him be there by her side at night. Now... he was really starting to doubt that even if he could be with her night and day...that it'd be a good idea at all.

Thinking of family brought up thoughts of when he'd met his own brother. Cade neither knew who his parents were - the Gamatom's who'd created him - nor did he really have any desire to know, but a few years after reaching "mature" status and joining his own gang, he'd gotten the chance to meet family he'd been unaware of. Quin's pack had still been traveling at that point, trying to find an unoccupied stronghold to settle down in - which they'd eventually found in Anderton, the pack that dominated the southern end of the city already here and willing to split the large metropolis with the small group of younger Gamatoms.

The pack had stopped in a large city along the coast and were welcomed with open arms by the very large and dominant gang that controlled the city. A week of revelries had ensued and the small pack had blended with the larger as brethren copulated together, feasting every night.

Cade had been 17 at the time, and among the older Gamatoms he'd come upon one in particular that caught his attention. It'd been like an instant, unspoken but very clear connection, the scent of each other familiar and yet different, magnetic and drawing them together. His brother's name was Hart and he'd been in his early thirties when Cade had met him, a strong, dominant man from that coastal gang. And the two had fucked like dogs that entire week, barely sharing any other partners, before Quin had moved his pack onward in their search for territory.

Cade knew the humans weren't like that, but again there was that unbridled jealousy towards these men he'd never met and how much closer they were to her than he would probably ever be. Because of that connection. That look in the orchard farmer's eyes. And he found himself wanting to find fault with it, wanting to point out the weaknesses in it, just to have her to himself.

"How do they feel about you being gone all day? Do they get worried? Possessive? Angry? If either of them has laid a hand on you... I won't kill them," it was a minor show of respect for her previously stated wishes as vitriol filled his voice. "But they're not going to like being alive when I'm done.

"Who's been hurting you?"

If not the brothers then surely someone else was - bruises like that didn't come from self-infliction. He couldn't understand why he was so angry all of a sudden, but even as the hunger built like hot coals inside of him, he couldn't direct his hate at her. He couldn't even feel hunger towards her. But there was no heart beat except for hers and the wildlife out here and it made him feel restless and stuck, his emotions running wild like broken electrical lines dancing upon the ground lashing out at any and everything to relieve the pressure of that sound beating in his head.
 
Well, I, He kept going. He was acting really weird, like something was wrong. He accused her brother(s) of hitting her, What? No! Cade- Her kept going, anger and hatred filling his voice. She watched him closely, letting him talk without interrupting him.

Ishu moved over to the side of the bed further away from him and slowly stood up, Cade... She sighed, My brother does worry, but he doesn't hit me. This one didn't anyway- but she wasn't about to divulge him into those details. Stay calm, ok? She moved around the edge of the bed until there was nothing between them but empty space.

I... stayed at the library. I lost track of time. I had been gone all day and... I needed to take care of my brother, Haijime. She fidgeted with her fingernails. I didn't feel right leaving him home alone... so I went out. I went all the way back in the middle of the night while your pack was... feeding. I mean, I assume it was your pack.

She moved some hair behind her ear, I ran into the gate, She looked at her body before looking back at him, I got it open... I'm ok, but a Gamatom... it almost got me. She looked down at her leg and finally noticed an almost invisible bandage on her calf. So... it had gotten her.

She touched the bandage, the material completely adhesive. It was nothing she had seen before. Wouldn't Cade have noticed the smell of blood- even if it was covered up? It felt suctioned onto her skin. Weird. Maybe... She shook it off. Now wasn't the time.

But, I'm ok. She rang her hands together, remembering the hoarse and callous roars of the Gamatom that so greedily wanted to to gnaw through her innards.
 
The sound of her voice in his head battled against her pulse hammering between his ears and even before he looked at her again to watch her come around the bed, he could hear it in that internal voice - he was upsetting her. That, added onto her very calm assurances that her brother did not hurt her - which he believed as soon as she said it - it had the anger fleeing from his mind. That is until she explained what had happened.

She'd been out while they were feeding last night? How could she know that? Had she seen him and what he'd done? No. They'd been in an alley and if she'd been anywhere nearby, she would have instantly become a target. It was most definitely his pack - the southern pack hunted mainly in the suburbs and rich houses of the southern neighborhood. Unless the gangs joined together for an evening, they did not step on each other's turf to hunt.

Then she mentioned another Gamatom and Cade instantly took a few rigid steps towards her, eyes growing a bit wild trying to piece together what she was saying to figure out who it might've been. Not Valheru or Rek - he'd been with them during the hunt until the pack had driven back up to the house. Had it been Quin? Would he have let a gate stop him from pursuing his prey?

Ishu's internal voice told him she was okay, and again, he felt himself believing her, but the thought of one of the brethren attempting to kill her made his blood boil. He was trapped. He couldn't be free with her during the day and at night he couldn't be there to protect her, lest he be considered rogue and the brethren came after him. And he couldn't abandon the pack - as much as he wanted her and as much as he hated the way they were... they were men he'd grown up with, who'd taken him in and raised him. Besides that, Quin would fucking kill him if he even sensed that Cade was going rogue - nobody trusted a Gamatom without a pack, because of the lack of loyalty and respect they often displayed. Which filled him with trepidation about what the morning would bring.

Running a hand through his hair, Cade let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling weary - taking a moment to look at his hand which came away from his dark hair slick with sweat. "I didn't mean to blame your brother for your injuries," his voice actually was calmer now, although nothing had really changed about his current state of being. "Just the thought of anyone hurting you..." Sure, that was why he'd gotten mad and thrown around presumptuous accusations. At least a big part of why.

"And I'm sorry to hear that you were around last night...around that... Yes, it was my gang hunting in that neighborhood, picking off the stragglers who weren't quick enough to get off the streets before the sun went down. I thought you would have been safe inside somewhere - they weren't hunting in homes so I assumed you'd be okay. But I'm glad that you weren't caught by...whoever it was you encountered -" No, seriously, he was finding that fucker and he was going to kill him. But for now he kept his expression placid.

"I wish things were easier," he laughed a little without humor. Simple things. He wanted to focus on something simple and right now, it was the hunger still flowing inside of him. "I'm hungry," he stated matter-of-factly, making sure that she realized right away he in no way meant it as a threat. "Are you? I mean... I don't know if they have anything left here that hasn't gone bad, but if they don't, I have a few cans of tomatoes in the car. And there's of course, the peaches."

Cade offered a lopsided smile that shook in place before he was swallowing thickly. "But I...I need to eat," he nodded as openly as he could, trying not to make it sound like he was insisting upon it or anything. Or as if he was trying to shove in her face what his body actually wanted and craved. With the way he'd been progressively reacting to meat and blood lately, he'd been hoping to shake it completely eventually. But it appeared to still be with him tonight and nagging at him.

Scratching above his ear he said, "I was thinking, rabbits - I can smell and hear some moving about outside - and I could...bring a couple back for you? To share, I mean. And cook." He was standing closer to her now, but there was still at least a foot or two separating them, that restlessness still defining his posture and body language.
 
No, no it's ok. Don't worry about it. She smiled at him and moved a little bit closer. While he spoke to her, she listened and she thought about how much she wanted to hold him. She just wanted to put her arms around his shoulders and run her fingers through his hair. She wanted to nurture him.

I do too. She walked closer to him until she stood infront of him. She reached up and touched a hand to his face, letting her fingertips drift into the small hairs curled against his ear.

She was a bit dazed, staring at his features in the shy lighting, while he spoke about food. She realized what he was saying when he mentioned rabbits and bringing her some. Oh- no no! I can't She drew her hand away from his face, I... don't... I don't eat meat.

She felt bad saying that, but she wasn't sure why. She didn't want him to feel bad about eating infront of her- maybe that's why. She wanted him to feel comfortable and her lifestyle could easily make him uncomfortable.

Oh... Oh! She remembered about what she had picked up that morning, My jacket. It has something I need, she looked around the room, Where did I... is it still in the shed? Ishu looked back to Cade, unsure if he had picked it up or not.
 
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