Code Name: EVE

Aside from the hunger, Jack came to feeling infinitely better. The first thing he did as he pushed himself into a sitting position was look for Ashley. She was on the floor, and looked to be sleeping. Next he lifted the hem of his robe to check the scars on his shins. They were just that; scars. Fresh pink ones that would fade further with time. He rubbed his chest through the thick black fabric and noted that he couldn’t feel the gaping wound there anymore, but he couldn’t check on it properly at this second. Instead, he got to his feet and moved to stand over the small figure on the floor. “Princess,” he hissed. When she didn’t move he knelt down and shook her. “Get up, it’s time to move.”

“Nn…” She squinted as she rolled onto her back and looked up. When she realized it was his hand on her arm that had woken her, she flinched away but sat up obediently. “Where are we going?”

“The kitchen, first.” As he spoke, he rose to his feet. “Then, depending on what time it is, we should start working our way back to the village.” On his way to the door, he stopped to look at her. “And keep an eye out for anything that might be worth something.”

Once more, Ashley found herself struggling to keep up with him as he strode through the castle. She remembered the little trinkets Leon had been collecting, and obeyed Jack’s order by giving each room they passed through a once over with her eyes. It was good to have something else to think about. When they reached the kitchen, she didn’t want to dwell on what he’d made her do for food in the past.

He was too distracted with his plans to mess with her right now. Instead, as he explored the gigantic kitchen for something that looked appealing, he was also taking mental notes of things they could bring with them. In the event that he couldn’t find a working vehicle, they’d be making the entire trip on foot. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, but the girl was going to slow him down. Jack plucked an apple out of a large bin in the pantry and checked it over once before switching his focus to her. Though she’d given up that whole hesitating before following him into a room thing, she was still very quiet and very reserved. Even now, she was only standing there hugging herself. Practically radiating nervous energy… very tempting nervous energy… “Not hungry, princess? You should take the opportunity while you have it.”

She didn’t like the implications of those last words, ‘while you have it.’ They conjured up images of imprisonment and waiting for him to come… It was enough that she dared to look him in the face, searching for insidious intent. Not that she could discern much. His eyes seemed to be cold by nature, and that scar twisted over his mouth in such a way that it looked like he was always subtly sneering at her. “What do you mean?”

“It may only be a few hours to get back to the town, but from there it’s a long way back to any place useful. You should fill up now, you strike me as the whiney type.”

In spite of her fear, she was getting tired of his attitude. It didn’t help that every other time he spoke to her he used that condescending pet name... “If you’re going to be like that about it, why are you helping me at all?” There was a pause, and then he started toward her. Ashley took two impulsive steps back and came up short against a shelf. In four steps, he was only inches from her.

Jack put one hand on her stomach and stared into her eyes. “Only the same reason you haven’t run away yet.”

In the deep shadows of the room, she thought she could see a low red glow in his pupils, and that smell was curling into her nostrils again. The one that made her plaga so giddy. Ashley shook her head. “I just want to go home…” His eyes traveled down her face to her lips, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. He didn’t; only jerked his head in the direction of the rest of the shelves and stepped back to take a bite of the apple. However, she wasn’t exactly certain if she was relieved or disappointed. It was unnerving to think that he might only be dragging her along because his plaga thought her plaga was his mate or whatever such thing. It meant he could still attack her at any time. And the fact that her plaga seemed to return the sentiment indicated that she’d just fall into it again. In that moment of letting herself think about her current predicament, she also realized he hadn’t commented on her change of wardrobe. Had he already known? Oh, god, had he watched? But when she glanced back from searching the shelves, she found that his face was still illegible to her. He was leaning against the wall, chewing thoughtfully, and apparently lost in his own plans. With a hard swallow, she went back to finding something for herself to eat.

For a while after that, she didn’t try to make conversation, and Jack didn’t encourage it. Together they managed to amass a small collection of gold jewelry that would be easy to carry back and pawn later. Krauser had Ashley carry them in the hood on her back, at least for now. It wouldn’t be enough to get fake passports and tickets back to the states, but it would buy him more time with which to work. Almost as an afterthought, he stopped by the armory to check out the weapons. He had his arm and his knife—not to mention a new durability beyond his wildest dreams—but the arm had proven to have limits after all. If he was ever that badly hurt again for some reason, he wanted back up protection more powerful than a knife.

No hesitation anymore. The young woman followed him into the room, curious eyes sweeping the walls. She’d seen the cultists wielding a number of these weapons, but not all of them. Ashley stopped in front of a large axe and gingerly touched the broadside of the blade. She could see her distorted reflection in it, orange from the light of the lantern on the ceiling. The only time she’d seen anything like this in person was behind museum glass. Her hand traveled to and along the smooth wooden handle to a spot in the middle that was wrapped with leather strips. It looked like a last minute adjustment, maybe made so the owner could get a better grip, or maybe for aesthetic purposes. Ashley grasped it with both hands and lifted it off its hooks. Then she yelped as the weight of it jerked down on her arms and let it clatter noisily to the stone floor. Her first instinct was to whip around to see if Jack had seen it. He would have to have been deaf to not have heard it. Indeed, he was looking right at her, and his eyes glittered with silent laughter.

“You okay over there, princess?”

She scowled, hoping to conceal the blush. Did she actually care what he thought of her? A little… but only because she hated him treating her like a child, she decided… Instead of answering, she turned to put the weapon back on the wall. Now that she was prepared for the weight, she could get it off the floor, but she still couldn’t get it high enough. The soldier’s arm reached around from behind her, caught the middle of the handle, and helped her lift it the rest of the way to the hooks.

“Probably shouldn’t be touching anything in here,” he murmured in her ear as he set the axe down. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Annoyed, almost angry. She didn’t want to let him win, but she didn’t want to give him anymore fuel either. Though Ashley had briefly considered griping that he couldn’t talk to her like that, the balance of power between them begged to differ. All she could do was cross her arms, clench her jaw, and wait for him to finish.

All of the good technology had been contained on Saddler’s island, and Krauser wondered why. Maybe the leader had wanted to make sure any of the people in his further reaching stretches of territory wouldn’t be able to set up a resistance if their plagas didn’t want to fall in line. After all, Krauser had never felt any particular urge to jump behind and defend Lord Saddler. Granted, he wasn’t exactly supposed to have this plaga, but he’d felt he deserved something more out of this whole experience. And the old geezer hadn’t been about to let him into his circle of his own volition… Jack picked up a bow and pulled back on the string experimentally.

The president’s daughter tried not to imagine the way his muscles might be flexing underneath the thick, dark cloth. Instead, she tried to pick out something, anything, else in the room for her eyes to settle on. The lamp. The lamp was made of pretty red glass…

He wasn’t a bad shot with an arrow at all, but a bow would be awkward to carry. Add in the fact that he’d either have to be conservative with the arrows or take the time to retrieve them when he could, and he may as well take his chances with the knife and the plaga. Putting the bow back, he turned his attention to a chest in the corner. It didn’t open easily, but what he found nestled inside made him grin. “Nice…” Jack used both hands to lift the broken butterfly out of the box and checked the number of bullets. Only seven, but he didn’t want to think of the situation where he’d need more than seven magnum bullets to back up the arm. Flipping it closed again, he looked back at Ashley. “We’re done here. Let’s go back and get our clothes.”

She didn’t want to change out of the concealing garment, but there was no point in getting into it now. Instead, as she followed him, she asked, “Are we leaving?”

“Very shortly.”

“But it’s going to be dark…”

“You’ve been back that way before, haven’t you?”

“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t rather wait until light,” Ashley muttered. She jumped when he turned suddenly, confused and a little nervous.

“You’re whining already,” he smirked.

He looked amused, rather than angry, but she still felt suddenly paralyzed. A mouse staring at the fangs of a cat. “I… No, just…”

“Maybe you want to spend an extra night in the same bedroom as me, hm?”

Her personal answer would have been ‘no.’ However, she couldn’t decide which answer he wanted to hear, so she did what she always did; averted her eyes. Then she heard him laugh at her again and clenched her jaw.

“You’re too easy to rattle, you know that? Something you need to work on...” Krauser patted her on the shoulder, and then moved on.

Staying where she was, she glared at his back and clenched her fists. Oh, she’d work on it, alright. She couldn’t beat him physically—and she did want to—but she could work on keeping her cool when faced with these intimidation tactics. “I’m not complaining,” she called, jogging a bit to catch up. At least being pissed at him made it easier to resist her plaga’s urges… “I just meant if it’s too dark to see, we should probably wait.” He gave her a sideways look and she saw that flash of red again.

“I haven’t had mine that much longer than you, have I?”

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t matter. I can see, and if you can’t, you’ll just have to stay close.”

Ashley looked down and put one hand over her abdomen. What all was this thing going to do to her? She looked back at the soldier. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him—aside from the fact that he acted like a complete dick—but she had no way of knowing how long the cult had been hiding out here. Then again, night vision wouldn’t be an awful change…

These long strolls from point A to point B grew easier every time he made them. Once he knew where he was going, it seemed like no time at all before they were back at the bathroom. He changed back into what was left of his old clothes and turned his mind to making the robe he’d been wearing into some kind of pack.

Ashley wrinkled her nose. “You’re not going to wash them?”

“Just a little blood and dirt,” Krauser shrugged. “You’d do well to get used to it yourself.” Deciding on a course of action, he tied a tight knot in the fabric somewhere below the waist line. Then he did the same with the sleeves at the shoulders. He paused for a minute before using his knife to cut the skirt in two pieces up the middle. Then he knotted it all together with the sleeves to make two straps. He put the make-shift backpack on to see how well it would work. Not the most comfortable thing in the world—and he’d probably have to tie it across the chest with the belt to make it sit right—but it was better than nothing.

The girl was actually rather impressed. “That’s kinda cool…” All he did was cast a half smile in her direction, but she found herself grasping at the memories of him being an asshole to overcome the prodding hormones of her plaga. Why was he so compelled to run around shirtless, anyway?

“I’ll need yours too.”

That broke her train of thought. She didn’t want to give up her shield from his eyes. “Why?”

“You don’t expect me to carry everything for both of us, do you?”

“I… No… It’s just Leon never…”

“Well, I’m not that goody goody boy scout, now, am I? If you come with me, you’ll have to pull your own weight, princess.”

The emphasis on ‘princess’ was clearly meant to be a jab. Clenching her fists for the umpteenth time that night, she ground out, “Look, I’ll carry whatever I can, I just want to keep this on.”

“Why?”

Those eyes, cutting into her again. “Because…” She unconsciously covered herself with her arms. Even though she was still fully dressed, it felt like he could see through it anyway.

“You were the one that wanted to get out before it gets too dark. Quit wasting time.”

Ashley groaned, but stepped into one of the stalls to change. The robe disappeared shortly after she slung it over the top of the door. Her clothes were still damp, but when she stepped out, she was fully dressed. As he was still working on the robe, she sat down in a corner and pulled on her shoes. The way the wet cloth clung to her made her uncomfortable, but there wasn’t a lot she could do.

“There,” Krauser spoke up as he pulled the last knot down tight. “Let’s see how it fits.”

With a sigh, she stood up with him and, when prompted, turned around. The bag hung a little heavily from her shoulders when he put it on, and she felt the weight of the jewelry against her butt. Jack wordlessly turned her around. The girl flinched at the rope in his hand, consciously resisting twitching away as he threaded the rope under the makeshift straps.

“Above or below?” He stopped to ask, looking back at her face.

It took her a moment to decipher what he meant, but she finally answered, “Um… below, I guess…” He responded by pulling the straps together and knotting the rope that had once been a belt under her breasts. When he let her go, she shifted experimentally in the harness. It wasn’t very comfortable, but she wouldn’t complain and give him another reason to tease her.

Krauser scooped up his own pack, but didn’t put it on right away. “Let’s go.” He led her into the bedroom, where he peeled the sheet off the bed, rolled it up tight, and stuffed it into the bottom of the sack. He also stopped to grab a candle and some paper from a desk before making his way back down to the kitchen.

Ashley trailed after him, wondering why he’d put her bag on her while he was still carrying his own but not daring to comment. The next place they stopped was the kitchen, where he began hunting down and rinsing out all of the bottles he could find. The temptation from the armory was back but this time she didn’t have to use her imagination. She clasped her hands in front of her and studied the floor. This was going to be a long trip.

Filling the bottles with water, he shook each of them upside down to see how much they were inclined to leak. The ones with the tightest seals, he carefully wrapped in the sheet—they were glass, after all—and nestled into the bottom of his bag. They wouldn’t last forever, though. Eventually they’d have to take their chances with river water or some such thing. He swung the bag onto his shoulders, tied it into place, and then took Ashley by the upper arm to lead her into the pantry.

The physical handling still startled her, but she went quietly. Inside, he began carefully selecting things and shoving them into the bag on her back. It made her feel weird, like he was using her as some kind of pack animal, but all she could do was take it.

“That too heavy for you?” Krauser finally asked. She shook her head. “Then let’s go.” He started moving without looking back at her, knowing she’d follow.

It was very dark outside, but not as much as she had feared. In the light of the moon, Ashley could keep up with him easily. And the shear number of stars took her breath away. It was beautiful, but she didn’t have time to enjoy it. As time went by and they got further away from the castle, she found herself wondering if it was darker than it really looked. There wasn’t anybody she could compare notes with, though.

The trek back to the village was uneventful. The girl didn’t complain as much as Krauser had anticipated, even though he had to slow down for her more than once. Usually there wasn’t any time to talk, because he kept her moving and all air went to breathing. However, when they stopped to get on the gondola, the heavy silence settled in more insistently. He was used to her refusal to look at him. It was the smell coming off of her now that was so distracting. It was a sweet and tangy kind of smell. This was neither the time nor the place to acknowledge it. When they got to their first stopping place, maybe.

The looks he was giving her were making her increasingly nervous. She tugged down on her skirt and her sweater every chance she got. At least the rope and the straps kept the pace from making her breasts jiggle excessively. It was uncomfortable, though. The rope had ridden up to cut across her chest, but she didn’t want to stop to fiddle with it in front of Jack. She should have just tied it over the top of them to begin with… By the time they reached the village, she was tired and sore. Hopefully he’d want to stop here for a good long while.

It was a ghost town, even more so than before, but Krauser was still on guard, one hand hovering near the gun in his belt. The sun was coming up, the sky a barely lighter shade of blue. Even though she seemed determined not to say anything, he could tell Ashley was losing it. He wanted to keep going, but if he did, she’d probably collapse somewhere inconvenient. No matter, he’d just use the opportunity to raid a house or two for items. There wasn’t anybody here to miss them. Stopping in the middle of the place, he scanned the surrounding area. The empty windows stared back at him with blank eyes. “What do you think, princess? Which one feels lucky?”

She wasn’t certain if he really wanted an answer or not. But he was looking at her again. Mostly to get his eyes to go somewhere else, she picked a random house and pointed. All she wanted to do was get inside and take the pack off for a while.

The sound of intruders brought him to the dusty windows of the crumbling structure. Beady eyes narrowed when they spotted the pair of blondes making their way through the broken fence and up the steps of the house across the way. It would take some investigating to make sure, but something smelled wrong. Outsiders. Outsiders were trouble. Outsiders were the reason there was only three of his colony left.