The cold stale air was bitter against my face as I slowly swung the car door open. I pulled my makeshift scarf tighter around my neck. Nights were impossibly cold nowadays. I pulled out the small pistol I’d been keeping in the waistband of my jeans and checked the body bag strapped on my back, ensuring it was tight and secure. Stealthily, I walked towards the dim rundown convenience store in front of me.

This specific store was one I used to pass by every single day after class. I’d known all of the staff and vice versa. But that was before. That was before the bombings, before the war, before all of humanity fell apart. I shake my head as I try to clear the images from my mind. Remembering the past wasn’t going to help me now nor will my lack of focus on the task at hand. I was running low on food and water and this was the closest store for miles. I had survived with a few cans of soup and beans for the past few days but they were all empty now.

My footsteps were silent against the loose gravel. I slowly opened the door. I suddenly hear the melodic sound tinkling sound of a wind chime and I freeze. . How could I have been so stupid? I stay still for about a minute or two, observing the shadows, looking for any sign of movement but the store was too dark, and I couldn’t really see much. It was nearly impossible to distinguish if ever there was another person hiding behind the rows of shelves. Thinking twice if I should continue, I hesitated. But it wasn’t as if I had any other choice.

I enter the room quickly and my hand shoots up to the wind chime, grabbing it before it made another sound. Thank god for the low ceiling. I loosen my grip and let it go without making any noise. Quickly, I walk over to the shelves and sift through the leftover food. Canned goods were the best choice; they lasted long enough and didn’t fill your stomach enough to make you feel sleepy. There was still that tiny bit of hunger to keep you alert. I grabbed about a dozen of sardine and beans and carefully placed them inside my body bag. Now I need to find water. I walk directly to what used to be the refrigerator but now looked like a rundown dust-covered version of it. Just as I grabbed the door handle, however, I hear a click behind me.

“Hands up, miss.”

My whole body stills again and my mind goes blank. I was never good with pressure but through the years, I had learned to follow my instincts. And right now, my instincts told me to keep still and wait it out. There were two main types of people in this world now, the guys who shoot on sight and the guys who think about it first. The first types, you had no chance of surviving against unless you found them first. The second types were more complicated, sometimes you have a chance, sometimes you don’t and on rare occasions you encounter the nastier ones, they make you wish they had killed you instead.

“I said hands up, miss,” the man says again, placing the barrel of the gun against my head. He’s not shooting yet. Which means I may have a chance of living.

“I have guys stationed outside, waiting. You can’t take them all.” I say as I slowly raised my arms to either side of my head. He immediately searches me for any weapon, confiscating my pistol and the concealed knives stripped to my calves. “You don’t, though. You arrived in the car alone.” he replies.

I bite my lip. How long has he been here before I came? He was watching this whole time. “What are you going to do now? Kill me?” I asked. I groan inwardly. I swear to god I do not know when to shut up.

I hear him sigh as he straightened himself from a crouching position. “Turn around.” I turn and look at him straight in the eyes. Dark brown hair reached the dark eyes that regarded me strangely. “Give me your bag.” He says, stepping away and raising a gun between us and pointing directly to my chest.

Aha, big mistake, never put a weapon in front of me, I always manage to get it in the end.

I reach for my bag at the back and intentionally dip my head so that a bunch of my black hair falls to his hands and over the gun. He instinctively pulls back and I take the chance to push his hand down with the strap of my bag and point it downward. He shoots once to the floor and I twist his hand up knocking the gun of his hand. I quickly catch it. He quickly draws my pistol from his waistband.

We aim at each other, still as statues.

“I suggest we keep calm and just back away from each other,” I say.

I swear I almost see a trace of a smile play on his lips but it immediately turned into a frown as his eyes shift slightly to my left.

“.” I hear him mutter under his breath and in that instant, I knew he was going to fire. Two gunshots echoed in the air. He misses me by a breath but my bullet hits him in the arm and he grunts. He had shifted his position in the last second, making him miss completely and making me miss his heart. I never missed.

“Duck!” He says as he pulls me down with him and a flurry of gunshots rip through the air like fireworks during the fourth of July. The glass walls of the convenience store shatter all around us. I scramble closer to the floor, my heart beating fast. He didn’t ing miss, you idiot, he was targeting someone behind you.

“I’m guessing those aren’t your guys?” he calmly says as he crawls towards the shelves for cover. I scowl and follow the suit, crouching beside him. “How many were there?” I asked.

“I saw three flashlights, so I’m assuming three. I was able to kill one.” He says as he risks a glance back to the attackers. “They’re headed towards us now.” Suddenly my eyes catch a faint light from the other side of the room. “They’re coming in from the other side too.” I say quietly and he also notices the light.

He suddenly pulls out a car key with and presses one of the buttons on the remote attached to it. “That’s my backup. We just have to hold out until they arrive, or maybe kill them before then. Either way is fine.” He says with a slight smile. Is he trying to reassure me right now? And we?

“Hold up. Who’s we?” I ask scooting away from him. As far as I know, I didn’t know him. And weren’t we just trying to kill each other a while ago? He flashes out a full on grin as he watches me slowly inch away.

“You have what? Five shots left? You can’t stand against them on your own and admittedly, I can’t too since you shot my arm. And I hate to bring this up but I did save your life just a while ago so feel free to feel obligated to help me somehow.” He says even laughing a little. His smile reaches his eyes, I observed. We see the lights come closer and hear their footsteps as they step on broken shards of glass. I ignore him and quickly focus on the footsteps on both sides.

“You’re right---“

“So help me. And we’ll settle what’s between us later.”

“---there are two men coming in from the right. The same for the left side.” I continue ignoring him again. We were obviously on handicapped, figuratively and literally, because I did shoot his arm which was bleeding quite a bit now. It shouldn’t have been bleeding as much but I guess pulling me down earlier opened up the wound. If this dragged on for much longer, he was for sure going to collapse from the loss of blood.

“I’m not a good strategist so here’s what we’re going to do.” He says glancing at the lights now reflecting against the floor. It illuminated his face making his irises lighter than usual.

“Why are you the one planning if you’re not a good strategist?”

“Just. I’m trying to help okay?” he says, with a slightly embarrassed look on his face, and I briefly wonder why my instincts tell me he’s being sincere. Because maybe he is. The thought comes unwelcomed in my mind. Humans weren’t sincere anymore. Trusting someone to be one was fatal. I my head to one side and raise my eyebrows in a questioning manner. “And your plan is?”

“You take the left and I’ll take the right. We cover each other.” He says seriously.

“That’s it?”

“It’s a good plan.”

“In what WAY?”

“It covers the basics.”

I groan exasperated. It did cover the basics. But it was obviously lacking. I, however, was not born to make intricate battle plans either so I had no right to criticize. “Of all people how did two bad strategists like us end up in this situation...” I say with a sigh. “I’m going to help you in one condition.”

“Condition? I don’t think our situation requires a negotiation and I don’t think you’re in a place to negotiate either.” He says quickly. The footsteps were drawing closer.

“Every situation can be made into a negotiation. I can choose to help or not. You’re right, I can’t fight them on my own but how would I know you won’t kill me after I help you. You’ve got backup, you can easily outman me after.” I say.

He regards me intently for a fraction of a second. “So? What’s your condition?” he asks.

“You take me with you when your backup arrives.” I say.

“You’re kidding right? For all your paranoia, you’re willing to go somewhere with me and whoever I’m with to a place you don’t know?” he laughs.

“True. Which is why I’ll have a gun to your head when we go out. That’ll be my safety net. I won’t kill you because obviously because I’ll end up dead if I do. Besides if I don’t go with you, God knows I’ll be hunted by whoever these guys are with. This is obviously a society. And I can’t stand up to them if I’m alone. And you’re their target too. So the enemy of my enemy is a friend or whatever applies right now.” I say.

“You know… maybe you are a good strategist after all. Or maybe just a really really crazy one.” He says, looking at me with awe. “Okay, I’ll help you. But no gun to my head. I don’t think my backup likes threats.”“Good, we’ll talk about the gun later. They’re here.” I say.