Stage One: Hope in Darkness

Riding With a Traitor

~~~~Lara

I jump at the sound of the truck door slamming closed. The force of it shakes the truck. I had the but of the rifle ready to crush the face bones of whoever it was. A flash of auburn hair and a fluffy black tail whacking me in the face stop me. It's just Belle,

"Lara," a man's voice. I push the tail out of the way to see Shadow's retreating form, "Shadow?". It gave me a terribly bad idea, "Shadow! Wait, get in the back!" I call out to him. Earning a very obvious 'What the fuck?' look from Belle. She clearly already had some strong opinions about Shadow already, what had happened between them? What was Shadow doing here? "Trust me," I whisper to Belle.

Shadow turns around and tilts his head at me then glances over at Belle. She is slouched into her seat, a smile flashes across his features before casually walking back towards us.

"Told you I'd see you around," He turns that smile on Belle, then reaches up with one hand and hoists himself up into the bed of the truck with a practiced effortlessness. He hits the roof of the truck when he is settled. I put the truck in gear and Billy the walker rumbles strapped to the hood.

"What happened out there?" I whisper conspiratorially to Belle, "I was about to pull a fast and furious to find you-and where did you find Shadow?". I couldn't believe he was here, I had always thought he secretly followed me. Like some sort of avenging angel. This was just another piece of evidence. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

The rear cab window opens up and Shadow's pops through,

"Lara you didn't tell me how charming this mute was," he smiles at Belle as she obviously tries to pretend that she doesn't hear him. He is practically talking into her ear so there is no way she can't.

Shadow moves into her space even more and whispers something to her. Her face flushes, now that wasn't something that happened everyday. Belle was notoriously hard to throw of balance. She was clear headed and not easily ruffled by things.

Belle replies by trying to shove him back out the window. To no avail. He doesn't even budge. His laugh rings out around the cab. It has lost its normal manic quality. It's genuine happy laughter and I find it truly disturbing.

Belle gives up with a huff, crossing her arms and looking anywhere but at Shadow. She is acting like a little kid. It is hard to get Belle this flustered. Seriously what the hell happened out there while I was waiting? I look between the two, someone better fill me in before I start knocking heads together.

"I met your wonderful little Annabelle in the woods, she has quite the kick. Anyway we fought, killed some walkers, stole my heart and now here we are riding with you. Why are we in this truck anyway?" Shadow is quick and to the point. Stole his heart? Belle had some explaining to do later.

"Well Belle and I are in this truck and you are a volunteer to help me rescue my friends from the Master, some weirdo freak who likes experimenting on people." I put our situation into a crazy little nutshell for him. He smiles even more, he really did have a love for chaos.

"And the Rippers?" He asks

"All you can kill," I reply.

"I am so glad to have fought with you," He tells Annabelle as he laughs and leans back out the window. It gives Belle and I a momentary reprieve from his crazy.

"Now I have seen it all. An already crazy guy got even crazier," not sure how I feel about his interactions with her, "What did you do to him?" the look that crosses her face makes me giggle. I can't help but tease her. Shadow seems lighter around Belle, that dark, cold look that is normally in his eyes is softened everytime he looks at her. It is refreshing.