Apocalypse
Monica's POV

They all trudged along mostly in silence. It was "mostly" in silence because of the newbie, Keith, who just wouldn't shut up. It was a miracle he wasn't dead already. Having them on the team seemed to be a risk, but she reminded herself that they had guns, and that had to be a plus.

Slowly along their walk, Monica noticed that both Raven and Keith had slowly fallen to the back of the group. They were both now standing right behind Sofie, David, and her. The uneasy feeling it gave her was not at all appreciated and that in turn, just made her angry. Already, she didn't like either of them, especially Raven. Having them watch all their backs seemed dangerous.

She envisioned Raven and Keith stopping and the sound of their guns being pulled out and then the threatening click as the safety was turned off. The feeling of them pressing the barrel of their guns into their backs or aiming them at their heads...

No, she told herself. She needed to stop. For Sofie's sake. Oh god, what if they were to threaten Sofie—no. Stop it. Now. These thoughts won't help anyone right now.

She glanced down at Sofie, innocent and almost happy with David's hand in hers. The two of them had gotten so close over such a short period, although she knew that a couple days was now a lifetime in this world. If something happened to either of them, it would mercilessly destroy the other. Would destroy herself.

Rumblings in the distance made her stop in her tracks and she turned around to look down the road behind them. Keith and Raven looked at each other, and for the first time that day, seemed to be in mutual agreement. They both bolted to their left, running full-sprint into the blanket of trees on the side of the road, disappearing almost in the blink of an eye.

"Hey!" She yelled after them, shocked and angry. They were running off without any sure signs they were in danger, of course they were. She had the inclination to chase after them, and almost did, but her protectiveness over Sofie and her friends as a large pick-up truck came into view, was more powerful. She clenched one of her fists tight and put the other in Sofie's spare hand, and turned away from the trees. It was too late for any of them to hide. She would just have to hope they incomers were civil.

The truck roared to a stop, and a man jumped off the back of the pick up, giving a hand up to the woman that had been sitting right beside him. They hoisted their guns and pointed them at the group as two more men hopped out of the front of the truck and made their way over, also guns in hand.

"What do we have here?" The man who had been behind the wheel said. He had to be middle-aged and had a dark head of hair and a scruffy beard. He had a bulky body and huge arms, ones that put Mikhail's to shame. He held himself high as if establishing superiority to those around him. He was the leader of this small group and he was making sure everyone knew it too.

"It must be our lucky day, boss!" The guy with the woman exclaimed, chuckling. The woman joined in the laughter, her bright red lips pulling back over her straight, pearly whites. He leaned in and gave her a long, loving kiss, and it would have been romantic if not for the guns pointed in their faces.

The woman had a mixture of white blonde and burgundy hair, held high in a ponytail, with rings decorating most of her fingers. She wore jean shorts and a one shoulder tank top, flaunting a small, colorful butterfly tattoo on her bare shoulder.

The man beside her had bright red hair and so many piercings that she lost count. He seemed to find it hard to keep his hands to himself, as he would touch his girlfriend as many times as he possibly could, even if for no reason at all. Although, that almost went for her too, as she was always smiling his way and eyeing him hungrily.

The last guy was Mexican and had a huge snake tattoo up his entire arm. He stood there menacingly, a scowl on his face, not uttering a word. She thought to herself, This group should have been called the gang of tattoos.

"Turner and Pedro, grab their stuff!" The boss man ordered, as he and the woman pointed their guns directly at them.

"Nice and easy! If anyone moves in a way I find threatening, they are getting a bullet right between the eyes!" The woman added.

"Beatrix, did I ever tell you how much I love you?" Turner replied, turning his head enough to purse his lips and make a kissing noise at her. The boss man seemed slightly agitated, but said nothing. This, no doubt, was an every day occurrence.

"All the time, Baby," she responded.

Those of them that had bags slipped them off, even Mikhail. He was slower about it however, and looked uncomfortable with the decision he was making, but maybe, just maybe, he was putting aside his pride for the rest of the group. Pedro tossed one of their bags onto the back of the truck another in his hand. Turner was standing in front of Mikhail, ready to take his.

Shots were suddenly fired from the trees and she jumped, frightened, before ducking down into the trees, David joining her instantly in sheltering Sofie and her. The rest of the group scattered as well, hiding out of the line of fire, or maybe even joining in on the gun fight. She heard the bullets smack into the trees and the side of the enemies truck and they retaliated, firing back at them. But she knew they couldn't easily hit what they couldn't see.

"Damn it! Finneas! We need to get in the truck!" Beatrix yelled.

"Everybody! Retreat!" The leader—or Finneas, as I now knew his name—seemed to agree with his comrade and waved a hand over at everyone, still firing shots into the trees. Pedro had dropped a bag at his feet earlier in order to grab his gun, and she watched him go back for it, but a bullet penetrated his arm. He yelled out in pain and grabbed for his arm, his gun dropping from his grip in the process. He abandoned his mission and retreated to the passenger side of the car, keeping care of his now injured arm.

Beatrix was huddled down as much as she could in the back of the truck, but it was an open back, there wasn't much cover for her, especially when she insisted on continuing to shoot those in the trees. She only stopped for a second to give a hand to her boyfriend, who was the last one to get in the truck.

The truck was already pulling away as he climbed on, trying to huddle down next to Beatrix. She watched as a bullet hit his chest in a spray of blood in the wind. And then another bullet right below it, finally causing Turner to crumple in the back of the truck. Beatrix was screaming, completely forgetting about her gun and about shooting back at us. Her hands were fluttering over Turners chest, over his blank, wide eyed face.

"I shot one of them..." Keith asked, stunned, coming out of the woods once the truck was completely out of view. Raven was next to him, putting away her gun. "Raven... you shot him too.."

The rest of them came out of hiding as well, however, Raven didn't respond. Most of them were still in shock, were still feeling the horror of what happened to Turner and even worse—what could have happened to them if their new friends hadn't stepped in.

The whole day she had been wondering if Raven and Keith were going to betray them... but the entire time, the threat was actually on the outside. An incident that could never be planned, as it was random, thus something that you could never truly be safe against. But it was also a product of chance that Raven and Keith had just joined them, and as much as she hated to admit it, she knew they would have been good as dead had they not been there. Of course, she wouldn't admit this to them.