*B-DMP*

*BANG* Zoey spun around to be met with a loud gunshot. She was stunned for a second and felt a bit of pressure on her stomach. She then looked at Fatty who held a Glock in his hand and had a hideous smirk.

Meanwhile, Katherine was squirming next to him and crying uncontrollably, " NO! Zoey! I should've tried harder to stop him!" She screamed at herself. "*Tch*" Fatty clicked his tongue in annoyance. He scowled at Katherine and slapped her hard with the back of his hand, leaving an impression of his ring on her cheek.

He then said maliciously, " Shut up! After all this, you're lucky I don't kill you." He sighed through his nose, rubbed his forehead, and closed his eyes as he leaned back on the couch. "Hey, dipshit!" Zoey suddenly exclaimed.

Fatty eyes shot open and he sat up and so did Katherine. He stared in shock at the still-standing Zoey who stood with her arms crossed. "Dude, seriously?! You let your guard down as soon as you shoot me?! Just because you shot me doesn't mean I'm down for the count. I didn't even collapse yet you have the gall to close your eyes. Seriously though, how did you become a gangster, you win the lottery or something?"

Fatty clenched his jaw and pointed the gun at Zoey again. *BANG* He smirked and said, " How's that for gangster?" Zoey tilted her head to the side and walked a step closer to Fatty and said nonchalantly, " Meh, it's less than average."

Fatty's jaw dropped, he was positive that both bullets had struck Zoey, so how could she still be standing. *BANG* He fired again but Zoey only continued to walk closer. Fatty felt like his heart was about to stop. His hand began to shake and the sound of his heartbeat echoed throughout his head.

The sound of Zoey's seemed to echo off the walls. It was the only thing Fatty could hear besides his own heartbeat. Meanwhile, Katherine was staring in a mixture of wonderment and confusion. But not at Zoey, she was staring at the giant lump of a man who could easily be identified as a melting pile of ice cream.

Fatty was trembling nonstop and his breathing became increasingly ragged. He then took a big breath and grasped the gun tightly in his hand. *BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG* He then started firing nonstop of course to no avail. When Zoey finally got right in front of Fatty.

*CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK* He was still pulling the trigger on the gun only to be met with the clicking of the gun telling him there were no more bullets. Zoey grabbed the gun in her hand and clenched it tightly in her hand. There was a slight cracking and Zoey dropped the now gun destroyed gun on the floor.

Fatty looked down at the floor. He stared right at the destroyed gun and felt his heartbeat grow faint. He quickly looked back up at her only for his Zoey to grab and squeeze his cheeks. She then raised Fatty as high as her arm could bring him.

"*MM MM MMPH* I- *ARGH*" Fatty tried to speak but Zoey only clenched his face harder making him cry out in pain. Zoey glared at the man clawing at her hands to pry them off his face. She clenched her hand into a fist and pulled her arm back. Fatty them realized what she meant to do and squirmed almost nonstop.

Then, without even a word of caution Zoey rocketed her first into his face, letting go of his cheeks at the same time to send him crashing into the wall.

The wall had a ginormous crater in it and Fatty had a black eye, missing teeth, and a huge bruise on his cheek that was swelling at an alarming rate.

Zoey was then finally able to turn her attention to Katherine and walked over to her.

Katherine looked at Zoey with intense fear. "What? What's wrong with me? Zoey came all this way to help me. Yet I can't help being frightened by her. She took down twelve heavily armed men in minutes and threw a three hundred pound man like he was a rag doll...

God, I'm pathetic. I stupidly followed orders and came up here dressed like a whore. Then I selfishly asked Zoey to help me which was basically asking her to risk her life. Yet, I can't even bring myself to look her in the eyes."

Katherine berated herself.

Zoey looked at the trembling Katherine on the couch. "It's no wonder that she's scared. I should take off the tape." Zoey got closer to her and reached her hand towards the tape on Katherine's mouth.

Katherine instinctively turned her head away from Zoey's hand. Zoey was slightly confused and attempted to peel off the tape again. In response, Katherine put up her taped hands to block Zoey's hand again. Zoey was even more perplexed and was alarmed when Katherine started to tremble and tear up.

Zoey pulled her hand away. " I don't know how I can forget this. She just saw me brutally mutilate and I think murdered, a dozen people. So, of course, she'll be scared. I guess I can try to calm her down." Zoey said to herself.

Zoey looked at Katherine gently and spoke softly. "Katherine, " Katherine felt her ears perk up as she had never heard her name called so sweetly. " Look at me, " Katherine couldn't bear to follow Zoey's order and shut her eyes tight.

It was quiet for a bit when, suddenly she felt a hand caress her injured cheek. The hand was neither soft nor coarse but it gave her a warm and comforting feeling. " Katherine, open your eyes."

Katherine gently opened her eyes to be met with Zoey smiling at her with her mask pulled down. " I tried to make sure I really looked different but it's pretty obvious that you can tell who I am without it." She said sweetly.

"Katherine, I know that I looked like a monster but I promise I am no threat. I know this isn't really reassuring but I can promise that I will never harm you..... Unless you try to hurt me then it's all downhill from there." She reassured Katherine and slightly joked.

"*hmm hmm*" Katherine chuckled but the tape on her mouth made it hard. Zoey noticed this and pointed to Katherine's mouth and asked, " Can I?" Katherine had seemed to come to her senses and nodded furiously.

Zoey proceeded to gently peel off the tape on her mouth, then her wrists and ankles. Katherine rubbed her bruised wrists and looked at Zoey.

Zoey gave a cute smile and asked, " Better?"

*B-DMP* Out of nowhere Katherine felt her heartbeat grow loud in her chest.

Her face felt even hotter than it did when she was forced to drink all that alcohol. "Wow, I didn't notice it before but, Zoey is really good looking. She's cute and funny but at the same time, she's cool and serious. *AH* For some reason, my heart beats so much harder when I look at her. Is it because of the wine I drank?"

Katherine then responded to Zoey's question with a simple smile and nod. But she still couldn't help but clench her chest tight. As she also couldn't help the intense beating of her heart.

(c) Copyright Olani Givens 2020 All Right Reserves