A Bold Display

Alex gripped his shot glass tightly, it was not intentional but a reflex from the anxiety he had begun to feel. At the table sat all of his comrades who glared at him intensely waiting for his reply. Taking a few moments to calm his mind, and formulate a proper response to the question Emily had just posed, Alex elected to take the shot.

After downing the double shot glass in one go, Alex let out a heavy sigh and responded to the question everyone had been wondering about for quite some time. However, Alex was a man of action, not a man of words. As such he grabbed ahold of Emily, looked deep into her eyes with a serious expression, and pressed his lips against her own.

A look of shock appeared on Emily's face as she instinctively fought against the intrusion. However, after taking a few seconds to fully realize what was transpiring her resistance faded, and evolved into a passionate display of affection.

Afterward, Alex commandeered Brandon's beer and took a heavy swig from it before asking a question of his own to the girl who was still in a trance from the romantic gesture he had just made.

"Does that answer your question?"

The party was in shock by Alex's bold actions, and Cassie was not disappointed, though she did not expect the kid to behave like that, she was more than happy with the results of her prodding. She smiled as she patted Alex on the back and clinked her beer with his.

Brandon's reaction was a bit dejected. Alex had not just acted boldly displaying his affection for Emily, but more importantly, the 19-year-old kid had stolen his own beer in front of his very eyes. Knowing Alex's personality the kid was not going to pay him back.

Derek on the other hand was displaying a hint of jealousy as he coldly scoffed at the couple's display of affection. He was already a classed individual of quite some renown but under Cassie's ever-watchful gaze he was unable to enjoy the company of a woman.

Granted, if Derek had actually found a girlfriend of a similar age Cassie would have no complaints, but all the kid ever thought about was going to the brothel. He had no intention to get in a serious relationship, unlike Alex and Brandon, he was still well under the age of adulthood, and as such Cassie did not approve of his intentions. Thus, she kept a watchful eye on how Derek spent his spare time.

After Emily had recovered from her shock she grabbed ahold of Alex's arm and hugged it tightly, a bright smile beaming across her face. She was afraid Alex would reject her intentions, but it appeared she did not need to worry. Every time she thought back to their kiss her face turned slightly red and she'd look away from the others.

Alex however merely ignored everyone's glances and continued to drink Brandon's beer. The group continued to drink, and talk about useless stuff until they parted ways for the night. Alex walked Emily back to her shop, which was also her residence.

He was about to leave when he felt a tug on his parka, he looked over at Emily with a suspicious glance.

Her cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment as she held onto his parka facing away from him to hide it.

"You don't have a place to stay right?"

Alex nodded his head without saying a word, he could clearly see where this was headed. After noticing his response Emily hardened her resolve. Normally she wouldn't bring a guy back to her place so quickly after beginning to date.

However, it was the apocalypse and the two had already wasted a lot of time avoiding their relationship. Taking into account Alex's increasingly reckless attitude she did not want to wait for something to happen to him and regret it.

As such she muttered the words without hesitation

"Why don't you spend the night?"

Alex smiled as the girl confirmed what he had been anticipating. She was just too cute, he couldn't help himself from teasing her. He grabbed ahold of her hand, dragged her in close and whispered in her ear

"Aren't you afraid of what your customers might think if they find out I spent the night... in your shop?"

The girl's face reddened greatly, and her resolve began to shake. However, before she could anything Alex kissed her and dragged her into the shop, closing the shutters behind him. Before he knew it, the sun had already begun to rise. He had completely failed to get any sleep that night.

As the sun rose, Alex left the confines of the store where Emily was sleeping soundly. Unlike him, she could go to work whenever she wanted and did not have to compete with others early in the morning for the best missions.

Alex had already regrouped with the others at the mission board. A large cup of sugar-root coffee was in his hand as he covered his yawn. The bags under his eyes were the only indication the others needed to guess what had transpired the night before.

Brandon walked up and patted Alex on the back with a stupid grin and a thumbs up

"My man! So how was it?"

Alex shook his friend off him and took a sip from his coffee, a stoic expression on his face as he uttered a single phrase.

"Fuck off"

Brandon chuckled at his response and looked over at Derek who was glaring daggers at Alex, a look of extreme envy was apparent on his face. Though Brandon could instigate conflict between the two, before he got the option to Cassie came over from the mission board with an ugly expression on her face which instantly snapped him out of his playful demeanor.

Cassie approached the party with a slip of parchment in her hands, scribbled on it was a rather poor drawing of an intimidating-looking man with the giant bold letters "Wanted!" at the forefront of the page. Before the group could even inquire Cassie boldly announced their next mission to the party.

"Vincent Graves... Captain Hunter's right-hand man. His bounty is our next mission!"