An Ally?

The woman took her time answering, her eyes dancing with mischief. "One of them escaped though," she finally said, almost lazily. "The other one? Well, she was captured. Where they took her? Not my concern. Honestly, I've done enough already for the sake of my conscience, so..." She turned to her heel, ready to leave. "I'll be going now—"

"Not so fast, sweet cheeks!" Victor barked, the barrel of his shotgun snapping back into position, aimed squarely at her chest.

The woman froze, glancing back over her shoulder with a bemused expression. "Oh, what now? You're really going to shoot me?"

Victor's voice dropped to a menacing growl. "You know a lot more than you're letting on. Start talking, or I'll make your head catch every damn she'll this thing's got."

Her smirked returned, though this time it carried a sharper edge, her eyes, narrowing ever so slightly.

"Oh, honey," she purred, her tone a dangerous mix of amusement and threat. "You think you can intimidate me? Go ahead, pull the trigger. But you might want to consider—if I die, how will you find the answers? How will you find the love of your life?" She mocked.

"You're right," Victor admitted, his voice low but dangerous. "There's no way I'd kill a human either."

His lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes narrowing as his grip on the shotgun remained steady.

"But let me tell you something," he took a step closer, the barrel of the weapon now just inches from her chest. "I have very little patience."

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze cold and unrelenting. "And when that patience runs out?" His voice dropped to a menacing growl. "I might commit some... grave mistakes." He punctuated a threat by tapping the shotgun lightly against her, his meaning unmistakable.

The woman's smirk faltered, regretting every second to why she had to show herself to them. Her hands still raised in a half-hearted gesture of surrender.

She studied him carefully, as though she's trying to discern whether he was bluffing—or if the madness in his eyes was real.

"You've got a temper," she remarked, her tone still teasing but laced with caution. "Dangerous trait to have in times like these."

"Start talking," Victor demanded. "What do you know about Azumi and Adelina? Where can we find them? And don't waste my time or else..."

"Geez! Calm down," she hissed, carefully poking the tip of the gun away from her but Victor only aimed it back.

"Please, just tell us," Hiroshi pleaded, stepping forward. He placed a hand on Victor's shoulder, trying to ground him, though the tension in Victor’s body didn’t waver. Hiroshi’s touch was meant to calm, but Victor’s grip on the shotgun only tightened.

The woman exhaled deeply, the weight of the moment seeming to pull her shoulders down. For a fleeting moment, her smug facade cracked, replaced by something resembling resignation.

"Fine," she muttered, shaking her head as if surrendering to the inevitable. "I don’t know a lot. Not enough to help you the way you want."

Victor’s eyes narrowed, his lips parting to interject, but she held up a hand to cut him off. "But," she added, her tone softening just slightly, "I know someone who can."

"Who?" Hiroshi asked quickly, his voice tinged with hope and suspicion in equal measure.

"Someone who’s... let’s just say, closer to all this than I am," she replied, crossing her arms and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

As the woman turned to leave, she cast a glance over her shoulder, her smirk returning. "Are you coming or what?" she called, her tone laced with impatience.

Hiroshi instinctively stepped forward, the hope of a lead driving him. "Oh!" he started, eager to follow.

But Victor was faster, his arm shooting out to block Hiroshi’s path. His gaze hardened. "Why should we trust you? For all we know, you could be sending us into a trap."

She let out a short, humorless laugh. "Trust me? Sweet cheeks, you’re smart not to. But whether you believe me or not, you’ve got no better options right now, do you?"

Victor hesitated, his jaw clenching as he stared her down. Hiroshi glanced between them, tension thick in the air, before finally speaking. "She's right, Victor. At least we have something now. We must hurry and find Adelina and Azumi. We don’t have time to hesitate—"

"And we don’t have time to fall into a trap," Victor snapped, his jaw tight with distrust. "She’s not telling us everything. I’m not about to let her lead us blind."

The woman stopped in her tracks, turning fully to face them with an exaggerated sigh. "Really?" she drawled, crossing her arms. "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn’t be standing here babysitting your paranoia. Believe me, sweet cheeks, I’ve got better things to do."

Victor’s grip on his shotgun tightened, his knuckles turning white. "Better things, huh? If you really wanted to warn us about all of this, you should have talked to us. My girlfriend has no memories from before the apocalypse. She wouldn’t be able to handle clues. Neither do I as I do not have any idea what's going on."

"W-Well, I had my own problems," the woman stuttered. "And besides, I did try breaking into your home to make you feel threatened and leave, but even then, you didn’t take it seriously."

"That was also you?"

"Yeah, me again. Who else?" Her expression turned cold, the teasing gone. "Look! I know you don’t know anything about me or why I’m here. But if you want to find your friends, you’re going to have to trust me, whether you like it or not."

Hiroshi stepped closer to Victor, lowering his voice. "Victor, this might be our only chance. If she knows something, we can’t afford to waste time arguing."

Victor’s jaw worked as he mulled over the options. Finally, he lowered his shotgun with a reluctant nod. "Fine. But we’re not letting her out of our sight, and if she so much as thinks about double-crossing us—"

"You’ll shoot me," the woman finished for him, smirking once more. "Got it. Now, can we move, or are we waiting for another fire to start?"

Victor glared, but gestured for her to lead the way. With a shrug, the woman turned and began walking, her steps confident and steady. Victor and Hiroshi followed, the weight of uncertainty pressing down on them with each step into the unknown.