246: A Killer's Promise

Flowers

The car came to a jolting stop.

“Huh?” Rick lifted his head lethargically.

“This is as far as I’ll go.” The taxi driver said.

“Alright,” Rick muttered, rubbing his eyes.

“How much?”

“A hundred and twenty.”

“Christ…”

Rick looked down at the girl who, to his surprise, was still awake.

“Give me a sec.” Rick began feeling his pockets for his wallet.

“Eh…?” Rick kept feeling his pockets anxiously.

“Don’t tell me…”The driver mumbled.

The girl suddenly tapped him.

“Huh?” He glanced down.

“Your wallet fell out when you gave me the Band-Aids.” She informed him.

There was a sigh of relief from both men.

“Thanks a lot,” Rick said, begrudgingly handing over a hundred and twenty.

“By the way,” the driver began.

“There aren’t any hotels within this town, but the people are pretty easygoing!” He laughed.

“Hey!” Rick cried out.

“W-wait…!”

However, the driver sped off.

“Son of a-” Rick once again noticed the girl accompanying him. I guess I’ll have to work on that. He let out a sigh.

“Oi,” he began.

“Did you even get any sleep?”

The girl looked around, then shook her head silently.

“I was too scared.”

“Huh?”

“They won’t find us, will they?” She asked.

He froze for a minute. He didn’t know whether there was a search party out looking for them or not. But then again, with the Lab's ties to the government, they most likely wouldn’t want to cause a public outcry and make both the Labs and the Government look bad.

“I-” He began as he turned and saw two men with flashlights.

There wasn’t time to waste. Whether they were with the Labs or not, he wasn’t willing to wait around to find out.

He grabbed the girl and ran into an alley.

“Rick-” The girl began but was silenced by a hand.

“Just relax,” he told her.

Hiding behind a garbage can was an old trick in the book, but it might’ve just worked if they were quiet. About twenty minutes passed, and another wave of exhaustion had hit them both; suddenly, they were out.

*

“Hello?”

“Hello…?”

The man began stirring. He could barely open his eyes, but he was met with a woman standing above them when he did.

“Huh?” Rick answered sluggishly.

“Ah, you’re finally awake.” The lady began.

“Mm.” Rick then looked around and noticed the girl wasn’t anywhere to be found. Fully alert now, he looked around once more.

“Where is-”

“That girl...” The lady began.

“So, you’ve seen her?” He looked up at her and sighed in relief.

“Yes,” the lady began.

“She’s on my couch,” she then paused.

“What is your relation to her?” She asked cautiously.

Eh? Rick froze.

He only met her a couple of days ago; like hell, he would know. But then again, he was tied to her by a promise. At least, for now, his job and focus were to protect her.

“Well-” He began.

“You don’t strike me as a creep.” She said, cutting him off.

What. What the hell did this lady say? Why would the word creep come into play? Did she really find him creepy?

“Huh!?” He looked up, alarmed.

“Of course not!” He shouted angrily.

“What did she even tell you!?”

“Oh!” The lady smiled.

“That was just my evaluation.” She laughed.

What the hell kind of…

“She had spoken something about the two of you running away.”

“That kid-” He stood up, stretching his back sorely.

“I don’t know what she told you, and I apologize-” Rick began.

“But I really need to keep an eye on this kid.” He stated firmly.

“Would you like to come in?” The lady asked.

He looked around cluelessly.

The lady pointed to the building next to them.

“That’s my shop.” She smiled.

“Sena’s Flowers.”

“Are you Sena?” He questioned, looking at the sign.

“Yep! This is a self-made business!” She beamed.

“Follow me,” she said, opening the door.

“Your-" She began, and then paused. “The girl,” she started again.

“She’s up these stairs.” She said, smiling.

*

Rick climbed the creaky wooden staircase leading up to a small entranceway met with a door. He opened the door and saw the girl sitting on the couch watching TV.

“24-” He paused.

“Kid…” He began as he quickly walked over to the couch.

“Rick!” She smiled, looking up at him.

“Good morning!” She beamed.

“Kid,” he began.

“Hm?” She turned her attention back to him.

“You shouldn’t have put this nice lady through all of this trouble,” he began.

“But…” The girl began in protest.

“She offered me to come in...” She said, looking down steadily.

“Ah,” The woman walked over.

“I was throwing my trash out and noticed you and your girl.”

“She was awake at the time and looked scared.” She paused.

“She recoiled, so I took a step back.”

“But,” she began giggling.

“Her stomach grumbled, so I offered her food.”

No kid could pass the food test. Rick thought.

“After I fed her, I asked her who she was with.” She looked at Rick.

“She told me you two were running from someone or something.” She frowned.

“Ah yeah,” he said, stretching his arms up.

“Kids tend to say the darndest things, huh?” He paused.

“Anyway, I really appreciate that you are feeding her, but I’m afraid we have to dine and dash.”

“C’mon, kid.”

“But-” The lady began.

“Rick,” the girl looked up at him.

“If you’re telling me you weren’t up to something, then why would you be laying behind my trash can?” She looked at him.

“Well-” Rick scratched the back of his head.

“Please, just have a cup of coffee and talk.” She walked over to him.

“I’m a florist, not a cop.” She smiled, grabbing his hand.

Rick looked around helplessly and let out a sigh.

“Coffee sounds nice.” He looked over at the girl, who was glued to the television.

*

“So, you worked at a science lab,” she began.

“Basically,” he paused, sipping his coffee.

“I don’t know if you quaint townsfolk know of an ‘Experiment Labs’ or not, but.” He said, glancing into his cup.

“No, I honestly haven’t heard of it.” She frowned.

“Well, I guess that’s a good thing for you.” He chuckled.

“It’s a pretty corrupt place,” he began.

“Let’s just say humans are the test subjects.”

“What?” She asked with a hint of alarm.

“It’s not pretty,” he said, looking down steadily.

“Basically, I wanted to get us out of there.” He met eyes with the curious woman.

“Were you-” Sena began.

“Both test subjects?” She looked at the girl and back at him.

The girl looked away quickly, back towards the TV.

“No, just her.” He answered quietly.

“Then what were you-”

“I was her doctor.” He responded quickly.

“Wow,” Sena said, stunned.

There was a moment of silence, with only noise from the TV in the background.

“Do you have anywhere to stay?” Sena asked, looking down steadily at her cup.

“Not really.”

“Do you-” She looked up at him but quickly looked away once more.

“Need...somewhere?”

“Huh?” Rick looked at her in confusion.

“Well,” she began.

“Until whenever you think you two are in the clear, you’re welcome to use this apartment.”

“I appreciate it, but-” Rick started.

“Where else would you go?” She began, looking up at him.

Rick looked around.

“Don’t you live here, though?” He asked, scratching his head.

“Actually-” Sena began.

“I used to rent this apartment out to my friend, but when her dad got sick, she had to move back home.”

She looked at the floor.

“There aren’t any hotels in this town, you know.”

Rick glanced at the girl, back to his cup, and finally back to Sena.

“Rent?”

“Hm?” She looked up.

“How much did your friend pay?” He paused.

“I can pay that, but for two.”

“Does two hundred a month sound reasonable?” She looked up, hopefully.

“That’s it?” He looked at her, stunned.

“I’m really not the best with pricing.” She laughed.

Rick looked at the girl who was now looking at him with somewhat hopeful eyes.

“I’ll-” He then paused.

“We’ll take it.” He said, sighing in relief.

The girl beamed happily, and Sena clapped her hands together.

“Wonderful!” She smiled.

“I’ll give you the first payment when I get around to an ATM.” He said, getting up.

“Give us a tour?” He smiled.