246 3 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 said rubbing his eyes. "How much?" "$120." "Jesus-" 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 began. The girl tapped him. "Huh?" He glanced down. "Your wallet fell out when you gave me the bandaids." She informed him. There was a sigh of relief from the two men. "Thanks a lot." Rick said begrudgingly handing over $120. "By the way," the driver began. "There aren't any hotels within this town, but the people are pretty easygoing!" He laughed. "Hey! Wait-" but the driver sped off. "Son of " Rick once again noticed the girl accompanying him. 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?" She looked up. "They won't find us, will they?" He paused for a minute. He didn't know whether or not there was a search party out looking for them or not. But then again with the Labs 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 may be an old trick in the book but if they were quiet it might just work. About twenty minutes pa.s.sed, and another wave of exhaustion had hit both of them, and they were out.

"h.e.l.lo?" "h.e.l.lo?" The man began stirring. He could barely open his eyes but when he did he was met with a woman standing above them. "Huh?" Rick answered sluggishly. "Ah, you're finally awake." The lady began. "Mhm." 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 saw her?" He looked up at her and sighed in relief. "Yes," The lady began. "She's on my couch," she paused. "What is your relation to her?" She asked cautiously. "Eh." The man froze. He only met her a couple of days ago, like h.e.l.l he'd know. But then again, he was tied to her by a promise. At least for now his job and focus was to protect her. "Well-" The man began. "You don't strike me as a creep." She cut him off. What. What the h.e.l.l did this girl say. Why would the word creep come into play. Did she actually find him creepy? "Huh!?" He looked up alarmed. "Of course not!" "What did she even tell you!?" "Oh!" The lady smiled. "That was just my evaluation." She laughed. What the h.e.l.l 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-" The man began. "But I really need to keep an eye on this kid." He looked at the lady. "Would you like to come in?" He looked around. 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 self made business!" She beamed.

"Follow me." She said opening the door. "Your-" she began, then paused. "The girl," she started again. "Is up these stairs." Rick climbed the spiral creaky wooden staircase leading up to a small entrance way 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!" "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, she offered me to come in." The girl looked at him confused. "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 pa.s.s the food test. Rick thought. "After I fed her, I asked 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 darnest things, huh?" "Anyway I really appreciate you feeding her, but I'm afraid we gotta dine and dash." "Cmon 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 have not 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. "Lets Just say, humans are the test subjects." "What?" She questioned with a hint of alarm. "It's not pretty," he looked down. "Basically, I wanted to get her and I 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 back quietly. "Then what were you-" "I was her doctor." He responded quickly. "Wow." Sena said stunned. There was a moment of silence, with only 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 confused. "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 looked up at him. Rick looked around. "Don't you live here though?" He scratched 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 quickly 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 $206 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 paused. "We'll take it." He sighed. 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 got up. And walked around a bit. "Give us a tour?" He smiled.