"Who are you? What are you doing in our house? How did you get in?"
The lady looked at him coldly and asked as she kept her sister behind her while gripping a bow and arrow, ready to skewer this damn good-looking stranger.
A stranger who simply leaned on a desk with hands crossed, looking at her with calm eyes.
It was Ciri, the little girl who broke free from behind and lowered the bow her sister held.
"Stop it, Katy. Sasuke isn't a bad guy; he gave me food and helped you to wake up. Don't scare him." Katniss looked at her little sister, wondering if her brain stopped working from hunger. She obviously was the one who opened the door for this man.
But on second thought she felt guilty, guilty about seeing how much weaker her sister looked.
And now slightly at how she was threatening the man who helped them.
Still, she didn't let her guard down.
Her family faced hell in those two months, and they came to understand the hard way that people were not to be trusted.
"Hello, you passed out from hunger, and your body is still weak, so it's better not to force yourself; you won't be able to nock the string anyway." There was no mocking or anger in his voice; Sasuke stated calmly, as he knows she didn't have the strength to even stand now, let alone shoot him.
And she herself seemed to know that too, as she merely used it as a facade.
"Still didn't answer, mister. Who are you?"
"He is Uchiha Sasuke; he is living here too."
Ciri whispered to her, not wanting to see her beloved sister and the person who helped them fight.
"I don't remember seeing you here."
"I arrived yesterday, took refuge on the top floor, and found you guys while clearing the building."
"Clearing, walkers?" Katniss found it hard to believe.
She and her grandpa fought tooth and nail just to deal with this floor and search the apartments, which sadly cost his life to protect her.
Remembering this, she shut her eyes, pained to recall that scene.
But now, this...ridiculously clean and soft-looking guy who seems unable to even crack an egg said he cleaned the whole fucking building? She found it hard to believe.
She passed out due to how weak she became from not eating and how many walkers were on this floor which made it impossible to scavenge anything around.
Yet he is claiming to have killed them all?
But then again, how did he find them and pass the lower floors, which were overridden with walkers last time she checked, which was yesterday morning...
She saw the sword on his back, or what looked like a sword scabbard.
"Hmm? Yeah, you are the first people I found. Your sister was worried about you and asked for help. Like I said, your body is too exhausted and needs nutrition and proper rest. Both of you," nodding, he opened his backpack once again, uncaring for the guarded glare eying every movement of his as he started pulling things out.
Another bottle of water, a pack of biscuits, and soldier pills.
"Sadly, I don't have what your body truly needs now, but I think this will be a good start. Here." He handed her the food.
"Soften them with water, make sure to chew well before swallowing slowly, and don't rush. And only take the pill half an hour after you finish them." He then withdrew to a corner and sat in a chair, drinking a sip from another bottle.
Katniss looked at him with a complicated gaze; she felt hesitant, not knowing whether to trust him or not.
But she knows that if he wanted, he could do whatever bad thing he had in mind with their current condition, no matter how pretty his face is.
A healthy guy of 1.85 m (6.1 ft) and in good physical condition like him wouldn't find it hard to overpower her weak self.
Thus, she followed his instructions, putting a small hard piece of biscuit in her mouth before using water to soften it, chewing lightly.
The sweetness made her feel relieved; at least Ciri beside her won't face the same fate she feared. She knows how painful it was to pass out from sheer hunger.
"Are you strong, Sasuke?" The little girl asked with curiosity, seeing the thing he put beside him that looked like a stick and the little traces of blood on his boots.
Her sister was strong; she often hunted those scary walkers with just arrows, and her...grandfather was strong too, hitting them with big iron rods.
She wondered if this man was strong like them.
"Hmm, yep, I am. Why?" If he had to say, he was at his weakest point.
Well, the Sasuke part.
No chakra, jutsu, sharingan, and basically everything that gives an edge in the shinobi world.
But he is still strong compared to every zombie here or human.
"Did you kill them too, walkers?"
'Walkers? Did she mean zombies?' He found the naming the sisters used strange and too familiar.
But he didn't dwell on it much and just nodded, taking a look at the few zombies walking aimlessly down the street from the window he was sitting beside.
"How many?" This time the question came from Katnis, who was still eating slowly, sharing with Ciri while watching him with that same sharp look.
The girl was truly beautiful, even when she looked sick, disheveled, and slightly unclean.
Yet he didn't really have the heart to enjoy it, not when she looked at him as if he were a wolf threatening a bunch of sheep.
"Enough of them, I guess," was he supposed to say? He spawned here yesterday and killed around 30-40 of them.
Then what if she killed more than 500 in those months? He would look weak as fuck.
And if she killed too few and even risked her life to do that, then he will only look like an arrogant fool boasting, which will make the conversation ahead only the more difficult.
Even if such thoughts seemed childish.
Sasuke knows; he truly knows that he didn't look like the killing machine he is.
Even back in his shinobi life, any unfamiliar face underestimated him unless he showed his Sharingan, terrifying them to the bones.
As everyone knows who the last Uchiha is and what he was capable of.
Thus, he simply chose a vague response, leaving it to her to measure how much "enough" was.
And Katniss? She simply ignored him and continued eating. What she can say is that...this guy is either bluffing to have something with her, or he is truly what he said.
Because she knows that anyone who survived until now unsheltered wasn't weak, especially if he was truly alone.
"Mind if I ask something?" Sasuke crossed his fingers on his lap, unable to hold his curiosity, hearing the sudden colliding noise from the other closed room.
"It's, Grandpa...was," and Katniss answered, already figuring out what he wanted after she heard the noise too.
"I see. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, he...turned while we were trying to escape after we searched the apartment beside this and slipped on something while running.
A walker got him; we managed to escape, but he was injured. So he decided to be sealed there after we returned. He protected us. Always." She didn't know why she was telling him; she just wanted to talk about it.
Their grandpa was the pillar that kept them alive and hoping; he did everything to keep them safe and alive all those weeks.
always eating the least amount, and the first to risk his life to search around once food ran out after a month and a half.
He was also the one who stacked enough food to last them that long; once the news about sick people became widespread, he didn't run like others fearing the chaos.
He was just that smart and cautious in taking care of them.
Unfortunately, even her grandfather didn't think it would suddenly flip to hell and that even that stock won't hold enough to rest them, making the call for that risk.
The first supply run was successful, and so was the second with her helping after a long discussion to convince him, but the third was a grim reality.
It took but one slip, one scratch from a failed bite, and he succumbed.
His last words before closing the door and locking it before attempting suicide were telling them to stay strong, to never abandon each other, to never lose themselves, and to survive.
But maybe he was too late; he turned before fully following his plan to end his life and from then got stuck there.
The noise was a cruel reminder of what their beloved grandpa once was.
And Katniss never had the strength to do what she should, nor the power to leave this place.
Hearing all this, Sasuke remained silent, nodding in sympathy, while Ciri had little tears on the edge of her eyes, the only ones her body could produce after all the crying.
"*Sigh*, you have gone through so much."
"Who hasn't?"
"I know this may sound stupid, maybe uncongenial coming from a guy you met an hour ago, but I can help and protect you both."
"What's the catch?"
"Nothing, really." Katniss stared at him slightly surprised; his expression held no slyness or malice, just simple honesty. His eyes seemed clear as he expressed his willingness to help.
For a moment she wondered if it was because of her; she knows she's beautiful.
But even that won't make someone say those things in this new world without wanting something back; most of them would just take it.
He wouldn't have to waste food and such.
People showed their true colors once they became fully aware that law was no more.
Even a week ago, she watched, helpless with her grandpa from the window, as a group of three men chased a woman to her house on a street below. What happened later to her was obvious; that woman's fate was theirs to decide, if she was still alive...
Thus she dropped the thought as he looked as calm as ever, eyes meeting hers with the same honesty as he waited for her reply.
Ciri beside her tugged at her shirt, clearly wanting her to agree, but as always, she would follow her sister's words. She always does.
"I can protect us, but I wouldn't mind teaming, helping each other." She is still not sure if he is really capable; to her...the guy looks too damn clean for a supposed survivor.
A state she hadn't seen in someone for too long.
Now everyone looks as if they had just walked out of a torn battlefield.
Haggard, tired, scarred, ruthless, tattered dirty clothes, unshaved.
This Uchiha guy? He looks like a man who is about to start filming a ninja movie.
Tight, clean black clothes and small knives on a pouch strapped to his thigh. A long blade. Bondages, face masks...
She found the guy to be too innocent to be true, maybe even a naive idealist...
If only she knew what kind of being he truly is.
But she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he is really what he says.
"That works for me," Sasuke nodded, as that was all he wanted.
He knows he would feel like shit if he abandoned those two to the harsh world.
With time, they will come to know that he at least had what it took to keep them safe, to keep the little girl away from the dark side.
After all, that is the kind of guy he had always been.
Nosy idiot, as Yuri had always called him.