Chapter 4: We Run

"You alright?" Gendry panted as he slowly slid down the ground. He stared at Yoren's lifeless body, fragments of his skull was sent away flying. The hammer still attached to his head.

"Where the fuck you'd been?" Arya yelled at him.

"I was lost." Gendry said nonchalantly.

The tone made Arya rage in anger. "You were lost? You stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" She managed to give him successive blows on the chest. It did not hurt of course. She was fairly a small little girl who was futily beating up a large man.

"I'm sorry." He said. That finally made Arya stop beating the 'crap' out of him. "I didn't think that Yoren would attack you."

Arya knelt beside him. Her loose shirt sat uncomfortably on her neck. "Yeah," she said. "Me too."

Gendry stared at her for a while then finally asked what really happened. Arya was more than eager to tell what she saw. The little girl was more animated than usual as she told Gendry how Yoren was dead, then he was alive again.

Her story looked like it came out from a children's book. She was expecting him to laugh but he did not. He sat silently contemplating what she said.

"I believe you." Gendry muttered.

"You know, when I hit him the first time, he wasn't supposed to get up." Gendry looked at Yoren's body. "But he did... As if it never hurt him."

Arya gulped as she remembered the blood splattering on Yoren's face.

"Also," Gendry pushed his hair back. He noticed Arya's tension. "Sorry I left a little girl alone in the forest." He said trying to lighten up her mood.

Arya's eyes widened. "I'm not a little girl!" She shouted at him. Her fists went flying in the air, one successfully landed on Gendry's jaw.

Gendry clicked his jaw as he felt a bit of pain radiating from his face.

"So you're a lesbian?" He chuckled.

Arya gritted her teeth and sent her most menacing glare. "No."

"Then a transgender?" A sly smile escaped Gendry's lips. He was making fun of her. Arya folded her fists and attempted to land him another punch.

This time Gendry caught her hands. "I'm a boy!" She struggled free. But he was strong.

"Then you punch like a little girl." Gendry pulled her close towards his face. His smug smile plastered on it.

Arya could feel Gendry's breath as he came close to her. Without thinking, Arya colided her forehead with his, making him release her as he rolled to the ground feeling up his forehead.

Arya stumbled likewise. It gave another meaning to the phrase 'use your head' and it hurt like hell.

"You little shit." Gendry yelled at her.

"I'm a boy!" Arya repeated stubbornly.

"Oh yeah, then bring out your cock and take a piss." Gendry said in irritation.

Arya was held back by what he said. She didn't have a cock to show him. "I don't want to pee." She muttered in defeat.

Gendry stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans. He grinned at her like he won some medal of honor.

"Little girl." He teased again. At the back of his head, he enjoyed seeing Arry getting worked up on hiding her true sex and a little relieved that she somewhat forgot what happened to Yoren.

Arya stood up and tackled Gendry with all her strength. Arya landed on top of him as she landed heavy blows on his chest. "I may be a girl but I'm not little!" She shouted. "I'm seventeen!"

Gendry lightly evaded Arya's punches with his hands. He never laughed so hard up until today. His laugh made her agitated. "Stop making that stupid face!" She growled.

Finally, Gendry raised his arms in defeat. "Alright, alright." He said. "Now, can you get off me? Your current position is very improper."

Arya wanted to smack him again. But before she can do so, he held her hands as she noticed Gendry's face turned sour. "What's with that face, stu-"

"Shhhh." Gendry cut her off. Gendry observed their surroundings as he heard the leaves rustle.

Arya intently listened with him. "Did you hear that?" Arya whispered to Gendry. Gendry nodded as he carefully removed Arya on top off him. He stood up and slowly approached the hammer on Yoren's head.

Yoren had been in an almost state of decay. Ants and maggots had started crawling on his open skull. Gendry held his breath as he removed the hammer from his head. It made a squishy sound which made his stomach sick.

"Gendry!" Arry whispered in terror. She froze solid to the place where he had left her. But her eyes cautiously followed the movement of the entity that came closer to them.

The unknown person was dragging his feet. Much like Yoren, he growled and hissed like an insane person. Saliva was flowing off his mouth. Bones were sticking out of his leg. However, it did not prevent him from going near them. His flesh smelled rotten and was repungant. Half of his body was burned and his face had a puncture wound that looked liked it was hit by a blunt object.

Arya's jaws dropped as he recognized the person in front of them. It was him. She thought. The man that kept growling inside the night bus. The handcuffs that dangled on his burnt arms gave it away.

Soon, Gendry was with her. He was holding his hammer tightly in his hands, flesh and brain matter still stubornly attached to it. Gendry gave Arya a sign to stay back, which she immediately assented to.

The man growled again.

"He can't be alive!" Arya protested. "The bus burned, Gendry. We saw it!" She grabbed Gendry's shirt as she was being betrayed by what she saw.

Gendry didn't reply. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the person. Soon, the prisoner lunged at Gendry. He managed to push Arya away, but he hit the ground as the man tackled him. His hammer fell from his hands. Gendry pushed the man away. With his fists, he punched him mightily on the face. The man continued to growl. Gendry launched another attack but the person opened his mouth and clicked his dead jaws missing Gendry's fist by an inch.

"Gendry!" Arya shouted. She squirmed around the ground to look for the hammer. As soon as she laid her eyes on it, another set of feet appeared in her horizon. Arya looked up and crawled backward. It was the guy who bit Yoren. He slowly paced himself towards her snarling and growling like a mad beast.

"Arry, run!" Gendry shouted at Arya as he struggled to over power the man on top of him.

Arya frozed for a moment. "Arry! What are you doing? Move!"

She could feel the panic on Gendry's voice.

No, she thought. She's not running a way. Arya eyed the hammer that was now under the other person's foot. Arya paced herself to run. She inhaled heavily as she dashed towards the man who bit Yoren before sliding down and grabbing the hammer, missing his dead arms. She then rolled herself to the ground to cease her motion, setting her arms on the ground for support. She ran towards Gendry. She held the hammer with both of her hans before landing a clean blow to the prisoner's head.

However, the blow was not strong enough to send him down on the ground. The prisoner looked at her like she was some meat. She slowly moved backwards before she felt the hammer sliding off to her fingers. Immediately, Gendry grabbed the tool and swung it hitting the prisoner on the jaw. It sent him flying before he landed on the forest floor with a loud thud.

Gendry grabbed Arya's arm and tried to make a run for it. However, they stopped as soon as they found the person who bit Yoren alongside with other lifeless men walking towards them. Gendry held Arya's arm tighter. They were all coming from the King's Road.

Gendry recognized them. They were the their co-passengers inside the night bus. Most of them were burnt. Others have missing limbs, flesh laying down effortlessly from their bodies. One had no legs so he resorted to crawling on the ground.

"What do we do?" Arya stared at him in panic.

"We run."