Forced (Ziall Horlik )AU M-preg

Chapter 2

Zayn's POV

The woods had always been calming to me. The way I could always hear the winds blowing through the trees or see animals scurrying around. It gave me a sense of freedom in a way. It made the controlled world slip off my shoulders, and make it seem like I could do what I wanted.

I picked all the blue berries that seemed ripe and put them in the small bag I had brought with me. There was an Irish man that always bought them from me, no matter the cost. I like to think it's because he has a beautiful wife at home that he woos with berries, but in reality I know it's probably the only fresh fruit his family will ever have.

I put the bag in the ripped seam of my leather jacket, then went to go see if any of the traps I had set over yesterday got anything in them. I just got two rabbits and three squirrels, but it ment meat for my family and definitely the twenty dollars I had hoped to get for today.

I gutted the animals and cleaned them in the creek before placing them in the book bag I brought with me. There were really no animals that I wanted to shoot down today, so I just stuck with the animals I trapped. After resetting all the traps, I left the peaceful forest and headed to the market place to get money for all this stuff.

When I walked in, I felt a few eyes on me. That's how it was anywhere I went. I wasn't sure if it was because I'm young to be here, or if it's because I look different than everyone else with my tan skin and dark hair. Either thing was probably the answer, but I paid no mind to it and went to the tables I always went to to sell the game I didn't want.

After getting thirty dollars for the three squirrels, I headed up to the small house that was at the end of town just before the meadows. This is where the man that buys my berries lives. Sometimes if I miss school to hunt and gather, I end up selling them to his wife but she has money set aside for me as always.

As I got to the falling apart tiny house, I knocked on the back door three times before taking a small step back. The door opened slightly, revealing the wife of the Irish man. She smiled at me and opened the door wider.

"Let me see what you got today." She told me sweetly. I knew she would buy them even if they were a bad batch of berries, but I didn't mind opening the bag and showing them to her.

"I'm thinking maybe five?" I offered her, hoping she would give me just that much so I could go to the square and buy one more loaf of bread that could last us maybe a month.

"I'm thinking ten. This is a great batch and there's a lot of them." She countered back with a light smile. I didn't want to turn that offer down, but in our struggling society I don't want to take more than I deserved. In the end I took seven dollars for the berries and was about to walk away when something in her house caught my eye.

Just a simple light blue dress was hanging up in her kitchen. I could tell she had just sewn it from the way it looked pinned. The only thought I could think of was Doniya's sixteenth birthday that was in two days. It looked her size and if not, the belt that was wrapped around it could bring it in to fit her slim figure.

"Is that dress going to be sold in the market soon?" I asked her, shyly pointing in her home. The woman turned and looked at the dress while nodding her head. I looked down at all the money I had gotten today and got twenty of it, looking back up to the woman who was now holding the dress folded in her arms.

"I'll give you-" I started, but she gently pushed my hand away and handed me the dress.

"Consider it a thank you for always keeping some sort of food on my family's table. I'm sure whoever this is for will look lovely in it." I smiled at her and put my money back in the bag along with the dress. We both said our good byes and I left feeling like I accomplished quite a bit today.