Escape

Chapter Thirteen

When I return, there are no traces of me having cried, and my walls are up again. Everyone's waiting for me, sitting in one of the abandoned cars. 

"This area got hit bad," I remark softly. "The buildings are either destroyed, reek of death, or are unsuitable in one form or another. But there's a small field up ahead we can camp in. I think we can find a few in-tact tents in one of the stores nearby, if we really need to." I motion to the clouds covering the sky. "We're probably going to get some rain tonight."

"How appropriate," Alex remarks dryly.

I shrug. "The world works in strange ways."

"Sometimes too strange," Brian mutters.

I hum in agreement, and we start walking.

~~~

When the tents are set up, a system's set up so someone's with Damien at all times making sure he doesn't do anything stupid. 

The rain starts as soon as I'm in my tent partnered with Lea, her curled up and hiding in her sleeping bag against the wind and rain while I watch the downpour wreak havoc on the area around us through the safety of the screen.

"How are you not freezing?" Lea asks, her voice muffled.

I laugh. "Because I'm used to it," I explain in amusement.

"How?"

"I was born in Ohio and lived in Anchorage, Alaska for a few years before moving to Seattle just before the war began. And then we moved to a Community in Cali."

"Oh. Well. You've traveled far, then."

I hum in agreement. "Pretty much across the entire country."

"Wow."

"Meh. In six years, on foot or otherwise, it's not that big of an achievement."

"Still. We're almost there. You've made it this far in six years. That's more than other people can say."

"Yeah, I suppose." I shrug. "I dunno. You should sleep. You need it."

"What about you? You're not on watch, last time I checked."

"I'll lay down in a minute. I like the rain."

"Alright."

~~~

The next few days, we're stuck in our camp as the skies pour their hearts out - literally. A trip in the drenching rain gets us ponchos, umbrellas, and a tarp to protect the fire area from the rain, and us while we sit underneath it.

"How are we going to take all of this with us?" Lea asks.

"We can probably get a wagon or something of that sort from a store to pull it in. It'll help with carrying things, too," Brian says.

We're hunched under the tarp, trying to keep warm and poking the firewood with a stick to keep it going. 

"That'll be hard in an attack," Aaron points out.

"If it comes to it, we can abandon the items in an attack and move on, getting more when we're safe," Alex argues.

"We're almost there. Do we really want to be slowed down by lugging more items we don't really need?" Aaron rebuts. 

"They're handy in storms like this," Alex says. 

"And they'll keep us from getting sick," Brian adds.

I watch their back and forth in amusement, waiting in silence for them to realize that they've yet to even consult me about it. Damien and Lea jump in, siding with Aaron in the fact that the items will just slow us down.