bury the hatchet // bury a friend

Well, it was good that she at least had a vehicle. Really, it probably wouldn't be a good idea for her to get in a car and skip town with a stranger that she'd literally just met less than an hour ago but there weren't many better options. She'd just have to hope that her mother wouldn't be too angry with her when things calmed down... But she doubted it. Mrs. Doukoure was about as strict and fiery with her temper as a mother from Cote d'Ivoire could get. For now, she'd just ignore the fear of getting in trouble and focus on the fear of being mauled by the people that were going insane and attacking each other. That would serve her better in the meantime.

"Um, okay. I'll come. I can call my mom." she replied hesitantly, scratching her cheek, "Er, thank you. Let's go." How long would this last, she could only wonder. She had her backpack on, but it wasn't filled with much and it definitely wasn't enough for a few days out of town. She pushed the thought down, following after Harley after their short break.

They would soon be upon the woman's flat. Everywhere they went, the streets were in shambles, but thankfully, it seemed that the outside of Harley's place was mostly untouched. There were dropped belongings littering the street and a few knocked over bins, but other than that, there weren't any crashed cars. The woman's vehicle was safe in the parking lot, but upon further inspection, most of the vehicles that were normally parked there along with hers were gone. Whether that was due to other people also skipping town or them having left earlier in the morning for work and the like was a mystery.

Aurora followed, waiting patiently at the door as Harley unlocked it.
 
Harley's flat was quite basic, with not much going on to personalise it since she was renting it out. She wasn't allowed to put any nails in the walls or paint them or bring in any furniture to replace the stuff already there. Which was a bit annoying, but it was all she could afford while she was saving up to someday get her new place. Whenever that might be.

Pushing the door open slowly, she listened out carefully in case the surge of violence had somehow managed to get into her flat. Satisfied that everything looked normal and that there was a specific lack of people not trying to eat each other, Harley stepped inside and motioned for the girl to follow in after her. She then locked and bolted the door, a kind of relief flowing over her once that action had been done and she leaned her forehead against the door, taking a moment to herself after all they had seen and having to remain calm for the sake of the younger girl.

Eventually she pulled back, clearing her throat and drinking in a dep breath as if that alone would steady her and strengthen her resolve.

The flat was, as mentioned, basic. It had an open-plan kitchen, dining room and lounge. The walls were painted white with the furniture in mostly black, white, greys and red. A small hallway led down to the left, which would lead to a single double room and a bathroom. Once more with white walls, the only difference being there were white tiles in the bathroom and a grey carpet in the bedroom. The bathroom had a white sink, bath and toilet, with grey stone countertops which were littered with things she had used that morning to get ready - make-up, deodorant, perfume, hairbrush, moisturiser and skin-care products. The bedroom was black and grey furniture, the only colour being on the bedsheets which were a deep wine red, a cuddly toy from her youth sat on one of the pillows - a constant reminder of home.

Harley nodded towards her sofa, "Go ahead and sit down if you like. I uh... I should probably get some stuff together, in case we're need to keep out of the city any longer." She paused, reminding herself of the state of the girl's clothes as she took a quick glance to her, "You can borrow some clothes too. Can't have you in those now for the rest of the day. I'll grab you some, then you can change in the bathroom while I'm putting some things together."

She wasn't expecting a big camp out. Perhaps just some food for a day or two, a lot of water, and definitely a fucking weapon now after seeing what was going on.

"That cupboard there look," she motioned to it, "I've got some hockey sticks in there. Get two or three out, alright? In the bag on the left, they're a season or two old, so won't matter if they get lost or break." She smiled faintly before moving up the hallway to get to her room.
 
It was a stroke of luck that Harley's place hadn't been broken into. Among the various buildings they'd passed by, a few already had broken down doors and shattered windows. They hadn't stopped to inspect any, but Aurora was fairly certain that there was nothing good happening in those unfortunate spaces. Stepping inside, she sighed deeply, revelling in the calm that finally washed over the both of them. Though whatever was happening outside definitely wasn't over, escaping it all, even temporarily, felt tremendously good.

Her eyes trailed over the plain flat briefly before she nodded, looking towards the cupboard. Okay, so for now, they'd try to get together what they could so they could stay on the road until things calmed down. Briefly, she thought about her own home, tiny and falling apart but filled with crosses. Were the windows broken, the door torn off its hinges? Was her mother at home, calling her? Her cellphone was in her backpack, but it was dead.

As Harley disappeared into her room to prepare supplies for their trip out of town, Aurora opened up the cupboard. Curiously, she peered into the bag at the hockey sticks. She'd never held one before, but she supposed that they had to be fairly sturdy if hockey players were banging them against each other incessantly, game after game. She pulled three out, lifting them up slowly, as if to test their collective weight against the strength of her arm. She could probably swing one around, but she hoped that she couldn't have to.

Her mind strayed to the man on the ground again.

She shook her head and closed the cupboard, taking the hockey sticks over to the couch with her to wait for Harley to return. When she came back, Aurora pointed to the sticks, asking, "So I guess you're a big hockey fan? You play a lot?"
 
Coming back out with a rucksack stuffed with two extra pairs of jeans (one for each of them), two extra shirts, some spare underwear and socks, Harley threw the bag onto the couch where the hockey sticks were laid. Under her arm were a change of clothes for the young girl, to whom she nodded as she held them out to her, "Get changed. What size feet are you? You could do with some trainers or something instead of those." She questioned, keeping her tone soft since she realised how abrupt her wording might sound.

She glanced to the hockey sticks at the question, shrugging, "When I can. I joined a club when I moved here, had some summer league but the competitive league is supposed to start next month." She replied, waiting until Aurora had taken the clothes before stepping away to head into the same cupboard that her hockey sticks were kept in. She pulled out a medium-sized duffle bag, after which she reached up to the shelf above her head to pull out a sleeping bag.

From there she walked back to the couch to leave the sleeping bag there and then moved onto the kitchen, her steps hasty and slightly clumsy in her haste to get things sorted.

"Any allergies?" Harley asked Aurora, calling through the house as she wasn't sure where she would be, as she moved around the kitchen to grab some things that they wouldn't need to worry about expiring while they were out of the city. She wondered if she ought to make some sandwiches... but then went against it, nervous as to if anyone would try to break in soon. If they did, she'd much prefer to be out of there. She didn't have much in the way of valuables, or family photos. They were on her phone, since her parents had the photo albums. All there was to really steal would be her laptop and television.

"We can get in the car and call whoever you need to call while we're driving. Where do you even live? Would they be at home?"
 
It was true that Aurora's uniform probably wasn't suited for running. Ideally, it would be nice if they no longer had to anticipate running for their lives, but those polished, black little Mary Janes were scuffed bad from all the mess they'd encountered. She stared down at them woefully, nervous about what her mother would say, yet again, but scratched her cheek, swallowing hard and trying to push down her anxieties once more. Her worries always got the best of her. A calm demeanour, especially in the face of her mother, was not something she'd ever easily held onto.

"Um, I'm a size 6." she replied, following after Harley as the woman made quick work of whisking away supplies for their escape. It was a relief to see that she seemed to know what she was doing, and that she wasn't pulling out rations to last a lifetime. They just needed to wait this out outside of town, whatever this was... She trusted in Harley's judgement. She'd have to, after all. She doubted she could get home herself in this mess and even if she did, what would she do?

Trying to distract her mind, she took the change of clothes and padded out of the kitchen to find Harley's bathroom. It didn't take her too long, since there wasn't a huge amount of space to discover. She slipped out of the layers of her uniform: the white button up, the pressed blazer, the skirt and all, in order to slip into the more casual clothing. She even unbuckled her shoes, ready to swap them out for something easier to run in. She returned without much delay.

Soon enough, Harley was in the kitchen, with Aurora trailing behind, watching her. "No, no allergies." In the distance, not too far away from her flat, they could hear more gunshots. The sounds following them, even if they were faint, in through the walls. Aurora kept chewing on her lower lip.

"I live up north." she replied softly, fiddling with her fingers, "Uh, I don't know. I'll try anyway. If they don't pick up, I'll just leave a message." What else was there to do? Honestly, at this point, despite her fear, she'd be happy to get away from all the noise. It left her on edge, and being inside didn't even help her feel completely safe. "Do you need me to carry anything to the car?"
 
"Size 6?" Harley repeated as she hurriedly packed away some dry food and bottles of water. Breakfast bars, crackers, crisps, dried jerky... basically any sort of dried cupboard food that one might expect on a camping trip. "Go back into the cupboard where the hockey sticks were. There should be a pair of trainers on the shelving unit to the right of you - got them? I'll grab you some socks now real quick." She carried the bag into the open-planned space, dumping it there before hurrying down the hall.

Soon she returned with the socks in question, throwing them underarm to the young girl. "Get them on, and we'll get going." She said, dragging the food back to the couch where she then rolled up the throw blanket on the sofa and stuffed it in with the food. Finally, they were ready, as Harley zipped up the bag and threw the strap over her one shoulder. She then grabbed the clothes bag, and threw the strap of that over the other.

She sharply looked up at the gunshots, freezing before she swallowed thickly and forced herself to move. "Grab the hockey sticks and the sleeping bag. Let's get the fuck out of here." She moved forward, hand fumbling to check her pockets for keys, her phone, and a car-charging cable she had stuffed into her back pocket for her phone. "We'll call your parents in the car, so you can tell them where you are and that you're safe." Harley continued, pulling open the door and heading out to her car.

As she walked, she began to overthink and worry. Did she have everything she needed, really? Did she pack enough food? Surely they wouldn't need that much, it was just until the National Guard came in to sort shit out. Really she knew she ought to be more worried about Aurora's parents and how scared they must be for the girl, but at this point she was more concerned about getting them both out of the city. She had no idea where the girl lived, or how long it would take to get there. It was better just to get out and get out quick.
 
Aurora made quick work of returning to the cupboard, peering into it for a second before grabbing the trainers that Harley was speaking of, returning soon enough. The clock was ticking. Though the two didn't know when the chaos would subside, it was beginning to be clear that it'd most likely get worse before it got better. The noises outside did not subside, getting, perhaps, even worse, as a loud boom echoed off in the distance. An explosion? A bomb? Whatever it was, it hadn't hit them, but it definitely was too close for comfort.

Fumbling with the socks, as she'd almost dropped them instead of catching them, Aurora kneeled down and slipped them on, along with the shoes, adjusting herself as soon as they were being properly worn. They weren't uncomfortable, at least, so she'd probably be able to run in them faster than she had been in her fancy waxed uniform shoes. She grabbed the hockey sticks with one hand and the sleeping bag in the other, before hurriedly following Harley back out into the parking lot. The screams were louder. The panic was closer. Aurora scrambled into Harley's car, setting down what she'd been holding and getting her seatbelt locked in.

It was better not to waste time.

She sat in shotgun, putting her backpack down between her legs on the car floor, before looking to Harley as she started up the car. She could see the stress in her eyes, despite her calm demeanour. ... They had to rely on each other for now. Aurora put on a brave face. They'd figure it out, surely.

As they pulled out of the parking lot, they could see that off on the other side of downtown, something had exploded. There was a fire raging in the distance, smoke rising up in thick, dark plumes into the sky. Aurora stared at it, unable to tear her eyes away. Perhaps the explosion had come from another car accident? Whatever it was, it was probably best that they avoided it. Harley just needed to get onto a highway out of Concord for the time being.
 
"Here, take my phone and give your parents a call while we're driving, just to let them know you're safe at least." Harley fished her phone out of her pocket once she got into the car, going after her keys next to start the vehicle. She had dumped her own haul into the backseat, within easy reach for either of them if they needed or wanted anything. It wasn't the biggest of cars, or the most expensive. Since she wasn't exactly a big earner, Harley had only had two cars in her life. One she got from her parents when they got a new one, and then this one, which she bought after trading in her old one.

It was a basic 2014 Ford Fiesta, grey, because Harley wasn't fussy with colours. Not that she cared about the type or model, so long as it go her where she wanted, Harley didn't care much for what she drove.

The sounds that were echoing not far from them in the city were really increasing her stress, causing her heart to beat faster and thud heavily which each new gun shot or boom. Her hand shook slightly as she fought to get the keys into the ignition, which she eventually did. Driving out, the smoke and the mass of it, didn't exactly do anything to reassure her nerves. A shuddering breath escaped her as she forced her eyes away from the smoke and back onto the road. Everything in her system screamed at her to just put her foot to floor and get them out of the city as fast as humanly possible, but she knew that wouldn't help anyone. Speeding wouldn't give her time to get out of the way of accidents or for people to get out of the way of her.

Pulling off onto the highway, Harley refused to feel relaxed just yet. Undoubtedly lots of people would have had the same thoughts as her, and would probably be looking to get out of town for a few days.

The skin around her ankle, from where the boy dug his nails in and the skin at torn slightly as they got her out of her grip, stung slightly each time she moved it. In reality, had they more time, she would have looked at it and at least disinfected it. But she had to leave it, as she didn't want to risk getting caught in her flat when the chaos reached her street.

She glanced to Aurora briefly once they were on the highway, looking back to the road afterwards, "Get one of the waters out of the duffle on the back seat. You're looking a bit pale."
 
A car was better than none. Aurora didn't even have her license yet, much less a car to borrow from her mother. This was a better escape than she could've planned on her own, so she least she could do was be grateful that someone from the pharmacy had stayed with her. All the other adults had disappeared so quickly. Everything she'd thought she'd known about the world was disappearing with them. She was living through a historical event right now and frankly... She was wishing that she didn't have to. Not now. Not today, of all days.

She took the phone with a nod, opening it and dialling her mother's cell number. One ring... Two rings... Three... Four... Nothing. It sent her to the automated voicemail message, since he mother had never bothered setting up a personalized one. Aurora sighed. Half of her was glad that she didn't have to talk to her mother right now, but the other half was terrified of what this silence meant. Was she okay? Was she stranded, alone, caught in the crossfire of the hellhole that was Concord right now? She didn't want to think about it. She recorded her message.

"Um, hi Mom. It's Aurora." she started, staring out the window temporarily, not knowing how to continue, "Someone is helping me out of Concord right now, so I'm safe. Please don't be mad. I'll come back as soon as things calm down, I swear. Call me back so I know you're okay. ... Please." A beep signalled that she'd reached the end of her time. She ended the call, and blankly looked down at the phone, as if she were going to call someone else, but ultimately seemed to decide against it.

She placed the cellphone down on the centre console, before glancing out the window once more. The amount of buildings and businesses slowly dwindled as they got further and further away from the centre of the city, venturing further out into territory that was marked only by highways and the few and far apart rest stops outside of big cities. There were less people, less cars, less noise: a stark difference from the chaos going on behind them, slipping further and further away. It was almost eerie now, seeing the winding highways not filled with the screaming crowds that had pushed them around earlier on the streets.

At Harley's concern, she coughed for a moment, pushed out of her thoughts and choking on her spit for a second. Once she recovered, she nodded quickly, turning around in her seat so she could grab herself a water bottle. "Ah, um, thank you." She unscrewed the cap, leaning back and taking a large gulp, before closing it and setting it back down, "... It's weird, leaving so suddenly. I guess we had to, but I still feel like I'm doing something wrong, haha."

The laugh was dry, devoid of humour. Filling space.

The highway stretched out into the distance, as they passed by various signage, telling them of the nearest stop and dividing highways up ahead. One or two cars sped away, far from them, but otherwise, the space around them was empty.

It took around 10 minutes of driving before they saw a car pulled over on the side of the highway. They only saw the back, coming up on it, but it looked like the hood was up, as dark smoke rose up from the vehicle. Upon first glance, they couldn't see anyone around the car at the moment, but perhaps someone was on the other side of it. Was it worth checking out?
 
Harley briefly glanced across to her, doing so a few times in order to just check how she was doing. The phone call clearly hadn't gone well, since it was only a message that had been left, and Harley wondered for a moment if she ought to try reaching her own mother. Unfortunately that would have to wait. Clearly accidents were happening all over the place, and she didn't want for them to be in one because of her lapse in concentration. Although it was concerning that her mother hadn't attempted to reach her yet - surely what was happening in Concord would have reached the news by now.

"Don't worry about it. If you were meant to be in school, I doubt they'd care given all the shit that's going on." Harley answered to reassure the girl, eyes raising to check the rearview mirror. With every minute they drove, the more relaxed Harley felt. Hopefully it wouldn't be long until they found somewhere to just simply park up for the night. They could switch on the radio, listen in to whatever channels there were, and wait for some sort of broadcast to announce that they could return to the city safely.

She allowed the silence to fill the car for a moment, having not turned on the radio or plugged in the aux cable to her phone. "That was some weird shit though, wasn't it? That boy in the pharmacy? Like... seriously, what the hell was that?" She then paused, wincing slightly, "...God, sorry. I've been swearing loads since we left there. I don't usually-- just... when I'm stressed." Harley gave her own nervous laugh, taking one hand off the steering wheel to rub the back of her head.

The young woman fell silent again after that, concentrating on driving and her own thoughts until the car pulled into view. Harley frowned at the view, briefly slowing down. It was the highway, so it felt odd to be doing so, but weirdly there was so little traffic, given what was happening behind them, that it didn't matter. It looked as if someone had gotten into some sort of car trouble, but then abandoned their car. Curiosity did poke and prod at Harley, but then she remembered the last time she had gotten involved and gotten too close to something that looked like it needed help. It ended with the deep scratch marks on her ankle.

But still, she drove forward to stop a few yards a head of the other car, looking through the rearview mirror to try and get a glimpse of anything that meant she could drive off or that she ought to get out and help.

The smoke wasn't helping matters, only leaving her to feel even more strongly that the owners of the car had abandoned it. So reluctantly, Harley put her foot down once more on the accelerator and began to move away from the seemingly abandoned vehicle.
 
The signs notified the two that they were around 100 miles away from the nearest rest stop, which apparently, also had toilets. Nice. They'd most likely make it there in about an hour and a half, so really, all they had to do was hope their drive went smoothly. For the time being, it seemed like it was. The noises of the city were gone, replaced by the low hum of Harley's Fiesta. They rode together in silence, probably just happy to finally escape the overstimulation that Concord had become. When Harley broke the silence, Aurora could only nod. Somehow it felt like ages ago that they'd seen the little boy in the pharmacy.

The stench. The sounds he'd made. His horrible, disjoined movement. She shuddered in her seat. She'd never seen anything like it, save for maybe in horror movies... It was so hard to peg it down as reality, despite her having been there to witness it. "Ah... Yeah. I've never seen or... Um, heard a person make noises like that." she responded quietly, adjusting her glasses on her nose, "Don't worry about swearing. I don't really care. Are you okay, after he grabbed you like that? He was freakishly strong..."

Still, she trailed off, eventually staring out the window once more.

The car that they eventually passed was clear on the other side. No humans in sight. The hood was indeed up, but the smoke drifting up from it was thick enough to obscure any view of the internals. Clearly the person or people who had been driving it had abandoned it. It was probably a good idea to leave it alone, if it was in that bad shape. Still, one could only wonder where the driver had gone...

However, it seemed like fate wanted to satisfy their curiosities today. Another 10 minutes down the highway, there was a man walking with a backpack hanging from one of his arms. On his back, a small child, holding onto him. Upon closer inspection, it didn't look like there was any blood on either of them from the back, but both Harley and Aurora had yet to see his front until he heard the sound of their engine and turned around.

He looked clean. Perhaps a bit tired, with the kid on his back, but alive.
 
"Yeah... I just wish I thought to grab some things I could've used to wipe down the cuts he gave me. It wasn't a first aid bag by no means, but I had a few plasters and alcohol wipes back at my place." Harley sighed, shaking her head at herself for not thinking of it earlier. But everything had happened so quickly, and she had been desperate to get them out before trouble reached them. At least she had insurance, so if her laptop or any other items were stolen then she'd get the money back.

Her mind briefly faded back to the young boy, brow furrowing, "But yeah... it was weird, wasn't it? A kid that young, being that strong? Never seen anything like it before. And the noises..." A shudder ran down her spine.

"We'll stop off at the service station. An hour and a bit should be more than enough time and distance to put between us and... whatever the hell was going on back there." Harley took a glance across to her young passenger, hoping she was alright, "We can try your parents again, in a bit, if you want."

After that she went quiet, not wanting to keep nagging the girl about doing so or even just simply talking if Aurora didn't feel like it. They had both seen a lot, the image of the man basically being eaten alive would haunt her until the end of her days. It was without a doubt they both had some things they needed to process.

Ten minutes later, Harley began to slow the car again, "Are those... there's... someone walking. On the highway." She observed, confusion lacing her voice as she controlled her speed as they neared the two. Once close enough for them to make out an adult with a child, and for that adult to turn to face the car, Harley rolled to a stop as she observed him. Eventually she pressed the button to roll her window down a quarter of the way and offered a small smile.

"You alright? I don't suppose that was your car back there, was it?"
 
The day seemed to never stop supplying them with more questions. What was going on in Concord? How was the National Guard going to stop it? What had happened to that little boy and how on Earth had he been so freakishly strong for someone who had so clearly been just a child? The answers just wouldn't come to her, no matter how much she mulled over the questions. She sighed deeply, staring out the emptiness outside of the car window. She'd already had so much on her mind before the world had somehow collapsed before her and frankly, all her problems from earlier that morning seemed so... Meaningless? Aurora chewed on her lower lip. No, not meaningless... But she definitely had to push them to the back of her head for now.

The plan sounded good. Wait out the chaos at the rest stop. They'd have access to bathrooms and be able to park the car safely for a while, maybe get some rest or just talk to pass the time, whichever came first. Aurora only nodded, staring back out the window.

She did lean forward though, when both her and Harley laid eyes on the people on the side of the highway. The teenager squinted through her slightly scuffed glasses, humming quietly when Harley spoke. "Yeah... Jeez. Walking all that way with a kid on his back." she mumbled softly, quieting when Harley slowed beside the man, who had stopped to speak to them.

He looked to be in his late twenties. Sun-kissed skin and faint stubble drew over his features, but perhaps the most comical part about him was his outfit. Dark jeans, a leather jacket, and tinted sunglasses hung from the collar of his shirt... He looked like he was trying to cosplay your stereotypical "bad boy" in the movies. The boy on his back was sound asleep, snoring softly on his back and looking to be no older than 10. Poor kid looked exhausted.

"Uh, yeah. Busted fuel injector. It's leaking bad so I left it there but uh, tow lines aren't answering right now for some reason." the man replied gruffly, cautiously not stepping any closer to the vehicle, eyeing both Harley and Aurora within. "I'm tryin' to get this lil guy to Claremont." He turned slightly, as if to gesture to the young boy on his back, sleeping through the entire interaction.
 
Harley pressed the window button once more to roll it all the way down, having been a little anxious that the history she had with trying to help people would repeat itself. However, the two on the side of the road looked like they were fine, and she couldn't spot any bite marks. Not that it would matter, since the guy was in a leather jacket.

"Yeah, was going to say. No one is picking up right now, not with everything that's going on back there. We tried to call the police, but no luck." She shrugged. She realised that he probably wouldn't care, and he probably wasn't in the mood to stop for a chat when he had a way to go. Claremont was a drive in itself, let alone trying to do it on foot.

Her finger lightly tapped against the steering wheel for a moment before she finally motioned with her head to the back of the car, "Do you wanna lift? We're heading for the service station for a break, maybe even to bunker down there for the night. You can get there and try calling someone again." She offered, ignoring the warnings her mother had given her about picking up random strangers.

She already had Aurora in the car, and this guy had a kid with him, she wasn't about to think he'd do anything stupid or dangerous.

"It's just a lift. Nothing to it. It'll beat walking all the way to Claremont." Harley continued, leaning an elbow on the edge of the door, "Can't tell me it's fun having him on your back, even for the while you've been walking."
 
The man's lips pressed into a thin line when Harley mentioned whatever was going on back in Concord. It was a bit hard to read how he felt about this conversation, but he seemed to be desperate enough to just accept the ride. After all, walking to Claremont with the kid on his back would take hours at his current pace. He didn't have the heart to wake him up and make him walk, even though that would probably quicken things, so hitching a ride was really his best option. "Uh... Yeah. Sure. Thanks." he replied adjusting the child on his back.

Aurora sat up her seat, hunching over the centre console and moving some of the stuff she'd tossed into the backseat, realizing that adding two more people meant that their stuff couldn't be there hogging up all the room anymore. Sure, it was a daunting and frankly, a bit scary of a task to be driving two complete strangers in the current state of the world, but he had a kid. Surely he was being honest... She tried not to doubt him, watching him lean down and open the door carefully so that he could set the kid down against the seat.

Somehow, the child didn't stir, snoring softly and sleeping right through any movement, mouth now ajar as he continued resting. The man grunted quietly, no doubt having some soreness in his body. He sat himself down, putting the backpack near his feet and closing the door behind him. "Thanks for this. Much appreciated. You two, uh, sisters?"

His question was confusing, considering the fact that Aurora was obviously black and Harley wasn't at all. Perhaps he assumed they were adopted siblings, or he just didn't know how else to strike up a conversation. Aurora strung her brows together, blinking at him, before shaking her head. "Umm, no. She helped me out of Concord. ... I'm Aurora." she introduced herself, leading to the man nodding to show he'd listened.

"Ah, alright. I'm Jett." he replied casually, gesturing to the kid sleeping soundly beside him, "This here's Rheylen. Nice to meet'cha. And you're...?"

The question was directed at Harley now.
 
"No worries-- wasn't about to let you walk all the way to Claremont. Ya' must have had a few people drive past already, must have felt a bit shit." Harley shrugged, having focused on getting the window back up and checking their surroundings while Aurora organised their things (albeit awkwardly) out of the way on the back seat. Despite being away from the chaos of the city, what they had seen still put Harley on edge. That being said, maybe she ought to have been more suspicious herself the two she was now letting into her car, but surely the world hadn't gone that much to shit just yet.

Her thumbs drummed against the steering wheel as she waited for the guy to settle the kid, and then himself, into the backseats, eyes raising to the mirror to look at them both as Aurora answered him.

"Harley." She introduced herself, offering a friendly smile through the window before she looked back to the road ahead of them and put the car back into start.

As she began to drive again, Harley shifted slightly to get comfortable again in the driver's seat. She hoped Aurora was okay with what she had just done, but at the end of the day, it was her car anyway. Besides, it would have been shit to have left them walking.

"So, are you brothers?" She questioned, eyes briefly raising to look at Jett in the mirror again. A shrug followed soon after, "You asked about us, I thought it only fair to return the favour."
 
Aurora didn't seem too bothered by Harley's decision, though she kept herself turned to both observe and speak to the newcomer in the car. They really were amassing a little group at this point. She wasn't really sure if there was safety in numbers in this type of situation, but it did feel good to be able to help someone, especially when they had a child with them. She could only wonder what the two had seen so far, if they'd been escaping Concord like her and Harley.

Jett seemed quite comfortable. Though there was a certain edge of caution to him, he sat in a quite easy-going manner, showing no signs of hostility. At Harley's question, he shook his head, but a slight smile poked up at his lips, his expression a bit more friendly, "Nah. Rheylen's my kid." His reply was simple. The two looked pretty similar on first glance, so perhaps it hadn't been adoption? Still, Jett looked quite young to be having a kid that age... So either the boy was adopted or he'd been born when Jett had still been a teenager.

Claremont wasn't too far away from the rest stop. Hopefully there, Jett would have more luck with the signal. Leaving your car out on the side of the highway definitely wasn't a good idea in normal circumstances, but with all the panic now, it was impossible to know what could possibly happen to it. Human decency had seemed to have gone out the window for a lot of people they'd passed in the city.

The highway stretched out before them. It was almost almost noon at that point, as Aurora sipped quietly on her bottle of water. Lunch time would soon be upon them. Before she even realized it, her stomach growled, far too loudly to be ignored. She froze, blinking as she processed it for a moment, before awkwardly laughing. "Oh, uh. I... I forgot I left my breakfast on the sidewalk in Concord." she joked quietly.

It was a much nicer way of saying "I emptied the contents of my stomach after seeing all that blood back there".
 
"Oh?" Harley responded, glancing up to him once more through the mirror. There would be no judgement in her tone, being an open-minded person and knowing it not to be any of her business in the first place. She returned the smile easily, gaze flickering to the kid who continued to slumber on without stirring once. "Well, you could have easily've passed off as his older brother, you both look so alike-- but obviously you would anyway because he's your kid. Sorry, ignore me." She shook her head with a chuckle, "Today's left my head a bit frazzled - if I ain't making sense at any point, just tell me. Or hit me upside the head, that usually clears the sinuses a bit."

The young woman continued to babble until she just cut herself off with a soft clearing of her throat, dropping her eyes back on the road, "If he wakes up, there'll be a breakfast bar or something in the bag if you want it for him. I threw a few things together in case we needed to stay out of town for a bit." She explained, shifting again in the driver's seat to get comfortable.

As the journey continued and a silence settled over the car, Harley moved to rest her elbow on the car door, leaning her head against her fist as the other hand held the steering wheel. Her gaze dropped once or twice to the petrol reading, humming to herself as if in confirmation with her thoughts. She had half a tank left, which ought to be enough for the return journey they would (hopefully) be doing.

However, when Aurora's grumbling stomach caught her attention, Harley looked across to the young girl with a smirk. It was either find the humour in her words or get lost in the gruesome reality of why she had lost her stomach contents in the first place.

"Grab a breakfast bar or something from the bag, no sense sitting there hungry." Harley responded, motioning with her thumb to the back seat. She then glanced up to look at Jett through the mirror, "You got enough room in the back there? We can shuffle some things out the way if you're a bit squashed. I'm ah-- I'm afraid we didn't think we'd be picking up any passengers along the way."
 
With all the panic, it was hard to remember to take care of your base needs. It seemed almost silly now, to be embarrassed about a growling stomach, when there were obviously other things in the world to be worried about. She nodded, leaning over the console and squeezing a granola bar out of the bag, giving Jett a bit of time to move his legs so she didn't accidentally knock her hands into them. Without needing much more prompting, she got straight down to eating, happy to get something back into her stomach. While she did so, she listened to Harley and Jett speak.

The sleeping little boy slumped over, pressing his face against his father's arm, mouth open and face completely relaxed. Jett snickered quietly, putting an arm around him and a calloused hand atop the kid's mop of brown hair, before nodding at Harley's words. "We're fine back here. I don't got much to offer, except gas money, I guess." he replied a bit sheepishly, "Left most of our stuff back in the car. Took the kid's backpack because he'd shit his pants if he woke up without it, but hopefully when I get the thing towed all the rest of our shit will still be in there." He didn't seem too worried, so at least whatever he'd left behind hadn't been extremely precious or impossible to replace.

Unfortunately, what they didn't all know was that no one in Claremont would be able to help them either. The hour passed by quick enough, without them seeing anything else interesting on the road. The signs signalled to them that they'd need to take a right onto the upcoming exit to get to the rest stop and soon enough, they'd pulled into the parking lot.

The area was small and devoid of any other cars, so Harley didn't have to worry about finding a spot to park the car. Ahead of them was a small brick building with signs to show that it was a washroom, along with a small drinking fountain, a payphone and a vending machine sporting various snacks along its outside wall.
 
Pulling up to the service station, Harley parked the car and killed the engine not long after. She turned her head to look out the window towards the building, brow furrowed nervously. "It's real quiet, don't you think? I mean, surely more people would've had the same idea as us." She supposed, hands dropping from the steering wheel and keys.

Maybe she was just overthinking, given everything they had seen in that day alone. But Harley couldn't help her mind as it overworked and began to question everything.

Nibbling at her lower lip, she finally shifted so her body faced the inside of the car, looking to Aurora and Jett. She smiled a little at the latter, gaze dropping to the kid before raising back to him, "We won't be going anywhere for a bit, if you wanted to see if you can reach anyone while we're here. Tow-truck wise, I mean." She offered, "We'll stick around until you get through to someone too, no sense driving off and then it turns out you've got no way of getting to Claremont."

Harley knew now would be a good time for them to all make use of the bathroom and for her to probably use some of the cash in her purse to get some additional snacks from the vending machine.

"Right now though, I suggest we get out and stretch our legs. Aurora - I think it might be good if we just use here to crash for a night or whatever. We're out of the city and got a washroom right there. It's quiet too. Kinda perfect."