Illstar

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Aerin's hands had gravitated toward his face to cover them, but a few fingers lifted as she began to speak. He only saw the back of her head, but that was what he studied while he could only imagine what she had gone through. He hadn't seen a child since the Illstar had infected the populace, and he didn't think he'd want to run into an infected one. In fact, he hadn't wanted to run into an infected anything. He shifted to the side as her legs curled in, and once her breathing sort of steadied, he stood up, careful not to disturb what little peace she had. Resting the blanket near her, he said softly, "Thanks for telling me."

With that, he moved into the kitchen, searching every room for anything they might have been able to use. For a rare stroke of luck, he found one unopened bottle of water, the first sign of clean liquid they'd had all week. However, the rest of the house provided nothing else, but it seemed a small price for what he'd found. Padding back down the stairs, he set the bottle with the rest of their things, sitting down in the singular chair in the kitchen. He spied what little alcohol was left in the bottle Nova had used on her leg, and part of him wanted to down the rest in a gulp, but it could be useful down the road, so he restrained himself.

Instead, he pulled out the pen Nova had given him along with a piece of paper. He quietly shifted the chair so he was looking out at her as much as he could from the corner. Taking in her appearance, he sketched out her image on his paper, doing his best to get her face correct. The lines weren't so scattered, like he was trying much harder than he had before. Though the blanket was near her, he chose to copy her form as if she were wearing nothing more than the clothes on her back, just as she was before him. The way her hair curled in a face that was much more innocent than when she was awake, and how her body was relaxed for just a little bit of time. For the first time in a while, he put effort into work that was no longer appreciated.
 
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The next three weeks proved tentatively uneventful. They encountered no one else either Wanderer or infected. Nova's leg was nearly completely healed, Aerin's injures were long since better and they were all freely mobile again. The wolves had settled into their places within the new pack structure, Shadow's absence having hit them hard for the first week or so. Now they and Nova were steady again and she was back to her regular sleep schedule, done with light napping and back to every three days. It wasn't healthy, not in the least, but it was working fine as far as Nova was concerned.

They were now at the northern end of South Carolina, having made rather good time and mountains were their next obstacles. At the moment Nova was staring at a pick-up, hands on hips, debating. They'd agreed that if they found a car with keys, a working engine and enough gasoline - surprisingly it was abundant since few people had actually emptied the tanks in their cars, especially in the cities where there were so many - they would use that for most of the trip over the mountains until they ran out of gas or the thing broke down.

This truck was red, looked to be in decent shape and it had the gas. Now they just needed to see if it ran. She pulled the door open with a bit of a whining groan from the vehicle and looked inside, exclaiming in triumph as she pulled the keys out. "Yes!" It was the tenth vehicle they'd looked at. Nova held the keys up for Aerin to see with a grin and tossed them to him. "Let's see if she'll start."

She went around to the hood, pulling it up and waited for him to ignite the engine. Sure, she didn't really know a thing about cars, but desperation bred improvisation, did it not?
 
It had been quiet, outside of the wind. There was a rare spot of rain a few days out of the weeks, but other than that, there had been nothing. Aerin might have once preferred that, but with little to do, he was beginning to feel stir-crazy. Something, at some point, would happen. He just didn't know when. He tried to roll with the lull in activity, but it was growing more difficult by the day.

The cars were a welcome change, if any of them had had keys. They'd been out of luck until they came upon the red truck. He stood behind Nova as she inspected the car, watching as she circled around to the door, popping it open with a metallic whine. A happy cry left her as she shook the ring of keys before tossing them at him. He threw his pack into the bed of the truck before sliding in the open car door. Pushing the keys into the ignition, he turned the truck on. Or, at least he tried. The car roared and then died. Aerin slammed his hand on the dashboard and tried again. This time, a plume of black smoke curled from the hood where Nova was standing.

"Hm," was all that came out before he stepped out. "You alright up there? Not sure what's wrong. I can probably figure it out if I have a few minutes with it." His dad did have an older car that he'd pawned off to Aerin after he turned 16. "Sorry. Hitting the dash worked on my old car. Guess not on this one." A sheepish smile accompanied his words as he came to stand beside her, waving away the remaining wisps of smoke.
 
Nova coughed and made a clear face of disgust as she waved her hand before her face, backing up and coughing again for she inhaled cleaner air. She gave Aerin a grimace, but it wasn't angry at his words and she then moved closer to the vehicle again as he did, hands going to hips. "Well, I hope you know what to do with it, 'cause I don't." She beckoned to the truck in question with a tilt of her head and a slight smile. "Take all the time you need. Not like we have anything better to do." she pointed out before looking toward where the wolves were.

They were both scratching at what appeared to be a butchers shop's door and Nova shook her head, smirking slightly as she watched them. There wasn't going to be anything in the store, but it show how well their noses worked and she was rather amused at their antics. Brown eyes eventually looked away from the two wolves and back to Aerin to see how he was progressing. She moved to the hood and rested her hands on the side of the car, leaning over slightly to see what kind of work he was doing.

"Where did you learn about cars?"

They'd taken to doing this, asking questions when they seemed appropriate, finding out more about each other slowly - maybe Nova more than the blond as he seemed to still be worried she'd snap his head off if he asked the wrong question.
 
Aerin leaned on the car, looking down into the various parts. It'd been at least a year since he'd seen a working car, but he still knew the parts. After all the hard work he'd put into his little stick-shift, bucket of bolts car, he definitely knew the parts. However, he hadn't had the smoking bit yet, but he could figure it out. Reaching down into the belly of the car, his green eyes searched each part. The various tubes pushing fuel and oil around were still in good condition, but they would have to find new oil soon if they didn't want build up.

His head popped up at her question, nearly slamming it against the propped hood. "Oh. My dad had an old car for a while. It was a '95 Dodge Neon. Ugliest color, I swear. My dad could not have picked a worse car." He laughed at the thought of the yellow-green car with the dent in the left fender and peeling paint near the tires. "It was faithful though. Chugged along nicely for school and all that. It had issues, but it was old. It died right before all this started. It would have been useful, but now it's all alone on the street where I used to live."

His eyes traveled back down, and he found the source of the issue. With a small, but triumphant, "Aha," he unscrewed the faulty spark plug and held it up. His hand was blackened from the parts, but he didn't seem to notice until he wiped a few drops of sweat from his forehead and left a dark streak along his skin. "Ah, damn. Well, here's the issue. I don't suppose we have a spare." Picking up good parts from broken cars would have been a good idea, if they wanted to be bogged down while waiting to come across a running car. Or at least one with keys.

Aerin set the bad spark plug down, shrugging off his jacket and fingerless gloves. If he was going to make the car work, it was going to require less clothing to dirty up. His arms were snapped at by angry grains of sand that swirled around, but the wind wasn't so bad, and the dust had lulled to a point where the sun was warmer than it had been before.
 
Nova hummed to his story, but was now more focused on what he said the problem was. Her eyes narrowed at the spark plug, studying it and noting where he'd unscrewed it from before she nodded to herself before she snapped her body into her hands and gave a whistle that had Fang perking his ears and running over, Rifle not far behind. Brown eyes addressed Aerin. "All right, I'll go find whatever that is. If I'm not back in an hour, leave without me."

She wasn't even remotely kidding and they both knew it. You kept moving in this world or you got killed. The brunette looked to Rifle. "Stay with Aerin." He pulled his ears back a bit, not liking the separation at all, but Nova was already jogging away, Fang at her side and then running ahead of her as scout. The wolf-dog huffed in an unhappy way, but when he laid down, it was clear by his swiveling ears that he was remaining far more alert now for Aerin's sake.

Cars were not a hard thing to find for the woman. Finding pickups...was a bit more of a challenge but for all she knew, that device from another type of care wouldn't work. She didn't want to take chances, they'd been here too long as it was. She might have said they had all the time in the world to Aerin, but she knew better and she would rather he NOT know what she knew at this point. She still didn't know how much she could trust him, especially with information like that.

When Nova found a truck, she'd pry the hood up and take off the spark plug before moving on to another one. She was determined to come back with as many as possible in case one didn't work. That would suck to have to forage again when all she wanted to do was leave this city. She and South Carolina were not friends and never would be now. This place made her nervous and passing through the mountains made her doubly so, but maybe....maybe it would be all right this time.

If they were careful.
 
Aerin kept his position of forearms leaning on the car, head hanging down as he searched the rest of the car. All the other parts seemed to be working, which was slightly odd. He would have thought more wear and tear, but there was a hood to protect those parts from damage, but even it couldn't have escaped everything. It didn't look new, so that counted for its age. "Hm." Aerin looked down at the wolf-dog beside him. "I suppose you'd like to ride in the truck if I get this thing working. Maybe it'll get me on Nova's good side. Does she have one? I guess you two are on it." And that was when he started to feel crazy.

"And I'm talking to the wolf. Good job, Aerin. Illstar finally got to you." A grumble followed his words as he moved around the side of the truck to fish out a tattered rag he'd picked up a week ago. It never hurt to have anything like that, even if it consisted of mostly holes. He bunched it up and began to wipe the truck's innards down, doing his best to free the parts of dust, grime, and sand. He still didn't understand why there was a working truck out in the middle of nowhere. There were other cars, suggesting they might be on a highway of some kind, but the sand and dust had blown over any streets that weren't blocked by buildings.

Aerin pulled back from his job, the rag in his hand black, along with his fingers themselves. He had to remember not to touch other parts of his body unless he wanted inky stains on his skin. He was too engrossed in his cleaning to really notice his surroundings, but part of his mind was grateful for the watch-wolf at his feet.
 
Nova returned within forty-five minutes and the brunette ruffled Rifle's ears when he stood with a wagging tail to greet her before she went toward Aerin and opened the bag she'd been placing the spark plugs in. "Here you go. They all came from trucks. Hopefully one will work?" She set them down on something on the engine before she moved away, knowing she wouldn't be of any use in this area. "I'll be right back again, though."

She jogged off once again and this time returned only about five minutes later with a lidded containing that sloshed with fluid. She set it down with a smirk by the truck's tire. "Apparently some unfortunate escapees came prepared." It wasn't hard to figure out what probably happened to them. Either they'd been infected themselves or they'd been killed by infected. Either way, they obviously had left the gasoline in the back of the car and Nova had been keen enough to spot it...out of the dozen out of dozens she'd passed.

She plopped down then on some debris with a sigh and Rifle came over, putting his head on her knee. He didn't do it often and Nova frowned slightly, petting his head slowly. "What's wrong?" It was quiet, not entirely meant to be overheard and she watched as the canine's eyes flitted to Aerin before coming back to her brown. "Good-male. Want Nova like. You like?"

Nova blinked, startled by that and she looked to Aerin with a slightly confused expression before focusing back on the wolf-dog. She opened her mouth and then shut it again, thoughtful. She finally ruffled the canine's ears again and stood. "Yes. He's good."

Rifle wagged his tail, pleased and trotted over to Aerin, putting his paws up on the car and peering over at the engine with perked ears. Nova couldn't help but snort, amused and Fang sighed as if in exasperation, laying his head back down on his paws as he waited.
 
Aerin took the bag without a word, peering inside. She's managed to gather several spark plugs, all of them dirty, but still in decent condition. He sifted through and found one that was shinier than the rest, but after he properly screwed the part in and attempted to start the car, he was only greeted with more black smoke. And so began the pile of bad spark plugs, ones cast aside for not being good enough for the temperamental vehicle. Aerin was aware of Rifle watching him work, but only a faint smile crossed his lips as he focused on what was in front of him.

Finally, when he was down to two spark plugs and an added black streak on his forehead, Aerin hit the dash and started the car. The engine finally came to life and he grinned, triumph in his eyes. "Finally! Now we can get somewhere." He jumped out, taking the remaining, untried spark plug, just in case. Maybe it would work, but it never hurt to have a back up. He picked up the gas can Nova had found, setting it in the back. It would get them an extra few miles, depending on the truck model and date, and that had been long scraped off the side, along with several inches of paint.

The cab was warm from heating up with the sun and not cooling down with the night, so Aerin left his jacket and top shirt off. He hefted the passenger door open with some effort, finding the handle stuck. Sifting through the glove box and side panels, he found a worn-down map and a small first aid kit. "Well, this would be great if we knew where we were," he muttered to himself, letting the map unfurl in his lap. It was a map of South Carolina with a less extensive but larger map of the entire country on the other side. Aerin flicked the keys down to turn off the truck while he read the map, one knee propping against the steering wheel in thought.
 
Nova smiled at his enthusiasm and with some prompting, she got the wolves in the back of the truck. They weren't so trusting of vehicles, but they trusted her and when she told them to stay in the truck bed, they did, sitting and panting as they waited for something to happen. One never could tell with humans what odd things they'd do next. Nova for her part, took off her own coat and top shirt, throwing her bag in the small space in the back of the pickup and coat along with it. She hopped into the car then and pushed her hair back from her face before she looked over at Aerin, leaned to the side a bit and looked toward the map he held.

Her slender finger came out, pointing to the general area they were in. "That's us. I know this route is semi-open to vehicles." Her finger traced a highway that led toward the mountains and Nova bit the side of her lip after that, frowning. "When I went over six months past, the roads were decent, but there's no telling what they might look like now up there." Knowing their luck, a tree had probably fallen right across the road up.

Still, it was worth a try.

The brunette leaned back again with a sigh. "Car might not even hold up anyway, but it's the best shot we have at getting through quickly." She placed some stress on that word, the frown still present as her brown eyes went to the direction they'd be taking.
 
Aerin watched her finger slide along the paper, looking over the route they would have to take. Judging by the sun's location as best he could given the air of dust that still floated, Aerin shifted the truck forward and started to drive. It was bumpy until he found what could have been considered the road, as it smoothed out after a mile. The lack of radio music bothered him. He always used to have the radio up so loud the speakers threatened to shatter. Now, there was only the grumble of the truck's engine.

"I'll make sure it stays running." He paused to glance down at the map, hoping to catch glimpses of signs that would point them in the general right direction. "I know it's not best to linger, but it seems like you don't like this place more than the others," he said. While his voice was low, it was no light comment. He was naturally too curious, after all.

He held the wheel with one hand, head resting in his other hand. He was tired. They all were. Even being immune, the weight of the Illstar community bore down on them. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in the cab of the truck and nap. However, it wouldn't be fair to Nova, who was just as tired, if not more, to make her drive, so he kept his mouth shut about his growing exhaustion. His fingers absently combed his hair, accidentally leaving a few dark streaks from his earlier work with the car.

It'd wash out eventually. They had more important things to worry about. Having good looking hair was not one of those things.
 
Nova looked away at his comment, regretting her words immediately. She shouldn't have said anything...and yet, wasn't she being careless NOT telling him? No one had been able to warn her and she'd been screwed because of it. Now she had a chance to warn the blond next to her, someone who actually didn't deserve to have that kind of crap subjected to him, someone who'd been decent to her and she was...hesitating? What was wrong with her?

Brown eyes looked to the dirty mirror, seeing her hazy reflection looking back at her and Nova was sad to say that even with only a year past...she didn't much recognize the girl in the mirror. What had happened to her? She'd grown far more callous than she liked and Nova gave a deep sigh before looked ahead at the horizon again, the car winding its way through the cluster of wrecked vehicles on the road. It wasn't very fast going but it was quicker than walking and the brunette glanced over her shoulder to see the two wolves were content, tongues lolling in the wind and curious at this way of travel.

They'd love it before long, she was sure.

Nova finally looked back to Aerin in the silence only broken by the engine and she finally spoke, making a decision she didn't like but knowing it was the right one no matter how uncomfortable it made her. It would be far worse if it happened again and she didn't know if she could live with the guilt of knowing she'd not warned the man at her side on top of it. "Aerin, there's something you should know before we get into the mountains. There's...." She faltered, a sound of frustration in her throat before she ran her hand through her hair rather roughly before taking a breath and making herself speak.

"The infected aren't the only one people that need to be worried about. There's a...group or movement or whatever you might want to call them, who take Wanderers and lock them up. They want to know what makes us immune, what makes us different, how we might have changed and they aren't....they experiment on us." Nova kept her eyes ahead, not looking at him, her jaw locked and fists balled in her lap. Her scars seemed to stand out even more against skin that had paled with anger and memory both.

Her voice was steady, though. "They operate, as far as I know, in North Carolina, but they monitor the border. The mountains are the only place they're less-likely to catch us, but it's still a risk."
 
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Aerin did his best to keep his eyes on the road, but Nova's stuttering made him want to slow down. His foot stayed steady on the gas, however. There was no point in stopping for her sake. The better time they made with the truck, the better off they would be. His foot nearly slammed on the brake as she finally admitted what was happening. Fear and rage crept into his mind, and he kept it all locked down. Freaking out while driving wasn't a good thing. "I... I see," he said, his words tight with both anger and thought. "I'm guessing you speak from experience."

And that might have been the wrong thing to say. He sighed, "Sorry," and lightly tapped her shoulder with the back of his fingers. It was fleeting, as he knew better than that, but it was just a reminder that this time, she wasn't so alone. "I'll try to keep a steady pace. And we don't have to stop. You can sleep in here while I drive." Stopping meant risking caught, and he wanted to push the truck as much as he could before it died.

He tried not to let another sigh escape him, but the breath passed through his lips with nothing more than a whisper. "We'll be fine," he said, mostly to reassure himself.
 
Nova flinched slightly at his touch, unsure what to expect from it and already tense as it was. His words hadn't really been 'wrong' per say and it was to his credit that he'd not posed it as a question as that would have made her clam up tighter, but it certainly didn't put her at ease. Though, to be fair, there wasn't much he could do to make her less nervous and uneasy. That wasn't even his fault and Nova knew better than to cast blame on the blond for something he wasn't responsible for. She didn't respond to his apology, throat tight and it wasn't until he spoke again that she managed to get something out and because she'd already revealed a great deal more than she'd every thought she would to another human soul, Nova didn't much think sharing this was going to matter all that much.

He probably knew anyway.

"I don't sleep." Her voice was low, slightly monotone as she looked out the window, leaning her head against the seatbelt holder. She finally took a breath and let it out and some of the tension with it because she knew better than to let it stay. If she didn't, she'd only exhaust herself. "We'll have to stop sooner or later. I don't know about you, but my bladder isn't the size of this car's tank. And wolves won't tolerate it. They have to hunt."

She sighed and finally gave the blond a glance. "We'll take turns driving. Don't worry, I won't drive us off a cliff. I'm messed up, not suicidal and it's not fair that the one of us who does sleep has to drive the whole way." That was just illogical.
 
"You should."

It was all he could manage. He wanted her to take care of herself, and not sleeping... Well, they both knew it wasn't the way to go about it. But, he said nothing. He let the engine take over the sound of the cab for a while. He agreed with switching back and forth on driving, but part of him didn't want to stop. If they'd already caught Nova once, and she somehow got away, it meant that their security was increased and they'd be on the lookout for Wanderers.

Once again, a sigh left him, but he kept his eyes on the road. "We can't stop for long then. At least, that's what I think. You know your way better around here though, so you can take over for a while. I don't think I can stay up much longer." Aerin had been used to a regular sleep schedule, and he tried to keep to it, even in the wake of the virus. He couldn't be like Nova. He didn't think he would ever be as... battle-hardened as she was.

He drove on until they could see a few stars twinkle and the moon flickered through the dust. Aerin had managed to keep to the road leading up to the base of the mountains, and even if they weren't easier to see, they could pick their way through. Stopping the truck, he leaned back, one arm slung over the back of the seat. "What do you want to do?" They had the option of keep driving, stopping, or making a pit stop.
 
Nova, despite herself, had actually dozed here and there, only starting awake when the dreams came. She was training herself slowly but surely to just wake up when they came upon her mind, but it didn't make for any true, restful sleep. Still, she wasn't waking screaming and that was worth it as far as she was concerned because she didn't want to have someone worry over her. They couldn't do anything - or so she believed - and she wouldn't be seen as weak because she couldn't control her own reactions.

She stretched a bit when the car stopped and sighed, looking back at the wolves to see them looking back at her with glowing eyes. She was not aware that her own did the same as she turned back to Aerin, pupils catching and reflecting the light like a canine's might. It only lasted for a moment before she turned her head away completely and the affect was broken. "We'll pit stop, maybe forty-five minutes and then keep going."

The brunette opened the door with a push and hopped out. "No headlights, though." She didn't shut the door, knowing it might be harder to get open if she shut it. Nova stretched with a yawn and whistled the two wolves right out of the truck. They jumped out with a yip and Nova sent them off into the dark with a motion of her hand. They were gone like shots, but she knew that if she called they'd come running. They wouldn't go far.

In the meantime she reached back into the car and pulled on her jacket. It had gotten colder.
 
Aerin caught her glowing gaze, but his hand flicked the lever for the headlights, dimming them to nothing. By the time he looked back, the luminescence in her gaze was gone. So he could only nod, even in the dark. It grew black faster than he might have liked, what with only the moon to illuminate their path. With a sigh, Aerin slipped over to the passenger seat before sliding out of the car, leaning against the side of the truck and his eyes closing. He was hungry, but he fought back the gnaw in his stomach, knowing he would only eat when he absolutely had to. Sure, it wasn't healthy, but he couldn't afford to eat when he wanted.

One eye watched Nova pull her jacket around her. "Cold?" It wasn't something they could say very often. Nights were often warm. Cold was rare, and it was exactly why he wasn't putting on a jacket. While he liked being warm, he almost missed the cold. He crossed his arms over his chest, head tipped toward the sky. His eyes searched what few stars were there, like he was trying to paint the night with his gaze, with the tiny pinpricks of light signalling the night time.

"...How did you escape?" The question came out of nowhere, but his head came back down to search their more immediate surroundings. He picked up a long, cracked twig, scratching abstract designs on the sandy dirt in front of them. Part of the design turned into the ear of a wolf, and he kept going to draw a full head, doing his best in the little light he had.
 
"My body doesn't regulate as well as it used to." Nova provided with a shrug. It actually wasn't that cold. Sure, it was a few degrees lower than it usually was nowadays, but the very truth of the matter was that she felt things like that a bit more acutely even if she could ignore them. She supposed that's what happened when people experimented on you and screwed with your body. They were bound to leave some kind of mess behind. She didn't feel like sharing such thoughts, though, and she certainly didn't want to talk about what Aerin had just questioned to. That was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

But she should have seen it coming.

As it was, the brunette stiffened, glad for the darkness as she grit her teeth and folded her arms tightly to her stomach, looking down at the ground. She felt a tremor rock her frame where she leaned against the pickup and stilled it with effort, swallowing hard. She didn't want to answer that. But really, as long as she didn't give out information that Aerin could use against her...what was the harm? Besides perhaps her own mental sanity and THAT was already in question.

She sighed. "I didn't." Nova looked down at her palm, seeing it rather clearly in the dark, something she didn't much pay attention to. "I got a lovely barbed wire scar trying to escape the first month, but I didn't make it. Two months later I was rescued by another Wanderer like me, with a power. I didn't know her, still don't know how she knew I was in there, but she got shot getting me out and I got away."
 
Aerin listened in silence. What else could he do? Illstar had hurt her in ways he could never understand, and she had been immune to it. His ability to talk people down with minimal trading or avoiding them all together had proven better than he could have hoped for. He was just glad he'd found someone to warn him about the impending dangers in the mountains. He looked down at her hand, even if he couldn't see her that well in the dark. At least she had managed to get away, even if it may or may not have been at the cost of someone else. Aerin wouldn't have come across Nova if she was dead or trapped by the experimental government.

"...Glad you made it out."

Holy crap, when did he become so not eloquent? He didn't talk with people often, but he knew how to talk. Maybe he was distracted by his drawing, doing his best to get each wolf's fang as he drew the open mouth. Maybe it was his exhaustion catching up with his mouth. Or maybe both. Or maybe nothing at all and he'd just been socially awkward this whole time and no one bothered to point it out.

Aerin leaned on the stick so much that it snapped between his fingers, spraying dust as the smooth end broke and went the wrong way. Letting the brittle twig pieces fall from his fingers, he moved and took his jacket before going around her to slide into the passenger seat. "Just drive whenever you're ready." With that, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. Maybe they could get away with another peaceful night, but Aerin didn't like the mountains any more than Nova did... not after her story.
 
She didn't know why, but Nova flinched at his words and she didn't respond to him when he got back into the truck. Maybe it wasn't reasonable or logical, but she felt like he'd completely closed down on her and the brunette made an effort to still another tremble that threatened her body. She shouldn't have spoken. She'd gone three months without speaking to anyone but the wolves and even then not really talking to them. What was the point in having contact with people if they rejected you? If you were too damaged for them to accept or understand? Nova didn't see the point in the least.

Maybe she should just go. Aerin knew of the danger now, he had a goal to get to; his father. Why was she risking this all over again? Why was she risking going back toward the people who'd tortured her for three months? What was she doing? Why was she going with this man? What was the point?! Oh, stars she was being such an idiot!

Nova had pushed away from the truck and was reaching into the truck to pull out her pack in a rather violent way when howls split the air. Her head came up sharply and her hand closed around her bow instead, pulling it out and her quiver with it. Fang and Rifle rushed toward them then, and Nova felt fury rise in her when she saw that Rifle was streaked along his side with blood. He'd been shot at, the bullet grazing his shoulder and side.

It was too soon after Shadow's death for her to be calm about that.

Brown eyes flashed yellow-green with light in the darkness and when a jeep suddenly appeared out of the darkness, roaring with light and speed, she growled and shot. The arrow hit the tire and it exploded out, sending the car into a zig-zag pattern right past them. The jeep was followed by fourwheelers, though, three of them and Nova felt fear rise up in her as she ducked a bullet - no a tranquilizer! - and flung herself into the car. She whistled and the wolves jumped in over her and into Aerin and between them, but Nova was already bringing the engine to life and pushed the car into drive. They were soon flying down the highway, narrowly avoiding cars in their path with three fourwheelers behind them and another jeep coming in from the side.

Nova could do nothing at the moment but keep driving and swear...a lot, colorfully and loudly.
 
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