Illstar

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Aerin jerked up at the howl. His light machine gun was strapped to his pack, but he still had his pistol beside him. He snapped it from its holster as the wolves launched themselves through her open door. A damp spot hit the seat of the truck, and Aerin realized it was coming from Rifle. First Shadow, and now Rifle? These poor wolves couldn't catch a break. Aerin felt a peculiar rage rise in him. Rifle liked him, and he liked Rifle. While Rifle certainly didn't belong to him, the blond still found him a friend. And that was when, as Nova slammed the truck forward, Aerin trained his sight on the first fourwheeler to pop out in front. He certainly wasn't as good a shot as Nova, but the bullet flew from the barrel and hit home. And that home was buried in the middle of the driver's stomach. He slipped off, taking the second rider with him. The fourwheeler veered off to the side and flipped, managing to take out the second one.

If Aerin was hoping for another stroke of luck, he wasn't going to get it. The last fourwheeler snapped their rifle up, indicating a shot that drove the tranquilizer into Aerin's wrist. He nearly dropped his hold on his pistol, but he managed to throw it into the cab before he tore the dart from his hand. However, he couldn't shake the numb feeling that crept through his fingers. How it was working so fast, he didn't know. He leaned back against the seat, panting. The dark roof of the interior swam in front of his eyes, and a sharp, dizzy pain worked its way up his neck to his head. It made him grunt with pain as his head slammed into the headrest behind him. He closed his eyes, but he couldn't escape the swirling dizziness wrapping around his mind.

"Lose them...," he managed to groan. "Only one... left." He cradled his numb hand to his chest, losing feeling everywhere else. Finally, his world went black, blacker than the night sky above them.
 
Nova swore as she looked over to see him dead to the world. No! Of all the times to take a bloody, effing nap! Only one left her a**! There was a fourwheeler and a jeep on their tail. She might lose the jeep, but not the fourwheeler and it was unlikely she could lose one and take out the other. But then again, she'd never gone for likely odds and if she had, she wouldn't be alive right now. What did she have to live for anyway? The thought made her slam on the break, the car skidding beneath them as she turned the wheel, half expecting to flip, but miraculously staying upright.

She was quickly out of the car, bow drawn, facing down the man on the smaller vehicle as he came speeding toward her. His shotgun rose and Nova saw clearly the surprise that registered on his face, recognition, before she released the arrow. It found his heart, no playing around in the matter and the vehicle veered off into another still car, exploding. That left only the jeep, but Nova got back into the truck and tried to start it. It sputtered, roared and then sputtered again and she hit the dash, panic setting in now as she looked up.

It was just in time to be hit side-on by the jeep. She screamed as they spun and the wolves howled their fear as the truck went over the embankment, turning over once, twice before it came to a halt upside down. Rifle had been thrown clear through the windshield and he lay stunned, but alive and Fang was still in the vehicle, whimpering, probably suffering from some broken ribs and severe bruising, Nova didn't know yet.

She was in a heap and her brown eyes darted around in a dazed way, trying to make sense of the roaring in her ears. It came to her after a minute or so. It was her own blood. She was partially hanging from the seatbelt that had wrapped around her arm and shoulder. She slowly managed to untangle herself from that, feeling as if she were moving in slow motion as she dropped with a groan. She could *smell* blood, but was unsure of the sources as of yet. Well, Aerin was one of them. He'd sustained a cut to his head, probably some severe bruising and maybe a sprained limb or two, but he looked all right. He probably wouldn't feel it when he woke, but that wasn't Nova's concern right now.

She managed to get herself out of the car, coaxing Fang with her and then stood. She noted that her side was bleed, cut from the glass and her arm was the same. She seemed to have sprained her wrist - it wasn't broken, thank the Lord - and she was sure she was probably suffering from a concussion. Nova wasn't sure how she got Aerin out, attributing her strength to adrenaline even if she couldn't really feel anything but numb and slow and bruised. No, pain...this was pain, but it didn't register all that high to her.

The brunette got Aerin away from the truck, afraid of explosions and then went back for Rifle, relieved to see he was already getting up on his own power. She touched his head, giving a shuddering sigh. She couldn't lose them. Not like this. Not so soon. Both wolves were fine, though, and that left the woman to carefully, painstakingly climb back up the embankment, her head spinning, to see that the jeep...was not blown up, still running and the two men inside were...not moving. Pulling her knife, Nova moved closer, Rifle at her side, panting heavily with his own pain and Fang down with Aerin. When she came to the driver, it was easy to tell he was dead. His eyes were still open, staring into nothing and she left him. The man in the passenger side, though....he was breathing.

And then he wasn't. Nova looked at the blood pouring from his throat, listened to the gurgled breathing and then slight panic as he woke just long enough to realize something was wrong...and then he knew nothing at all. She didn't look at the bloodied knife in her hand. It had been a killing in cold blood and she didn't even care. No, what she cared about was that the jeep was still working, it had ammo, guns and supplies. That's what she cared about and Nova pulled the two men from the car, leaving them in heaps before she went back to Aerin. She dragged him most the way, taking frequent breaks and wasn't ashamed to admit it, but when she finally got him to the jeep, lifting was the only option. She tore something further in her side doing it, felt the blood rush down her hip, but gritted her teeth and bore it as she finally got the blond into the passenger side. She checked him over a bit half-heartedly to make sure he wasn't injured further, but in truth he just looked dirty with the blood still on his forehead. Nothing life-threatening.

All this had taken a good hour and a half of time at the pace she had to set and Nova finally went back for the packs and the gas, hauling them up and feeling like crying as she did. She was just so tired! And dizzy. And nauseas. She tried to ignore it, though, putting the supplies in the back and then letting the wolves into the rear seats. It took another fifteen minutes or so to make sure Rifle wasn't going to bleed out and Fang wasn't too severely injured before she wrapped her own side and arm with some fabric - she didn't even check who's pack it was that she took it from - and got behind the driver's seat.

The jeep sped off into the night, toward the mountains.
 
Aerin was first aware of pain. The sensation came forward in a rush, knocking him forward and making him hold his head. His still oily hand came free with a new color: red. Blood? But he'd only been knocked out. He noticed the change in the interior of the truck. No... They weren't in the truck. They were in a different car, one that he didn't know. Of course, after all that work he put into it...

Thinking made his head hurt, and his hand gravitated toward his injury again. He felt a swollen pain in his knee and tenderness on his ribs and back. What the hell had happened? The car wasn't moving, and Aerin unceremoniously kicked the door open, only to almost fall out with the gracefulness of a newborn puppy. His good leg caught him before he completed the fall, and he managed to step out upright. He had no idea where they were, and as of that moment, he hadn't seen any of the supplies he and Nova had taken from the truck.

With still fuzzy vision, he called to the wind, "Nova?" Dizziness made him stoop down, and he only managed to keep himself up with the door handle. For all he knew, she was still in the car. He found that his body didn't want to respond to commands, so he just slid to the ground, head against the tire. It was comfier than the metal frame. With a pained groan, Aerin managed to rid his forehead of the dried blood, feeling his wound hardly closed. He pulled his pant leg up to find his knee bruised and puffy, a sign of a slight sprain. It would heal. It would just hurt really bad for a while. Next came the checking up on his bruises, which he found black and purple spread along his abdomen, chest, and on his right side.

Above all, he couldn't remember anything except telling Nova to keep driving. A memory of Rifle's injury came back. What if he'd died too? It would have crushed Nova and left only Fang to take care of her. Another groan, this one of hopelessness, escaped him as he propped his good knee up and rested his head on top. It relieved some of his dizziness and made it easier to think. Except, what was there to think on outside of wondering if his companion was dead?
 
The surrounding area was forested, a back-woods trail leading up to the main highway again. This area had probably been a campsite at one point, but now it was just a place in the woods with running water and tentative vehicle access. Nova was currently down by the stream that ran through and had been for the last hour with the wolves. She'd treated her own side and arm and then the canines, dozing on and off where she sat, but now a nose in her ribs made her blink awake and Fang's attention on the area she'd left the car and Aerin got her attention.

Nova rose slowly then, feeling every part of her body protest, and she nocked an arrow to the string, moving toward the vehicle through the brush until she got a clear sight of it. Seeing Aerin only and the wolves rushing forward without fear of danger, she let out an explosive sigh and came out into the open. She did nothing more than sink down to the blond's side, far enough away that they weren't touching - she didn't like it overmuch anyway and now her shirt was drenched with blood on one side that happened to be very tender right now - and she handed him a water bottle.

"Good to see you awake. Got in a car crash while you were out. Sorry about that." Her head thumped back gingerly against the jeep and Nova felt like she could go to sleep right then and there. She only refrained because she still hadn't really checked Aerin over and he didn't know enough to bandage himself up if needed. "Anything broken? Bleeding?" She rested her hand on Fang's head as he came to lay carefully - he had three cracked ribs - at her side. Rifle was just as hesitant in his movements as he came to lay beside Aerin, whimpering softly in protest to the pain, but in no danger from it.
 
There was rustling in the trees, and then two dark forms shot out to greet him, making him lift his head up. He saw Nova and gave her a small wave, watching her sit beside him. At the mention of the crash, things - and his injuries - started to make a little more sense. He took the bottle, pouring some into his hand to wipe the blood away on his head before he drank some of it. Clean, fresh water. Damn, he would never take that taste for granted again.

"Well, I guess it could have been worse. We could have died." A shrug of his shoulders, and then a wince, followed his words. Guess his body wasn't up to that movement either. He screwed the lid back on the bottle, noticing Rifle laying next to him. He scratched between the wolf-dog's eyes before he answered. "No... just my head, and my sanity, I think." He gave her the once over before his head leaned on the tire.

"What about you? You're not dead, so that's something. I would guess you're hurt just as much as me, judging from all the red on your shirt. And these two are going to be okay, yeah?" he said, peering down at Rifle. He'd never had a dog before, so it was a nice change. Even if getting an animal friend was a side effect of a partial annihilation of the human race.
 
"No, we could have been captured. Believe me, death would be welcome then." she corrected in a weary way, eyes looking up at the trees overhead, wanting to close but struggling not to. Not yet. Her body throbbed with a dull ache, growing more intense in certain spots and the brunette shifted just a little off her hip, knowing she was majorly bruised there. Aerin's question made her smile in a sort of grimace, but she was grateful and pleased to be able to answer honestly. "Two or three slower weeks and they'll be perfectly fine." She didn't make any comment about herself, resting a hand on Fang's head before she forced herself to rise with a muffled groan.

"There's a spot down by the water where we can sleep. Best not to stay close to the car. I ripped out the tracking system, but it could be spotted anyway." Even as she spoke, Nova was pulling their sleeping bags and packs out of the jeep. If someone were to find it, at least they'd have their stuff. "There's more supplies in here. We can go through it tomorrow and rearrange our packs, take what we can."

She was thinking two or three steps ahead, had to be, needed to be. It would keep them safer, but she also needed something to do even if her body was screaming at her that it was DONE, her side protesting at her, wrist aching, her entire left side bruised black and blue. Her mind wasn't done yet, though. It was in a flutter of near-panic and it was only tasks that was keeping it suitably contained and busy. She held both packs and the sleeping bags were draped over a shoulder when Nova looked back into green eyes. "Can you make it or do you want me to come back for you?"

She wouldn't put it past him to walk on his own even if he wasn't really supposed to and she wasn't going to deny him that pride, but the offer for help still stood. She wouldn't be a good doctor if she didn't at least offer.
 
Aerin didn't respond to her statement. He knew it was bad, but if they were really worse than death, he didn't want to find them. Especially not with everything they'd done to avoid them, and especially not with Nova already having been caught by them once. However, he nodded and hauled himself up using the side mirror on the car. He was still wobbly, but he stayed up and not down, which was a start. His feet felt heavy, like he was wearing iron weights. He almost moved a hand to help her, but if he could hardly hold himself up, there was no way he'd be able to carry anything. Still, he knew she was injured, even if she hadn't said anything.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks though." He could be just as strong and fight through the dizziness trying to bog him down. She had already gone through a lot just to get him into the jeep when she could have just left him. The thought to ask her why she'd saved him crossed his mind, but if he poked at her already thought filled mind, she just might think to leave him. So he kept his mouth closed, letting her lead the way. He cast glances at her as they moved, though every time he did, he also happened to have the unfortunate luck of tripping or stumbling, whether it was from his feet catching on roots or just his inability to walk while his mind was addled by a drug.

"You know, you can sleep for a few hours," he said, hoping he wasn't overstepping any invisible boundary by giving her some advice. "I don't think Fang and Rifle would let anything happen to you. I wouldn't either, but I guess that's not a great reassurance since I'm messed up from... whatever the hell they shot into me."
 
She had been rolling out the bedrolls in suitable spots when he spoke of sleep, of the wolves protecting her and then...then he said he'd do the same and her hands stilled, paused as her mind did the same. It faltered for a reply, to make sense of that and she found it far more difficult than it should have been. He cared. Oh, damn...he cared. This wasn't just traveling together, safety in numbers crap...this was him actually starting to care. Was that good? Bad?

Was she doing the same? Why had she saved him? She'd been about to leave just a minutes before and then...then she'd been tearing an already three inch deep, five inch across gash on her side even further to haul him into a jeep. Why? She could have driven him here and then left while he slept. Why...why was she still here. Was she starting to care, too?

Nova swallowed thickly, finishing her task before she moved to her own bedroll and sat gingerly but heavily, head resting in her hand. "It was a tranquilizer. I don't know the medication specifically. Should wear off completely in a couple hours." A couple hours to simply just stay in one place. And sleep. Yes...yes, she needed sleep. It was as if the thought pulled her body downward and before the brunette knew it, she was curled inside her sleeping bag, blinking a bit dazedly at the blond.

"....wake me in...umm...." She groaned and closed her eyes. "Use your own judgement on that." she finally got out and then slipped off soon after. She'd probably actually sleep for a few hours this way, exhausted enough. And the wolves followed soon after, Fang near her and Rifle in-between both humans.
 
Had he said something wrong? She'd stopped moving, appearing like a statue before his swimming vision. She seemed to shake herself from her thoughts with no mention of what might have been going on in her head, but for once, he was okay with it. She hadn't killed him, or in their more recent case, left him for dead. He didn't want to dwell on her motives for doing or not doing something. Instead, he watched her as she settled into her sleeping bag to fall asleep shortly after. He was quiet as he sifted through his pack to find a piece of paper and one of his colored pencils. After running from house to house when they could, Aerin had managed to find several art supplies, though his three colored pencils were by far the best. Paint was worthless without a canvas, but paper he could always use.

Having been able to practice on most days when they rested, Aerin's drawings had increased in both quantity and quality. He kept most of his art, having found an empty sketchbook with the folders still inside. There was a small, but growing stack, and it had a hard, cardboard surface that made drawing easier when he had no table. Settling against a tree, far enough away from Nova, but close enough to make out her details, Aerin scratched his regular pencil along the paper, sketching out Nova with her wolves. However, it was a different sort of drawing. In the scene, she was fierce like she normally was, bow drawn with an arrow pressed against the string. Fang and Rifle stood on her sides, growling and bristling. Her enemy was in the form of a sandstorm, a building, rampaging storm, one that was growing into humanoid shapes as it drew closer.

The details of his drawing required concentration and precision, and so by the time three or four hours had passed, Aerin had finally finished. All three of his colors, light blue, brown, and red, had come into play, but he didn't dare show Nova. He didn't know how she would handle seeing his art, as half of the drawings, he'd been inspired by her displays of strength and smarts, making it easy to draw.

Placing his normal pencil behind his ear (an awful and unconscious habit), Aerin put away the drawing before he sat next to Nova. He didn't touch her to wake her, however. He knew better than that. "Nova, it's been... I dunno, four hours, I think? I don't know how long you like to sleep for, so... Wake up, if you want, I guess." Not really a suggestion to make to an already exhausted and sleeping person, but there it was.
 
Nova moaned softly in protest to his words, for once not dreaming and reluctant to rise. She curled further into her sleeping bag and drifted back off, the slightly conscious part of her mind knowing they couldn't start moving until it was darker anyway. Not if they didn't want to be spotted by patrols. So she slept for another hour, maybe an hour and a half, and in the end it was her own side that woke her as she'd shifted the wrong away, pressing against the tender area and sending agony rippling through her abdomen. The brunette woke with a gasping hiss and grit her teeth, working to breathe properly as she half sat up and her hand hovered over the injured site. It faded after a minute and she mumbled a curse under her breath. What a way to wake up!

But then again, she did feel more human this time around.

Brown eyes flickered around, noting that despite her noise the wolves were still sleeping - must have been no danger then and they were exhausted - and that Aerin was still up. She hesitated for just a moment when her eyes came to him but after a moment a small smile touched her lips, a grateful one. "Thanks for letting me sleep."

Nova rose then and started to reroll her sleeping bag, glancing up at the twilight sky through the trees. "We can travel now. Just gotta keep the lights off and...pray we don't go over a cliff." Not the only thing to pray, but it was a good start.
 
Aerin couldn't help but smile at the innocent sight before him: Nova, curled up in her sleeping back with only stray tufts of brown hair to show her presence. He left her alone, choosing to close his eyes and listen to the sounds of nature, or rather, the lack thereof. The water was still flowing, which made him think of his face and what covered it. Leaving his pencil balanced on top of his folded sketchbook to walk over and kneel by the small, trickling stream. The liquid was cool and fresh to his touch, and he took off the fingerless gloves to wash his hands of grime and dust. He splashed his face, rubbing the dried blood from his forehead and feeling the abrasive scab that covered his wound. It would be there for a while, and eventually, there would be a faint scar. Aerin chose to focus on cleaning the rest of his visible skin, since no amount of hot showering would soon remove the layers of dirt covering the rest of his body. He was able to rinse some of the oily streaks from his hair and hands, though dark streaks still lined his blond locks in random spots. He finally took a few gulps of the water, relishing in the cleanliness that everyone missed. He wished they could have stayed, but the threat of the government loomed over them, and the thought was chased away, flowing down and out just like the stream in front of him.

By the time Nova woke up, Aerin was sitting back against the tree, arms resting over his abdomen, like he was trying to quell the pain from his bruises. He watched her as she packed up, and he soon followed, sliding his art materials into an empty pocket before he hefted the backpack onto his shoulder. He threw it into the back seat of the jeep, glancing at her. Driving without the headlights would be difficult, but they could do it if they went slow. The night was less obscured the higher up the mountain, and if he drove carefully enough, he could use the light of the moon to keep them on the road. He also noticed that Nova had far better night vision than he did, so maybe he should let her drive.

"We'll be fine. It's easier to see up here. Do you want to drive?" he asked, pulling the door open to the passenger side of the jeep. Maybe he was being a little too optimistic, but pessimism would get them nowhere fast. Not that they were going very fast or in any particular direction, but they were still moving.
 
Nova gave him a look that clearly said 'are you high?' but she didn't voice such a comment and instead slipped into the driver's seat. "Seeing as I have the freaky night vision, that would probably be best." she replied as the wolves piled into the back seat, laying down gingerly the both of them. They would NOT be happy by the time this winding trip was over, but they'd still be alive and safe, so Nova knew they'd get over it....maybe. She might never get them in a car again without some MAJOR bribery, but oh well.

She got them back on the road and further up into the mountains by the time it was fully dark and not once did Nova turn the headlights on. It didn't seem to matter, though, as the car never once seemed to get into any danger. One could see the drop-offs beside them like a great chasm that wanted to swallow the car whole, but the jeep never strayed from the path. Of course, Nova's fingers were white on the steering wheel and she was probably gritting her teeth hard enough to cause some discomfort later, but they hadn't gone off the edge.

It was about three hours later that she stopped the car, though, and carefully pried her fingers from the wheel, flexing them with a wince and shutting her eyes as she let her head thump back on the seat. Damn, this was stressful.

A whine from the back directed her attention to Rifle and she didn't need to ask to know he had to go. Nova sighed and opened her door, getting out. The lights came on inside the car and she hissed in displeasure, bringing her hand up and blinking rapidly before looking outward around them, searching for any sign that the light had been spotted. She saw none and let the wolves out to do their business, resting a forearm on the car's frame and looking inside to Aerin.

"We're about a quarter of the way over. Might take us more like two days at this rate."
 
Aerin thought of several ways to start the conversation during their car ride, but nothing left his lips. How he was reduced to no words at all was beyond him. He didn't mind talking, and he sometimes wished his chosen profession let him talk to more people. Art got sort of lonely when you spent the day in a studio by yourself. He kept his mind off of his awkwardness by looking out over the road and off the side. Heights didn't bother him, but they were still unnerving without any light. And so that was how he passed the hours.

When the car came to a stop, he only watched the wolves dart away before nearly jumping at Nova's sudden sound. She had managed to unlatch her hands from the wheel to grope for the light and flick it off. It was better in the dark. What moon there was already illuminated him with his brighter hair and off-white clothing, and they didn't need anything more than that. The last thing they needed was for someone to find them just because the inside lights had come on.

At her mention of how long their trip would take, he wanted to groan. He didn't mind car rides, but two days spent over the mountains, looking every direction for an ambush? It was no way to travel. "Well, we can move faster in the day, since we can see the roads... Sort of." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, wounded brow furrowed in thought. Finally, he settled for just a light tap on her shoulder, the extent of any contact they'd had outside of her patching him up. He didn't want to overstep his boundaries, but he felt some sort of reassurance was in order. "We'll be okay."
 
Sometimes Aerin surprised her with how smart he was....and then there were times like this when she couldn't help but label him a typical male. She had gotten back in the car to sit with one leg inside and one dangling outside, waiting for the canines to come back and touch to her shoulder made her raise a brow, but she didn't question it. Really, if she was going to bite his head off, she would have done it by now. They'd been traveling five weeks give or take a few days now with each other. You'd think he'd stop flinching every time she frowned....which was often, granted, but still.

Then again...she wasn't the most inviting of people.

Nova sighed and rubbed at her wrist, still feeling an ache there and only made worse by the tension she'd been hanging on to. "We can't drive during the day unless you'd like to up the risk of getting caught." She gave him a glance, eyes hard. "And if that's a risk you're willing to take, then you can do it on your own." She looked away again, absolutely serious. It wasn't a threat, just a fact. She wouldn't risk it and if that made her paranoid, then so be it. She'd earned the right to be.

"The only way we're moving in the day is if we ditch the car and that might cut off half a day in our travel. Course, that would be if we were both uninjured. At the rate we'd move with the wolves injured and your leg, might take us longer than two days on foot. Car is the best option and driving in the dark is safest." When Nova looked back over, her brown eyes were less flinty and more sympathetic despite herself. "I'm sorry, Aerin. I know you want to find your father, but slow and cautious through this territory is the only way you're going to accomplish that."
 
Aerin opened his mouth to speak, but she mentioned going off on his own if he wanted to try and speed up. It cut off any harsh reply he might have thought of. He didn't want to be alone. In fact, that was the farthest thing from his mind. He always expected Nova to give him the cold truth, whether he wanted it or not. Her no-nonsense attitude was saving them, even if he didn't like it sometimes.

So all that escaped was a sigh, and then his head perked up as she... apologized? Of course, it was accompanied by another hard fact, but still, there was sentiment in her voice. The only thing he could see in the dark was her eyes, and even those held some sort of soft sympathy.

It made him smile.

"I know," he said, voice a little more cheerful despite the weight of the topic. "It's hard. My dad was my best friend, and I hadn't seen him in almost three months before this all started. I just want to know that he's okay." Or at the very least, not suffering through Illstar. Aerin rubbed his face with one hand before he cast his green gaze over at his companion. "I never did ask... Why did you come back for me? You were hurt, the wolves were hurt, and you didn't have any real reason to come back. That's not to say I'm not grateful, but... I guess I'm just curious."

Too curious, as always.
 
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Fifteen months since he'd seen his father? That had to be rough. At least she knew that all her family were dead. There was no guessing about it. She knew most of her friends were dead, too, and the ones she didn't know, she didn't much care. What must it be like to have that hope still? Of wondering if someone you loved was still out there? Maybe she'd ask at time point. Right now, though, Aerin had followed up with a question the brunette was already struggling to form a thought to, much less reply with.

Why HAD she gone back for him? He said it himself; she didn't have any real reason. Sure, she could say it had been the decent thing to do. She couldn't have left him there to get found by the next patrol. So that was an excuse she could use for dragging his sorry butt into the jeep, but...afterwards? Why had she stayed? She could have disappeared into the woods, made her way west, away from all this. But instead she was here, still in this jeep, with this man, heading toward a destination that didn't benefit her in the slightest and avoiding an enemy that threatened to give her panic attacks at the mere thought of them.

She enjoyed suffering, didn't she? That was the only logical explanation here. She enjoyed being miserable. That had to be it.

Nova groaned under her breath, raking a hand back through her hair as she refused to look at the blond. "I...you...I just did, okay? I don't know why I did it, I didn't even think about it. I just...did." She paused, glaring at the steering wheel as if it was the cause of all her problems. "I guess, I did it because...much as I would like to just cast off people and be done with it...I don't want to be alone. And you're...not bad company."
 
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Aerin could have laughed. Was he actually getting through to her? All of his awkward and sometimes pressing questions, his penchant for drawing her (which he still hadn't revealed), and his not so battle-hardened mind had culminated into making her see he wasn't so bad. It was a start.

He couldn't help the smile that came to his lips, and it was a faint hope that she couldn't see, lest she retract her statement. "Well, thanks." It sounded like something silly to say after she just admitted something sentimental, but it was true. It was the first real compliment he'd had in a while, and it was nice to hear. He leaned his head back against the seat, staring up at the ceiling as if his green eyes could cut holes in the top so he could see the stars. "I don't like being alone either. You'd think with my job, I'd wanna be, but... Some people aren't so bad. It's just unfortunate that those not-so-bad people were probably the first to go."

Hands propped behind his head, Aerin glanced out the window. "I'll try not to get myself into any situations where you have to drag me around though. Probably not very good for my health." Nothing that they were doing was good for their health, but the poor joke hung in the air. Of all the things he wanted, he wanted to hear her laugh. She was always so stoic. If he'd heard the sound before, he couldn't remember. All he knew was that he wanted to let it fill his ears.

If he wanted that, he should come up with better jokes.
 
Nova nearly snorted. The only good person she'd ever known was her brother, Alec. She hadn't exactly been the squeaky-clean type of daughter. Having parents who were so prestigious in their jobs, having money and having little supervision or parenting...she'd gotten into her fair share of devious activities. Rebelling, teachers and therapists had called it. Nova had called it not giving a damn. It wasn't like there had been much to rebel against. It was only when her brother had been born that she'd taken a different approach to life. From fourteen to eighteen, she'd been a party girl, a dare-devil with an innocent smile that could get her out of a lot of trouble if she employed it just right. But Alec...he'd been born when she was eighteen and suddenly Nova had discovered a reason to do better. It was for that little boy who had wrapped her around his finger from the moment his big blue eyes had met her brown, the moment she'd held him that she'd finally heeded to some responsibility even if it was the one her parents wanted to thrust on her.

She'd gone into medical school that year and had nearly completed her courses in a total of six years when the Illstar struck. Alec had been seven and the most kind, decent human being she'd ever known. As far as Nova was concerned, the best human on the planet had been taken from her cruelly and not-so-bad people hadn't counted for anything.

Aerin....Aerin reminded her of Alec. It was painful and intriguing at the same time. Maybe she saw in the man what her brother might have been had he been allowed to get older...and yet Aerin was very different, too.

Like his jokes. Alec had never told such bad jokes.

The brunette glanced to the blond with a raised brow and a slightly skeptical look. "I don't think dragging you around would be good for anyone's health. You're not a lightweight and I'm not a body-builder, so please refrain from having a nap-time next time, mmkay?" Her own tone held that slight bite she was practically known for now, but there was some genuine teasing in there, too. Nova looked away from him, though, as she saw the wolves coming back and she let them in, turning the light back off quickly when she'd shut the door. The woman sighed then and started the engine back up.

Her eyes glanced to Aerin again, reflecting the light in the same way the eyes of the canines behind them did before she looked away again and back at the road. "Buckle up." She didn't wait for him to comply before starting to drive once more.
 
There it was: the subtle undertone that meant she was teasing. It made him smile again, but he didn't linger on the thought as the wolves popped through the open door. As they started to drive again, after Aerin put his seat belt on, of course (safety first in the wake of an apocalypse), he settled back, doing what he could to try and sleep.

Two thoughts crossed his mind then. One was that he hadn't asked her why her eyes glowed. The other was that he was finally making headway into holding a tentative friendship with his traveling companion.

~

One solid week had passed, and Nova and Aerin had made it out of the mountains with little trouble. It had taken just as long as she said, but once they were back on the open roads, they'd taken turns speeding down the sandy roads, doing their best to get the most out of the car. They'd been finding gas cans with just enough to keep them moving along, but their luck was going to run out soon, just like their gas. At least their pursuers had been good enough to grant them a full tank before they'd unwillingly relinquished it.

Now was not the time to think about them as the needle on the gas gauge began to dip into the red. They still had about fifteen miles left, if his mileage calculations were semi-correct. He wanted to speed up, but it would only burn faster. "Any chance we still have any full cans back there?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the road. It was bright out with the faint sunlight reflecting harshly on the sand covering the road. What he wouldn't give for a pair of sunglasses.

At the very least, he and Nova had settled into an easier time with one another. And by easier, he meant he could elicit some teasing out of her sometimes, even if it meant slinging bad jokes or doing something else just as awkward. It was better than the Nova he'd met, that much he knew for sure. Their injuries had mostly healed up as far as he could tell, but if Nova was in pain, she didn't let on. At least she slept more than he had seen her before, even if it was just for a few hours. The poor girl spent too much time worrying, though it wasn't a bad thing. He just silently wished she would lighten up. After all, he wasn't bad company.
 
Nova gave a grunt as she twisted in her seat - working hard not to grimace as her still-tender side hit the seat at a bad angle - and looked back at the supplies. Rifle's nose greeted her own and the brunette gave a soft yelp in surprise, pushing him away halfheartedly. "Knock it off, you great slobbery hound!" She searched around a bit more, not finding what she wanted and Rifle panted happily.

"Taste salty!" he informed her and Nova looked up with an incredulous expression that was lost on the wolf-dog. "I am not a freaking pretzel! Stop licking me!" she barked back and Fang huffed, laying his head back down on the seat. Rifle merely licked at her again and the woman grumbled as she moved back from him, pushing at his head again. She plopped back down into her seat, feeling more human than she had in three months, but not nearly up to par with her environment yet - not healthily so. She got a few hours of sleep every two or three days, but the nightmares were still persistent on and off. Aerin's presence...oddly seemed to help sometimes and she wasn't sure what to make of that.

Maybe just not being so alone was helping.

"Nope. No more gas. We'll be walking as soon as that tank runs out." She glanced over her shoulder at the mountains, just a glimpse on the horizon now and chewed her lip. They were bordering on being far enough away. Only just, though, and it still made her nervous.
 
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