Jay stiffened slightly, and slid one hand over to cup her cheek, though his whole attention was focused on the voices as his mouth drifted across her face, hovering a hairs breadth from her skin. The muscles in his body were tense, and he wished he could keep a hand on his gun.
A second voice responded with, "Eh. Leave 'em. We don't need new recruits."
She gently moved a hand from where they were pressed against the wall to help hold herself up and placed it on his back, trying to make it seem a little bit more believable while silently trying to tell Jay to relax. The person stood in the door for a few more seconds as if they were trying to make sure the two of them weren’t up to anything. Then, as soon as they came, the person left with the others and the building went silent again.
Once they were gone, Jay let go of her, stepping back. "Thank you." He said softly. "You have no idea what…what you saved me from." He looked at the ground for a moment, taking a deep breath. He picked up her crutches, and handed them to her. "Need help?" He asked her.
“No problem,” She replied softly, taking the crutches from him and nodding with a tiny smile, “I wouldn’t say no to some help, especially just getting my bag on my back.” Delia took a step away from the wall and made her way towards the door, her cheeks showing just a hint of pink. They had gotten away from the gang, that was the best part. Now she just had to get out of the town and on her way again with a broken leg. She wouldn’t purposely ask Jay to come with her or for him to leave, he was able to choose for himself and she would figure out how to survive either way.
He nodded, and picked up her backpack, helping her get it on. "Do you want me to come with you? Just for a bit, until your leg heals up." He said, putting his backpack on. He looked at the door again, taking his hat off to run a hand through his hair.
“I won’t force you to come with me, and you can probably move on faster without me. You’ve already helped me more than I can imagine, I’ll figure things out with my leg.” She shrugged as well as she could and looked out the door, checking there was no one from the gangs in the hotel still as she made her way out back into the main lobby. Her eyes scanned the area quickly and she held her gun in one hand while still holding onto the crutch with three fingers. It was difficult, she could say that, but she needed to be ready for anything with the others around.
Jay followed her out. He shrugged. "Safety in numbers, and all that." He replied. He sighed softly. "Besides, I don't need to move all that fast." He added with a small shrug. He had his backpack on his back, and he easily walked beside her. "Also, that looks really difficult to do." He said, meaning the way she was carrying her gun.
She waved her free hand dismissively before moving forward out of the hotel, sneaking around the side as best she could like she did when she first came into the town. “It’s not that bad,” She smoothly said, making it seem less difficult than it was. Her auburn hair fell in her face but she flipped her head back and out of her face. There was a small cracked road leading out of the town a few blocks away and she started towards it, only glancing back to see if Jay was coming a few times.
Jay walked beside her, his gold eyes flickering around as he kept an eye out for anyone else. He was silent as he walked, his knife and pistol both within easy reach. He had put his hat back on, covering up his telltale white hair. His dark grey shirt was spattered with mud, and he knew he would need to find a way to wash both it and himself at some point.
“Well, are you heading anywhere in particular Mr. Helpful?” She asked, knowing she was really just wandering around wherever she wanted until she found someplace that took her breath away. This town was just one of the many places she had traveled too.
Jay shook his head. "No. Not really." He said slowly. "There was somewhere I was supposed to go, but…" He shook his head again, eyes fastened on the road ahead. "I really don't want to go there." He spoke slowly, as if weighing each word before speaking.
She nodded, fine with his answer, there were places she didn’t want to return to and she figured he had reasons just like she had, “Then are you alright with heading towards the west coast?” Delia didn’t have a compass but she usually just followed the way the sun set and she was all good.
He hesitated, then nodded. "Sounds good. We just need to steer clear of gang territories, alien sweeps, and the military. If we ran into the military, they'd forcibly recruit at least me, and probably you." He explained. "Gang territories and alien sweeps are obvious ones."
“I know, I know, I’ve survived all of those things so far, haven’t I?” She didn’t really bother to glance at him as they made their way slowly away from the town, her gun slung back over her shoulder with some debate. It was hard enough just walking and dealing with the pain from her leg with every time her good leg hit the ground.
He nodded. "I know you have." He replied. "I just don't know want you to forget." He said. He kept walking, keeping an eye out for people coming. He glanced up at the sky to look for alien aircraft, then back at the horizon. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then shook his head and closed it again.
They walked in silence for a while before Delia said something, checking the sky for anything besides birds, “The military drones come over right away in the morning and and sunset, the alien ones come durning night and durning the day around noon.” The military drones were also ten times smaller than the aliens ships and pitch black. None of the information was new to her, but she figured she should share it with someone else besides herself, maybe her time studying the sky would be helpful to Jay when he left. She didn’t want him to die or be recruited.
Jay nodded. "I've noticed that. But the alien ships are also the more likely to break that pattern, especially if they're looking for someone." As they had when they looked for him, a year and a half ago. That was the first time he hadn't…he bit his lower lip and pushed the thought away quickly.
“Nice to know,” She replied, adding the little tip to her memory for if she ever needed it. Their walking was slow and by the time it was noon her arms and foot hurt from both the crutch and just walking. Sore feet were nothing new, but sore arms? That was definitely new. Her stomach growled every so often but she didn’t say anything, just telling herself it was like any other day she didn’t eat anything. They were walking on an cracked and car strewn highway anyway, nowhere close to anywhere to look for food.
Jay heard her stomach, and looked at her. "You need to eat." He said to her, then turned his attention back to the road they were walking on. "There's a forest nearby, we can stop and do lunch." He added. "I can hunt and trap pretty well, we should be able to at least get a rabbit."
She shook her head, protesting even though her mind was telling her to say yes, “The we have to make a fire and repair the whole thing, and I don’t want to be stuck in one spot when the alien drone come by soon.” It was nearing the time she usually spotted the surveillance and from experience waiting in one spot wasn’t good, your only option if you did was to hope there was a cave or something nearby since the surveillance couldn’t see through ground or rock easily.
Jay hesitated. "Actually…" He debated whether or not to give up this, one of his most guarded secrets. "The drones can't see me. I don't know why," that was a lie, he did know. He just wasn't about to say why. "But they can't. So if you hide, I can do the hunting." He said. "There are a lot of abandoned fires, so that's all it'll look like to them. A fire started, then abandoned. Unless I'm unlucky enough that they're using cameras instead of scanners, but they usually use scanners."
Her eyes widened from learning he couldn’t be seen and she looked over at him, “That must be helpful when you’re wandering. Wish I had that.” She thought for a moment before sighing, “As long as you’re not going to be captured or anything I guess I could use a break, I don’t know how helpful I’ll be With gathering things for the fire though with my broken leg and all.”
Jay nodded. "It's helpful, except when they use stuff other than they're normal scanners. When they use infrared, or cameras…those capture me just fine, and then I'm in trouble." He led her over to the edge of the woods. "I can do the hunting and stuff alone. Just stay hidden so the scanners can't find you."
She nodded, looking around for a suitable place to hide. Delia eventually decided next to a giant pine tree at the edge of the woods work and she made her way over to it, shrugging her pack off her shoulders and dropping it to the ground. “Well, you go find something to eat, and be safe.” Carefully, she got rid of her crutches and set them to the side, bracing herself against the pine tree as she slid down till she was sitting.
Jay made sure she was situated, then set his backpack by her, taking some supplies out of it first. Then he left, walking quietly into the woods. He went deep into the woods, where there was less chance of either human or alien incursion and meddling, and started setting traps along game trails. He kept an eye and ear out for creatures, people, and aliens.
Resting her head back against the tree, her eyes fluttered shut. She knew it wasn’t a smart idea to fall asleep when she could be spotted by alien surveillance, but she was tired, and now was a good of time as any to get a quick nap in. She pulled her pack into her lap and tucked Jay’s next to her so no one would take it, holding around hers like a teddy bear as she slowly fell asleep.
Jay came back after about an hour with a dead rabbit held in one hand. He had gathered up the traps, too, and taken them apart. He set the traps down. He had already cleaned and gutted the rabbit, and set it down on a clean stone while he started the fire. The pelt hung tied to one of his belt loops.
She was still passed out with her bag held tightly to her chest, not even waking up like she usually would when he came back and got a fire started. Her face was peaceful as she slept and it was like the girl that survived in this crazy time didn’t exist, only a happy and quiet version instead.
He glanced at her for a moment, then turned back to the fire. Once it was going steadily, he impaled the rabbit on a spit, turning it slowly. Taking out the pelt, he scraped it off, and started to work with it, trying to soften it and keep the leather from hardening as it dried and aged. If he could keep it soft and workable, then it would work well for gloves, or a hat, or something soft and warm, at least.
As the rabbit started cooking, she shifted around, waking up from the smell of good cooking food. “You’re back already?” She asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes, yawning and setting her bag next to her.