( @yellowqueen @CaseyJ )
Lucky quirked his mouth off to the side. "It's probably not smart to separate but I don't think June is going to want to stay with us. We can do our best to keep an eye on her so nothing happens."
He turned to smile at Ariella. "And if there's people there, I've got it, don't worry. We'll be safe, one way or another."
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( @Davadio )
Lucas smiled at her and then cracked his knuckles lightly.
"You can sleep," he told her, blinking rapidly to get the sleep out of his eyes. "I'll watch if you want, I'm rested enough, I think maybe it's your turn to actually sleep now."
( @EtherealDreamer )
Ronni shook her head again. It wasn't even night yet, he'd barely slept a few hours.
"You're sick, you need to sleep more. Try to sleep through the night."
She also wasn't about to stay here if she wanted to sleep.
Ariella drew her bottom lip into her mouth, biting it for a moment in worry. She didn't think the plan was very smart, but he was right. It would be unlikely they could convince June to stay with them when they got to the store. So she just nodded her head silently.
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June, stopped running and opted for skipping, she pulled out her sword and started stabbing and slashing anything she could. Humming as she did so.
They made their way across the parking lot, and saw nobody. No signs of people, no movement, no odd noises. Lucky shifted the reins to one hand, and reached down to hold Ariella's hand with that same hand.
It left his other hand free to reach for the gun in one of his poncho pockets.
"June? Try to stay where you can see us, we don't know what's in here." He spoke gently, but firmly, trying to impress on her the importance of staying together.
They walked up to the front entrance. The windows were all smashed, the doors pulled off their hinges. Inside, displays and racks of stuff had been pulled down. The cash register had been torn apart, and it was dark. Only the large windows on either end of the store let in any light, and with sunset approaching, it was quickly getting darker.
"Flashlights first, if we can." Lucky said to Ariella.
June nodded, "yeah ok right" she waved her hand in dismissal, pulling out a lighter and flipping it open, trying to provide some light. She looked around, slowly, silently creeping inside. She knew what she was doing, she had put her sword on her back and pulled out a knife instead.
Lucky just shook his head at her cavalier attitude and looked at Ariella as if to say 'See? What did I say?'.
He walked through the open door, leading Sinjoro in with him. He kept Ariella between him and the horse, so that she was covered on both sides. Anything trying to get to her would have to go through one of them first.
He looked around, and set off looking for flashlights and batteries.
Ariella flushed as he grabbed her hand and tucked her head down. She hoped he wouldn't notice it. She didn't want to explain her body's reaction towards him. The apocalypse was not the time to be acting like a shy middle schooler with her first crush on a boy. But it had changed her, and not necessarily for the better.
She pressed herself further into Lucky, the horse making her feel uneasy. While Sinjoro wasn't too bad, she didn't trust him just yet. Sje shook her head at June's antics but kept in mind she was a restless teenager. There was only so much they could do for her.
Lucas smiled.
"Thanks for the offer," he said honestly. "But I'm going to wait until dark, or I won't be able to sleep then."
He motioned to her.
"But you can go somewhere else, if you want to sleep." He said, smiling. "And yes, I know thats what you want to do."
Ronni straight up frowned at him. His smug assertion he 'knew' what she wanted to do was a bit much.
She shook her head. "Somebody's gotta watch you."
She would stay there till someone else could take over.
Lucas shrugged and frowned.
"I can watch myself," he insisted softly. "I am an adult after all."
He looked around and saw that it was beginning to turn a shade of darker blue outside and checked his watch. "Honestly Ronnie, I'll be fine, go on and get some rest."
Ronni frowned deeper. That was a pointless response. Plenty of adults had died to the flu, just because he was an adult didn't mean he was capable, and besides, she'd already had to save him once today because he was distracted by a puppy of all things.
On top of that, she wasn't about to leave him, only for this thing to take a turn for the worse and nobody to be there while he slowly suffocated on his own phlegm.
She wound up just shaking her head.
Lucas shrugged.
"Today was a wild day." He told her and attempted to smile, but failed miserably. "I'm sorry that I almost got us killed by a strange man because I got distracted by a dog."
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
"β¦.. You're fine." Ronni said quietly. The world was crazy, and he needed to be more vigilant, but she wasn''t angry.
( @yellowqueen @CaseyJ )
Lucky circled through a couple of aisles and found some flashlights. They were small, but were decently bright. He flicked one on and handed it to Ariella. "June, want a flashlight?" he called softly.
They were all battery operated, so they'd still need to find batteries if possible.
( @Davadio @yellowqueen )
June came around a corner, pocketing her lighter and held her hand out for a light. "I'd prefer my lighter, but this will work better" she shrugged. Flipping her knife in her hand.
Lucky nodded. It'll last longer than burning through the lighter fluid. Are you looking for tents?"
He watched her twirl the knife, hoping she had actual skills to back up the showiness. That would be a nice surprise.
June nodded, "Yeah I think I saw some over that way" she pointed off to the left with her light. She tossed her knife up and down. "So I will go look, see what they have, and..work from there?"
Lucky nodded. "We'll come with. Sinjoro can carry stuff easier than us, and it'll help keep our hands free."
It'll also help us all stay together, at least a little. he thought to himself.
Ariella was quiet as she watched their exchange. She took the battery from Lucky, shining it around the building. It looked pretty ransacked and messy. She would have to watch her step as they moved through the mess. It wouldn't be a good idea to step on glass or injure themselves in any other way. They needed to be sharp on their sense, less someone was there.
( @Davadio )
Lucas nodded and swallowed, making him take another long drink of water from the glass Ronni had previously brought him. He closed his eyes as he swallowed. "Ronni?" He asked. "Can I ask you a question?"
Ronni nodded at him, doing her best not to tense up.
You don't know what he's going to ask, it's probably fine⦠Tanya said gently.
Lucas smiled lightly.
"If you had a choice between McDonald's chicken nuggets or Wendy's chicken nuggets, which one would you pick?" He asked seriously.
Ronni felt the tension drain out of her at the inane question. She gave him a look, before shaking her head. She mimed a sandwich, and then a crown.
Burger King forever.