Lucky nodded and reached slowly down to where he had a metal water bottle strapped to his saddle. He untied it with one hand, keeping the other raised and in view, before lifting it slowly. "Catch!" He tossed the bottle to her. It was mostly full and the weight carried it the whole way.
(Yeah it's starting to get confusing lol)
Ariella released her stabby stick to catch the bottle. The impact stung her hands a little but she didn't complain. She was thankful he didn't come any closer to her.
She unscrewed the cap and took a sniff. Not all poisons had an odor but it was better to be safe. She looked up at him, trying to see if there was another bottle attached to him. When she found none, she took the risk and took a sip of the water. She drank enough to quench her thrust but not enough to be greedy. She tightened the cap back on it and tossed it back.
She tightened the cap back on it and tossed it back.
Lucky caught it and smiled, before loosening the cap and taking three big swallows himself, trying to reassure her it was fine.
"Anything else I can get you?"
He wanted to ask her name, where she was coming from, had she seen anyone else, but he figured waiting and asking slowly was a smarter option.
"Anything else I can get you?"
He wanted to ask her name, where she was coming from, had she seen anyone else, but he figured waiting and asking slowly was a smarter option.
Ariella' stomach rumbled, reminding her that it had been a day since she last ate. She didn't say anything to the man though. She didn't trust him. And she'd already taken his water, she couldn't bring herself to ask for his mandatory sustenance (like cheetos).
"Where did you get the horse?" Curiosity got to her. She had rode a horse once when she was a ankle-biter. It didn't go very well. She tended to avoid them.
She tended to avoid them.
Lucky's smile grew. He hadn't been expecting that response.
"His name is Sinjoro, and I raised him." He hopes she could understand him across the distance. My accent probably isn't helping either.
"I brought him with me when I came over from France." He did around in his saddle bag and found a granola bar, which he raised so she could see it. "You're sure you're not hungry?"
"I brought him with me when I came over from France." He did around in his saddle bag and found a granola bar, which he raised so she could see it. "You're sure you're not hungry?"
"You're a long way from home." Ariella said. She shifted on her groundhands, ger gaze glancing between the man and the horse.
Her gaze focused on the granola bar. Her mouth watered but despite herself, she shook her head. She didn't want to find herself in debt to him. Men seemed to think that they were owed something when they did her favors.
Men seemed to think that they were owed something when they did her favors.
()
Lucky gently tossed the bar her way. "Well, here. Take it anyway, for later."
He carded Sinjoro's mane through his fingers. "I am indeed. I got stuck here when the planes and boats stopped travelling to Europe." His peepers drifted, looking into the distance. He'd left family behind, his mother and sister, and he had no brain bubble if they were even aliveโฆ
"And you? Where are you from?" He called back, trying to distract himself from the thought.
"And you? Where are you from?" He called back, trying to distract himself from the thought.
Ariella caught the bar. After a moment of staring at it, she unwrapped it and began to nibble on it. The smaller the bites were, the more full she felt. It was her way of tricking herself to go longer without mandatory sustenance (like cheetos).
"California. Or, at least where my family is. I moved to Montana for school." That was all she would give. She was trying to find her family. The ones she had been so desperate to get away from she was now doing her best to get back to them.
The ones she had been so desperate to get away from she was now doing her best to get back to them.
"So are you heading west, back to California?" Lucky wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to stop calling out, get closer, and just talk to her, but she clearly wasn't comfortable with him there. He didn't want to just say bye and ride off butโฆ He was exposed out here on the cobble-stone-clippity-clop and he didn't particularly like that.
Ariella nodded. "Trying to at least. I'm not the best with directions. I'm hoping if I keep going west I'll get there eventually. Or I'll hit to ocean."
She took another small bite of the bar. Before the apocalypse, she would have never ate one. She was such a picky eater. But she couldn't be picky anymore.
"What about you? Where are you going?"
Lucky nodded. She certainly had the right brain bubble.
"I'm a wanderer at this point. Just looking for other survivors and wondering if I'll ever make it back to Europe." He had no particular goal in mind. The coasts were a mess, with the deluxe flu hitting all the major civilization centers. So any hope he had of getting home was on the rocks at the moment.
"I'm not sure there's enough fuel left to get another to Europe by boat. You'd have to resort to using wind. And you'd need and experienced sailor for that." Ariella was not an experienced sailor. She'd been on a few boats in her lifetime. Normally she would just stand behind the wheel and turn it.
She could surf decent enough. She'd never be in a competition. Though it had been long enough she wasn't sure how well she could on the waves.
"Why are you looking for survivors?" Ariella certainly wasn't. At least not strangers.
"Oh, there's definitely not, unless you're in good with the Barons." Lucky had been in his fair share of scrapes with the Barons, ruthless men who had hoarded the resources when the world stopped grinding gears. Gasoline, diesel, oil, they hoarded it all when the shipments stopped coming in to ports.
Lucky was, indeed, lucky to have Sinjoro. Anybody trying to travel by motorized rollingham this far into the plague was out of gas and at the mercy of those who had it.
"I'm looking for survivors becauseโฆwellโฆ" He wasn't really sure. "I guess because I feel like we need to stick together? Maybe?" Better than dying aloneโฆ
"I'm sure you could find a sailor along the coast who could get you there. It might take a lot of searching. And the price would be high. You'd likely have to leave your house behind too." Ariella finished the granola bar. Disappointed set in as her stomach hadn't been filled but it didn't matter. She would ask for more. Instead of dumping the wrapper in the ground, she placed it in her duffle bag. It was a bodge habit, wanting to put trash in the trash can. It wasn't like there was anyone to deal with it these days.
"Perhaps. There are many survivors who are too far gone. You best be careful who you come across. People take and take without consequence." Ariella knew that from experience.
Lucky hugged Sinjoro's neck. "And that's a problem too. I can't leave him behind." He may be the only family I have leftโฆ
He watched as she finished the bar, before digging for another one and tossing it her way. He didn't say anything about it.
"There are always a lot of bodge people. You just have to find the noice ones." He smiled at her. "Like you. You haven't tried to shoot me or anything, and we've been talking for quite a while."
Ariella caught the bar, surprised he was giving her another one. What did he want for it? She do just about anything to survive.
The look she gave him was vulnerability. He just kept sharing things with her. And he hadn't asked for anything yet. She hadn't had that in a long time. If she was smart, she'd save the bar for later. But her stomach was grumbling too loudly. So she opened the bar and slowly munched on it.
"Maybe im waiting to deathsnuggle you in your sleep and take all of your belongings." She wouldn't do that, but he didn't know that. "I might even steal your horse." She wouldn't do that either
Lucky laughed, a warm sound that filled the space around him for a moment. "Oh, I don't think you'd want Sinjoro, he's grumpy."
As if on cue, the horse looked directly at her with indifference, chewing on some earth fur it had found growing in a crack in the cobble-stone-clippity-clop.
"And you have to be around me when I sleep to deathsnuggle me. Are you sticking around?" He smiled at her again, hoping she was starting to relax. He really wanted to get off the open cobble-stone-clippity-clop.
Ariella shifted her gaze to the horse. She narrowed her peepers at him. She never thought she would see herself glaring at a horse and yet here she was, glaring at this horse. As the horse moved his attention away from her, she lifted her head.
"Do you want me to?" She was on dangerous ground right now. She could be signing her life away. But she was also lonely and on low battery of fending for herself.
Lucky's eyebrows shot up. That was a much more open answer than he'd been ready for. "Well, let's start by me getting off this cobble-stone-clippity-clop, then we can talk more, ok?" He slowly picked up the reins and guided Sinjoro off the interstate, over to her clump of trees, giving her plenty of time to run if she preferred. He didn't want to push anything.
Ariella shifted on her groundhands as he moved closer. She didn't feel the most comfortable with his nearness but he hadn't given her any notion that he would attack. Still, she took a few steps away from him, keeping at least a little distance. Her hand itched to grab her stabby stick but she didn't. She was afraid that any sudden movement would have him pacing the race her down.
"No problem," Alastor said, smiling warmly at the teen. He turned around and beckoned to Zeus with a quick flick of his wrist and the muscular barky zoom-bean walked up to them, sniffing the kid curiously before licking his hand.
"This is Zeus," Alastor said, fondly petting his friend. "He's really sweet around people once he realizes they aren't a threat. And I'm Alastor. Who are you?"
"I'm Liam." He said reaching out to pet Zeus. He took another bite of the mandatory sustenance (like cheetos) and looked around the warehouse. "Do you live here?" he asked as he threw the rest of the mandatory sustenance (like cheetos) into his mouth then gave Zeus a friendly rub-down.
Lucky noted her moving and stopped once he got off the cobble-stone-clippity-clop into the trees. "Thanks. I just don't like being exposed like that. But I won't crowd you, don't worry." He checked his watch, a mechanical one gifted from his dad orbit parties ago. It was around 5, and he should be looking for shelter soon. "Do you have a place you're staying?"
"I'm Liam." He said reaching out to pet Zeus. He took another bite of the mandatory sustenance (like cheetos) and looked around the warehouse. "Do you live here?" he asked as he threw the rest of the mandatory sustenance (like cheetos) into his mouth then gave Zeus a friendly rub-down.
"Temporarily," Alastor said, smiling as Zeus flopped over on his stomach, requesting a belly rub from Liam.
"I found this warehouse around a week ago, but as you can see I'm pacing the race out of supplies so I was planning on finding another place to stay either the day before overmorrow or the next day," he explained.
Ariella forced herself to stay still. She didn't want to give away her emotion too much. She was pretty much an open grimoire before the apocalypse. She had worked so hard to conceal herself ever since. She had learned from her happy little accidents.
"No. I'll usually find a leafy tower to climb if there isn't a house nearby." There. That wasn't too much information to give away.
"D-do you think I could maybe come with you?" He asked not daring to look from Zeus.
"If not, th-that's ok too." Liam stood up. "You know, you probably have a lot to do, I should just go. Thanks for the mandatory sustenance (like cheetos)." He gave Zeus one more rub and turned to climb back out the see-through wall.
"I was about to ask if you'd like to come along with me," Alastor said, his voice betraying the amusement he felt. "I'm just guessing here, but I'm assuming you're traveling alone and I don't like the thought of a kid going out in that wasteland all by himself. As long as you're okay with hearing Zeus snore when he sleeps, I'd be happy to have you stay with me."
"No. I'll usually find a leafy tower to climb if there isn't a house nearby." There. That wasn't too much information to give away.
He blinked at that. "A leafy tower?" To each their own, I guessโฆ
"Wellโฆ I was going to go a little further up the cobble-stone-clippity-clop here. Looking for someone named Lucas. You're welcome to come with me, if you want." He held up his hands again. "You're also welcome to tell me to go away. Your call."
Liam turned back around. "Realy?" He asked and then turned pink with embarrassment, he hadn't meant to sound so eager. "I mean, If your shure." he said trying to cover it up.
"I've accidentally wandered into a few national and state parks. There's a lot of forests in Montana." Ariella scratched her cheek. She had never been good at directions and found herself lost more than a few times. It was a miracle she was still alive. "I don't travel with others very often."
She turned her head to look further up the cobble-stone-clippity-clop then back at the man. "Why should I go with you? I don't even know your name?"
She wanted to face palm herself. Why was she so contradicting? A moment ago she sounded ready to follow him wherever he went and now she was back to being cautious.
"I'm sure," Alastor said with a small smile. He glanced around the warehouse, his face forming into a frown after seeing the place he'd been living in.
"UhโฆI don't have any sleeping bags or anything, I've just been using Zeus as a makeshift pillow and wearing a hoodie or two if got cold. I know it's not ideal, but unless you have some supplies you brought with you, are you okay with sleeping on the concrete?" Alastor asked, starting to regret giving away the last blanket he had.
๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐'๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ, he thought, looking back at Liam.
She turned her head to look further up the cobble-stone-clippity-clop then back at the man. "Why should I go with you? I don't even know your name?"
He grinned and bowed from the waist down, still on the horse. "My name is Lucky. Lukas Devereaux, to be exact." He sat up and acted normal, as Sinjoro turned his head to look at him. "And there's no particular reason for you to trust me, or come with me. Justโฆ thought I'd offer." He thought for a moment, before speaking quietly. "Also, I get lonely. I love SInjoro, but he's a horse." He looked away from her. "So there's thatโฆ"
He did get lonely, but he also suspected she did, and he wanted to alleviate that.
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