Jay looked around. "We should stop soon." He said, catching her look and knowing what she was signalling. "Sun's getting low, and the drone will be along soon." He added, looking around. "Want to wait here while I find a place, or what would you like to do?"
“I’ll wait right here,” She said quickly, making her way over to one of the few crashed cars on this section of road and resting against the hood with a sigh. “You go find a good spot to camp out, just don’t take too long. I don’t want to be found by any drones.” As soon as she rested against the car, she set her crutches beside her and rubbed her sore arms. Taking off her pack as well so her back could have a break.
Jay nodded. "I'll leave my bag with you, then." He ssid, setting it by her. He had his knife, and his gun, and that was all he needed. He set off into the woods to find a place for them to stay. A place by water would be best, but he couldn't be too picky. They needed to make it under the shelter of the trees before the drone came around.
She watched him walk off, mentally marking which direction he went in case she needed to go after him if he didn’t come back. It was a nice evening out, with a beautiful sunset over the trees. Delia wished there was still internet or phones that worked, a picture of this would have been amazing.
After about 45 minutes, Jay came back. "I found a good spot." He said, picking up his bag. "Come on." He glanced up at the sky worriedly, then picked up her bag as well. "Need any help?" He questioned, looking at her.
“Nah, I’m fine.” She grabbed her crutches and stood up again, motioning that she could take her bag again so he wouldn’t have to carry as much as they walked. The drones could go at any time now and they needed to hurry if they didn’t want to be spotted.
He handed her her bag, and started walking. "Come on." He said, and started walking. "We need to get into the trees before the drone comes along." He kept walking, taking a route into the forest so they could arrive at the place he'd found quickest.
Sliding her bag onto her shoulder, she quickly followed after him into the forest. Her eyes flicked around for any sign of drones or anyone not wanted anywhere in the forest. Being on crutches in the woods wasn’t he easiest but she managed, just making sure there were no rocks or loose sticks underneath her crutch as she followed him towards wherever he had chosen for camp.
After a few minutes of walking, they emerged into a tiny clearing. The ground was pretty smooth, full of grass. Nearby, there was the soft sound of a stream. "The stream's a few minutes walk away." Jay said, setting his bag down. "And this is a pretty nice spot to sleep at. It's smooth enough that there shouldn't be too many rocks or roots digging into your back."
“Thank you,” She said before dropping her bag to the ground and lowering herself down next to it with the help of her crutches. Opening it up, she dug around until she found two large empty metal canteens for water and a little bottle that looked like an eye dropper. Standing up somewhat slowly, she held the containers in her hand and only one of her crutches in the other. “Lead the way to this stream if you would please.”
Jay nodded, and set off in a different direction. "Come on." After a few minutes of walking, they came upon a small stream. "Fill your water bottles, and then I'm going to wash off." He said. He took out his own water bottle, and filled it up, then put the cap back on.
Doing as he said, she sat down near the stream and filled both her bottles. She opened the tiny bottle and put a drop of something in each canteen before shaking them up and making her way to her feet again. “I’ll just be back at the camp,” She said before turning and starting to camp with her water in hand.
Jay nodded, then frowned slightly. "Hey…what are you putting in your water?" He asked slowly. "I mean… obviously you don't have to tell me, I'm just curious." He looked over at her, raising a pale eyebrow.
“Just purification drops,” She turned back and held out the bottle with a shrug of her shoulders, “I found them at some store a few months ago, it makes drinking water from anywhere contaminated quite a lot safer.” Leaning on her crutch, she glanced back at where the camp was and tucked the drops away, “Well, I’m gonna head back now, maybe see if anything comes close enough for me to snag something to eat.”
He nodded. "Oh, I see." He said with a small smile. "Alright. Be carefully. I'll be back in a bit." Once she had left, he stripped his clothes off and got in the water, ducking his head and scrubbing at his hair and body. He kept low in the water so that if, by any chance, she came back for whatever reason, she wouldn't see his scars. He highly doubted she would come back, but even so, he didn't want her seeing the scars and asking nosy questions.
She headed back to the camp quickly, not wanting to get lost in the fading light. When she reached her bag she immediately sank down next to it and laid down in the grass. Her whole body was sore and she hated it, but there wasn’t much she could do about it besides let it pass. Her eyes closed even with her mind protesting and she assured herself she’d only take a five minute nap. Before she fell asleep though, she guzzled almost half of one of her containers of water and tucked the containers under her bag so they would stay cool.
When Jay finished bathing, he dried off as best he could, then got dressed and headed back to the campsite, hair still wet. Once he was back, he set up his hoodie and coat so he could sleep on them, and glanced over at Delia. She looked like she was asleep, so he didn't say anything to her.
For a few minutes she drifted in and out of sleep, waking up once and pulling her blanket out of her pack. She laid it out next to her and rolled onto it, jamming her bag behind her head as a pillow and passing out once again. Her mind warned her to stay awake but she couldn’t or didn’t choose to listen to it. Jay seemed fine too, not like some of the serial killer like people she’d come across a few times.
Jay was quiet as he threw his coat over himself, using his backpack as a pillow. He lay on his back, staring up at the sky. He could see the stars. He could see the moon. He remembered when he was younger, dreaming of being an astronaut. Now he dreamed only of living to the next day. He used to dream of finding a new planet. So many people had dreamed of finding aliens. Now, everyone wished the aliens had never come, or been heard of.
Delia’s mind was surprisingly blank as she slept, no dreams forming at all. It was unusual, but at least there were no nightmares, she would probably look like a crazy woman if one of those came back to haunt her. The air cooled as the sun disappeared, a soft breeze blowing by and shaking the leaves on the trees. Government drones would be barely visible at this time, blending into the sky and that was their tactic. Don’t let them know your there until they hunt you down and do their version of ‘recruiting’.
Jay glanced at the trees, glad for the cover they provided from the drones. He closed his eyes again, waiting to fall asleep. When he finally did, his dreams were a hellscape of memories. He rolled onto his side, curling up into a tight ball.
(Timeskip to the next morning?)
(sure)
The sun once again was her wake up call, with a thin beam shining almost right into her eyes. Groaning, she rolled onto her side and cracked one of her eyes open. Her arms were still quite sore, and her leg hurt more than it did yesterday, which she didn’t know if it was normal or not. Either way, she blinked slowly and rolled back onto her back so she could sit up.
Jay was already awake, and he had packed his backpack up already, and prepared to leave whenever she was awake. He looked over at her. "Delia, if you want to take a break for today, we can. This is a good spot, hidden from the drones and scanners pretty well. So if you need to take a break for that leg, we can." He said simply.