"Cecilia," Alex said, looking her in the face. She gave him a look as she continued to pack up their supplies. "How about something really different... What about Bush! No? Tree? Flower!"

"Alex, shut up," she growled at him. She zipped up her bag, trying to pack lighter things of her stock. She turned to him, huffing out of her nose loudly. "Do you have your bag?"

Alex held up a finger as he took off back down the stairs. Moments later, he strode back into the room, carrying his backpack.

She opened it, sending him a disapproving look as she emptied out its contents.

"Hey! Flower! What are you doing?" he complained. She began sorting the useful tools from the unnecessary.

"Call me that again, and you're losing a finger," she threatened, picking up a magazine from amidst the mess. She held it up, raising an eyebrow. Alex's face turned red as he rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled uncomfortably. He jabbered out incoherent sentences of explanation as she threw the Playboy magazine off into the unnecessary pile.

"How about Jackie? You look like you could be a Jackie." She took some wound up rope and shifted it over to the useful pile.

"Jackie was the name of this bitchy cheerleader at my school," she commented, moving a few more things into the right pile.

"Malia," he stated, squinting at her features.

"No." She picked up the scarf and photo. She stared at them, a mixture of hope and sadness filling her eyes. She shook her head, placing them in the useful pile without hesitation. Though she didn't see it, Alex had been watching her, a small, pitiful smile on his face. The girl had been all alone this whole time. She probably couldn't believe civilization still existed. Who could blame her?

"German."

"Now you're just saying random things," she stated, picking up a  switchblade that was at the bottom of the jumbled pile. She waved in front of him before stuffing it into her back pocket. He made a grunt of protest, but didn't say anything else. She packed up all the essential tools before stuffing in some food and water. She zipped up the backpack, flinging it in his direction. She shrugged on her pack, sliding the scavenger's gun onto her back as she grabbed her own gun.

"I can't believe you left me weaponless when you got so many!" Alex whined, stomping his feet lightly. She ignored him, starting for the front door.

"Foo-Foo," he said once they were outside. Without hesitation, she whirled around, decking him in the stomach. Her doubled over, sucking in a deep breath. "Not Foo-Foo it is," he rasped out.

"Now shut up. The Blights can hear you," she whispered fiercely. "Walk by my side." He jogged up to her side, watching her out of the corner of his eye every once and a while to make sure she wouldn't lash out at him. He watched her keep her eyes on her surroundings; the alert orbs jumping from hiding spot to hiding spot. A hint of a smile graced his lips as he looked at her.

You could tell she had cut her hair with what was more than likely a knife. The ends were uneven, and cut diagonally. Though her brown eyes were dulled by the lifestyle she had been living, they still sparked with life and determination every once and a while. Alex was so deep in thought, he didn't realize she had turned to look at him.

"What are you staring at? Watch for Blights," she hissed at him. He snapped out of his thoughts; a slight blush worked its way up his neck.

"I've decided on a name for you," he started after some time, watching the left side of the street. She huffed loudly, sending him a look of irritation he didn't see.

"And what would that be?" she asked, deciding to humor him. He looked back over to her, a large grin resting on his face.

"Sun." A scowl set in as she turned back to scouting. They were starting to near the edge of the town, passing past the supermarket she normally raided.

"Why Sun?" she asked him. She raised an eyebrow towards the now smirking boy. He held up his pointer finger, ready to prove his point.

"Because of your shining personality, of course." She threw him a glare, turning up her nose at him as she continued to go forward.

"Fuck you, Alex."

"Well, since you're offering..." he drifted off teasingly. She flipped around, walking backwards in front of him. She pulled out his pocket knife from her back pocket, flicking the blade out and waving it in front of him once again.

"Try anything, Fuckboy, and you can kiss your baby maker good-bye," she threatened. Then her eyes widened as she saw movement behind him.

"What is it?" he asked, moving his head to look behind him.

"Don't look back. Be quiet," she whispered. She darted her eyes to the side, sheathing the knife back into her jeans. "Shit," she muttered, slowing down her movement. Alex kept his eyes on her as he matched her pacing.

"There's a Blight behind me isn't there?" She nodded her head stiffly. She glanced out of the corner of her right eye. They were just now passing by the end of the store. She met his gaze again, nodding her head towards the building.

She slowly began to side-step towards it, keeping her eyes trained on the Blight. It was sniffing the ground that they had been on not moments before. It looked up in their direction, snorting rather loudly. It took a few steps forward, its milky eyes narrowing. Don't give in, Don't give in. She chanted to herself, keeping herself from running. She lightened her steps, moving even slower. She urged Alex to do the same as her with her eyes. She looked back at the Blight, seeing it loping towards them.

"Fuck this shit," she cursed, grabbing Alex's wrist, sprinting down the side of the store's wall.

"Where are we going?" Alex demanded loudly, knowing there was no reason to whisper with the Blight picking up speed behind them.

"There's a woods right outside town. We can scale a tree and hide out there until it's gone." Garbled noises and snarls came from the monster trailing behind them. Soon, Alex was taking the lead as his longer legs allowed him to cover more ground. They broke through the trees, the Blight starting to slowly fall behind as it tried to weave itself in-between the trees.

When she found a tree large enough to support their weight, she gestured towards Alex. He jumped onto the trunk first, scuttling to find grips in the giant tree. When Alex was situated on a branch, she threw her bag up to him before making her way up the tree.

About halfway to Alex, a strong tugging pulled against her shoe. She dared herself to look down, finding the distorted face of the Blight. She screeched, using her other foot to kick it in its face, hoping to dislodge the mouth from the sole of her shoe. Suddenly two loud gunshots rang out, causing her to still with panic for a moment. She focused on the Blight, noticing the two bullet holes lodged into its skull. The Blight dropped back, let go of her foot and crashing to the ground.

She scrambled up the tree to a branch slightly above Alex's. She reached down, snatching her backpack out of his grip.

"You took the handgun out of my pack!" she accused him, eyeballing the gun that rested on his lap. He threw his hands up in exasperation as he shot her a dirty look.

"You were about to die. Don't yell at me! I saved you." She rolled her eyes, grabbing her gun to aim at the Blight. It twitched, a low rumble leaving its throat. She enhanced her sight's magnification through the scope, zeroing in on the growth that laid on its neck. Squeezing the trigger, green pus and white fatty tumors exploded from the area, splattering the nearby trees in the projectiles.

"They don't die until you pop the growth," she answered him, ignoring his previous statement. She leaned her bag against her stomach, propping the gun across her legs.

"You're not going to demand my gun back?" Alex questioned her. She shook her head slightly.

"Unless you want me to." He shook his head, a large grin splitting his features. "Don't mistake that as me trusting you. I don't. I probably never will," she warned him. Leaning her head against the trunk of the tree, taking in deep breaths to steady her racing heart.

"Are we staying here for the rest of the time?" Alex asked warily, looking up at his companion. She shook her head, a light scoff escaping her lips.

"Of course not. It's barely past noon. We rest here for a few minutes and then we'll be on our way again." Alex nodded in response, looking back down at his fingers, fiddling them in a circle. He had forgotten to take his bag off, which now dug uncomfortably into his back. He leaned forward, slipping his arms out of their straps before lying his bag similarly to Sun's.

"Hey, Alex?" she started, hesitancy evident in her tone.

"Yeah, Sun?" he replied back.

"Thank you."