"Are we there yet?" Alex complained for what seemed like the millionth time. Sun's fingers wrapped tighter around her gun as she ducked under a low hanging branch.

"Alex, I'm going to shoot you," she said monotony. After the almost kiss that she had with him, she shut down. As ridiculous as it felt, she couldn't help but think of Sebastian.

"Wouldn't be the first time you've threatened that," he muttered. She glanced back at the boy, making sure he was keeping up. "Well then, how much farther?" She hummed to herself as she mulled over it.

"Around 300 give or take. Little under halfway." Alex heaved a heavy whine from behind her and she rolled her eyes. "Suck it up, Alex. We are making good time. You should know this with all your traveling around." He grumbled behind her.

"I never paid that close of attention to the specifics. So... Exactly how much of good time are we making?"

"Well," she started, stepping over a large, fallen log. She turned to make sure Alex got over it okay. "I guesstimated about 3 weeks until we got there, and that was with some spare time thrown in. It's been barely over a week, and we've went half the distance. You do the math." He landed on the other side of log with a thump.

"So basically, we've gone half the distance in a third of the time?" She nodded once again. Sun looked up to the sky quickly to judge the timing. She huffed in irritation when she saw an overcast covered the sun. She started forward again, and Alex glanced up briefly to see what Sun was looking at.

They continued a ways in silence, Sun leading as they wove their way through the undergrowth. Alex cleared his throat as an indication he was going to speak again. Sun rolled her eyes an annoyance, but didn't snap at him.

"So, what are you looking forward to most in Ryseden?" Alex asked her. She was taken back by the sudden question, even looking back at her companion in surprise.

"I guess a purpose to life. Before our whole journey started, it was just going out everyday. Most of the time it was walking around, looting abandoned homes or scavenging supplies at the local store. I felt like there was no reason to live anymore. But I guess, there really wasn't one to begin with. Before the apocalypse, you were expected to do things. Go to college, get a job, get married, have a family, grow old, get retired, die, it was all a part of the norm.

"But what happens if something new is thrown into the mix? After the apocalypse happened, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go to work, I couldn't finish school. I couldn't get married. None of the normal life was there for me anymore. There's no normal life planned out for the zombie apocalypse. So, I guess what I look forward to is being counted on to do something by other people," she finished up her thoughts, blushing when she realized how much she just said.

"Change is different, but often essential for survival," Alex responded. She shot him a smile. "So, who was he?" Sun's eyes widened as she looked back at him. He had picked up his pace, now walking right behind her. He pulled up to her side.

"Who was who?" she decided to play dumb. Alex shot her a disapproving look.

"You talked before about how you wouldn't be able to finish school or go back to work or get married. Both of the first things were something you already had. Getting married would as well be something you would be doing. Plus, you didn't add in about not having a family, meaning you were at some pointing planning a family after the apocalypse." Not to mention all the times you've snapped at me before whenever I got too nosy around certain subjects. Alex added internally. Sun sized him up before taking a deep inhale of breath.

"We met during my first year of college. His name was Sebastian. He was going into computer programming." Alex silently ah-ha'ed realizing why she would have snapped when he brought that up. "We fell in love as we got to know each other. Most people believe the common phrase of 'opposites attract' but Sebastian and I were so much alike. It helped us understand the other's problems easier that way.

"Around half a year before the apocalypse started, we got engaged." She laughed humorlessly as she remembered the time, tears pricking in her eyes. Get over it! He died over a year ago! She admonished herself. "He... He asked me to marry him in the dorkiest way. 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.' You know what this meant? He gave me a pencil he borrowed from me a few months back. A pencil!" Alex gulped back his emotions as she opened herself up. He knew this was the part she kept down under lock and chain.

"We skipped family Christmas that year, and I felt terrible. But, he made it up to me by taking us to my parent's house before the week was up. My mom was so excited to see us engaged. My dad didn't show it, but I knew he approved of it." She laughed once again, this time it was thick with emotion and borderlined a sob.

"We decided to move into an apartment together. It wasn't soon afterwards that the apocalypse started. We moved to the same compound as my parents. After that got breached, we moved here and there until we moved into a neighborhood with three other people. It was nice there. We all split our findings evenly, and everyone was fairly nice." She took in a deep, shaky breath. Images of the scene she was about to reveal flashing through her head. Tears raced down her cheeks as she tried to choke out her next words.

"Then one day, w-we went to get f-food. It was about dusk. We were c-carel-less." She started crying harder and Alex slowed them to a stop, wrapping her up in his arms and held her tightly to his body. Her wails came out louder as she clutched his shirt, burying her face into his chest.

"There w-was so m-much b-blood. He was J-just gone! He y-yelled for me to r-run. And I did! I-I left him all alone, Alex! I'm a terrible p-person," she finished, her lips trembling with sadness. He stroked her hair as she calmed down, raising his head to the sky. He closed his eyes, trying to keep his emotions triggered by her's to stay away. They stayed like that for a while, wrapped up in each other's embrace, comforting one another.