“You alright man?”
“Yeah, hot and tired, ya know?”
“I feel you.”
The almost adult fixes his cap back atop his head, his eyes squint as he regards Rad.
“What do you think it’s really like there? At Oasis?
“Shit, I don’t know.”
“You think it’s actually like she says?”
“I hope so.”
“A real city with people, jobs, food, girls.”
Rad’s lips curve up.
“That last one is important.”
A snort, then a chuckle, flow from the Puerto Rican teen.
“Hell yeah it is!”
Outlaw’s lips purse, then squeeze to the side.
“Did you ever, ya know, do it? Like back in the community?”
“Nah man, I mean, really, just your sister, Zee, and those two cousins, Rachel and Monica, were the only girls close to our age, and they weren’t havin’ it.” he replies, scratching his neck.
“Did you try though?”
“Kinda? I would talk to Rach, but she was pretty weird.”
“Both those girls were weird.”
“True, they had a messed up life though.”
The young man’s head bobs, he exhales sharply.
“What about you man? You ever try?” Rad asks.
“No, Sweetie never really let me hang out with anyone by myself, except for you. She didn’t trust no one, even the people we grew up with.”
“She’s come a long way. She used to be so fuckin' mean.”
“Shit, she’s still mean! She’s just happy now, most times.”
A bellow of laughter unexpectedly leaps from the tall man, he slaps his hand on Outlaw’s shoulder.
“That’s the truest shit you ever said!”
The nearly adult teen chuckles with his friend.
“How come we’ve never talked about this before? We used to talk about everything, but we never talked about this.”
“I don’t know, it’s like, uncomfortable, I guess?” Outlaw replies, with a dipped brow.
“Yeah” -his shoulders shrug- ”I guess. It’s not right now though.”
“Nah, but we’ve been through a lot more since then.”
“You right about that.”
The group in front of them comes to a stop and forms a crude circle. The conversing males pick up their stride to join the others. As they close in, hushed words from KP become clearer.
“...right up there, only a few miles, probably less.”
“What’s going on?” Rad asks, his eyelids sagging.
“There’s a small stream that converges a few miles away, it’s a slight detour to get there from here, but the quicker we get to it the better. We can follow it for about two days before we’ll have to break off.”
“Okay, so what are we talkin’ about then? We go to the water, right?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” Outlaw inquires.
“Because, she says the infected populate near flowing water. People stay near it, so the infected do that now too.” Zee interjects.
“It’s not certain that we’ll encounter any diseased, but it’s more likely if we stay close to running water for long periods.” KP adds.
She scratches her arm, looking over the wondering eyes before her.
“We’ll have to travel hours away from the water each night to make camp, but we’ll have constant water for two days. The stream leads us around some towns, so we can avoid them, and it’s a pretty straight shot making our overall trip shorter. Even with the added times of setting up camp.”
Rosaline brushes her hair out of her face. Her hand continues to caress Mikey’s shoulder.
“Getting to Oasis is our goal, and getting there as quick as possible is definitely best, but I don’t want to put anyone in more danger if they’re uncomfortable with it.” she says.
Hawaii bites his lip, and shares a glance with Zee.
“We’re not experienced with traveling out here. You two are, so what’s the better option?”
“There aren’t really better options, not anymore. Every decision comes with risks, we just have to manage those risks with clear minds and quick reactions. If I were alone, I’d be going to the river. I’d rather have a known source of water for a couple days, than not have one.”
“If it were just me and Mikey, I’d take us to the water too. You go long stretches out here without ever seeing any. I hate adding to the possibility of running into diseased, but we can’t live without water. It was the only instance when we would actively put ourselves in more danger.”
“You put yourself in plenty of danger when you approached us.” Hawaii replies, with a tilted head.
“I was desperate and worried for Mikey. I followed Sweetie, Rad, and Outlaw for long enough to know they weren’t bad people. I could tell that by how they talked to each other. But, believe me, I was confidant that I could’ve killed you all that night, and you wouldn’t have been able to stop me.”
“Damn nena! That’s comforting!” Sweetie exclaims, hugging her lover tight.
“Hey! I love you, now, but I didn’t know any of you then. I had to accept that there was the possibility that I would have to do something I didn’t want to do.”
“Nah, baby, I get it. You have to protect Mikey, but now we all protect each other.”
The short warrior woman’s eyes twinkle, her lip curls under her teeth, she leans in and kisses her companion.
“Yeah we do.”
“Well that’s gross.” says Outlaw, “Are we going to the river or not?”
The unruly Latina smacks her brother’s arm, grinning at him. A long moment of silence falls upon them. KP’s gaze scans over each of them, studying their expressions.
“We go to the river. Let’s move, we shouldn’t waste anymore time.”
An odd reinvigoration rushes among them, and time is not wasted. They resume their trek, getting to the river in under two hours. With the sun high over head, daylight still leaving many hours before having to venture away to set up camp, the group walks along the riverbed. They stop for roughly twenty minutes to clean and refill their canteens, wash their faces and arms, and take a general breather.
The group remains close to the river, walking nearly on its bed, until three hours before dusk is to set in. KP leads them away from the river, moving in a hastened stride for two
