City of Kinetics

TWENTY-TWO ✴ Nobody's Fault

       An hour later, they finally reached a gas station on the highway. Lucky for them, there was a sandwich shop in the convenience store. Jason pulled into it and parked the car beside one of the pumps before looking at Hunter.

       "We can't turn it off," he said.

       Hunter let out a breath, clearly not bothered. "It's fine."

       "Can we get food now?" Leila asked immediately, her eyes shooting to the large sandwich sign.

       Evelyn smiled at her. "Come in with me. We can get snacks, too. You can pick your favourite."

       The fourteen-year-old smiled brightly just as Evelyn opened up her door and hopped out of the car. Everyone else followed suit, stepping into the cool afternoon air. Mila sucked in a breath, looking around the empty station.

       "You guys go in," Hunter said, rounding the car. "I'll pump the gas."

       Jason looked at him. "You sure?"

       He nodded, already opening up the fuel cover.

       "You sure you want to go in looking like that?" Leila asked Jason, her eyes going over his bloody clothes.

       Jason shrugged. "It's not that bad."

       "We'll just pay for gas inside before we come out," Evelyn said, before her eyes went to Hunter. "Do you know what you want to eat?"

       "I'll take anything."

       Mila felt that. At this point, she could eat just about anything, too. Anything to get her hunger pain to go away.

       "I'll get you something with chicken," Leila told him, giving him a small smile. "That's your favourite?"

       Hunter's eyes went to her and the corner of his lip twitched up when he nodded. As everyone began walking away, Mila leaned against the car beside Hunter as he began adjusting the settings on the fuel station.

       "You coming, Mila?" Evelyn suddenly called out, looking back at her.

       Mila shook her head. "No, you guys go ahead. I'll take anything with chicken, too."

       She nodded before the three of them continued towards the building, disappearing inside. Hunter stuck the fuel pump into the car and pulled down the clip so that it stayed in place as he let it go.

       "You should have gone in," he said, looking at her. "It's cold out here."

       Mila stuck her hands in her pockets. "It's not that bad."

       Hunter didn't say anything but instead looked away, resting his gaze onto the road in front of them. Mila bit her lip anxiously.

       "You seem tense," she said, getting his attention. "Is everything alright?"

       Hunter glanced at her for only a second. "Fine."

       "I know things are really... bad," Mila said carefully, "but it's going to be okay."

       Again, Hunter didn't say anything. He wasn't even looking at her. In any normal circumstance, Mila would have thought he was ignoring her, but by now she knew better. Instead, her gaze landed on his jaw where he had a bruise forming.

       Frowning, she stepped forwards and carefully placed a hand on his face. To her surprise, his skin was really warm compared to her cold hands. Hunter immediately tensed, giving her a sharp look which she ignored. She let her power heal him, making the bruise disappear.