luna mortimer-smith had long learned not to trust anyone, staying in the middle of the woods as to avoid any contact with the dead or any other humans.
one evening, she'd gone out to check her hunting traps like usual. little did she realize, thoug...
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"So, how far do you think it is?" Luna asked, putting her hand on her hip as she leaned agains the hood of the car. Next to her, Carl had a map spread out and his finger was trailing the line they'd gone so far, marked with sharpie. "Couple days?"
"A week at most." He nodded, and she looked over. "We're right there, right? And the town is over here." His finger went farther across the map than she'd have liked it to. "I mean, it all depends on how much we drive everyday and if we can even get through the way I wanna go, but we should be there in a week." He looked up from the map, meeting Luna's eyes. "What's that look for?"
"What look?" She asked, sitting up. Carl sighed, standing straight and moving to stand in front of her. She averted her gaze, looking over towards the woods. He sighed again, moving closer and standing between her legs, resting his hands on her thighs.
"Just tell me." He said lightly. She still didn't answer, or look at him, so he leaned over and caught her lips with his, her hand resting on the side of his face. When they pulled away he raised his eyebrows and she sighed.
"I'm nervous she's still gonna be there." She admitted, her voice quiet. "Or...that he'll be there, too." Carl frowned.
"I don't think it'll come to that, Lu." He said softly, one his hands moving up to play with the ends of her hair. "Everything you've told me about him, I mean, shit he sounds like he really tough." She couldn't help but chuckle, nodding. "I'm sure he's still out there, looking for you just like you're looking for him. Or maybe he fortified the house, and we'll find him waiting there." She let out a small breath.
"Yeah." She nodded. "You're right. He's tough, my dad's fine."
"Good." He shot her a smile. "Now, you wanna get going? Maybe we can reach DC by tonight."
"Yeah, okay."
——————
Luna yawned, rolling over in bed. Her arms hit an empty but still-warm mattress, so she relaxed back into the pillows a little more. They'd been lucky enough to find out a house on the outskirts of DC to spend the night in, and they were planning to go around the city before continuing North today. After a few minutes and a few more yawns, Luna pulled herself up and walked down the hall to the kitchen. Carl was sitting at the table, eating a can of something and looking at the map again.
"You're so reliant on that thing." She said, walking over to the bag of food they'd brought inside and beginning to sift through it. "We're gonna lose it someday and you'll be completely lost."
"No I won't." He scoffed. "Besides, we can just find another one." She rolled her eyes, picking up one of the cans of fruit and cracking it open. Glad that it was still good, she grabbed a fork and joined Carl at the table. "I was thinking we could go around this way, right? Maybe see a little of the city before we actually pass it by."
"Didn't know we were sightseeing." She giggled into her can. "Whatever you think is best, Carl."
"I mean, honestly, it'll be pretty much a straight shot North if we go here..." He mumbled, trailing off as he left his forgotten breakfast on the table. She finished up quickly, going back to the bedroom and throwing on some fresh clothes. She began to pile their stuff up next to the door, so Carl finally left the map behind and got dressed. When he came out, Luna was just folding up the map and putting it away.
"Help me with these." She said, picking up two of this bags. Just as she was about to grab the food bag, arguably the heaviest one, Carl moved past her and grabbed it. He smiled down at her, pecking her lips before moving towards the door. She rolled her eyes playfully, a smile on her face as she moved over to him. He opened the door, and then froze-Luna walking into him as she wasn't paying attention. "What's wrong?"
"Stay back, just in case." He said carefully, plopping the bags down on the floor and squatting down. She finally got a glimpse of what he'd seen, a jug of water with a piece of paper in front of it. "From a friend? What friend?"
"I dunno." Carl stood up, shutting the door and leaving the water on the porch. "But someone must've heard us talking about how we needed more last night." His voice was hushed as he moved around, gun now out, peering out all the windows.
"Well if we're being watched, shouldn't we get the hell out of here?" She asked, setting her bags down as well.
"We can't go through the city." Carl came back over to her, worry painted across his face. "Too much of a risk. Backtracking might cost us a day but..."
"It's worth it." She nodded. "What do we do?"
"Uh..." Carl looked around for a moment, a plan formulating in his mind. "I'll take the stuff out, you cover me. Once I'm in, I'll cover you and then we can go, okay?" She nodded, taking out her gun. Carl managed to get three of the bags in his arms before he hurried out to the car. Luna watched everywhere as carefully as she could, not seeing a single sign of movement as Carl hurried all the bags into the car and got in himself. He fired up the engine before motioning for her to come out, and she quickly ran into the passengers seat. Washington DC disappeared into the rear view mirror, Carl driving as fast as he could. Out of instinct, their hands were clutched tightly together.
