Aer II

4

  Daisy meets a group of people waiting at the vehicle. There's three of them, two more girl walk towards them. They're all in black uniforms, heavily armed. Ciaran is amongst them, he smiles as he sees Daisy approach.

'You sleep well?' He asks.
She nods.

'This is Phoenix,' he points at one of the boys.
His black hair is tightly cut, he has soft brown eyes and sun kissed skin. He has an athletic build, unlike the rest who are of a smaller height and more stocky. He smiles slightly at her.

'Then Joey,' the other boy is of an average height, he wears a cap that covers his blonde hair, Daisy can just make out his blue eyes. He shakes Daisy's hand and simply says 'nice to meet you'.

'Then Leah and Lisa,' the two girls smile widely.
Leah has light brown hair tied into a short ponytail, she has green eyes that droop slightly, making her look sleepy. Lisa has blonde hair cut into a pixie cut, she's the smallest and thinnest out of all of them, she has dark circles around her brown eyes but they seem kind and genuine.

Daisy has noticed none of them look healthy, almost malnourished as if all they have is protein powder and weight-lift everyday to make up for the lack of nourishment in their skin and their yellow, decaying teeth.

'I'm Daisy,' she says.
The sleep did help her, she hasn't slept in a comfortable bed in a long time, and for the first time in awhile she slept the whole night. They'd left a uniform on the bed for her and now she looks like one of them.

They travel for awhile along the deserted road. None of them really speak. There's three seats up the front and three in the back. Daisy sits in the passenger seat beside Ciaran while Phoenix drives. She watches the trees pass as they drive by. She notices the odd Freak roaming in the fields, not too bothered by the noise of the vehicle driving past.

Phoenix stops by a convenience store.
'We'll get some supplies, we've camping stuff and some food but if ye see anything else that could be helpful pick it up,' Ciaran says.

They get out of the vehicle and get their weapons from the boot. They don't bring anything too fancy, only melee weapons if they come across some Freaks.
'Daisy, Nix ye stick together, me and Leah then Lisa and Joey if that's okay?' He says and nobody argues.

  The glass doors of the store have been smashed, they listen carefully for any Freaks before entering but it's clear. The good thing about Freaks is there never quiet, unlike people.

'So you're part of the group that took down the horde?' Phoenix asks her, making idle chitchat as they make their way down the aisles.
'Yeah,' she says 'it didn't help with much'.
'To be fair it helped with travel, didn't have to worry about breakaway groups either,' he says scanning the shelves.
  'I suppose'.

Daisy rounds the corner, spotting a cult kid searching for where the voices are coming from. She stops Phoenix, he eyes the girl and slowly crouches behind the freezers. Daisy takes a different approach and sneaks up behind the girl, putting her arm around her neck, squeezing tightly.

'Is it just you?' Daisy whispers in her ear.
The girl struggles to get the words out 'patrol by myself, it's quiet here'.

Daisy tightens her grip, the girl tries to pull her arm away but soon her body falls limp.
'One less to worry about,' Phoenix watches as Daisy tosses her body to the side.
'She said it was just her but I don't know,' she says 'we should hurry up in here'.

'Cult kids are scarce around these parts, they're too busy trying to fight your people, lots have retreated back to Achill,' he says.
  'How'd you know?'.
  'We keep our ears to the ground'.

'You keep to yourselves,' she says 'we would've come across ye a long time ago otherwise'.
He nods 'we don't need trouble'.
  'Smart'.

They pick up one or two bits, nothing important, only a few canned goods and some water bottles.
'Nix your nickname?' Daisy asks as they make their way out of the store.
  'Yeah, well Phoenix is a bit of a mouthful'.
  'Where you from?'.
  'What do you mean?'.
'Well a name like Phoenix is a bit unusual,' she tries not to smile at his name, it's a nice name he just doesn't look like a 'Phoenix'. If Charlie was here he'd definitely have made a joke by now.

'My mother was Filipino and my father was Thai, I moved here from the Philippines about eleven years ago, I was ten so I may as well be Irish,' he says 'I honestly don't know where they got my name from, and I will hate them for it until the day I die'.

They throw their few bits into the crowded boot and wait for the others to return. They get back into the vehicle, in the same seats as before.

'So we've got like a days journey if things go well, less if we don't camp at night,' Ciaran says 'what do ye want to do?'.
'Camp, get some rest,' Joey says.

Everybody agrees. Daisy wants to get there as fast as possible but there's no point in disagreeing with the people that are helping her.

They pull into the side of the road as night falls. The fire is set up in no time and they have sleeping bags placed around it. Nix searched through his bag and takes out two bottles of vodka.

They all take turns taking sips, making small talk. Daisy isn't sure if it's the drink or what but she feels herself settling in with these people, feeling like normal, perhaps it's because it's like a new start for her, all new people.

All of them have fallen asleep but Daisy notices Ciaran's sleeping bag is empty. She gets up, her world is spinning. She makes her way into the trees where she finds Ciaran sitting by a stream.
'You can't sleep?' She asks.
  'Nah'.
She remembers her first conversation she had with Charlie in the watchtower after Lily and the group had attacked them. Neither of them could sleep.
'Probably had too much to drink,' she smiles.

By his smile and droopy eyes Daisy can tell he's had far too much to drink, perhaps more than her.
'I'm gonna head back to the camp,' Ciaran struggles to stand 'enjoy the view, but make sure to get some sleep, long day ahead'.