When Darkness Falls

The Wasteland

Day 3

Eve opened her eyes to find sunlight streaming in through the window next to the bed. The warmth was comforting after yesterday's ordeal and she felt slightly refreshed. Her eyes were still puffy and red from crying, but at least she wasn't tired anymore. She was hungry again, though she didn't feel like asking Adam for anything.

The dark haired man sat in the wooden chair next to the desk where he had been last night. His back was turned to her and she could see a gun pulled apart on the surface in front of him. Eve didn't realize until a moment later that he was cleaning the pistol she had found yesterday. Standing, Eve walked over to the broken mirror in the room and started combing her messy hair with her fingers. Pulling it over one shoulder, she began to braid the unruly red strands. Then, using a piece of string she had found, she tied the ends together as best she could so that it would stay.

When she was done, Eve turned to look at Adam and caught him staring at her while she was doing her hair. He glanced away quickly when she spotted him and he continued cleaning her gun.

"Is there a bathroom in this building?" She asked, her voice short.

She was still angry and frustrated with him about their conversation last night, but he had saved her life so she was willing to deal with it for now.

Adam looked back up at her again, his eyes examining her carefully.

"There is a bathroom down the hall. There's no running water of course, but you can at least relieve yourself if need be. I found you a change of clothes since yours are dirty. I'm not sure if they will fit, but they looked about your size. Here," He handed her a stack of clothes that were sitting on top of his backpack and she took it from him.

"Thank you." She said reluctantly and she saw a smirk tugging at his lips.

Trying not to roll her eyes, she turned and walked out of the room and down the hall until she found a bathroom plaque outside of one of the doors on a the left side of the hall. Once inside, she quickly stripped down and dressed in the plane blue jeans and black t-shirt Adam had given her. She also noticed there were a pair of black converse under the shirt and thankfully they were only a half a size bigger than her feet. Once she was dressed again, she sighed, feeling comfortable being in clean clothes. Grabbing her old clothes off of the ground, she made her way back to the room to find Adam finishing reassembling her gun.

"That was quick. Did you need more time or are you good to head out?" He asked, standing up to face her.

Again, she was overwhelmed by his height and it annoyed her that she had to look up at him like she was a child.

"I'm good." She said simply.

Adam suddenly sighed and looked away for a moment before turning back to her.

"Look, I know last night I wasn't exactly nice and I'm sorry if I upset you. Please understand, I just want you to be safe. I didn't save your life just to let you get killed out here. I'm only looking out for you." He explained, his voice sounding genuine.

Eve nodded, looking down at her feet. "It's fine. I get it."

There was a pause, then she saw one of his hands reach down towards her arm and he grabbed it gently. He brought it up in front of her, then placed her gun in the palm of her hand.

"I believe this is yours. You seem to know the basics since you killed one of the Fallen and I would rather you have this than not. Keep the safety on and just watch where you are pointing it, alright?" He said.

Eve stared up at him, then pulled her hands out of his, quickly tucking the pistol into the back of her jeans. She said nothing, waiting for him to say more. Adam nodded, but to her surprise, he didn't say anything else. He reached down and grabbed his backpack off of the ground, then slung it over his shoulder. Before they left the room, he tossed her another granola bar and bottle of water which she took eagerly. Like before, the food was gone within seconds and the water soon followed. She wasn't sure how long it would be before she was able to eat again and she wondered if the menu was going to change or if they were going to be eating granola bars the entire trip.