in about two weeks.

CHAPTER FIVE: RECONNAISSANCE, AND GOING DEEPER

"All the tales the same
told before and told again
a soul that's born in cold and rain
knows sunlight
and, at last, can grant a name
to a buried and a burning flame
as love and its decisive pain."

Hozier
[Sunlight, from Wasteland, baby!]

The couple argued for a few more minutes before agreeing on a course of action: since the farm wasn't an option anymore, nor were the North, the coast, and anywhere on New Hope's range, the continental West was the only solution, regardless of if the mall was worth the struggle or not; furthermore, they needed to find a place to camp in, better if near the river, search that would, in any case, push them toward the mall. The final decision about the possible exploration was then postponed until they settled.

After three long hours of driving, luck kissed the group, by gifting the perfect place to rest just a few minutes on foot down a little side road.

"Marc and I will go take a close look," said Tom, grabbing the third to last cigarette.

The young man turned so fast he almost made himself fall. "What?"  he shrieked. He cleared his voice, before speaking again, with a calmer but no less unconfident tone. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Why not? It's not like both Sophia and I can go out there. One has to stay behind with the truck."

"But... I..."

"No buts, dude. You need to get used to this. It's your reality now too."

"What, you can't both go because I could steal your car?" chimed in Anna, with a satisfied grin on her face.

"No, because you two can't defend yourselves. And because you could steal our stuff and leave. Two reasons."

"He's right, Marc," commented Sophia. "I know it's scary, but things can and will get much scarier. It's better to practice when it's quiet like this, and you're in Tom's company."

"All right..." he lamented, pouting. "Let's go, then..."

The man put his arm around the companion's shoulders and shook him. "I'm gonna need more energy from you."

TOM AND MARC

The two were walking along the path, Marc a couple of steps behind; Tom slowed down, to let him catch up. Strangely enough, he found Marc's presence comforting, even though they had known each other for very little at that point. Maybe it was the contrast with how unnerved he felt being in the presence of the new addition to the group. It wasn't even about her attitude, it was more that whole connection with New Hope that freaked him out, opening up a wound that he thought was long closed. Sophia's strong reaction to her didn't put him at ease either, since she was all calm and collected during difficult situations.

Before the Infection, she had a moment every couple of months where she would crush under the pressure of the negative emotions she'd been bottling up, to spend the whole weekend isolating, crying, and letting herself go; on the following Monday, she was ready to start the new cycle like nothing happened. Although she insisted it worked well for her, he couldn't attest to the healthiness of that way of living, and had often wished she'd go to therapy. Now she hadn't taken that break since they'd left their house for the last time. 

The thought that she might be starting to crack made him shudder. He wasn't ready to take the reins, much less now that they also had the responsibility of keeping two other human beings alive.