What Remains of the Old World

Chapter 8: Hunting

 As they drove, they decided to go to Serenity's camp since that was the only place they could think of that was nearby, and they needed some time to clear their heads. Once they arrived, Serenity said: "Well, here we are." while extending her arms. "Uh... Make yourselves at home, I guess." She adds before walking over to her makeshift tent. She then sits down, removes her knife from its sheath, and lightly sharpens it. A couple of hours passed, and it started to get dark, so they all decided to sleep, except for Serenity, who kept watch. That morning, Serenity noticed that they needed food. "Ya'll wait here. I'll go see if I can get some food." She says, taking one of the weapons that were inside her makeshift tent. "Wait! I want to come too! After what happened yesterday, I don't want you to go off by yourself." Diana says. "Fine. If you insist." Serenity says. "Here." She adds, tossing one of the weapons to her. "We'll be back in a bit." She says to the rest of the group as she starts to walk into the forest. Diana follows closely behind her. They are both silent for a long moment. Eventually, Diana speaks up. "Serenity... I noticed that you seem more standoffish than usual, and I have a feeling I know why that is... Do you want to have that talk now?" She says. Serenity sighs. "I know I agreed to it before, Diana, but I... Now's just not the time, okay?" She says. "Uh, okay. Just... tell me when." Diana responds. "Will do..." Serenity says.

 While Serenity was hunting with Diana, her thoughts were running rampant. She kept thinking about Isaiah and his cold stare. Eventually, Diana noticed an automaton and pushed Serenity behind a tree. Serenity stared at the automaton, and rage filled her mind. She then ran toward the automaton. "Serenity! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Diana exclaims in a whisper. Serenity doesn't respond. "Serenity Clemente spotted." It says as it attempts to shoot her, but it misses. She then tackles it and manages to pry open its circuitry before cutting its wires. This causes it to power down and fall to the ground. Diana then rushes toward her. "Serenity, what were you thinking? You could have died just now!" She says. Serenity doesn't respond and just pants. Rage fills her thoughts once more, and she continues to stab at the automaton's circuitry. As she stabbed, tears started to run down her cheeks. After a while, she finally stops and falls back onto the dirt and leaves while panting heavily. She then starts to sob slightly, but she quickly attempts to pull herself together. "I... um... Maybe now is a good time for that therapy session." She says.

 Serenity and Diana realized they weren't having any luck hunting, so they decided to look for fruit instead. "Sorry about earlier, Diana... I guess I just... let my emotions get the best of me." Serenity says. "It's okay, Serenity. Emotions get the best of everyone. Even me, sometimes." Diana responds. The air is silent for a moment. "Do you... still want to have that talk?" She asks. "Uh, yeah... Sure. Just hang on a second." Serenity says, examining a bush of berries. "Poison." She says before she continues to walk. "Okay, go ahead." She says. "Well, how about we start with the past? Like... Old World stuff?" Diana says. "That's kinda difficult. I don't have anything left to tell." Serenity says. "Okay. Then, maybe just focus on recent events?" Diana says. "In that case, I guess it all really comes down to Isaiah." She says, taking an apple from a tree. "Seeing him like that... and hearing him say those things... It felt worse than when I thought he was dead." She adds, looking at the apple for a long moment. She then shakes her head and places the apple in her backpack. "I think we've got enough. We should probably head back now." She says, walking back in the direction of the camp. She then looks back at Diana. "And thanks... I think this helped." She says. "But... we barely even talked," Diana says, confused, as she follows her.

 Eventually, they made it back to the camp. "Hey! We're back!" Diana says. "We didn't find any animals, but we did manage to get some fruit." Serenity says. "That's probably for the best. I don't think I was quite ready to eat fresh deer meat." Mr. Tivona says with a chuckle. Serenity then gave everyone some fruit. "Automatons are searching the forest, so we should get moving again as soon as we're done eating." She says as she finishes handing out the servings. "How much charge was left in the car, Corwin?" Diana asks Mr. Tivona. "Uh, about fifty percent." He responds. "That should probably get us to... Mauritania?" Diana says. "Isn't that where Aunt Leonie lives? I'm sure she'd be happy to help us." Adira says. "I'm sure she would, Pumpkin, but... I don't know. I don't want to put her in danger." Diana says. "Well, we might not put her in danger. There aren't many automatons there, so the risk of us being spotted is low." Corwin says. "Still... I don't know..." Diana says. "I'm sure Leonie will be fine, Diana. Abrianna's only after me." Serenity says. "I guess that's true." She says. She then sighs. "Fine, we'll go to her place, but we'll only stay there for a day or two," Diana says. Eventually, they finished eating and went back to the car. Once they got back into the city, a stranger followed them on an electric motorcycle.