Alkaline

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The morning sun peeked above the dunes of sand that surrounded them. Cooper had let Lucy sleep the whole night. As the sunlight hit her face, Lucy jolted awake. She glanced around frantically to see Cooper taking his serum.
"Why didn't you wake me?" She demanded. At first Lucy was afraid something had happened to Cooper and the dog, but after noticing that everything was fine, she relaxed a bit.
"Thought you might need the rest. We have a lot of walking to do today and I don't want you falling behind." The ghoul slung his bag over his shoulder and watched Lucy gather her things.
"Well come on, we are wasting daylight." He poked fun at her with a straight face. An annoyed look was directed at him with her doe eyes. The dog's bark averted Lucy's attention for a moment before she continued to pack her things.
"Still don't know why you didn't wake me up. I could have taken a turn watching so you could have slept ." Lucy placed her backpack on her shoulder and stood up quickly. Lucy began to walk towards Cooper, dusting the sand off her body as she did.
"Oh hell, am I gonna hear about that all day?" He teases. Another glare was thrown before Lucy called the dog to follow her.
"No, but don't cry that I don't help out." Lucy retorted.
"Well excuse me, did the princess wake up on the wrong side of the dunes this morning." Cooper walked alongside her a moment before passing her up.
The two followed by the dog continued to journey in the Mojave Desert. Endless sand dunes rolled like waves across the wasteland were accompanied by the burning sun. Half the day was gone and the two paused to rest and take a drink from their canteens.

"You know, not only was your father responsible for this, but sadly my wife was as well." Cooper broke the silence. Lucy did not reply. Instead she kept her eyes averted to the ground. A mix of emotions flared up when Cooper reminded her of what her father did. Lost in thought,Lucy kept walking forward. Without paying attention, Lucy almost stepped in a raider's trap. Just before her foot snagged, Cooper wrapped his arm around her waist and pushed her forward. The two went rolling down the large dune. Sand flew around them and as their two bodies rolled down the large dune. Cooper landed on his back below with a thud. Before he could move, Lucy landed face first on top of him. He grunted in pain from her falling on him. The fall along with her body weight landing on him, knocked the wind from his lungs. Cooper laid there for a moment trying to breathe. Lucy groaned as she lifted her head from his chest. Her long brown hair ran like a silky water fall over Cooper's face. For a brief moment the ghoul caught a whiff of her sweet scent. Even in this heat and sand, she smelled like rose water. Lucy glanced at Cooper, who was under her, and apologized. Lucy went to move off of Cooper, but a bullet shot past her head. She buried her face in his chest as Cooper instinctively covered her head with his hand. He rolled them both over, with her now under him. Cooper quickly retrieved his pistol from his side holster, aimed, and shot the raider in front of them. The raider looked down at the hole in his chest a moment before he fell over dead. Cooper glanced around to make sure there were no more raiders before he glanced down at Lucy, who was still underneath him. One of Her hands gripped the one hand he used to prop himself off the ground with.
"You alright?" He asked. Lucy brushed her hair from her face before looking up at Cooper, who was still on top of her. A weird feeling flushed over her, rendering her speechless. Cooper glanced down at Lucy's hand that had a death grip on him. He then scanned her body before gazing into her eyes. The ghoul could not deny he rather enjoyed the current position they found themselves in, with him on top of her, but he was too proud to admit it. The ghoul peeled himself off her and stood over her. As he adjusted his hat, he let a snarky remark slip.
"Next time watch where you are walking."