Regretful Love

Chapter Two

Morning mist lay over the rolling landscape, obscuring the green hills and the sandy valleys. Kellion woke slowly, letting the pain ease into his limbs. Looking around, he saw the blanket on the ground by the dead fire, but somehow he knew that the girl wasn't far away. Probably best that she doesn't see what I'm going to do anyway, he figured.

He pulled his pack towards him and found the small metal box inside, battered but with the hospital stamp still visible on the side. Opening it up, he took out an elastic tie and rolled up his sleeve. He tied the elastic in a half knot around his upper arm. Carefully he picked up the small, one-dose vial and found the capped syringe firmly held against the edge of the box. He took the cap off, plunged the needle through the cap of the vial, and, with a steady hand, pulled the plunger up. A small test squirt got rid of the air bubbles and made sure that the needle wasn't blocked. Using his teeth, he pulled the elastic tight until he saw the blue of a vein—a good one, he thought, though he was getting more and more scared these days that he wouldn't be able to find a vein at all. And then he dosed himself.

The morphine felt cold as it went in, and he could feel it travelling up and up his arm until it got as far as his shoulder. The relief wasn't immediate, but he knew that it would come, and that was enough. He paused only for a moment to enjoy the feeling before he began to put everything back where it belonged.

He had just put the metal box into his pack when the girl reappeared.

"Morning," he said, voice coming out gruff and still half asleep. He'd been trying to ration his cigarettes but knew he was in need of one now.

The girl nodded. The ends of her long brown hair were wet; she'd been washing up.

"Was thinking last night, while you were asleep," Kellion said. "What about joining me on the road for a few days? Just until you get back on your feet again."

She looked at him for a second and then shrugged, which he took as assent. So he got up, knees creaking, and began to pack away everything he'd taken out of his pack. The girl sat and watched as he did so, getting up only once he'd piled some dirt over the dead fire.

"Come on, then," he said, shifting his pack onto both shoulders. "Might see some signs if we're lucky, get us some food." The pack had a waist strap that helped take some of the weight off his shoulders, so he fastened it. "If not, we'll be hungry for a while. Likely find something up the way, though."

He walked back towards the road, letting her follow at her own pace. The road ran parallel to the river right here, though a little to the east. Soon it was going to turn away from the water and join up with a larger road, one with towns dotted along it. Kell's feet touched tarmac, and, as always, the first few steps felt weird, too solid after walking on the dirt.

He heard the sound of gravel skipping and slowed a little to let her catch up with him.

"Keep your eyes open," he said. "We're looking for hobo signs, signs that'll tell us where good food, water, or camping will be at. Could be scribbled on a post, could be an arrangement of stones. Might even be a piece of trash displayed in a certain way. Anything that looks unnatural. Give me a holler if you see something."

She nodded and continued to walk side by side with him.

The sun started to burn away the mist, and the sky was a hazy morning blue. It was going to be a hot one. As they walked, Kellion studied the girl from the corner of his eye.

"You know, you look a lot like a girl I once knew," he said after a while. "Remind me of her, you do."

She said nothing.