My boots crunch the gravel underneath me. My eyelids are drooping - I haven't slept in days. My weapon stays by my side, hitting my leg every time I move. At least my hair is smoothed and brushed and my clothes are uncrumpled and clean - I look presentable.
But I don't care who I do and don't see. I don't care whether I live or die at this point. All that I can think about is the worst moment of my life. But I'm trying not to relive the pain.
I don't even know if my soulmate is dead or alive. He's always been silent - occasionally a line or lyric will pop into my head, but otherwise he makes no noise. Though it's not much, my heart still soared at his voice.
My knees buckle on the side of the dirt road and I let myself fall, my back hitting the gravel which makes me winded and I breathe heavily, groaning in pain. I let my eyes close.
I hope that I don't wake up.
~ ~ ~
'10k?'
I turn to the voice, seeing Warren approach me. I nod and she hands me a knife, which makes me stare at her in confusion.
'Take this. We're going to find supplies. Garnett, Murphy and I are going north to a village nearby, and Doc and Addy are going to someplace west. I want you to stay close here, by the truck, but still go looking for something. You can hunt, right?'
I nod, holding up my sniper and collection of knives. She smiles.
'Great. We should be back by nightfall. Please, don't go anywhere, and look after the truck.'
I smile at her. 'Of course. Stay safe, Warren.'
She smiles back at me. 'Don't worry about me, kid.'
~ ~ ~
When I open my eyes again, the sun is streaming down on me and I'm sweating. A lot. I groan and stand up, clutching my weapon. Of course, I didn't go in my sleep, so I have to stay in this messed up world. For longer.
I gaze out into the distance. There's nothing but dirt, dead grass and mountains. And a lot more dirt. The gravel road stretches out in front of me, endless and intimidating. There's nowhere I can go. Nowhere that I want to go.
Something captures my attention and I spin around, looking for the source of the voice. It takes me a moment or two to realize that it's coming from my own head. It's my soulmate!
His voice is husky, deeper than the last time I heard him sing, a long time ago. He's still out of tune - that makes me smile. But overall, I'm ecstatic to hear him.
It takes me even more than a few moments to notice which song he's singing.
'Touch my soul, you know how.'
I grin widely, my whole face moving upwards in delight. I recognize it as my favorite song. The song my father used to sing to me. The song I used to sing when I was happy, when I needed to be strong. The song I sang... after I took my father's life.
A tear streams down my cheek, as he pauses then sings again, as if he's calling for me. His voice is more in tune now, and he gets the pace and lyrics right as if he's heard it millions of times before.
'Andante Andante, go slowly with me now.'
He slowly stretches out the lyric, slowly building up his voice. Come to think of it, he is a nice singer, it just took a moment to get used to.
