Gathering up their belongings, the three of them sling packs over their shoulders and start to climb through the brush. Daniel takes lead, Theron a few steps behind and Remi beside me.

We walk a similar pace, but I also get the feeling she's only waiting around to ask me something. Even still, we keep up nicely and jump over fallen logs and decaying forest floor.

It's broken, empty, the sanctuary growing distant and far away. Hopefully, the life restored will nurture further sprouts and blossoms. Though, in this location, there didn't appear to be many flowers. Simply grass and overgrown moss. Lush life to house many fuzzy creatures.

Not that I was any Snow White.

It almost felt like a tired march, watching these three try to traverse the thick wooden graveyard. Death at every wake and turn.

Remi begins humming to herself, wringing her hands together in some form of consolation which didn't appear to be working. Her eyes, full of water and pain, glisten in the rising gold light. Her steps wander closer and closer to me until our shoulders brush. She panics a little, pulling away with hesitation in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I whisper quietly, gesturing for her to come back.

Remi closes the gap but doesn't say anything, fingers brushing subconsciously against her legs. They twitch each time, her mentality writhing more. Whatever thought process it is, is consuming her.

Instead of pushing, I just breathe and look out over the fields in every direction. Even burnt, several strands of grass tickle my ankles within a few steps. Naked, none of this bothers me. My feet do not hurt with the sharp rock and dirt below, nor do I notice the intensifying heat with the suns gentle glaze.

We make remarkable progress within the first hour.

"This city's uninhabited," I say loud enough for the boys to hear me, taking another sniff and trying to listen. "It's either been ransacked or something killed everyone."

"Thanks Genius," Theron replies with a dramatic show of hands. "Look around you, Iridian. Everything is dead. The trees, the plants, the people... Nothing was safe back then and now it's all dead."

My jaw clicks in frustration but I lift my chin and decide to ignore the comment.

Daniel takes a moment before looking back at us. As I watch his disposition shift, I make note of his eyes. Every single time they graze over me, he locks onto my own and does not wander.

He shrugs, irises turning dark. "You've been missing for 96 years, don't listen to him."

A laugh bursts out of me. "You think I've listened to him once?"

The small smile returns and I feel the comfort and the warmth reverse the ice in his eyes. Daniel glances playfully in Theron's direction, the brooding male hardly fazed. "You're right, it sounds like static most of the time."

Theron shuts down and keeps walking, pretending we're nothing more than statues without voices.

Remi loosens up a little bit when the town starts to come into view, glancing between the three of us. Her lips part and close again, a rough swallow looking painful down her neck. Something needs to trigger the conversation and it's clearly not going to be her asking. Though, I can't seem to tell if the hesitancy comes from my presence or the boys.

We're almost at the welcome sign, a mile or so before the city limits themselves.

"You know," I start casually. "A long time ago, people would travel like this because they had to. In groups, with people, generally on foot. Before cars and planes, before humans learned how to train horses, It truly was the only way. I'm assuming now there isn't enough gas being pumped to support gas engines, power plants aren't being run, and or no one knows how to hijack a car... What do you guys know about society before?"

"No one alive really knows how to drive," Remi whispers. "A lot of cars were destroyed or have empty tanks. I don't think a single person in the new generation has ever flown in or piloted a plane... I've seen them, crashed and left for nothing... But in all honesty, I don't even know how to start a car, let alone hijack one."

I rub her arm slightly before catching pace with Theron and bending over to search his eyes. "What about you conspiracy theorist extraordinaire? What do you know about this planet and how it used to function?"

"I don't know anything," he snaps angrily. "I don't even know how to read."

I frown and look between the other two. Remi too hangs her head in shame, but Daniel appeared unaffected. "I'm literate."

"Thank god one of you is..." I mutter to myself, rubbing my face. "I'm going to need to be able to trust one of you to do things in this town other than me."

My feet hit the pavement and I feel extraordinary, the heat soaking into my skin. Jogging a little bit, I dance around and stare up at the sky, a new sort of energy hitting me. Then it hits, a fire in my throat and instant coughing.

The others stare at me as I fall to my knees, hand covering my lips. A stickier substance pours out over my lips and I pull my hand down to see dark navy blood.

"What is that?" Theron asks in disgust, averting his eyes.

I pat the tar down and smear the mark against the painted road. "Blood."

"Are you okay?" Remi questions, coming closer and reaching out just in case. "What's going on, do you need something?"

"To get to town," I groan. "Now."

A strong arm wraps under mine and around my back, fingers clenching into my rib cage. Daniel had stalked over rather quickly to keep me from falling, though I didn't notice until just now. I debate between pulling away and leaning into him more, instead just trying to walk on my own and close the stretch between me and tall buildings.

Theron and Remi watch for a moment before trailing behind, obviously confused by the initiative and my weakness.

Welcome to Candelaria - a sign reads.

A small smirk grows on my lips and I nod. On the border between Mexico and Arizona, we're walking through miles of fiery desert in the middle of two big countries. If I didn't need clothing and energy, I'd find a way to turn around, the motivation for north leaving me.

More blood drips from the corner of my mouth when we reach the sidewalk. Time is standing still for me, heat waves slithering off the pavement in large pockets.

"What do you need?" Daniel murmurs in my ear, features glistening with sweat and concern. His voice shifts slightly towards the end and I'm sure they need water or something refreshing to drink. It had been hours since a real break was taken.

Tugging out of his grip slightly, I gesture to the town. "We're on the border of Mexico, so I suppose don't bother attempting to read anything unless one of you is bilingual. Considering you two don't know how to use English in the first place, I'm going to gather you don't know Spanish."

Remi shifts slightly. "I picked up some things in Argentina."

Nodding, I frown at the statement. "Can you take them to find some food while I look for something?"

She nods and starts to take lead when Theron stops. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Wherever... I damn well... Please..." I pant, wiping the clotting substance off my chin. The crazy glare in my eyes intimidates him, but I don't see a willingness to back down.

He crosses his arms and turns. "So, what? How are you going to find us if we just walk away? Are you just going to disappear?"

"Careful Theron or I might begin to think you like having me around," I hiss, stumbling over and bracing myself against a brick wall. "If I cannot find you within the next hour, we meet by the welcome sign, fair?"

"Since when do-"

"Fair," Dan smiles, pretending Theron didn't even open his mouth. "You go clean up and find some clothes, meet us back when you're done."

"Ugh," I roll my eyes and right myself as much as possible. "I really don't want to find a flowery vacation dress or moomoo. Fingers crossed they have real people clothing."

Remi snickers slightly and then walks off, knowing the boys will follow in due time.

I find a foreign sign for Old Navy and head inside, passing by all the deserted isles before finding the empty bathroom. The tiles are charred and covered in ash, death marking the floors with other insects and miscellaneous animals I prefer not to identify. The faucet drips slightly so I push myself up against the porcelain and crank the handle.

Nothing.

I try another one and a tiny stream runs out, just enough to soak a few paper towels that I run over my body and feet with soap. Dirt scrapes off me into the sink. The brown and black blending together in water and fading away.

Throwing it in the melted, deformed trash bin, I grab a few more to dry myself and walk back into the storefront.

Obviously not as good as a shower - but better than 96 years with no soap.

I rip fresh, white socks out of a pack long before I walk anywhere else. Pulling them up to my knees, I aim for coverage on the basis that heat doesn't affect me, I don't sweat, and it's more efficient for certain styles of combat to me.

Scoffing at the tiny bras, I find an acceptable support bra in black.

I start to wander through the jeans isle before realizing I didn't even bother grabbing underwear. A noise echoed in the distance and I glance behind me right as a blade bends against my shoulder blade.

Laughter stirs in my throat before I make eye contact with a crazed latina whose bloodshot eyes writhe in fear. "W-what?"

I slap the blade out of her hand and go back to ripping a pair of lacy gold underwear off a hanger. Putting them on, I watch her with a dangerous calm.

Without saying another word, I stalk back over to the black skinny jeans I saw earlier and pull them past my ankles before realizing I looked away. Glancing back, the girl is gone. Silently hiding somewhere in a clothing rack or out the back door, I don't know. Though, being out of my sight is concerning.

I find old graphic tee shirts in the very back for AC DC and Metallica, a full range of tv shows, and a board game dress for Monopoly. None of them appeal to me the same as a long sleeve shirt with black and white horizontal stripes and the design of red roses weaving up the side.

Black and white. Yin and Yang.

I find a hairbrush near the counter and use some shiny steal as a mirror to braid my waist long rats nest back. It swings down my back and smacks against my tailbone, the coppery glow showing strongly in the sunlight.

Clothes feel restrictive and mildly frustrating now that I am used to being without them, but this wasn't the beginning of creation and I am not the Eve to his Adam.

An apple sounds good right about now though.

Licking my lips, I take a black hoodie from off the counts and a scorched pack of gum. Strawberry Watermelon. Shoving it deep in my back pocket, I tie the sleeves of the jacket around my waist and notice that all the shoes were on the floor, ruined and destroyed.

"You've got to be kidding me," I groan, lounging my head back slightly.

Stepping out into the heat, I feel myself slowly being drained again.

About a block away I hear screaming. My body goes tense, wondering if it was originally my fault for losing the girl. They aren't strong, they aren't immortal.

My skin rivals that of the strongest metal in tensile strength, nothing can break through my skin. It is a disservice to think they cannot defend themselves though.

Speeding through rows of stores - socks slipping against the wood of a boardwalk-esque passageway - I do my best to see past all of the buildings into a small town square. A fountain sits in the middle, water barely spurting to the surface. In front of this statue are my three group members and two fearful latina women with guns. Their fingers shiver against the trigger.

Theron has his hands up hesitantly, unsure of how to react. Remi, however, looks rather pathetic with tears running down her face and arms drawn in tight to her waist - palms exposed just enough.

Dan is on his knees in front of one of the girls, her gun resting into his hair.

Neither is the one from Old Navy earlier.

Closing my eyes, I feel the base of a rifle touch my spine and sigh.

"Ponte en el Suelo!" Her voice cracks, seemingly unsure of her own orders and demands. "Now!"

"Oh so you do know English," I smirk, pivoting around to face her. My hands latch onto the top and butt end of the gun, forcing it to buckle straight out of her grasp and spin into her sternum.

The young girl, maybe sixteen, squeaks a little and holds her hands up. "P-please, don't shoot me..."

I identify her as the same girl and roll my eyes. "You literally stabbed me in the back while I was putting underwear on, who does that?" I glance back at the two other girls staring at us, weapons trained on me. "You two put the guns down and walk away and I might not kill you."

One of them starts laughing and murmurs something in Spanish under her breath before cocking her rifle and pulling the trigger.

The shotguns ammunition disperses into five separate projectiles. Four bounce off of me while one misses completely. I toss the stolen gun behind Theron and into the fountain. "I was dead serious," I giggle a bit. "Dead, Get it?"

My eyes flare up, a fiery glow consuming my arms now. It's time to take.

I lunge forward, disarming both the women and shoving the guns into the water. The one in purple - who had Daniel on his knees - is tripped and put into a submissive lock. Getting a firm grip, I snap her neck and leave to pin down the other.

She's petite in a thin white blouse, eyes big and teary. "P-please, p-please, I don't want to do this. I didn't... I'm sorry..."

I frown slightly and let off. "Go. Run."

She nods at me, a mixture of grateful and heartbroken.

The other had run off too, not that I care. Bending over the dying body below me, I place my hand over her chest and absorb what little Mana I can from her being.

This will at least make me look like I'm not dying...

A deep breath later and I realize the awkward, intense stares fixating on me. Even if Remi is peering through her hands while she sobs and Daniel has a hand on her back, they all seem rather worried.

"Sorry?"

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