Cosmo Canyon Highway, Gaia, Wednesday Night Fandom Time
Zack was tired. Bone tired. Bone tired and heartsick, following the road toward Gongaga with a sort of exhausted stubbornness that would have seemed at least slightly more reasonable if he wasn't hauling a comatose kid around with him all the way from Nibelheim. Cloud was slowing him down. There was no question about that. He'd been able to stop for fuel a few times since his encounter with Genesis farther back along the highway, but doing so without raising suspicions, given that they were both dressed in the garb of SOLDIER, was a tricky endeavor. They had to travel only at night, and Cloud wasn't much help with anything. Zack had to stop on more than one occasion to fight off monsters that jumped out onto the highway, slowing him down even more. His stockpile of potions was running low. And food? Food was even harder.
He wished he had an easy way out of this. Wished it didn't hurt so damn much to think about who was and wasn't safe to trust. He'd never had difficulty trusting before, but...
The only one who had made any effort to check up on him in what was at least months was Kunsel. Genesis apparently wanted to eat him or something, the Turks had been there when Hojo had taken him in, and Ino...
Well, she'd been paying the phone bill. But she hadn't reached out to him. So... which was it? Did she know he was alive but was unable to make a call? Was she with out the Turks trying to find him? Maybe she just hadn't gotten around to cancelling the phone bill. He had no idea how long he'd been gone, though it felt like almost forever.
He glanced at Cloud, set in the sidecar in a way that hopefully would keep him from lolling over too much while he rode. And then he pulled over, dug out his phone, and tapped out just one word.
Ino?
It took him another several minutes of just sitting there on the shoulder of the highway to nerve himself up to it, but eventually, heart pounding in his ears, he hit send.
[OOC: For she who knows who she is!]
He wished he had an easy way out of this. Wished it didn't hurt so damn much to think about who was and wasn't safe to trust. He'd never had difficulty trusting before, but...
The only one who had made any effort to check up on him in what was at least months was Kunsel. Genesis apparently wanted to eat him or something, the Turks had been there when Hojo had taken him in, and Ino...
Well, she'd been paying the phone bill. But she hadn't reached out to him. So... which was it? Did she know he was alive but was unable to make a call? Was she with out the Turks trying to find him? Maybe she just hadn't gotten around to cancelling the phone bill. He had no idea how long he'd been gone, though it felt like almost forever.
He glanced at Cloud, set in the sidecar in a way that hopefully would keep him from lolling over too much while he rode. And then he pulled over, dug out his phone, and tapped out just one word.
Ino?
It took him another several minutes of just sitting there on the shoulder of the highway to nerve himself up to it, but eventually, heart pounding in his ears, he hit send.
[OOC: For she who knows who she is!]