Sample;
Who: icecoldwit and captaine_sykes
What: Training Exercise
Where: Military Compound
When: Post-Apocalyptic world; SIC verse
ETHAN:
They'd not so much found each other but stumbled into each other in the midst of an attack. The Sentinels had shown up to pick off a group of stragglers, those who had thought that they could survive without the rebellion. Ethan had been watching from afar, a disused military hospital serving as his current hiding place.
And then... well Emma had appeared and not quite left. It seemed her mutation wasn't as effective against the Sentinels as she had first thought so this meant she was having to rely on old fashioned methods of hand to hand or weapon combat. Obviously this was an area of skills that she knew Ethan had and she refused to leave until her promised to help train her.
"For fuck sake Emma, you're leaving your left side wide open!" Ethan threw a discarded shoe at her, ducking back down behind the training barricade as he waited for her to retaliate. "You're getting sloppy!"
He was being nit-picky (as always) trying to goad her into responding with emotion which was one of her biggest flaws when it came to fighting. A whole year had passed and Emma had gotten good, real good. She was a lean, mean Sentinel fighting machine but she still had room for improvement and Ethan wasn't the easiest mentor to work with.
EMMA:
Some days, she wondered if she really should've pushed for this, pushed for him to train her and teach her and fucking drive her crazy with his nit-picking and scolding her like she were a child. But he'd proved time and again that it was effective; she knew how to handle a weapon, she knew how to take out the targets, she knew not to depend on her powers. But then things like this happened and she wanted to hit him with a brick.
Gritting her teeth, she compensated for the mistake and guarded herself better. "Considering I'm fairly sure I'd see one of them coming from ninety fucking miles, I'm not seeing the effectiveness of this exercise." She didn't always question him, although sometimes she really didn't understand why he made her do the things he did. It was in her nature to get terse, to complain at his constant drilling.
Especially when the threw things at her.
ETHAN:
"What if they turn humans and mutants against their own kind huh? You considered that?" Ethan crouched, crawling along and keeping hidden as he threw an object in the opposite direction creating a noise in an attempt to distract her.
Yes, Sentinels were obvious fuckers but that didn't mean you could go running in gun-ho crazy and hope for the best. Sometimes it was better to over estimate your opponent and their resources. Back pressed against the wall Ethan peeked around the corner, having successfully manouevered himself behind Emma now.
She was good and he was impressed. Pleased with her efforts but she could be better and that was why Ethan constantly picked, jibed, insulted and slandered her skills. The thing was Emma always gave back as good as she got which was also, fucking annoying.
EMMA:
Momentarily distracted at his noise-making, Emma quickly caught back onto where he went, catching that psychic signature that she wasn't meant to rely on but couldn't fully shut off. "You and your bloody scenarios. Do you have a notebook where you write them all down on?" He had a new one every week it seemed and Emma was beginning to think that maybe he was just a touch paranoid. It could be beneficial, but not if she had to listen to it all the time.
Shifting around, keeping herself low and out of sight, Emma altered her position to give her a better vantage, depending on Ethan's next step.
"But to answer the question; it's the robots my powers don't work against. Humans and mutants are not a problem." Sometimes she wished that it was human oppressors again. At least with them you could blend in most of the time, at least with them it hadn't gotten this far. Beyond that ridiculous registration act that Trask all but made obsolete with the creation of these robotic menaces.
"Want a demonstration of that?"
ETHAN:
"Don't mock the scenarios they've saved your ass enough times now." Ethan wasn't so much paranoid, he just liked to be prepared for any and all situations that could arise. If you had thought of it, there was a chance your opponents had too. Trusting in a mutation was just too risky these days, you needed to have a more holistic approach to survive.
"I told you not to rely on your mutation Emma." Ethan climbed up the scaffolding, cautious not to make too much noise as he did so. "Remember the lesson from a couple of weeks ago? What if they can create smaller machines?"
It was a rumour that had been creeping its way through the survivors. Somewhere across the ocean in Europe there had been talk of Sentinels who were smaller, faster and were starting to pick off the surviving groups one by one. Ethan wasn't sure how much of it was a scare tactic, a rumur started to force the rebels to give up and how much of it was true.
Above Emma now Ethan braces himself on the railing and tries to gauge the distance he'd need to jump to reach her.
EMMA:
Sighing, understanding that he had his points, Emma made a point of ignoring her psychic abilities, of not tuning into them and trusting her other senses, the instincts he'd made her hone. They weren't flawless, but they had proved useful a few times. "Oh, fine." Ducking down again, even if he did know where she was, seeing her would be slightly more difficult, Emma listened for any movement that wasn't just the creak of the area or the wind.
Rumours, whatever they were, were enough to put most people on edge, and since right then it was just her and Ethan, just him being on edge put her on edge. She tended to keep out of his head, beyond picking up a few strategist ploys and the occasional military brand training exercise, she found it better not to just invade his mind. She didn't know his story, she didn't really want to know his story. She just wanted him to show her how to survive.
Crawling over the uneven ground, marveling at just how far she'd come from her early twenties, Emma ignored the dust and stour kicking up and clinging to her body. She had an exercise to win, and that meant not letting him catch her.
ETHAN:
Like a game of cat and mouse Ethan is eager to win but he also wants Emma to prove that she can win too. Actually, the true aim of this exercise isn't for her to avoid getting caught, it's all about what she does when she is caught. But he doesn't need to tell her that.
Tugging the bar free Ethan steps back and then promptly throws himself down from above onto the makeshift training course that they've found/adjusted in an abandoned military training ground. Ethan rolls across the rubble and rights himself, a cloud of dust and debris obsuring him for a moment before he strides across the ground. He isn't bothering to hide now.
This is all about mind games, not telepathic ones but the kind that mean you have to make a split second decision. Fight of flight. And Ethan is aiming straight for Emma.
EMMA:
It's the surge of panic and adrenaline that pushes her, that always pushes her. She's got her feet under her quicker than she ever would've before, vaulting over the ledge of the concrete barrier and trying to put the space between them she'll need to think up a new strategy. She knows full well that even without his powers, she couldn't take him in a hand to hand fight -she couldn't even take him in a scuffle.
She could shift into diamond, she could warp his sense of perception, she could send a psychic bolt. But it's not supposed to be about their powers, she's supposed to assume there are smaller robots, supposed to assume she's unable to use her mutation. It just makes this bloody annoying and she'd like to tell him where to stick his training exercise but damn if he doesn't have a point and her heart is already racing with the adrenaline spike.
There's not witty retort, there's no caustic remark. She's just determined not to lose this one, damnit, because she knows he's still judging her.
ETHAN:
Emma moves faster than she had ever done a year ago and it is great to see that she isn't automatically using her mutation to cover herself. Ethan doesn't stop from still striding across the course, raising his gun and fire two shots off.
What Emma won't know is that they are blanks and he needs to push her to feel the real fear that she'll need to overcome in hand to hand combat situations. "You can't run forever Emma! What are you going to do?"
He's urging her towards a corner, wondering if she'll notice this and react in time.
EMMA:
She knows she should change, she should and it's almost an instant reaction to the shots; blanks or not, she should shift into the diamond and protect herself that way. But the fear spikes over the sense and it's another burst of adrenaline and absently she wonders if she might suffer a heart attack before she needs to worry about Sentinels.
She barely notices the corner she's being pressed towards, skidding to a halt and twisting to the ground to grab the nearest piece of anything -which happens to be a steel bar, before she's throwing it, amazingly accurate considering her shoddy concentration or focus, towards Ethan's knee while pushing herself up and away from the corner she'd previously been heading towards.
Maybe the iron bar projectile was overkill, but she's not stopping to check as she pulls herself around another makeshift barrier.
ETHAN:
Stupidly Ethan has under-estimated Emma and though at first he wants to laugh at her need to switch to diamond form he at least is pleased to see she recognises a weakness in herself and is doing what she can to cover it. Protect herself from harm.
He can't read the conflict in her head but can read it in her body language. Yet the way she drops down low to grab the iron bar is better. For a moment he thinks she is going to fight her way out of the corner but instead the bar is thrown at Ethan. And for once it's him who has to react and think fast.
The rubble beneath his feet shifts though and as Ethan throws his weight to one side the ground gives way beneath his feet and his disappears into a sink hole. There is a muffled curse, followed by a spluttered cough as the dust starts to settle. "Emma?"
EMMA:
Her breathing is still ragged, her heart rate spiked to a constant thump she can hear in her ears. She's not even sure she hears him, convinced that nothing can come over her steady thumping heart. It's comforting, in a way, that thump. It means, after all, that she's still alive. She's still surviving. Although that is only marginally something she has to concern herself with.
Making a point on getting herself under control, calming her breathing, listening to her surroundings, Emma stamps down that steady urge to go diamond again, just in case something is coming, just in case she needs to. Just to stop the steady stream of panic and adrenaline and fear and the thrill that she's still there. Training exercises really shouldn't do this to her.
"Hmm?" She's not yet trusting her voice, but giving him some indication that she heard him, or thinks she heard him, is better than having him shout again.
ETHAN:
Ethan is stood, one leg half submerged and the other fully. There's something slimey, cold and wet oozing around his trouser legs (he's guessing mud, silt and rotting vegetation) but it's acting like glue right now and Ethan just can't get purchase enough to pull himself free.
"A hand right about now would be appreciated." He hopes that she doesn't just think that this is part of her training exercises. A way to lure her into a false sense of security. Ethan has done that enough times, waking Emma up in the middle of the night with a fake Sentinel attack; dragging her through the undergrowth and never letting her look back.
Fear is an excellent training tool it would seem.
EMMA:
If she hadn't let her hair return to it's natural brown, likely enough it would've through the sheer stress of his little exercises. Time and time again, she tells herself she'll know better, but he seems to always manage to con her. Fear, it seems, has become the norm. But something in his voice, and the fact that he's metres away and sounds like he's where she left him, makes her turn onto her knees and pull herself up to see over her blockade. She would laugh, if she wasn't stunned.
Although she does end up laughing, a small chuckle as the fear ebbs away and the adrenaline slinks down and her heart rate finally calms enough that she's not shaking when she walks around the edge, crossing the uneven earth to reach him. "That's a unique way end the exercise." They'd been mostly aware that this place wasn't exactly safe, but she hadn't expected that he'd lose his foot in the mud.
Kneeling, she gives his leg an experimental tug, doing nothing but squelching whatever he'd slipped into. Shifting into her diamond form, she places a hand behind his knee, "You'll need to pull as well." Because although she has the strength, she's not sure what the hell he's stood in either.
ETHAN:
Ignoring the soft burble of laughter from Emma he waits till she comes over to help, rolling his eyes at the sarcastic comment and trying once again to pull himself up.
No-where these days is perfect or safe, buildings are starting to crumble and fall as they are no longer cared for and this means it's becoming harder to find safe havens. But that is not something to dwell on right now.
Settling his palms on the rubble Ethan softly counts and on three pulls the leg that Emma has her hands on up. It takes a moment of strain before the mud gives and his foot is free. The momentum allowing Ethan to yank his other foot upwards and with that he sort of sprawls forward. Trying not to take Emma down in the process.
"Thank you." Ethan rolls over onto his back, nose wrinkling at the foul smelling odour that pervades the air.
EMMA:
She wobbles slightly, but ends up slidding herself to the ground even as the diamond shifts off and her skin is left in its place. The smell is enough to make her think that over before she just leaves it as is. Even if she wants to be mad at him for the end of the exercise, the bit before he put his foot through the ground, she really can't. She asked for it, asked to be trained, to learn it all, to figure out just how a human would manage these days. There's not many of them left, so Emma figures she must be doing pretty well.
"This place is a mess." And it was, ceilings were coming down, doors were on the floor, walls were missing and both of them were in danger of falling through a floor one day. Not to mention the field they'd turned into a training area. It was almost as deadly as the Sentinels. "How much longer are we staying here?"
Moving around wasn't a good idea, but staying put wasn't either. And really, they'd probably worn the place out by then.
ETHAN:
Emma had a point, they did need to move and Ethan had already been looking into their options. He had a map of every location they had been to, crossed off and dated so that they didn't go back on themselves and fall into a trap. They had meandered, steadily heading from East to West at an angle and without real intention Ethan had been drawing them closer to Texas.
"Four days. We need to pick our new location and then clear up, scout ahead and then move. Sound good?" Ethan stretched as he sat up and glanced down at his combats. Another pair ruined, at least they'd been able to stock up on supplies here though. The building was in disarray but the lockdown rooms still contained the lockers of ex-soldiers and Ethan had not been above raiding to his hearts content.
"It's not worth sticking around here if this place is going to try and kill us too."
EMMA:
At that point, Emma just wanted the change in scenery. Knowing your battle ground had it's plus sides, sure. But sticking around too long was jus stupid, she'd figured that one out herself. "Sounds good." She nodded.
More often than not, she could leave the planning to him. He had his experience and Emma could respect that. They both knew that if she disagreed with something strongly, she'd argue the point, make him explain it, needle until she figured it out or he realised it wasn't worth it. Emma didn't mind pushing him into a corner just like he didn't mind pushing her there too. It kept them alive.
"Can we hope that the next place still has some hot water left? I'd sort of love some hot water around about now." As far as her nature had changed, she missed her luxuries. "Or just some cold water and soap." God, she missed soap.
What: Training Exercise
Where: Military Compound
When: Post-Apocalyptic world; SIC verse
ETHAN:
They'd not so much found each other but stumbled into each other in the midst of an attack. The Sentinels had shown up to pick off a group of stragglers, those who had thought that they could survive without the rebellion. Ethan had been watching from afar, a disused military hospital serving as his current hiding place.
And then... well Emma had appeared and not quite left. It seemed her mutation wasn't as effective against the Sentinels as she had first thought so this meant she was having to rely on old fashioned methods of hand to hand or weapon combat. Obviously this was an area of skills that she knew Ethan had and she refused to leave until her promised to help train her.
"For fuck sake Emma, you're leaving your left side wide open!" Ethan threw a discarded shoe at her, ducking back down behind the training barricade as he waited for her to retaliate. "You're getting sloppy!"
He was being nit-picky (as always) trying to goad her into responding with emotion which was one of her biggest flaws when it came to fighting. A whole year had passed and Emma had gotten good, real good. She was a lean, mean Sentinel fighting machine but she still had room for improvement and Ethan wasn't the easiest mentor to work with.
EMMA:
Some days, she wondered if she really should've pushed for this, pushed for him to train her and teach her and fucking drive her crazy with his nit-picking and scolding her like she were a child. But he'd proved time and again that it was effective; she knew how to handle a weapon, she knew how to take out the targets, she knew not to depend on her powers. But then things like this happened and she wanted to hit him with a brick.
Gritting her teeth, she compensated for the mistake and guarded herself better. "Considering I'm fairly sure I'd see one of them coming from ninety fucking miles, I'm not seeing the effectiveness of this exercise." She didn't always question him, although sometimes she really didn't understand why he made her do the things he did. It was in her nature to get terse, to complain at his constant drilling.
Especially when the threw things at her.
ETHAN:
"What if they turn humans and mutants against their own kind huh? You considered that?" Ethan crouched, crawling along and keeping hidden as he threw an object in the opposite direction creating a noise in an attempt to distract her.
Yes, Sentinels were obvious fuckers but that didn't mean you could go running in gun-ho crazy and hope for the best. Sometimes it was better to over estimate your opponent and their resources. Back pressed against the wall Ethan peeked around the corner, having successfully manouevered himself behind Emma now.
She was good and he was impressed. Pleased with her efforts but she could be better and that was why Ethan constantly picked, jibed, insulted and slandered her skills. The thing was Emma always gave back as good as she got which was also, fucking annoying.
EMMA:
Momentarily distracted at his noise-making, Emma quickly caught back onto where he went, catching that psychic signature that she wasn't meant to rely on but couldn't fully shut off. "You and your bloody scenarios. Do you have a notebook where you write them all down on?" He had a new one every week it seemed and Emma was beginning to think that maybe he was just a touch paranoid. It could be beneficial, but not if she had to listen to it all the time.
Shifting around, keeping herself low and out of sight, Emma altered her position to give her a better vantage, depending on Ethan's next step.
"But to answer the question; it's the robots my powers don't work against. Humans and mutants are not a problem." Sometimes she wished that it was human oppressors again. At least with them you could blend in most of the time, at least with them it hadn't gotten this far. Beyond that ridiculous registration act that Trask all but made obsolete with the creation of these robotic menaces.
"Want a demonstration of that?"
ETHAN:
"Don't mock the scenarios they've saved your ass enough times now." Ethan wasn't so much paranoid, he just liked to be prepared for any and all situations that could arise. If you had thought of it, there was a chance your opponents had too. Trusting in a mutation was just too risky these days, you needed to have a more holistic approach to survive.
"I told you not to rely on your mutation Emma." Ethan climbed up the scaffolding, cautious not to make too much noise as he did so. "Remember the lesson from a couple of weeks ago? What if they can create smaller machines?"
It was a rumour that had been creeping its way through the survivors. Somewhere across the ocean in Europe there had been talk of Sentinels who were smaller, faster and were starting to pick off the surviving groups one by one. Ethan wasn't sure how much of it was a scare tactic, a rumur started to force the rebels to give up and how much of it was true.
Above Emma now Ethan braces himself on the railing and tries to gauge the distance he'd need to jump to reach her.
EMMA:
Sighing, understanding that he had his points, Emma made a point of ignoring her psychic abilities, of not tuning into them and trusting her other senses, the instincts he'd made her hone. They weren't flawless, but they had proved useful a few times. "Oh, fine." Ducking down again, even if he did know where she was, seeing her would be slightly more difficult, Emma listened for any movement that wasn't just the creak of the area or the wind.
Rumours, whatever they were, were enough to put most people on edge, and since right then it was just her and Ethan, just him being on edge put her on edge. She tended to keep out of his head, beyond picking up a few strategist ploys and the occasional military brand training exercise, she found it better not to just invade his mind. She didn't know his story, she didn't really want to know his story. She just wanted him to show her how to survive.
Crawling over the uneven ground, marveling at just how far she'd come from her early twenties, Emma ignored the dust and stour kicking up and clinging to her body. She had an exercise to win, and that meant not letting him catch her.
ETHAN:
Like a game of cat and mouse Ethan is eager to win but he also wants Emma to prove that she can win too. Actually, the true aim of this exercise isn't for her to avoid getting caught, it's all about what she does when she is caught. But he doesn't need to tell her that.
Tugging the bar free Ethan steps back and then promptly throws himself down from above onto the makeshift training course that they've found/adjusted in an abandoned military training ground. Ethan rolls across the rubble and rights himself, a cloud of dust and debris obsuring him for a moment before he strides across the ground. He isn't bothering to hide now.
This is all about mind games, not telepathic ones but the kind that mean you have to make a split second decision. Fight of flight. And Ethan is aiming straight for Emma.
EMMA:
It's the surge of panic and adrenaline that pushes her, that always pushes her. She's got her feet under her quicker than she ever would've before, vaulting over the ledge of the concrete barrier and trying to put the space between them she'll need to think up a new strategy. She knows full well that even without his powers, she couldn't take him in a hand to hand fight -she couldn't even take him in a scuffle.
She could shift into diamond, she could warp his sense of perception, she could send a psychic bolt. But it's not supposed to be about their powers, she's supposed to assume there are smaller robots, supposed to assume she's unable to use her mutation. It just makes this bloody annoying and she'd like to tell him where to stick his training exercise but damn if he doesn't have a point and her heart is already racing with the adrenaline spike.
There's not witty retort, there's no caustic remark. She's just determined not to lose this one, damnit, because she knows he's still judging her.
ETHAN:
Emma moves faster than she had ever done a year ago and it is great to see that she isn't automatically using her mutation to cover herself. Ethan doesn't stop from still striding across the course, raising his gun and fire two shots off.
What Emma won't know is that they are blanks and he needs to push her to feel the real fear that she'll need to overcome in hand to hand combat situations. "You can't run forever Emma! What are you going to do?"
He's urging her towards a corner, wondering if she'll notice this and react in time.
EMMA:
She knows she should change, she should and it's almost an instant reaction to the shots; blanks or not, she should shift into the diamond and protect herself that way. But the fear spikes over the sense and it's another burst of adrenaline and absently she wonders if she might suffer a heart attack before she needs to worry about Sentinels.
She barely notices the corner she's being pressed towards, skidding to a halt and twisting to the ground to grab the nearest piece of anything -which happens to be a steel bar, before she's throwing it, amazingly accurate considering her shoddy concentration or focus, towards Ethan's knee while pushing herself up and away from the corner she'd previously been heading towards.
Maybe the iron bar projectile was overkill, but she's not stopping to check as she pulls herself around another makeshift barrier.
ETHAN:
Stupidly Ethan has under-estimated Emma and though at first he wants to laugh at her need to switch to diamond form he at least is pleased to see she recognises a weakness in herself and is doing what she can to cover it. Protect herself from harm.
He can't read the conflict in her head but can read it in her body language. Yet the way she drops down low to grab the iron bar is better. For a moment he thinks she is going to fight her way out of the corner but instead the bar is thrown at Ethan. And for once it's him who has to react and think fast.
The rubble beneath his feet shifts though and as Ethan throws his weight to one side the ground gives way beneath his feet and his disappears into a sink hole. There is a muffled curse, followed by a spluttered cough as the dust starts to settle. "Emma?"
EMMA:
Her breathing is still ragged, her heart rate spiked to a constant thump she can hear in her ears. She's not even sure she hears him, convinced that nothing can come over her steady thumping heart. It's comforting, in a way, that thump. It means, after all, that she's still alive. She's still surviving. Although that is only marginally something she has to concern herself with.
Making a point on getting herself under control, calming her breathing, listening to her surroundings, Emma stamps down that steady urge to go diamond again, just in case something is coming, just in case she needs to. Just to stop the steady stream of panic and adrenaline and fear and the thrill that she's still there. Training exercises really shouldn't do this to her.
"Hmm?" She's not yet trusting her voice, but giving him some indication that she heard him, or thinks she heard him, is better than having him shout again.
ETHAN:
Ethan is stood, one leg half submerged and the other fully. There's something slimey, cold and wet oozing around his trouser legs (he's guessing mud, silt and rotting vegetation) but it's acting like glue right now and Ethan just can't get purchase enough to pull himself free.
"A hand right about now would be appreciated." He hopes that she doesn't just think that this is part of her training exercises. A way to lure her into a false sense of security. Ethan has done that enough times, waking Emma up in the middle of the night with a fake Sentinel attack; dragging her through the undergrowth and never letting her look back.
Fear is an excellent training tool it would seem.
EMMA:
If she hadn't let her hair return to it's natural brown, likely enough it would've through the sheer stress of his little exercises. Time and time again, she tells herself she'll know better, but he seems to always manage to con her. Fear, it seems, has become the norm. But something in his voice, and the fact that he's metres away and sounds like he's where she left him, makes her turn onto her knees and pull herself up to see over her blockade. She would laugh, if she wasn't stunned.
Although she does end up laughing, a small chuckle as the fear ebbs away and the adrenaline slinks down and her heart rate finally calms enough that she's not shaking when she walks around the edge, crossing the uneven earth to reach him. "That's a unique way end the exercise." They'd been mostly aware that this place wasn't exactly safe, but she hadn't expected that he'd lose his foot in the mud.
Kneeling, she gives his leg an experimental tug, doing nothing but squelching whatever he'd slipped into. Shifting into her diamond form, she places a hand behind his knee, "You'll need to pull as well." Because although she has the strength, she's not sure what the hell he's stood in either.
ETHAN:
Ignoring the soft burble of laughter from Emma he waits till she comes over to help, rolling his eyes at the sarcastic comment and trying once again to pull himself up.
No-where these days is perfect or safe, buildings are starting to crumble and fall as they are no longer cared for and this means it's becoming harder to find safe havens. But that is not something to dwell on right now.
Settling his palms on the rubble Ethan softly counts and on three pulls the leg that Emma has her hands on up. It takes a moment of strain before the mud gives and his foot is free. The momentum allowing Ethan to yank his other foot upwards and with that he sort of sprawls forward. Trying not to take Emma down in the process.
"Thank you." Ethan rolls over onto his back, nose wrinkling at the foul smelling odour that pervades the air.
EMMA:
She wobbles slightly, but ends up slidding herself to the ground even as the diamond shifts off and her skin is left in its place. The smell is enough to make her think that over before she just leaves it as is. Even if she wants to be mad at him for the end of the exercise, the bit before he put his foot through the ground, she really can't. She asked for it, asked to be trained, to learn it all, to figure out just how a human would manage these days. There's not many of them left, so Emma figures she must be doing pretty well.
"This place is a mess." And it was, ceilings were coming down, doors were on the floor, walls were missing and both of them were in danger of falling through a floor one day. Not to mention the field they'd turned into a training area. It was almost as deadly as the Sentinels. "How much longer are we staying here?"
Moving around wasn't a good idea, but staying put wasn't either. And really, they'd probably worn the place out by then.
ETHAN:
Emma had a point, they did need to move and Ethan had already been looking into their options. He had a map of every location they had been to, crossed off and dated so that they didn't go back on themselves and fall into a trap. They had meandered, steadily heading from East to West at an angle and without real intention Ethan had been drawing them closer to Texas.
"Four days. We need to pick our new location and then clear up, scout ahead and then move. Sound good?" Ethan stretched as he sat up and glanced down at his combats. Another pair ruined, at least they'd been able to stock up on supplies here though. The building was in disarray but the lockdown rooms still contained the lockers of ex-soldiers and Ethan had not been above raiding to his hearts content.
"It's not worth sticking around here if this place is going to try and kill us too."
EMMA:
At that point, Emma just wanted the change in scenery. Knowing your battle ground had it's plus sides, sure. But sticking around too long was jus stupid, she'd figured that one out herself. "Sounds good." She nodded.
More often than not, she could leave the planning to him. He had his experience and Emma could respect that. They both knew that if she disagreed with something strongly, she'd argue the point, make him explain it, needle until she figured it out or he realised it wasn't worth it. Emma didn't mind pushing him into a corner just like he didn't mind pushing her there too. It kept them alive.
"Can we hope that the next place still has some hot water left? I'd sort of love some hot water around about now." As far as her nature had changed, she missed her luxuries. "Or just some cold water and soap." God, she missed soap.