He nodded, yawning widely. He was too tired to consider the possibilities of what that could mean. “Is there still running water?” He asked.
She shook her head no. “But we shouldn’t be too far from the stream once we’re out of town. We could walk until the sun is a little higher and then break by the water.” She looked him over again, and he wished more than anything he could read her mind for a moment. “I’m already packed, so I’ll wait downstairs for you.”
She was gone before he could reply, and he was again impressed by her fast movements. He wasn’t sure what to do with this person she had become, but it was becoming more and more obvious he was proud of her. He wouldn’t vocalize it though, he’d already made that mistake once.
Yawning again, he worked to untangle his legs from the blankets, and almost fell off the mattress. He let out a breath of amusement, grateful Clara hadn’t been there to witness and mock him.
“Hurry up!” She yelled from below.
She could certainly be a pain in the butt. “I just woke up, give me a second!” He shouted back.
“Well, whose fault is that?”
“Well, whose fault is that,” he mimicked under his breath. There were a few other things he wanted to add to the conversation, but he refrained. It was too early to start a fight. They had too far to walk, and would certainly be at each other’s throats later in the day. It was best to prolong that as long as he could.
He stomped down the stairs, “Ready,” he said as joyfully as possible. His joy increased when she rolled her eyes.
She hoisted her bag over her shoulders, and he did the same. Carver closed the door to the house when they walked out, and repeated it with the picket fence gate. “I don’t think anyone is coming back.” Clara said.
“I don’t think so either.” He lifted one shoulder, “But it feels wrong to leave it all open. At least it should be closed and left undisturbed.”
“Minus the beds we messed up and the mattress now randomly left on the floor. That will be a fun one for them to figure out.”
“Maybe they’ll think the house is haunted.”
She laughed, and he thought maybe spending the day walking wouldn’t be so bad. “Yeah, we’re so awful we’ve already become ghosts.”
“That’s not what I meant.” If Clara had the opportunity to become a ghost, then he had failed. The idea of her dying felt like a knife to his chest. He wouldn’t let that happen.
“I know. But it’s funny to think about.” She dropped the volume of her voice, “People would probably like me as a ghost better anyway.”
“I doubt that’s true.”
She glared at him.What did I do to deserve this already?He wondered, flipping back to his original opinion of how the day would go. “You’ve even admitted I’m not that likable.”
He opened his mouth to rebut that, closed his mouth before he said something else she could twist, and after some debate replied, “I didn’t say that exactly, what I said was?—”
“I know what you said,” she cut in. “You didn’t have to say it for me to infer that.”
“Clara—”
“I didn’t get to be likable.”
“If you would stop interrupting me I could explain what I meant!” His voice was loud enough it startled a flock of birds out of the trees on the other side of the tracks, and he took a deep breath.
“I know what you meant.” She rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. You didn’t have to say it. I know I’m not likable. I don’t have friends. Aside from Reese, and I’m not sure how or why we’re friends. But she’s the closest thing I have.” Clara was finally opening up to him, and he didn’t dare stop her, even though he did still want to defend himself. “It was hard, you know? Coming out of…well…everything. I didn’t know how to deal with anything. My instructor seemed determined to cutme out. He didn’t succeed though.” She smiled, looking very far away as she ran through the memories.
“When I completed the first three months and he took me under his wing, I thought the hard part was over. I survived. I was through basic training, and the initial cuts in what is arguably the hardest sector.” She glanced at him from the corner of his eye as if daring him to fight her.
“I can agree with that,” he said slowly, not wanting to say anything that would derail her story.
“I was stupid. I hadn’t reached the hardest part yet. You said you’ve never killed anyone.” Her voice trailed off again.
“I haven’t had a reason to yet,” was the only explanation he had.
“I was given a reason to six months in. My first in house assignment. I had been working him the past three weeks. We had gotten quite a bit of intel from him. Everyone was impressed. No one thought I would have the stomach for it. I threw up immediately after the first couple times, but at some point, my stomach stopped churning and I grew used to nightmares.”
“And by work him you mean…”
