"Great idea."
Angela took off her sweater, listening to the wind howl, as he added his own items to the barricade.
"Hungry?"
She shook her head, setting up the stove. "Not really. You?"
Marc dropped his trench coat on top of a box and pretended not to see how her eyes went to his chest, lingered there. "No, but we should eat."
She nodded, but only put on water, and he left her alone. "I'm gonna mark the water levels. Be right back."
She pushed off her shoes and sat down against her pillows - journal, pen, and cup on one side, gun and ashtray on the other. She was calm. She had already seen them, safe and sound, in this very spot as dawn broke, preparing to leave. They had seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, but she hadn't sensed any real danger and was able to relax. Trusting the Witch inside was a lot easier since Versailles.
Brady wasn't as confident, using a can of waterproof chalk to mark where the water was, and then every ten feet, all the way to their Blazers. A quick look would now tell him how fast it was rising.
Angela was lighting a joint when he came back, and he smiled as he saw his own side of the big bed had been set up identical to hers. Even Dog's quilt was lined with a bowl of food and water. Neat and organized. He put his gun next to the ashtray on his side of the makeshift bed. When she casually held the joint out, not looking up from her writing, their fingers brushed, sparked.
Angela pulled back without looking up, but Marc saw her nostrils flare and his heart pounded, wishing she'd meet his eye. That hadn't felt like fear to him, and if she wasn't scared anymore, then it was proof he had made some progress by being her friend; by waiting and holding back all the things his heart still longed to say.
They were traveling well together now, starting their days with a quiet meal and then a workout, where he taught her things, like how to breathe and read the ground. Afterwards they would do a training session; first, hand-to-hand and then weapons, which would put them on the road around 10 a.m. They traveled until it was too dark to see, and then he would pick a place…if she told him it was okay. Her magic was something they usually shied away from, Marc having no experience with the subject, but her gifts were used when they made camp. He wasn't taking any more chances with her life.