Chapter Two: Wishes
"Max?" Fang paused in the pounding rain, glancing at his leader and best friend as she paused at the top of the hill, glancing down at the little country villas. Fang imagined that they'd be quite the scenic little homes in proper weather, when freezing rain wasn't causing even the fallen leaves to shrink inside of themselves for warmth, when the night sky held more stars than heavy rain clouds. The pair was checking a small neighboring town for any resources that they could bring back to the flock, camped away in the woods. They were probably soaked to their skins despite their tarps, so Fang half-wondered why Max was staring down at the closest house.
The light was on behind one of the windows, illuminating a nearly indistinguishable pair of people huddled together on the couch, watching something on what Fang assumed was a TV screen, but the rain blurred the window so much that he could only guess at the flickering lights. A low fire pulsed to their right, the picture of late autumn comfort.
And yet he knew already, really. Why Max had paused in her usually unstoppable mission to provide for the flock. The couple inside was all that Max and the others wished to be, and even more, what Max wished for all of them.
Safe.
Dry.
Warm.
Well fed.
Max shook her head slightly and moved back away from the sloping hill and toward her friend. She offered him an almost passable smile.
"Just thinking." She told him. "Look at them. They must be so bored, and I'll bet they have to go to work tomorrow, sit behind a desk, and be told what to do. Poor guys. C'mon."
She gestured with her head towards the woods again, and he took up a jog to follow her back into the night, however reluctant he was to head away from the town and the things it could offer, even if they had to steal.
It's okay, Max. He wanted to yell after her, wanted to brush her sodden hair from her face.
It's okay to want to be safe and warm and dry. He wanted to reassure her.
I want it, too.