"You're all idiots you know that" Miles practically yelled at the three of them. Rachel stood in the background checking the horses' bridles. She smirked slightly at the remark which she thought was typical of Miles. "We still have to deal with the patriots, we don't have any mercenaries, and now we are running away from all the crooks from new Vegas. Great plan really Bass."
Bass looked up from loading his gun. "You done ranting now" Miles didn't answer. They had been on the road for over a week after rescuing Bass and Connor from New Vegas. They were running out of food, tired and overwhelmed, not to mention Miles had given a similar speech every day since Charlie had arrived back in Willoughby with the unfortunate news. It had taken them near a week to strike a deal with Duncan.
With Duncan's help they had rescued the father and son pair and they had taken off. It had been a shock for both Neville and for Monroe when they realized the other was there. Miles had to pull Bass off of Neville, and Charlie had to pull Connor and Jason apart. She had tried not to feel awkward, convincing herself that really she didn't have anything to feel bad about. But the more she thought about it, the worse she felt for sleeping with Connor. She really shouldn't have, but recently she had gone overboard. She was surrounded by constant death and pain. A part of her wished she could go back to being that naive girl who grimaced at the thought of killing someone.
But Charlie was completely different now. "We need to keep moving" Rachel, always the voice of reason said. They were on their way to a town, which Charlie had forgotten the name of. It was a place Miles was convinced he could find help for them. "Rachel it's almost dark, don't you think we should stop and rest, you look like you're going to collapse." Gene challenged his daughter. "I'm fine and the further we get away from New Vegas the better." In truth they had been walking since dawn and Charlie was exhausted. She wasn't about to tell anyone that or let on, but her feet were killing her, she was sure she had a blister on her big toe.
Also, they hadn't had very much food to eat recently and she was starving. And as of the last few minutes, nauseous. She attributed it to the fact that she hadn't eaten in a long time and was dehydrated. But, the further they walked the worse she felt. "Alright" Gene conceded, and everyone else nodded, not wanting to be the one to defy Rachel.
So with the consensus they began walking again. They only had two horses so they took turns riding. Right now Miles and Rachel were at the front on the horses. Just then, Connor came up beside her. "So I'm getting this feeling you and this Jason kid have history." Charlie did not feel like dealing with this right now, so she just sighed and rolled her eyes. "So that's a yes, I take it."
"Connor" she warned trying to tell him that she wanted to be left alone. "What? I was just curious." He said then switched to a whisper. "Just wanted to know if he is competition." With that he sped up a bit to catch up with his dad, leaving Charlie to gawk after him, in complete shock.
She didn't know if it was because of Connors new revelation that he liked her, or what but, suddenly, the nausea that she had kept at bay for most of the day, crept up. She managed to make it a few steps off the road away from the others, before she bent over and threw up everything she had eaten in the last few days. She was aware that they had stopped moving, but even after she had stopped throwing up food, she was still gagging. Her mother had dropped off her horse and taken Charlie's hair in her hand, holding it away from her face. She hated that they were just watching her, and silently thanked Miles for interrupting the silence.
"That's it Rachel, were stopping for the night." He jumped down from the horse and walked off into the woods to set up camp. Thankfully everyone but her mother and Gene followed. However, Bass's eyes were the last to leave her, they pierced into her soul for a few seconds, seemingly reading all her secrets with gaze.
They all sat around the fire eating the squirrels Miles, Bass and Connor had found. Charlie had declined her portion, even against everyone's protests. She didn't think she could eat without throwing up again. Somehow she was still nauseous. She decided to take off her shoes, hoping that would help ease the aching in her feet. She pulled at her right boot, an intense pain shot up her foot, and she gasped. Thankful that everyone was having side conversations. Everyone except Bass, who walked over.
She pulled her boot free just as he squatted near her foot shielding it from everyone else's view. Charlie gasped looking up at him as she saw her foot. She had expected to have a blister, but her feet were covered in them, and bleeding and oozing. Bass grabbed some water and tore a piece of his shirt, going to work on cleaning the blood off her foot. "Monroe you don't have to..."
But he cut her off his voice barely a whisper. "Charlotte were you and Connor careful?" He had been trying to find a way to ask her without embarrassing her, but that was the best he had. Her cheeks flushed a bit as she replied, "Why don't you just ask him?" He didn't answer. He simply continued to wash off her foot.
"Unless that's not really the question you want answered." She whispered. "Your right my real question is not one he can answer." She sighed knowing it was useless to stay hidden in denial from what she knew was going on. She must be late by now, of course she really had no idea when she was supposed to start she knew that day had passed. She looked down, her hair falling down into her face.
"Charlotte?" His voice was barely a whisper and she wouldn't have heard it if he hadn't stopped cleaning her feet, causing her to look up again. His blue eyes pierced through her and she felt guilty. She didn't know why exactly she felt guilty. She just knew that somehow for some reason Bass was disappointed in her. She wanted so badly to tell him his suspicions were off base and that he shouldn't worry, but she knew there was no point in lying.
"I'm sorry" she had to look off to the right as she felt tears begin to build. Bass just gritted his teeth and looked away. She didn't know what else to say, but thankfully Miles walked up just as Bass whispered, "we'll talk later." He stood, grabbing his own bag and walking to a tree a few feet away. Then he laid down, obviously lost in thought and disappointment.
"You should get some rest, don't you think?" Miles said, sitting down next to her. "Look, Miles, I'm fine, and I can watch when it's my turn, so wake me." She looked him in the eyes, so he would know she meant it. She did not want anyone, especially Miles, to think she was weak. "Alright, I will, but if you really want to convince everyone you are ok, better start with.." he trailed off pointing in Rachel's direction. That moment was when Charlie realized, she would have to tell Rachel her suspicions about what might be wrong with her. Her heart sank, because the more she thought about the possibility of it, the more real it became. The only way for her to stay sane right now was to stay in denial. "Goodnight Charlie." He said breaking her train of thought. He gave her a hug before rejoining Rachel on the other side of the fire.