Marcus doesn't deal well with closeness. Sex works okay but then, for him sex has never been about closeness but about a need that he satisfied like he ate and drank and slept.
He was never one for intimate touches, cuddling, kissing or embracing except for that last kiss with the doctor but that hadn't been about closeness and more about being a token.
Kyle, however, was starved for touch. Not surprising, considering he was one of three humans left in LA. Marcus wonders how long Kyle has been alone with Star but he would bet it has been a few years. He probably found her somewhere after everyone else had left or was killed and decided to keep her. Marcus can easily picture him as the kind of kid who brings strays home and asks his parents if he can keep them.
However, Kyle likes to touch. By night he sleeps nestled together with Star and now that they made Marcus part of their little group they're cuddling up to him as well.
At first Marcus felt uncomfortable with it but it's beginning to grow on him.
In LA they sleep half hidden under rags on Kyle's and Star's place on the roof top and later in the junkyard. He can see the stars from here. Marcus barely remembers what they look like but he remembers that he used to like them: beautiful and untouchable.
Here, from the back of a truck, nestled together even closer, in the open landscape he can see the stars again.
He lies on his back with his arms crossed behind his head and looks at the stars. Normally Star sleeps between them but tonight it's Kyle's head on Marcus' stomach while Star sleeps on top of Kyle with his arms securely around her small frame.
Marcus knows he should try to sleep but he doesn't want to miss this nearly peaceful scenery. He should be, no he knows he was dead but here he is, on the back of a truck in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by machines, on the run with a boy and a little girl.
He's still not entirely convinced that this isn't some kind of dream his subconsciousness makes up for him between the tranquiliser and his actual death he's okay with it, maybe because it could still be not a death dream. Maybe this is real and this is his second chance.
Marcus shifts slightly to free one of his hands and smoothes down Kyle's hair. He never used to do this but he's feeling strangely close to these two kids.
Maybe, if he had a brother like Kyle he wouldn't have needed this second chance. He has never liked his brother and doesn't really regret killing him. And the two policemen were unfortunate collateral damage, which he does regret but he doesn't lose sleep over their deaths. However, he suspects it would bother him if anything happened to Kyle and Star. It would be hard to kill Kyle, and Star is out of question anyway. Marcus may not be a particularly good man but there are lines even he would never cross.
Marcus keeps his hand tangled in Kyle's hair and looks at the stars until he nods off.