"You jerk," growled Aderyn. "You will be so sorry when I get my sword back."

"I'll make sure that happens in the fairly distant future," groaned Snippy. "Jeez, you're heavier than I thought. What do you eat?"

"What did you say, Snipster? I'll kill you right here and now!" Squirming as wildly as she could with her restraints, she attempted to kick him in the face.

"Bwah!" He ducked a swing of her boots. "Hey! I'm not all that happy about this, either! Cut it out!"

"Let me go!"

"No! You'll try to murder me, and then I'll have to shoot you!"

"Not if I murder you first, right?" she snarled. "Let. Me. Go!"

"I don't particularly care to test that theory right now!" Coming to an abrupt halt, Snippy dumped her unceremoniously on the ground and stretched his sore shoulders. "Okay, that's it. I am not carrying you anymore."

"So what're you going to do?" Aderyn rolled over, struggling to get into a sitting position. "Leave me here?"

"I'm beginning to wish that I could." He pulled a knife from the back of his belt and stooped, sawing through the bonds on her ankles and knees. "If you run, I will shoot you, don't doubt that for a minute."

"I'll keep that in mind." She rotated her ankles as the blood began flowing again in her legs and she got to her feet, shaking them out. "I would thank you, but you're the one who tied me up in the first place. I'm not exactly a fan of that."

"What's going on?" The crazy girl skipped over with Thing in her arms, tilting her head like an inquisitive crow. "Oh, you can walk again! That's great!"

"I'm thrilled." Aderyn gave Snippy a sardonic grin. "Well, I am a little sorry to be losing my chauffeur, I guess."

"You're a riot." He sheathed his knife and slipped the long black rifle off his back. "I'm watching you, though. Run or try to take your sword, and—"

"I get it, Snipster." She rolled her eyes at him and began walking, the girl bouncing along with her, humming "happy birthday".

"I hate that nickname," he muttered, adjusting his grip on the rifle. He glanced cautiously at the buildings around them, checking for signs of any potential enemies, and walked after them.

"I'm tired," complained the girl, quite a while later—she'd lost track of the time, but then she wasn't very good at math.

"Aren't we all?" muttered Aderyn from just ahead of her. The girl squinted through her aviator's goggles at the sullen grey sky. Why was Aderyn always so gloomy? She wasn't the only one out there in the wastelands—not anymore, anyway.

"So what's your name?" she asked then, skipping over to the guy with the blue goggles. Behind the near-opaque cyan glass, his eyes flicked down to her.

"Huh?" he asked. "I thought I told you."

She giggled, sheepish. "I guess I must've forgotten."

"That's the fourth time now!" snapped Aderyn, still trudging forward. "Can you remember anything at all?" She gave a small, caustic grin, though it didn't have much humour behind it. "Call him Snipster. Right?" She addressed the man now, and his shoulders stiffened.

"Hey!" the girl called back. "I'm not that bad. Right, Snipster?"

"Don't call me Snipster," he growled, and glared at Aderyn.

"Whatever you say, Snipster," she said, turning back to the front.

His fingers clutched the trigger of his gun tighter. "I may not kill you for now, but I will gag you, and let me just say I'm on the verge of shooting you anyway!"

Though it was hard to tell from behind, the girl sensed Aderyn's smirk grow the tiniest bit. "Ah ah ah. Don't think I'll be able to walk with a bullet in my body. Do you really want me to bleed all over you when you're carrying me?"

He cursed under his breath. The girl tilted her head, watching them as she trotted alongside.

"I think I win."

"Shut up."

"It's true, and you know it."

"Shut up."

"Getting annoyed, are we, Snipster? Wonderful. Now you know how—"

"SHUT UP!" he roared finally, coming to a halt as he thrust his rifle into the air. Squeezing the trigger, three shots cracked into the stillness, shattering the fragile quiet—or relative quiet—like glass. As the puffs of smoke drifted into oblivion in the echoes of the sudden noise, the girl stared at him, frozen in mid-step. Not good, she thought nervously.

"Just shut up," he snarled at Aderyn's back. "I can't think, much less keep a lookout for enemies with you babbling at me."

She turned her head to look at him, the bitter, taunting smile still mocking him. "And just how many beasties do you think you've attracted with those shots?"

He rubbed his temples with a gloved hand. "Just. Shut. Up. Now."

"Aderyn, leave him alone," spoke up the girl. "Can't we just get along?"

She kicked at a rock with a boot. "Sure. Let's all bake a cake out of rainbows and happiness, and everything will be fine. That's worked out great for me in the past."

"I got news for you, sunshine," spat Snippy venomously. "The world doesn't revolve around you."

The smile stretched as she turned her head, hair falling across her goggles. "I got news for you. As far as I'm concerned, it does."

The girl blinked, confused.

"Not that it matters," she said, facing forward again. "The world revolves around the last person alive, doesn't it?"

The girl and Snippy just watched as she set off, her hands still bound behind her back. As the girl observed, they tightened into fists, straining the rope. The girl traded a look with the Snippy. He sighed and lowered his rifle.

"What're you waiting for?" rang out Aderyn's acrid voice. "You said you wanted to get moving, didn't you, Snipster?"

He glowered, the flipped-up lenses of his goggles low and flat, and set off after her. "I hate that nickname."