Sometimes it felt odd.

A year ago they didn't talk because they had nothing in common, nothing to discuss.

Now they didn't talk because they didn't need to.

They already knew everything, from what was under the clothes to what was under the skins, their aches and pains and wishes.

Ahead of them, Sage's car faded from sight again. He sighed and leant against the window. "Show offs."

She laughed. "They probably think they can freak us."

There was very little that could do that these days.

Up ahead something stretched out across the road. Their first assumption was that it was a tree – that wouldn't be the first time after all – before their eyes started picking out details.

He sat up.

There were trucks parked at either side of the road and a large, bulky barricade stretched across the road. A few more cars were parked up at the edge of the road. A man in military uniform waved for them to stop. She pulled up. "What's going on?"

"Checkpoint miss. Nothing to worry about, standard procedure. Can I ask where you got this?" He rapped his hand on the bonnet.

"Our car ran out of gas; we found this one further up the road. Why?"

"It's a military vehicle miss, you don't find them just lying around these days."

A few more soldiers were headed over now, tapping on his window. He rolled it down.

"Do you mind getting out so we can search the vehicle?"

Her lower lip trembled and her eyes shone with tears. "Look, my brother and I- We've come a long way- Our parents-"

"Miss, please exit the vehicle."

She did not.

She did the exact opposite of exiting the vehicle. He knew what she wanted, what they needed. The barricade shook, shuddered, and exploded into a million pieces a second before their truck shot through the space it had previously occupied. There were yells and shouts of 'muties' behind them, bullets hitting the sides of their truck.

Two trucks came barrelling after them, screeching and skidding on the asphalt. He twisted in his seat and swiped a hand at first one and then the other. They flew from the road, flying into the overgrown farmland with echoing booms.

She gave a grim smile. "Well that was fun."

He smiled back.