It is dark.
A wave of pain hits his body. He groans quietly, cursing those damned troopers. The wound on his arm is still bleeding but not as much. It stings when he shifts his shoulder, causing a hissing sound to escape his dry lips. Finn looks at the gash with a grimace. It seems the bullet went through the flesh. That's good, he thinks, strangely relieved.
Bebe is lying quietly on his left. It is looking at him with its big chocolate eyes. The man is glad the animal has not been harmed and he pets its head gently.
Then he turns his attention to Rey. The man frowns because she just sits there unmoving. Her neck is twisted to the side so he cannot see her face. He sits up to touch her shoulder but she does not stir. With tenderness he has never thought he could ever be able to feel, Finn cradles the girl's face in his clammy hands. He traces her delicate cheeks with his thumbs whilst whispering her name.
The deserter never meant for any of this to happen. First, he lost Poe and now it could happen to Rey. He endangered her, forced her to abandon her home and, most of all, lied to her. The man would not forgive himself if she got hurt. His emotions were all over the place. Sadly, he has never cared for anyone, or more precisely, he has never had anyone to look after. Slip did not count as a friend or even an acquaintance.
Rey's brows furrow as she slowly awakens so Finn lets his eyes sweep the area they are currently in. He sees nothing but land stretching out around them although there is a small building resembling a bar. It is unnaturally quiet as well. The man begins wondering how they are going to outrun the First Order. It is practically impossible. They have taken over many states and their soldiers and spies are almost everywhere. The young couple could get some fake papers, travel with a troupe, lie low for a while. The north sounds appealing.
Distracted by the stillness of the desert, Finn does not notice the scavenger slipping out of the vehicle almost soundlessly with Bebe right behind her. The man scrambles out of his seat to catch up with her.
"Hey, what are you doing?" he yells. "We need to figure things out- where we'll go next!"
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Rey whispers, her figure bent in half. She has perched her hands on her knees.
Finn frowns. For just a second, hurt appears on his round face. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm going back to Jakku."
The man puts his arms up in the air and lets them fall to his sides with a loud clap. He is annoyed now. Why does she not understand that Jakku is compromised? With the troopers swarming that place? It will be a battlefield. Just like Tuanul and countless villages before.
"Why does everyone want to go back to Jakku?"
The girl ignores his outburst and starts walking with a slight limp in the direction which they came from. She has wrapped her arms around her small frame and it becomes smaller and smaller until Finn springs up. He forcefully yanks her arm back so that she turns him.
"You can't go back there!" he takes the scavenger's hand in his. "It's dangerous!"
Understandably, Rey flinches at his touch. She takes a step back. Her hair is all messy, locks stuck to her forehead and cheeks, and he has an irresistible urge to smooth it out. The girl tries to free herself from his grip, the man can hear a hushed 'let me go!' leave her lips, but he holds onto her even tighter. The reason for this is that two figures are slowly approaching the young couple. They are both males.
One of them looks old. He has grey hair that is falling onto his forehead and stubble. His skin has been decorated with wrinkles in the corners of his green eyes and lips due to years of sorrows. His expression is stern. The man is wearing a simple outfit - a nerf-leather jacket, a white shirt underneath it, dark trousers and long boots. A belt with a metal latch adorns his waist. A holster for a blaster is attached to his right leg. It is now empty as he is holding the pistol in his hand, pointing it at the young couple. It is an old BlasTech model with the DL-44 design manufactured before the Civil War.
The other one looks different. He towers over his companion but does not look too intimidating. His body is not proportional, his legs and arms are too long, which makes him appear awkward. The lanky stranger has long hair that reaches his wide shoulders and a thick beard. His clothing is similar to his friend's. He has a bandolier slung over his arm with a carry-pouch fastened to it. A bowcaster is in his hand.
Finn has raised his arms up as a sign of surrender but now he grabs Rey's tank top so that she can stand behind him. Even though the girl looks confused, she moves away.
"You wanna tell me why the hell you have my truck?" the smaller one growls out.
"I stole it from Unkar Plutt," Rey mutters, much to Finn's dismay.
"You can take the truck. Just let us go," the young man blurts out before the girl behind him gets them in trouble.
The deserter is sweating profusely and not taking his eyes off the males with weapons. He is shielding Rey with his body, which makes the greying man's lips twitch in a smirk. He has noticed Finn's bloody arm. Eventually, he gestures to his shaggy friend to put his bowcaster down. The atmosphere is not as tense anymore.
"We should've checked the Eastern Reaches," the greying man mumbled and his shaggy companion grunted in response. "Well, I guess this is the day Han Solo finally stole the Millenium Falcon back."
Rey gasps in surprise. She grips Finn's arm tightly in excitement, oblivious to the young man's pained gasp. She has heard so many stories about the Falcon, Han, the deeds he did during the War, and he is standing right in front of her! Her exhausted body feels lighter now that adrenaline is flowing through her veins again, albeit for a different reason.
"You're Han Solo?" the girl exclaims.
"Yes, that's what I just said."
"Wasn't he a war hero?" Finn asks her, curious.
The smuggler has pure awe plastered on her tanned face and her green eyes sparkling. Han has moved closer to the lorry. He is caressing it with utmost adoration. His lips form a thin line and the moment passes when he turns to the young couple. Bebe has been quiet this whole time, sitting by Finn's leg, but now it starts growling. Han's friend makes a displeased sound. Rather reluctantly, Han takes a few steps back from the Falcon and points to the horizon behind Rey and Finn.
"You see that? It's Arlington. You'll be able to go back wherever it is you spawned from."
Just as he said, there is a tiny outline of a city surrounded by the faint glow of first sun rays and dozens of lights scattered like fireflies. Rey frowns. Is he trying to get rid of them? She thought she would be able to help the young rebel by herself but now that Han Solo himself has appeared, she has to do something.
So, Rey steps forward, passing her worried companion, and hopes she looks confident enough. "We need your help," she states the obvious.
Han scoffs. "What you need to do is go before I change my mind."
"Finn is from the Resistance! He has to get back to their base!"
The young man curses under his breath. He has been getting away with his lies with Rey for a while but with Han? The old man was staring at him now, making the deserter rather uncomfortable. His heart is beating fast. Solo does not appear to be impressed so he turns to Rey once again.
"And who're you? His spokesperson?" He shakes his head. "It don't matter. You gotta go."
Han and his shaggy friend start hauling their stuff from the vehicle they seemed to have used previously into the lorry. They are ignoring Rey's disappointed face.
"C'mon," Finn mutters to the girl, putting his palm on her shoulder. "We may make it before noon if we take off now."
The girl watches the ex-war hero while bitterly swallowing her pride as the surprisingly soft material of the rebel's leather jacket slides onto her back. Eventually, Rey and Finn begin walking toward Arlington. Their pace is slow as he is wounded. They are both very tired, having been on their feet since the sunrise without much rest. The scavenger still needs to go back home and confront Elena. As soon as the rebel leaves for his base, she will catch a ride to Jakku.