The sun shined, it did shine, so brightly, so morning-ly, like poetry, and it did blind Gertrude first thing in the morning. "Augghh..." She grit her teeth and slit her eyes in rebellion of the desert sun.
"Molls..." Gert shifted to her side, and found the sleeping bag next to her empty. Her whole body was thrown into a panic, and she jolted to her feet "Molls?! MOLLY!!"
Behind her came a shuffling sound, and a small body stumbled against her "Argh, Gert, 'M right here... Don't have to freakin' yell..."
Gert fell on her ass with relief. She put her hand to her forehead, and a wave of despair swept over her anyway. What if they couldn't get to New York? What if the police, or the avengers, or some other overly-hyped group of adults got a hold of the others? Her body shuddered.
"S'okay, Gert..." Molly rubbed her eyes. "I'm okay, I just went for some water."
"It's... not that..." Gert took her glasses off and cleant them.
"I know, but don't worry... we'll find them." Molly pulled her panda hat over her eyes and peered at the sun. In her honey-brown eyes a purple sheen glinted, for a second.
"I hope so, Molly."
"Definitly. Besides, you woulda felt something through your bond with Old Lace if something happened to them, right?" Gert nodded. Molly had strange flashes of insight for such a kid, and one with a hyperactive personality, no less.
Gert rolled their sleeping bags up tight and clicked them into the napsack. Molly pulled out the box of cereal sneakily and stuffed some into her mouth.
"Tho... whut 're we gunneh do dow?" Molly said in a way that can be inaccurately described as graceful. Gert laughed lightheartedly at the silly expression this created on Molly's face.
She thought for a second, and her purple hair lay still against her head in the windless air. It was a rather violent shade in the early morning sunlight.
"Walk." She stood facing the sun, east, towards New York.
"Noooo-oooo, can't we catch a train or something?" Molly threw her fists into the air. "We could be like hobos! We need a spotted handkerchief, though... and a stick."
Gert looked on warily to the distance. "Molly, do you SEE any train tracks? Honestly?" She wanted to add that sticks and handkerchiefs would be just as hard to come by; If they had been able to find them last night, they would have been incredibly useful for starting a fire.
Molly stopped her ranting for a second and looked frazzled. "Well, no, but... I just know that there is gonna be one soon. We're in the wild west!" She began to run around in a skipping motion, imitating that of a horse. Gert physically wilted, wondering how it was that Molly managed to suck the energy out of those around her and put it to her own use. She thought she saw some movement out of the corner of her eye.