"There are only twenty cans left!" Gordy shouted from the kitchen.

"What how is that possible?" Sam asked.

"I don't know! I thought we had more, but maybe we didn't portion correctly."

We were barely on our third week in town and our food supply was dwindling to say the least.

Sam and I looked at each other. We both knew that picking up food was going to be necessary. We would probably have to go out in less than five days and that was if we used the food sparingly. I was already fifteen pounds lighter than I was last year and I didn't want to lose any more weight.

That night the kids went into the living room to play with the new cards they had found in the collapsed general store and I went into the kitchen to clean the dishes off. I was half way through when Sam came in to help. Typical man.

"Hey."

"Hey." We had not really talked much except when it was practical and had to do with our daily jobs. I think both of us were lacking seriously in social conversation.

"Um, so what are we going to do about this food thing?" I asked him as he picked up one of the dishes next to me and started to dry it.

"I'm not sure. I can just go out and do a pick-up myself."

"That's stupid, two people have to go." He turned to look at me.

"Well which two?" He studied me thoughtfully.

"I-I don't know, I think that I will worry too much if Gordy or Jenny goes." He smiled as if he expected as much. "I don't like leaving them here by themselves either, but one way or another it's dangerous, but I think it will be less dangerous if they are here." The words came out jumbled.

"So me and you?" He asked as he was carelessly putting a dish away.

"I think so… that might be the best way." He played with his beard idly.

"I agree. That's the best way. No funny business though." I turned up to look at him and to my shock and embarrassment he winked at me! I glared at him for a few seconds as he grinned at me with a stupid looking smile on his face.

"You're an idiot." I muttered before turning around and storming out of the kitchen. The sound of his booming laughter carried through the house and further irritated me.

"What's so funny?" Gordy asked as I stalked through the living room and up the stairs.

I just looked at him and rolled my eyes towards the ceiling.

I went up to our room and lied down on the bed. I didn't understand him. He was exasperating and every time I thought I figured him out he would do something freaky, like wink at me. Who winks anymore? It wasn't even a big deal why was I so irked by it, or by him for that matter? Maybe it was just that he was a man. Maybe Gary ruined me and now I was part of the he-haters group. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I closed my eyes and tried to block out thoughts and feelings.

Next thing I knew it was 4am. Jenny was asleep next to me and I didn't know what to do with myself. I got up as quietly as possible, grabbed my shoes and my hair tie and crept down the stairs trying not to wake anybody. As I reached the door I heard a noise from behind me.

"Where are you going?" Sam was sitting up halfway on the couch rubbing his eyes.

"I couldn't sleep." I replied in a whisper.

"You didn't answer me."

"I was going to go for a run." I really didn't know what I was going to do until he had asked me.

"I'll go with you." He said grabbing for his shoes.

"Don't be silly go back to sleep."

"No I want to. Come on it will be fun." I sighed there was no point in arguing with him.

"Fine, but I'll wait outside. You can, um, put some clothes on." I looked at his sheet and back at him. He chuckled softly.

"Okay, but don't start without me, you'll need all your energy." I smiled and walked out the door.

As I waited for him I started doing some stretches. It irritated me that here I was trying to clear my head and Sam made it impossible for me to do that. I was too busy trying to figure him out to focus on anything else. I was barely done doing my first stretch when he came out of the house in sweat pants and tennis shoes.

"Don't you own any shirts?" I asked him.

"Sure, but I save them for really nice occasions." He grinned at me and I went back to stretching. After about ten minutes we were both done and ready to go.

"So where to?" Sam asked me quietly.

"Mm. Let's go around the town perimeter four times. That's including the back fields."

"Okay you got it." As soon as we began I felt a huge smile creep up, I loved running it was one thing that truly gave me pleasure back home. It cleared my head and made me feel…oddly powerful. We set an even pace and there was no sound besides the padding of our feet and our labored breathing.

After about two and a half miles the pace quickened. Sam started going a bit faster and I immediately responded with my own increase. In seconds the run turned to a race.

We reached 3 and a half-laps at the bottom of the mountain, which is when I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it… the whole things was just to ironic. We were fighting to survive and yet we still yearned for a little competition. For whatever reason Sam laughed along with me. Probably, because he knew he was about to kick my ass.

"See ya!" He told me and then took off like a rocket for the finish.

"Dammit!" I pushed harder than necessary and managed to catch up to a couple steps behind him. He must not have heard me making progress, because I got right up to him before he turned slightly to look behind him. I took advantage of his surprise and quickly shot in front of him. I was almost to the house when I turned to see where he was, only about two feet and gaining. I turned to look straight ahead and noticed the rock right in front of me two seconds too late. My right foot caught on the tip of it sending me flying almost six feet forward. My body twisted towards my right and I threw up my hands up to catch myself. I skidded about a foot more on my side before stopping. Sam flew to my side.

"AGH…" I groaned in pain.

"Are you okay? He asked frantically.

"Yeah," I attempted to get up and failed. "Oh my God my hip…"

"Do you think it's broken?" I was sitting halfway up as he kneeled beside me. I felt my hip for a while before answering.

"No, I just bruised it." I let out a sigh of relief. He held his hand toward me. "Nice, come on lets go clean it up."

"Hey, I'm not crippled." He laughed, but grabbed my wrists and pulled me up towards him.

"Can you walk?" He asked me.

"Yes, I don't think I did too much damage."

"Okay, well… okay." We started walking I was limping slightly, and he was watching me carefully. I started feeling uncomfortable again so I quickly made conversation.

"So are we calling this a draw?" I asked him with a smirk.

"HA! You wish. I'll give you a few days and we will rematch." I laughed at his intensity.

"Sure no problem. I had you though and you know it."

"What! You're crazy, you caught me in a moment of weakness and it won't happen again." He looked at me sideways. I just shrugged at him.

"Sure whatever you say." I said sarcastically. He laughed quieter this time, because he didn't want to wake up the kids and we were walking in the house.

"Sit down." He ordered me. I rolled my eyes, but my pride would have to shut up for awhile. "In the living room, not the kitchen." He told me.

I hobbled into the living room and sat on the big couch. He went into the kitchen going through cupboards and then went in the back. I leaned back and he quickly emerged back into the living room with a washcloth, a bowl of water, and a first aid kit.

He came over and sat too closely next to me on the couch.

"Let me see your hands."

"I can do it." I reached for the cloth.

"No you can't, trust me if I do it, it will feel way better." We stared at each other for a bit.

"Fine." I held out my right hand and he gently took it. He dipped the washcloth in the water and started rubbing light circles over my bloody and scratched hands. The heat made it sting and I quickly sucked in air.

"Are you good?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah it's fine." I was a baby when it came to pain. We sat facing each other as he washed my hands and proceeded to soothingly rub an antibacterial cream on them. I closed my eyes wondering how pain could feel so… good. My eyes flew open like he had somehow heard my awkward thought. He was holding both hands and staring at me. I swallowed loudly as our eyes met. He cleared his throat.

"Okay lets see the hip." He told me, I stared at him horrified as he waited expectantly.

"What?"

"Oh come on you're not seriously going to be shy?" He looked at me like I was the crazy one.

"Fine." I flipped on my left side and stretched so I was lying sideways on the couch. My head propped on the arm of the couch. Sam sat in front of my body angled towards my face. I pulled my jersey shorts down on one side, just enough so my butt wasn't hanging out, but I still felt exposed. The skin had already turned a blackish blue color. It was ugly, hideous, actually. The bruise was already the size of my fist. I touched it tenderly and pouted.

"That looks awful." Sam said pointing out the obvious.

"Gee thanks. It doesn't feel so great either."

"I'm sorry." He reached his hand up to my hip and touched the bruise with just his fingertips. I flinched away automatically from the cold touch, but he flattened his hand against my hip softly, his hand resting on my now very warm hip. We watched each other for a few minutes. My heart was beating so loudly I was sure I was going to wake someone up. I leaned my head on the armrest and closed my eyes, desperate to break the contact. I was tired enough to sleep, but my adrenaline was too high. I couldn't look him in the eyes again, I was afraid I would turn to ashes.

"Um, we should raid within the next two days I think." I spoke with my eyes still closed.

"Oh yeah." He murmured softly. "Two days sounds good." He pulled my jersey shorts back up over my hip, but rested his hand on my thigh right above the back of my knee. "You need to get some sleep." He told me.

"Yeah, I don't want to wake Jenny though." I wasn't sure if I could sleep at this point.

"She sleeps like she's in hibernation trust me you won't wake her up." His hand was still resting on my leg burning a hole through my shorts. I looked at his hand for a moment then looked back up at him attempting a scowl, but I was sure he could easily read my face. He grinned down at me and moved his face about four inches from my own. "I think I'm really going to like having you around." His bright green eyes swallowed me up and I caught my breath. He stared at me for a moment longer before pulling back and reaching for my hand to help me up. "Come on I'll help you back to your room."

"I think I can manage." I argued, he just laughed and held up his hands in surrender.

"You got it." We walked up the stairs, I was in a little pain, but it wasn't that bad. He walked behind me with his hands halfway extended, ready to grab me if I started to fall. I walked into our room and took my shoes and socks off. Sam leaned up against the doorway watching me. I sat up on the bed, ready to go to sleep. My watch said 6:30, but I was going to sleep in a little.

"Goodnight." Sam told me from the hallway.

"Night." I lay my head back down on my bed and within minutes, I was dreaming.