Another couple of weeks passed. Sam didn't want to say anything but his anxiety over their supplies was growing each day. They were getting more and more adventurous with their foraging but the monotony of food was becoming stressful. The highlights weren't the days but the nights. They were getting warmer but there was no question that they wouldn't keep sleeping together. Whatever type of day they'd had, even if they were mad at each other in the evening, they would still sleep together and snuggle close. It was like there was some unwritten rule that said the sleeping bag was neutral territory.
Sam loved the sleeping bag. He just hated the resulting little 'problem' of his which he had to be extra careful not to poke her with in the mornings.
One particular day they were sat at the top of a hill, resting as it had grown unusually warm and taking the time to enjoy the spectacular view of the valley ahead when she attempted to point something out.
"Sam, when you look down and to the left, what do you see?"
He followed the direction of her pointing finger. "Grass. Lots of grass. It would probably make decent farmland because it's so flat. Why do you ask?"
She looked disappointed. "Is that really all you can see?"
"That's all that's there Mercedes. And I know my vision is good. So what are you trying to ask me?"
"I wanted to see if you had any of it at all. You didn't seem to notice so far but I needed to be sure."
"See if I had any what? I didn't seem to notice what?"
"Perception." She drew a deep breath. "There's the edge of a Transit Sector down there."
Sam squinted hard for several seconds but still saw nothing. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Positive. We've passed by a few in the distance but I thought, with people after you, we should probably stay clear."
Sam was still pissed off at the fact that he still couldn't see the things. "We're far away from where we were now."
"I know." Her face was serious, "That's why I wanted to make a suggestion. Our supplies are getting low."
"I noticed. It's been worrying me too but I didn't want to scare you."
Mercedes seemed relieved that he was on the same wavelength. "So I was wondering… if you think it was worth a brief trip into a Transit Sector?" She looked at him questioningly. "Just to get some essential supplies. It's risky but I'm not sure we have much of a choice. I- I can't say how much longer we have to go before we reach the Sea."
Sam clenched his jaw in thought. Entering a Transit Sector was risky, very risky. But they also really did need the supplies. The answer was simple.
"I'll go. Just show me the entrance and I'll get what we need."
In a mirror image of himself, her jaw clenched and her soft eyes hardened. "No Sam. We both go. That way we can split up and get things faster."
"Nope. I don't want you in there alone Mercedes."
She scowled at him, immediately on the defensive. "It would be far more risky for us to be spotted together. You don't have the blue contact lenses anymore, your hair dye has mostly grown out and faded and we'd draw less attention as individuals than we would moving around together. Don't make me remind you that we make an 'odd' couple."
He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. But her reasoning was sound. "It could be dangerous."
"This whole journey has been dangerous Sam, but we've come this far. And we need supplies Sam, desperately. There's no avoiding that fact."
There wasn't. But the idea of entering the Transit Sector made him nervous. They'd been walking for weeks, but the distance they had travelled would take a fraction of that time in a vehicle on the Transit Highway.
She could tell that the whole thing was making him anxious and he hated dealing with anxiety. "We don't need to do it today Sam. We'll come up with a plan together later, but for now, I think we should relax for the rest of the day, set up camp and find something sweet to eat in that forest over there. What do you say?"
He was still lost in his thoughts about the dangers they would have to face getting the supplies they needed but he forced a smile. "I say why not. The river's not far so we should go swimming!"
Mercedes no longer showed reluctance around water. After having to go over a week without the opportunity for proper bathing they both were anxious for any opportunity they came across to be able to get clean. Mercedes never really smelled that bad but her was pretty sure that there were occasions when he was completely ripe and he had no idea how she could still lay down next to him and fall asleep.
The swim was exactly what they needed to lighten the mood. As always Mercedes just had her usual wash, only getting her hair wet on the set occasions when she was actually going to wash it, while he played in the water, diving down and holding his breath for as long as he could before doing flips and stupid tricks to make her laugh. The other reason he liked being under the water was that it gave him an opportunity to look at her strong legs and thighs without casting suspicion over himself. Again she warned him about not getting hurt but he was being careful. Leaving him to his antics she set about washing their clothes and setting them out to dry. If they were going to be around people in the Transit Sector they needed to give no indication that they'd been sleeping rough.
They then collected berries and, despite Mercedes saying she would never gamble, he managed to persuade her to play a card game that involved berries as a reward. They both started with an equal number of berries and each time one of them won, they'd be able to eat one of their own berries, but each time one of them lost, they'd have to feed one of their berries to the other person.
Sam laughed heartily as she'd had to feed him her last remaining berry while he still had five left. She grinned back at him as he pretended to try and bite her finger in the process and then reached higher to touch the corner of his eye. "You know, when you laugh or grin really hard, you get these wrinkles here at the corner of you eye like an old man."
"Hey I'm not old!"
"I know. But your life is showing on your eyes. I kinda like it tho. It goes with your beard!" She ran a finger down his sideburn and along his cheek, fascinated. It had hadn't taken long for him to progress from stubble to impressive beard that changed his looks pretty dramatically.
"I'm glad you like it missy, because when you get laughter lines of your own I'll be the first to laugh at you!"
"No you won't. We have a saying in my Sector 'black don't crack'. I'm going to be old before I even begin to wrinkle!"
He started to smile at the thought before reality hit him. He'd be long gone before she ever developed her first line! And he wouldn't have minded being around to see it. Not wanting his expression to change in front of her he quickly replaced it with another smile. "That's the beauty of youth! Enjoy being a teenager!"
She shifted slightly. "But I'm not a teenager anymore now!"
"What? You mean you had your birthday? When? And you never said anything?"
She shrugged. "It was last week. And it's not as if I could have baked myself a cake and lit candles."
Sam felt bad for her. She'd passed a landmark without any acknowledgement whatsoever. "But you-"
"Besides, it wouldn't have made a difference to how you view me. I'm just a kid with a dream that you're babysitting."
She seemed so sad when she said the words. Especially as there was no truth in it at all. His heart started to pound in his chest. Now that he knew she was no longer a teenager a huge line of defense was gone and it added a level of legitimacy to the various feelings that completely unnerved him. A seven year age gap didn't sound quite as bad as eight. They were just two people in their twenties, only one was early and one was late.
"It doesn't change the way I feel about you Mercedes," he lied, "but I don't feel like I'm babysitting either." It was time for him to make an admission. "The truth is, you're taking as much care of me as I am of you! More actually, considering I'm the one who always seems to get hurt and you're the most amazing carer in the history of womankind. So I think we're actually a pretty damn good team!"
"Yeah. I guess we are a good team." But her voice lacked its usual enthusiasm and there was the edge of disappointment in it. She didn't seem to realize that it was a protection for him to view her that way, especially now more than ever. As much as he loved going to sleep with her each night, his dreams were now plagued with fantasies of things he really shouldn't be doing with her, and his mornings were an uncomfortable attempt to disguise the resulting arousal that a night spent pressed up against her softness invariably brought. It was the sweetest torture and something she would never be able to know about if they were going to keep their sleeping arrangement.
Sam hated that she didn't look happy about what he'd said but he didn't know how to change it to make it better. Her mood stayed low for the rest of the day and nothing he did seemed to improve it until an idea suddenly struck him. Just before dinner he excused himself and scrabbled around for every wild flower he could find. Finally gathering a bunch big enough to look a little better than pathetic, he took one with a long stem and tied it around the other stems to make a proper bunch.
He got back to see her putting water on to boil. She clearly knew he was back but didn't bother turning around, allowing him to sneak up behind her. "Happy birthday for last week Mercedes!" He tapped her on one side then appeared at the other, something she never failed to fall for no matter how many times he did it. Putting on his brightest smile he held out the flowers. "I'm sorry I don't really have anything I can give you..."
She looked at him uncertainly before breaking into huge smile, her eyes brighter and shiner than he'd ever seen them. Then they dimmed and started to well up. "Nobody ever gave me flowers before." She spoke quietly as she lifted them to her nose and inhaled them. "It's the best birthday present ever!" She spontaneously reached forward kissed his face, a tiny peck on the front of his cheek, the only part which wasn't covered with his beard. Her innocent action made his chest skip. It was only a split second thing but her lips had felt soft and warm against his skin and he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he'd tilted his face in order to make it linger.
This was getting dangerous. Very dangerous. Yet it there was one thing he did with danger... He stared it right in the face. Taking one of the flowers from the bunch, he broke the stem to make it shorter before sliding in into her hair, just above her right ear.
She immediately jerked back, staring as if he'd touched her inappropriately and he could have sworn that beneath her dark skin she was blushing. He frowned. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No! Well... Yeah. It's just that you shouldn't really touch my hair. But it's okay. You didn't know."
"Alright... So I won't touch your hair..." He wanted to ask why but her facial expression begged him not to so he didn't. It was a shame because he found the unique texture of it fascinating and had been dying to explore it properly since he'd met her. As always, Mercedes had cultural elements to her that confused him but he was willing to learn. "But it does look pretty, you know, with the flower."
She smiled and touched the flower with her fingertips. There was no mirror so she had to take his word for it. Then again she still looked beautiful without the flower, yet he knew it would cross an unspoken line to tell her that.
Sam knew he was going to have to be careful from now on. The fact that she was no longer nineteen anymore… the fact that she was no longer a teenager but a twenty year oldwoman… well it was really making a difference.
In fact it was making one hell of a difference!