Joe smiled as he drove through the wastes, Sera sitting on the ground beside him, glaring up as he went.

  “You are a cruel man.” Sera told him, clearly irritated.

  “I’m giving him a ride ain’t I?” Joe asked, “Better than having him walk.”

  “Not by much!” She spat, “You tied him to the roof you madman!”

  “And he agreed to it.” Joe pointed out, “Better than walkin’, even he knew that much.”

  “You couldn’t tie him up in the workshop?” She asked, “He’s going to be up there all day, what if he gets swiped up by those foul crunchies?”

  “He won’t.” Joe sighed, “I’ll shoot em’ before they get em’.”

  “I still find this treatment cruel.” She huffed.

  “He agreed to my conditions, he wasn’t even all that mad.” Joe pointed out, “You’re the one freakin’ out about it.”

  “I am not ‘freaking’ out.” She insisted, “I just find it needless to have done this.”

  “I ain’t stoppin’ now, so just forget it.” He told her, “We got a long drive ahead of us.”

  “Very well.” She said in a frustrated tone.

  A long silence took them then, only breaking once Sera sighed, “We need to repair the carpet in our living room.”

  “I know.” Joe replied, “But I ain’t got any spare rolls of carpet, n’ that’s a huge stretch of room, I don’t know how much that much carpet will cost. That, n’ there’s no way that anyone will have that much pink carpet laying around.”

  “That Kagor couldn’t have picked anywhere else to burn down…” Sera complained, as if the Faelord were an annoying co-worker, rather than an imprisoned god.

  “It is what it is. ‘Sides, if I wanna add more rooms I’d have needed to cut a lot of it out anyway. Silver linings n’ all that.”

  “But it was so pretty…” She whined.

  “It was, it was.” He nodded.

  Another long silence passed as they continued on, both of them observing the cameras as they went. Normally Sera would have been sitting out there, watching Kitchen Nightmares or the like. Today though, she had opted to accompany him in the cockpit, sitting cross legged on the floor beside him.

  After another hour of travel, Joe stopped driving, parking Betty before leaving the cockpit.

  Sera trailed after him, “Why did we stop?” Sera asked him as he began gearing up.

  “It’s hot out there.” He told her as he slipped on his dragon-bone mask.

  “Okay?” She replied, confused.

  “I don’t like him, but if he don’t get water he could get a heat stroke.” Joe told her, shaking his full canteen for emphasis.

  “Ah,” She nodded, “That makes sense, I’ll come with-”

  Joe shook his head, “I’m just going out for a second. I need you to stay in the cockpit in case any crunchies come by. You remember the laser buttons, yeah?” He asked her.

  “Certainly, but do be quick.” She said, clasping her hands behind her back.

  Joe left out of Betty without another word, climbing up to her roof to sight Gerad sitting cross-legged, wrists and ankles bound together as he lay on his side right in the center of Betty’s roof.

  The halfling raised his head, brows knit together as he spotted Joe. “Why have we stopped?” He asked, “This frying pan is cooking me alive, only the wind is keeping me cool.”

  “Guess you don’t need no water.” Joe shrugged, turning back toward the ladder.

  “Well now I didn’t say that!” Gerad shouted urgently, “If you’re offering, I’ll gladly accept!”

  Joe grinned as he turned back, approaching the bound halfling with canteen un-capped, “Sit up.”

  Gerad struggled to rise to a sitting position, but once he was finished, he groaned. Joe winced as he saw that one side of his face had been completely been burnt red by the sun. He lifted the canteen to Gerad’s mouth, who drank from it greedily, gasping for air once he was finished.

  “Thank you, now please, the sooner we reach the Yellow-Eyes, the sooner I can be heading home.” Gerad told him, slowly laying back down, his unburnt side facing the sun.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Alrighty then, but I gotta do one thing first.” Joe told him, rustling through his shoulder bag, “Lemme see that ugly mug of yers.”

  Gerad scowled, “I’m handsome, women love my looks.”

  “Ugly women maybe.” Joe scoffed, “I got ointment for that face of yers, it’ll help heal up the burn.”

  Gerad narrowed his eyes, “Seems awfully nice for someone like you to provide such a thing, what’s your angle?”

  Joe sighed, “There ain’t an angle, I got ointment n’ it’ll help that burn.”

  “Sera told me all about you, what are you expecting in return for it?” Gerad asked him, “Best be up front with it now.”

  Joe shook his head, “I’m just offering it ya freak. I got good bones too.”

  “The last one in your body I’m sure,” Gerad frowned, “Very well, I accept your offer as long as it stays free.”

  “Fine then.” He told him, bringing out the ointment.

  He poured some directly on his gauntleted fingers, applying them to the burnt side of Gerad’s face. The boy winced as the cream touched the reddened flesh, but otherwise voiced no complaint. Once he was done, Joe pulled a long rag from out of his shoulder bag.

  “Are you going to silence me with that cloth?” Gerad asked with a shudder, “Seems unnecessary.”

  “Damn it boy,” Joe growled, “I’m gonna cover yer face with it, sun won’t burn the other side with it on.”

  “Surely you will charge for this.” He stated.

  “No, the only thing I want is for you to get the hell out of here, but if ya leave all burnt to crap then Sera won’t let me hear the end of it.”

  Gerad laughed, “So you can face down a Forgotten Beast with barely a blink, but little Sera is too much for you? You’re a joke.”

  “Little? That’s rich comin’ from you, tiny. Do you want the damn rag, or not?” Joe asked, irritated.

  Gerad hesitated before saying, “Yes, give it to me now.”

  Joe drew his lips to a line, “Ya didn’t say please.”

  Gerad scoffed, “Please.” He said indignantly.

  “Ya momma didn’t raise you right boy.” Joe said, shaking his head, “That ain’t how people act polite.”

  “Momma didn’t raise me, the streets did.” Gerad said matter of factly, “Being polite only opens you up for mockery, or worse.”

  “Makes ya look like ya can get taken advantage of, right?” Joe asked, laying the rag over Gerad’s face.

  “As a matter of fact.” He replied, “Now, please get on with our journey before I turn into a piece of jerky.”

  “Pfft, you’d probably taste like abysmal dogshit.” Joe spat for emphasis, turning away from the halfling.

  “Women have told me that I’m quite sweet, actually.” Gerad shot back.

  “Must be nice, seein’ that gals can take pity on little freaks like you.” Joe replied as he began scaling down the ladder, “Sit tight lil’ buddy.”

  “Just clear off Joseph.” Gerad growled.

  “Calm down munchkin.” Joe laughed, “You might pop somethin’.”

  Joe ignored the following retort as he scaled back down the ladder, shaking his head as he went. The little punk sure did have an attitude, the sooner they got back to that camp the better. At this rate, it’d probably take until nightfall, though that wasn’t really a surprise. It had taken an entire day to reach the cavern Sera had emerged from, after all.

  He didn’t bother removing his gear, as surely there would be some reason for him to leave Betty again. He slid his mask off at least, letting it hang from his neck as he moved back toward the cockpit.

  “Is he doing well?” She asked him from his chair, turning away from the cameras.

  “He’s chipper.” He said sarcastically, “But I don’t blame ‘em.”

  “Chipper?” Sera asked, narrowing her eyes, “That’s an English term, yes?”

  “Oh uh, yeah.” Joe said with a nod, “Means happy.”

  “You are so strange.” She said, rising from the chair before stretching.

  “Me?” He asked incredulously, “I can’t shoot water outta my hands woman.”

  “You’re from a different realm, is that not enough? And what do you mean by that? Are you insinuating that I am strange?”

  Joe sat back down in his chair, “I thought it was more an outright statement.”

  She slapped his shoulder, “I am not strange!” She shouted indignantly.

  “That’s abuse.” He stated, whining as if the the blow had hurt, “I’ll see you in court.”

  “Certainly, they would completely believe an overgrown oaf like you over a gorgeous beauty like myself.” Sera scoffed, looking down her nose at him.

  “I got good odds, since yer a weirdo.” He chuckled, which earned him another light shoulder slap.

  “I won’t take that from you.” Sera said, crossing her arms, “I’ll have my revenge.”

  Joe threw up his hands in faux frustration, “I’m not the abuser here.”

  Sera then plopped down right in his lap with a devious smirk, and Joe could almost swear that he felt his soul tear free from his body. Sera then giggled before settling on his left leg, resting them upon the armrest opposite her side.

  “Let's set off then, weirdo.” She mocked, looking up at him with a grin.

  Evil woman, she’d be the death of him yet. His heart may not have been old, but having it race like this wasn’t something he was used to anymore, at least outside of fighting for his life anyway. What did she see in him exactly? It didn’t make any sense to him at all, he wasn’t all that great. They’d known each other a few months sure, had some good times, bonded a bit, but it still didn’t make sense that she wanted him of all people.

  He mused on this as he continued to drive, all while Sera clearly enjoyed her new seating arrangement. There was no doubt in his mind about Sera’s feelings now, but he still wasn’t sure about how he himself felt about her. She was a good friend, and as much as he wanted to avoid acknowledging it, she was attractive. Not just in the physical sense, Sera was smart, she was capable, and most importantly- he could actually trust her…

  So why not reciprocate?

  He pondered this question a while before he came to a conclusion. He just had far too much baggage for anyone to bear. Not only that, with his new cranial roommate, Joe was a ticking time bomb. There was no telling when Kagor would emerge to try and take control, but Joe was certain that that time would come again. The right thing to do here was to let Sera down easy, explain to her why a relationship between them just wasn’t feasible… at least not until Kagor was kicked out, anyway.

  He found himself frustratingly unable to completely dismiss the idea of being with her. He needed to remind himself that he was not worthy of love, not after the things he had done in the wastes. Then again… was it himself that could truly decide whether or not he was worth loving? Sera was the one who put that value on him, though she didn’t yet know everything about him…

  He zoned off a while before his mind got back on track. On love, it could never be Joe himself that determined if he is worth loving. Christ died on the cross because he loved all of humanity, and thought that they all deserved saving… even after seeing the sins humanity would commit. That included Joseph himself, he realized. If Christ thought Joe was worth loving, then who was he to argue?

  That thought struck a chord with Joe, his jaw opening partially as he drove. Alright then, it was settled then, if he could pull Kagor outta his head, then he just might pursue Sera. Hmm, pursue might be the wrong word, as she was already determined to make him hers. It would be more like him not being such a prude with her.

  Again he zoned off, up until he realized that he was coming up on the Yellow-Eyes camp. Joe blinked before coming to a stop before their big-ass rock gate, shocked that they had gotten here so quickly. Well, zoning off did that, made the time fly, but the sun was still decently high in the sky, so something had to be different about the return trip. Then it hit him, there had been hardly any crunchy attacks or earthquakes, not having to stop every few minutes really helped to speed this journey along it seemed.

  He glanced down, seeing that at some point, Sera had fallen asleep. Joe yawned before he took her by the shoulder, gently shaking her awake.

  “Muh?” She replied, sitting up, “Are we there already?”

  “Sure are.” Joe told her, “Gonna go get little man n’ let him go.”